Kick a buck

 Today was a longer venture.  I managed 15 miles at 12:20 pace.  It was mostly paved trail and roads.  Utilizing a .37 jog and a .13 walk ratio, the run went well.  I had a half peanut butter sandwich at 5.7 and drank water.  High 50s at start and mid 70s by the end.  No real rough spots, though 7 - 10 mile range had a laul.  Had a t-shirt on with a long sleeve t over that.  Had the mighty Preffered Pump hat on to break the sunshine.

 Felt really good the last few miles.  Had to cap it at 15, otherwise I get carried away.  Would like to achieve 17 next week.  Hoping I'm motivated to drive to the trails, but anything over 10 miles away is a hassle.

 Based on today's trek, one sees Ice Age in a much better light.  2 weeks ago when I aggravated the nerve in my back again I had big doubts.  Still a long way to go.  The only real way to determine if 50 miles in under 12 hours is possible is to do some really long sessions.  Once you get past 25 - 30 and get in the tank out at Ice Age it can be a nightmare.   I still maintained this false notion that if necessary I could grind out a few miles on sheer will.  Like Dandy Don used to sing, "Goodnight, the party's over."

 The last few 50 milers have been brutal past 35 miles for me.  I have to largely walk the majority of it with a few run efforts that just gut me.  Yes the runs have reached temps in the 80s and even 90s, so hopefully next May is different.  I'm hoping to master a walk/run strategy out there that helps extend my crash point somewhere past 40 miles.  Looking at last year's results,  I believe like 155 people finished.  Of those finishers, I was in 154th place at 9 miles, so it's not like I was lighting it up.

 I spoke to a few folks early about pacing as the heat was coming.  Some want to bank miles while it is cooler.  My experience with that is once you set the Kentucky windage it is hard to back off.  Like the Captain says in Cool Hand Luke, "Some men, you just can't reach.  That's the way he wants it, so that's the way he gets it."