45 miles, 11:45

Well the original plan was to meet Brian (also training for Mo) at 7 am in Mt. Airy Forest. We were going to run the course of a 5 mile race with Adam (the course designer) to make sure all the ribbons were in the right spot. I didn’t make the 6am wakeup call, so I missed the first 5 miles of the day leaving me with 45 instead of 50. I showed up around 8:30 and waited around a bit until I saw Brian. The race started at 9am and we were going to run sweep to pick up all the course markings. The first loop went well. We picked up all the markings while chatting and jogging at a leisurely pace. The course was relatively hilly but nothing too steep. This was a very similar loop to the 5 mile loop at the stone steps 50k, which we have both run. The main exceptions are two STEEP hills, one towards the beginning, and one towards the end. After we finished sweeping the course our goal was to include the hills in all of our remaining loops…that didn’t last.

After the race we met up with Mike, who is a member of the running club which Brian is president of. Mike agreed to do a loop with us right after finishing the race. Mike is one of those pesky fast guys (3:15 flying pig time)! We went out too fast on this second loop; of course neither of us could feel it at the time. We ran the famous stone steps hill and cruised this lap with ease. As Mike departed we were able to slow to our ultra snail pace. At this point we were still going a bit to fast. The third loop was easy enough, and we were still both feeling pretty good.

About a mile form the end of the third loop (Brian’s fourth) Brian got a call form his friend Bob. He’s an ultrarunner who has done two 50 milers but can’t yet stomach the jump to 100. I think after hearing Brian and my stories about Mo he will come around! Brian warned me before Bob joined us that he was a talker, and he didn’t disappoint. He ran with us for 15 miles and kept the conversation going. It was a real joy running with him, and I hope we can do it again in the future. I gave him my blog address so he may stop by. Bob, if you’re reading this, thanks for the company! The strategically placed moaning and groaning made Brian and I feel much better! About the time Bob joined us Brian and I had realized we were going to fast. We may have been able to keep the pace for 50 miles, but the purpose of this run was to prepare for Mo. We dialed it down and started walking more up hills.

At this point we also cut out the two big hills and were running the 5 mile race course from this morning. This was a good move. We were feeling the miles at this point and we were both happy with the way we were able to slow down and recover before we had gotten to the point of no return. After Bob had to depart Brian and I went out for our next loop. We were both feeling tired and thinking about Mohican. I had told Brian earlier in the run how I have given up all hope of trying to break 24 hours. After about 25 miles he came to the same conclusion. All of my 50 milers have told me that I will explode big time if I try for 24 hours. After 1 loop alone, Adam, the course designer from this mornings race, joined us for the remaining three loops. It was great how we had fresh legs running with us all throughout the day.

Adam works at The Running Spot, which is Cincinnati’s premier running store, so it was nice to talk to him about different equipment and shoes. He is a trail runner and is beginning to explore the ultra community. He will be running his first 50k at Rattle Snake this summer in WV. At this point in the race we were running a little faster then what I want to be running during the 100 but it was slower than I have ever done 50 before. It was really great! The only thing that was bothering me were tight muscles and hips, due to my extreme inflexibility. I didn’t have a lot of muscle fatigued and I felt pretty good. Coming into the end of the run this was by far the best I have ever felt at the end of such a long run. After the previous 4 times I have run 50 miles or more, this was the only time I felt like I could keep going (even though I only ran 45.) It motivated me for Mohican. I didn’t run the last 5 miles because it was getting dark and I didn’t have a light.

If I had completed the 50 I would have been around 13 hours, which is about 1 hour faster than what I want to run the first 50 of Mohican. For once I am going to run a smart race! I am not going to get caught up in going to fast. If my body is trained enough to run 100 miles I will do it, nothing that happens on race day is going to be the reason for a DNF. I plan to have many 100 milers in my future. I am not going to do anything stupid. I plan to go out at the back of the pack, and stay there! If I finish DFL I can guarantee you I will be as happy as the person who wins the race!

I want to say a final thanks to Brian for allowing me to tag along on your training run today. I am not a guy that can go out on long training runs like this alone. This is why I do so many races. I would have never been able to stay motivated to run for 12 hours without you! I look forward to going up to Mohican with you next Saturday. If anyone else is interested let me know, we are in need of a tour guide, and any extra runners.