Aug '25 (edited) • General Discussion
Fabulous Fahnestock 50k Recap
I wanted an easy race to practice better race execution. This was not it! Still it was my best executed race to date despite a very humid day and more elevation and technical sections than expected (why do they always get the vertical wrong on these things? Is it intentional?).
Very little sleep the nite before (about 3 hrs) and a 4am wakeup call. I was determined to get there early after almost having to sprint to the start of the 50m in July. Much better pregame experience. Got there way before the bathroom queue up and was able to triple check everything with plenty of time. Check.
Start of the race was near 100% humidity. In looking at the course, my plan was to try and execute a quicker 12.5m at the beginning before what looked like a slog of a climb in the middle. Well, that first 12.5 was single track and extremely rocky, including the downhills, where there wasn't really much of an option to let it fly. Heart rate was higher than I wanted, but it wasn't easy going. I stuck to my 30g gel packet every 20 mins.
I rolled into the first aid station at around 5m and was pretty dismayed by what I saw. Just a bunch of candy and shitty cookies. I briefly pondered what it was going to be like if the rest of the aid stations were stocked like this. I chugged down some LMNT (part of my plan was 1 packet an hour). Just then started getting passed by folks running the 25k, which was mildly annoying.
About two miles after the AS, got a pretty big cramp in my side, right below the ribcage. I thought it was humidity related, but later read that this is called a side stitch. I hadn't had one before, but I learned after that it's likely caused by gulping and eating too quickly at the AS ( I did pound liquid there as quick as I could). That cramp stayed with me until about mile 20. The next 10 miles in particular where very tough terrain-wise and attitude-wise. I was not a happy camper with the side stitch and my downhill times were pissing me off. I was getting a bit sloppy with my footwork and tripping on the rocks and roots everywhere, so my feet weren't particularly happy either. Coming into the second AS at mile 11, I was pretty upset but determined to still give it a good go for what was really practice.
Ultra's are a bit like the weather, you never really know what's going to happen next. That's a key learning here, as I came up to mile 12.5 (where it looked like a beast of a climb and terrain changes on the map for the next 10 miles). The first big climb was on a smooth trail, so that was nice. Then the second leg of the climb was on a dirt road, which was such as relief. I started to feel much better, my side started to unclench and my times got better.
It was back to the rocky single track around mile 17, but I was flowing more with it now. Some very steep climbs but I was in sync with my poles and making hay. Cruised into the AS at around mile 22 and thought I had it made, as the rest of the map looked tame. Wrong! This was basically the first 10 miles of the race all over again terrain-wise. I put in a good effort and the fueling was going great. With about 6 miles left, I made the decision that I was going to cut back on the gels, as I had switched to caffeinated ones from the same brand, but I hadn't tried them before and they had a weird bitter taste to them that kinda freaked me out (another lesson, never assume anything, even from a brand you know and like, always test before).
I finally started to feel a bit woozy going into the last aid station, so I took some extra time to make sure I felt ok before heading out for what was supposed to be 3 miles but ended up being 4. It was a tough finish with two very steep climbs right before the finish. I was tracking my watch and was trying to put in an average of 17 minute miles overall, but these last two climbs put a dent in that and I eased up a bit.
Crossed the finish line at 9:25. While it wasn't the time I wanted when I planned the race, I realized that the conditions on the ground were much different than expected, so I felt good about it. Ended up being good enough for 37th out of 65.
I think this was just the kind of prep race I needed in retrospect. I experienced new challenges and while I couldn't really figure them out on the fly, I was able to learn afterwards how to combat them. That's invaluable experience. You always learn something new to put into your toolkit. I was able to put some of those prior lessons into practice this time and now feel confident that I'll be able to adapt these lessons into my future races too.
Onward!
3
2 comments
Fabulous Fahnestock 50k Recap
skool.com/tribaluniversity
Free training university for endurance dads. The Tribal Shred protocol, training challenges, race guides, and 25 min strength. Lean out and go big.
Powered by