Vista View 6 Hr, January 6, 2013

2013 is going to be my year. I am going to finish a Hundy or 3 and get my 50k back under 5 hours. I got the year started off with a nice little 6 hour race just across Alligator Alley. The Vista View 6 Hour was a race my buddy Chip Wolfe had done the year before. He had just started training together for the LOST 118 relay when Chip broke his right foot 2 miles into a morning 20 just before New Years so he wasn’t able to join me in the race he suggested. I had been doing my 20’s in 4 to 4:30 lately with a bunch of walking and stops at stores so I felt that I could take a shot at a 50k in the 6 hours. It was a Sunday race so there was no hurry to get over there until Saturday afternoon. We made plans to meet a few FUR runners out for dinner and had a great time before driving over to the park. We have been sleeping in the back of the Expedition on an airbed at races lately. Doing so many races this really saves money. Even watched a movie before bed! Alarm at 5am and the park was open. We drove thru the entrance and parked. I was able to get ready and get our tent set up right along the course before the 6am start. The loop was 1.24 miles and had 3 hills, one large one and 2 smaller hills. I made the decision to walk them all and run the rest while not stopping at the tent for more than 10-15 seconds every few laps. Jill did an amazing job of having bottles ready for me as I needed them. I carried one bottle the entire way and drank water for the first 2 hours before mixing in Gatorade every other lap. After 3 hours I started drinking coke as well. She always made sure I had a new GU in my bottle so I never had to ask for anything. I felt pretty good from the start, running all the flat and down while power walking the hills. It was going to take 25 laps to hit my 31 mile goal. I was on my 14th lap when the clock his 3 hours so I felt pretty good about hanging on for the 50k! This was a last minute race intended to be a quality training run, and my longest run of the season to date. I began doing the math around lap 17, knowing what I had to average to hit the goal. I would recalculate every lap after that. I was in the 15’s per lap at this point and needed to average only 17 the last 7 laps, then 19 over the last 3 laps, 20 over the last 2 and I had a full 24 minutes to run the last lap. I didn’t need all 24 as I came in with about 8 minutes to spare. My lap times are as follows: 1-12:57 2-13:37 3-13:47 4-13:16 5-12:25 6-12:21 7-12:45 8-13:44 9-13:41 10-13:08 11-13:10 12-13:03 13-13:13 14-13:19 15-13:43 16-14:06 17-14:15 18-14:52 19-15:31 20-15:08 21-14:59 22-15:58 23-16:02 24-16:28 25-15:55 One other note I have to point out because it relates to how amazing Jill is as my crew person, pacer and girlfriend. She joined me on lap 23 and I was in a serious funk. I felt great all day, but it was a weird feeling. I was dialed in and focused but was starting to hurt as I was digging deep to hold on for the goal. As we started lap 23 I told Jill that I couldn't talk. She said that was fine, she would just talk to me and I didn't have to respond. About a half mile into the lap I told her that I couldn't listen either. I really just wanted to be left alone to finish my last 3 laps. We finished that lap in silence and she left me alone to finish up my last 2 laps. She was even brave enough to meet me for my last 100 yards across the line. I crossed the line and was instantly back to my regular nice ultra runner self. My streak of not snapping at a volunteer is still intact! I sat down under the tent to get my shoes off and drink some coke when I saw guest runner Ultra Marathon Man Dean Karnazes walking around. I jumped up and was instantly hurting but I wanted to get a picture. Dean was so nice to chat with. I had only briefly spoken to him on the course. But as Jill took a few pics Dean complemented me on my game plan throughout the race. He had noticed that I walked the hills and stayed pretty steady for the entire 6 hours. Very cool of him! On to the next race, unplanned but running Long Haul 100k for Chip!