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Training Tuesday: Mountain Mist 50k Race Recap

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January 27, 2026•5 min read

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Training Tuesday: Mountain Mist 50k Race Recap

As you have seen from previous emails, we kinda nerded out on our race day planning for Mountain Mist 50K.

We had a well thought out fluid intake plan, nutrition plan, and A, B, C, and D goal times between aid stations.

Planning was critical to doing well in this race. A good plan and good training still goes hand in hand honestly and sometimes plans go out the window once chaos starts....

Here's how Dylan and Josh's day's went:

Dylan's race:

My pre race routine was as follows: Pre-load with sodium for 2 days leading up to race ~4000mg Na throughout the day, I used Santa Madre unusual nitrous mostly. Morning of the race I took a Nomio shot, ate 2 Bobo's PB&J's, and had my normal coffee. To add a little more caffeine, I had an Alani and that did the trick. I'm not saying everyone should do this...I am just not that caffeine sensitive so it works well for me.

My plan started by prioritizing fluid intake and bottle management. I wanted to get 40 oz of water per hour to avoid dehydration and I decided to carry two soft flasks in my shorts with a built in belt, which worked great. I drank 20 oz right before the race kicked off, skipped aid station 1, drank 40 oz by aid station 2, only refilled and carried 20 oz to aid station 3, 40 oz by aid station 4, 40 oz by aid station 5, and 40 oz to aid station 6, then skipped aid station 6 refill since I needed to run fast to the finish.

I also planned on taking in around 100 grams of carbs an hour. I used precision (4) 90 gram packets and (3) 30 gram caffeinated gels and ended up getting in about 80 grams/hour. A good rule of thumb for me has been to plan for more and buffer in the fact that it may not happen perfectly.

All that being said, I did not have any GI issues and I only had some minor calf cramps on the switchbacks after waterline. I drank everything I had and knew I was close to the most important aid station at Trough springs. I got my bottles filled and slammed two pickle juice cups (seems like my mountain mist life saver every year) and some water and that fixed my cramps.

From a race pacing strategy, I used last years pace to oak park and then training runs from there to the finish to predict what might happen on race day. I planned on being to oak park by 1:50, land trust in 2:47, trough springs in 3:31, and finishing at 4:29 (optimistic goals lol). What actually happened was very close. I hit oak park at 1:47, land trust in 2:41, trough springs at 3:33, and finished in 4:33.

I was pumped to have a big PR day and come in 3rd overall. I didn't even think the top 10 would be reasonable with the competition this year. But this race has a way of foiling plans and despite your fitness it is hard to have a great day. Planning well in combination with the training made the great day possible.

Josh's race:

This was year 6 for me at Mountain Mist and I had beef with this race. I have never felt like I went in fit enough for the race I wanted and the climbs always chewed me up. Despite my setback in the fall with a stress fracture, I had hoped this year would go differently. Nutritionally I had a better plan than previous years now that I understood carbs and electrolytes better. I can handle a lot more carbs and I need a lot more sodium. With this and some really solid runs on the course I was able, alongside Dylan and Tay, to develop a really good idea of what race day could look like.

Race day showed up and all the craziness of “is it actually gonna happen” came and went and I was able to get to the top of the mountain. Off we went and the fast guys took off down the icy mountain, including Dylan who I had hoped to stay with for a while. Instead I ended up settling into my own race and caught up to a friend and stayed with him for the majority of the race. Nutrition plan was going well until the top of waterline and never took another gel. I attribute most of this to hydration I think. I was not doing well getting fluid down because of the temperature. So with nothing on my stomach gels hit a bit harder, but I knew I had done enough before and early stages (80-90g an hour) that I would be fine finishing. Pacing went about as perfect as my prep had suggested. I turned off my lap function and hit it at aid stations. The plan was for 32’, 1:32, 1:52, 2:50, 3:35-45, and 4:40-50. And then I ran 32:27, 1:31:48, 1:52:48, 2:50:19, 3:44:43, and 4:49:22. Math and preparation won the day and I had a breakthrough race running a 36 min PR. Fun day on the Mountain

How does this help you?

Plan everything. All the details. Write it down so that you don't miss something.
Train in a race specific way so that you know what you can do on race day instead of just sending it and hoping for the best. We have done that and it doesn't end well.
Be flexible with your plan but careful not to throw out all the plans if the race isn't going how you'd like.

Happy running,

R2S team

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