Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Tamalpa 50K Race Report August 23, 2014

6:57, an hour improvement over 2013 finish time.

I started off fairly fast in mid pack. Passed people on the downs, walked the ups & got passed back. Ran all the flats at a good pace & passed people. However, not many flats with 7,300 feet of climbing. On the Deer Park climb my stomach felt queasy so I switched back to water from the aid station sports drink. My fingers were so swollen I could barely use my iPod. In my head I knew 7 hours was possible if I did well on Matt Davis. Ran Matt Davis well, saw Giles Godwin undexpedly at Stinson Beach. He said I looked “good”, I felt like a swollen water buffalo. Thrown by seeing him, didn’t drink Coke, wished I had. Solid hike up Steep Ravine, even jogged the little flats. 

At Cardiac, 37 minutes to run 3.8 miles and finish under 7 hours. Dropped the hammer but tried to run smoothly, no sense in getting injured. At Heather Cutoff, really wanted to pass red shirt lady I could see ahead on switchbacks, but technical trail with switchbacks - not worth getting injured. Still ran last 5K in 25:29 - darn fast! I sprint finished and beat Traci by 2 seconds. She & another lady I passed came over and called me a “beast”. 

things I did well:
S-cap every hour on the hour so as not to forget.
Stayed hydrated.
Walked uphills.
confident on downhills.
ran flats
Tried to say thank you to volunteers.
Said encouraging things to runners when I passed, were passed “Great Job, Good Stride”.
Said “Thanks” to hikers who yielded trail, and “Have a nice day”. 
Ate pita & hummus for breakfast hour before start - settled nicely. 
Kept one earbud out so could hear other runners when course was crowded. 

Things to improve on:
Need to get replacement Morphie Cable so I can keep iPhone charged for Strava splits.

Had earbuds in on Miwok descent & didn’t hear faster runner trying to pass me

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Skyline 50K Race Report August 3 2014

New 50K PR at Skyline 50K! A soggy, foggy, damp day.

Things I did well: Started off slow, ran my own race, didn’t try to chase early people. 
Talked to Chuck Wilson at start. Tried to say thank you to all volunteers, encouraging words to other racers. Walked several hills with Sabine.

Tried to stay on top of nutrition - Scoobies whenever hungry instead of waiting for time. When felt nauseous, stopped eating to let stomach settle.

S-cap every hour on the hour, to avoid second guessing if taken or not. 

Picked up pace in last half of race. Didn’t get too aggressive but sped up, passed multiple people in end of race. 

Things to improve on:
Need to stock food for pre race the day before the day before the race. Didn’t have enough carbs before start. Didn’t feel like coffee in morning, and didn’t have coke /Frappucino on hand. 

Kept headphones in, wasn’t very social with other runners.


Didn’t get enough sleep - was awake til 11 pm (?), 5:30 AM wakeup (ugh). Wine-tasting with Misha in Napa the day before. 

splits: 
50:45 4.31
25:36 1.98
36:16 3.06
1:12 5
1:18 5.9
36:45 3
1:01 5.3
31 3