My next major race will be Across the Years, near Phoenix, Arizona, on December 30. This will be my first attempt at a 24-hour run. This type of ultra is a challenge to run as many miles as you can within 24-hours. I hope to at least run 110 miles.
So my focus for the next two months is to gain speed and endurance on the flats. I won’t do as much climbing, and will try throwing in more tempo runs. I recovered from the Pony Express Trail 100 very rapidly, able to run nearly 50 miles during the following week.
On November 1, I traveled a couple hours north to run in the 1st Dam 10k Run in Logan, Utah. This course runs on Crockett Ave past my 19th century ancestral home of my great-great grandparents who helped settle Logan. I had not been doing any road, speed training, but I wanted to push the heart rate up and try to do my best at a 10k.
I was suprised to discover that I parked next to my childhood buddy, Jim Kern, who had moved to Utah a couple years ago. I had no idea and was delighted to spend some time with him. He took up running since moving west and he would run in the 5K, his first.
The course climbed about 300 feet during the first three miles and then would be mostly downhill back to the start/finish. I tried to push hard, but quickly discovered that my heart rate jumped pretty good and my foot speed wasn’t great. I ran in about 20th place for the first couple miles and clocked the first uphill mile in 6:47. A few people passed me and I ran the next couple miles in about 7:20 each. I was struggling to warm up. Once I hit the downhill, it took me awhile to recover, but I was able to clock the next mile in 6:57, and the final two in about 7:10 each. At one point my shoe came un-tied, so I had to stop for about 15 seconds to tie it up again.
I finished in 44:29, in 25th place out of 136 finishers. I ran only 17 minutes slower than my PR. I was pleased to see that I placed first in my 50-59 age group. They handed out ribbons for the first six places in each age group. When I went up for my ribbon, the guys were surprised to hear that some unknown runner stole away the victory. I heard one guy ask the announcer, “who placed first?” “Davy Crockett beat you!” The guys who I could tell were a group of running friends circled around me and shook my hand. One guy explained that they had predicted the placement but, “you kicked our butts!” (Actually, I think I beat the next guy by only 50 seconds.) One guy asked if I was the 100-mile Davy Crockett. It was fun to talk to them. The guy who finished 3rd (Michael Richards) kept joking with me. “Did you come up here just to kick our butts?” It was pretty funny. I was glad to win, but I realize that I need lots of work to get my foot speed and endurance up for flat runs. Jim finished his first 5k in 31:50 minutes, placing 5th in his age group. Well done.