Bull Run Run 50 miler, PB and Jamming

The couple of minutes before the first big race of the year is always an uneasy moment.  I can not help but think of all the things that I did leading up to the race to get myself mentally and physically ready.  Add to this, one of my 2010 season  biggest races of the year and it starts to make 50 miles of trail running with 5000 feet of ascending and descending quite daunting.

I was very happy to get into Bull Run Run 50 miler, Mananas Virginia, because it is a very popular race which requires a lottery to get one of the 350 coveted spots.  Unfortunately I did not get into the race via lottery but had to wait on the waiting list for an available spot.  This race had my nerves right from the get-go back when registration opened in February.

When the count down reached 0 seconds, indicating 6:30 am, 350 runners where off for a full day of some wonderful single track running for 50 miles.  The front runners, of about 20, started off like we were running a half marathon.  The pace was crazy, too much adrenaline for 6:30 in the morning.  Having now done this race 5 times I knew that we still had a long day of running but it was really hard not to get caught up in the pace.  I figured I would settle into a pace of my own after a couple of kilometers because I didn’t want to get too far behind on the single track.

About 5 km in I was finding good form and this would be the first of many “body system” checks throughout the day.  How are the legs? breathing? heart rate? do I feel relaxed? the list goes on and on.  I was feeling great and this would be the beginning of me just running my own race.  Why? still 75 km to go and the hardest stuff left.

The tough thing about Bull Run Run other than the amazing runners who show up is the endless hills.  None of the climbs are too long but they just don’t stop and as the race progresses it is mentally tough to tell the legs to keep pushing up the climbs when every muscle in your body just wants to walk.  I knew that keeping this attitude all day would do nothing but befit my time by the end of the day.  All day and as the miles went by I felt like I was just cruising along my pace never slowed and my mental state was always in the right place, happy.

A big part of the day becomes nutrition/hydration and muscle issues (cramping and fatigue).  I found last year that I was over drinking and having stomach problems so I was going to tone it down this year and make better use of the fluids I was taking in.  I have really enjoyed using a product called NUUN and have found it to be really good for me especially once the run starts to get over the 3 hour mark.  As far as calories, I heavily depend on Hammer gel and Cliff Bloks.  As any endurance athlete knows we run at a calorie deficit eventually so finding the best intake becomes very important.  I was trying my best during the race to take a gel every 45 minutes, and did a great job of maintaining this.To back up a bit, at about the 15 km mark I was about 10-12th and knew I had a lot of work to do if I was to aim of a top 5.  As the day progressed my consistent pace put me into 4th with about 30km to go.  Every runner I went by I felt like I was flying by, where their breathing sounded labored mine felt relaxed, where their feet looked clumsy mine felt smooth.  It all just helped me keep my rhythm and want to keep running well.  For the remainder of the day I would here at approaching aid stations that I was constantly gaining time on 3rd, but it was not meant to be.  By the finish I was only a 30 seconds behind 3rd but I was way okay with that because I had set a new personal best by a couple of minutes of 6 hours 52 minutes and 21 seconds.  I was super happy about my day because I felt fantastic for the full 50 miles, no problems to report and that you can’t beat.

As far as gear to reference too:  I am going to give a 10 out of 10 to my new can’t leave home without SLS 3 Compression Sleeves.  I always always always start developing calf cramps at about mile 30 or 4-5 hours in, but this being the 1st 50 miler I have run in compression sleeves I went the whole day completely crampless.  It was truly amazing.  I can not say much about the overall claims that SLS or any of the other Compression Companies claim but as far as a really life test and a long one at that I can honestly say that I was very impressed with the comfort, stability of the calf muscle and the no cramping the SLS 3’s provided.  My only problem was that I need to buy a black pair because mud and white are not a good combination.

Adam Hill

Running Free Barrie