Prairie Spirit 50k: What went wrong, what went right

I'm not disappointed with Prairie Spirit but I'm not out-of-my-mind excited about my performance either. It was good/fine - just like Cabin Fever, the only other race I've raced all-out this year so far...also much like every fall race I did in 2021! The last race I feel like I really knocked out the park was the Tobacco Road Marathon, but I also haven't had any unexplainable bad races in several years (the steamy 10,000 m at USATF Masters Nationals and the marathon I ran with bronchitis were very explainable). My workouts have been the same - I'm not running anything groundbreaking but I haven't had a bad workout for a very long time. All of this to say, I'm kind of in this spot where I'm happy enough with my running performances - not insanely thrilled but also not upset. All in all, most things went right for Prairie Spirit. 

Sunrise start

What went right:

My training cycle. I completed it all as planned through some rough winter weather, and handled the highest volume I've ever done (5 weeks of 100-110) really well. I hit all my workouts and felt really strong through all of the training. I was also 100% healthy without even a niggle.

The course. Prairie Spirit had less elevation gain than Frisco and for the most part was well-maintained crushed limestone. It was a little soft from recent rain but I don't think that necessarily hurt me.

The weather. I complain enough about bad race weather that I'd better to point out when it's fabulous - and this was! 32 degrees at the start and likely in the high-40s when I finished, which is about perfect long race weather for me. The wind was low for Kansas at 8-10 mph and I tried to draft off Andrew when we were running into it.

The company. I had running buddies the entire race, with Colin for about a marathon, pacer Andrew from 17.3 to the end, and Hans and Logan (both of whom I met during the race) for the first 20 miles. Can't beat that!

Pace crew, split here due to upcoming aid station

Chafing, or more precisely lack thereof. Nothing chafed except for my chest a bit from stuffing gel wrappers and my empty handheld into my sports bra at times. When I got in the shower after the race, multiple little gel tabs fell out because I was throwing away the large trash when we passed a trash can and after I finished, but the little tabs you pull off to open mostly stayed in. Shout out to rabbit for the awesome clothing that didn't rub one bit!

Pacing, I think. I wish I could have finished stronger, but I picked a very reasonable pacing strategy and stuck to it well, even when it felt super slow during the first 1/3 of the race.

Fueling, I think. I took 8 gels during the race and had zero issues with that...though afterward I never want to see another gel! I sipped on water as needed, but with it being cool I didn't need that much. My pre-race meal of oatmeal mixed with cinnamon and vanilla UCAN energy + protein 2.5 hours before the race followed by 2 scoops of UCAN energy in water 45 minutes before the race is always dependable for me! See below for one fueling issue though.

Records. Kansas overall female state record, Prairie Spirit women's course record, and the #5 time in North America for women in 2022 so far. I sometimes feel greedy saying that I didn't achieve my time goals when I set records, and I'm super thankful for them, just wanted to make them faster.

Kansas state record

North American female top 2022 performances

What went wrong:

The two hairpin turn arounds, slightly. The first was marked with chalk on the ground and a cone with a sign on the side of the road on the sidewalk, and it was just really lucky that I even saw it at all, because the guys I was with didn't. I turned my head as we passed the turn around and saw the sign, so we only went a few steps past it, but then I had to convince the men that it was actually the turn around ("Are you sure?", "Look, the sign on the cone on the sidewalk!"). The second was at a timing mat that we ran over and continued past until I asked, "Where do we turn around?" maybe 5 seconds later. Again, the men I was with didn't know either...so what I've learned from writing this is that all 3 of them owe me, hah!

Lack of caffeinated gel when I needed it most. Jon did an excellent job crewing aside from forgetting to put my final gel with caffeine in my handheld pocket at the 23.8 mile aid station. I was really counting on it to perk me up at that point! I wrote him very, very detailed instructions and he followed everything else exactly - not to mention got up at 6:00 a.m. to watch me run for over 3.5 hours - so I can't complain too much, but oh how I wanted that caffeine!

Decided not to divorce him, though at mile 27
it was questionable, haha!

Handheld sizing issues. I had one Osprey Packs Dyna handheld bottle that I'd tested on a few long runs, since Prairie Spirit required us to carry fluids the whole race. I bought a second one so I could rotate between the two at aid stations - dropping an empty one and Jon handing me a refilled one. I ordered a second one in a different color, not realizing the different color was the men's version. I didn't use it before the race because I thought it was exactly the same as the one I already had. I found out in the early miles of the the race that it was too big! Colin owns the same bottle and confirmed the red was men's. The final time I had it I ended up shoving it into my sports bra because I was too tired to deal with it being oversized (it required more holding onto because of the size). I don't think this hurt my performance, it was just annoying!

Miles 5 and 20 got a little quick (6:37 and 6:39). I don't think this was enough to hurt me, but it was a little faster than planned. For the most part I did well with staying around 6:50 until 29-31 (25-28 drifted slightly but not extremely).

Tapering. The best taper for each person is a lot of trial and error, and I've learned that I do well with less of a taper. When I'm coaching myself, tapering myself is possibly my biggest weakness. My two biggest Monday through Sunday weeks were both 110, 3 and 4 weeks out. 2 weeks out I did 93 and 1 week out 88. Race week I kept it pretty low with 70.2 - meaning only 39 outside of the race. I think that this was all fine, but some have told me I should have cut back more. 88-93 was a 20ish mile drop from peak weekly mileage though!

Body fat. I don't weigh myself - I stopped in 2019 and it's been so liberating! - but I can tell I have some winter fluff on me right now. I usually lean down during training cycles but I didn't as much as in the past during this one. I know that lighter doesn't always equal faster, but I definitely have a little more on me I did when I ran my PRs and it adds up over the miles.

Missed my goal. I'm not exactly sure why I couldn't run a PR or a 3:29, but I'm filing it under something that went wrong. I believe I gave it all I had on the day, and I'm not sure why I didn't have a little more, but I'm going to keep looking for it.

What to think about:

Pacing. The 50k is still a bit of a puzzle to me. I don't think I paced too aggressively and I was pretty even in my pacing (especially when accounting for long inclines and declines), but I couldn't maintain through the end. All of this can also be said about my first 50k. I ran high mileage in prep, so I'm still figuring out how to stay strong through the end.

Fueling. Although I think I fueled adequately with 8 gels (~800 calories), I might consider mixing gels and caloric fluids next time. I may also add electrolytes. Maybe I need 1000 calories?

Guidance/coaching. I self-coached for both of my 50k builds. I treated the training like marathon training plus back-to-back Saturday/Sunday long runs, which has also come to be my absolute favorie training. I tried to read and learn everything I could about the 50k, but there is far less information on 50k training than on marathon training available (not to mention almost nothing on pacing, fueling, etc. for a non-technical 50k). Most of the information I found was targeted either at 50ks on technical trails, or when the goal was completion vs. performance and training mileage was much lower than mine. There is quite a bit of information available on training for a sub-3:00 marathon or even a 2:45 marathon, but not on running a fast 50k. I am leaning towards working with a coach for my 2023 50k. 

Finally, was it any coincidence I received an email linking this article the day of the race?

My Prairie Spirit race recap is here, and photos are here.

Her smiling here was a victory

We are true ultra runners with belt buckles now

My mom took most of the day's photos
but I got one with her too!

Bling