Rocky Raccoon 50 miler consists of 3 loops of 16.67 miles each. This was my first 50 mile race, and the general prediction of 3x marathon time (predicts 15:24:xx) held for me, but I think only because I made several mistakes, explained below. The weather was beautiful, though a little warm for the season. The course is nice, mostly shady, under a forest of pine trees. There is not much elevation change so the course is somewhat easier on the body, but there's enough up and down to give some muscles a small break and to keep things a bit more interesting. Because I walked the entire race, the warm weather was not really a factor for me. I learned a lot from running this race, some of which wisdom came from other runners as they passed me and inquired about my health. I was doing a rather slow death-march for more than half my time out there, which to other runners always looks concerning. "Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional." This is not always true; in my case the pain was entirely evitable, I believe. But since I was already feeling it I tried not to suffer. I didn't succeed terribly well at that, though; my mind gets deeply into ruts thinking about what hurts and how much I want to stop. I couldn't even change my mental music sometimes! "Do not worry too much about what hurts right now. The good news is that eventually it will stop hurting. The bad news is that something else will hurt instead." This was very much true for me. For quite a bit of the race my joints hurt. This was my fault entirely, as I did not do nearly enough long long runs in preparation. I knew that lack of preparation would make things more difficult, but I am also trying to strike a balance between my running and being present with my wife and kids. They're more important than running, but without running I don't enjoy life as much. Eventually I stopped noticing my knees, ankles, lower back and hips. This pain was replaced by burning on the soles of my feet. In the dark it didn't look to others like a blister, but rather a hot spot. It felt too hot to me to not be a blister, and I was right. I have thick calluses on my forefoot which masked most of the blistering, but it found its way out between the gap between my big toe and the next one over, on both feet. There were several other blisters that were less remarkable as they hurt less. I did try to prevent the blisters but my practical knowledge was lacking. After every loop I re-lubed my feet and changed socks. My feet were essentially fine through the first two loops, but after the second sock change there was a little grit still on my foot. I should have taken the time to get out my baby wipes and clean it all off, but I was in a hurry. Saving 1 minute there I probably cost myself 30 minutes to several hours due to my slow walking the last loop. My second blister mistake was to use A&D ointment as a lube the last loop. I have never had a lot of problems with blisters, but I have also never run over 31 miles before. I used Desitin for the first two loops which worked great; it has a high melting point and really stays on my foot well. Vaseline has a lower melting point but has stayed well too. A&D has a very low melting point and I think it just didn't stay on well. Another one of my mistakes was to walk the entire race. I had planned to walk the first loop, then do a run/walk for the remaining two loops. I walked the first loop too fast (4:15) to keep the pace for later loops; in fact I was already slowing down by the end of the first loop. I should not have power-walked up the hills quite so hard. I also should have settled into a good run/walk earlier. I have not heard any great theories as to how running versus walking affect the impact on feet and joints, but this race makes me feel that, despite each walking step being easier on the joints, and despite taking fewer steps per minute (100-120 for my normal walking versus 160-180 for normal running), I think walking was harder on my joints because I had more footfalls over the distance covered. I believe that running the downhills easy and part of the flats and walking all the ups and part of the flats would have been both faster and easier on me. It's nearly impossible to run the experiment, though, because the other variables of course, weather, training, etc., cannot be properly controlled for. Other small mistakes: - my flashlight ran low on batteries and I had no replacements. I could see the trail well enough to not trip but it was not helping my already poor mood. - I was not careful enough about checking my water bladder and ran out between aid stations twice. I was never dehydrated, but I do get used to regular drinking. I had thought about just using my bottles and hip pack, but I wanted a place to put my jacket and pants in the morning after I stripped them off. In retrospect it was warm enough at the start to just wear shorts, and I was fine with my jacket wrapped around my waist. With bottles I could have easily seen how much water I had left and gotten refills at every aid station if need be. 40 ounces of water should be more than enough for even the longest stretch between aid, which was less than 5 miles. - I was mostly okay on calories; I never felt more than slightly hungry at any time and never felt low on energy, but I should have left a bar in my pocket for easier access and munched on it when I felt even a twinge of hunger. - I learned that cold beverage makes me queasy. The only time my stomach felt anything but great was after a glass of ice-cold HEED in the early afternoon. After that I made sure the drink wasn't chilled. - I don't know why I thought it was a good idea, but I walked from my campsite to the race star, a little over a mile I think. Fortunately Larry from Chicago had finished his race and was willing to drive me back to my campsite. I am deeply indebted to him and to many runners and aid station volunteers who offered words of encouragement and aid. Also particular thanks to Dann Fisher who took a slow walk break with me to talk for several minutes, which cheered me immensely. For everyone else out there, I may never even have known your name but I am thankful. During my miserable last lap of slow walking, feeling that each aid station would never come, I felt sure I would never run another ultra, etc. I knew that I would change my mind on that, but I am amazed how quickly I did. I am already looking forward to RR50 next year. Given family constraints, etc., it will probably be my second 50 miler, but I have years of running in front of me, and as my children grow older my opportunity for travel will grow as well.