Mountain Mist 50km
Huntsville, AL
January 22, 2010
Eric Charette’s Post Race Recap
Strategy
- Put some time in the bank by pushing the pace on the first half of the course, knowing that the trails would be mostly dry and very runnable.
- Take away the advantage of the competition who were strong at downhill running by being very aggressive on the down hills.
- Make up time on the field by hammering the climbs without sacrificing recovery at the peaks.
- Run through the aid stations making a bottle exchange with my crew and saving critical time.
- Hold on in the last 10km through McKay Hollow.
Section 1: Monte Sano Lodge to O’Shaughnessy Point
Miles 0 to 6.47
Standing at the start line, I shivered slightly as the wind was steady out of the north. It wouldn’t bother us much on this day, as just after the first mile, we would drop down off of the rim and not return for several hours.
As the gun went off to signify the start, Carl Laniak took off like his pants were on fire! Carl told me just before the start that his goal was to not get passed all day. Then he proceeded to ask me who David Ridddle was…. Within a half mile and before leaving the road portion, David had passed Carl to take the lead and would not ease up all day.
As planned, I pushed the pace early on, moving ahead of our chase pack before hitting the trail. I had no intention of holding that pace, but instead of letting the down hill runners pull away from me and having to catch up on the flats, I was going to attack the descents and then ease on the flats. Having been focusing on technique and selecting my lines on the drops, I was able to quickly maneuver down Chestnut Hill and onto Mountain Mist trail.
