Gabe's First Ultra Race Plan
Race Plan: Antelope Island 50k Ultra
Goals
Antelope Island is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake. It has a sizable populate of bison and antelope. It is covered primarily in grass and rocks, with only a handful of trees. I checked it out to preview the course. It has panoramic views of the Salt Lake as well as the famed Wasatch Mountains (pic from my preview run below).
This will be my first ultra. My goals are simple: finish and have fun.
I’m dipping my toe in the ultra waters this year with this 50k. If the waters are inviting, and I expect they will be, I’ll do my first 50 miler next year. A 100 miler sounds crazy. But 3 years ago, doing an Ironman seemed crazy.
With the move to Utah this year, I had to be time efficient this year. Running is hands down the biggest bang-for-your-buck of SBR. I’ve certainly appreciated the extra time with the family this summer and feel like I've maintained a high level of fitness – on less than 8 hours of training per week! You can read all about my running adventures leading in the race here. This will be the end of my running adventures for 2016. But what a year it’s been: I PR’d the half marathon at Porter’s in August with a 1:36 and PR’d the marathon at St George in October with a 3:27. I also set a PR on the 70.3 at Boulder in June with a 5:22. Grateful to be out there having a heck of a mess of fun!
Pre-Race
Thursday and Friday
· Begin carb loading by tracking calories and carb consumption in MyFitnessPal. Target a minimum of 500g carbs. Pack carb sources including bagels, fruit, and Gatorade to take to work. Take in carbs every hour.
· Double dose of Beet Elite every morning.
Running Gear
· Hoka Challenger ATR running shoes and socks
· Salomon skull cap, running gloves, and running sunglasses
· Aftershokz headphones
· Running tights (yes, man-tights)
· Salomon running jersey and pullover
· Race belt with S-tabs in pocket
Running Vest
· 6 Gu Salted Caramels in front pockets
· 2 soft flasks with 17oz of Gatorade Endurance each
· Gu Chomps (I like some solids to soak up all the gel)
· Uncrustable in sandwich bag in front pocket (stolen from my kids, but food made for children is money on long runs/hikes)
· Phone in left zipper pocket with music playlist ready to go
· Blister pack and Mylar emergency blanket in right zipper pocket
Race Morning
· Wake up at 5:00AM
· Eat cereal + coffee up
· Take 2 shots of Beet Elite
· Apply 2 layers of sunscreen
· Depart by 5:30AM for the hour drive
· Drink Gatorade on ride
· Arrive at race start by 6:30AM and check-in to get bib
· Huddle in car to stay warm
· Vega pre-workout supplement 15 minutes before start to get pumped up
Race
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Target time: 5:30 (this is a guess) |
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VDOT: 47 |
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Target TSS: 400 |
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Target pace: 10:30/mile + 2 minutes at each of the 4 aid station |
Strategy
Antelope Island has approximately 3000ft of elevation gain. However, about 90% of that comes in the first half. I’ll go conservative the first half, power hiking the hills when my HR hits Z4. The second biggest climb of the day comes right out of the gates. I’ll ease into it and be willing to power hike if my HR gets too high. Save the fire for the back half of the course where it is mostly flat with minor rollers. My bet is the most of the racers will burn too many matches on the hills the first half. I’ll run them down on the second half.
I pre-ran parts of the course. It’s not technical, with a mix of horse trails and single track, and should be almost entirely runnable. However, I found there were a couple turn offs that were very easy to miss. In two of the race reports I read from experienced trail runners, they reported missed a key turn after the switchbacks at mile 8. I missed it during my preview and was looking for it. I had to stop and backtrack. You basically bushwhack (grass-whack really) about a quarter of a mile to a jeep road. I programmed the course in my Fenix 3, so I’ll have a map and turn-by-turn directions. I expect other runners to get lost.
I created the course on Trail Project so I’ll have it on my phone as a navigational backup if my Garmin fails me. Another cool feature is a virtual tour of the course. You can take it yourself here:
http://www.trailrunproject.com/trai...d-50k/tour
The weather forecast has the temperature in the low 30F range at the beginning, warming into the upper 40s towards the finish. I was able to do a practice run in my winter gear, including running tights (nothing like a middle aged dude in tights!). I usually go with shorts if the temperature is above 40F. The first 18 miles are on a pretty remote section of the island. Rescue will take a while. I’d rather be warm and peel off layers as needed than get hit with hypothermia far from rescue. I’ll also pack a Mylar emergency blanket in running vest in case I get injured and have to wait for rescue.
Targets
Based on previewing the course, I should be able to average around 9:45-10:30/mile pace. There are some hills I’ll have to power walk, but there are also some wide open flats and fast descents.
|
Miles |
Terrain |
Pace Target |
HR Target |
Notes |
|
0-2.5 |
Gradual climb |
Go by HR and RPE |
Easy Z2, power hike if HR goes into Z4 |
The course starts with a legit climb, don’t ruin my day in the first 2.5 miles. |
|
2.5-5 |
Flat with descents |
Sub-10:00/mile |
Z2 |
Keep steady pace in high Z2 HR |
|
5.5-6 |
Step climb |
Go by HR and RPE |
Z3 |
Punchy climb that will require power hiking |
|
6-13 |
Fast descent with rolling climbs |
Sub-8:00/mile on descents |
Z2 |
There is a very fast descent that turns into a runable climb |
|
13-14 |
Monster climb |
Go by HR and RPE |
Z3 |
This climb has up to 17% grade. Power hike and save it for the other side of the mountain |
|
14-finish |
Descent then flat with small rollers |
Sub-10:00/mile |
Z2 climbing to Z3 the last few miles |
Being conservative will hopefully payoff on this stretch where I’ll keep the steady speed on |
Nutrition Plan
There are 4 aid stations, 5-8 miles apart. I’ll take gels and Gatorade Endurance between them. I’ll eat whatever I can take down at the aid stations and top off my hydration. My secret weapon is stealing an Uncrustable (PB&J sandwich basically) from my kids. I’ll munch on this as needed.
Target: Consumer about 300 calories per hour.
|
Nutrition |
Frequency |
Calories / hour |
Total calories |
|
2-3 oz of Gatorade Endurance |
Every 1 mile between aid stations |
100 |
400-500 |
|
Gu gel with caffeine to stay alert |
Every 5-6 miles between aid stations |
100 |
400 |
|
Uncrustable |
As needed |
|
400 |
|
Whatever is available at aid stations |
Every 5-8 miles |
200 |
800 |
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S-tab salt pills. Take one if hands start feeling chalky. |
As needed |
0 |
0 |
Closing Thoughts
I’m stoked to try my hand at my first ultra. The last couple years of endurance sports have been an amazing adventure. I can’t believe my fitness is better at 41 than when I finished Navy bootcamp at 18 years old. Endurance Nation has made me believe I can do things I would have thought impossible just a few years ago. Thanks for reading!
Comments
Oh, and I completely agree with your closing thoughts. My 49 year old self is cashing checks that my 18 year old self was too afraid or to lazy to even write. It's a wonderful thing...
BTW, I like the idea of taking a space blanket. I hope you won't need to use it.
@Clark, thanks! I've also enjoyed following you since we met at IMAZ last year. Looking forward to seeing you crush it again this year! Hope we get to meetup for another race or possibly R2R2R next year.
@Mark, thanks -- I hope the space blanket isn't needed too.
@Tim, many thanks for all the advice and encouragement this year! I definitely benefited from the resources you recommended. This is supposed to be on the easy side of the 50k spectrum. The first 15 miles look challenging with some legit climbs and sections of rocky moderately technical trail. I drove along the flat section from 18 to the finish and it should be smooth sailing, if I can avoid burning too many matches on the prior hills. I hope to move at about MP+30s on this section. I think I'll learn a lot for the next trail race -- it's all exciting and new!
Pemberton looks like a fun 50k. You should dominate there again. Ever thought about R2R2R? I want do that next year.