Bear Mountain 50 miler - North Face ECSNY

North Face Endurance Challenge Series - New York
Bear Mountain 50 Miler (7,054' elevation gain)
May 2, 2015
8 hours 14 minutes; 6th place overall

Overview
This is the second time I have ran the Bear Mountain 50, but I was a bit under trained this year as compared to last year.  It was easy to forget how hard the last 10 miles or so of this course are and how taxing the first 20 are on your legs.  I came in to this race averaging under 40 miles per week and with some legs issues only ran 2-3 times a week for the 3.5 weeks leading up to race time.  All in all I would say this race was a success for me to end up 6th overall, but left a sour taste realizing I could have potentially ended up in the top three if I was better prepared.  It was hot and the Nuun kept me well hydrated as I sweat like crazy!!  It was a great start to the season!

Leading up to race day

This year our semester at Castleton started a week earlier in January meaning we end a week earlier.  Hillary and I left from Castleton in the afternoon of the last day of school scrambling to get down to Stoney Point before dark.  I had been dealing with some tendinitis in my right quad ever since a backcountry ski and climb up the Trap Dike on Mount Colden and was unsure how my leg would respond to the long race and debilitating rocky trail surface of Bear Mountain.  I went in the race morning humble and hoping for the best!

Starting the race

I didn't feel great, but did not feel awful either for the first 20 miles of the race.  I was a bit behind schedule and knew I was not going to make my time from the year prior.  No worries though, my quad was feeling good, so I was glad I would be able to make a good push.  I ran the first couple hours with Tom Dillon of Fort Collins, who was a great buddy to run with and pass by some miles as we caught runners ahead of us.  The are a lot of tough rocky sections early on in this course that really wear on you later in the race.

Miles 20-40, or so ...

This is the faster part of the course.  There are some atv type trails that are not super steep and wider grassy trails that are not too tough either.  I was definitely feeling pretty beaten down through this section though and could not make up time on these faster sections.  It was 80 degrees out, I was pounding down up to 50 ounces of Nuun water per hour and was still starting to cramp a bit and had to supplement further with salt stick pills starting at mile 33.  Without Nuun I would have been salting back at mile 10!  I know I sweat very, very salty, so Nuun is essential for me to stay on top of my salt requirements, especially on a hot day.  I was also consuming more calories than normal.  All indicators that I was not as prepared as I should have been fitness-wise.  I kept my head down

and kept moving forward, packing down calories, and pounding at least 20 ounce bottles of Nuun per hour.

The last 10 miles
The course gets back to its true form of rocky trails for this section.  A couple epic climbs on top of it really drained me.  However, it is always uplifting to hit the intersection that also has the 50k runners on it.  Prior to that I was running along for a long time.  It is nice to pick off people and have small goals again.  My body was certainly not used to the heat and I was close to feeling the starting symptoms of slight dizziness and nausea as I crossed the line.  I was burning really hot.  However, I was able to keep food down the entire race.

Overall, I was very pleased with the effort and am really thankful to Hillary for supporting me all day, especially since I wasn't the most energetic person during the race.  I am looking forward to Infinitus 88k at the end of May and the Northville-Placid Trail record attempt in June!