Heartland 50 Race Report

The Heartland race is complete. All in all, it was fun experience. On the downside, the weather was quite warm (highs in the mid 80's and windy) to run 50 miles and I was a shade undertrained owing to my ankle and general laziness. But on the upside, we didn't embarrass ourselves and turned in a respectable 11:12 finish. Whatever success I had, is largely thanks to Stephen who kept us on task. He certainly would have had a sub-11 finish if he didn't have to wait for my sorry butt.

The Heartland was different from the Brew-to-Brew. At B-2-B, I have had more of a "wall" experience from miles 40 to 43. Saturday, I hit a wall all right, but it was more of a gradual collapse. My spirit never flagged though, I was just discouraged I didn't run more on the second half.

Despite feeling a little hungover, metabolically, on Sunday, I feel pretty good today - my legs just have some mild tiredness. The sunburn is the most uncomfortable reminder of the race. What I need to do for future 50's is a little mild speedwork and more miles midweek.

I'd like to run some more 50-milers; I'd definitely like to run the Heartland 50 again. I almost forgot to mention meeting Michael from Ballwin, MO. Michael kept us company over the last couple of miles of what was his first 50 too. Mike is a very nice guy and strikes me as very dedicated; I hope we'll be able to run again with him.