2023 Trailway 50k

The Background

I had begun working at UHD and was enjoying it.  The new job allowed me to run in the mornings many days before work, so I had been running around 6 times a week, 5 miles or so per run.  I ran a 17 miler at an 11-minute pace.

Jamie and I planned to run the Trailway 50k, so we had been training. Friends Luke, Jeremy, and Micah joined us on some runs too.  This would be Jamie's first 50k and trail race.

Jamie and I did a 20 miler at George Mitchell Nature Preserve, ten miles run, ten miles hike.  I crashed on that run, as we had hoped to run the full 20.  Jamie ran on 2 extra miles.   

Big picture, I had the Arkansas Traveller 100 Miler the following week, so the Trailway would be both training and a test to see if I could keep up a decent pace.

Jamie kindly offered to let us use his mobile home, so we travelled in style!  I met up with him in Cypress Friday at 3pm, then we drove out to Lake Somerville.  Our campsite was a couple miles from the start, so we hiked to packet pickup and the race briefing.  After eating some delicious chicken and pasta Jamie cooked, we got some sleep.

The Race

This was a training race, so we figured the 2 mile distance to the start could serve as extra training.  As such, we got up at 4:45am, had coffee, then ran to the start.

Early on, we moved at an 11-minute pace.  The first couple hours were cool, and we felt pretty good.  We did a short half-mile walk break and walked the uphills, which were few, but pretty much ran most of the first loop.

Then I started to get tired as we approached the end of the first loop, and Jamie went on ahead.  By the time I got back to the start, Jamie was headed back out.  

At this point, the sun beat down.  Starting to powerhike, I focused on sub-18 minute miles, as Arkansas has a 30-hour cutoff.

I hiked the whole second loop and, save miles passing through aid stations, maintained 16-minute miles. The heat was tough, but I poured ice the front pocket and back of my pack which helped some.  I saw Jamie as I approached the turnaround and figured he was 20 minutes ahead of me at that point.

A couple times I tried to run but my legs were dead.  On the other hand, I never really slowed down the hiking pace.  Apart from the heat, I felt okay, not great but not horrible either.

As I approached the finish, Jamie cheered.  Jamie finished in 7:16, and I finished in 7:38.  That was from the start of the race, not counting our extra two miles. We had run 34 miles total.

The race director, PJ, kindly drove us back to the mobile home, and even donated some ice for Jamie's ice bath.  I was thankful for the RV shower and got cleaned up.

View at the Start

Finish 

Reflections

I was really happy with this race.  I wish I could have run a greater percentage of it, and I should have been tougher on the training runs to build more of a running base.  But maintaining the 16-minute pace gave me some confidence for Arkansas.  If I were to run the first 34 miles at Arkansas at the same pace, I'd have banked over 2 hours and would be able to hike the rest of it at a 20-minute pace if necessary and still finish.  Arkansas is a tougher course, but, God willing, it will be cooler.  Anyway, I registered for Arkansas with the mindset that it was a gamble to get a Western States qualifier, and if I don't make it, at least I tried.

My pace improved 3 minutes a mile from Muleshoe 60k two months ago, so that's good. 

Meanwhile, I was super proud of Jamie.  He's a tough runner.  Like at USA Fit Marathon and the Ironman, he came through with flying colors.

Well, on to Arkansas and we will see what happens...