Potawatomi 50 Miler – Every Mile Becomes a Part of Me

Paleozoic Trail Runs – Silurian Spring (03.26.2016)

Over the weekend I successfully completed my second 50K & I almost feel like I can start to be considered an ultra runner!

Overall this was an awesome race . . .

First time experiencing the beautiful Cook County Forest Preserve! *I will be back to this area for training & racing!*
Flexible & encouraging Race Directors!
Ran with some incredible ultra runner “Time Lords” that have inspired me to take my running to the next level!
Amazing, supportive volunteers!
All of my gear worked fabulously – especially my Orange Mud Hydraquiver Vest Pack 2, my Trail Toes, & my new Louva arm sleeves!

Here area my key “take aways” from this race!

THE GOOD: 32 minute PR!

This might be temporarily renamed “THE AMAZING” . . . the best part is I know that I can do even better next time!

The Huff 50K was my baseline – this 50K was to see how I’m truly doing with all of my training. There are some areas of “low hanging fruit” that I think I can seize immediately (e.g. more hill training, better planning for aid stations / fuel, better strategy for drop bag, better understanding of the course, etc.).

I’m rather excited to see how my times shape up for the rest of the year now.

THE BAD: Some course confusion & under estimating of temperatures.

There is this risk with every race / run regarding knowing the course . . . unfortunately, within 1.5 miles from the start there was a small group of us that came to a complete stop to debate which direction to go & had that uneasy feeling for a bit about whether we had chosen poorly or not.

My feedback for this course would be to next time make more frequent markers, avoid marking leaves that can be moved around, when in doubt – over mark, & if possible – have a volunteer direct runners at intersections.

In regards to the temperatures . . . I was perfectly comfortable in my Orange Mud short sleeved tech shirt, but I should have opted for compression shorts versus capris. It started to get warm within the first hour of running & I think I would have been more comfortable / cooler in the shorts . . . coulda, shoulda, woulda . . . welcome to the learning curve of running. On a positive note, my new Louva arm sleeves (http://www.louvagear.com/) worked perfectly!

AND THE UGLY: Wet feet!

I fear that my poor toes will never be the same. Ever since The North Country Trail Marathon last year – I’ve had one poor little toenail that has never recovered & I’m afraid that some other toes will be joining the rebellion.

Although the RD ran the course on Friday & reported that there were a few wet spots – I think with more thawing & the course being beat down in some areas from the other fabulous runners – the wet spots were water spots up to my ankles. <sigh>

I fully embraced it & muttered numerous times to “Suck it up, Buttercup!” . . . but that didn’t mean that my feet were happy.

On the negative side – I planned poorly – I should have put my Salomon Speed Cross 3 trail running shoes in my drop bag . . . but I forgot. I did however remember to put all of my dry max socks in my drop bag. This bit me not only at the drop bag aid station, but also when I completed my first out & back, because then I could change into my Salomons, but I didn’t have any other pairs of dry max socks to change. <wa wa waaaaa> Oh well, you live & learn, at least I had another spare pair of running socks in my gear boxes & my travel size Trail Toes in my VP2! I changed out of the wet socks & runners, reapplied the Trail Toes, put on dry socks & Salomons, & took off for my final out & back!

SUMMARY:

Overall an awesome day & this has kicked off my next series of adventures. After talking with one of the magical Time Lords – Jose – I have decided to definitely embrace The Illinois Ultra Slam series. My next ultra is on April 9th (in less than 2 weeks) at the Potawatomi 50 Miler. *yep – my heart still skips when I think about what I’ve registered to do.* GO BIG OR STAY HOME!! Time to see how 50 miles will feel in preparation for The North Country 50 Miler & The Hennepin Hundred 100 Miler. *oy!*

Paleozoic Trail Runs - Silurian Spring 20160326

The Huff 50K (12.19.2015)

Over the weekend I successfully completed my first 50K . . . WHOA!

Overall this was a memorable race . . .

First time experiencing the Indiana Chain O’ Lakes State Park! *I will be back to run this race again!*
I realized that I have come so far & I am capable of so much more than I ever knew!
Amazing, supportive volunteers!
All of my gear worked fabulously – especially my Orange Mud Hydraquiver Vest Pack 2, my Orange Mud insulated bottles, my Trail Toes, & Shower Pill!

Here area my key “take aways” from this race!

THE GOOD: I did it!

The goal of this race was to successfully complete it within the course time limits & I DID!

There were several points throughout this race that I thought about quitting, but I persevered. I have now stepped into the world of ultras! *Even if it is considered a baby ultra.*

The next goal will be to improve my 50K time, but for now I’m going to revel in the fact that I have conquered this distance! I’m officially an ultra chick in the making! 😛

THE BAD: Colder than a witch’s t*t!

On the positive side – I didn’t freeze. On the negative side – I wasn’t warm. 😦

At the start of the race the temperatures were in the upper 20s, but with the wind chill it felt more like 15 degrees F . . . not horribly, horribly cold, but colder than anything that I have run in for prolong periods of time.

My Cuddl Duds active wear long sleeve shirt & fleece top worked great along with my Road Runner Sports compression tights, but it took me awhile to warm up after completing the race & various parts of me had wind / cold burn.

I will definitely need to tweak my winter running apparel before I tackle more runs with Ol’ Man Winter.

AND THE UGLY: I am my own worse enemy.

I faced an enemy during this race.

A devil that is darker than anything I have encountered.

I faced myself.

This race consisted of two laps of the course & I can say that I ran a majority of it by myself & I had numerous panic attacks along the way. 😦

To start I was told by the RD that the course time limit was “sunset, so approximately 8 hours”. Therefore, if the start time was 8:15am; then the course closed at 4pmish.

Initially, I was OK with this time limit. I figured that I had completed my fastest marathon in 5:40ish so how much more time could ~5 miles take??

My estimates were slightly off . . . while wrapping up my first lap I was just at 4 hours. I was baffled by this . . . ~15 miles took me 4 hours. YIKES. Granted, I had to take a bio break & I stopped to eat (OMG – I love boiled salted potatoes!!!), but I hadn’t realized how a technical, hilly trail could slow my pace down. Plus, it didn’t help that I had not run any distance beyond 15 miles in 6 weeks.

I felt very alone throughout this race & I became frustrated with myself . . . why? I’m still not sure. I think I somehow had lost faith in myself. 😦 I was letting my inner voice / demons get to me. 😥

It also didn’t help that every runner that I tried to reach out to to find some type of companionship heading into the second lap was DNF’ing. The guy in front of me said that there was “no way that he could take another 4+ hours of the course & elements”. And the girl behind me said “only stupid people continue on”. So here I was passing the main tent & being faced with the decision on whether to DNF or push on.

I took a quick inventory of myself – physically & mentally – to decide if I should continue.

Physically – I was hurting. I had made a rookie move at the start of the race by using the race provided toe warmers (i.e. hot hands for feet) & my right foot had developed a nice blister where the warmer had inched out of place.

Mentally – I was struggling. Was I stupid? Should I have quit like everyone else? What if I failed? I felt like I was drowning in negativeness & my inner demons were stripping me down one layer at a time.

As I passed over the timing strip the RD asked if I was going to continue or not . . . I paused & then told him that I didn’t have a choice. I came here to run this race & be a 50K finisher . . . so I pressed on.

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind & find my soul.” – Unknown

Within 5 minutes of making the decision to continue, I had another round of panic attacks until I forced myself to evaluate how much time was left and what pace I needed to maintain. It was then that I realized that sunset wasn’t until 5 p.m.ish, and I had closer to 9 hours to finish the race instead of the original 8 hours stated by the RD. So even though the course time cutoff would be close, I had enough time to still complete the race.

This was all the motivation I needed. I pushed on and tried to maximize my pace where I could.

I didn’t find another runner to share the experience with until roughly mile 18, and that was short-lived because she (Shannon) encouraged me to continue without her so that I didn’t run the risk of not completing within the course limit. Even though our time together was brief, I thoroughly enjoyed sharing the trail time with her and hearing about her running adventures. It definitely helped to take my mind off what I was trying to accomplish.

I then met Winston, Isabel, and Joe around mile 24. Although Isabel and Joe pushed on, Winston and I kept each other company through mile 29 before he went to catch up with his friends, and my best friend came back out on the course to find me.

By the time I reached mile 29, I knew that there was no way I was going to DNF this race. The finish was in sight, and I was going to give it every bit of my soul (and soles) to finish.

At 8:54:23, I crossed over the timing mats, completing The Huff 50K before the course cut-off & received my first ultra buckle. 😀

“Sometimes the journey has to be traveled alone in order to appreciate the strengths that lie deep inside of us.” – Steven Aitchison

SUMMARY:

I did it! I completely underestimated myself throughout this race, and it almost caused me to DNF. I need to better value myself and my capabilities. I need to understand that I am capable of so much more than I realize, and it truly is mind over matter.

I’m excited to see what next year brings. At this point, I’m signed up for The Mitten’s Challenge, North Country 50 miler (and half marathon the next day), and the Hennepin Hundred 100 miler.

Outside of that, I’m not sure what else I will be adding to my plate, but I know that I will be looking for at least a couple more 50Ks before my 50-miler to get a better feel for distances beyond the marathon and to prove to myself that I can do this!

This is my final race for 2015 & one helluva way to wrap up my Year of the Marathons! *I do reserve the right to change my mind & add another race before the end of the year, though! :P*

I am an ultra runner! 😀 *I hope that this sinks in within the next few months.*