Bradbury Mountain 50 km Race Report

My whole approach to running has changed in the last year. As I wrote about on my blog, I started doing almost every outing as a mixture of trail running and easy hiking. Normal trail running involves hiking, but because the mindset is to move at a steady effort akin to a run, a trail run for most probably doesn't involve easy hiking or hiking for extended periods; at least that's how it was for me when I saw myself as a trail runner. No, the run-hike is a different sport, and I've fallen in love with hiking all over again. I will never look at hiking or trail running the same again, but I will still do some races for fun.

Bradbury was good, if another race in rain/pea soup fog can be good!  Two laps, interesting course and terrain, with a mix of surfaces. First lap was smooth and fun; second lap grew into a struggle, but I didn't hit the wall as hard as some, though I did fade. 6:46 3300' on GPS, so not a lot of climb, but it was probably 3500'. Given that I did no long runs after Escarpment in July, mostly just my 2 hour-ish run-hikes, I'm happy with the result. After, I just chilled out in Maine for a few days.

I normally ignore heart rate but sometimes record my route on GPS to look at later. This time I kind of watched my heart rate and tried to keep it in the 150s. That helped me pace, and I ended up about 155, a bit conservative for the distance, because if really well trained I should be able to manage about 160 for a 50k.

The race was well organized plenty of food, gym to duck out of the rain and eat good hot food. Hose with hot water to rinse off the mud. I'd do it again probably, but I'd try to do more long runs to prepare. I don't look at my outings as training anymore; special preparation for events sometimes maybe, but my goal is to go out and enjoy the wilderness.