I ran the lakefront trail north to south and back this morning. Weather conditions were favorable with a temp of 56F and a 9mph SSW wind at the start (7:16am). I had an awesome crew out there supporting me. Without them, this would not have been possible. Jamie Hershfang biked the entire way with me handing me Maurten drink mix / gels every 3 miles. Dave Zimmer came to various points in order to capture the effort for Fleet Feet racing team social media. Austin Hendrix ran with me from the start for 23 miles. Andrew Kaehr joined for 7 miles from 4-11. Micheal Von Borstel joined us for 7 miles from 18-25. Lauren (my wife) ran with us for a mile as well, then her and Austin both biked along as I finished the last 7 miles. A huge thank you to everyone who kept me company out there!
Things went smoothly on the way south. I wore my New Balance RC elite flats and they felt great. From the start, I took it one mile at a time and some felt better than others but I was able to stay relaxed and get in a good rhythm. I said I would start just under 6:00/mi but I also had been thinking of giving myself a chance at splitting under 3:00 for the 50k en route. The miles gradually quickened and soon I was clicking off 5:45 pace. It felt good. It was hard to tell how long it would feel good. At mile 21 I noticed that each mile was feeling a little longer and then a bad side stitch started. Thankfully it subsided a mile later and I kept pressing. The next 10 miles were a concerted effort to get under 3 hours for 50k and I split 2:59:33 according to strava. From there, it was just about hanging on. My legs started cramping and the temperature had reached 66F. With direct sunlight and humidity, I was feeling overheated. Lauren gave me a cold water bottle to dump on my head and Jamie had some coconut water. I made it to the end and just sat in the shade for what felt like a really long time. I was very happy to finish the FKT in under 3:30. Dave was there to take some more pictures and it was fun to share the moment with people who came out to support me. Special shout out to Jamie for biking the entire way with me and understanding exactly what I was going through because of her FKT on the same route last month!
I shuffled over to the corner store and bought a half gallon of chocolate milk and then almost finished it in one sitting while Lauren and I sat on the curb and watched people celebrating in the streets after the AP called the election for Biden/ Harris. I pretended everyone was cheering for me.
What a morning. One final thank you to everyone who made this possible!