The Final (real) Training Run

This past Saturday, Dad and Mom came out to Grand Haven, and while Mom spent time with the grandkids, Dad and I headed out to the trails for our final training run. The Dances with Dirt: Devil's Lake 50K is only two weeks away, which is amazingly close. Running on trails is different than running on roads because it is difficult to hold a steady pace and therefore difficult to estimate how far you've really gone. So we aimed to be on our feet for 4 hrs.

The first 10 miles went by pretty easily. We walked up all the hills and had plenty to talk about. After that the heat and humidity started to get to me. But more than that, I wasn't eating enough. I was acceptably, thought I might have been able to drink more. The last half of the run, I was starting to feel it. I'm trying not to let this get me down, instead, I'm trying to learn from my mistake and be prepared during the race with plenty of options to eat and drink. The day finished at 3 hr. 45 min. and approx. 22 miles.

I know that I have trained hard, and that I'm ready. The next two weeks will have their share of doubts and times when I ask myself "What am I doing? And why am I doing it?" But it will not have any more long runs. I excited to toe the line and see what I can do.

A note on goals: I know that most people reading this don't really have a frame of reference for what a "good" time would be for running a 50K race. And truth be told, I don't either. I only know what my goals are for this particular race. They are three tiered.

First, to finish. If I do this, I will consider the race a success.

Second, to finish under 7 hours. I think this is a realistic and attainable goal.

Third, to finish under 6 hours. This would mean that I had a really good race.

But more importantly, I hope that I have fun. These long trail races can be more about getting out in nature than they are about a finishing time. Regardless of my finishing time, I'm sure that it will be a good weekend, a memorable time with family and perhaps make some new friends.