Mendon 50k: Pre-Race Observations

Run: 31 miles in 5:30:18 min. @ 8:00 a.m.
Pace: 0:00 min./per mile avg.

Weather: Cloudy, 36°F, 89% Humidity, Wind: E @ 5 mph; feels like 32°F
Course: Five completions of the Mendon Trail Races 10k loop

Supplies: My hydration belt loaded with one 16 oz. “flask” of H2O and another with Grape flavored POWERade, one plastic baggie containing 6 Cran-Razz flavored Clif Shot Bloks, one 1.1 oz. Strawberry flavored Clif Shot Energy Gel, and one another gel pack of a name I cannot recall just now. In my duffel bag (which will be left at a pavilion past which the loop will run each of the four times I start a loop, I have band-aids, mole skin, a fresh t-shirt, an extra pair of shoes, a hat, a towel, Vaseline, and other potentially necessary products and salves... oh, yeah, and my phone.

Pre-Race Observations: Run, or race, morning is finally year, and following yesterday’s day and evening of fueling-up and resting, I wake up this morning with little optimism, but with and equal desire to find a measure of success in the form of a finish on today's trail. I have woken up a few hours early for my traditional oatmeal and coffee pre-race meal, as well as to shower and shave in anticipation of a wet, cool, start to the festivities. My wife will get up in about an hour and drive me to Mendon Ponds Park, where she will leave me following my completion of the first loop, only to return either a) when I finish the full five loops equaling 31 miles or b) comes to find me waiting at the pavilion earlier with a problem. I am however, choosing to do my best, run smart and finish strong.

Things are likely to be different at the end than at the beginning, and not just my state of mind and physical comfort. From what I understand, having read all I could, the weather may change dramatically during the course of the run, as will the scenery and company on the trails. I am physically and mentally prepared to handle any shifts and as evidenced by my lack of "bark" in my writing now, ready to just go and "bite."

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!