Tuesday, October 27, 2009

2009 Stone Steps 50k

I journeyed to Cincinnati for the Stone Steps 50k with hopes of breaking 7 hours and I was just able to do so. Although I had major stomach issues 10 miles into the race, the lack of training was by far the biggest factor for the day. I started slower than usual, to not get caught up in the pace, and then continued to slow down the rest of the way. It was a beautiful day though, with gorgeous weather and I was able to take all that extra time to enjoy the day & to take in the sights!


Colors were very bright on this sunny day with alot of yellow leaves still on the trees and ones on the ground really lighting up the trail -- which was especially noticeable at the start of the race when it's usually pretty dark when entering the woods for the first time. EVERYTHING under the forest canopy had a deep amber hue and when the sun peaked thru small breaks in the trees, the sunlight showed up on the ground as an "odd" bright white light! -- that was an amazing sight all day.

I apparently bumped my Garmin into something before reaching 11 miles that stopped the timer & mapping, so I have incomplete data on the race. The big loop + small loop measured 8.06 miles:


Note: Bimactive.com places Cincinnati in KY! Their site won't allow editing of info on this page other than the Notes.


There were more than the usual number of people out on race day enjoying the nice Fall colors on the trails, many with large dogs. This was the first time I did not see any deer at this park. I remember a couple years ago on a training run that they were so thick, you practically had to shoo them off the trail so you could get by! There was also another first: meeting a fellow on a horse on a narrow trail -- never knew horses were allowed here . . .

Next: This race was to boost my confidence for Pinhoti 100 in 2 weeks . . . . I believe I can do it now, yet I know everything must go right (no issues whatsoever) to finish. Checking last week with Todd Henderson, RD, he has said that they were in the middle of clearing the trails -- the countless downed trees (from a tornado) were a major stumbling block (DNF) for me last year with my bad back. So hopefully with some good luck I can improve on my performance.



6 comments:

Jeffro said...

Nice report. I didn't see the horse, but I saw what I thought was a hoof print in the trail. I figured I was just seeing things.

Good luck at Pinhoti.

Cassie's Blog said...

Ed,

Glad you are doing so much better!!! Nice report and great job! Have fun at Pinhoti :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi Ed.

Congrats on a good race. It was good to see you as always. I hope Pinhoti goes well for you. Stay hydrated and keep those calories dialed in.

Good luck buddy!

Kyle F

ed said...

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Thanks ALL!! I'll take any encouragement I can get for Pinhoti!




Jeffro,

GREAT to see you & to be able to have a chat after the race!

I hope you have good weather/course conditions at OPSF 50/50 -- it can be a real bear if it's muddy -- Good Luck!


Cassie,

I feel I'm still in recovery mode from the flu weakness, but feeling better each day -- Thanks!

Having fun will be a priority, as usual --- if I come away from Pinhoti with anything, it will be that.

I haven't seen any of your race reports lately . . . still racking up those PR's?


Kyle,

That sub 5 hour goal is a pretty tough one . . . there's always next time . . . I have faith! Glad you survived the fall without any serious issues -- if all you came away with was some embarrassment, you're very lucky!

Keep up the speedy runs & see you again soon!


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Jeffro said...

Ed, I just heard that the DINO/Tecumseh crew are thinking about establishing an ultra on the Knobstone Trail. Maybe 100/100k/50 not sure yet. This would be in the spring time frame. The only thing certain is this would probably be one challenging run. They lured over 700 runners from 31 states to run a tough trail marathon in December so I'm sure they can make this ultra a success. If you haven't already seen this website you might check it out: http://indianatrailrunning.ning.com.
It sometimes has good information and discussions of trail running in Indiana and elsewhere.

ed said...

Thanks for the heads up, Jeffro. I'm already a member of the popular ultrarunning forum, "The List", at

http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A0=ULTRA

an excellent resource -- member already? I'll be sure to join the Indiana website.

I mentioned to Brian before about adding an ultra along with the marathon at Tecumseh. Sure would
like to see another trail ultra in Indiana!


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