50K PR – – – CRUSHed
Saturday morning I ventured out onto Chicago’s Lakeshore Drive to take part in the Chicago Lakefront 50K Ultramarathon. I had run this event twice before, in 2000 [4:49:14] and 2001 [4:36:37 – PR]. Both times I ran the 50K weeks after running the Lakefront Marathon. This year would be no different as I ran the Lakefront Marathon 40 days earlier.
Temps were in the mid-30’s and it was overcast with a strong North wind. The race starts at the 63rd street beachhouse and loops (north) three times. Course Map The 50 milers started at 5:30AM and the 50K start was at 7:30AM. We headed north for 6.1 miles then back to the start/finish area for 12.2. At this point I was around 6th place and was running slightly better than 7:30 pace. I picked up a water and gel bottles and headed back north along the Lakefront. The wind began to really wear on me at this point and I felt the beginnings of a "bonk". I kept wolfing down gel through the turnaround (~17M) and got a tailwind heading back towards the start/finish area.
Unfortunately, the tailwind wasn’t helping me and my HR was slowing…more signs of an impending "bonk". I kept working on getting gel in me as a few guys passed me on the way back to the start/finish area. I arrived at the start/finish area (~22 miles) and grabbed a fresh gel bottle and partially refilled my water bottle. I also grabbed a cup of Coke, which turned out to be a smart move.
Heading back onto the course for the third and final loop, I had to work against a north wind that had been increasingly growing throughout the day. I kept focused on feeding myself gel and washing it down with H20. At ~25 miles I downed two cups of Coke and rolled up to the turnaround (~26.2) in about 3:30. I grabbed another cup of Coke and headed south with an even stronger tailwind than earlier. Another cup of Coke was downed at about 27 miles and I was sufficiently fueled up and ready to roll.
Digging deep, with a belly full of Coca-Cola & my MP3 player was blaring Disturbed’s "The Sickness", I began running 7:30’s on my way back to the finish. I rolled in at 4:10:36 which CRUSHes my personal record by 26 minutes!! I finished 11th overall out of 141 finishers and managed 8:05 pace.
Admittedly, there’s still room for improvement on my 50K PR. If I were to focus on training/peaking for the 50K, versus running a 26.2 (and 15K) in the weeks before, I’d run a much faster time. Regardless, I’ll take it.