Back into the Ultra Fray

Race Report:  Tesla Hertz Runs, 50K, Rocky Point Pine Barrens Preserve, Rocky Pointy, Long Island, NY, October 10, 2015

Well, it has been a few months since I've toed the line of an ultra or any other race.  And quite some time since I "toed the line" of a blog post.  Why the silence?, I ask myself.  I guess I haven't had too much positive to write about, and used the usual busy-ness as an excuse.  I'm not sure if I've turned a corner, but it is good to be back into racing, and I've felt fairly positive about the last few months of training. So this is as good a place as any to try to get back into the routine of public self-reflection as I try to puzzle stuff through and regain some sagging self-confidence.  I know, I know--writing about the negative experience would have been helpful and maybe cathartic.  It just always seemed to slide!

Tesla was definitely not the type of race I usually seek out.  Flat, maybe less than 1K of gain for the whole 50K.  Loops (of just over 10 miles).  Decidedly non-technical, though with its share of roots and twists and turns. But it had other things to recommend it, like being small, low-key, and clearly put on by runners who get the ultra spirit and keep it simple and runner-friendly. The volunteers were great, aid stations were well stocked, and I found the course to be very well marked, including confidence markers after tricky turns and caution tape to keep you from going the wrong way through some intersections.  The course was pretty, through a canopy of forest cover on terrain that reminded me of the NJ Pine Barrens though without the swamps and ponds and such.  In a suburban area where noises from the outside world intruded for the latter couple miles of the loop (and with two road crossings each loop where I usually had to wait 10-15 second for cars to pass).  But for most of each loop you were isolated and alone enough that you could imagine you were in the backwoods, which for me is a nice feeling!

I started toward the back of the pack with a friend (who prefers anonymity).  Chip had started a half hour earlier, with the other 50-milers, after emerging from the blanket under which he had been huddled in a chair since we got there.  I felt pretty good the first loop, and tried to stick to a 10/1 run/walk pattern.  But some short hills in the first few miles made me consider whether I should get into a routine of run/walk more based on terrain.  On the second half of the loop (there being an aid station about midway each loop), with some bigger hills thrown in, I started getting into the habit of making sure to walk the hills and then just check my GPS watch to make sure I didn't go more than a mile or 10 minutes without (power) walking again.  I mostly ran alone, but with runners in sight occasionally, but most runner contact really was limited to the short out and back to the mid-way aid station, where there is maybe half a mile of shared two-way trail.  Somewhere toward the middle of the first loop, I did a face plant when I cut the tip of a root, but fortunately I had light gloves on and braked the fall with my hands, so was no worse for the wear. I came in to the start/finish at about the 1:48 mark, refilled my hydration pack part way, grabbed a few morsels, and was off within a couple minutes.

Things were really spread out in the second loop....[Never quite finished this but what the hell! 1/8/22]