Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Stump Jump 50k - Smooth and Relaxed

 October 7

This is my fourth time running this race.  Last year in warm weather, I pushed really hard, cramped severely in the last few miles, and finished in a respectable 7:52:20, which was 10 seconds faster than my previous best time at this race.  This year, my plan is to go out easy and try to finish strongly.  I am solo this year with no friends or relatives running with me.  The weather is supposed to be absolutely perfect.  There was some light rain yesterday, but that has cleared out of the area.  The temperature at the start is a cool 47 degrees.

Mile 4.9      1:00:16 (12:18 avg./mile) Edwards Point

I get out of the starting line very well as there weren’t many people crowding to be in the front.  I settle in and allow many runners to pass me in the first couple of miles.  This first section is relatively flat with only gentle rolling hills.  I am taking it easy, but am still surprised that I wasn’t a minute or two faster in the cool weather.  I pass right through the aid station.

Mile 8.2      50:16 (15:14 avg./mile) Mushroom Rock #1

After Edward’s Point, I find myself leading a couple of other runners, who seem content to pace off of me.  They are chatty, and I enjoy their conversation for this section.  Their names are Madison and Nathan.  They talk about the 15 chickens that Madison owns and the layoffs at each of their companies.  While I was enjoying the conversation, we made okay, but not quick, time on this section.  I stop briefly at the aid station and grab a handful of potato chips.  When I begin to leave the aid station, Nathan and Madison are nowhere to be seen.  I guess they didn’t stop.

Mile 14.2    1:39:59 (16:40 avg./mile) Indian Rock House

I run down the trail, across the bridge and begin the climb up the other side.  After the initial climb, another runner, Drew, starts up a conversation.  This is his first ultramarathon, and he is trying to find someone to pace off.  I am perfectly happy to have another runner along.  I learn that he has a couple of middle school sons, but they aren’t into running.  This section has plenty of sneaky tough footing.  Last year, I took a serious fall and went quite a ways down the hillside, scraping up my arms and cheek.  This year, I make it through this section comfortably and without a fall.  About a mile before the aid station, another runner joins us.  His name is Steve, and he is another inexperienced ultra-runner.  He says this is his fourth ultra.  At the aid station, I grab two PB&J uncrustables and head down the trail.

Mile 16.7    41:02 (16:25 avg./mile) Snoopers Rock

It takes Drew a couple of minutes to catch me after coming out of the aid station as he took a little more time to eat.  Drew and I are making good time (I think) and get to this aid station in good shape.  Drew has never run this far in before in a race, so I am waiting for him to begin to fade at some point.  At this aid station, I grab some more potato chips and push on through, while Drew takes a minute longer to eat more.

Mile 19.4    59:15 (21:57 avg./mile) Haley Road

Drew and I press forward after the Snoopers Rock aid station, but we are soon joined by Darci.  Darci has run several ultra-races and is going to run the Tunnel 100 miler next month.  Drew terms us the triple Ds when Steve catches back up to us.  He stopped at the Indian Rock House aid station to attend to his scraped up hand, which is why he hasn’t been up with us.  All three of the runners behind me seem perfectly happy to let me set the pace.  We exit the single track trail onto a dirt road that takes us up to the aid station.  While I am topping off my Camelbak, Darci and Drew head out of the aid station.

Mile 22.8    51:36 (15:11 avg./mile) Mullins Cove Parking

Steve and I leave the Haley Road aid station together with Darci and Drew in view, but well ahead of us.  I figure we will catch them soon enough, but I am wrong.  Steve and I will not see either of them until the finish line.  Meanwhile, Steve continues to yammer away while I set a smooth and steady pace.  We manage to navigate the rock garden section successfully and then it is not too far to the aid station.  Steve’s wife is there, and I grab two cups of Coke and another uncrustable as I press on down the trail.

Mile 29.3    2:01:30 (18:42 avg./mile) Mushroom Rock #2

Feeling good with a little Coke in my system, I think I have left Steve behind for now.  It won’t surprise me if I don’t see him again.  Within a mile, I catch up to a lady who initially I think is Darci, but then realize it is a different woman.  This is Rebecca, and she lets me go by.  Then here comes Steve past Rebecca and stays behind me for only a minute before pressing on ahead.  He says something about getting in under 8 hours, which I realized at the last aid station was not very likely.  Then Rebecca passes me back looking very smooth and determined.  I am running decent, but obviously not as fast as Steve or Rebecca.  I want to press the pace, but I am careful to watch my footing on this tricky section of trail.  I make my way across the paved road and then across the two bridges before the climb up to the aid station.  At the aid station, I grab another cup of Coke leaving a few guys behind that I hadn’t seen all day.

Mile 31.2    19:41 (10:22 avg./mile) FINISH

I leave the aid station thinking that I can run most of the way to the finish.  However, within a half mile, I catch a toe on a root and hit the dirt.  No harm done, but I guess I will make sure it doesn’t happen again today.  As I am power hiking on an uphill section, a guy with a friendly dog off-leash, comes my way.  As I said the dog was friendly, but this slowed me down for a minute.  Then I am crossing the last boardwalk, making the right turn out of the woods, and running to the finish.

Official Finishing Time          8:23:35

70th out of 130 starters (4th out of M50-59)

This time is slower than all but one of my previous times at this race.  While I am disappointed in the time, I executed my game plan almost exactly as I had intended.  I wanted to stay conservative, run a clean race, and finish with legs left for my hockey game tomorrow night.  There are a few things I would have done differently, and I will tweak some of them moving forward.  One is that I don’t think I drank enough water as I only had to stop to pee once during the race.  The other thing is that I am going to try to up the salt tablets more than I have in recent years.  I am also going to switch back to S-Caps as I have been using just buffered salt tablets.  The S-Caps are more durable in my pack during a race, and they contain some potassium in addition to the sodium.  I believe that it is the magnesium that gives my stomach problems, and the S-Caps don’t have any of that.

My next event is now is Hellgate in December.  I was planning on pacing a friend at the Pinhoti 100 miler in November, but they didn’t get in and now have a conflict.  So, instead I will head to Virginia in early November to train on Priest and Three Ridges.  This will be year 21 at Hellgate, and we are due for a cold year.  Until then…

Never stop running,

Darin

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