Big M Recon

Mission: Do a solo 450 mile round trip drive to the Big M where the North Country Trail 50 mile race I am doing on September 15th takes place and do 25 mile training run put on by the Striders to test my race day gear, pacing, and fitness.

Result: Whew! That was a long......day. First things first. Completed the run in 4 hr 6 min. On the way up there I was thinking that I would like to try and do the run in btwn 4 hr and 4 hr 10 min so that was perfect. What did not go perfect was getting not following the pattern from the outset of all my long runs of running approx 18 min and then walking 2 min. Being around a group of approximately 20 runners who also where there, I got sucked in and ran for first hour without taking any breaks. Sure, after I got back on my own schedule I quickly lost sight of everyone and was left to run the beautiful and rolling course to myself but towards the end i managed to reel a few back in.

NOTES:

(1) I either need to get some insoles for The North Face Anurva Boa 50 or run in another pair of shoes. The trail is not technical, but in the words of Monday Night Ride Leader, R.H. when i asked what he remembered of the trail from the Lumberjack 100, "You are either going up or down" which means lots of cushioning needed for all the pounding and I felt those shoes didn't have it.

(2) Carried a water bottle for the training run....will I want to carry it for another 25?

(3) Although peaceful to be in the woods for the better part of 4 hrs today, I am definitely bringing the ipod on the second lap!

(4) More than anything, i needed this run as a confidence booster. Yes, I have been reporting that I think my training might actually be working, but I needed to see and feel the actual course on the training run today to make it legit in my head. To see if the plan i was following and my dilligence was actually paying off. In my head, I knew that if I could finish the training run today and feel pretty good that everything i had been doing to that point, and what i have left will put me in great shape to finish the 50 miler next month.

Mission Accomplished!!