Michael: A Great Plan Poorly Executed

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Slashed across the raven sky
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Tuesday, March 15, 2016

I had a great plan for the Sycamore 100k and for the most part I followed it pretty well. But part of a great plan is to be able to intelligently adjust the plan for changing conditions and to improvise for situations that weren’t planned for. That’s where I have a lot of room for improvement.

The most significant error I made is when I started to get light headed due to dehydration. At first I tried to push through it because in the past when I’ve stopped I’ve DNFed. But on regular trail runs where I’ve briefly stopped to gather myself, it hasn’t panicked me. But I haven’t been able to apply this calm approach to race situations yet, and it’s cost me.

Next time out I plan on being pro-active and if I know it’s going to get hot for a significant portion of the race, I’ll employ a walk/jog strategy on difficult uphill sections and drink more.

In 50k or shorter races I’ve had success actually doing the opposite and pushing it hard to get significant miles out of the way before the heat sets in. But in 50 mile and over races, if it’s going to be hot, the heat’s going to be unavoidable for me, and I need to plan accordingly. That means I should’ve also taken in plenty of fluids at the race H.Q. at Sycamore and taken a massage stick and worked over my legs for a couple of minutes to both revive them and to give my stomach some time to absorb the extra fluids.

Walking during trail races has also been problematic for me as compared to other trail running adventures. The problem is that I view running during a race as a sign of failure. But I don’t have nearly the mental letdown when I walk during a difficult trail run or fastpack trip. To overcome this mental block I’m going to have to bite the bullet and incorporate walking as part of my strategy in my next long trail race and walk a few sections even if I don’t feel I need to at the moment.

I’m not going to give up on races over 50k. After 40 miles I was in the lead and for the most part my body felt great. I just need to pause for a moment when I run into difficulties and try to become a better, more relaxed problem solver.