2012 Pony Express Trail 50 What a day! I really had no idea what to expect coming into the race this year - my mileage was way down and consistent daily training was spotty to say the least, but I had also been able to maintain some pretty good distance runs throughout the year, including a relatively successful Antelope Island 50K 'training run' race two weeks ago, as well as pacing Jun for 47 miles at Wasatch last month. This year I was lucky enough to have my wife, brother and his wife come along to crew me. We've spent a lot of time this year running together (weekly dinner & a run nights) so it was fun to be able to have them make it. We camped out at the start - and with my 7am start, I much preferred being able to get all of the hectic pre-race packing and preparing done the night before. I was up at 5:30 and cooked myself some eggs with cheese and bits of bacon in it (yum). It was chilly and still a little dark to start, but with the sun coming up soon, I opted to not worry about a headlamp. I really tried hard to keep it fairly casual to start, but noticed almost immediately that my body didn't feel quite right - nothing major, but my knees were achy and sciatic nerve around my hip was feeling a little tight -neither of which I've ever really felt during a run, especially right at the start. I just filed it away as not having run for a week and motored along. I was soon joined by Jen, a second year Pony runner like myself. 
Great group to start with We had a nice easy pace and chatted away as the first miles clicked by. Jen had blown past me around Dugway last year when the runner she was sharing a crew with decided to drop. This year she told me how she had barely trained and was just out to see what she could do. She kept commenting how she felt like we were going out pretty fast to start. I think she was just sandbagging me ;) (She went on to run an 8:07 - Female Winner, 4th overall, and Course Record!! Jen, I know you're reading this - AWESOME job!!!) We were joined in by Jennilyn as well, who had beat me by a good half hour at the 50K at Antelope (8:55 here!). We cruised along adding and dropping a few people here and there along the way. At about mile 15 as the grade kicks up a little before Simpson Springs, Jen decided to pull ahead a little and the group of us finally spread out and I wouldn't really see any of them again. 
At Simpson Springs I came through in the 6th fastest time - very similar to last year, but I felt so much better. Through mile 20 my pace was still good - keeping it sub 10. After 20 my pace started to drop a little, but I kept feeling good so I just focused on running. The miles moved on by, at almost exactly 26.2 I was passed by Tyler, an 18 year old whom I had met at last years Buffalo Run - both of our first 50K. I had beat him back then - and now he was passing me at the marathon mark - having started an hour after me!! Atta boy. I was actually happy to see him passing me that early. He would go on to win it in 7:15 and beat the CR by 2 minutes. Jay passed by a few minutes later, looking smooth and relaxed. I was happy to make it mile 28 mostly unscathed. Last year that stretch had been where I had bonked hard and had to walk for a mile or two. I was done with gels at this point, stomach didn't want them anymore, but I had been a little more tuned to my stomach and keeping ahead of it. At mile 31 I was slightly behind where I wanted to be (was hoping for a 5hr 50K, was about 5:20 here), and I took my first official stop. Sat down and had a sandwich. I looked over and saw Kendall coming up (also started an hour after me), so I got out of my chair and walked out into the road - "Nice job Kendall!" He barely looked over and the look in his eyes said it all - he was having a rough time and was just focused on running. I totally understood! He was still moving pretty well though. I kept my stop to about 6 minutes and got back out on my way. 
Kristyan joining in the fun - beautiful day! Had a couple of OK miles and then at about 35 my hip (sciatic) started really hurting. I allowed myself to walk, but looking back I really don't think that helped much. My Achilles started to hurt as well, some residual from the beating I took pacing at Wasatch. Then my knee decided it wanted to join in the party - WHAT? What was happening. Last year I had virtually no 'pain' like this - just the usual soreness and cramping (and that was later on). Oh yeah - cramping, I would start to run and then I would cramp. Just felt like I was falling apart. Kristyan (my sister in law) had run with me for several miles earlier, which was great - helped me keep my pace up, and now my brother had joined in. I felt bad, we were just walking along. Finally just before the road starts to climb in earnest, I made a stop at the van and laid on the ground while Kristyan did some work on my hip. Hopped back up, drank some soda (at this point that seemed to be, and would continue to be, my primary calorie source) and then we were off. I was able to run a good part of the approach hill, and then we walked the hill to the top. Where I had been about 20 minutes ahead of last year, I was now about 20 minutes behind, and still had about 13 miles to go.  Workin' on the hip
Aaron bringing me to the top of Dugway Pass Quick stop and Dugway and then started on down the hill. At first it hurt a little, and then, like magic, the turnover started to feel good and we were actually able to run at a decent pace again. I had decided that I was done walking and was going to run it in from here on out. Aside from 'walking stops' at the van, I ran the whole way from there to the finish - that was NOT the case last year (right Josh?:)). At around mile 40 I heard a "Woo-Hoo" from behind us, and I thought "who would that be?" Turns out my sister and her husband had driven out to join in the fun and watch me finish. Awesome - especially since this course is not convenient AT ALL! :) My brother in law jumped out and joined Aaron and I and we pushed this last stretch. I had remembered a bunch of nasty "rollers" on this section last year, but they never seemed to materialize for me - a couple of little tiny ones, but none that phased me. My pace wasn't super fast, but I was consistent and able to keep running. Where we had experienced a nasty (but cooling) headwind prior to Dugway, now on the other side the sun now seemed to really beat down. I changed shirts into something lighter and spent a lot of water on my head and back! I started to see cars of runners heading back - I stopped Tylers truck to find out that he had won it and give him my congrats. I saw that Jens truck was the first to come by, so I figured that she had likely (hopefully) taken the female top spot. The last van stop was at about mile 46. My wife jumped out and joined in, and I told them that I wasn't stopping at the finish (48.5) before doing the out and back, and that anyone that wants to run the out and back with me should just join in as we go by. It was pretty funny to run by the finish area with 5 people in tow - Davy looked up and asked how many runners were in this group...Just one! I felt like I had a security detail - 5 body guards making sure I made it safely through. In a way, I guess that's exactly what they were doing. :) 
This out and back is a pain, but it really is kind of cool to know that you are pretty much done and can really just let it all go. Once I started heading back, I really pushed the pace and ended up dropping all of my pacers, crossing the finish line in 9:51:59. Done! We spent some time hanging out at the finish line, cheering others on and enjoying some amazingly good BBQ. 
One of the great things about this race is that you can't do it on your own. No driving yourself to the starting line and just taking off and coming back later that day with tales of the race. You bring a crew that gets to experience the entire race with you. They are active participants in your fast times and slow times, your misery and joy. It sounds cheesy, but they become as integral to your race as the ground you run on. My crew was incredibly supportive and really kept me going, feeling good, and smiling. I was able to run with my wife, my brother ran an amazing PR of 19 miles with me, Kristyan got me going for several miles when I was starting to slow down (and beat me up a little to get my hip feeling better!), with my brother in law joining in for a handful of miles near the end as well. It was a weird feeling, because I really felt like I had run a much better race over last year, yet I was 15 minutes slower - but I walked (or hobbled) away from this race with a smile on my face, completely satisfied with how the day turned out. Could I have run it faster? Undoubtedly. Do I have a list as long as my arm of things to work on and improvements to make? Of course. But I what I also left with was 10 hours of running in some beautifully desolate country with some awesome runners and with some of my favorite people in the world. Isn't that really why we do this anyway? 
Tired and beat up - but still smilin'!
| 