Quick and Dirty on Way Too Cool 50k

Ok, so I was not quick nor did I get dirty today at WTC, but this post is both those […]

By on March 10, 2007 | Comments

Ok, so I was not quick nor did I get dirty today at WTC, but this post is both those things. It’s an email I sent to a couple friends who asked about my performance at the race. Quick summary – not too good. The best thing I did regarding the race was predict that it would be Bradley Mongold’s coming out party. It was, as he finished second.

Went out too hard, got off course (2/3 mile total, but enough), bonked, lost water bottle down mountain. Ran bad time, but had a good time. I relearned what NOT to do when racing. Ended up 40 something in 4:29:5?

To give you an idea of how the race went see the following table of AS sections with distance and HR.
Split
Dist HR (bpm)
5.48 177
8.86 170
6.29 170
5.10 166
2.96 161
1.26 161

From the attached HR/elevation chart you get a different picture of the same story. Went out way too hard the first four miles. I settled into my own maybe slightly too hard and very unsteady rhythm from 4 to 10. Ran with a steady eddie pace guy from 10 to 17 (or at least a good chunk of that). Unsteady, but averaging same 170 HR from 17 to 19. After 19 I tried to pick the effort a notch to 172-73 bpm and did so through 22. After that the wheels came off/ I gave up/kinda lame. Today won’t have been a failure if I learned some lessons.[I appear to have inadvertently stopped my watch going into and maybe coming out of the second dip.]

Bryon Powell

Bryon Powell is the Founding Editor of iRunFar. He’s been writing about trail running, ultrarunning, and running gear for more than 15 years. Aside from iRunFar, he’s authored the books Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons and Where the Road Ends: A Guide to Trail Running, been a contributing editor at Trail Runner magazine, written for publications including Outside, Sierra, and Running Times, and coached ultrarunners of all abilities. Based in Silverton, Colorado, Bryon is an avid trail runner and ultrarunner who competes in events from the Hardrock 100 Mile just out his front door to races long and short around the world, that is, when he’s not fly fishing or tending to his garden.