11/6/09: JFK 50 Prep

This fall has definitely been tough for training. I’ve been travelling a ton for work, Jen and I have been gone a lot of weekends, and I was a bit sick a few times. However, I’ve still had some great runs, and I do love running in the fall. Temperatures have been awesome for running, and foliage in DC was actually much better than usual this year.

I’ve been focused primarily on getting ready for JFK. There were a few parts to that plan:

• Focus in the early fall on getting faster while keeping a good mileage base
• Run Marine Corp Marathon in a decently fast time
• Cram in some long runs to finish JFK prep (Potomac Heritage 50K on 11/1 and long run on 11/8)

Early fall training was tough due to time constraints mentioned above, but I got in decently good marathon shape. Unfortunately, the Marine Corp Marathon was a terrible disaster. My stomach seized up at mile 10, I violently threw up at mile 14, and I eventually pulled out at mile 20 after running 6 miles literally on empty. I’ll hopefully post some more on my recent stomach issues, but I think the main problem was that I massively overhydrated (go figure). The good news was I ran the first 10 miles in 6:50s with no problem. I also got to see the mayor blow by me while I was throwing up. He was definitely having more fun than I was.

This last weekend I ran the Potomac Heritage 50K. I had a blast! I was coming off a big training week and ran 16 miles the day before, so my legs were far from fresh, but everything went well in the race. My stomach finally held up really well (I think I may have figured out at least some of the issues now). I love the trails that the course covers, which are all my hometown trails. I also got more adventure than I could have hoped for. It rained leading up to and all during the race. This made for some slippery mudfests, some dicey creek crossings, and a thigh-deep crossing of a fast moving stream. I finished strong in 5:14.

The last piece of JFK training is a big long run in the Massanuttens. I’m hoping for something in the 35-40 mile range if all goes well. After that it’ll be drinking taper time.

I haven’t been able to train for this race as much as I’d like, but hopefully I can at least beat my time from 2 years ago.

In other news, I’m officially signed up for the Boston Marathon now. Duh-Fitz will be running with me, which will be so much fun, I may just pee my pants.