A Big Horse's day at Ice Age 50

I was really looking forward to Ice Age 50 miler - It was a great chance to enjoy the day on good trails, followed by great beer with friends.  Friday started off nicely as I got to the hotel early enough to drive over to packet pickup and have dinner with my friend Jen for Chicago.

I came into Ice Age in decent shape, but with my weight @ 220# I thought I was in 7:45 to 8:00 shape.  The morning temp was 50F with overcast skies.  The air was heavy with moisture, with the constant threat of rain.    It was a great chance to practice eating a lot of calories while running for my 24 hour race training.  My goal was 500 calories per hour.  I did not use drop bags, so I carried 7 baggies of endurox R4 at 300 calories per bag, 17 powerbar gels + 20 s-caps.  I wore a 70 ounce camelback and carried a handheld to mix the endurox into.  My plan was to try and go out a little more aggressive and see how I felt after the 1st 10 miles.

From the start I was running with a couple of friends (Mike & Joe) from RunningAhead.com.  I was going the pace I wanted, but it I knew it was way too fast.  By mile # 12 my legs were burning and I knew I would pay the price the rest of the race.  By mile #13 I decided to put it in cruise control to recover while I ran and was just shooting for a sub 8:00.  This part of the race would have been a grind, but I ran with Mike until the 37 mile aide station, so time moved quickly.  He has such a quiet stride, many times I forgot hew wa there until he said something.  When we hit mile # 37 Robert Wehner (RD for Glacial 50) yelled out something about 13 miles and how much time I had to break 8 (I think).  I love Robert as he is always positive and supportive.  This snapped me off cruise control, Mike stopped for his drop bag and I increased my effort level and was soon running alone. 

At the mile 40 turnaround I felt the best I had felt all day.  I knew sub 8 was in the bag and it was hammer time.  I love the last 10 miles of a 50 when you have taken care of you legs (Sort of) nutrition, hydration and electrolytes and you get to attack the course.  The last 10 miles were a blur and I was in 1-1 breathing the whole way.  I ended up under 90 minutes (9:00 pace) for the 9.8 miles - but the sensation was more like a 6 minute mile tempo run.

I ended up with 7:47 for 12 OA and 2nd in the 40-44 age group.  Mike had went a bit of course, but still managed his 1st ultra in 8:10 - Nice work Mike.  If I had run 4-5 minutes slower the 1st 10 miles, I think I could have matched my 7:37 from 2008, but could of, should of, didn't!  All in all I had a great time.

I had a near perfect day of consuming calories and ended up with 500 each hour.  1 S-Cap every 30 minutes.  I drank 130 ounces of water and another100+ ounces of water with the endurox.

Post race was a blast and I easily met my beer goal for the day.  Hanging out with new and old friends drinking good beer - I really love this race (and post race)!