Goals for Tunnel Hill 50 Miler

With less than a week to go, it's time to think about goals for my Tunnel Hill 50 mile trail race on Saturday. I ran the same race 2 years ago and finished 50 miles in 9 hours and 4 minutes. It was a personal record. I was in very good running shape at the time, but lacked endurance. I had recently run a PR at the half-marathon distance and was doing a lot of speed work. I had some decent speed and pretty good stamina, but lacked the long runs. This year, I don't have speed or stamina, and I'm lacking endurance too! Fortunately, I completed a couple of good long runs in October. I'm healthy and injury-free. That should count for something. So, what are my race goals this year?

Dream goal #1: Break 9 hours for the 50 miles (10:47/mile). 8:59:59 would be perfection! With perfect weather, perfect pacing, and excellent discipline and will-power maybe this is possible. Maybe. I can dream.

Dream goal #2: Set a new PR. That means 9:04 or better (10:53/mile). Still a stretch, but if you give me those couple of extra minutes, maybe it's feasible? Maybe? Again, I can dream.

Ultimate real goal: Finish in 9:10. That's an 11:00 minute/mile pace. Still very difficult. My friend Gregg is trying for this time so I might be able to hang with him and push hard at the end to get this solid finish.

Reasonable goal: Finish under 9:30 (11:23/mile). I'd be happy with this finish time. Not ecstatic, but happy.

Better than nothing goal: Break 10 hours (11:59/mile). This would not make me happy, but a 9:59 or better finish would be OK.

If I finish after 10 hours, I'll be disappointed. I suppose any ultra finish is a nice achievement. If I completed the race with no injuries and ready to resume training, that would be a success. I guess. But the ride home would not be full of glee.