When: October 26 & 27, 2019
Where: Alachua & Palm Coast, Florida
Strava Activities -
Gate2Gate: https://www.strava.com/activities/2819040609
Jacks: https://www.strava.com/activities/2822289328
Gate2Jacks is a challenge that a few runners take on every year, and I decided I wanted to be one of those ridiculous people! It consists of two 50k races in one weekend - Gate2Gate Trail Run in Alachua, Florida on Saturday and then Jack’s Trail Race in Palm Coast, Florida on Sunday. I ran Gate2Gate last year as my very first 50k and already wrote up a race report for that, so I won’t go into as much detail as I will for Jack’s.
Training:
I did the Stewart Tunnel 50 miler at the beginning of August, so since then I pretty much maintained with 25-50 mile weeks with long runs ranging from 13 to 23 miles. During my taper I questioned if I had done long enough back-to-backs and if I should have been building mileage rather than maintaining, but it was too late by that point (I wish I had done at least one 20-20 or higher, my longest b2b runs were 18-10 and 13-18).
Weather:
Florida has decided not to participate in Fall this year. We got a day of Fall on the Wednesday before the race and it was glorious. The weather for the weekend would be gloriously hot. G2G weather wasn’t too bad, 70s in the early morning and mid-80s around 10am, I doubt the heat index got too far over the mid 90s. Sunday was a different matter. It was soul crushingly humid and hot from the moment I stepped out of the house before the sun came up. I believe it was a heat index of 97+ at the hottest part of the day, maybe hotter. Yes, we Floridians train in this weather, but it does slow you down and wear you out a lot. Plus the chafing due to the humidity, dear god the chafing. No company makes strong enough lube to last in Florida; if I had the luxury of time and patience I would re-lube certain spots every two miles. I reapply often, but I still always end up with some chafing somewhere. My body is super good at chafing.
Gate2Gate 50k Trail Run
This is my third year doing Gate2Gate, second year doing the 50k. It’s always a good time. The course is made up of two 15.5(ish) mile loops featuring three aid stations on course and aid/drop bag location at the start/finish/turnaround. I love the design of the medals/shirts/glasses and 50k finishers get a sweet hat! I tried to start slow and keep my effort pretty even throughout and not push myself since I knew the second day was going to be more difficult for a multitude of reasons. Even with that, I came in 4 minutes faster than the previous year and my last mile was my fastest mile; not fast by most running standards, I am fine being a back of the pack runner. I finished in 6:52:14, 50/77 overall and 13/24 for women.
One really amusing moment was around the mile 20 aid station, I had just passed a guy that seemed to be struggling a little and while I was filling up my bottles he came up to the aid. The aid station volunteer asked, “How are you doing,” He replied, “Ugh, awful,” and without missing a beat the volunteer asked, “Okay, is this expected or not?” I just loved that response and the troubleshooting that most likely started (which I missed because my water was filled and I was making my way down the trail).
The finish line had a nice party atmosphere even though a majority of the people that came to the race were gone by the time I got in. Music was playing, people were hanging out, pizzas had been delivered every hour, and the race had a couple of kegs from the beer sponsor. I had a beer, a slice of pizza, danced around to keep my legs moving, and then started the recovery.
Recovery
In the week leading up to the race, I researched ways people who do stage races recover between the days. My plan was thus: drink a Tailwind Recovery drink within 15 minutes of finishing, have an ice bath as soon as I got home, and get into bed no later than 7:30pm. I liked the recovery drink and even had one later that night because I couldn’t stomach the idea of eating a real dinner. I snacked on some chocolate hummus and animal shaped cookies and that was about all I wanted to eat. I did get an okay amount of sleep, 7 hours according to my fitbit. I had trouble falling asleep and woke up a lot during the night. It was a relief when my alarm finally went off at 4:30am so I could give up the idea of sleeping soundly.
Jack’s 50k Trail Race
A few days before the race, Dawn, the race director, announced that the course had changed from previous years. Rather than doing five 10k loops, it would be four 12k loops and utilize some double diamond mountain bike trails. But wait, four 12k loops is only 48k, does that mean it would be short? Nope! 50k racers had a starter loop that took us right on the beach! It was gorgeous and luckily only about a quarter mile of running through very soft sand before going back onto the trail to a turnaround point back to the start/finish area and then out onto our first real loop.
The race was comprised of a 12k, 24k, and 50k. The 12k started at 8am, 50k at 8:30am, and 10:30am for the 24k. Most of the people running the race did the 12k and the 24k and over 1/3rd of the 50k runners dropped down to the 24k during the day. Before the race I told my significant otter that I knew I was going to be slow and as long as I completed each loop in under 2 hours, then I would make it under the 8 hour time limit (which I believe is a slightly loose limit because the RD is very generous).
The loops each start with crushed limestone and a few boardwalks (about a half mile?) before you enter the mountain bike trail loop. A mile or so into the mountain bike trail, the real fun starts – the Cloud Nine section, the new addition to the race. It is a rough section that sometimes required me to brace my hands on nearby palm trees to ease my way down small drop offs or use small pines to help hoist myself up over rocks – no sustained hills, but lots of small up and downs and roots and rocks to navigate through. It was tough, but it was really cool. There was a water only aid station inside of the loop approximately 4.5 miles in and because the way the trails are I could hear the aid station about a mile before I actually encountered it on the trail.
About halfway through my second loop I heard a squishing sound and realized it was my socks inside of my shoes. They were soaked from a combination of sweat and humidity, so glamorous! Luckily, I always pack a spare pair of socks in my drop bag, so I knew it’d only be a few miles until I would be able to get my feet dry. Having the spare socks saved my day. If I had had squishy shoes and socks for the second half of the race my feet would have been destroyed. I had a couple blisters from the miles with wet feet, but it was nothing compared to what would have happened.
After that I just kept trucking on. No way out but through. I decided this weekend I would run without podcasts or music for as long as I could. I made it to about 22 miles the day before, but grabbed my headphones from my dropbag after my second loop because I was ready for a little bit of distraction from the heat of the day.
Before I headed out for my last loop, I stopped at my dropbag to change my bandana and noticed that a tent with massage tables had set up! I was pumped and hoped they would still be there when I finished (spoiler alert: they weren’t, womp womp). I almost wish I hadn’t seen them set up, haha. The other race amenities were freaking amazing though. The aid station volunteers are experienced folk and so, so helpful. It’s always nice seeing their smiling faces! There was also a photographer that seemed to be everywhere. I saw her at least twice every loop and it felt like having my own personal photographer! I was too tired to think of any cool or interesting poses, so I’m sure all of my photos look like a goofier, more tired, and sweatier version of myself, but I’m good that that!
Many times throughout the day I felt like I was flying and making good time, but then I would look down at my watch and see a pace at least two minutes slower than it felt like I was going. The joy of running on tired legs, haha. At mile 25-26ish I did start to have some negative thoughts and flipped off many of the tough mountain bike features in the Cloud Nine Section of the trail as I passed them. Since I was on my last loop, I knew I wouldn’t have to look at the dang things ever again (unless I go back next year). I got back into a good headspace by the time I got to the aid station though.
As expected, I took up nearly every minute of the time allotted and crossed the finish line with a time of 7:47:15. My slowest 50k finish, but also my hardest! I was 19/23 overall and 7/11 in women. I believe there were three people other than me doing Gate2Jacks full (plus one other doing 50k+12k and one doing 50k+24k) and I’m so proud of all of us for taking on the challenge! It was a beast!!!
What’s next for me? More training! More fun! More everything! Hopefully finding my lowest lows, highest highs, and accomplishing big scary goals!
