Long Haul 100 Race Report

Where: Cypress Creek Preserve, Land O Lakes, Florida
When: January 18-19, 2020
What: Long Haul 100
Finish Time: 29:17:16
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/3026543743/overview

It has now been a little over a week since Long Haul 100 and I think I’m finally ready to put my scrambled thoughts into words. It seems surreal that I completed it, but also the race did not go how I was expecting so it has really thrown me for a loop as far as processing the experience so maybe sorting my thoughts out into a race report will help me figure it out in my own head.


Training:

Training went fairly well. Last year I had it in my mind that I would probably want to do Long Haul and after my 50mi in Wisconsin went well, I was seriously considering signing up. Rather than just jump into 100mi training, I gave myself a test of doing Gate2Jacks; if I survived that and still wanted to run afterwards, I would sign up for Long Haul. The Monday after those races I felt pretty good, so I signed up!

For the training itself, I used the Relentless Forward Progress 50 mile peak plan and the 70 mile peak plan. Someone else suggested combining them so you do a minimum of the 50mpw plan with a maximum of the 70mpw plan so it allowed some flexibility when real life came calling. I mostly hit all of the 70mpw mileage until the TUDC 50mi where the pounding on the road did a number on my ankle and I had to essentially take a full week and some change off of running. In all, there were only two weeks of the entire plan where I did not meet or exceed the mileage, so it was pretty solid training.


About the Race:

The course is made up of ten 10 mile “loops.” They call it a loop, but in reality it is made up of a set of out and back spurs. Spur 1 is 1.5ish miles out, Spur 2 is 2.5ish out, and Spur 3 was 1ish out. It also started with a 1 mile run on pavement from the parking area to the main hub as a way to spread everyone out so the first spur wasn’t too congested.

I added the “ish” to the mileage because the course was long. Spur 3 was eliminated from the last loop about 10 hours into the race (announced via a whiteboard near the timing mat at the start/finish). The timing crew put on their tracking site that the race was 102 miles, I had a final total of 103.79 miles, and I heard others had up to 105 miles, but someone going off trail to visit their tent during the race or going off trail to use the bathroom or even choosing the least efficient line on the course would account for that extra bit.

The cut off for the race is 32 hours, but this year it became qualifier for Western States for 2021 and in order to qualify a person would have to finish under 30 hours. The biggest benefit of the race for me was that I would never be more than 2.5 miles away from my crew and my stuff. Spur 1 turnaround had a hydration and “shot” aid station, Spur 2 turnaround had a full aid station, and Spur 3 had a timing mat at the turnaround.


Weather:

The weather this year ended up being absolute perfection. Last year there was horrible rain in the night and made everything muddy and miserable (so miserable that the RDs changed the race from 12.5 mi loops to cut out areas that were still flooded/super mucked). The weather was in the mid-sixties at the start and only got to about 82 with a heat index of around 86 or so, low humidity, and at night it didn’t get below 60. I changed into a long sleeve when it got dark and then during the coldest part of the night I put on a sweater. I didn’t need the gloves or the heavier sweater that I brought. For people who do not live in the south, it was very hot for them during the day, but it was great for me. Though if the night had been cold, I would have suffered a lot while I’m sure they would have thrived.


Prep & Crew:

For this race, I was going to eat whatever I wanted to and force stuff down even if I didn’t want to. I listened to so many podcasts and kept remembering Scotty Kummer saying something along the lines of, “No one ever complains about eating too much during a 100 miler.” So the goal was to take advantage of the aid stations if the food they had appealed to me and also use what I brought (tailwind, huma gels, GUs, pringles, cookies, and body armor).

My crew consisted of my dad, my fiancé Tom, and later my sister Laci. Laci would pace me from 60-80 and Tom would pace me from 80-100. Tom and dad had a tent and chairs they would set up at the main hub after the race started. In my head, we were Team Keep Fucking Going. Before my mom died, she said to my dad, “Keep fucking going,” and we have held that in our hearts as our family motto. Kyle was able to use my mom’s many notebooks to make her writing into a font and he created the text. Dad has it tattooed on his arm. I made myself a tech shirt and regular cotton shirts for my crew. The shirts were a pretty big hit with other runners even without knowing the emotional significance of it. It was for us, but I’m very glad it helped other people, too!



Miles 1-12ish

Nothing too much during these miles. Just having fun and trying to slow down in the beginning. I worked out a system with my crew that I would have one handheld water bottle and each time I came in from a loop, they would switch it out for a fresh one. They were putting tailwind and water in them and changing out the gels in the front pockets. Also, their placement at the hub was PERFECT and a huge benefit to me. Most of the people who sent up tents at the hub set them up off of the paved section of Spur 2 which required a walk up and down about 5’ of hill/berm. My crew set up along Spur 1 so I never had to go up or down any hill no matter how small and if I needed something I would tell them before I did Spur 1 so they could have it ready by the time I completed it and headed to Spur 2.


Miles 12ish-40ish

Around mile 12ish I started running with a woman named Tammy. She was freaking fantastic! She has done a lot of great races and we talked about everything under the sun. The miles simply flew by and I discovered that during my prep for this race I had read her race report that she did for Long Haul almost a decade ago! Small world!! A woman named Brandy also ran with us for a bit and it was fun cheering each other on. I also got to meet Susan Donnelley and chatted with her a couple times during the race. She is amazing! Around 40 something Tammy and I broke off from each other because her dad had arrived with cake and I wanted to keep going and doing my thing. I felt bad since it was really nice to run with her, but I know you have to run your own race.


Miles 40ish-60ish

I got my waist light from the crew since night would soon be falling. I figured I’d use my waist light for a loop or two and then when it got super dark, I would also use my headlamp.

Sometime around mile 44(?) I realized I may have had an issue brewing. I thought I had something stuck in my shoe, like dirt or sand. Sections of the trail were very dirty/dusty and there was sugar sand in a few spots. I made the grave error of not even thinking to bring or wear my gaiters. This is essentially what took my race from a good fun time to physical torture. In checking my shoe, I didn’t see or feel anything inside of the shoe and realized it was most likely a blister forming on the pad of my foot. Poop.

When I came into my crew after 5th completed loop I was ready for some type of audio distraction. I knew I had an episode of Ten Junk Miles to listen to and funnily enough, Tom already had my headphones out and was turning on my phone because apparently he just *knew* that I needed a distraction. I had one more loop before Laci would be joining me and I was already in distance PR territory, so that felt cool.

During that loop a blister grew, hurt, and popped. The emptying of that blister was such a relief and the pain there was instantly gone. If only that could have happened to my other blisters on both of my foot pads. I think during my 5th or 6th loop I started taking advantage of the libations offered at the “shots” aid station as a sort of pain killer or, as I called it, “Go go juice.” In all, I did do four shots throughout the race and they were very mentally helpful. I also brought beer just in case I had a thirst for one mid-race, but I never did.


Miles 60ish-80ish

I picked up Laci and switched to caffeinated gels. We talked and she got me through the miles. She did exactly what I asked of her (not letting me take breaks I didn’t need to and asking me if I could try running a little bit). I did do some running until the pain from the blisters on my feet really started wrecking me.

Around mile 70 is when the pain hit its stride and I knew there would be zero running from that point on. At mile 75 I took off my shoes and socks, wiped my feet down with baby wipes, then Tom tried to do some taping to hold the skin from my wrecked feet in place, and I changed my socks and went back out. It didn’t help; too little too late. At the aid station on spur 2, the volunteers offered cup noodle and I accepted. They had a kettle and stove there to make hot foods, so I took the cup of soup and went along. We picked up another runner who was also having similar feet problems that I was having and whose headlamp battery was dying. We kept him with us until we got to the main hub. I think I had a quesadilla after that loop or maybe the previous one? Those were my only two hot food items of the whole race.


Miles 80ish-98ish

I drank a cotton candy Bang energy drink once I got back to the crew area and Tom went out with me. He took the rest of the Bang since I wasn’t able to drink the whole thing and we went out at a snail’s pace. My feet were wrecked. Every single step I took was painful. I know people drop out due to pain like this, but (forgive the cliché saying) – I didn’t go that far to only go that far. I was finishing this race and I didn’t care if the last 20 miles took me a billion years.

Many times I begged Tom to let me have a quick little lie down on the trail and he said no. He DID let me take a couple of sitting breaks. During Spur 2 when it gets to the .5 of pavement before the hub, he let me set there for exactly 60 seconds and I am fairly certain I cried with gratitude. I started envisioning finishing the race and as soon as I did I was planning on collapsing on the grass and not moving until someone dragged me away and that was a comforting thought.

As it started to become dawn and we were hitting the 24 hour mark, I was about 89 miles in, so I knew I had about 13ish more miles to go. I told myself I was going to call the Ten Junk Miles bonk line and I pretty much told them they lied about how 100 milers are fun and that I hated them and also loved them? I think? I’m not 100% sure what all I said.

I didn’t get overly tired too much like I expected I would and I definitely did not have hallucinations of any sort. I did get *extremely* emotional though and cried quite a bit. Not full on tears, but just maybe 10-30 seconds of pouting. Tom also told me that during the last 10 miles he would make a face and once I laughed at it, another time I cried at it, and another time I did both. Many times I did say I wanted to quit, but Tom knew I wasn’t serious and I knew I wasn’t serious. There would be no quitting, even if I had to finish on my hands and knees (which, umm, probably not the greatest attitude to have? But I have a desk job so I wasn’t putting my livelihood at stake at all, just my comfort).


98ish-Finish (102 or something like it)

Since we didn’t have to do Spur 3 on the last loop, I came in from Spur 1 and Tom had decided to ask my dad if he wanted to join us for the last 5 miles. My dad has had hip and back pain, so I wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to walk the 5 miles with us, but since I was going at a glacially slow pace, it seemed very do-able for him. It was a long, hard slog and I felt like I was barely moving, but at the same time each step hurt so dang bad that I hesitated every foot placement on the trail. After what seemed like a thousand years we hit the turnaround aid station…and there were no volunteers there. They did leave behind all of the food and water and supplies and another runner had told us to check off our bib# on the sheet to verify we had come through the aid station. Tom and dad let me have a little break here, so I sat in a chair to be sad for a few minutes contemplating if I was going to make it the last 2.5 miles to the finish.

We got up and started our very slow journey to the end. After a thousand years, we reached the road section which was .5 miles from the finish line and it started to sprinkle a bit. Tom asked me if I wanted to try running and I took a couple very painful quick steps and said no, so we plodded along. Laci joined up with us at the juncture of the spurs about 0.1mi from the finish line and with the actual finish line in sight, I was able to run (I felt like I was flying, but I’m sure I wasn’t, lol). Dad handed me the small travel urn of mom’s ashes that he keeps with him and I crossed the finish line with several of the most important people in my life: Tom, Dad, Laci, and Mom.


The aftermath:

My feet were (are?) so, so wrecked. They were still draining blister fluid over two days later and now I am slowly clipping off the super thick dead skin. They were very, very deep blisters. Both of my pinkie toes also blistered fully. I know other people have a problem with this and I’m still unsure of the solution. It’s because my little toe tucks in too much to my foot. It does it when I’m barefoot, so it might just be a thing that happens to me all the time. Most of the time toe socks help it, but maybe it won’t for this distance.

I had ZERO chafing. I used SNB on some parts that usually chafe and reapplied to a couple spots twice, but I think good quality clothing and lack of high temperatures and humidity is what kept me in the clear. The only unknown in the clothing department was my purple shirt I made two days before the run. I bought it on amazon for like $7. I had never, ever run in it before and it worked out great! Other than that, I wore XO Skin socks for the first 75 miles, injinjis for the last 25, HOKA Clifton 1 shoes, a Brooks Juno bra, new balance lasercut underoos, and my absolute favorite Skirtsport Lioness Skirt Capris.

I had Monday off for the MLK Jr holiday and took Tuesday off of work as well. I didn’t run on those days, but Wednesday I ran slowly on the treadmill for about a mile and a half and Friday I did a nice chill 5 miles on the trail. I think I’m mostly back to normal now and have several weeks of rest/no structure until I start training for the Badger 100 in August.


Emotional aftermath:

Going into this race, I had very much expected to find “my highest highs and lowest lows” based on so many stories from other runners. That’s what I was seeking and well...that’s not what happened. I think the main reason I’ve been having trouble processing the whole race is because I thought it would be emotionally and physically different. There was some mild emotional roller coaster bits in the last 30 miles, but not as much as I expected. All of the pain I felt physically from my poor blistered feet still pales in comparison to depths of the pain I’ve felt from my worst flares of endometriosis (pain so severe I could barely even walk or get out of bed). No emotional turmoil during those 100 miles were ever as strong as the depression I’ve experienced throughout my life and the grief over my mom’s death. Basically, I’ve endured worse. I feel mild regret that I didn't push myself harder to run more in those last 30 miles, but it seemed impossible at the time. Maybe that's a bit of the mental game I'm missing, putting the pain out of my mind more than I did.

I’m already signed up for the Badger 100 in August and the experience will be different. Just by the nature of the course, conditions, and tidbits of wisdom I have hopefully gained it will be a whole new experience and I really hope to find something a bit *more* inside of myself.


Some photos courtesy of A1 Ultra Events, some from my dad, and the one of Tammy and me from Susan Donnelly.

Also, I did take some photos of my feet the day after and yesterday (a week and a half later). Small thumbnails so you can avoid them if you like.

 

 

Tallahassee Ultra Distance Classic 50 Mile Race Report

Where: Wakulla Springs State Park (20ish mins south of Tallahassee)
When: December 14, 2019
What: 50 miles
Finish Time: 9:45:08
Place: 10/12, 2/3F**
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/2933114456


Pre-Race:

This is a race I would have never, ever had signed up for if it wasn’t for Tom. Tom was looking for a good 50 mile race that played to his strengths. He likes road running, prefers the weather a bit cooler, and he doesn’t mind loops. TUDC 50m fit the bill well. The course utilizes 3 miles of road at Wakulla Springs State Park and is a large event for the Gulf Winds Track Club each year. Most of the people doing the race were signed up for the 50k and the marathon, but about 30 silly gooses were signed up for the 50m.

I had originally signed up for the 50k, but decided to bump it up to the 50m once I realized that it was perfectly timed with a 50m race in my Long Haul training plan. Since the course is basically out and backs to make a 10k “loop” repeated 8 times, it would be ideal training for the potential monotony (and ability to drop) that I’d experience with the 10 out and back repeats of Long Haul. I changed my registration and got nervous considering I’d have to beat my previous 50 mile time by almost 10 minutes just to finish under the cut off. I knew I’d be using almost every minute of the 10 hour time limit.

After a very chill day in a hotel near the race, we woke up the next morning bright and early to scarf some breakfast and head over to Wakulla Springs State Park. People doing the race typically set up their own small aid station/drop bag areas near the race start or in the parking lot leading up the start/finish/timing mat. We didn’t know exactly where to set up, so we put our cooler and chair just past the main aid station (which was a great setup, I liked it better there than where other people had their supplies set).

The 50k and marathon people start at the actual start line and the 50 milers start about a quarter mile or so from the start. Five minutes before the race start, our group was hustling over to make sure we got to our own start line. We barely made and it and the person escorting us was saying, "Do not start yet, we aren't there." It was pretty amusing, but we got there and the race started.


Loops 1-4

One neat thing about this race is that participants are allowed to have pacers in the form of buddies running with them or someone on a bike. I saw several marathon folk running totally hands free since they had a cyclist pacer to hand them water and nutrition. The only downside was one cyclist was so tuned into their runner that they were encroaching on other runners going to the opposite direction.

There isn't really much to post about the first four loops. I was feeling good due to the cool weather, but kept my pace comfortable. There was supposed to be a portapotty on course, but it was nowhere to be found; there were full restrooms at the start/finish so that was good with me. I ran with a few other 50 miler folk for a few miles, but pretty much the whole thing was by myself. I usually refuse to listen to music or podcasts until I'm well over halfway through the race, but by the 3rd loop I knew I definitely needed it earlier than usual. I told myself to get through the 4th loop and I'd be allowed to grab my headphones and get some podcasts going.

Just an observation, not a judgment - For about 20ish miles I ran near a woman that had absolutely zero shame in peeing out in the open. She had a skirt sport with the "pee flap" and so many times during the race she would barely step off of the course and start relieving herself. At one point she was literally one foot off the course and I made sure that when I came back through that way to avoid the tiny puddle she left behind. I've never seen somebody so driven and focused that she would let loose in front of so many strangers. I'm cool with nudity, but I still have a lot more hangups about that sort of thing.


Loops 5-8

Around loop five is when the course started to empty out. Most of the marathon and 50k folks were done and going through the start/finish area was a bummer because all of these people had their medals, were drinking adult beverages, and enjoying that post-race glow. At no point did I consider dropping down or quitting, and I'm really proud of that. I had one moment during the 7th loop where I felt a bit sorry for myself, but it literally lasted all of 30 seconds before I got over it. My head was really in the game for this one. Just keep running!

I also got to see Tom a lot during the race and it was cool that we could basically check in on each other every hour and a halfish because of the way the loop was. Oh, and speaking of the loops, this is a great race to run with just a handheld. There were three aid stations, one of which was water only, and they were well stocked. At one point the on course aid station had black olives and I scarfed a few of those, they also had some nutella sandwiches and they were perfection at 30 miles into the race. I ate aid station food as well as several of my gels and a picky bar; fueling went really well for this race.

As I stated before, I knew I would be using nearly every minute of the 10 hours, and with about a mile and a half to go, I switched from podcast to music (I should have switched to music earlier, tbh) and cruised into the finish 15 minutes under the cut off. Everyone at the finish line cheered for me and then I realized there was a wedding going on about 200' away from the finish line and the couple were doing their vows. Whoopsie!


The Aftermath

I loved this race, but if I could go back in time I'm not sure if I would have done it. This was the first time I had run more than 26.2 miles on road and my longest road runs in preparation for this race were a couple twenty milers and an 18 miler. I ended up with poroneal tendinitis that had me unable to run for a couple of weeks. The smart thing would have been to do more road training and getting used to the pounding OR be smart like some of the other 50 milers and run close to the edge of the road or in the middle of the road. I didn't even think of it and I'm fairly sure the camber of the road is what did me in (along with the camber of the road at my work's parking lot, which is where I had done several speed workouts in the weeks leading up to the race).

Though the race and the organizers were so, so lovely I can see going back there, but maybe for a 50k instead.

**While there were about 30 people signed up for the 50 mile race, over half of the people dropped down to either the marathon or the 50k during the race.

 

 

Ragnar Trail Florida (Ultra Distance) – Experience Report

Date: December 6-7, 2019
Distance: 32.1 miles over 3 runs
Location: Lithia, Florida (Alafia River State Park)
Place: 2nd Mixed Ultra Team
Strava: Leg 1 (https://www.strava.com/activities/2915601163), Leg 2 (https://www.strava.com/activities/2916115183), Leg 3 (https://www.strava.com/activities/2916841801)


The Crazy Idea:

The day before Thanksgiving I was doing some mindless task at work, listening to a podcast called, “Not Real Runners” and they had some guests on to talk about Ragnar. I’d heard of Ragnar before since a few people I know had done a road Ragnar and another had done a trail one here in Florida last year. Before the segment was over I was looking on my phone to see when the Florida Trail Ragnar was and, following the advice on the podcast, went to the Facebook event page where people post about looking for replacement team members. It just so happened that someone posted just 20 minutes prior that they had a spot on an ultra team.

A standard Trail Ragnar race has 8 people covering about 16 miles each, the ultra is just doing each leg twice. There are two configurations of how the race is done – either the runners do Green, Yellow, Red, and on until everyone has done the legs twice or you double up and do Green+Yellow, Red+Green, Yellow+Red, etc. The team I was joining would be doing the doubled up version, so you’d be running approximately 10 miles at a time. The idea behind the doubled up version is that your teammates have longer resting times between their runs.

By the time podcast was over, I was committed to being on a team of strangers to run in the woods for 30+ miles. I sometimes do things impulsively without thinking them through, and it usually turns out okay, so despite the immediate terror I felt after agreeing to be on a team, I knew all would be well.


Pre-Race & Packing:

I spent the next week reading a couple Ragnar race reports and trying to figure out what I would need. For food, I packed: pringles, 2 cans of lentils, smart food popcorn, clementines, and some kalmata olives. I also had some coconut water, a couple body armors, and a gallon of water. Following the advice of people online, I packed all of my running clothes into gallon sized bags so they would stay dry if it started raining and that they would be sealed away after I wore them. I brought comfy clothes and fleece PJs to wear between my legs.

The drive ended up taking a little longer than I expected, but I had planned to arrive early so it was fine; though it was interesting that when I arrived at 10am there were already people out running. Our start time for our ultra group wasn't until 1:30pm. I found our campsite and met one of my teammates who told me that we would be sharing a site with two other ultra teams.


The Running:

Finally 1:30pm came around and I got my run it. It was nice, easy (green and yellow loops) and would be my only runs in the light. I passed off the bib to the next teammate and changed into comfy clothes. In the evening, there were a ton of food trucks and using my food token, I got a mac&cheese grilled cheese with some tatertots. It was excellent.

My next run wasn't until about 8:30pm, so I got my headlamp and hit the red trail, which I hadn't done before. The red was challenging mountain bike trails with pretty big climbs (for Florida) and it kicked my butt in the best way. I loved the red trail. My teammates told me that I should be glad I would do all of the red trail at night because it's apparently kinda scary in the daylight due to drop offs you can't see at night, lol. After the red was the green and hoo boy, I really started to notice the cold then. It was an open meadow and there were lower ground pockets of air that were so biting.

During the night it was SO COLD, I think it was down in the 40s. I was wearing all of my clothes and wrapped in a blanket. Funnily enough, our team and the two teams we shared a campsite with brought gas stoves to make warm things during the night, but no one ever actually made anything. Talking during the night with everyone was really great. One of the guys on the super fast ultra team is also signed up for Long Haul, so that was a fun coincidence.

My final run started around 4:45am. It was so nice and peaceful out there and I felt better and warmer because I was finally moving around. The sunrise was so incredible and I was so thankful for doing something so impulsive. I got back to camp and realized that even though I was done, there were still 30 more miles to go for our team. I got pretty tired around mid-morning, but solved it by moving around and having some coffee.


The Conclusion: 

I thought it was such a cool community thing. There were so many other teams and it was fun to see all of the silly team names while you're hanging out in "The Lounge" aka, the tent that has tv screens that show when a team's runner is approximately a quarter mile from the trade off tent. While Ragnar is pretty pricey, it is a very nice setup and so efficiently run. I can't imagine doing a road ragnar though, the idea of hanging out in a van for hours on end is no bueno.

In all, I had such a great and amazing training weekend. I got 32 miles in, I gained a LOT of confidence in nighttime running, and got to see how to coped with lack of sleep since I maybe only slept an hour max during the night.

It was exactly what I needed and I am tempted to do it again next year if there aren't any conflict with other events I want to do. AND! We got 2nd place mixed open ultra which netted us really nice belt buckles!

 

Gate2Jacks - A Back-to-Back 50k Challenge

What: Gate2Gate 50k & Jack's Trail Race 50k
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!

 

 

 

Photos of me by Kylie Rhodes (at Jacks)