In 2 weeks, August 21, I'll be lining up to run the Marlette Lake 50k for the 2nd year in a row. Last year's race was my first attempt at the ultra distance, and I posted about that race here: So I'm running my first ultra - Marlette Lake 50K. I went into that race with virtually no real structured training. I had been living out here for about a year and was just haphazardly running a few miles here and there.

However, this year has been the best training year of my life. In January I began building up my weekly mileage with about 4 months of low HR aerobic base training. In May and June, I began trail running at least twice per week and continued to increase my weekly mileage, hitting an all-time high of 91 miles the last week of June. So the good news is that I should be able to crush my time last year (7:52) without any trouble at all.

The issue that I'm worried about this year is that since that 91-mile week, I've followed that up with 38, 39, 49, 43, and this week is going to be in the 30's. This was due to getting sick for a week, traveling for a week, feeling burned out for a week, and traveling for another week. So, basically, I peaked about 4 weeks early, and I've been lacking a good long run over the last 4 weeks. On top of that, I'm heading to Vegas this weekend, and I don't see myself logging a 20-miler out there either.

At this point I know the hay is in the barn, and I should be just fine to run a good race. But is there anything you guys would recommend that I can do over these last 2 weeks?

I got in a 17-miler yesterday after work, and I'm thinking of getting in 18-20 on Monday after work. But I'm hesitant to get out on the trails for 20-22 miles on the weekend of 8/13-14 which is only 1 week out from the race. Thanks in advance for the tips!

Running my first baby ultra in September so I have no experience at that distance, but I think you're worrying over nothing. You've done the training, put in the mileage and now you should be tapering and getting your mind right to have a good race.

You'll be fine. Follow your training plan's tapering. Have fun.

18-20 miles Monday might be a little much. Maybe try for 10-14 and I wouldn't recommend more than 10-13 next weekend. Your base is built, you'll be fine. Good luck!

Slow and Steady my friend. Take your time. Most people passing you will burn out later. Don't ha g out at the aid stations too long.

www.trailracingovertexas.com

Best races in Texas

All I know it's that I see the places you get to go run on Strava... I am one jealous old man. Good luck!

We had a low key night in Vegas last night so I was able to get in 20 miles on the treadmill today. That will be it for true long runs. I'll probably get in a ~10 mile trail run in the middle of this week and I'll do a super easy pace 13 miles on trails next weekend. It felt good to get in a true long run though.

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All I know it's that I see the places you get to go run on Strava... I am one jealous old man. Good luck!

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Stalker!

Anyone who wants to come out and run this race with me next year is welcome to come stay with us. Absolutely beautiful course.

looks like a cool race

Just finished an easy 6 mile run; that'll be my last run until the race. I'm really looking forward to getting up on the trails and into some cooler weather on Sunday.

Finished in 5:36; improved over 2 hours from last year. Pace improved from 14:45/mile to 10:45/mile. So excited. I'll post a report later, if y'all are interested. But for now, I can cross off "Redemption at the Marlette Lake 50k" from my list this year.

Congrats! Looking forward to a report.

Great work!

Here is the report. Thanks for the encouragement.

Training for this race began in earnest just after the Reno Marathon on May 1. For the 16 weeks between the marathon and this 50k, I decided that I would do my Sunday long run and my Wednesday semi-long run on trails. Luckily, I can get to some pretty good National Forest trails in about 20 minutes after work so I was able to run for a good 2-3 hours on trails every Wednesday. I also ran the majority of the race course on many of my Sunday long trail runs; I think this helped a lot. My weekly mileage for the 16 weeks leading up to this race was: 36, 56, 52, 58, 77, 81, 75, 70, 91, 38, 39, 49, 43, 55, 34. This was, by far, the most mileage I had ever put in leading up to any race, despite the drop-off after that 91-mile week.

The start of the race is about an hour from our house, and my wife drove us out there race-morning so I could watch the Olympic marathon on my phone for a little pre-race inspiration. We got to the start area in plenty of time. I loaded up my camelback with a mixture of gatorade and water, and stuffed the pouch with Clif bars and energy gels. After that I was ready to go.

The plan was to take an energy gel roughly every 45 minutes, and eat a Clif bar if I got hungry. There are aid stations every 5-7 miles and I used them to re-fill the camelback, and to take in some salty snacks. There was also an aid station around mile 21 where my wife would meet me with chocolate chip cookies, a Snickers bar, and a Red Bull.

I mentally broke the race up into 7 segments, and I think that helped tremendously. I'll briefly go through each one of those segments.

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7 mile climb with 2,000 ft of elevation gain. I guess you can look at it as a positive or a negative that the hardest climb is the first 7 miles of the race. Either way, I just went out easy and tried to make it up to the top comfortably. My legs felt fresh enough to slowly jog the climb, but I also mixed in some walking to try to keep my legs fresh for the climbs later in the race. There was one point about 2 miles in where I caught a glimpse of the entire field of runners in front of me, and I reckoned I was in ~20th place. But, when I got to the aid station at the top of the climb, the volunteer said I was in 12th. Apparently, I don't count very well while I'm running.

5.5 mile descent with 1,500 ft of elevation loss. Heading down from the aid station, you are running on a Jeep trail that is often barely visible in the grass and dirt. About 1 mile down the hill, I lost the trail. The same thing happened to me on a training run about 6 weeks prior, so I knew how to find my way back to the trail. But instead of being able to bank some fast miles on the downhill, I was walking around trying to find the trail. Once I found it again, I mistakenly picked up the pace a little too much trying to make up lost time. I think knowing that I was close to the top 10 contributed to me being too aggressive here.

4.5 mile climb with 1,200 ft of elevation gain. The volunteer at this aid station estimated I was in 12th place, so I hadn't been passed while I was searching for the trail. The next climb starts out on a hillside that is totally exposed to the sun, so I half-walked half-jogged until I made it back into the forest where the shade makes it much easier to jog. I tripped on rocks 3 times during this segment; I never fell to the ground, thankfully, but I stubbed my toes pretty bad and had to stumble for 4-5 steps each time to regain my balance. I passed 3 runners on this segment too.

4.2 mile descent with 1,000 ft of elevation loss. I was really looking forward to this downhill. It's mostly over crushed granite, and some big granite boulders, and I really liked the training runs that I did on this section of the trail. But as I was running downhill, my toes were pressed into the front of my shoes, which was very painful after stubbing them on the previous climb. So I wasn't able to go as fast as I had hoped. I was also passed by the lead female, and one of the guys who I passed on the previous segment. At the bottom of the descent was the mile 21 aid station and my wife was there with supplies. I drank a Red Bull, ate a cookie, re-filled my camelback and headed out.

5.5 miles flat. This section is really the only flat section of the entire race. The only problem is that there is almost no shade and it was about 11:30am when I started the segment. My goal was to average 10:00/mile for the segment. About 2 miles into the segment, the Red Bull really unsettled my stomach. And the stomach issue combined with the heat made me feel nauseous. It was a lot of walk/jog over the rest of the segment to prevent throwing up. I ended up averaging 10:30/mile on this segment, slightly slower than my goal.

0.75 miles with 300 ft. elevation gain. This was a short but steep climb, and I allowed myself to walk the entire segment in order to re-gain some composure. Unfortunately I was passed by 2 runners here. I made it to the aid station as those 2 runners were leaving, and splashed several cups of water on my head.

4 miles with 1,100 ft. elevation loss to the finish line. I really wanted to crush these last 4 miles and finish strong, but as I started running out of the aid station I was on the verge of cramping; first it was my shins, then it was my calves, then it was my quads. After about a mile, my legs sorted themselves out, but I couldn't muster anything more than 9:00/mile pace without feeling overheated. I was passed by a few more runners here.

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I was able to finish in 5:36 (10:49 pace, 14th place of 64 finishers) which I am extremely happy with. The only disappointment was getting passed in the last 4 miles. 10th place was about 5 minutes ahead of me; he was one of the guys who left the last aid station as I was arriving. But compared to last years time of 7:52 (15:15 pace), when the entire 2nd half of the race was 15-20 min/mile, mostly walking, I am thrilled to have improved so much.

saw some pictures of the race/course on FB in an ultra group. Looks awesome.

great work!

Had you trained with a redbull in your system? Something about a diuretic that late in a race sounds like bad news bears to me.

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Had you trained with a redbull in your system? Something about a diuretic that late in a race sounds like bad news bears to me.

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i love redbull in ultras!

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Had you trained with a redbull in your system? Something about a diuretic that late in a race sounds like bad news bears to me.

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I hadn't done that in training, but I have drank it while on relay runs and while pacing some friends on ultras.

Looking back now, it was a mistake, for sure.