Adaptation - 2012 Collegiate Peaks 50

Quotes abound to the effect of how you can't control external events, but you can control how you choose to react to them.

First, the facts:

Collegiate Peaks 50 - April 28, 2012

7:43

5th place

Collegiate Peaks 50 - May 4, 2011

7:45

6th place

Lap 1

I believe I was somewhere around 20th-25th place after 3 miles.  With the 25ers mixed in, there was no need to worry about position.  Every time I got the itch to push, I held myself in check.  We had a little surprise when aid station 4 (at the course high point, near 17 miles) wasn't set up yet.  I had nearly cached my water in anticipation of refilling.  Luckily, 17 to 22 was all downhill, and it forced me to stay conservative.  Turning onto the singletrack at 23.5, I knew I'd get my first look at my position.  No surprises; there were four guys ahead of me.  I estimated the gap between myself and 4th to be pretty big - at least ten minutes.  Melissa did some awesome crew work for me, getting my drink and belt ready for the second lap.  I hit the turnaround in 3:33:30-ish feeling pretty good, which was exactly what I was shooting for.  10 minutes was a big gap, but I kept thinking of how Duncan and Corey had a similar gap on me last year and didn't extend their lead on the last lap.  The race begins at the halfway point.

Lap 2

It was a bit more difficult estimating the gap between me and 6th, as the people I passed on my way back up were a mixed bag of 25ers and 50ers.  I did pick out Benjamin Dunn, who had spotted me maybe 3 minutes.  The 7 miles from the turnaround to the high point would be, at least in my mind, the crux of the day.  Last year, I absolutely wilted through this stretch.  Fortunately, I held together much better this time around.  Still, Ben had closed the gap substantially, hitting the high point aid station just as I left it.  I noticed he went through the station very quickly, which suggested to me that he was putting forth a concerted effort to make contact with me.  Having learned a lesson about skipping aid last year, I had decided that with a decent amount left in the tank, I wasn't going to worry about maintaing that gap yet.  If he wanted to chase, so be it.  I caught sight of him a few times during the 30-40 miles, but it seemed he wasn't gaining.  Aid crew at mile 38 reported that I was still about 10 minutes back of 4th.  I felt decent at this time, but the memory of falling apart in the mid-40's last year stuck.  Instead of pushing to see if I could make a dent in that gap, I stayed within myself to make sure I got to the mile 44 aid station able to run the remainder of the course in.  By the time I hit 44, I learned my gap was still 8 minutes.  Not knowing where Ben had gone, I again decided to run within myself and lock up 5th instead of risking a blowup chasing down 4th.  The last miles felt surprisingly easy - I was in so much better shape this year than last year at this point.  My mind kept looking ahead to August during the final stretch - 100 miles finally began to feel comprehendible.  

The negatives

With more mileage under me, I was hoping to shave more than 2 minutes off my time from last year.  My tier of personal goals going into the race went something like this:

C goal - sub 7:45

B goal - sub 7:38

A goal - sub 7:30

To only shave off a nominal amount was kind of a bummer.  I even have to acknowledge that the conditions were more favorable this year - last year, the heat was much more of a factor than it was yesterday.

The positives

I ran smarter splits - 3:34/4:09 vs 3:30/4:15 last year.

Less 'want to die' moments.

Felt much better post-race.

Dialed into my needs better - nutrition, hydration, electrolytes, etc.

Put it all together, and what do I have?  Well...my ultimate goal this year is a strong performance in my 100 mile debut.  Once I finished CP last year, I couldn't even fathom doubling the distance.  After yesterday, though...I can wrap my head around it.  I think my training has actually been quite appropriate for the 100, maybe even slightly at the expense of 50.  The focus on distance as opposed to turnover showed yesterday, as I didn't seem to have the ability to hammer...but I didn't have the extended periods of struggle, either.

Collegiate Peaks is a great event, and Burke Kaiser is a cool dude.  It's a bummer that this race and the Cheyenne Mountain trail races fall on the same weekend, as that's another class event.

I choose to be OK with yesterday's result.  While there are lessons to be taken away by yesterday's performance, I do think I'm on the right track for the race across the sky in August.