Coming off of my first marathon on December 10th, I decided to try running a fat ass 50k. I have done some running since the Las Vegas Marathon, the longest run has been a little over 8 miles. But I felt okay. I have been fighting a cold, but I seemed to be mostly over it. And the cold hadn’t seemed to affect my running much.
I set my alarm for 5am, but actually got up a few minutes before the alarm went over. I got ready, and was down at the park shortly after 6am. The race didn’t start till 7am. I met the race organizer Rick. The race was all very informal. It would be 4 laps around a local park. After each lap, we would write our time on a clip board that he would leave in his open car.
It was literally freezing out. I dressed in my Cold Gear, with shell pants, and a fleece lined jacket. I also had a Turtle Fur neck gator, Cold Gear gloves and a ski cap. It was dark out, so I used my LED headlamp while we waited around the packing lot. Eventually all of the runners showed up. There were only about 8 of us.
At 7am we took off running, or walking. My plan was to take it easy, walk up the hills, run the flats, and downhills. A few people took off faster than me, but I was ahead of some of the people.
At about the 2 mile mark, a couple guys caught up with me. They turned out to be Rick and Tom, two of the race founders. I ran my own pace. Tom fell back, and eventually Rick and I ran together. It was interesting running with him, and we had a an interesting conversation. I was a bit warm running in the fleece lined jacket.
We made our way back to the parking lot. I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and a couple small Reece’s peanut butter cups. I also drank a little Gatorade. I was warm, so I pulled off the fleece lined jacket, and put on the shell jacket. I only had the ski hat, and thought it might be a bit cold to run without it. I did take off the gloves.
Rick had to take a bathroom break, so I started running again. Tom had also started running, but I quickly pulled ahead of him. Every once in a while, I would look back, and he would be back there about a quarter mile or so. When I was about three quarters of the way around the second lap, I found it hard to keep running. I started walking more. And when I tried to start running again, it was difficult. It was like there was no energy. The accumulated moisture in my clothes was starting to make me cold. After a bit, I only walked, and found walking to be a chore. Eventually Tom passed me. He said that he was only going to run the two laps. I decided that I had had enough. I was cold, tired, and just not having fun anymore. I think I could have walked another lap, but the thought of walking around the same course again, just wasn’t attractive. So I decided to call it a day. I got back to the parking lot, ate another sandwich. Eventually Rick came in, and I told him I was taking off.
I think what did me in was a combination of things. The cold I had been fighting, and not being recovered enough from the Las Vegas Marathon. Also running in the freezing cold kind of sucks.
I want to try another 50k, but in warmer weather and when I am in a more recovered and ready condition.

Posted by Rob in Running on January 2nd, 2007 |