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| 2 Month | 18 Day | 2007 Year |
| 12 Hour | 57 Minute | PM |
2007 Silver Comet 50k Ultra Run
05:21:45 AM: Up and preparing for a run. Cold and windy out.
07:17:55 AM: Here in Rockmart. Early. Temp dropped about five degrees between Atlanta and the starting location. Surprisingly there are a good number of folks already here. Most are milling about in confused-looking flight patterns. Most realize after two minutes that, while ok for running, their clothes don't work for standing around... they duck into their cars shortly after a quick, and apparently unsuccessful, jumping jack and hand rubbing session.
07:20:03 AM: Loaded up Michael Crichton's latest book called Next on the iPod. Listened to the first hour on the way out. Seems like a decent biotech thriller.
07:29:58 AM: Holy f I froze balls standing in a two person line to get my race number. It's cold out. 22 degrees.
07:45:03 AM: Doing final gear prep and then we'll be off. Not sure about my clothing but I think I'll be ok.
12:57:15 PM: Finished: 4hr40min.
02:49:35 PM: Back home now. Here's the recap:
It was incredibly cold at the start and the organizers were thankfully conscious of this fact, only holding us near the start line for a couple minutes. We started at the baseball fields past Rockmart and ran back towards the big tunnel. It was about 24 degrees at the start.
Within a few minutes I realized that I had dressed to perfection. A capilene base layer and a shell with gloves kept me warm but not too warm. I wore a hat as well.
The first eight miles were uphill. I took a nice easy pace, listening to my audiobook. I felt some soreness in my right calf but not my left and ate salt tabs to keep it to a dull roar. Unfortunately I was low on salt tabs today so had to ration them out and probably didn't take in as many as I should have.
The next seven and a half miles to the turnaround were wonderful. I was feeling fresh and it was a nice gentle downhill/rolling hills. I stopped at the rest stops and, always being the only runner for six people to service, I had some fun with them, joking around etc. One guy called me the happiest runner out there which I took as a great compliment.
Then the turnaround. The wind hit me. Sometimes stronger, sometimes not there. But a big factor in the next seven miles. It made my hands and core colder. I had to fidget and adjust things a lot more. On top of that I was running uphill. Miles 19-22 were very mentally demanding. I didn't feel like I was moving at all.
Then at mile 24 my lower intestines lit up. Lots of pain and the usual remedy of passing gas wasn't working. I stayed with it for a few more miles but the pain was mounting. Then I realized that I had caught up with the guy in front of me. But the pain was too great. I had to jump into the woods for some quick and explosive Number Two.
As I exited the woods I saw that somebody behind me had caught up. But I felt good again and was able to put some speed back on. We were about five or six miles from the end and I thought I could hold him off.
But the intestine pain came back with about three miles to go. I thought I was going to explode but I didn't want to make another stop. I knew there was a porta potty at the finish and I fixated on it. In the end I got passed with about a half mile to go. My stomach issues cost me two spots, bumping me from 9th to 11th. While this sounds great, realize that there were only about 25 people there. My finishing time was 4hr40min. By the end of the run it had warmed up to a whopping 36 degrees.
Never have I been so happy to Number Two in a porta potty. Did you know they're putting sanitizing hand gel into them these days?
My legs were toast at the end. Very little turnover and lots of pain. I blew my salt plan and obviously messed something up with my nutrition. I had hoped for a confidence builder going into next month's 50 miler but now I'm just terrified. I couldn't have run another 50 yards today. And my pace wasn't anything to write home about (but it was apparently something to blog about).
Still, a good training day. Scaring myself with the 50 miler has kept my running base with me over the winter and that was my original goal.
Thanks to GUTS for putting this run on. And thanks for the most excellent Patagonia Capilene long sleeve shirt! Very cool!
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