Thank you for this recap. I’m thinking of running this race and your commentary was really helpful!

@messinwithzacksquatch

10 ай бұрын

You're welcome! JFK50 is a grand old time!

Great job! I am amazed by how much you enjoyed everything, and "had so much fun". If I had to do it, I would probably have nothing to say but how much pain I experienced! Thanks for sharing, and it was great seeing you last weekend.

My brother competed in the same race! Very interesting to listen to your perspective and sharing your love and passion for ultra running. Wish you the best of luck in future races!

Great review and amazing finish! Love the 50 mile distance. All the best in your running.

Great race. Nice job Brother. Felt the stomach thing big time.

Thank you so much for putting this all together in a comprehensive and cogent way. I truly appreciate you doing this for all of us interested in doing this. Congratulations on a great accomplishment!

@messinwithzacksquatch

3 жыл бұрын

My pleasure! I'm happy it was helpful!

Outstanding, brother Jack!

Wanted to take a moment and thank you for your JFK 50 first timers video. Looking forward to the race this November. Thank you, take care and God bless.

I am running this next year my first. Just moved to Maryland and in love with trail running! Can't wait!

Great video!!

Wow! Great race recap!

I just signed up. Thanks for this videoBrother Zack!

Thanks for the overview, Brother Zack. You really nailed the sublime agony of the last miles of an ultra! I don't know how many biographies of JFK I've read down through the years, and there is usually mention of him challenging Americans to take 50-mile "hikes." Lo, these many years later, I am an older ultrarunner on the West Coast and I've always wondered what it would be like to run the JFK 50 Miler. I think I can handle the rocks and switchbacks, but I'm afraid I'd have to come in wearing The Vest of Shame.

Thank you for sharing, excellent video. And way to dig deep 🙌 … running my first JFK this Saturday.

@messinwithzacksquatch

8 ай бұрын

Heck yeah, man! You're gonna love it. Awesome race.

Great job Brother Jack!!

Awesome work

Nice video Zach. I've signed up to do the JFK 50 this year as part of my 50 at 50. My 50th birthday is in September and I have made this my big race of the year. Thanks for all of the insight into the course. Keep on running. It's a great day to go for a run wherever you may be!!!

@messinwithzacksquatch

2 жыл бұрын

Amen, brother! Hope you enjoy every minute of it!

Awesome vid!

excellent!!! I am running my 1st tomorrow 11/21/2020 in the year of the Covid. This will be a blast! Loved the video

@messinwithzacksquatch

3 жыл бұрын

Best of luck to you! Covid or not, it'll be an awesome experience!

@jacobreesmontgomery

3 жыл бұрын

ayyy my friend raced there today

I am missing the race today! 😭💔 (11/19/22) AND, they won't reimburse my $200.00 race fee!😠💸 Your description of your experience is so beautiful! THIS is what I love about trail running.😃❤️🏞️🏃🏽‍♂️ I don't think my body could have tolerated 50 miles right now. I ran a marathon earlier this year and think I over trained!🤕🦵🏽 I'll be back, Lord willing. May Lord grant you continued health! Take care!🙂👋🏽👨🏽‍⚕️🏃🏽‍♂️

Great job, and nice video! The 2019 JFK was my first 50 miler. I was shooting for a sub-10 until I broke a toe three days prior to the race and threw my time goals out the window. I wasn't sure if I'd start the race, much less finish it. The night before the race the entire top front of my foot had turned black and blue. As it turned out, the broken toe cooperated once I taped it securely to the toe beside it, and it wasn't much of a factor. However, I was super conservative on the trail. I tried to make up time on the canal, but only managed a 10:36 finish. It was an epic race, though, and one I will certainly do again someday!

@messinwithzacksquatch

3 жыл бұрын

Awesome! That's a gritty effort right there

Right on dude!

Greetings brother Zack! I actually think I've seen you walking down the street in your brown robe ! I live and run near Catholic; beautiful campus! I'm preparing for the JFK 50 milier this November (2022) so, I really appreciate you for sharing this with us! I did the Bishop's marathon on the C & O canal in 2021. I also train in Rock Creek Park; good trails! I wish you the best of success in your positive endeavors! Take care!👋🏽👨🏾‍⚕️🏞️🏃🏽‍♂️

@messinwithzacksquatch

2 жыл бұрын

It certainly might have been me! I always used to walk back and forth from classes at CUA. Also, I love Rock Creek Park! What a little oasis in the middle of that city. There are trails back there where you can run for hours and barely see another person. So cool. Best of luck preparing for JFK. You'll love it. Keep putting in work at Rock Creek and on the C&O and you will be totally prepared!

@OmarAbdulMalikDHEdMPASPACPAPro

2 жыл бұрын

@@messinwithzacksquatch Thanks! God bless you brother Zack!🙏🏞️🏃🏽‍♂️

really enjoyed your race recap and attitude... could you share a little bit about your training?

@messinwithzacksquatch

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you! I'd be happy to share about my training; but a quick disclaimer: I'm very far from being an expert! As a whole, it was pretty inconsistent, as I was working around school and other obligations, but this type of schedule is no doubt par for the course for most runners! And this is really the good thing about ultra training is that as long as you can find time for those longer runs here and there, you'll be alright. Mostly I tried to stick to a one-week-on, one-week-off plan. During the "on week," I'd try to pile on as much mileage as was reasonable (I think 80 was my high, so nothing crazy). Usually this consisted of either a marathon and some good 2 hour runs to supplement, or a string of runs in the 2-3 hour range. 32 miles was my longest single run. As often as I was able, I'd get a solid run in the day after a long run. As far as I'm concerned, it builds strength and helps your body to become more tolerant to running through pain. Pace would be dependent on the distance. Less than two hours, somewhere around 8:30...2+ hours, probably more like 10:00-11:00. Over the three months I intentionally trained for JFK, I built up to a mileage high with probably a month to go, and then slowly tapered from there. The "week off," is sort of a misnomer, I guess. Usually these weeks my mileage barely touched thirty, but I'd do my best to throw in a hill repeat workout, tempo run, or a few circuits in the gym to make sure I was keeping done semblance of speed. More than anything, though, I tried to get on trails as much as possible. This is probably the only part of training I'm confident enough to strongly recommend to fellow runners. If you're preparing for a race over a rocky surface, you want to mimic that as much as possible. If you're running a race that covers both rugged trails like the AT and rail trails like the C&O--as the JFK does--it's so, so helpful to put a lot of time in on these surfaces. Hope that's enough info!

Great ... amen.

brother Zack, i was more prepared seeing your video beforehand, I ran the 2020 JFk. I did get stuck behind waiting for 6 minutes for the train to pass. i did not like the CO canal, too boring and it was mentally challenging. The 8 miles on road were dark, as this year we had an hour start later than the first wave. The AT portion was the most fun. i had no crew to help me during race. I passed alot of people on AT but did poorly on CO CANAL. I WISH TO HAVE TRAINED LONGER, I only really trained for 4 weeks, and this was my first race for an ultra. Maybe race another year but more prepared and feel more confident knowing what I do know. i also fell on AT portion and gashed my left knee and injured my pectoralis and right lat while trying to break my fall. I was off my pace and ended 90 minutes later than my expected goal. the record was broken this year 5:18!

@messinwithzacksquatch

3 жыл бұрын

Congrats on finishing, even if it was slower than your goal! One day you miss your goal time, the next day you set a two-hour personal best. It's how these things go sometimes. And I agree, the AT is a blast, but it can carve you up pretty good if you take a fall. I didn't fall, myself, but I remember witnessing a handful of falls occurring around me... some of them pretty serious. A lot of bloody hands and knees. Anyway, I'm glad the video was of some use to you. That's why I put it together!

nice! I was there that morning with the 1200

Very interesting video, Brother Zack! As one seminarian to another (I am an alumnus of a Baptist seminary) who loves running, your enthusiasm is contagious. Where you said that if you are thinking of running JFK, you should do it really stuck with me. While I want to finish some shorter distances first to try to see just how fast I can run the mile and qualify for Boston, this is something I have been thinking about. A quick question about training: were you mostly at your JFK pace, faster, or slower during your runs?

@messinwithzacksquatch

3 жыл бұрын

Hey there! Almost all of my training runs end up being faster than race pace (for this race and for others I've done). Oddly enough, if I remember correctly, my pace on the C&O canal section of the JFK course ended up being a little less than 10 minutes per mile, which was slightly faster than some of my longer JFK training runs (marathons, 50ks), so that was a bit of an anomaly. But as a whole, I believe my average pace per mile during this particular race was right around 11 minutes per mile, which is pretty much slower than any of my training runs. One thing that I did try to do while training for JFK, however, was to mix in a few long hiking days. Unless you're one of the elites in the race, chances are you are going to be doing at least a little bit of hiking (especially up some of the bigger hills on the Appalachian Trail). It always pays to have trained those muscles, as they tend to be different than the muscles you use for running! Best of luck to you!

@wvu05

3 жыл бұрын

@@messinwithzacksquatch Cool! Thanks for the tip! When I'm done focusing on running (relatively) fast and start to focus on running long, maybe I'll see you there.

Thanks for this video. I am registered to run this year. How did you feel the day after ?

@messinwithzacksquatch

2 жыл бұрын

Lol not good. Didn't help that I was at a Washington NFL game the next afternoon and had to walk a mile to and from the metro and up and down enormous/steep flights of steps. Generally speaking, 2-4 days after a fifty or 100 miler I'm walking normally again. Some people recover much faster, though! Have fun!

How do I sign up for this JFK 50 mile race?

Third Order Regular? I went to Franciscan University in Steubenville. Im an OFS in Tenn. running the JFK 50 this year

@messinwithzacksquatch

2 ай бұрын

Heck yeah man! I worked at FUS during the 2018-19 academic year. Many of my long runs for my first 50 were at Raccoon Creek State Park right down the road.

I am running JFK this year their 60th. I am thinking that I may struggle. This year has been brutal for me. Not in the shape I want to be for this, 1 month out.

@messinwithzacksquatch

Жыл бұрын

There's still time for some good training!

@echalonfackler

Жыл бұрын

@@messinwithzacksquatch thank you sir. Just ran the End of the Road sat, and the Chicago Marathon 2 weeks ago. I ahve done 100's but was in better shape and lighter. Mentally I have the steel for this. Just worried my weight will be a problem. so I need to crush it and drop weight fast. Your video was super helpful. Bless you!!!

Shoes suggestion?

@messinwithzacksquatch

3 жыл бұрын

Honestly, if you're asking specifically about JFK, I'd almost consider bringing two pairs of shoes. Trail running shoes (with a good rock plate) would be ideal for the Appalachian Trail portion of the course. It's quite rough. I personally like Saucony Peregrines, as they feel the most similar to my normal road running shoes, but there are so many great brands out there! Altra and Hoka One One Make great options, also. Once you get on the C&O, though, I'd consider switching into something light and comfortable... Perhaps even your normal road trainers, as the canal trail is a firm surface, and the last eight+ miles are on paved roads. Definitely check the conditions, beforehand, though! If it's snowy or muddy, maybe consider trail shoes the whole way through. Hope this helps!

@marlinweekley51

3 жыл бұрын

I suggest wearing them 😆👍🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️ Enjoyed this video - nice 😀