New Site!

Hey everyone, just wanted to make a quick post to mention I've migrated this content over to my own hosted site, aaronmfj.com

I'll be bringing this down in the next couple of months or so. The new site is going to be much better and more consistent  than this blogger. So, stay tuned and make sure you follow things over there!

http://www.aaronmfj.com/

USA! USA! USA!

So, where were we? Oh, right, I had just run an FA 50k and was well on my way to my first official ultra race. I haven't been updating as much as I would like but I've been queuing up some thoughts and things to write about so I'll have more regular updates.

With the FA 50k out of the way, I had my sights set on the MST 50k race here in Raleigh (Wake Forest). Before MST, I registered for Wrightsville Beach Marathon with a friend of mine. I figure it would be a normal training run and on top of that, I haven't run an official marathon since my first one in 2008. It all sounded great until I realized I got the dates mixed up. I was now scheduled to run a marathon and 50k on back-to-back weekends. Oh boy...

Wrightsville Marathon 2015

Wrightsville came and I decided that I was just going to take it easy with my only goal being to beat my first marathon time of 4:10. My friend David and I were standing at the start, in the dark parking lot of Wrightsville and we start talking about paces. I planned on an 8:30 mile pace for the first half, then an 8:00 pace for the second half with a 7:30 kicker in the last couple of miles. Then the gun goes off and it all goes out the window as we start to talk about, "what if we qualify for Boston?!". I only had a couple of miles above 8, the rest were all sub 8. This was also my first official race using Tailwind Nutrition. I had a leaking reservoir of water, 2 soft flasks for Tailwind, and a supplemental Hammer gel every 20 minutes.

The crowd really got me pumped up. You see, every aid station was manned by volunteers and different colleges. So there was an NC State station, UNC, etc. Get a bunch of college students in groups during a big event and you get the Megazord of support. Couple that with the fact I was wearing American flag shorts and rocking a sweet trail beard and you have a recipe for chaos. Every station I ran by echoed the calls of dozens of students chanting, "USA! USA! USA!" and/or "SWEET BEARD!" This usually got everyone around me pumped up as well. Good times.

Mile 25 or so. USA!

I only stopped once to pee and otherwise felt great. I did have some chaffing from my hydration pack (more on that in a later post) and I ended up running out of Tailwind towards the end. I used the aid station grab-n-go cups of water and Gatorade. The last couple of miles I was still feeling alright and posted 7:30s for mile 25 and 26 with the normal adrenaline-fueled .2.

Overall I'm incredibly satisfied with that time. Old PR of 4:10 to new PR of 3:26. While the excitement of going all out to try and get a Boston time was fun, I knew it wasn't realistic with my lack of speed training and increase in the slow-and-steady distance training, so I didn't go for it. I was supposed to take it easy and use it as a training run since I had MST 50k the next weekend. Oops...

OK USA!

Post Race Info

Strava Details - https://www.strava.com/activities/272298514

Lessons Learned:

• Steady pace until half way and then reevaluating for faster pace in the second half still works well for me.
• I'm still too small for the extra small vest I had on. Can't wear tank tops/singlets with it. The chaffing is real.
• Will not use soft flask bottles for main race bottles ever again. They sag into the pockets.
• I don't enjoy repeat loops in distances races.
• Almost dialed into a new nutrition plan. Confident I can use only Tailwind and be fine. It just works.

Gear List:

• Shoes - Inov-8 Trailroc 235 (discontinued...)
• Pack - Salomon S-Lab Advanced Skin3
• Nutrition - Tailwind, Hammer Gel

Next episode

MST 50k recap and I spontaneously sign up for another 50k two weeks after MST...

Ultra Combo

The past couple of weeks have been easy and slow -- low mileage and feeling sick last weekend. My training has been building mileage on three days/week. Trying to hold a steady weekly mileage at 50 is pretty tough with only three days, so I've been starting to run daily with a rest on Friday.

Since my last post, it's been business as usual. I decided to participate in a FA (Fat Ass), specifically the 7th Annual Falls Lake FA. I set out to get a long, single-track trail run with the goal of getting in a marathon -- my longest run since 2008. It was a cold, cloudy morning with light rain and very muddy trails from previous rain. At the same time, I decided to try a whole new nutrition plan. Previously, I used a Hammer gel every 20 minutes with some water. Occasionally I would use a Hammer Perpetuem with water. This time I decided to try out Tailwind. One pack per 20oz bottle, trying to consume one bottle per hour. I also supplemented with Hammer gel every 30 minutes or an occasional Stinger wafer. Let me tell you what, I felt amazing. 

Just before start, I'm center blue.

I stayed a tad behind with a friend of mine as we made our way through the, at times, ankle-deep mud and calf-high water. Hopping over rocks and negotiating rooted hills, we made it to the marathon turnaround. My buddy tweaked his hip a bit and decided he was going to turn around. I evaluated myself and decided I felt too good to stop now, so I continued on to the 50k turnaround at 15.5 miles in "what's 2 miles, right?!"

Making my way through the woods with a pack of four, including myself, we hit 15.5 miles. Two of the pack were continuing on to the 40 mile turnaround while myself and another decided to turn around. I evaluated again and thought I could probably do 40, I didn't want to push it since I had a long way to get back and I was already charting new mileage. We started our trek back at a comfortable pace, only stopping at the donated aid stations (three in total). After awhile my newly befriended ultra runner decided to break off in search of a bathroom, leaving my in my lonesome.

It never really bothered me to run by myself. I've spent most of the last five years training by myself. Having an extended amount of time to reflect on one's self and other various life events has always been relaxing. I usually don't listen to anything -- just me and my thoughts. The only time it starts to get somewhat weird is when it's dark out or when I've been out for hours. While the sun was still up during my FA run, having been running for 4+ hours and at the time, by myself, things started to get a little weird. Much like when it's dark, I start to see things that aren't always there; my mind conjuring up whatever it can in an attempt to identify my unfocused surroundings. "Is that a person? Is that a deer? Was I already here? Did someone call my name?" Nothing life-altering and it's not like I was out there for 10+ hour 50 mile run - just something I started to notice as I attempted to auto-pilot my way back.

About 4.5 hours in and about 10 miles away from the finish is when I started to not want to eat anymore. I was drinking the Tailwind but I was out of gels and needed to continue eating wafers. However, just the thought of it was disgusting. On top of that, I was on the caffeinated Raspberry Buzz flavored Tailwind that I was absolutely not a fan of. So while I was baby-sipping the Tailwind, I was breaking off pieces of the wafer trying to eat them without gagging. I ended up getting a mouth full of water, then taking a bite - mixing it in my mouth and swallowing. I was able to eat half of one but didn't eat anymore for the last 6 miles or so. I was terribly off schedule for nutrition and my body was depleted. 

After a few uninspired miles I made it to the finish. Despite being energy depleted, my muscles felt better than anticipated. Looking down and seeing 30 miles on my Garmin was surreal. My feet were wet during the entire run, my hands were freezing, and the tips of two of my toes were hurting every time I went down a hill but man was it fun. It's not much more than a marathon, but it sure was a hell of a lot harder. My post long run meal is usually a Sofritas Chipotle burrito but my stomach still didn't want anything. I downed some tomato soup, Coke, and a grilled cheese. Overall it was a great experience and I was happy to basically run the same course as my 50k race in March. My confidence in the distance was boosted and now I'm sure I can do it. I was on my feet most of that night and most of the next day, including a one mile recovery run and a seven mile run two days after that. I learned a few lessons along the way as well (carry some extra socks/s) that will help me on race day.

You can check out the run on Strava if you're curious.

Time: 5:24

Avg Pace: 10:25

Distance: 50k

Nutrition:

20oz bottle of Tailwind mixture every hour.

1 Hammer Gel every 30 minutes - Substitute wafer (half per half hour) as needed to mix it up.

Sip from second water source after every gel and Tailwind drink.

Random unmanned aid station cookie.

-AaronMFJ