Knowing some variables are outside of my control, my top goal for the race was to finally put a 100 mile race together, rather than being locked into a certain position or time goal. In all my prior 100 mile races, I would get very conservative on the back half of the course and basically shut it down during the last marathon expecting to hold my place in fear of falling apart. With that approach burning me (I lost my runner-up position after being passed a mile from the finish at Leadville 2011), I wanted to push through the race.
My game plan was to start at 10 min/mile pace and not let it erode beyond 14 min/mile. I set a pace chart for 19:40 with a stretch goal of sub-19 hours if conditions allowed. To achieve my stretch goal, I’d need to execute my plan to race the second half of the course.
Breaking it down
At the first aid station 5 miles in, I realized my GPS watch was reading slow (my readouts were 11 min/mile despite covering 5 miles in 43 minutes…apparently my watch needed to warm up!) I’m thankful I did my homework on the course and knew to settle down despite electronics saying otherwise and many racers in front of me. I continued on at a comfortable effort, with confidence in my training that I wouldn’t crash and burn.
Based on prior experience I desired to chat with the other racers to keep me calm, however, there just weren’t a lot of people around. Also, my running style didn’t seem to match any of the others’ pace as I kept yo-yoing with them on the hills early on. In total, I maybe chatted with folks for about 10 miles of the entire course, which serves as good mental toughness training for Barkley. In the end, I was in no-(wo)man’s land with a 26 minute gap in front of me and 95 minute gap behind me. Nonetheless, I’m proud that I pushed to the finish line as I was chasing a personal time goal.
I managed never to lose more than a couple of minutes from my pace chart. Based on experience, I allowed some extra time once darkness set in on the trails. Sure enough, my slowest average over 5 miles was 13:07 min/mile after night fell. Going into the last aid station, I made up my mind this was the time to push to the finish. As I was did the math, if I averaged under 12 mph the final 8 miles, I could break 19 hours! I ended up covering the final leg 18 minutes faster than my pace chart, my biggest deviation of the day! Overall the day went well and my slowest mile was 16:04, which accounts for several minutes stopped in the aid station.
Near perfect
