Kyle – good to hear from you! Probably leaning toward the Saucony Kinvara
again, but I may switch up at last minute. We’ll see…

Pete

Probably orange Minimus for me – I’ll be hanging with a big crew from
dailymile. Sure we’ll meet up!

I don’t think your lack of big mileage need do you too much harm, you’ve already built a pretty good base so you’ll have a good amount of strength endurance built in to your legs, and even with a lower mileage you’ll have maintained this. 50K is only a couple more hours on your feet than you did for you final 20 mile, so should be able to go in enjoy it, knowing it’s a big challenge but within your grasp.

Last year I did my first marathon, and then followed that with 30 mile mountainous trail race, and then four months later a 41 mile ultra. I struggled with a calf injury in prep for the 41 miler and had to make do with cycling and walking to keep fit, and was only able to build my running mileage up really slowly, with my longest training run for two months being the 15 miles I did 10 days before the race. Thanks to the injury I was poorly prepared running wise, but still my residue fitness was enough for me to complete the challenge, albeit in lots of pain due to calf cramps!

Given my lack of prep, what I expected on the 41 miler was to hit the wall and really suffer with exhaustion. I was rather too concerned as I ended up eating too much foot in the first two hours and then suffered with gastric stress for the next 3 hours, and struggled to even consume water. In the end I only ate a fraction of the food Intended, and yet I still didn’t hit any problems with exhaustion, I was suprisingly fresh at the end. I hindsight I should have taken it easy on the food, eating 100 calories per hour would have been plenty. Had I taken it easier on the food then there is chance that I would have consumed more water and electrolytes and perhaps fended off the cramps.

I say all this as something you might be able to learn from. Don’t fret about eating lots to keep your energy levels up, 30 miles is something you can do probably do without consuming any energy drinks or food on route. Water you’ll need, but again don’t over do it, drink by thirst. Finally I’ll add go out there to enjoy it, it’s not a race like a marathon, it’s an adventure, a chance to push back your physical boundaries, meet new people and explore a new part of the country side.

Thanks Robert – I appreciate the thoughts. Every bit of added confidence
helps!

Pete

Thanks – I’m actually more excited for this than I’ve been for a race in a
long time. Sometimes good to step back and appreciate why we love to run!