Race Report: Bear Bait Ultra (My Birthday Race!)

This past weekend was my 53^rd birthday.  I decided to celebrate by doing an ultra. It is not unusual to do a birthday run, but it is kind of rare that one’s birthday falls on a race day. So, late last summer, when I saw a posting about an ultra that was falling on my actual birthday, I jumped at the chance to sign up. Little did I know what a great decision that would be.

The race I found was a small one held up in the Florida panhandle, just out of Crestview, called Bear Bait Ultra. As I read about the race, I found that they had a 25k, a 50k, and a 50 miler. I immediately decided that the 50 miler would be a good choice, and that rather than the 50 miles I would attempt 53. My decision was solidified when I read about the course. It was 4 mile loops (I like loops, and 4 miles is a great distance for them) and in what looked like a really pretty place. I was marginally familiar with the area because my daughter-in-law and her husband live not too far from there in Baker, and I knew that the forests up there had some good running.

After I signed up, I joined their Facebook page where I was welcomed to the race by one of the race directors, Bo. Right away I was struck by how friendly he seemed and how helpful in giving information about the race and area. I learned that the race had been done in prior years but that the race had new race directors this year, Bo, Dan, and Dalia. It was their first time doing the race director gig, but they are obviously a bunch of overachievers because the race was awesome in all areas! I have never seen a race where the directors worked so hard to take care of all the details and to make sure that each individual had a great race experience.

 

Race Directors: Dan, Dalia, and Bo

I felt even better about my decision as time passed. They set up several training runs, which unfortunately I could not make it up to. With each run, more and more pictures of the area were posted, and the trails  looked great.  Training was going well, and I was looking forward to the experience. Then in early December disaster struck in the form of problems with my shoulder, neck, and upper back. Training came to a halt as I dealt with the pain. I immediately contacted the RD to ask about switching down. Again he was super pleasant and helpful. He made the switch with no problem, and I was back on track.

Somewhere during this time, they had also put a picture of the finishers' “medals” on the site. They were not medals at all but these absolutely amazing handmade amulets with a bear claw on the front made by Tracey Thomas who has a company called Marvelous Mud. She posted some pictures of the amulets, and on her Facebook page even showed pictures of the amulets and awards before they were fired. It was really incredible, and I knew right then that I was finishing the race no matter what because I wanted one of those amulets for my birthday present!

 

I am pretty sure that the black one on the right side is mine :-)

As the weekend approached, I was very excited.  I was planning to camp overnight. The race is at a campground at Bear Lake, but unfortunately it was first come, first serve. I was loathe to head up without a reservation, so I made one at the nearby Blackwater RiverState Park. I made the 5 hour drive up on Friday night and went to packet pickup.  I found the park pretty easily. Packet pickup was at the pavilion in the campground which would also be the start/finish area for the race and the location of the aid station on the course. Packet pickup went smoothly. I finally got to see the shirts for the event, and they were awesome as promised. Mine was a powder blue Pantagonia, women’s cut, with the very cool race logo on the front.

 

My awesome shirt along with my Performance Enhancing Runnopelli tattoo

I headed out to get a pre-race meal over in Crestview (for future reference, green Thai curry although delicious is probably not the best pre-race meal) and then headed back to my campground to hit the sack. I was car-camping (too lazy to set up a tent), which was a first for me. It was actually more comfortable than I expected, and 4:30 came quickly. It was cold outside, really cold, like 31 degree cold. I debated for a while the whole tights versus capris thing before settling on capris. Although it was in the 30s, it was clear, and sun was predicted. I compensated with lots of layers on top and headed out.

I arrived at the race course and met up with my friend John from New York who had stopped by to crew for me while on a snowbird escape from the subzero temperatures.  I checked in and did the usual pre-race messing around but somehow got off schedule a bit. The pre-race briefing came up before I was quite ready for it. Bo was sweet enough to announce that it was my birthday, but unfortunately I had run back to the car because I had forgotten my race number. I made it back in time for the tail end of the course information, but then decided to hit the restroom again before the start.

The restrooms were inside the building where it was nice and warm. I must have been enjoying the heat a bit too long because when I came out, John said, “They already left.” I was like “What?????” He said, “They already started.”  I was like “Oh shit, which way?” and off I went.  I had paid attention during the briefing (sort of) but I knew I wasn’t going to be leading the race, so I figured I would just follow. I had to catch the group!!! The first mile was pretty frantic. I ignored the numbers on my HR monitor that said that I was way over my target HR. As I crossed the campground to enter the trail section, I could see the groups of people spread out across the dam and disappearing off into the woods. I had no idea how many there were ahead, so I kept passing people until I got the first mile alert from my watch and then decided I needed to just settle down.

After the trail got into the woods, it had become a really nice single track. It was well packed with lots of pine needles in some sections and fallen leaves in others. There were some roots on the trail, some of which were a little hard to see because of the leaves, but it was not what I would call technical. I had been worried about mud on the course because it had rained heavily two days before the race, but there were really only two spots which were slightly wet. The rest of the wet spots were covered with a series of short wooden boardwalks. We had been warned that they might be slippery, but I did not find that to be true. I usually don’t like running on boardwalks, but I did like them on the course because they were landmarks to help me recognize where I was on later loops.  

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Another plus to the course was that it is about as flat as you get on a trail ultra with single track. There was really only one very minor hill out on the loop, a slight hill up to the finish, and a set of short up and downs to get from the campground to the dam and up to the single track. The rest was just really awesome, mostly worry-free, pretty running through the trees.  There were very few opportunities to get lost. There was one section on the far side of the lake where we had to cross a clearing, but the race director had told us to keep going straight and look across for the flags. It was well marked, and I don’t think anyone in the race had problems staying on course. One fun thing was that throughout the course the race directors had left us little signs to make us smile, with witty sayings like "You run better than the government" and "If ultras were easy, they would be called your mother," and what I thought was some very sensible advice:

The course goes around the lake, with glimpses of the water occurring quite often. We had started just at daylight, and as we went around the lake for the first time we were treated to a magnificent sunrise, blue and pink and orange skies. The cold temperatures made for steam rising off the lake. It was gorgeous!

Thanks, Bo!

After the race got going, things ticked along smoothly for the first couple hours.  I met a few people who I ran with for a while, including a really nice guy named Chris, down from Fort Benning, who was doing the 50 mile. The loop I ran talking with him was probably the most pleasant of the whole day. 

There was one aid station on the course, at the start/finish area. That meant 4 miles between aid, but it was definitely adequate for the course. It was a cool day, and the aid station was very well stocked. There was a slight hill across the finish mat and up to the aid station which was under the pavilion. On every loop volunteers and usually one of the race directors met me on the hill asking if I needed anything and offering to fill bottles. I was working mostly from my drop bag, with John as crew (thanks, John!) which was easy to locate because it was at the pavilion, but the aid table was well stocked with anything a runner could desire. For most people just carrying one bottle would be sufficient to have enough fluids to tide one over between aid stations.

Slight hill approaching the finish line

As I said things ticked along smoothly and partially due to the flatness of the course, I was rolling along way ahead of schedule. I had decided on a 9 minute run/1 min walk race plan, and after the second loop, I settled into that. The plan was working well, but I was surprised to be almost 20 secs per mile faster than I had planned to be, with my HR still within my acceptable range. It went that way until about mile 22. As I was getting close to the start/finish on loop six, I started getting the all too familiar electrical impulses in my calves that signal that cramping is imminent. I was pretty sure I had been taking in enough electrolytes, but had also been battling a wanky stomach for the last few loops, so maybe not.  Then BAM! Out of nowhere I was on the ground. That was fall #1.

I got up, with the required amount of cussing, walked to be sure I had no unusual pains in the spleen region, and headed on. Finally the aid station came into sight. These really great spectators had been meeting us at the bottom of the hill on every lap with signs. I did my best to smile as I approached them, and then SPLAT.   I was on the ground again. Fall #2. Right in front of the finish line. With all the spectators and aid station personnel looking on. DAMN!

As I went in to the aid station, I yelled at John to give me an electrolyte cap. I swallowed it down and stopped in quickly to see if Bull, the Active Release Therapy (ART) guy they had on-site, could do anything about my calf. He was out for a moment. Bo offered to get him for me, but I did not want to lose any more time.  I headed back out and hoped for the best. I barely made it another mile and my hopes were dashed. The cramping started in my right calf. The next four miles were a nightmare of walking, jogging, cramping, and falling. I fell two more times on that loop.  It just went on forever. Strangely, though, only two guys passed me during that time, so I wasn’t feeling too bad about anything except that my awesome finishing time was slipping away.

When I went into the aid station for the final time, I was feeling pretty crappy. My stomach was a little sloshy, and I was not feeling like putting any more in. It had warmed up some, and I felt like I was getting behind because of the lack of absorption/sloshy stomach. I could not stomach any more of my sports drink, so I grabbed some water: 5 cups to be exact. It was cold and went down well. I decided that it was either going to come back up or get the absorption started. I was cool with either change.

The last loop started like the previous one, with me doing a lot of walking and some listless running occasionally. Then somewhere around about 29.5 miles, I got passed. By a woman. As she went by, I said to myself , “Well, Lori, how many people are you going to let pass you like that on this loop? Get your butt in gear.”  I took off after the woman who was quickly disappearing in the woods. Surprisingly, I started to feel better. I think the water was just what I needed to get all the sugar and electrolytes going into my system again. I finished out the loop running and crossed the finish line without anyone else passing me.  

I crossed the finish line and knew exactly where I was headed. I went straight to get some ART on my calves and glute. I had a 5 hour drive home that afternoon and wanted to do all I could to make sure it would not be pure agony. I have never had ART at a race before, and I was amazed that he was there free of charge for the racers. He did an outstanding job of working on my knotted up areas, and I owe him big time for my comfort on the ride home. Thanks, Bodyworks by Bull!

I wandered out after the session with Bull feeling pretty good and headed down to the finish line to get my official time. I also had a chance to meet the other race directors, Dan and Dalia, and was standing there talking when Bo came down, tugged on my arm, and said, “Come on, we need you up here.” I was like “For what?” and then I figured he was probably going to announce my birthday again or something.

It turned out to be way better than that. It was for the awards ceremony. I had not realized it, but I had placed second overall for the women!!! I was surprised and shocked. I had no idea that I had been doing that well or that when that woman passed me it had been a pass for the lead! As my award, I received the most awesome handmade mug!

That was the icing on the (birthday) cake for me!! What a great day!

 

The podium for the 50k: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, left to right

The Bottom Line:

If you are looking for a nice, small, kind of old-school ultra on beautiful trails for next January, you should definitely put this one on the schedule. It is a really great bunch of people putting on a really great event. The course is flat and has the potential to produce some really fast times. It would be an excellent course for a first-timer at the 50k or 50 mile distance. My advice is to get in on this gem before the word gets out. A quality race like this is likely to grow. Thanks to Bo, Dan, and Dalia for a fabulous birthday!

So when I said "flat," I wasn't kidding. :-) 

Race Report: John Holmes 50k (aka My REAL Maffetone Test)

Finisher Glass and Tech Shirt 

I realize that it has been awful quiet over here lately. That is partially a function of the state of my running and partially a function of the rather quiet summer running season here in Florida. With the temperatures cooling down some I was able to do my first race of the season, the John Holmes 50k. This race served two functions. It got me back to the type of running I love (trail ultras), and it also gave me a chance to get an updated Maffetone test of sorts, which was long overdue (as one recent comment on the blog pointed out).

First let me give a quick recap. I have been training by heart rate since late January as I started on my quest to regain fitness after a move and layoff. I became intrigued by the method of Phil Maffetone, which I talked about in another post.  I spent the entire spring and summer training aerobically. Early in the process, I did a test and noted the slight improvement in fitness, but I did not do follow-up tests because the weather got hot, and my paces at the training heart rate slowed down because of this. Testing would have been pointless because it would not really represent what was truly happening in terms of conditioning. I just soldiered on trying to prepare for a September marathon. It was a disastrous failure because although I was aerobically fit, my quads and calves had other ideas about a severely downhill marathon that I was not prepared for.  Even before the DNF, though, I had already decided that would be my last road marathon. I just could not wait to get back to trails and ultras!

Fast forward to October and cooler weather in FL.  I was entered to run my first 50k since my streak of 50ks in 2012. The John Holmes 50k is on what can be considered a “local” course for me, as it was only about 30 miles from my house in the CroomWildlife Management Area. The course itself is a 7 mile loop, done four times (obviously) with short portions at the beginning and end to make up the mileage and get to and from the trail portion from the start/finish. I had not been down to the park to run, but I had seen pictures and read the descriptions. The course is pretty typical of this part of Florida: packed sand trails, mostly single track, pine and cypress trees, a few hills, a few roots here and there to keep it interesting, lots of sun by midday. The race was small. As per the site, the field is limited to 250 runners. The results show 79 in the 50k, with the rest spread over the 16 mile and 9 mile options.

I went to the race by myself, hoping to meet a few runners from the FUR (Florida UltraRunners) group on Facebook. My approach was very low key because this was just meant to be the first of several events used as training runs for a 50 miler (Bear Bait 50 miler) that I will be doing on my birthday in January. I was hoping to try out a few things to see things to see how they would work for the long haul. One was to try out racing by HR rather than pace. A second was to work on refining a run/walk strategy that would work to keep me going strong through the entire event. The third was to practice fueling and hydrating more effectively.

I got to the race early.  Start time for the 50k was 7 am, which is not quite daylight here right now. Unfortunately, for me “low key approach” is also a synonym for “didn’t bother to pack properly.” One of the things I meant to throw in our race morning but forgot was my headlamp. I stumbled around in the dark trying to get ready and use the bathroom, hoping that by the race start I would at least be able to see my feet. While I was waiting for the start I did manage to meet two FURs that were parked next to me. Goal one for the race completed. (That may not seem like a big deal to many of you, but I am pretty shy when it comes to meeting new people. I hate being the kid on the side of the playground who doesn’t know anyone.) As weird as it sounds to some who may already know me, introducing myself was probably the hardest part of the day.

By the time the race started, it was still a little dark, but thankfully the first ten minutes or so were on a flat packed sand (or maybe limestone) road that was nice and white. In the early light it was not difficult to see where we were headed, and there was not much to trip over.  I had decided for this race not to wear a pack. I knew it was going to get hot, and the aid stations were going to be close enough together (3 on each loop) that I did not think I would need more than a hand bottle. I was feeling pretty good at the start, with the cool temps.

I started mid-pack and just cruised along making sure that my HR was where it should have been. To keep my ego out of this equation, I had set my watch so that I could only see my HR and my lap time (so I would know when to walk).  I promised myself I would not peek at the other screens that showed pace, and even late in the race when I was wondering if I was going to break 6 hours, I resisted the temptation to check. (Okay, so I might have had a little bit of a time goal in mind, but I wasn’t chasing it. I was taking what the HR would give me.)

We hit the single track and the first loop went by pretty happily. I was just trying to get used to the terrain, noting where the hills were, the placement of the aid stations, and trying to keep my HR down. I was planning on keeping it right around 65-67% for the first half of the race, then letting it creep up to no higher than 75% for the latter part of the race. I had also decided not to use my run/walk schedule until after the first loop, just walking/hiking on the uphills for the first loop. That seemed to work pretty well. The uphills were typically :30 to 1:30 in duration, so I felt the strategy was a good one. The only annoying thing at this point was the number of people passing me because of the conservative start.

The second loop I settled in. I started my 10/1 run-walk strategy, with the occasional unscheduled uphill walk. I was eating off the tables for this race. This is a change in strategy for me, and one of the things I was testing. I had taken an Immodium as an insurance policy before the race (also something I had not tried before) and was anxious to see if it would really work to allow me to eat solid food without those inconvenient side trips off the trail. At one of the aid stations, one of the FUR runners who was volunteering had brought cupcakes!! I grabbed one of the mini chocolate ones, decorated in a Halloween theme, which went well with the ghoul who was guarding the aid station (pretty scary by the third time around), and decided to just go for it. Just in case that wasn’t tempting fate enough, I also grabbed a handful of M&Ms and headed off. For the next 30 minutes or so, I kept waiting for the tell-tale rumblings that would normally mean that my digestive system was not going for the eat and run thing, but they never came. I was ecstatic, and I took full advantage of the situation by making plain and peanut M&Ms my fuel of choice for the rest of the race.

Toward the end of the second loop I had a little scare. I had a stabbing pain at the top of my lower leg, below the knee and kind of on the inside: new pain in a new place. For a few minutes, I could not run. More people came flying by me. I asked how far to the aid station, and they said about a mile. Great. I pulled out my phone to text my friend Leslie that I was going to have ANOTHER DNF. I was beside myself. My fingers were sweating, and I could not get the touch screen to work. I heard runners behind me, shoved my phone in the belt, and tried to jog. Pretty soon I could actually jog.  It was still painful, though. As I approached the aid station I realized I was going to need to go a little further to get off of the loop and back to the finish under my own power. I grabbed some aid and walked out of the station, up and down a little hilly part. As I came off that section, I decided to try to jog again. Amazingly when I started going, the pain was completely gone! I could not believe it and thanked the running gods that I had not dropped at the aid station.

The third loop was the worst for me. It was getting hot, and I was running with the fear that the pain in my leg would come back. I  passed a woman who had lost her bottle and who was really suffering in the heat. I slowed down for a bit to give her a drink from my bottle. I could not imagine being out there without fluids. I drank my whole bottle way before the last aid station and was really thirsty by the time I got there. I filled my bottle took another electrolyte cap and drank, drank, drank.  The volunteers there were so great, making sure I had all I needed.

The fourth loop started, and I started to feel really good. My HR had risen a bit on the third lap because of the heat and probably some dehydration, but with only 7 miles to go, and with it still well within the aerobic range, I was feeling great.  I started to pass people, some of whom were women. That made me feel even better. My legs were tired, but I was not nearly as wrecked as I was afraid I would be at that point (with my longest run prior being the 21 miles of the DNF marathon).  The heat was not bothering me as it appeared to be some of the other people. I mean I was ready for it to be over, but I was not thrashed. The hardest part for me on this last loop was not looking at my watch. I was dying to know if I was going to be under my secret 6 hour goal. I thought about how much it would suck if I was 6:01 or something because I had not known and could have gone harder. But I didn’t look. I shook those thoughts off and just said, “follow your plan.” 

The final section of the trail, from the loop back to the finish line, is a booger. It is uphill and full of the most humongous roots. I was terrified of this section, not because I am not good on technical trails, but because ever since the fall where I ruptured my spleen, I am all too aware that another fall like that could actually result in death or at least a trip to the ER and surgery (either of which is such a horrible way to end a  good race). I ended up power hiking up a lot of this section, trying to get to the finish line upright. Finally the probably .5 mile section from hell was finished. The finish line was in sight. I looked anxiously at the clock, which for whatever reason was not showing a time. I crossed the finish, hit the stop, and anxiously pushed through the screens on my watch. HOLY COW!!! Not only did I come in under 6:00. I was at 5:45:48!!! That is my fastest 50k since 2004!!  I was amazed. About that time, they also told me that I had won my age group, which also was a super pleasant surprise.

Unfortunately, also at about that time, the overwhelming soreness hit my legs. I was still walking, but it didn’t matter. The pain was overwhelming. I stumbled to my car, trying to cope with the pain. It was at that point that I realized that my "low-key approach" to packing also meant I had not brought a towel to wipe the dirt, sweat, mud off before changing clothes or getting in the car. I also did not have any ibuprofen. FUR to the rescue!!  Another woman at her car, also a FUR, and someone who obviously has a better approach to packing than I do, supplied me with the 4 ibuprofen I would need to be able to get in the car and drive home.

There was a fairly robust post-race barbecue and get-together going on, but I honestly was in too much pain to go over and meet the people that I was hoping to meet. I headed back to get a bit more diet Coke and a brownie, check the official time, and then decided I just wanted to see if I could manage to get myself folded into the car to drive home. (Amazingly, with all the post race pain, I was barely even sore the next day -- weird.) 

As a whole this race was a huge success and the best test of the Maffetone method that I could have designed. After 9 months of low HR aerobic running and with a race that was run by HR, which is the best measure of my true fitness level (rather than pace), I was able to run my second fastest 50k ever and my fastest 5k since the peak of my fitness in 2004!  I can’t wait to see what I can accomplish with more time training this way and with a higher training volume. 

Related posts:

Rebuilding My Aerobic Base: The Maffetone Method

Rebuilding My Base With The Maffetone Method: Test 1

Race Report: Blues Cruise 50k

Last weekend I ran the last 50k of the year for me. It was the Blues Cruise 50k in Leesport, PA. This race was the tenth one at marathon distance or longer for me for the year , and I was really feeling tired. If it had been any other race, I would have backed out, but I really wanted to do this one. It was on my calendar last year as a goal race, but my ruptured spleen kept me from going. There was no way I was going to miss it this year. It promised to be everything I love: small race, low key, beautiful course, good bling, and a race director who has a way with words (if you don’t believe me, just take a look at the application). I also had an ulterior motive. My dad lives just about 25 miles from the race, so it was a great way to get a visit in with family as well as pick up a new state for my collection.

As I headed for Pennsylvania on Thursday I got an 

unexpected treat. It was a perfect time for a drive across the state. The fall foliage was beautiful, with bright sun and blue sky. I had been born in PA and spent the first 12 years of my life there, but had not been back in about 20 years. I had forgotten how pretty it is there.  However, even as I was appreciating the beautiful weather, I was aware that the forecast for the race on Sunday was about ten degrees cooler, with showers expected. I checked weather.com every few hours, and it kept getting worse. I was preparing myself for a wet and muddy day.

The day before the race we drove up to check out the park so that I could find it in the morning. The race is at a place called Blue Marsh Lake. It is a huge lake with an equally huge trail system. The race circumnavigates the lake and is primarily on really nice single track trail, slightly wider gravel trail or horse trails, with just a few short sections of pavement to cross roads or navigate through the park to connect trail sections. The course is run in opposite directions around the lake in alternating years. The race director does a nice job describing the course on the site. It is mostly rolling hills, with only a few really technical sections, and almost all very runnable. It is a great course, but the continuous up and down does wear on the legs (especially legs that are as worn out as mine are at this point – but more on that later), which is exactly what the race director had said in the course description. To give you a better idea of what I mean, take a look at the course profile:

Yes, it is a little lumpy

The race was small enough that packet pickup was race morning. The race start time was 8:30, which was a pleasant change from the super-early races I had been to lately. When I got up race morning, the first thing I checked was the weather. It was indeed cloudy and cool (about 50 degrees), but thankfully there was no rain. As I got ready to go for this one, I tried something new in my pre-race preparation. I have always avoided solid food before a race because of potential stomach problems, but I had really been feeling a lack of energy early in my 50ks. For this race I decided to eat a piece of pita bread with peanut butter and honey. I washed that down with my usual pre-race two cups of coffee and headed for the race site.

I got there very early. The crew was just getting everything set up. The race is put on by the Pagoda Pacers, and they seemed like a really friendly bunch of people. It seemed like a lot of the people there knew each other well. I picked up my packet and spent most of the prerace time alternating between staying warm in the car and doing time in the porta-potty line. Thankfully the lines were short because I had an uncharacteristic three trips in the hour or so before the race. Obviously I had hydrated well the day before.

As 8:30 approached we headed over to the start. As we milled around waiting to go, I met two guys, both of whom were in their 60s. One was a veteran ultrarunner, wearing an old U.S. Postal cycling jersey, and the other a newbie to ultras out for his first 50k. They were chatting good-naturedly when the U.S. Postal guy noticed I was shivering. He grabbed me and attempted to keep me warm while the race director gave the pre-race announcements. I could only hear about half of what he said, but one thing that did come through loud and clear was “Oh, and by the way, just a heads-up that there is a fox hunt going on in the park today.” A fox hunt?? Really?? Do they use guns for that? Nobody else seemed concerned, but I was a little worried. I had a long reddish brown ponytail hanging out of the back of my hat. My hat was a bright yellow, though, so I was hoping for the best.

The race started as all ultras tend to with everyone shaking out the cobwebs and trying to get going. We ran a little ways across the grass and down the park roads before we came to the single track, which gave the field enough time to spread out. The weather was holding, and it was actually a really nice morning for running. The first ten miles went by smoothly. The trail was beautiful, and I was feeling good. The eating before the start seemed to really be working for me. I was holding steady at around a 10:30 average pace and was just happy with life.

No I didn't take this, but thought
couldn't resist adding it in.

Somewhere around this point, we got to the part with the fox hunt. We could hear the hounds howling and every once in a while a foxhound, which looks like a beagle only bigger, would come bouncing down the trail. At one spot, the trail crossed a horse trail, and I saw a horse and rider. I had been running with this guy from Ohio that I met and at one spot where the hounds sounded particularly close, I said to him, “Do you think we should be worried?” He said, “I don’t know, but maybe we should make some space between us and the redhead we saw at the last aid station.” That cracked me up, but a few minutes later that redhead passed us, so I guess she got the last laugh in that one.

So in general life was good, and I was having a great time until about mile 17. Once again, as in the race at Hell, my legs just decided to stop working. One minute I was running along feeling okay, and a minute later my legs were aching so bad that I felt like I needed not only to stop running, but to stop walking, just to get a handle on the pain. Miles 17 to 20 were absolutely horrid for me. My pace dropped from around 11:30 to around 14:00, as I was spending most of the time walking. 

Thankfully, just when I was feeling my worst, I ran into a trail angel, otherwise known as Tom from Baltimore. He stopped to talk and walk with me for a few minutes and gave me lots of encouragement. We stayed together for a little while, but then I encouraged him to go on. I felt bad holding him back. For the rest of the race, though, we did the leap frog thing. Sometimes (most of the time) he was ahead, sometimes we ran together, and sometimes I felt better and got ahead. One thing I know for sure is that I would not have done as well as I did during that rough time if I had not run into Tom. (Tom, if you managed to find the blog and are reading this, you have my deepest thanks!)

Tom and me at the finish

Just as had happened at Hell, though, somewhere right after the last aid station at mile 27, I started to feel better. It started to feel better to keep running than to walk, even on the uphills. The more I ran, the more I started to pick up speed. Then I started passing people I passed 11 people in the last three miles of the race, including 4 women. I had just been having a long conversation with Tom about how I was trying to adopt a more zen-like mindset and not be so competitive, but when I started passing people, I could not help it. The competitive juices kicked in, and I was feeling good. I was really happy to be able to finish strong and was actually able to have a finishing kick in the last quarter mile. If only I had felt that good earlier in the race… My time was 6:20, which put me 5^th in the 50-59 age group out of 10 runners. It was also about average for my 50ks for the year. I believe that if I targeted this race, though, instead of running it on tired legs, I could run it at least 45 minutes faster. I think that will be my goal for next year.

At the finish, they were waiting to greet us with one of the main reasons I had entered the race: the bling. No, it was not another medal. It was a finisher’s jacket and a really nice one too. It was impressive and a nice change. (They also had given a really nice hat rather than a shirt to all entrants, but to get the jacket, you had to finish.)

Race Bling: Jacket and Hat

 For such a small race, the post race food was outstanding. There were homemade breads, like pumpkin raisin, as well as brats. I wish I could tell you more about the food, but I had to control myself because my dad was taking me out to dinner just two hours after the race, so I needed to restrain myself. It sure looked good, though, and everyone seemed to be enjoying it. The volunteers were so nice.

As I mentioned before, I will definitely be coming back to this race next year. Of all my trail races this year, this one is my favorite. It is a beautiful course and a well-run little race. If you are looking for a good fall 50k, you should definitely put this one on your short list. 

Race Report: Dances with Dirt Hell 50k

The Quest for the Belt Buckle Comes to an End!

Yesterday I did the final of my four 50ks in the Bloodied, Boned, Bruised, and Burned series and got my coveted belt buckle. Each of the four 50ks was an adventure in its own right, from the injury and disaster at GreenSwamp, to the shoe-sucking mud at Gnaw Bone, to the hills and views at Devil’sLake, and the final run at Hell was no different.  

Let me sum up the race in brief:

Falls: 4

Off course: 2 times

Stream Crossings: 4 (including one .25 mile stretch of wading)

Stops to remove rocks from shoes (picked up in streams): 2

Head bumped on tree: 1 (you really only need to do this once per race)

As you might guess from these numbers, this was not my fastest 50k.

The Hell race is my “home” course, and I have done several runs in this area although not this specific course. I love the trails around Hell, and I was really looking forward to this one. However, since my marathon last month at Leading Ladies, I have not felt on my game, have not been training well, and have had a few minor annoying health problems that made me not as confident for this race as I had hoped to be. Still I felt pretty sure I could finish and get the buckle, and I knew that it would be fun (in the warped way that 50ks are) no matter what.

The turn to cooler weather in the last week or so also had me worried. I knew that the course could be a bear if there was a lot of rain, and I know how much I personally HATE cold weather. I don’t mind running in the rain – I just like a warm, tropical rain. When the forecast called for low 50s and scattered showers for the morning, I was a little concerned but knew it could have been a lot worse.

Race morning went without a hitch. The start time was 6:15 am, which is still dark. I did not have a running headlamp (I prefer to sleep when it is dark and run in the daylight), so I purchased a cheap one for $5.99 at the hardware store. It seemed plenty light enough when I tested it at home, but was not really as strong as I would have hoped for in terms of lighting the trail.  In this race the 50k and 50 Mile runners start together, with the relays following an hour or so later. There were probably around 250 of us brave and/or crazy souls milling around at the start.

Randy (race director and Head Goat) who is  the devious mind behind this foolishness of all the Dances with Dirt races, said “Go!” and we were off like a giant, glowing centipede, snaking through the campground and out onto the trails.  As I said, my light was bright enough to light the trail, but not really light enough to see well, so I was pretty tentative through the first few miles. Luckily, there were enough runners, packed tightly enough together, that through this early part of the race I almost always had enough light to be able to see.

I say “almost” because during this section I fell: three times. They were just your basic “caught my toe on a root” type of fall, but given my past experience with the ruptured spleen incident, every fall is a scary experience. Thankfully I had the good sense to get my hands out in front of me on all of these and no real damage was done, except to my pride of course.

Sunrise was beautiful! I had been aware of the increasing daylight as we were passing through a wooded section. As we approached the top of a ridge, I could see baby blue sky. As I popped out of the trees at the top, I got a better view of the magnificent pinks, oranges, and reds that were painted across the sky. It was the best part of the morning.

I thought that once the sun came up I would feel better, but I was wrong. Somewhere around mile eight, I started to feel bad. My legs started to hurt (already!!), and I just didn’t feel right. I have to tell you that it is no good to feel bad only an hour and forty-five minutes into a six and a half hour run. For a few miles, for the first time I felt a little afraid that I would not be able to finish – I felt that bad. I also got off course once in this section. I was following a group of runners (always a bad move) rather than watching the trail markers myself. That type of laziness is never a good idea. Luckily one of the leaders of the little group realized the mistake, and we got back on course quickly.

I tried to keep myself focused and motivated. I started trying to figure out what could be wrong. I was due for an electrolyte tablet at that point, so took the first of those although I really didn’t think that was the problem. The morning had been cool, and I had been sipping the electrolyte drink in my pack. I was also pretty sure that it wasn’t dehydration. That left nutrition.  Maybe that was it. I pulled out my Softflask and took some gel. I also decided that I would make sure to get some Gatorade in at the next aid station.

The miles from 10 to 15, while good running, were not that great for me. The name of this leg of the race is “This Sucks, Less?” but for me it sucked in the full measure. I was struggling the whole time. I fell again in this section. I am pretty sure that I fell into a huge bunch of poison ivy. (I will let you know in a day or so.) I also bumped my head on a tree. Yes, I did see the tree and knew it was a low branch, but I looked down to check my footing (so I wouldn’t fall again) and hit my head – hard. I almost cried it hurt so bad.

The one good thing that happened in this section of the course was that I ran into a “friend” from the earlier DWD at Green Swamp. He was struggling that day too. I think his name is John (from Indiana), and he is also 50 and was also going for the belt buckle as his project for the year. I had not seen him at Devil’s Lake and was so happy to see him and find out that he was still on track for his buckle as well!!

Finally, after I left the aid station to head out to one of the tougher sections of the course, including the Stripper Pole slide and Dirt Ladder climbs, I started to feel better. As much as I normally hate the climbs, they did not bother me too much. I was relieved to finally be feeling better. There was a lot of mud on the course at this point, and going up the hills was a slimy mess, but by then I was doing it with a smile again.

With the major climbs behind me, I started to look forward to the stream crossings. I did not know what to expect in terms of how deep they would be. It turned out that the first three were not too bad. The water was about knee deep in the first one and shin and ankle deep in the next two. It also was not as cold as I feared it might be. That just left the crossing of the River Styx into Hell proper.

This section of the course goes straight up the middle of the stream for about a quarter mile or a little more. It started out about ankle deep, but it kept getting deeper as we went. The last 50 yards or so, the water was waist deep on me. It was also pretty cold. Not to worry, I could see the way out up ahead. There at the top of the hill stood Satan, in full robed glory, yelling “Welcome to Hell. We have been waiting for you!”  I told him how delighted I was to see him there and then sat down on a bench to dump a considerable number of rocks out of my shoes before continuing on through Hell proper and the aid station there. By this time I was at mile 22.5. I don’t usually eat solid food until after mile 25 of a 50k, but I was feeling hungry and so grabbed a cup of trail mix, something I know from past experience works well for me in an ultra.

The first few miles out of Hell were difficult again. I had hoped the cool water would help my achy legs, but it did not. In fact, it seemed to tighten the muscles and ligaments around my knees. It was almost like starting over again.  I felt like I had to warm up. The problem was that although it had been sunny earlier, the sky by this time had started to darken. My wet clothes were cold, and I was a little worried about getting chilled and was relieved that there were only about 8 miles to go. In this section, I also got off course for the second time. This one was all my fault. I just ran right past a turn. It was well marked. I was just zoned out temporarily. Just as I was starting to realize that I had not seen a marker for a while, two guys came back toward me saying we were off course, so we backtracked until we found the trail again.

By the time I hit the last aid station at Silver Lake, mile 25, I was again starting to feel better. I looked for some trail mix, but they were out. I grabbed a cup of peanut M&Ms instead, started to chew, and had one of those “you aren’t swallowing this” moments. It came out of nowhere. I spit the M&Ms into the trash (Eeeewww – sorry volunteers that had to witness that) and headed out onto the trail. Thankfully I still had some gel left and squeezed a big glob of it out of the Softflask to get me through to the end.

About a mile out of the aid station, I started to feel good. I was still cold, and it had started to drizzle, but I hit the point where it feels better to keep running than it does to walk. I fell in behind a pair of guys that had passed me and tried to hang on. For a while it seemed like they would pull away, but then I just kept feeling better and better. Finally, at a spot where they stopped to walk, I decided to pass them.

That started a stretch of about four miles in which I kept passing people. I was amazed because I had spent the better part of the day, especially in those miles where I was feeling bad, being passed by everyone and their pet monkey. It felt good to be passing people. It kept raining harder and harder, and I started to get cold again, but I didn’t care because I was passing people and it was less than five miles to the finish!  If only I had felt this good earlier in the day.

I try not to look at my watch too much in ultras, and I am trying to have the attitude of “expectancy rather than expectations,” as Scott Simpson, the writer and musician who ran the writing workshop at Leading Ladies, had suggested. However, somewhere along here I looked at my watch and thought that maybe I could at least get in under 7 hours. I had already figured out that this was going to be my second worst of the four 50ks, but I was still hanging on to a thread of hope that I might get in under 7. I did not have any way to figure it out for sure, though, because I had been off course, so my Garmin may or may not have been anywhere near accurate. I just did the best I could and hoped for the best.  

Unfortunately I did not make it. My finishing time was 7:02:06, which was about a minute per mile slower than the pace I had hoped to run. The rain was coming down hard at the finish, which cut down on the finishing festivities, which was kind of a disappointment. Jerry is such a trooper! He had been waiting (and worrying) out there in the rain for about 45 minutes because he did not want to miss my finish.

I was overjoyed to find that I had placed 5^th in my age group, especially because the age group awards for this one were the coveted Dances with Dirt chairs. I also got my belt buckle. I wanted to wait for my friend John and congratulate him on the belt buckle, but it was freezing and raining and I hurt. I opted for a quick picture and a warm car instead. (John, if you are reading this – Congratulations!!!).

So, my quest for the series buckle comes to an end. It was definitely a fun experience. I wanted this year to be one of new experiences and new challenges, and the series definitely helped with that, both in the races themselves and in the trail marathons I used to train for them. To tell the truth, though, I am a little burned out. I have one more 50k to do to finish up for the year (in Pennsylvania in two weeks), but then I am going to take a break from the long ones for a while…

Maybe… Of course, there is always that 6 hour race at Bad Apple… 

Related Posts:

Race Report: Dances with Dirt Green Swamp

Race Report: Dances with Dirt Gnaw Bone

Race Report: Dances with Dirt Devil's Lake

2012 Goals: Boned, Bloodied, Burned, and Bruised

Race Report: Dances With Dirt Devil's Lake 50k

The buckle!

Last weekend was the third race in my quest to attain the Boned, Blood, Burned and Bruised belt buckle for doing the four ultras in the Dances with Dirt series. This race was in Merrimac, WI at Devil's Lake State Park. This was another road trip for me and my trusty ultra-companion, Leslie, who is my favorite running buddy because to almost any question I start with "Hey, do you wanna..." she finishes with a "Sure, what distances do they have?"  You have to love that!

The Trip:

This was another camping trip for us. Because I got a late start on the camping reservations, we were staying at Rocky Arbor State Park, just outside of Wisconsin Dells, which is a kid-friendly, tourist-trap type of town, with dozens of water parks, amusement parks, and other touristy things like duck boats, that we were not at all interested in. The race was about a 20 mile drive that took us out of the tourist scene and into a more beautiful natural area.

The drive up to Wisconsin was a huge pain. Both Google and Mapquest recommended the I90/I94 route through Chicago. Big mistake!! We sat in a traffic jam for hours. I had never been through Illinois before and was unpleasantly surprised at the tolls. Tolls alone on the trip ended up costing about $40. Are you kidding me??? I have to pay to sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic and creep through continuous road construction... Not a fan of Illinois highways.

We found the campground and got camp set up. There was camping at the DWD site, but with no electricity or showers. We opted for the more cushy state campground with hot showers and electricity to the tent to power our much-needed fans. The temps were over 90 all three days we were there, but the nights did cool off.

Packet pick-up was uneventful, but we had a really fun time driving around and taking a look at parts of the course. I had spotted some flags crossing the highway on the drive in, and when we went back, we found some of the Running Fit crew unloading the supplies for the aid stations. We followed them like a couple of stalkers, whizzing along the highway chasing their white van, and were able to scope out sections of the course in advance.  

The Stalked...

Once we had completed our reconnaissance, we headed back to town to find a place with mashed potatoes, both Leslie and my choice for pre-race carbo-loading. We found an Applebees, had double sides of potatoes each, and then headed back to camp to turn in. The race start was at 5:30 am., with a 30 minute drive to the start. With 45 minutes for coffee and the rest of the pre-race routine, that meant up at 3:30.

The race:

We rolled out early and headed out for my 5:30 am start. It was a typical low-key DWD start, with probably a few hundred people. The relays for this race were canceled, and the half marathon, which Leslie was running, did not start until 7:30. I had time for two quick trips to the Porta-Johns and then we were off. The 50 mile, 50k, and marathon started together, so there was a pretty big group at the start. I was rushing to the start from the Porta-John, so slipped under the flags toward the front of the group but did not have a good sense of where I was seeded. I did not expect to do too well in this race, given the number of hills, so did not really think it mattered much.

The first loop of the course for us was about 5 miles, up and down some ski hills by the Devil's Lake Resort where we started. I was expecting the climbs there and was pleasantly surprised that this section was not as bad as I thought it would be. Actually my biggest worry in this section was my hat. It was already starting to get hot, probably mid 70s, by the end of the loop. Besides the fact that my hat was making me hot, it would not stay put on my head and kept slipping back. If I would not have felt so strongly about littering the trail, the hat would still be up there on the ski slope. Instead, I pulled it off, tucked it in my top, and waited for the aid station at start/finish to ditch it. As I went by the aid station, I was surprised with how well the first hilly section had gone, but was dreading the next section with an even bigger climb.

The course: Yes, it really is as hilly as it looks

The next part of the course was another section of about five miles connecting us from the ski lodge area onto some really nice single track, much of which was on the Ice Age Trail, that took us over to the Devil's Lake State Park.  This was a long climb but with some runnable sections.

I did better than I thought here mainly because of the technical nature of the terrain. There were a lot of sharp rocks on the trail. I am not geologist, so I can't say much about the rocks except that they were plentiful, jutted up from the ground, and had sharp edges. This type of trail is what I love and is similar to the rocky trails I had run in the mountains of California, so it did not slow me down as bad as it did some people. On the runnable rolling and downhill sections, I know some people thought I was crazy for running as I did, but that was my strength, and I needed to take advantage of it to do well. I certainly wasn't going to be making up time on the climbs.

The aid stations on the course were nicely spaced, with some manned and with a few others unmanned but with plenty of water. It was nice to have previewed the course a bit in advance so that I had some idea of where I was headed. I got to the aid station at Steinke and someone called out "Hey, aren't you the stalker from last night!" It was one of the crew from Running Fit working the aid station. It was fun to see a familiar face.

After the aid station we began another section that included a climb. Since it was the first time I had run the course, I had no idea what to expect. As we reached the top of a climb, we merged with the half marathoners, who had by now started and were midrace. We were at about 17 miles. Suddenly, we popped out of the trees onto a ridge and the view was absolutely stunning!! We were on a rock cliff overlooking Devil's Lake below.

The view!

There were huge rocks and boulders jutting out and runners were stopping everywhere to take pictures. There was an aid station right there at the top on one of those big rocky outcroppings, and we all just were in awe of the beautiful view. Despite the climbing, I would be tempted to do the race next year, just to get to see the view again. Pictures cannot do it justice. I was so mad, though. I had dragged my cell phone along with me on this one to get pictures, but when I pulled it out, the battery had died. Isn't that how it always is? Thankfully Leslie saved the day by getting some really good shots.

After the beautiful view, things went downhill in more ways than one. We made a right turn and split off from the half marathoners and started down this long and fairly steep descent. Normally this would delight me, but about halfway down, people started passing me going in the other direction. That is when I realized that we were heading down to the "Bug Pit" aid station and a short out and back area of the course. I was going to have to go back up the ridge we were coming down. Damn! That made me pout for a little while, but soon the fun of having a nice continuous downhill took over. I was even singing at one point as I barreled down the hill, probably much to the chagrin of the runners within hearing distance.

At the bottom of the ridge we came to a meadow area that soon showed why the aid station for this portion was named "Bug Pit." Part of this section was a mowed area through the grass, but another section, in typical DWD fashion, looked like it had just been stomped down the night before. The "trail" here went through waist deep grass and weeds and was about ten inches wide. The only redeeming feature here was that the weeds had some type of flower that smelled really nice as we ran through. Unfortunately, by this time, it must have been about 10 am and about 90 degrees. There was not a bit of shade on this whole section, which led us across the fields, past an aid station (with cold wet paper towels!), across a wooden bridge to a sign in the middle of the field that said "turn around."  

Now, my "plan," if you can call it that, in these "races" had been to enjoy myself, take in the beauty of the trails, not hurt myself, and not worry about racing. Good plan -- it went right out the window as soon as I started watching people coming toward me. The 50 mile, 50k, and marathon were still on the same course, but the bibs were different colors, so we could tell what  race the people meeting us were in. As I got closer to the turnaround, I realized that I really had not seen many women with blue bibs (for the 50k).  That is when I started thinking that maybe I was doing better than I thought.  After I made the turnaround, though, I saw that there was a big group of women ranging from about 1 minute to about 3 minutes behind me and several of them were in the 50k. And, the one closest to  me looked like she could be in my age group.

I tried to pull myself together and pick it up a little. The problem was that we were soon back to the base of the big climb, never a good thing for me. Throughout the climb I kept expecting people to come by, and some guys did, but only two of the women caught me, and they were in the marathon. As I arrived at Steinke aid again, I looked up a long road behind me and did not see any women coming. I was feeling pretty good because I knew I had a good long section of downhill at the end.

Unfortunately, I did not remember that there was a rolling section and a climb before I hit that final downhill...  My legs started to rebel on me in the rolling section. They did not want to make the necessary switch from hiking the uphills to running the downs. I was slowing down. Still, I wasn't being passed and was even managing to pass a few men who were worse off than I was.

Then, on the last uphill, somewhere around mile 28 or so, one woman came flying by me, with another one not far behind. The second one was the one I had suspected might be in my age group. She slowed down for a bit to hike behind me, so I asked the question and got the dreaded answer: "How old are you?" "50." "Oh crap, me too."  I was really dreading a race to the finish, but thought with a downhill coming up, I might have had a chance. That hope was dashed about thirty seconds later when she started to run on the uphill. I rallied for about twenty futile seconds, but there was no way I could keep up with her on the climb. I spent the next  ten minutes alternately cursing the running gods and praying for the downhill to be coming soon, but by the time I got to the downhill section and took off, she was nowhere in sight.

I finished the race strong, thanks to the downhill. As I crossed the finish, the Running Fit crew volunteer with the clipboard asked the usual question about my age group so that they could hand out the age group awards at the finish line. As she wrote my name on the clipboard in second place for the 50-54 age group, I noticed there were not many other names on the board at that point. I was bummed to be second in the age group, but happy I had done well in the overall. Later I found that I was 5th place overall for the women, which really made me happy. Apparently, before I had been passed by the two women on the last climb, I had been in 3rd place overall!  That really pumped me up and made me feel like my training is starting to pay off!  

Of course, Leslie was there waiting for me after the race. She had a good time in the half marathon and had met some great new friends on the top of the ridge and gotten some great pictures. I was glad to see her because I was in a world of hurt. The combination of hard uphills and downhills, with the lifting to get over the roots and rocks, had absolutely trashed my legs. I was in serious pain. It was the close your eyes, put your head back, don't move, and try not to cry kind of post-race pain. As one of my ultra friends used to be fond of saying, "Even my hair hurt." Leslie was so good, going to the car to get me my chair, a diet Coke, my flip-flops so I could take off my soggy shoes and socks... What a great friend! 

Not a smile -- a grimace

The post-race atmosphere was typical DWD, with music, food (even some awesome portabella burgers for us veggie athletes), beer, and runners draped around the finish line in various levels of pain and stages of repose cheering in the finishers. We hung around the finish line for another hour or two, but because we didn't know anyone in the 50 miler this time, decided to head out to get a much needed shower.

All in all, this race was a great experience, despite the hills and heat. The area is absolutely beautiful. If you are a mountain goat that eats hills for breakfast, this would definitely be a great race for next year's calendar. Even if you are not a fan of hills, it is worth doing at least once, just for the view from the top of the ridge.

The bling: AG prize a DWD flashlight upper left corner

The Video:

Related Articles:
Race Report: Dances with Dirt Gnaw Bone
Race Report: Dances with Dirt Green Swamp
2012 Goals: Burned, Bloodied, Boned, and Bruised

Disaster at DWD Green Swamp: Race Report

Well, I guess it is time for a race report for the first 50k of the series. It was not a very auspicious beginning. The day started out well. The temperatures were perfect for me, probably mid 50s at the start.  I arrived at the race with plenty of time to spare and got to see the 50 milers finishing their first 5 mile loop. It was still dark, and it was fun to watch their headlamps come bouncing up the trail through the trees.

The group at the start for the 50k and marathon probably had a couple hundred people, but I wasn't really paying much attention. I had decided to go out strong, in the first third of the pack this time, because I was feeling good and expecting to have a good day.

The course started with a 6.2 mile loop on a nice wide trail, so there were no real issues with passing. I settled into a pace around 9:45, which was what I thought was comfortable and doable for the first part of the race. I was hoping for a 10:45 pace overall. I had run an 11:13 pace taking it easy in the marathon in KY on a hilly course, and I really felt a 10:45 was realistic. 

The DWD course is entirely flat, and the footing, at this point was very good.  I planned to go out a little faster than what I hoped to average for the day because I knew from experience running in Florida that it is better to make up some time while it is still cool because when the heat hits, everyone slows down, regardless of conditioning.

Somewhere in the first loop, the leaders took a wrong turn, and the rest of the pack followed. When the leaders realized there were no blue flags on this part of the trail, we all turned around to head back to the place where we had made a wrong turn. This started a huge traffic jam and allowed runners who had started slower to get ahead. I was not upset, though. We were at about 4 miles of a 31 mile race. It would all sort itself out eventually.

I finished the first loop and came through the aid station feeling great. I really felt like this was going to be a good day for me and was happy that my training seemed to have put me in good form for the race. Coming out of the first aid station is where trouble started. We hit a road of "sugar sand," as they call it down here. It was deep and soft. For a while, I was able to run the edges, but eventually those were gone, and there was no choice but to slog through the stuff. It was made even more difficult by the holes made by the previous runners.

I am not sure how long we were in the sand. It seemed like about 2 miles. I could feel the strain in my knees, lower legs, and IT band toward the end of the section, but I was hoping and praying that when I got on better footing that everything would be okay.  

Eventually we did hit better footing, and I settled back into pace. I was still averaging around a 9:45 pace overall and felt very comfortable. My IT band was tight, but I kept hoping it would just loosen up.  When I hit the aid station at Ranch Rd. (10.3 miles), I was still feeling great. I got to see my fellow RUTster, Jan, who was working the aid station rather than running because of an injury. That put a smile on my face as I headed out for the next leg.

The next section also went pretty well, but any time there was uneven footing, I could really feel it in the IT band on my left leg. I hit the half marathon mark in 2:07, still feeling fantastic except for that niggling worry about my left leg. I stopped at the aid station at Traffic Jam (13.9) very briefly to get some water and headed out again. I don't know if it was the stop or not, but suddenly things started to take a turn for the worse. I could feel the IT band getting tighter and tighter and again was just praying  that it would go away if I relaxed. 

I slowed the pace a bit to a 10:30 to see if slowing down helped at all. I am not sure that was a good move.  I hit the 15 mile mark, and that was all she wrote. The band completely tightened, and I could not put weight on the leg to run. I stopped to walk, stretched, and got about another quarter mile of running before it seized up again. I repeated the walk/stretch/ run routine and got about a tenth of a mile running before it seized again. After that I tried two or three more times, unsuccessfully, to try to run, but it was not happening.  Walking did not hurt, but running was impossible.

 

At mile 16, I made one last try. I still couldn't run, and this time when I stopped my knee started hurting when I walked as well. I realized then that if I had any hope of completing the race, I was going to be walking the entire way.

Then I had a decision to make: do I walk the remaining 15 miles or do I bail out. Well, as much as I hated the idea of walking for 16 miles, I hated the idea of not finishing even more. That would end my quest for the coveted buckle and throw my entire year's training plan out the window. Nope. I was definitely walking in.

That started what is probably the second hardest thing I have ever done as a runner (the hardest definitely being  the 50 miler).  I cannot tell you how miserable it was to walk for the next 5 hours and 15 miles, being constantly passed by other runners.  After the first mile or so, the enormity of walking the 15 miles really set in. I realized that it was going to be a really, really long day. My walking pace was not great. I do not train to walk. Muscles that don't get used that often were not anxious to pitch in and help after I had so badly abused their brothers and sisters.

Luckily I had my cell phone with me and was able to text Jer, who was waiting back at the start/finish, to let him know that I was walking. I also texted my friend Leslie for some moral support. They kept me from totally wallowing in self-pity although I will admit to a few angry, frustrated tears at one point.  

Up until that time the day had been pretty cool. There was cloud cover which kept it from being burning hot.  That was not too last. At the part of the course where I had to cross meadows and a long stretch of unshaded dirt road, the sun decided to come out. It was blazing hot.

It was at that point, when I started to really sweat, that I realized from the intense stinging on my back, that my hydration pack was chafing. Oh great, one more thing to add to my list of woes.

For a while I took the hydration pack off and carried it, but that was even more annoying than having it rub on my back. Thankfully, I was only about 4 miles out from the start/finish line where I could drop the pack with Jer and pick up a hand bottle. I texted ahead so he would have it ready.

Coming back to the start/finish area, we hit a few more sandy spots. I almost could not even walk through them and slowed to a shuffle in those spots. About this time, I was caught by a guy who was doing his first marathon. He was in severe distress. He was not a trail runner , had not trained on trails, and had not realized how much harder running on the trails (and in the sand) would be compared to road running. He was in pretty bad shape, but he had it over me. He could still run when he could pull himself together mentally to do so. I felt bad for him. What a horrible first marathon experience!

Also on this stretch of the course, I found out how really bitchy and mean-spirited a hot day of walking can make me. I was really annoyed at the marathoners who would run by and say "Nice job!" or "You're doing great!" It took all of the little self-control I had left not to yell, "What are you, some kind of idiot? I am definitely not doing great!" However, I realized that such outbursts would be considered incredibly bad form so managed to just find new and exciting ways for the voices in my head to express those sentiments to each other. As I got more creative, I started to feel better. There is nothing like being bitchy and mean to cheer a girl up.

Finally, at about six hours and change, I came back by the start/finish, got rid of my pack, picked up my hand bottle, and started out on the last five mile leg of my day from hell. Ironically, this last loop was my favorite part of the course. It was shady and a little cooler, and I had finally made peace with the idea that there was a distinct possibility that I might be last woman finisher. In fact, I was kind of hoping for that. I really started to enjoy the scenery at that point. I found a bird feather to stick in my hair and a little later down the trail a freshly shed snake skin. I even managed to sing a few Jimmy Buffett tunes to keep me going. I am sure passing runners thought I was delirious from the heat if they heard me. 

About that time I had the neatest experience. A guy came hobbling up. He was having calf cramps, which I could totally relate to because that is one thing I often have to deal with in the latter stage of races. We started talking. He was from Indiana (I think his name was John). Turns out he just turned 50 this year, and his goal also is to get the belt buckle for the four DWD ultras. We laughed at how similar our circumstances were and what a horrible start this was to meeting the goal. Then, after one false start of cramping, he ran off and left me. I didn't see him again until after the finish, and I was glad to know that he had made it through.

One of the more annoying things in the whole day happened about 100 yards from the finish, just as we came out of the woods onto the field where the finish was located. I was passed by not one, but two, women.  They were still able to run, and I had to limp along helplessly as they passed me and I dropped two more spots in the women's race. Talk about frustrating! Still, I was just so thankful to finish and for the day to be over.  My official time was 7:40:43.  I was 55th out of 61 finishers.

Now, two days later, my IT band is feeling better, and I likely will be able to run again by tomorrow. This experience was just like the previous two episodes I had with the IT band on the long runs, and it occurred at just about the same time. The weird thing is that I had the trail marathon in KY on the hilly course with the uneven footing two weeks earlier and had no problems with the IT band whatsoever. 

This is definitely something I am going to need to continue to work on as I move in to my next phase of training. I will be adding in exercises to strengthen my hips and glutes, as well as religiously stretching and using the foam roller.  If anyone has any additional ideas on how I can avoid this, I would be glad to hear them.