JFK report

The JFK 50-mile run was held Saturday, and for the fifth time I completed it. It was not the greatest race of my life, but I'm fairly satisfied with how I did. The weather was quite warm -- low 40s at the start and getting up to 60 during the day, so I ran in just a t-shirt and shorts. I didn't have any problems in the rocks, and I got to the start of the towpath right around three hours. From there I was able to run for about 15 more miles, and I got to the 30-mile point with a split of 5:45. But things went downhill between 30 and 34. For starters, my calves and quads started to cramp. I'm pretty sure this was because it was a warm day, and I wasn't taking in enough electrolytes. I drank a lot, ate bananas and oranges, and took a power gel, but the legs were still cramping. Additionally, I had a bad pain in my right knee. But the worst problem was that I just suddenly lost all my energy. I seriously felt like I wasn't going to be able to walk without falling down. I told myself I'd walk to the next aid station, get something to eat, and then see if I improved at all. I did improve a bit, but I couldn't really run more than 3 minutes at a time before the calves would cramp and I'd have to walk. It took waaay too much time for me to make it to the end of the towpath, and by the time I got there my split was about 9:02. My knee really killed me on the road, and I basically walked it in to the finish. It took me 2:23 to cover the final 8.3 miles. Sounds pathetic, but I didn't really have another option. Fortunately I had plenty of time, and I ended up finishing in 11:25.