Glacial 50K. Yep. 50K not 50 mile. and I am glad.
Old Ron Bero signed up for the Glacial 50K this year. Having not trained much this summer (of course it's all relative right - ran some 20's and such throughout the summer). Decided that I better get my act in gear so I signed up for the Lapham Peak Marathon and the Northface 50K once it was clear that after re-spraining my ankle at least 3 times that Superior was out of the picture for this year (and Kathy said - there is no way you are doing that Ron (which provided the perfect excuse really)). trained up for the two races Sept 8 and 15th. Ran Lapham in 4:02 - basically 4 Blacks at about 59:30 each which for me is really pretty good. I won my age group (I also lost my age group). The NF50k wasn't all that bad either - 4:39 came in second in my age group (Joel's 50 now - I'll never win my age group again as long as he's in it - I have started my Nordic Ski training already though).
So - with Lapham and NF under my belt (and perhaps a few Hamm's Light's in my belly), Joel and I decided that we could do the Glacial 50 mile this year. It would be a nice balance - I was at three 50Ms and four 50Ks so this would round things out for me. So - we switched. But then the weather report started telling us that it was going to rain all weekend. I whined but to no avail. The Reverend was stubborn. He was not going back on his plan.
Up at 3:00. sat on my porch (I do this every morning - 365 days a year - yes I do tend to be habitual - think the TV Show Monk....) Not bad out. 60 degrees and misty - actually my favorite running weather. But - the weather app was telling me it was not going to get warmer that day in Greenbush - it was going to be getting colder and the wind was going to be building to 20mph our of the northeast. A Nor-easter as it is. Ugh. I felt the DNF coming and there is no such thing as a DNF in a 50 mile (for me so far anyways). Driving up - I remained positive but somewhat hoped that I might be late. Then about 5:00 the rain started and it was getting colder. I was raining so hard that even stopping in a corn field wasn't an option. I made it in time. It was pouring. This was the kind of day that you'd just like to stay inside and clean your basement and watch movies (which is exactly what I did all day Saturday). I walked in and apologized to the Reverend and had Old Ron switched back down to the 50K (Thank you Robert !!).
That 50K decision was the best decision I've made in a while. It was ok at the start. I couldn't see in the woods (rain and clouds make it dark). rolled my ankle a few times. and settled in to a rather heavy slog. happily telling everyone I met - like Pink Man John, with whom I ran for a while, it is a GREAT day for a 50K ! And it was. I ran out in about 2:33 or so (actually forgot to look at my watch but Matt said 2:30 and he was ahead of me at the turnaround) and back in about 2:34. It was slipperier and softer on the way back and the wind had picked up, the rain had picked up and it had gotten colder. And - my left quad started cramping. I think it was from the cold. The other slight issue was that all I had for GU was the Jet Black Raspberry 2x caffeine. By the time I finished my heart was doing an offbeat spasm of a dance. I had chilly then a beer to calm it down.
In essence - I may be too old to do a 50 mile in pouring rain in 50 degree weather now. I just don't think I could have mustered up the mental energy to make it through 10+ hours of being in that S___t yesterday. and I am glad that Old Ron realized this BEFORE he started. What a great day for a 50K.
