AR50 - Old Dog, New Trick

Somewhere after Negro Bar (about 24 miles in):

Friendly Spectator: You are number 125 overall.

#187 (me): You have got to be shitting me! I have never been this far up.

Friendly Spectator: Definitely 125...LOOKIN GOOD LOUIS!!

#187 (me): FEELIN GOOD BILLY RAY!!! (I was floating - no bullshit)

Just when I thought I had a clue...got this stuff kinda dialed in...I LEARNED SOMETHING NEW. SOMETHING BIG. Who knew?! Who in the hell knew!?!?

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Toeing the AR50 start line, I had a NEW PLAN and was going to stick to it come hell or high water. NEW PLAN was not going to be easy, however, and was going to force me to run in a way that cuts across the grain with the way I naturally approach ultra running or running in general. NEW PLAN had structure. NEW PLAN made sense. NEW PLAN would provide the guns needed to spit in the eye of this 50 miler and finish...smiling...upright...or fake it convincingly. Twice before I've made the finish of this one but never in control and always after plenty of self induced suffering.

Hell did eventually show up, by the way, as well as his bro High Water who usually, in the latter hours, take turns sucker punching me mentally ("why in the f**k do I subject myself to this crap?") and physically ("who needs toenails anyway...just 20 miles to go..."). However, this time I had NEW PLAN in my corner....NEW PLAN was by my side for the long haul. Yeah...NEW PLAN had my back!

Hell and High Water...SAY HELLO TO MY LIL FREN!!! (think Al Pacino - Scarface).

At the Way to Cool 50K a few weeks ago, the plan was to go on the full tilt boogie until I blew. I refer to this method as "The Gump" and it's one of my favorites. The beauty of the Gump is in it's simplicity. Just run your butt off from the start and deal with paying the piper later. No watch, no pace, no brains...just run like you stole something baby! Sometimes you make it, most times you don't, but the unencumbered running somehow fuels it's appeal. I dig not having to pay attention to the details early on so much that I am willing to risk the obligatory physical and mental flogging that come with a planned, intentional Gump. I know there is a better method but I still enjoy Gumping it quite often. Strange choice the Gump.

It's also fun to find out what kind of shape you are in utilizing the Gump. It's simple...and I like simple. I will caution however that, for a runner of my caliber (read; hack), the Gump should be reserved for distances 50k or shorter. I have never attempted to Gump anything longer and have no plans to. I'm foolish - not stupid. Or is it the other way around? Depends on who you ask. =)

The Gump... and it's various styles and flavors has been part of running since it's inception. An Intentional Gump, if successful, can be a thing of beauty while the more pedestrian Unintentional Gump will more commonly gather scorn. More on Gump Theory & Appreciation to follow in another post....

For AR50, NEW PLAN consisted of wearing a heart rate monitor and keeping my HR below 145 all the way to Beals Point (mile 27) in an effort to reach that point of the race feeling good and optimistic about the remainder of the race. (Why I chose 145 bpm I'm not sure other than the knowledge that 155-160 bpm at WTC reduced me to a quivering mass of self doubt by mile 24....a shivering, salt encrusted chihuahua without his blanky...I needed a hug, therapy and maybe a laxative). NEW PLAN also had me eating more than I have in the past to see if that would help me avoid some of the stomach problems that I typically encounter.

So the NEW PLAN boiled down to additional calories and controlled pace and BOTH WORKED! It was high fives and butt slaps for me all the way to Rattlesnake Bar (mile 40) before I felt like I actually had to begin working to finish the damn thing.

(Here's a tip. Last year I passed on the free ice cream cone being handed out at Rattlesnake but this year I had one. I will NEVER pass up ice cream during an ultra again. It was that good and gave me a boost over the next few miles.)

I'll tell you something else, running with a plan and maintaining a positive attitude throughout REALLY helped. Just being able to pull into an aid station and crack a joke with a smile improved my mental state and approach to the entire race. I need to write that down somewhere.....

Over the last 20 miles, I think I passed about 10 runners and got passed by a couple finishing 118 overall and in 8:53:55 - a PR by about 25 minutes. Big Sur Intl. Marathon coming up on 4/26 and then Miwok the following weekend, TRT100 in July. Good stuff. BBB