World Trophy 50K - Galway, Ireland

Well it's been a long time since I posted here. In late June I found out that I had been selected to run in the World 50K Trophy, to be held on August 29th, 2010. The timing was perfect due to my Mum's heart bypass operation in late June. The race took place in Ireland and my mum resides on the south coast of England.

Training for the 50K was incredibly difficult, as Atlanta experienced the hottest summer on record. Many of my key workouts were on Tuesday evenings, averaging 95F (106F heat index). As a result, I felt very fit but somewhat 'sluggish' going into the 50K. All my sessions seemed to be much harder or much slower than expected. Those of you who have trained for endurance events know this is only half the test of fitness. I did find that I was able to consistently perform good workouts despite not feeling very good, and come back for more, which is crucial in ultrarunning. Also, I knew the temperature in Ireland would be much cooler than Atlanta.

Two and a half weeks out I attempted to run a tough 10M time trial in 98 (107F). I had ran a 26M two days prior, and predictably crashed in my workout. After struggling on the road and falling asleep in the shower; I decided an easier week or two was needed. Therefore, I felt a little under prepared as I got closer to D-Day.

I arrived in Ireland two days before the race and ran an easy 4M with Ben Nephew, who was also on the US team. Ben had beat me soundly on the Mt. Washington Hill Climb but we got along great. I decided to take the day before the race off as my calf was a little tight. On the tour of the course Ben and I realized the course was much more 'undulating' than we realized. The US runners received a little more reimbursement than we thought we would (670 Euro's in cash [about $840]...yeah baby!)

The morning of the race seemed to bring some strong gusts ahead of an incoming storm. The course consisted of two laps of the half marathon course, then four 1.25M loops of the city center, with a nasty hill on each lap. We realized we would have a headwind for the first 8.5M or so, then a tail wind through the end of the first loop.

Race Day:

Although I realized the wind would be against me for the first 8.5M; I found this part of the course a little bit of a struggle. The course was much hillier than I first thought and I completely screwed up the water stations. I thought there would be someone handing our the bottles to us, instead I had a hard time locating my bottles and gels on the Elite table. After the first two aid stations I shouted 'screw it' and decided to carry the gels in my shorts (luckily I had added extras into my aid station allotment). However, my gel disappeared from the elite table on numerous occasions.

At about 9M my race changed for the better as we started to hit some flatter and downhill sections. I immediately started to run 5:20's and felt superb. We then ran to the end of the pier and around a cone - woooof! The wind stood me up on the return down the pier, before we made a turn on the course towards the city center and the HM split. I continued to move well going through the half in 1:13.54. I had an Italian runner sitting on me which actually helped to push me mentally. On the long hill, at about 15M, the skies opened up and we all got a good Irish soaking. I dropped Boffo (the Italian runner) and pushed on. I tried to squeegee out my singlet and shorts as the sun came out. The course was mostly open to traffic. This caused some major concerns and problems as Galway started to come to life. On several occasions I had to weave in and out of cars, especially on the roundabouts, where Chevy Chase had nothing on me. I would not see another runner (other than the pier loop) until around 28 miles!

I remember telling myself to get to 21.75M to take advantage of the flatter sections and the tail wind. My calculations on the topography were correct, but the wind went from being a tailwind to a cross wind. At this point of the course you run down the promenade next to the ocean so the wind gusts were very strong at times. As I got into town I went through the Marathon in 2:28.14 (or so I thought). The four loops pretty much sucked, despite the bike riders that helped guide us through the city center. I swear the hill got bigger each loop, and the hustle of people became more off an obstacle. On the last four loops I passed several runners and really wasn't sure what position I was in, as some of the runners were on different loops. I actually passed the 2nd place South African runner who was rigging pretty bad. I finished in 6th place in 2:58.18 which I was happy with. I was seeded 1oth so I beat my seeding and got a PR (only my 2nd 50K). Other US finishers: Mike Wardian ran great finishing 3rd in 2:54.56, Ben ran a PR and finished 12th in 3:10.18, Daniel Verrington 19th in 3:21.14 and Mary Coordt 2nd in the womens race in 3:28.30

Post Race:

Ben and I hit the jacuzzi before taking in an Irish show in the evening. Most of the runners departed on Monday morning. As I was flying to England on Tuesday; I was able to enjoy a 72F day in Galway. The highlight of the day was eating a 99 Ice Cream on the beach watching the world go by, before annihilating some fish n' chips in the evening. Tuesday morning I ran 3M easy before departing to England. I had a great time with my family and ran some really beautiful trail runs. The legs recovered very quickly. I was able to run 6M on Wednesday, 12M Thursday and 9M on Friday, before flying back to the US on Saturday. I ran 15M on Sunday as the weather in Atlanta was 56F! This was short lived as 90F temps returned by Tuesday.

Conclusion:

All in all a great experience. I wish the weather had cooperated a little more as I think I could have ran a really good time. According to three Garmin watches the course was between 31.46-31.51M. The length of a 50K is meant to be 31.05M so the course was about 2:50 long. That would have given me a time in the mid 2:55's. This race gave me an excellent guide for Boston, which I am planning on running in April. The goal will be to obtain an Olympic Trial Qualifier and win the Masters age group, as I turn 40 in January.