Grasslands 50 Mile

bubba hotep

Barefooters
Nov 29, 2011
349
16
18
So, it seems that the thing to do around here is to start a thread for each race. Some posters even start threads for races they never run (Chase?) but I won't point fingers.

The Grasslands 50 is run at the LBJ National Grasslands and the course is kind of a clover leaf folded back on itself in a few spots. You do run some portions of the course multiple times but there is a lot of the course that you only run once. There is a lot of SAND on this course and I hate sand. I swore I would never return to this race but I was itching for a race before the Texas summer heat shuts down the ultra running scene and this was one of the only options.

Anyone else going to give this one a go? There is also a marathon (sold out) and a 1/2 on the same day.



I am thinking that my training will be weeks of: 25, 50, 75, 100, 35, Race Week (56). I will go into this with a totally different mind set than I took into RR. I just wanted to finish RR and be able to slide right back into running. I will push myself hard at this race and see how long I can hold until blowing up and then try to hold on and finish. I am going to gun for sub-10 and, based on past results, that might land me a Top 20 finish.
 
Sounds like a fun race, the

Sounds like a fun race, the terrain sounds awesome. I kind of dig running in sand but it definitely works the feet hardcore.

Seems like there is alot of cool ultra's in Texas. I will put this on the list though, maybe next year?! Ultra's are a good excuse to get the family on a little vacation somewhere different.
 
I would be going, but it's on

I would be going, but it's on the 24th, and my wedding anniversary is on the 25th... We spent last year at a half marathon, so I dont think it would fly again this year... Lol.

Good luck Bubba! I think youve got a sub 10 in the bag!
 
Barefoot Gentile

Barefoot Gentile said:
Sounds like a fun race, the terrain sounds awesome. I kind of dig running in sand but it definitely works the feet hardcore.

Seems like there is alot of cool ultra's in Texas. I will put this on the list though, maybe next year?! Ultra's are a good excuse to get the family on a little vacation somewhere different.
The terrain is BF friendly and it is a pretty flat course but not boring. Texas certainly has an emerging ultra seen and a lot of great races. Obviously RR draws top talent but Bandera is also starting to draw big names and I would think that Cactus Rose will increase in popularity. Austin is a great town to visit and is a good base camp for the hill country races.
 
Chaserwilliams wrote:I would

Chaserwilliams said:
I would be going, but it's on the 24th, and my wedding anniversary is on the 25th... We spent last year at a half marathon, so I dont think it would fly again this year... Lol.

Good luck Bubba! I think youve got a sub 10 in the bag!
The Four Seasons Las Colinas is pretty close to the course and offers an anniversary package!
 
Training Week 1:Sunday - 0

Training Week 1:

Sunday - 0 (was still basking in the glory of my domination of Chase and Doom at RR!)

Monday - 45 min of stair repeats (This is something that I am going to start doing a lot more of to prep for Cactus Rose. There really aren't any trails around here that can replicate the constant up and down pounding that the Cactus Rose course dishes out. The 45 min consisted of starting at the bottom and running to the top then back down and back up in offsetting intervals- 10 down 5 up, 15 down 10 up, etc. This is a leg burning and lung splitting workout but I don't know of a good way to convert it to miles and that is the main reason that I think that I will switch to training by time for Cactus Rose).

Tuesday - 45 min of stair repeats

Wednesday - 45 min of stair repeats

Thursday - 6 miles

Friday - 45 min of stair repeats

Saturday - 20 miles (about 14 miles in the rain) - I am not going to lie, this run really sucked after about 14 miles. I was originally only going to do 10 miles and then go meet the family for lunch after they were done at a Build a Bear Party for one of the local kids (yeah, I skipped that!) but they called and said they were going to lunch afterwards with some of the party goers. So I knew I had the time to do a few more miles and that ended up being 10 more.

I bonked harder on this run than I have in a really long time and I have never pushed so far past the bonk. I didn't eat anything before the run because I was only going to do 10 and then go have lunch. I pretty much always skip food before morning runs but didn't start this run until 10:00 and hadn't eaten since about 5:30 pm the day before. I usually have a few beers and/or some wine before bed but skipped that as well for some reason (I am still trying to figure that one out!). The last 6 miles of this run were just horrible and I had a grand desire to just curl up under a tree in the rain and sleep but I knew that I was never more than about 2 miles from my front door and could just walk back home if needed, so I kept pushing on.



Week Goal - 25 miles

Actual - 26 miles + 3 hours of stair repeats
 
Well, I continue to solidify myself as the King of DNF! At least I have that memory of beating Chase and Doom at RR to carry me through these dark times. I also plan on beating them at El Scorcho (you heard that right girls!)!