Saturday, November 13, was the culmination of 5 years of pain and frustration, both mental and physical, as well as determination and a refusal to give up.

From October 2016 to November 2018, I sought out medical diagnosis and treatment for a hamstring injury that would not heal.  After 3 orthopedists incorrectly diagnosing – or maybe I should say insufficiently diagnosing - high hamstring tendinopathy and 3 stints of PT, in October 2018, I was finally led to Dr. John Kao in San Jose who diagnosed a torn hamstring.  I had surgery in December 2018, spent a year coming back and healing, only to have a setback in January 2019 when scar tissue from the surgery tore loose.  While this fixed a problem I had continued to have (and for which I was in the process of preparing for another surgery), it was also another “injury” from which I had to recover.

In June 2019, with all things looking like they were sufficiently healed, I started to, again, slowly and carefully incorporate running back into my power walking / hiking routine.  I took my time and slowly built up my miles, working hard on my core and strength training and PT exercises.  2020 was just a continuation of being smart, taking it slow, making sure everything felt good.

Once I decided I was ready, I put together my own 50k run and scheduled it for a Saturday in July 2021; however, about 6 weeks before the run, I ended up with tendonitis in my left AT and had to reschedule.  The tendonitis finally resolved, and I was set to run my Prairie Creek Redwoods Fat Ass 50k on Saturday, November 13.

This would be my first running an ultra distance since July 2016.

My best buddy, Karen Peterson, volunteered to drive down from Portland (8 hrs away) to crew for me with my husband.  Before she moved to Portland over 7 years ago, she and I spent 7 years running trails together almost every weekend.  She volunteers at numerous races every year, has crewed for her sister and others, and is co-race director of Hagg Mud Runs outside Portland, so she knows what is entailed in running an ultra and getting a runner to the finish.

I had reached out to a local running FB page with an open invitation for anyone to join me on my run if they wanted.  One runner, Joni, who I had run with 2 times before, said she was interested and she’d run at least the first loop with me.

I had spent weeks figuring out and getting familiar with the course I wanted to run in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.  The first loop would be a little over 13 miles and utilize early the most used trail in the park trail system.  The second loop would be 20 miles and include a nasty 2.5 mile climb at approximately Mile 20 on Berry Glen Trail that included 1200 ft of elevation gain up to Lady Bird Johnson Grove.

With Joni accompanying me on the first loop, it seemed to go by fast, although it took over 3.5 hrs.  The Hub and Karen met us at the 5 Mile mark at Fern Canyon and then back at the start.  After getting restocked, we took off on the 2^nd loop and Joni stayed with me until Mile 16 when she had to turn back.  A quick hug and thank you and agreement that we will definitely run together more in the future, and we parted ways.

The section we were on at that point is a flat 2+ mile service road that, while really pretty because you’re still running in the redwoods, just sucks the life out of me every single time I run it.  And although the entire run was a balancing act of how hard to push things without using up everything before the end, I didn’t manage this section very well and that probably cost me at least 10 minutes.

The Hub and Karen met me at the of this section, at Davison Road, where I had some Ramen noodles (yum!), my bladder was refilled, I picked up a bottle of half water, half coke (which works really well), and I grabbed my hiking poles.  I quick kiss to The Hub and I took off to tackle the hardest part of the run – 2.5 mile Trillium Trail and then the climb up Berry Glen Trail to Lady Bird Johnson Grove.

The climb.  Holy cow.  On fresh legs it’s hard, but at Mile 20+ - it just sucks.  The poles were a huge help, but I couldn’t help wondering more than once, “Where the hell is the top??  Did they move it?”

Once I got to the top, I calculated time and miles left and realized the run was taking me longer than I had hoped.  If I wanted to finish before dark, I would have to cut my return short, so I decided to leave off the 2.5 mile Trillium Trail on the return.  And in all honesty, this didn’t exactly break my heart.  The run down from Lady Bird is usually a ton of fun, but by this time my body from the waist down was wondering what the heck was going on and I was having a hard time efficiently negotiating the downhill, as well as all the blowdown on the trail from a previous storm.  Bypassing Trillium would leave me with 31 miles instead of 33.5 miles and I was fine with that.

When I got to the bottom of Berry Glen, Karen was waiting for me.  Due to a bit of miscommunication, they didn’t realize I was running the 2.5 Mile Trillium and were wondering what was taking me so long.  What they thought was a 6-mile round trip (from the parking lot to the Lady Bird) was actually an 8.5-mile trip.

I loaded up again with coke/water and some food, kissed The Hub goodbye, and took off for the last 4+ miles of this run.  I was back on the dreaded 2+ mile service road and out loud I said, “Leslie, you’re gonna have to suck it up and run if you want to make it under 9.5 hrs.” And so I did.  I pushed that section as hard as I could without throwing up, alternating running and power walking, and finally came off the service road and onto Elk Prairie Trail.  Another 1.75 miles and I’d be done!

I had been listening to music on the entire return, and as I started on Elk Prairie Trail, Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” popped up in the shuffle and, fortuitously, after that it was his song “Zombie Stomp.”  Right about that time, I looked at my watch and realized if I pushed it really hard, I could finish in under 9.5 hours.

Let me just say if you ever need a piece of music to help you pull your stuff together and move down the trail, “Zombie Stomp” is perfect!  I pulled my iPod out of my pocket and every time the song neared the end, I hit repeat.  I let that song drive me down the trail, along with my own huffing and puffing and grunting.  I passed a few hikers who called out “Enjoy your run!” and I thought, “If you only knew!”

At the end of Elk Prairie Trail, you pop up on to the road  that fronts the Park’s parking lot.  I hit that, ran across the road, and down the parking lot, huffing and puffing, passing people who I’m sure that I was nuts.  Karen and The Hub finally saw me coming and she started ringing her cowbell like crazy, and when I reached him, I fell into The Hub’s arms and started sobbing.  I couldn’t help myself.  Five years of pain, frustration, and wondering if I’d ever be able to run again or run an ultra again had come to a head.  He hugged my disgustingly sweaty body and kept telling me it was okay and he was proud of me.

I finished 31 miles in 9:27:15 . . . and yes, that counts as under 9.5 hrs.!

BIG shout of THANK YOU to Joni for running with me.  I mostly run by myself and it was so nice to have the companionship.

Also a HUGE thank you to my buddy Karen and The Hub.  Both of them have seen me at my worst and best in my struggles the last 5 years, and them sharing this moment with me is priceless.

When I think about all I went through to get to this point, I’m really proud of myself for not giving up.  It would’ve been so easy to just say “It isn’t meant to be,” but I love this sport.  Trail running and ultra running don’t define me, but they’re a huge part of my life.  I love running trails.  I  love pushing myself to see what I can accomplish.  There will come a time when I won’t be able to continue as I am now, age has a way of catching up with all of us.  Until then, you can find me making my way somewhere on the beautiful trails God has graced us with, enjoying life.

Great job Leslie!!!   Thanks for the write-up and great photos.  Getting out there and executing the plan after such a long bout with injury and recovery must feel really great - tired but great!!!  I can't say I've have experienced such a long-term issue, but I have had doubts on some of my smaller scale injuries, so I guess I can imagine what you went through.

It sounds like you certainly challenged yourself both mentally and physically on that Fat Ass run.  Also nice that you had the support team out in force. But in the end it was you out there on the "comeback trail", and I agree with your summing up, you should be really proud of yourself for not giving up!!!

Recover well and let's hope this is the first of many more enjoyable long runs.

Nicely done Leslie!  That’s a long, tough road to recovery- but looks like you made it   Congratulations. 

Are you laying plans for a 50k race?

 

I'm signed up for a 50k in April near Chico, CA.

Excellent!

Congrats! Hope you are all healed up with no left over aches and pains.

Thanks, everyone.  I appreciate the comments.