the first since

Well I parked @ the corner of 22nd and spanish trail.

Put on my newly earned Zane Grey finishers t-shirt and ran (slowly) out to saguero east park.

A nice wind blowing today.
Well I hit the park and walked up to the visitors center.
I popped a gel and took some e-caps and headed back.
Total run time 1hr 20 min 10sec.

Normally I never do gels or electrolytes unless I'm running all day.
I just felt I should balance my system out this close to Z.G. and keep my energy levels up. I was also careful not to run hard.


I'm not running again til sunday.
I want to benefit from all this not hurt myself like last october.
My left foot is sore (top) P and I have been working it every day stretching it out.

stretch without breaking

Well I went on 2 short rides on the single speed around town.

A quick lap around 4th ave with P.

Just now P and I cruised down and around university got some food @ Paradise
(first time, never been) and pedaled back.


A good stretch.

simply put-My first 50

Z.G.-done-15hours 57 minutes!
Well I finished despite some major issues in the middle of the race...i.e. sick dehydration etc....But from what I said from the beginning I WILL FINISH.
Oh and to add I wasnt last :)

A bit of drama I'm sure the R.D. will seriously regret....We left the fish hatchery aid station informed we had 3 hours to run 11 miles!!! The web site states 7pm cut at see canyon ALL the officials stated we had til 7pm. Well about a mile outside the last aid still with 25 minutes to go (I busted my ass in addition to getting lost for 15minutes)
P comes running up the trail"don't get mad but they changed the cutoff"
"What they cant do that there is still @ least 12 people ready to go who will just barely make the cut! What the hell......Upon arriving at the aid station at 645p.m. I was calm and collected...Reinformed of the same thing by the officials.
Apparently the R.D. changed his mind MID-RACE and made the cut 6:30...the website and meeting stated otherwise.
I refueled and contemplated. I didnt curse or cry..
Well a fella named Al turned toward me and said "hey Troy catch up to me in a few minutes I'm finishing.
So thats what we did :)
I looked straight @ the official with the clip board still standing at the check out and said" #65 checking out...he wrote it down and on I went.
Well 6 others decided to go too:)
Were we official?were'nt we?
Back on the trail-7pm
Well I had a talk with the others before we caught up to Al.
Basically every one was stressed out and up set.
So I stated simply this is my first 50 mile race and I will finish. I love running thats why I'm here. Not for the shirt or chair. We all no in our hearts we made the real cutoff we were given so fuck em.
Well I set a perfect pace and we caught Al.... After a while I took lead again.
I wanted to finish under 16 hours.

I paced us out perfect...(7 miles in just under 2 hours) the 4 that ran with me finished in 15hrs 57 minutes.
Guess what.... the finish was still set up and they took our times and numbers and gave us our finishers shirt and chair.

Al and I geared back up and went back down the trail after the other 2 runners that fell behind...People thought we were nuts...."you need to run more?"

"no those are our friends and no one gets left behind"
"Al lets go"
After a little over 5minutes heading down Al and I found our last 2 buds. They lead us back in and we gave em support.

We were back of the packers....I think we were the winners.

According to P and few others who were our support crew the R.d. made an appearance @ the finnish and took off right when the cheers went up "I see lights I see lights" The dude took off so as not to face us!!!
Thanks to our support crews insistance the finish line stayed up.
I think I made some new friends and they took down ALL our #'s and times.:)

Post race reflections-I made some serious errors....
The following are learning mistakes not excuses for such a slow time.
I came out too fast
I became dehydrated.
I didnt stick to an eating schedule.
I let the course and race get into my head-negative thinking.
Too much taper? under training?
NO this is a tough race!
I need to train at 75% the distance I plan on racing.
For a 50 I should train long runs @ 50k not just stacked mileage.
I had a bad time between mile 16 and 33....I felt horrible. I walked ALOT.

P was an amazing crew person she worked on my feet at one point, we changed socks and I rocked the last 16 miles.
I ran better the last 16 then I did the whole race.


The day after----I didnt kill myself, I'm sore but can walk fine.
I will do it again....and again and again.
I found a pacer for Javalina:)......Oh yeah thats right my first 100:)

okee dokee

I did a quick couple laps around 4th ave then
P and I rode downtown. I took the new single speed again.
We went and got sonora snow balls/sno cones.
Sno YUM!!! I got black cherry. P got tigers blood....it was red and tasted like a strange pina colada sans the alcohol.

Well I should run @ least twice before Z.G but really dont feel like it.

spin

4/19/08 picked up a new bike today/single speed/freewheel/fixed gear road bike,very fast. Rode it home ,out and around from the shop which is maybe 10 miles each way. Also rode for 20 minutes downtown to check out the bands and people.
This bike is quick, I was pacing out with the downtown traffic.

I"ve really grown to love single speed bikes.

Well I need to run, my joints/ body feels great but I should really get a run in.
Just trying to stay active/off the high impact stuff.
Staying flexible, stretching and in general rebuilding my energy and still trying to keep my body loose and receptive when I do go and pound away for 12 plus hours on the Z.G.

My crew has fallen apart and rebuilt it self several times....the latest incarnation is Loo Dog,my pick up and P!!!
I really don't want to do this thing unsupported using drop bags so I hope this works out.

Good thing I trained carrying over 2 liters of water, food and gear!!!
Thank goodness for aid stations!!!

taper

so went out to 50 year trail with my buddy t.s. and I rode my single speed for a few hours.

I was tagged

Ok so I don't plan on tagging others but here goes my 6 word memoire-thingy

Anticipation,My taper,me, twitchy, anxious.

or perhaps a haiku-

running, weightlessness
feet floating,flying,fearless
troubles, the day fades


bah-humbug......:)

it's workin....more please

got off work a little after 12am

home-decided to start cutting back my sets.

Well I surfed the web for a while and just goofed off.
@ a little after 2am I set out for my usual run out toward the U.

I got my bottle of endurolytes-electrolytes today in the mail and decided to test em out before z.g.-

So I took 1 pill 20 minutes before my run to check things out ( I've taken these before but sometimes my tummy acts funny)
As a real gut check I took 2 more pill 20 minutes into my run. Other then my mouth tasting like the ocean I feel fine. Should be great with snacks. :) I plan on using these after the first aid station and hopefully they'll help with the heat/mass electrolyte usage until I get past hells gate and out to Tonto.

Oh so back to tonights run I'm going to peak soon....These are my power runs...I should peak in 2 weeks right around Zane Grey :)

Tonights time 38sec02hund.83-Almost a full minute faster then my fastest time and 6 minutes faster then just a few weeks ago!

briefly now

Got off work @ 12am-

Home

25 push otb
50 crunch otb
ran loo to the park the long way for 10 pullups and back

Set out on my usual loop out and around toward the U

I'm getting faster because of the taper-
38minutes44seconds09

Let me get two slices and a Coke

So I intended to run long all 3 days of my 3 day weekend but didn't, my body stated very clearly it was time to taper.

Looks like a good thing too , tonights workout is proof.

25 push otb
50 crunch otb
run Loo to the park the long way, 10 pull ups and back home.

Then off toward the U for my usual loop-

I did my loop almost 5 minutes faster then I ever have

total run time40min14sec14

duuuhhh

West side saguaro national....ran hugh norris trailhead to .....I forget.10 miles round trip.
2hours 25 minutes31 seconds.
Very hot and exposed started @1230pm.
Never ran here before.
Fun.

Broke in the new race ready shorts and hat.