Race Planning

Quote of the Day courtesy of Slim:
"“Somebody told me you don’t know who you are until you do a 100-miler. I said, ‘Damned if I’m going to die and not know who I am.’ ”
-Matt Carpenter


I wrote this at work today, wasting some time away. My comments in bold are the ones I just added. I need to look at my splits again, I think what I typed the first time is a bit off.

Planning. Wow, I am actually looking at split times from my last two finishes at the Umstead 100 Mile Race, and projecting some goals, and mini goals.

My first objective is to finish the race in the time allotted. That’s big goal # 1.

It was fun to look at splits from the identical race and see where the differences were. I hit a low spot right about fifty miles in 2007-I finished 25 minutes slower in 2007 than 2008. I do remember feeling pretty low at that time, and that means I need to eat. My usual dinner time is around 5pm, so I was probably a bit low on the blood sugar. Got a bit slow around the 24 hour mark in 2007 also. (Now, this was also my first 100 miler, so it’s cool that I improved in 2008!!)

I caffeinated much earlier in 2008 and that helped me a great deal. In 2009, I plan on doing a better job at putting food in my face every hour, and making sure I have the caffeine coming on.

I snuck a peak at the ten day forecast (not that it means a hill of beans right now) and April 2 is forecast to be 70-and raining. And they already have a high pollen count. I immediately wrote down “Claritin” on my shopping list. I’m glad I looked at the forecast, because I will start taking Claritin (or Zyrtec) a few days out from the race. These are non-sedating antihistamines over the counter; I really don’t have much allergy problems, but I don’t want to be smote with a heavy pollen situation coming from the barren north. In 2007 there was yellow pollen coating everything. In 2008 we had rain, which helped greatly cut down on the pollen AND on the grit getting into your running shoes on the course.

70 and raining would be fine with me. It began raining last year in the afternoon. I still remained over-heated until around 4 am or so, when the wind kicked up, and I actually put on a long sleeved shirt at that time. Of course, fifty degrees would be nicer!

Some goals:
50 miles in 2007 reached at 458 pm
50 miles in 2008 reached at 433 pm
2009 Goal: reach 50 miles by 430 pm. Better goal: reach 50 miles by 4 pm!!
(Note: this has to be wrong, I need to re-look at the splits..)

In 2007, at 69.35 miles, I hit that AS in 25.11. In 2008, I reached that AS in 24.41 This year, my goal is to hit mile 69 in 24 hours.

In 2007, I made 75 miles at 27.06 In 2008, I made 75 miles at 26.28 This year, my goal is to get to mile 75 by 1 am- 25 hours.
(Hmm, this isn't making sense to me as I re-read this. I think I meant 26 hours, not 25.)

My big finishing goal is to go under 28 hours, so my goal would be to finish by 10 am.
(This goal seems correct still!!!!)

So there it is, all laid out.

Of course, it’s all subjective to change, based on weather, temperature, etc, etc,…!!!