AR 50 (American River 50 miles)

Of all my adventures, this ultra race is by far the easiest. I felt spoiled for not having to get up that early, not much logistics to worry about and of course, not much hills aye!


The start of the race is at CSUS Guy West Bridge and its about 1.7 miles from my place. How cool is that ?


This was my second 50 mile run (within 15 months of training), part road bike trail and flat. A flatlander like me finally found a non-hilly yet good enough to be called it "epic". For few years I've been training on hills but this weekend, more than 20 miles of  pavement and easy but fast steps - is all I have to do. Where can you find that anywhere in the world ?


Oh - but the Last Gasp was hill though, but not too bad, it was still runnable 3-mile with 1500 ft gain. But allow me to share you how I prepared for this race. I have not run much. Work bugged me, some employees were just not present. On weekdays, road running with the Norcal Runagades and on weekends: for two Saturdays, I ran the last 7 miles, which is easy to say I know what to expect and what the terrain be like on race day.


However I described this easy is not really "easy". Okay I can run and I can climb but do I have "efficiency in running", hmmmm the answer is a big NO. For over a year Ive been running, I always have something that make me stop, either to tie my shoe lace, the loo break, or just simply whinging about how hungry I am, needed some potassium and/or boost of sugar.


Katy G. posted that she would be doing self-supported run in Auburn and it was just about the miles I usually run every weekend. For other runners, its quite long but for me, a 31 mile run is just enough to put me to good sleep (I have endorpins issues). So there I was, observing how Katy run and of course this time I pick-up another tip on how to run effectively. Katy doesn't stop and if she does, that would just be fast-walk. On my second run with Katy, this time I studied how she does running on that hill which I normally power hike. Baby steps running was the answer for me. For power hiking enthusiast, we typically do the baby steps on steep incline.


After Beals Point, I slowed down, I tried to regain that momemtum but I was just simply bored from running solo. I was not able to find Katy, The Runagades runner I chatted on earlier were nowhere to be found. And with 23 miles more to go, it was somewhat torture. I needed to find an outlet to take the boredom away and to once again enjoy putting one step after another. I reached the Buzzard's Cove with delight (beautiful rocks / granite slabs - my expertise).  The running becomes like an adventure. From there, with scenery on my side, I picked up my pace and slowly gained the lag from the previous miles.


From the bottom of Cardiac to the Finish Line, I power-hiked and baby-steps running the last 3 miles of hill. It was good enough to maintain  between 11-15 pace. The volunteers and cheerers made me excited to sprint (difficult to do after 40++ miles) but with cold drinks, food and AR50 jacket, it was a plus of energy.



Completing this run is part of my 100 mile ultra in August 2013. There is not much to say and not much curiousity because I've been on this trail too many times, not just running but road cycling as well.

So there ya go, I finished the course in 9:31:48 from the original plan of sub 11. So a big thank you to Katy, of course Bill Clements who documented my pacing plan. Without that plan, I would probably be sprinting 'til Im out of gas. Kudos to all volunteers, cheerers and spectators - sure does made running full of mythos and enthus.