I signed up for this in November last year and started training in December. Training through the polar vortex was tough. I hate running inside so even though there were cold temps, snow and ice I still ran outside. I ran a 25 mile run one time right after a big snowstorm. I think, though, that this toughened me up and actually helped in this race. When something would come up that I was battling a bit with I would pull on that inner reserve and get through it. My emotional state was happiness, excitement and a feeling of almost selfishness that this was Me Time. I had nothing to do that day but take care of myself. I could accept and enjoy the attention paid to me at the aid stations. I felt like a movie star when I pulled into each one (maybe an action star since they can be sweaty and dirty and still be hot---I am thinking Nic Cage in Con Air kind of thing).
My friend was running the 100 mile race so I got to park on her campground for the night. The yahoos next campground over decided to make it a late night so I was kept up until after 11 and then slept kind of fitfully and got up at 4:30 to get ready for the race and walk the small path through the words to the start. I got there only about 10 minutes before the race was to start, dropped off my drop bags and took my place at the very BACK of the pack. I got a big hug from my friend Jen too. Oh yeah and I had lost a filling from one of my teeth that morning too. Luckily it didn't hurt was just annoying.
So the gun went off and we took off. The darkish woods were so cool. I love night running and night trail running is especially cool. About 30 minutes after we started it got light enough to see without the headlamp so i stuffed that in my pack. The sun came up to reveal a truly beautiful trail with pretty wildflowers along it, gorgeous views of the lakes and pretty pine forests. I felt truly blessed to be there running that day with the sun on my face, my body feeling good, the positive endorphins flooding my body as I made my way up and down hills, around small prairie kind of areas and through the sweet pine forest sections which I love!
I had not had much breakfast that morning so my first thing was to get some food in me. The first aid station I grabbed a couple small peanut butter/jelly sandwiches and a banana plus tucked some food into my little pockets for later if I needed it. I was so hungry that morning too that I kept eating stuff at each aid station. I tried to stay away from the sugary stuff so focused on the fruit, small sandwiches and only took some jelly beans in a baggie in case my sugar started to drop. However I had actually eaten too much I think so then my stomach was giving me some trouble. I stopped eating anything at the next two aid stations and just had water and gatorade to give my stomach some digestion time and had some coke to hopefully help with the bit of bloating feeling. That worked well and I started to feel better.
The aid stations were wonderful. There was one that was the Aloha station over by the schoolhouse which we got to pass twice, once on the way there and once on the way back, that had people dressed in hawaiian clothes and playing music. Very fun!
I got to the end of my first loop and ran into my friend Mory who is always a delight to see. She is always so smiley and encouraging every time I see her! I changed into my singlet as it was warming up, put on bug spray (although I forgot sunscreen--oops) and got some new gels. I also changed out of my water pack to a handheld to lighten my weight load. I got a photo taken by Ben and off I went to the second loop. This loop I felt like I was flying! I hit the aid stations a little faster, I had more energy, my body felt truly warmed up and I was feeling amazing. Probably helped that I had not as much gear on so my body felt tons lighter but also I think the sunny trail and excitement was intoxicating. When I stopped at the Rally Campground aide station I put on my water belt as I had run out of water for a bit and so I wanted both 9 ounce water bottles instead of just one. I was having some soreness in glutes, left hamstring and quads but knew that that would happen and part of the training runs is to know the difference between sore and broken (injured) so I just turned my mind off a bit and focused on other things and ignored the soreness. I finished that second loop, got to see Scott and Ben and off I went for the third loop.
One of the neat things is that the race had this automatic tracking thing so that my friends could track my progress. Every time I passed a checkpoint and crossed the tracker it sent up notifications to my friends who were watching. That meant that every time I ran through a checkpoint in my head I heard people cheering me on which was also a high. It was like even though I spent a lot of time running alone through those woods I never felt alone. I was surrounded by support, encouragement and love and so was never alone at all. It was like I was on a big group run with the most loving, supportive group of people I have ever known.
By 5pm I started to get hungry again and so the next aid station I stopped and had some more little sandwiches, a few orange slices and a cookie. I was feeling a bit nauseous and light headed so the aid station lady told me to have some sugar. I also had some little salted potatoes and pickles and took two salt tablets. I felt so elated now because as I passed the 37 mile mark I knew I could do it. I thought "Just one more half marathon! I got this!" At this point I changed again into a shirt as it was getting a little chilly. It was like I was a madonna concert..a different outfit for every loop.
When I got to the schoohouse for the last time and saw I had a little over 2 miles I almost couldn't wrap my mind around the fact I would soon be done running 50 miles! As I came into the area close to the finish line this nice guy came up and started running me into the finish.. He was great! He kept saying to everyone "This is Heather finishing up her first 50 miler!" I saw my friends Mark, Jean and Russ cheering me on. I got to the finish line and decided to RUN it! I took off and ran through at a good pace. Some people in front of me actually moved aside to let me run through. Then Mory was cheering and placed my medal around my neck, everyone came up to congratulate me and take photos. Once again I felt like a movie star on the red carpet.
I picked a great race to be my first 50 miler. Ultrarunners are a funny bunch too. Everyone said "Is this your first 50 mile?" like there wasn't a question of more of them. I believe there will be too.
I had a great time, felt good and enjoyed all the little moments in those pretty woods. I felt lucky to be able to do this. Life is an interesting thing: The things that are most difficult are always the most rewarding. Only by pushing ourselves farther can we make our lives authentic and worth living.
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