Spending most of my time below 165 bpm kept me well within my safety zone.]Īs usual, I enjoyed settling into a long climb and all the more so this time after having already run so much. 170 bpm is the effort that I go out at in a marathon, so it’s definitely aerobic when I’m in shape.

Photo by Clark Zealand, soon-to-be-RD of MMTR. I was having a blast.īryon Powell (me), Bethany Patterson, and Matt Warner,Įnjoying the MMTR course on a beautiful November day. We ran/walked the ups, held a comfy pace on the flats, and ran fast but relaxed on the downs all the while chatting away. While the effort on the flats and uphills was a hair more than I intended, I knew that my average HR would be more on target and it was. Derrick went off ahead and I settled in to a comfortable pace and pleasant conversation with Bethany. On hitting the single track a conga line formed but shortly thereafter an uphill broke the pack apart. I knew that I had no business running with Nikki at any point during an ultra let alone that early. This reassurance could not fully quiet the alarms that sounded when our group pulled up on Nikki Kimball’s shoulder.

On a few occasions, I raised my concern to Derrick, and he assured me that I was fine. I had hoped to lock into a conservative 50 mile effort of around 155 bpm, but found myself nearing 165 bpm on many of the climbs. At multiple points during the road stretch I felt that I was going too fast. The three of us along with a changing cast of others would run most of the 7 or 8 road miles to the trail head together. In fact, moments after the start I found myself running along side Derrick and Bethany Patterson. While I wouldn’t see much of Sean (injured) or Schuster (too fast) until the finish, I’d see DC on the course. Upon arriving at the starting line I saw a bunch of my ultra buddies including, Mike Schuster, Sean Andrish, and Derrick Carr.

It was chilly… and dark, so I stayed on the bus until just before the start. After a seemingly interminable ride over winding country roads, five buses filled with runners arrived at the start. Anyway, I woke up, picked up my drop bag from the back seat, and walked about 20 yards to the buses that would carry me to the start. Despite the cold night and the fact that I was sleeping in my car, I slept pretty well… even if it was only for four and a half hours. Race morning began with me waking in the parking lot of the high school that serves as race headquarters. Mountain Masochist Trail Run elevation profile All I wanted was to finish the hilly yet mostly runnable 50+ miles and to do so without being too miserable for too long. Knowing that I haven’t been putting my miles in, particularly long run miles, I decided before entering MMTR this past Monday that I had no intention of racing it. My run of the Mountain Masochist Trail Run this weekend was a big confidence booster at the start of this stretch with 5 runs of 50 miles or longer over the course of 6 weekends. To the rest of you, I apologize for wrongly portraying others.] To those that I offended, I am very sorry for what I have written and how it violated your trust. While I cannot undo what I have done, I will try my hardest not to repeat it. In unintentionally violating the trust of two people that I greatly admire, I have learned a valuable lesson in privacy and perception. I now understand how portions could be read another way and those portions have been removed. I honestly believed when drafting my original MMTR post that I was merely telling the story of an enjoyable day in the woods with friends. [To begin, I need to apologize for portraying individuals that I highly respect in an inaccurate or negative light in an earlier version of this post.

Mountain magic trail run