Running 50!
OK, so now about the first 50 miler I ran. Like starting a clothing brand, maybe also nutty?!
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It really was an accidental consequence of a ~37 mile ski race in Colorado called the Grand Traverse (or “GT”) that runs between Crested Butte and Aspen. You have to have a partner to do the GT, and it took me about 3 or 4 years to find someone who was willing to do it. (Shout out here to my pal and super-beast Brendan!) Anyway, we did the race (that’s maybe another blog post) and when we were done I asked what’s next - and he said he’d always wanted to do the JFK ultra in Maryland and was I in? WTF could I say? I was in ...
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The JFK ultramarathon is one of the oldest ultras in the country. It dates back to the early 1960s when President JFK challenged Americans to do what Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders had done in Cuba back in the 1890s - which was (among other things) marching 50 miles in under 20 hours. Lots of 50 mile races popped up across the country at that time; while most of them fizzled out after a while, the JFK is still going strong - with about 1200 people doing the race every year.
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Training for the event I looked at other peoples trip accounts and they were helpful so here’s mine!
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Training. I did lots of running beforehand, duh. :) I had run a 40-mile race in Colorado about 2 1/2 months before the JFK event, so knew I could go a pretty long way. After that event, I went light for a few weeks and then got back to it.
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My regular routine involves going about 10 miles every day, but some to much of it walking rather than running because the impact is a lot less that way. Preparing for the JFK I upped the amount I was running versus walking. I also added a long run or two in every week, maybe 12 miles earlier in the process - then 15-16, and then - closer to the race - about 18-20.
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I read somewhere that if you could go 20 miles you could probably run 50, and I took heart in that. I also think that’s pretty true. I mean, I don’t see how you can be prepared without doing a number of longer runs, but I don’t know that you need to run 30-40 miles beforehand to prove that you can actually run 50.
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Diet. I read somewhere (on the Internet, so it must be true) that having protein after a long run was a good idea and that tart cherry juice could aid in recovery after a tough work out too. Again, WTF do I know? But for me these seemed like good things to do. I did go with the high quality whey protein from the health food store. Other than that I was just pretty much eating a regular healthy diet.
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I’d like to say that if you’re running this much every week you can eat anything you want… but you can’t. It sucks. Maybe in the past I could, but as an old dude this is no longer an option. :(
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Race week. The race people said you had to pick up your race bib (with your number) in person no later than the night before the race. That was gonna be a pain in the butt for me - requiring lots of extra driving. They weren’t willing to budge from this and seemed pretty unhelpful. Oddly (it seemed) they said to check with the unofficial Facebook race group and see if someone could pick up the bib for me. Seemed far-fetched, but - whatever - I asked and, behold, it worked. Some dude named Josh picked up my stuff beforehand and we met up at 5:30 AM on race day at a minimart near the start of the race. Thanks Josh - you rock!
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Race day. After I met up with Josh, I had to get to the start area. Parking was a bear - no spaces available so I parked illegally - and I was running just to get to the start line before the gun went off. I just about made it. With ~1200 people, no one was really running very fast at the beginning. The event starts with a couple of miles on a road - climbing most of the way - and you then get on the Appalachian Trail through about mile 15. I’ve done the whole AT and have done this particular section a number of times and know that it’s relatively easy terrain. I got the feeling that a lot of people out there were more accustomed to running on the road than on the trail, whereas I felt super comfortable on the trail because I spend a lot of time trail running.
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Anyway, after about mile 17 the race transitions to the Chesapeake & Ohio towpath for the next ~25 miles. This section felt like eternity. I was just counting the miles.
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I’d seen my friend Curt on another long race stop all along the way to pick up trash. Wow, what a great dude! Fit as anything, and also helping his community! I was doing this too - inspired by Curt - for about the first 20 miles - until I said F it there’s no way I can do this. I especially remembered feeling great getting to mile 35 - because that was where I had the same amount left to go as I had made it since I gave up on picking up trash!
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The last 8 miles transitions back to the road. Geez, I was hurting. But I just kept pushing - and it felt awesome to get to the end.
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Food: whoa, they have aid stations like crazy. I mean, every couple of miles. And with an amazing variety of food, largely dished out by school kids, scout groups, running clubs, other civic clubs, etc. The JFK is a huge community event for the area - so they have a TON of folks volunteering. You definitely don’t need to bring much - or any - food and water for this event. The fastest people carried nothing. I carried a running pack with a little bit of water and food (just in case). I basically never touched it. I did hydrate and eat like crazy all day long. Wow, at one aid station they were grilling and handing out burgers. (?!?!)
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Shoes & Clothes & Gear Miscellany: Hoka Speedgoat 4 GTX. Great shoe for a long trail run (and what I wore for the 40-mile event in Colorado, which was on trail), but honestly not the best shoe for this race. Although the JFK event IS mostly on trail - the “trail” for many miles is a very hard packed gravel surface. So I was wishing that I had gone with a road shoe instead. I had just gotten a new pair of Hoka Clifton 8s which would have been a phenomenal shoe for this event.
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Clothes and a few layers, plus gloves. It was 20s-40s in temp throughout the day, so gloves were definitely good.
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Poles definitely not needed.
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Was I walking? Sometimes, but honestly not that much. Down the stretch I just wanted to be done (!!) and running was the fastest way to make that happen. Well, obviously I could have just bailed at any time and been done, but that would have not been possible given how obstinate and pigheaded I am.
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Can YOU run an ultra? F yes, I think so! If you do some longer training runs and put your mind to it!