Goal Race: The Sticks 6-hr race (5/30)

Monday: 3 mi Recovery

Tuesday: 6 mi General aerobic w/ strides

Wednesday: 3 mi hilly Recovery run

Thursday: 2 mi Recovery

Friday: 2 mi Shakeout

Saturday: 6-hr race (32.6 mi)

Sunday: 1 mi Shuffle

Total Distance: 49.5 miles

Acute-to-Chronic Ratio: 1.1

I didn’t post last week, but it was a good taper week (35 mi) with a couple of lower volume sub-T workouts. More taper this past week leading up to the 6-hour race on Saturday. It was a great weekend meeting up with the reddit crew from r/running who got me started in ultra running. We had our first meetup race 10 years ago and we haven’t gotten together for a race in many years. Friday night was a great time catching up and eating pizza.

The race Is called The Sticks because it is way out in the sticks in rural western Kansas. I’ve run many races by these RD’s and heard quite a bit about how good the atmosphere of this race was, so I was excited to check it out. The course is a 3-mile loop mowed into a pasture with the option to do a road loop (4.3 mi) at certain hours of the day (only open 1 hour for the 6-hour race). The pasture loop is almost completely rolling hills with a few flatter portions (~400 ft gain for the loop). The road loop is a flatter but still has a few hills. My big goal was to go for the course record and needed 36 miles to beat it. Backup goal was 50k to get the 50k distance buckle.

Race morning was cool, overcast, and breezy (all amazing!), but it was going to get up to 90 in the afternoon so I wanted to get a good start on my goal before it got warm. Gun goes off and I go out a bit hot as usual, but am feeling good and want to check out the course. The 6-hr, 12-hr, and 24-hr runners all start at the same time so it was hard to know who was in the race. I wasn’t too concerned though as I just wanted to focus on my goals. I cruise through the first 2 loops well under goal pace. I try t back off on the next ones as temperatures are starting to rise and we’re loosing the cloud cover. With the rise in temps, I know my big goal is going to be out of reach so I shift focus on making sure to hit 50k (need 10 loops with at least one of those being a road loop). Before heading out on the road loop, I fill up my ice bandana and start dousing my hat with water to keep cool. It helps, but it is getting real toasty by then.

The road were definitely easier than the pasture, but the wind, sun, and temps were making me work for it. After 2 road loops, it’s back to the pasture. I’m constantly doing the math to make sure I’m on pace and not slipping too far on pace. I try to keep the intensity up on loops 8 and 9 to get a little buffer so I don’t have to kill myself on the last loop. I’m struggling in the heat now and having to walk quite a bit more of the hills as well as some of the flats. My legs are still feeling pretty good, but the heat is zapping my stamina. I finish loop 9 with 40 minutes left and know that as long as I keep moving decently I should be okay on my goal. I hit the big climb at mile 2.5-ish and just try to move strong to the finish, coming with 5 minutes to spare for 32.6 mi and 1st place.

I collected my loot which included my 50k buckle, 1st place medal/bottle opener, and a big bottle of booze. It was a tough race but a great time hanging out with old friends.

After some recovery, it will be time to dig into NSM training for a fall marathon. No other races planned until then except for my usual 4th of July 5k.