my (running) goal this year was to finish the jfk 50 mile ultramarathon. more than a few people insist that training for--and running--a fall marathon is sufficient preparation for the ultra. they're right. sort of.
photos are here.
the jfk 50 begins in boonsboro, maryland; there are two starts, one at 5:00 am and another at 7:00. i was part of the 7:00 group, which means i had sunlight on my side. there are really three acts to this ultra. first, the appalachian trail. second, the c&o canal towpath. finally, a stretch of rolling asphalt roads into the finish in williamsport, md.
the course follows a climbing road up to the appalachian trail. we take a right on the trail and run/walk/hike/stay upright for about 13 miles. it's fairly sublime this time of year. more than a quick glance over that clear vista means a twisted ankle, or worse. my neck's sore from staring at rocks, roots, and ruts from the more than three hours on the AT, but it was pretty.
around mile 15, we leave the trail, grateful for the change. whew. next up, a marathon on the flat gravel of the c&o towpath. one of my knees, not really used to trail running and therefore unhappy with the preceding 13 on the AT, began smarting at some point between miles 19 and 21. pretty scary to have a totally unfamiliar pain at mile 20 of 50. had i not been running with a group of friends (more on that below), i just might have dropped out. it hurt. got some tylenol in my system at mile 27 (more on my unmatched course support below, too). things got better in about half an hour. my friend jen, with whom i ran almost the entire race, noted that we'd been running for more than five hours. here's the thing... the hardest part wasn't thinking about how many miles remained. time left was the monster in my mind. the diminishing number of hours to go offered little comfort. really. not even near the end.
the view from the canal was never as monotonous as i thought it would be. i've now seen harper's ferry, shepherdstown, the caves near antietam. it all seems appropriately... old. i ran most of that section with the same 3 or 4 people. made it so much better. we came off the canal for the final 8 miles on the rolling roads. those roads were less forgiving than i'd expected. after about 8 hours on trails and gravel paths, asphalt blows.
ate lots throughout the race. during 5-10K races, aid stations have water and sports drink. 10 milers and half-marathons have more sports drink, maybe some gel. marathons will have lots of water and sports drink, gel, some oranges... at the ultra, you get FOOD. peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, soup, cookies. m&ms, chips, pretzels. i actually think i ate too much between the start and mile 15 or so. i don't want to eat another gel ever.
around mile 47, jen and i allowed ourselves to start thinking about finishing in under 10 hours. we'd been walking 90-105 seconds per mile on the towpath and roads and averaging 10:45-11:00 minute miles. at mile 47, we decided to walk for 30 seconds, and that choice didn't feel so hot. at 48, we walked 90 seconds. at 49, we knew we could make our (brand new) goal of a sub-10 hour finish, so we walked for 28 seconds. that last mile was as agonizing as you might think; the race actually finishes on a slight incline.
finished with jen at 9:58. that's way faster than i'd expected. i've spent the past six months assuring first-time marathoners that one should never ever have a "time goal" for one's first distance race. just finish, and worry about your time next year. and that was totally my plan. no cares at all about when i'd finish, just as long as i beat the 12-hour cut-off. when we realized sub-10 was in sight, i let myself care.
i ran the appalachian trail section with my coach, andy, who finished in 9:27. jen was there, as was reinaldo, who finished in 9:57. my coach (and subsequent co-coach)from the marathon training program, bill, ran the second half of the AT section with us. so nice to have a new contributor to the conversation...
i ran most of the towpath with jen, wendy (another veteran of the marathon program), club member stephanie, and dave (who's a friend of a friend who runs this thing every year and now has 28 finishes). john, one of this year's pace group for the marathon training program, came along for 12 on the towpath. it was very good of him to come along, and i don't think we scared him too much.
i ran most of the last 8 with jen, a jfk veteran (this was her third). she set a new personal record by 15 minutes. on pained knees.
natalie ought to have picked up a medal herself, because she totally made it happen for everyone. during an ultra, you actually need a "crew," someone to show up every once in a while with a change of shoes, some tylenol, your favorite sports drink (pre-beer, anyway). natalie not only did that for me, she also supported four other runners, transported a couple back and forth between meeting points, and generally rocked. truly, without her support, both psychic and nutritional, it would've been a terrible day for me.
today, my knee still hurts (doctor says ice, elevation, nsaids, could be bruised miniscus. also, "i cannot advise running 50 miles."), but not so bad as it did yesterday.
after my three marathons, i've been excited about the next one. after this... tired. when i was trying to get the damn reflective vest off after crossing the finish line, this guy says, "imagine trying to do that after a 100-miler."
no thanks.
not yet, anyway.
Posted by dave at November 20, 2006 9:45 PM | TrackBack