The Niagara 50K aka "unfinished business"

With the disappointment of my last marathon in my rear view mirror, I turn my attention to my next race. In late June I will be running a 50K race.
When I ran this race last year I had a goal of doing it in 5 hours or less. I fell a little short (5:04) and it was a struggle just to get there. At the 35K mark I had nothing left and my pace fell off substantially. Theresa and I were running together for most of that race and then we started running with another runner for some of that. While the two of them were doing well with their pace, it was clear that I was not. They stayed with me for as long as they could but eventually I told them just to go ahead. The last 15K was extremely difficult. Not only was I running slowly, which aggravated me to no end, I also didn't have my music with me. To make things even worse, there were no other runners around for long stretches of time.
During regular marathons, unless you are a Kenyan, there is never a point in the race where you don't see a runner. This can be a good way to keep your mind occupied during a race. Some people play a game of "catch" with certain runners and you stop thinking about how much longer you have to run. In trail races there are fewer runners competing and it is very common for you not to see a runner for long stretches of time. This adds to the mystique of the ultra marathon races.
I'm lucky to be going with some great friends and we will be running the race mostly together. I'm not putting a time goal for this race but I obviously would like to do better than last year. I feel that my conditioning is better than it was this time last year so that should help.
The one factor that nobody can do anything about, though, is the weather. With a start time of 7:00 AM, we will be hoping for a nice cool day rather than a really hot one. I'm very fortunate that the hot weather doesn't seem to affect me and I think I actually prefer it as I usually get cold so quickly.
I've been experimenting with different electrolyte supplements (GU2O, Sharkies and E-Load capsules) to try and combat my cramping problems. During my long run last week I didn't have any cramping problems and I loaded up on the E-Load capsules before and during the run.
I spoke to a very good runner this morning who had to drop out of the Ottawa Marathon after 5K because of her cramping problems. She experienced severe cramps in her quads and couldn't even walk. Listening to her talk brought back the memories of my last race. I'm hoping that these supplements work their magic so I don't have to worry about that problem again. Fortunately at the 50K race there are aid stations every 5K. I call them "mini-marts" as there are things such as pretzels, bananas, candies, water and gatoraide available for the runners.
The 50K race, at least for me, needs to be run a very comfortable pace and you have to realize that your body will be running for anywhere from 4.5 to 5 hours.

Although it's "only" 8K longer than a marathon, it's those last 8K that will test your mental strength. It's probably why I enjoy this challenge so much.

Talking about it at the gym today I could see the trainers and others looking at me like I was crazy. I think I like the fact that they don't "get" the thrill that I get from running. It just means that there's more room on the roads/trails for me to run.......