Rosaryville 50k Race Report

Thought it would be a good idea to join the Rosaryville 50k this past Sunday (July 17th).  I was looking to get some heat training and this low key race seemed to fit my schedule just perfectly.  I woke up late on Sunday morning and had to rush to the race.  I got everything packed into my bag and scurried out of the house with Emily, who was competing in the 25k.

Emily and I arrived at the race just in enough time to watch the start of the 50k, needless to say we were extremely tardy to the party.  We hurried up and registered for the race, packed out hydration  packs, put our bibs on and started 10 minutes behind everyone.  During our rush we forgot to pack our S!Caps, this turned out to be a huge mistake.  The start of the race was filled with wasted energy, rushing to pack everything then trying to catch the back of the packers.  After the first three miles we both started to relax and found a good pace.  Rosaryville is a flat course with only 2200 ft of elevation gain and I was anticipating running a possible PR even with it being a hot day in July.  The miles were rolling along nicely and Emily and I started to catch some of the back of the packers about 7 miles into the race, but then we were passed by some of the 25k people who started at 7:30.  There were two aid stations on the course, which was basically 3 ten mile loops, five miles into the lap and ten miles into the lap.  Coming into the five mile and ten mile aid station I basically top off my fluids and was out within one minute.  I was feeling good, but it was starting to heat up.  I came into the 15 mile aid station and I was really starting to become dehydrated and I was complete out of water (I carry a 1.5L Nathan Hydration Backpack), so I went to fill up and they had run out of water!!  I was only able to fill a quarter of my hydration backpack and it had to last me five miles till the next aid station.  It only lasted me 1.5 miles.  Needless to say the sufferfest was in full effect.  I was cramping up in my calves, quads and hamstrings.  I just decided to grind it out and wait to see how I felt at the twenty mile aid station, where Emily was going to give me my S!Caps (which I forgot to grab before the race).  I arrived at the aid station completely out of it and I was contemplating calling it quits.  I got some fluids and S!Caps in me and started to feel much better so I decided to keep going, my logic (you might be able to argue about that) was that I need to face some harsh conditions in order to mentally prepare myself for my fall races.  I decided not to worry about my time and just focus on finishing the race.  I continued to suffer the next five miles until I reached the twenty five mile aid station, where once again the aid station ran out of water!!  I was extremely upset at first, but then I thought if I would run faster this wouldn't be a problem.  I proceeded to run/walk the next six miles or so to the finish line.  I finished in 7:02:47 (I subtracted my ten minute late start).  I wasn't happy with my time, probably at least an hour slower then I expected, but it was nice to finish what I started which is not something many other people were able to do on a hot day in July.  I will end this with a quote that almost every runner has used "it was only suppose to be a training run anyways".

My Gear:

Shoes: Montrail Badrock

Socks: DryMax
Sunglasses: Native

Hydration: Nathan 1.5 Liter Backpack

Nutrition: GU, Nutrilite Endurance Cubes, Nutrilite Meal Replacement Shake, S!Caps

Shorts:  2XU compressions shorts

Shirt:  Tech T-shirt 

Watch:  Garmin GPS 310xt

Gaiters: Dirty Girl Gaiters (make my feet sweat a little more, but no rocks in my shoes)

See ya on the trails,
JP