JFK 50 Miler race report

Yesterday was the 6th time I've toed the starting line for the JFK 50 Mile race.  It gets a little bigger and even better managed each year.  My hat is off to the race director and all the great volunteers that make this happen every year.

I thought my preparation was good this year, especially the fact that I got out and ran the Appalachian Trail on eleven days in the two months before the race.  It's one thing to get some hill work included in your workouts, it is quite another to spend time running specifically on the trails you want to be able to cover efficiently. I worked hard on the trail during the race, but I definitely knew what to expect and went through that section in good shape.

Having said that, I'm looking at some of the data from the run yesterday.  This graph of my heart-rate, as a percentage of maximum over the race, tells the story ...

Mike's heart-rate during the JFK-50

Ignore the spike at the start - that's just the monitor not getting good data at the start.  For the first 3 hours (the time I spent on the Appalachian Trail) I was running at close to 85 % maximum heart rate, the upper end of my aerobic range.  Then I hit the long, flat C&O canal portion of the run, and saw my heart rate gradually slow until at the 6-hour point I was running just under 75 % max.  The last couple of miles of walking/running took it down even further.

While seeing my heart rate vary from 85% to 65% of max over 50 miles doesn't bother me, I can't help but think I should have taken it easier on the trail portion early on, and run the canal harder.  Of course, depletion of stored energy is probably a big factor in the trend shown in this graph, but I can say that I ate better before and during this run than I usually do during a race.

Mary did a great job of crewing for me yesterday.  Here's the picture she took before the start.

Mike before the race

I love running long because there is so much going on, it's a puzzle I am never going to solve, but I do have a lot of fun working on it.  Then again, Scott Jurek says run long, and do it with soul ... I hope I'm not over-thinking this!