Run Log: April 29 - May 5, Bear Mountain 50-Miler

84.53 miles for the week, plus 7 miles of biking, and 12 more walking. The Thursday club run was a little slower this week, as there were fewer of us. Then Saturday I ran TNF's Gore-Tex (not just one corporate sponsor, but two!) 50-miler at Bear Mountain State Park, 30-40 miles from New York City, finishing in just over 12 hours.

Here's the GPS from the 50-miler:


The course was brutal, and I definitely will not be repeating it. The climbing wasn't so bad (I like climbing), but I really don't want to have to wake up at 3:00AM to get to a 5:00AM start. (5:00AM for a 7:00AM start is much more typical.) So I got fewer than 4 hours sleep. Then I had to go to the bathroom at the first two aid stations. Then I dry heaved a few times. And the course was solid anklebreakers. Seriously. So many rocks. It was more like parkour while staring at the ground than running.

 

And that's on a relatively flat section. I was feeling like garbage around mile 15, but eventually a nice guy from North Carolina passed me, but started a conversation with "This is the part where we take it easy," so I drafted off of him for several miles, and two guys from Puerto Rico, one in a Superman costume, drafted off of me, which really helped me through my lowest point. When we parted ways around mile 26 or 27, it was clear I'd finish the race just fine.

I spent a day or two in NYC after the race. George likes the chicken bones all over the street, but was otherwise underwhelmed.



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