Sulphur Springs Race Report

What was the A team's expression?  I love it when a plan comes together...

Of course if you set the bar low enough, the plan should come together!  The plan was to start the 25K slowly and finish slowly!  However, along the way, it seemed like a good idea to open it up just a tad.  I'm tired of being injured and recovering from surgery.  It is a new year and I now declare that I am fully healed.  Don't interrupt me with comments about torn calves, back pain and knee pain (I'm talking about and to myself, which is perfectly normal).  We all talk to ourselves.  I also argue with myself (don't we all?) and at some points, I refuse to talk to myself.  This might not be mainstream...

So, 31 minutes for the first 5K.  Plan execution is within tolerance.  At about 7K, feeling quite good, I decided to keep pushing until slightly past my limit, pull back a bit, then maintain.  This seemed like a good idea until about 18K, when I had to slow down and re-group.  Had I pushed too hard?  Only one way to tell.  The new plan was to increase the pace once I had recovered.  It took until the 21K mark before I could push.  For those who know the SS course, the point was shortly after the 3 uphills on the lollipop loop and before the long downhill.  Great timing!  I was able to maintain a satisfactory speed for the rest of the lollipop trail.  Walked the middle section of the last uphill before the finish line and ran it in for 2:37.

28 minutes faster than Pick Your Poison...  Hmmm...  No, don't extrapolate into dreamland.  For icing on the cake, I also paced Lee Anne for the last 7 - 8K of her 50 miler.  A total of 32K for the day.  Lee Anne had a great race, taking 2 minutes off her 50M PB.

What's next?  You should never look at the Ontario trail/ultra site after a good race.  Lee Anne and I decided to sign up for Kingston 6 hour race on June 8.  Why?  Lee Anne wants to run for 6 hours on pavement because "it will be a fun social run".  I'm running it because I'm invincible.  Yeah, there is another word to describe why I signed up...

I am now having second thoughts about Kingston, as I plan to sign up for the Niagara 50K, which is on June 22.  If I run too far at Kingston, finishing Niagara 50K could be tricky.  Hang on!  I'm completely healed, so 2 ultras in 2 weeks should be a piece of cake.

Right?