The 50/50 Endurance Test Weekend

left to right: Jess Wilson, Buddy Teaster, Dave Elliott, Paul Tidmore, Lynn Ballard, Mike Potts

Jennifer Kimball in typical training...;-)

This is a training intense blog entry…so if you are looking for literary genius, please proceed to another source.

Memorial Day weekend….a 3 day weekend, and I haven’t been on the fixed gear bike in over 2 weeks…ouch! So this week I conjured up a 50/50 scheme to determine where my endurance is.

That is to ride a 50 miles on the bike Saturday morning and to run a 50K (31 miles) on a Sunday night trail run.

The Saturday ride started just before day break. It was good to get back in the saddle and I hammered hard for nearly all 50 miles with rolling hills the first 40 miles. The last 7 miles was on a long flat stretch with no traffic lights and I averaged 22 mph on this part. A real confidence boost to hammer like that at the end of a ride. I returned home and 17 minutes later had eaten, showered and was at the ball park to help coach Luke’s baseball team...who needs recovery...;-)

So that brings us to Sunday evening for the 50K trail run. Since the Bataan Marathon, the longest I ran was 13 miles. I was anxious to see how things would go. A group of us met up to run…the deadline was 12 hours….whoever ran the farthest in that amount time won the self supported race. Above is the picture of all us…Jennifer showed up just a bit late for the picture so I lifted a pic from her Facebook Page. My intentions were to only run 50K regardless of how much time was left on the clock.

Everyone of those guys have had a profound impact on my short Ultra career…Buddy Teaster who pulled me through my first dark hole in my first 50 mile completion. Paul Tidmore, 2 time Hardrock finisher has taught me pacing and nutrition. Jess Wilson who has inspired me to press on when I was first starting out in the Ultra World. Mike Potts who shows his quite steadfast spirit as he prepares for a 72 hour race. Lynn Ballard, who I have shared the trail with so much that we have begun repeating our stories.…and of course Jennifer Kimball, a subdued intensity who inspires with tenacity and spirit. She finished her first 100 mile run this February in less than 24 hours. In fact when I look at that photo…I am the one who doesn’t belong...There are over 25 100 mile races between the group…for they have all finished a 100 mile ultra…all except me.

At 8:00 PM, we commence on some really deceptively difficult trails with the temperature set at 90 degrees. This was the first seasonal run in the heat…and it took it’s toll early. The first 20K was run with Jess and Jennifer, and since they both have finished a 100…I picked there brain a bit. By the 30K mark I was struggling to stay hydrated and my heart rate higher than it should have been. Frankly I was ready to cash in the chips at the 30K mark, but there were people I didn’t want to disappoint…would rather die on the trail than disappoint. Throughout the night, the temperatures dropped a bit but it was still humid. It was Wet and Hot…that’s alright if you’re in the bedroom, but not if you’re running trails. By the 40K mark, I had come through the wall and the last 20K was not as tough as I thought it would be. Running with buds like Lynn and Jess helped to pass the time. It was good to be out on the trails again…with a bunch of really good guys.

I came home, showered and caught about 3 hours of sleep and then up and ready to celebrate Memorial Day…thank you to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Overall a good training weekend….I have a really long ways to go to get where I want to go…but have a little sumtin sumtin to work with….and there you go….