Imagining the race as a continuous run with no end point, I still feel the need to have a pacing plan. I was talking with Paul W. at the Howl who I ran with at McNaughton last year, and he finished his first 100 mile run this year at Kettle Moraine. His time was 27:30, which is a pace of 16:30 per mile. He told me he finished the first 50 miles in 10:30, for a 12:36 pace. The final 50 was obviously run in 17:00, for a 20:24 pace. Seeing that I walk the mile to work in approximately 20 minutes, that means Paul walked the 2nd half of the race. 10:30 pace was then too fast for the first 50 miles. To run the entire race at an even pace of 16:30 he could have run 13:45 for both 50 mile segments.
Seeing that 27 hours is a respectable time for 100 miles, I believe 13:45 for both 50's would be an excellent pace. Seeing that I ran last year's 50 miler in 9:44, having an extra 4 hours to run the distance may be slow enough to keep me jogging for most of the race.
The important thing is not to go too fast during the first 20 miles when I am feeling fresh. I can easily run 10 mile segments, when fresh, in 1:55, which is my normal 50k pace. The proper 10 mile segment pace to finish in 27 hours would be 2:45. If I go faster than that, I risk having to walk the final third or half of the race.
With all the speed work I have been doing, it is going to be hard to go that slow. I will need to do some walking during the initial 10 mile segments, that will help to keep my energy from burning out and my legs from getting sore too quickly.
On the days I don't run I walk 2-3 hours up and down a steep hill. I was hoping that the walking practice would help me in the final part of the race, but it appears it will also help at the beginning.
