AR 50 Results
American River 50 Endurance Run at EveryTrailMap created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks
AR50 was important to me because it was my first Ultra since a failed attempt at the AR50 in 2002. I was running that 2002 AR50 30 pounds heavier than today and on a bad ankle and I manged to tweak my knee that day which took me out of running for more than 5 years. I got arthoscopic surgery in 04 hoping to get back in the game, but never felt confident on the knee and just assumed I would stick to cycling. For some reason, last November in an insane whim, I signed up for the AR50. I might have been drunk, maybe a bit crazy, but the 100 miles I had run in the last 5 years would not give many a lot of confidence I could finish, or that this was a good idea, or that I might need a quick mental health checkup. I remember telling my cycling/running buddy Jason about my decision to sign up for AR50 and I could tell he thought I was a bit insane.
I studied as much ultrarunning literature as I could starting with the 19th century wobblers in their 6 day races, the Bunion Derbies of 1928/29, as well as stories about 24 and 48 hour track racers and concocted an extremely conservative plan to use a 3/2 run/walk. My thought was that I could survive the 50 miler best by saving my legs early on with the walk breaks and keeping just enough in the bank to survive the last miles.
It was a dark and cool at the start and with 500 runners at the start it felt like a big city road race. The first couple of miles flew by in sub 10 minute which is pretty damn fast when doing 3/2, but I figured it was due to the adrenaline of the start. I was running a comfortable 7:30 pace or so and walking sub 15. The first hour was pretty non-eventful and I covered 6 miles.
The second hour was also non-eventful as we cruised along the American River path and I hit 12 miles in 2:01. The pain in my lower right back/piriformis was bugging me so I popped 2 Aleve at mile 15. I hate taking them, but I did not want to anything to prevent a finish. The 3rd hour went well. There is steep but short climb near the Nimbus dam, but nothing to really slow me down and I hit 18 miles in 3:04.
Things start getting hillier in this part and I slowed down getting 22.5 miles in 4 hours.
I hit the marathon at about 4:40 which was right about where I wanted to be. Beals Point which was mile 27.4 had my drop bag and I decided not to change my socks because my feet felt fine. I should have stuffed them in my back pocket as a huge blister on the bottom of my left foot would raise hell in a few short miles. The trail gets technical at mail 30 or so and I really lost my tried and true 3/2 and started walking even the smallest of hills. I was thinking that breaking 10 hours was possible at this point, but I could not get any good speed in this section and had many miles in the 15-17 minute range during this section as I could not attack technical trail with 35 miles in my legs. I dropped an ibupofen to see if this would ease the pain. While deadening it a bit, I was definitely approaching survival mode.
I kept slogging along to the 40 miles mark and Manhattan Bar aid station. My feet were killing me and my quads were very tired and I found it hard to run for more than a minute or two even on flat terrain. I could tell I was in the place where I was going to pay later for this as I kept digging deep into the well for each and every step. By this point I was being passed frequently and many people asked me if "I was ok". I could not figure out how they could tell I was hurting so bad, but I seemed to be much deeper in the pain cave than the people passing me.
I had made the last hill from Last Gasp to the finish much bigger in my mind than it was. By this point I could no longer run, but could do the 80 year old man shuffle for a few steps and power walk at maybe a 17 minute pace. I knew I could break 11 hours if I just keep a steady pace. Slowly the hill evaporated and I reached the top. Managing a meager jog through the finish line I was very happy to finish. Breaking 11 hours was great, but being able to finish was great as I had many doubts over the last few months how this adventure would go.
Looking around, I seemed to be hobbling more than anybody there. I have never been this wrecked so long after a ride/run. 2 days later I am still hobbling around, but finally feeling a bit better. There was no doubt in my mind that I would be taking off work on Monday. I am amazed some people can run the day after one of these things.
I proved you can do a 50 miler with a few months of training if your stubborn as hell, focused and willing to suffer. Next time, I want to do one with more a bit more miles in my legs prior.
Anton Krupicka Crushing the Course
American River 50 Endurance Run at EveryTrailMap created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks
AR50 was important to me because it was my first Ultra since a failed attempt at the AR50 in 2002. I was running that 2002 AR50 30 pounds heavier than today and on a bad ankle and I manged to tweak my knee that day which took me out of running for more than 5 years. I got arthoscopic surgery in 04 hoping to get back in the game, but never felt confident on the knee and just assumed I would stick to cycling. For some reason, last November in an insane whim, I signed up for the AR50. I might have been drunk, maybe a bit crazy, but the 100 miles I had run in the last 5 years would not give many a lot of confidence I could finish, or that this was a good idea, or that I might need a quick mental health checkup. I remember telling my cycling/running buddy Jason about my decision to sign up for AR50 and I could tell he thought I was a bit insane.
I studied as much ultrarunning literature as I could starting with the 19th century wobblers in their 6 day races, the Bunion Derbies of 1928/29, as well as stories about 24 and 48 hour track racers and concocted an extremely conservative plan to use a 3/2 run/walk. My thought was that I could survive the 50 miler best by saving my legs early on with the walk breaks and keeping just enough in the bank to survive the last miles.
It was a dark and cool at the start and with 500 runners at the start it felt like a big city road race. The first couple of miles flew by in sub 10 minute which is pretty damn fast when doing 3/2, but I figured it was due to the adrenaline of the start. I was running a comfortable 7:30 pace or so and walking sub 15. The first hour was pretty non-eventful and I covered 6 miles.
The second hour was also non-eventful as we cruised along the American River path and I hit 12 miles in 2:01. The pain in my lower right back/piriformis was bugging me so I popped 2 Aleve at mile 15. I hate taking them, but I did not want to anything to prevent a finish. The 3rd hour went well. There is steep but short climb near the Nimbus dam, but nothing to really slow me down and I hit 18 miles in 3:04.
Things start getting hillier in this part and I slowed down getting 22.5 miles in 4 hours.
I hit the marathon at about 4:40 which was right about where I wanted to be. Beals Point which was mile 27.4 had my drop bag and I decided not to change my socks because my feet felt fine. I should have stuffed them in my back pocket as a huge blister on the bottom of my left foot would raise hell in a few short miles. The trail gets technical at mail 30 or so and I really lost my tried and true 3/2 and started walking even the smallest of hills. I was thinking that breaking 10 hours was possible at this point, but I could not get any good speed in this section and had many miles in the 15-17 minute range during this section as I could not attack technical trail with 35 miles in my legs. I dropped an ibupofen to see if this would ease the pain. While deadening it a bit, I was definitely approaching survival mode.
I kept slogging along to the 40 miles mark and Manhattan Bar aid station. My feet were killing me and my quads were very tired and I found it hard to run for more than a minute or two even on flat terrain. I could tell I was in the place where I was going to pay later for this as I kept digging deep into the well for each and every step. By this point I was being passed frequently and many people asked me if "I was ok". I could not figure out how they could tell I was hurting so bad, but I seemed to be much deeper in the pain cave than the people passing me.
I had made the last hill from Last Gasp to the finish much bigger in my mind than it was. By this point I could no longer run, but could do the 80 year old man shuffle for a few steps and power walk at maybe a 17 minute pace. I knew I could break 11 hours if I just keep a steady pace. Slowly the hill evaporated and I reached the top. Managing a meager jog through the finish line I was very happy to finish. Breaking 11 hours was great, but being able to finish was great as I had many doubts over the last few months how this adventure would go.
Looking around, I seemed to be hobbling more than anybody there. I have never been this wrecked so long after a ride/run. 2 days later I am still hobbling around, but finally feeling a bit better. There was no doubt in my mind that I would be taking off work on Monday. I am amazed some people can run the day after one of these things.
I proved you can do a 50 miler with a few months of training if your stubborn as hell, focused and willing to suffer. Next time, I want to do one with more a bit more miles in my legs prior.
Anton Krupicka Crushing the Course
Comments
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Again, congratulations. You've got the heart and will to accomplish anything you set out to do.