Race report: Headlands 50 = Race rehearsal: Headlands 100
Hi folks,
I've been working up to run the Headlands 100 on Aug 7. Yesterday I ran the Headlands 50 which covers pretty much the same course (some might change due to a road closure). My goal for the run was to explore the course, and pacing for the 100, and to not trash myself so much that I'd need an extended recovery period (since the 100 is in three weeks).
My plan was to run the first 25 in 6hrs (the race was 2x25mile loops, the hundred will be 4 laps), then maybe speed up a bit in the second. I did pretty well at holding back in the first 25, and finished in the first loop in 5:45. For a strategy, I walked pretty much ALL the uphills, for real, ALL. I then tend to run downhills pretty fast (which protects the knees and quads from getting hammered). Then on the two or three flat spots on the whole course (none of them more than a mile!) I just cruised in the 9-10min/mile range. Looking back, I can see where I should have "spent" the extra 15 minutes I allocated for the lap. In some of the steep uphill sections I found myself sweating and breathing hard (typically because there was a bunch of people around me going fast
). I need to learn to NOT power up those hills!
I ran with my normal Infinit feed bottle (1x6hr bottle per lap), plus a constantly refilled Camelbak with plain water. I also took one Thermolyte every 40-45 min. Nutrition - nailed. Hydration, a little light as the day went on. But on the whole - Much better than in the past. A benefit of my way - I only spent 2-3 minutes max in aid stations, and I didn't walk out of the aid while trying to munch down the recently procured goodies (I saw a LOT of people doing this).
More about the course - hilly. Ok, that's an understatement. Relentlessly hilly, would be more accurate. The minimum elevation gain between aid stations was 795 ft, max was 1045ft. Do that 5 times per loop, 2 loops in the day = 10 grand of up, 10 grand of down. Many of the downhills were runnable, which helped a lot. But there were also very technical, rock strewn (basically dry river beds) downhills.
I'd love to tell you all the GPS info from my run...but I can't 
. Today will be the "return" day for my Timex Global Trainer. The beta test is over, and it's failed. So I'm running along, hitting the split button each aid station to keep track of my pace estimates, and the world is groovy 
. Then, around mile 23 I glance down and the watch has reset itself 
. Two miles until I get back to the lap turn around, so I just go for it. Starting out on lap 2, I restart the watch and hope for the best. The best it had was the following: "Memory Full" 
. So I'm starting up the first hill (walking), and trying to delete old workouts. Finally, I just said "screw it", and switched it to plain old watch mode. Six aid stations and a planned pace of 6 hours - yeah, I can do that much math. I'll post up another thread with my final observations about the Timex.
The second lap went much like the first. Thankfully, the predicted 83 degree temps never materialized (we were just north of San Francisco, and instead were treated to 20mph winds and fog throughout the day). Almost all of the hills on the course are pretty clearly "walk only", but one particularly long, steady hill was runnable, so I walked it on lap 1, and shuffled up in on lap 2. When it got really steep I walked, but for the last 8 miles I tried to run whenever I could (switching from pace practice to workworks practice). In the second lap I passed a lot of people, and got passed by only one guy at about mile 47. I tried to hang with him, but he had WAY more gas at that stage than I did.
As for time, I finished in 11:48. So that makes 5:45 for the first lap, and 6:03 for the second. So I missed my big goal of practicing reverse split pacing. But I'm not going to lose any sleep over those 18 minutes.
So then, now for the big decision...I'm thinking now that I will pull out of the 100. I know that I can finish, the issue is whether I want to start. This is the second race I've done this year with 10,000 ft of climbing over 50 miles...and it's just not any fun at all. It's just labor. when I'm out there and the trail flattens out for a bit, my whole demeanor changes, it's fun...then another 800ft walk for 2 miles
. Looking at the Headlands 100, it's 4 laps of just that. At a deep level I just say to myself, "Why bother?" I think it might be better if it were point to point, but only marginally.
Another big variable is that my work has finally, after months and months of scheduling changes, settled on a go-live date for the web product that I've been working on for 18 months. Yeah, you guessed it - Monday Aug 9, the day after the race
. Between now and then I expect to be burning the candle at both ends getting ready for the launch...and adding training+prep for the race would be adding a flamethrower in the middle of the candle.
My real goal is to run the Western States 100, and my interest in running this race was to have a hundred under my belt before running WS. But I don't yet know if I'll get picked to run in next year's WS100, and I also got valuable experience pacing in this year's race.
Ugh, I don't know. At this stage, I'm leaning towards bagging it. (But I know better than to make big decisions a day after a LONG race!). Your collective feedback would be graciously accepted!
Mike
Comments
Very impressive running and endurance! I cannot speak to 100 (or 50) mile runs, but it has been my experience that planning a huge event and a big work project eats significantly away at both. It also adds the third factor of "I shouldn't be doing this right now" to both my workouts and my work schedule.
That being said, I think that you are correct in thinking that you should take a few days before making any decisions.
Christy
Lynne
Just for fun, I pushed the GPS data that I did get through WKO, and broke the data into 15 minute pace blocks: 0:00-15:00 min/mile, 15:00-30:00 min/mile, and >30.
43% (2:10:34) of the time I was running (faster than 15 min miles,
53% (2:39:14) of the time I was walking (15-30)
3.5% (10:24) slower than that (aid stations).
Mike
Mike:
Great job and welcome to NorCal trail/ultra running. It is more like billy goating at times. But you know this all too well.
Did ya see Diane out there?
I am going to contradict the others and say you should do the 100 next month. You are ready fitness-wise and it is all just mental now. Plus you will have an AWESOME pace group out there with you!
Todd for 50-75 and Anil (who is an amazing ultrarunner) for the last 25.
States (Western States 100) is a whole other animal, point-to-point, and is hilly, hilly, hilly and hot, hot, hot as well. And the experience you will get from doing Headlands will only help you when you get to States. And there is also no guarantee you will get into States. I say do Headlands and get the 100 under your belt.
Again, great job!
John
my two cents,
P
I like the part where your goal was to run 50 miles with 10k of climbing without trashing yourself
Really no advice to offer other than it really does not sound like fun. 4 laps of 25 miles each knowing that they are going to take 6 plus hours each, yuck. There are lots of things that you can do that there is no reason to do. Why not do a really cool weekend hike or something and bring camping gear.