Haliburton 50 Miles

Just a quick race report for the Haliburton 50M. The year I turned 30 I ran my first marathon, so it was a nice bookend to finish my first 50 Miler ten years later. The timing was a bit close to TransRockies, but there are no other options for me this year, so with a good weather forecast, I took the leap of faith that it would work out.

Things started off well, and I got to the turnaround a bit before 5 hours (maybe 4:40ish; can't remember the exact time as I didn't take splits), and knew it was going to be a long way back from there as I was already getting pretty tired. I got a mental lift on the corduroy trail after AS 6 (the part of the trail that everyone hates but I loved) but then gradually entered a death shuffle over the next section and by AS 4 when I saw Derrick. I was sad for him that he dropped, but know he will make up for it soon. It was comforting to look forward to seeing him at the remaining aid stations. The last loop around Macdonald Lake and back to base took me almost 2 hours, which killed my (admittedly long-shot) idea of breaking 10 that had come into my brain somewhere along the way. By that point I didn't care, and was really happy with 10:16:28.

It was good to be back at Haliburton, for the most part the trails are fun, technical, soft, and beautiful. No mountains, but the endless rolling hills take their toll by the end. I swore off (up and down and repeatedly) anything longer than a 50K from now on (okay, after Hong Kong, Deb), but of course our stupid minds always try to talk us back into it. We'll see.

I had a lot of the typical GI troubles in trying to figure out the fine balance of nutrition. I think I fueled a bit too much in the first-half (for what I could handle), and too little at the end. I'd switch to a liquid fuel by the end if I could do-over. My quads are very sore, and I took the elevator up to my 2nd floor office this morning. :)

My trusty Quantums that got me through TransRockies were a great choice again for this (dry trail) year at Hali, and I used a single UD holder except for AS 5 to AS 4 on the way back where I added a handheld.

It was great to see everyone back at the Forest, to share all the good, bad and ugly. As usual, it was mind blowing to see the physical and mental strength of the 100 milers. Truly amazing. KO, you rock.

Thank you to the one-and-only Helen Malmberg and her amazing crew.

And that's all I have to say about that.