2025 Fire Tower 50k
I ran the 2025 Fire Tower 50k on October 4, the last hot day of the year. I was happy with the result, but it wasn’t the triumph I had hoped for, which I think was due to the heat and my need to relearn some old lessons. I thought I was well prepared physically and had good fueling and hydration strategies, but I ended up running only about the first twenty miles and walking most of the remaining ten. The trudge across the finish line was a far cry from the joyous romp I had imagined. What went wrong? Though I put the miles in, I wasn’t as well prepared as I thought. I ran trails all summer, which I prefer over pavement, but in retrospect my trails were the best of both worlds, as flat and smooth as a paved trail without the joint-abusing hardness of pavement. I thought I’d be able to just run free, while the reality was that, although the Fire Tower course is reportedly not as technically demanding as some others, it has its challenges. My strategy t...