Rocky Raccoon 50 Mile - RunUltra Marathon


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Huntsville, Texas
United States
Rocky Raccoon Trail Run
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 9h 50m 35s
Overall Rank = 54/307
Age Group = M40-49
Age Group Rank = 15/53
Pre-race routine:

I live about 45-minutes from the park, so up early for coffee and a cliff bar, then a stop at Starbucks for a little more coffee. I got to the park at about 6:15, and parking was really easy because people there for the start of the 100-mile had started leaving. I picked up my packet the night before, so hung out in the car until go-time.
Event warmup:

Huh? Really?
Run
  • 9h 50m 34s
  • 50 miles
  • 11m 49s  min/mile
Comments:

I did this race in 2010, so I had some idea what to expect and knew a few things to watch out for. My goal was to finish in less than 10:00, and I broke that down to 3:00 for the first loop, 3:20 for the second, and 3:40 for the third. My plan was to do a run/walk from the start. I thought I'd walk 1 minute out of every 10 for the first hour, then 2 out of 10 for the remainder of the first two laps. I thought that Lap 3 would be 3 out of 10, or whatever it took to get to the finish line.

Lap 1 - 3:00:47: Felt great the whole way and thought I did a good job sticking to the plan and pace. Especially during the first hour, it's so easy to get caught up in the moment and pick up the pace. I resisted the urge and managed to get in most of my planned walk breaks, but I did skip a few. After that first hour, I did a better job in sticking to the time and walking as scheduled. No big surprises during this lap.

Lap 2 - 3:15:38: Was still feeling strong at the end of the second lap. Maintained the 2 out of 10 walk schedule and chatted with a few different people. By the end of lap 2, the 100-mile and 50-mile people are all mixed together and you've got to ask or look on other runner's bibs to tell for sure which race they're doing. Saw an aligator in the lake towards the end of this loop.

Lap 3 - 3:34:10: Switched to 3-minutes of walking. Continued to feel good through about half of this lap. By about the 8-hour mark, I was getting pretty fatigued, with some stiffness in my feet and quads but nothing accutely painful. My walk/run schedule fell apart, but I think I stayed fairly close to the planned ratio. I hit the last aid station right at 9:00. I knew I "should" be able to cover that last 4-1/2 miles in an hour to come in sub-10, but was worried the whole way until the last turn when you can actually see the finish.

I ended up taking over an hour off my 2010 time, improving from 10:56:51 to 9:50:34, moving from 116th in 2010 to 54th this year. I'm very pleased with the improvement! To top it off, I didn't fall once the single race. That's a major accomplishment for a klutz like me!
What would you do differently?:

This was a pretty ideal race for me. Halfway through the last lap I switched from Heed to Mountain Dew & Coke. The soda didn't sit well in my stomach. Heed was working just fine, and I should have just put up with it a few more stations.
Post race
Warm down:

No real warm down. Got a fresh shirt out of my drop bag and talked one of the volunteers into helping me get my shoes off. Hung out about 10-minutes then headed to the car and drove home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

At this point, my biggest limiter is weight. I'm sure my performance could move up a notch if I could drop another 10 or 15 lbs. Goal for 2013 is to get into the low 160s.

I did the 50k race at Bandera 3-weeks prior to this. I wondered if this helped or hurt my performance? I think it worked out okay, but I'm not sure if I was fully recovered from it or not.

Event comments:

WOW! RR is a fantastic race!

The course is flat and trails are gentle and well marked. It's an ideal course for the first timer or someone wanting to PR the 50 or 100-mile distance. If you want elevation or a super-tough course, this isn't the race for you.

The group at Tejas Trails does a fantastic job pulling everything together and supporting their participants.




Last updated: 2012-08-12 12:00 AM
Running
09:50:34 | 50 miles | 11m 49s  min/mile
Age Group: 15/53
Overall: 54/307
Performance: Good
Course: The single track and jeep road course has minimal elevation gain, but does roll a bit. The park is full of pines and much of the course rides on a bed of pine needles and dirt. Most of the single track is covered with roots. The 100mi course is five 20mi loops. The 50mi course is three 16.67mi loops. Some years it can be wet and muddy, but this year (2013) the trails were dry and in great shape.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5