NJ Ultra Festival 50 Mile



NJ Ultra Festival
March 19, 2011


I signed up for the NJ Ultra Festival last September originally planning to do my first 50k about 6 months later. If you follow my blog you know that I did my first ultra/50k in January (if not check out my event history), which made this my 2nd ultra and my first 50. I changed to the 50 mile race a few weeks prior to give myself more of a challenge and to actually consider myself an ultra runner. Some feel that the 50k distance is so close to a marathon that it shouldn't be considered an ultra, so I felt it was my time to join the ranks no questions asked. I had 2 goals with this race; finish the 50 mile distance and finish in under 10 hours.

My training since the 50k has been a hybrid program that I designed myself. A typical week would involve heavy barbell training 4 days a week while also running 2x a week. My wednesday run was typically a 3-7 mile run while my Saturday run was where I built up my base and went longer. One major change in my training for this race opposed to pre-50k in January is the lack of conditioning I did. Whereas Crossfit had me doing it 4-5x a week, I only really conditioned when I ran minus a few occasions. Unfortunately due to the trails not being OK to run on from all the snow(therefore my motivation diminished) and a nagging foot injury, my longest run prior to this race was about 16 miles and only 3 hours total. It had me worried going into the race because I wasn't sure I had enough miles under my belt to guarantee a finish, let alone a sub-10 hour effort. I approached the race rather nonchalantly however because for some reason it takes a lot to really make me nervous nowadays. I attribute this heavily to the amount of time I spend doing uncomfortable things (like running long distances).

To give you a better visual, below is the course map.

The easiest way for me to interpret what happened today would be to divide the race up into 4 parts. Starteing at the Long Valley Presbyterian Church, runners did the west leg twice for a total of 32 miles. The west leg was 8 miles, so basic math tells you that it's out and back twice. Once this is completed you had to do 2 more out and backs on the eastern leg which was 4.5 miles total. The course was very flat, something I did not know when I signed up for the race (my own fault for not researching) but it was a good inaugural 50 miler for me nonetheless.

The first loop of 16 miles went by a lot better than I thought it might. The race began at 6am at the LVPC. I was up and ready to go at 4am. We arrived at the church at 5:15 and waited for the start. After a pre-race briefing we were off in the dark. I brought my headlamp for the first loop although it wasn't needed after about 30 minutes of running. I was very surprised how fast the first hour went by. One thing I believe really benefits my running ability is that I rarely run in training on fresh legs. Typically my training will have me squatting very heavy the day or days before and I'm going into the run taxed. And let's be honest, I'm one of the few ultra-runners whose squatting heavy 2x a week (for better or for worse, we all have goals...) but it's nice to have that advantage regardless. The first 2 hours went by with little to no pain which was great. I ate a goo prior to the run and had no other breakfast so I grabbed a bite at the first aid station and proceeded. The first loop went by pretty uneventfully actually. I came cranking into race headquarters to my family who was surprised how good I looked. 16 miles done in 2:51.

Before I go further, I want to point out for myself a trend I've noticed. I was always told as an unexperienced ultra-runners to run my own race and go conservative in the beginning. I've realized through my first 2 ultras that I've been too conservative. Out of the 58 runners doing the 50m, I would estimate through the first 10-16 miles I was in 50th place. For some reason I dropped to the back of the pack and I was running too slow. I know "my pace" that I can sustain without going too hard and I was below that.There's a good possibility I would've shaved a few minutes off if I hadn't done this accidentally, but it's hard to say. I will have to look at this for the future.

16 Mile loop 2 came along and went by a lot slower than the first loop. The furthest I've ever run prior to this event was 31.1 miles, so completing this loop would put me in uncharted territory as far as distances go. I found that the more hung up on split times I got during this loop the more frustrating it got. It went by agonizingly slow at some points. All I wanted to do was get to the "easier" 9 mile out and back sections and be done with the western loop. Around mile 25-27 I was beginning to get tired legs and going through big ups and downs. When I get hit with a big up I usually ride the wave until it burns out and then I do my best to face whatever comes next. Sometimes I take the low points pretty severely and get pretty pissed off. This was happening on the return portion of the 2nd 16 mile out and back (mile 24-32) quite frequently. Without any salt tablets I noticed some funny feelings during this portion of the race as well. I got very tired of pretzels but forced them down to help replenish sodium. I think it helped but that's also tough to say.

Speaking of nutrition, I did pretty well during the course of the day. I ate mostly pretzels, M+M's, blueberries, strawberries, hammer gels, and jelly beans. I had never had jelly beans during a run before but those might be one of my new favorites for long run quick energy. To drink I had lots of water, heed, a few cups of ginger ale and probably 2 cans of mountain dew total. The aid stations were all loaded with food and drink which could hurt you if you weren't careful. The station on the eastern leg was run by a local boyscout group who did a good job in my opinion, but I was shocked how many people were irritated at them just because they took 2 or 3 seconds longer to fill a water bottle than an adult would. Some people take racing too seriously apparently, or maybe I just don't know because I wasn't trying to win it all.

Getting back to headquarters and seeing everybody was really nice. I had quite the crowd in attendance as my girlfriend, mom, brother, dad, aunt, uncle and cousin were all there to cheer me on. It was good seeing them and I often used reaching them as motivation during my low points. I told my mom when to be back for the 41 mile check-in and I was off after eating and changing my shirt and shoes. I began the race in my Inov8 Roclite 295's for 32 miles and then changed to my New Balance Mt101's for the remainder of the race. Both shoes held up really well and I was pleased to see the Mt101's take quite a beating and hold their own. Post-race I realized it may not have gone as well as I thought because my feet (as seen in pictures at the bottom) are absolutely toasted with blisters.

Going into my first of two 9 mile out and backs I was very optomistic. "Oh this is going to be so quick! It's like half of what I was doing before!" Yeah, not so much. The loop started off pretty uneventfully, but soon became treacherous to my legs and mental well-being. In my first ultra, the 4th 10k loop of 5 was my biggest challenge. The main reason behind this was because my motivation was just not there. In the back of my mind I knew I had to do it all over again, which resulted in really low self-esteem. Today the same thing happened to me on this loop. Being only 4.5 miles away felt so close but the end just wouldn't come. The aid station was at mile 3 so you would hit on the way out to the end of the eastern course and then again 3 miles later on the return leg. I used this as a landmark to gauge my progress, which became increasingly demoralizing. This third "leg" of my race was definitely the worst part. I walked a lot more on this portion than anywhere else. All I wanted to do was see my family and get my monster coffee drink to buzz me up and give me a swift kick in the ass to get back on the trail and finish.

We don't always get what we want. I returned to the 41-mile landmark at RHQ to find that no one was there. My mom had my drink that I was literally craving and was nowhere in sight. Turns out they misinterpreted the race director and thought it was 9 miles out and back (total of 18 miles) and only thought they would see me again at the end. I waited 10 minutes for them to show up at RHQ when I could've been running. All I wanted to do was see them so it was worth it to me at the time, but when they didn't show up I just had to count my losses and go.

I chugged a mountain dew (suitable substitute to the Monster) and charged back onto the trail. I was pissed I hadn't seen anyone and even more mad that I wasted 10 minutes dicking around when I could've been running. I don't really regret the fact that I waited because I was miserable and basically banking on getting my pick-me-up but it never came. I didn't really care if I missed the sub-10 hour goal in the first place (especially at that point) so in the end it was alright in my book. Apparently I cared a lot more than I thought about getting in under 10 hours, because along with my aggravation at missing my family the last loop went by a lot faster simply because I went a lot faster. I was cranking out 9:30 miles while walking every 7-10 minutes for 60 seconds just to make sure I wasn't pushing too hard. I hit the turn around, banged out the distance to the return aid station and then cruised all the way back to RHQ. That 3 miles to the finish may or may not have been the longest ever. The last 4 miles of the race I passed over 15 people. This was my reprieve to the slow start and shows what type of runner I am. My opinion is that all the heavy lifting I do gives me an element to my running no one else has. I still have the power in my legs than others just lose after a long time on their feet. Anyway, I cruised into race headquarters where my family was waiting, just in time to meet my goal. First 50 miles done in 9:53.

Some Things of Note:

- My no dairy 7 days before the race trick worked. I only had to use the bathroom once and it was brief and not urgent.

- I need to do more 5-7 mile runs at 7-8:30 minute miles if I want to advance as a runner. I have no problem with the actual base miles but I neglect these and it limits how fast I can cruise without "feeling like I'm doing anything"
- I think I would benefit from doing more track workouts as well

- Tend better to blisters in the future during races

- I really need to stop looking at my split times because they do nothing but frustrate me and make me nervous.
- The sorest areas are my feet, quads, and calves. My hamstrings are sore but feel OK. My shoulders are tight and so is my back.
- I can honestly say that in my mind the 50k was harder. I dug so much deeper to finish that race although this would be a damn close second. I think I'm a lot more mentally tough now.

Reflections: One, I would definitely recommend the NJ trail series races to anyone looking for ultras. The race directors did a great job. A bit pricy but definitely worth it if you have the cash. Two, I don't think I'm going to distance for a while. I burned out from running 2 weeks or so ago and have been looking forward to getting past this race so I could take a break. I'm going to focus on some of my other goals for a month or two and keep ultra-running on the back burner for a bit if all goes as planned. Specifically, I will begin working on my sub 5 minute mile goal and continue to get stronger. I will begin to do more track workouts once I'm fully recovered from this race. I'd like to start practicing muscle ups but with limited equipment right now that's an issue. Along with my training I'm going to make a serious effort to lose some fat for the first time in about a year. We'll see how it plays out but as of now that's the plan. I still need to run 1 more 50 mile race this year to meet my goal, and as of now my plan is to do the Stone Cat 50 in November. I may do a fat-ass style 50k next month in order to maintain some of my endurance but like everything else I need to think it through first. I'm still not sure if ultras are in my future or not, but regardless it was awesome to train so hard and then meet my goal.

Some pictures:

pre race jitters

Me and Allie pre-race. We're better looking
 during the day I swear.

Mid chew checking my splits

Finishing my first 50 miler

Geekin' out after 50 miles

Sexy poster race blister