Mohican 50M Race Report
The Story:
A mediocre, injured trail runner and a triathlete decide to sign up for their first 50M and run it together. What could possibly go wrong?
Hello, friends! Courtney here sharing the story of how I trained for and completed the Mohican 50M in June, 2023. I ran this race my partner, and we both finished in 11 hrs 08 min (our goal was sub 12-hour), despite our dramatically different training backgrounds and unique challenges. Trail running really is more of an art than a science! The purpose of this post is to share our story.
My background and training history
I started trail running in summer 2020 after about 18 years of casual road running. I was never competitive, but I did complete two marathons in college. I started running trails for fun with my ‘crazy’ ultra-running friends in fall 2020 and heard countless stories of their races, learned their training tips, and signed up for my first 50k in May, 2021.
Late fall 2020 my rapid switch to trails caught up with me, and I started experiencing a burning pain in the back of my ankle, near the heel. Hello, achilles tendonitis! I’ve successfully rehabbed this injury (very slowly, albeit) after finding the right physiotherapist. I was still dealing with symptoms while training for Mohican - check out my post rehabbing achilles issues if you’d like to read more!
Race Description:
The Mohican 50M takes place in Mohican State Park in Ohio early June. Although you might not think Ohio is a hilly place, the course boasts about 7,000 ft of gain (depending who’s watch you’re reading). The course has changed over the years, but this year was nearly 100% single track MTB through shady woods. There were a good amount of rocks and roots, just enough to keep you constantly “on your toes”. There were no *major* climbs (at least not to us - but we did hit the hiking/elevation training pretty hard). Aid stations were spaced a bit oddly, with the first two at mile 4-ish and 8-ish, then the next at mile 13.5-ish, then 19-ish, then 26-ish. This is a two-loop course for the 50M, with the first loop being a ‘longer’ loop. We found the course was short, only logging ~48 miles at the end (again, depending who’s watch you’re reading). Our race day was hot, so we appreciated the ice water buckets with sponges available to cool off with (it was needed on the 90 degree day!). There were about 175 runners doing the 50, accompanied by about 200 runners doing a 100M and maybe 75 doing a marathon. The start times were staggered, so outside of the usual ‘conga line’ the first 3 miles, we didn’t have many issues passing people or getting space.
Training:
My Training Plan
Working around achilles tendinitis, my plan was less traditional. To give my ankle time to recover from the long weekend runs, I supplemented runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays with cross-training, mostly on the elliptical/stairmaster, and integrated one solid treadmill hike each week. I tried to get the total time of feet and my avg HR during these exercises to match what I’d see if I was running those days. As you’ll see in the race results, this worked great for me! I followed THIS 50M plan from Trail Runner Magazine, as well as THIS heat acclimation plan. My plan was a combination of pure trail runs (I never wasted time running on roads or treadmills), cross training on ellipticals, stairmaster, yoga (almost daily) and weight lifting. I believe the lifting, specifically addressing my weak areas, was key to my race-day success. I broke it up into pieces throughout the week so my “off” running days focused on upper body and abs. I also believe the mobility work in yoga was incredibly important.
Weekly Structure:
Saturday long run on trail (equivalent gain to race)
The longest run I did was a 50k 4 weeks out, and by then my ankle was handling that distance quite well. I did about 3 other 20 miles runs and a few 18 mile runs
Sunday back-to-back run on trail
I used a time-on-feet model for Sundays, usually between 1-2.5 hours
Monday active recovery - upper body weights and abs + yoga
Tuesday (speed day every other week) speed work on elliptical (mix of intervals and tempo) + leg day (focused on hips) + yoga. For a non-speed week, just normal miles.
Wednesday (hill workout day every other week) hill speed work on trail (e.g. 10x1min + 3x3min) + yoga. For a non hill workout week, just a normal trail run.
Thursday cross training on elliptical, stairmaster, treadmill hike (1 mile @ 15%, 3.6-3.8mph) as + a bigger leg day (working hamstring, quads, doing mountain legs, all the big ones) + yoga
Friday active recovery/upper body weights and abs + yoga
Time on Feet: Altogether, I spent about 16 hours per week on my feet: 14 hours of running/cross-training/weight-lifting/yoga and 2 hours of sauna time total in the last 6 weeks.
Elevation: Knowing the course would be about 7,000ft of gain, I tried to hit this weekly as well (trying to get my avg ft/mile during my long runs to match the ft/mile of the course).
Training Results: By following the plan above, by the final 4 weeks I had shaved a full minute off my “easy” long-run pace, and my average heart rate on runs dropped at least 8bpm on average. I credit these adaptations mostly to speed work, and perhaps the sauna time as well.
Training Issues: The only major issues I had were towards the end of my training, when I started to get some kneecap pain (darn quads!). Dry needling was an instant-fix, though not a lasting one. A signal I need to do more quad work!
Note on dealing with achilles tendinitis: I employed at least half a dozen different methods to help heal this issue and treat it post-run. For more details on what I did, see my blog post on the topic Overall, I found my tendonitis *improved* over the course of my training.
My friend’s training: a season triathlete, my partner had a very different training approach. He spent more time running overall, and was also biking and swimming to prepare for a 70.3 event later that same summer. We ran most of our long runs together, and stayed together the entire race! Proof that there’s more than one way to approach training for this distance, we saw it firsthand!
Race Day Results:
The race started at 6am, with about 175 other runners setting out on the 90% single-track course in the typical “conga line” fashion. This was a two loop course, with the first loop being slightly longer than the second loop.
In the first loop, our fastest mile was 10:05 and the slowest was 14:50 (not including the midpoint aid station stop, which was a 20-min mile).
In the second loop, our fastest mile was 12:55 and the slowest was 19:39.
As expected, there was a dip in our pace for the second loop. We’re not sure if that means we went out too fast or if the pain in our feet was getting to us/general late-race fatigue. Given that we still finished running (didn't walk any flats) we’d guess the latter.
We both felt that the hills on the course weren’t nearly as bad as expected. My watch had about 6,400ft of gain. We both passed other runners on the uphills, perhaps a testament to our dedicated hiking workouts on the treadmill. The downhills were the hard part - mostly due to our beat up feet.
We got frustrated with the single track by the second loop, which was mentally exhausting with a relatively rocky/root-filled course. The aid station spacing was also odd, and in the last 12 miles, we both were eager for the final aid station (ran out of water about 1.5 miles out, as the stations were a little over 6 miles apart at that point).
Nonetheless, we both finished with a smile on our faces, and happily finished more than 50 minutes ahead of target time.
Lessons Learned:
Things went well, some things could have gone better. Here’s a summary from both of us.
What went well
My achilles/ankle was the least of my worries during the race - I actually didn’t notice any pain (until I stopped). I used heel lifts in my shoes for the race and also taped my achilles.
I rocked hydration - even post-race, I felt hydrated and solid in this area.
I think I did well with calories as well. Consuming tailwind, some Bobo’s oat bars for my primary nutrition, and a few small snacks at aid stations. I believe I consumed about 2,500 calories (225-ish per hour)).
I did *ok* with electrolytes - popped s-caps at least twice per hour and also took some pickle juice shots at aid stations. My fingers were puffy for the entire second half of the race though, so perhaps I could’ve done better (I know I’m a salty sweater)
My stomach behaved the entire race - I only stopped feeling like eating the last 10 miles, and even then managed to suck down a GU for that final stretch kick on top of tailwind.
Last but not least - temperature regulation. I’m convinced my heat acclimation helped quite a bit. I also opted to wear a lightweight/vented long sleeve for the race, which I kept wet at aid stations. I was a big fan of the long sleeve and highly recommend it for a hot day like ours (90 degrees!).
What could’ve gone better
LACING! I recognized that although I did a heel lock with my laces, I went too loose and ended up giving myself nasty lace bite on the top of my right foot and destroyed my big toes (I eventually lost both toenails…don’t worry, they’re back now). This also made downhills quite painful. I should have stopped to re-tie my shoes. Rookie mistake!
I also learned that Tailwind gave me uhh…tail-wind after some time. 😂 While the discomfort was manageable, I might have been taking too many simple sugars given how much I was drinking, and my digestive system wasn’t having it. I need to research an alternative for longer races in the future.
Summary
I hope this post was helpful, whether you were just looking for a 50M training plan, looking to learn more about Mohican, or curious about how much trail running is truly more of an art than a science. I look forward to sharing more stories (the good, the bad) in the future. Happy running!