Here goes nothing! My second 50K: Tommyknocker UItras, Woodland Park CO

http://humanpotentialrunning.com/races/tommyknocker-ultras/

Well...  my second 50K is this Saturday, and I have to admit I am a bit nervous.  I spent the months leading up to the the Greenland Trail 50K  on a well defined training schedule and felt like I was ready for the challenge of my first Ultra. 

This time around? Different story... I tried to start on a training program again, but couldn't stick with it over the summer..   instead, I've spent timing running when I felt like I should, and when I could make it fit as well.   Long runs have been in the 14-18 miles and nothing longer...  but, those runs have been relatively easy and consequence free, so I'm really hoping I'm ready.   Also, I am looking hard at attempting the 50 miler at the Bear Chase in 3 weeks, so part of me is looking at this 50K as a last "long" training run for that.  I'll make that call after this weekend!!

This will be the inaugural running of this race, and the first race (of many more to come) from the Human Potential Running Series.    I LOVE the fact that this 50K/100K is just a few miles up the road from me, here in little old Woodland Park, CO! I am really excited about this series, and what they are all about.   "Sherpa" John Paul Lacroix has worked really hard on putting this together, and I can't wait to experience this race. What caught my attention originally was just the overall mindset and message they are trying to deliver.  As an example, here is what they state on their page:

Human Potential Events are Conducted With The Following Principles In Mind

Community

We encourage all runners to embrace a communal spirit during all of our events; official or otherwise. We want you to forge new relationships, learn from and about each other, encourage each other, and care for each other. After all, we’re all in this together every step of the way.

Equality

We acknowledge that those who finish last; work just as hard, sacrifice just as much, and are just as committed, as those who finish first. We uphold the old school traditions of Ultra-running by presenting the same finisher awards to all participants. We offer no cash prizes at our races and front runners will receive no special/preferential treatment over the rest-of-the-pack.

Respect

Our races are designed with the utmost respect for runners and non-runners alike, local and federal municipalities, local residents, land managers and businesses. While we acknowledge that it is nearly impossible to please everyone, we do our very best to respect and please the majority.

The way I understand it, it is an attempt to take ultra running events back to its humble origins, and making it less commercial etc..     I really like that, and am really looking to this and future events from HPRS!  Also, check out this link for more info and a great article on HPRS and Sherpa John from Colorado Runner mag here: http://www.coloradorunnermag.com/2014/08/07/new-ultra-series-promises-return-whats-important/

So, since I recently picked up an older KTM trail bike (early 50th birthday present to myself), I decided to go out and preview the course on Monday...  wow, it is going to be a beautiful run!  Here's a video I put together of it...  a lot of it is time lapse, with some regular video mixed in... set it to 720HD under settings for the best quality:

Anyway, as I said.. here goes nothing!  I know this will be a tougher course than Greenland was, but that being said, I hope I can still finish it in a halfway reasonable time!  Stay tuned for a full race report next week.

Happy trails!

Jeff
http://barefootinclined.com
barefootinclined@gmail.com