It seems like I read race reports so often these days that I actually run the race thinking "I better remember to put this in my race report".  Next time I need to just bring a digital tape recorder and all my thoughts will be there for me when I return!

We gathered at Brushy Lake Recreation Area in the Bankhead National Forest in northern Alabama at 8:00.  The weather forecast was for a sunny, 60 degree day, which we haven't had all winter long.  At the start though, my friend Julia's car reported it was 29 degrees.  I wore my new Brooks tights that I picked up at the Mercedes Expo last weekend, Keen wool knee socks (for a little bit of compression action), a Nike tank, my Moeben sleeves and a long sleeve shirt with the thumb sleeves so they keep your hands warm.  Julia got to the start and changed into tights as well.  I couldn't believe so many people were wandering around in shorts and skirts.

We shuffled up to the start, which was on gravel road we drove in on.  At the go, I started off very, very slow, and told myself I needed to walk any steep parts of this 2.5 mile uphill to keep my legs working later in the race.  (My self forgot this by mile 2, which I did in under 9 minutes.  I don't have this problem with pacing in training runs.  Only races.) 

At 2.5 we turned into the woods, onto my beloved single track, where we'd be for the next 25 miles or so.  The course was a double figure 8, which I like.  When I run out and backs, I remember specific hills when I'm going down and dread coming back up them later.  The course itself is a horse trail.  It wasn't very hilly at all, just very gently sloping most of time. It's almost entirely dirt, not so many rocks and roots to contend with but unbelievable amounts of mud.  At the beginning of the single track, every 10 or 15 yards I would either have to slow down and navigate around the perimeter (which, I know is bad for the track) or nearly get my shoes sucked off in the sole/soul-sucking mud.  I came out of some mud pits with my shoes covered in a shoe box sized blocks of mud.

As an aside:  About 3 miles in, I see Julia ahead.  I train with her, but in races she's much faster than me, so by this point in the race, she should be no where in sight.  I stop to take off my long sleeved shirt (it's sweltering already), and I see her holding on to a tree ahead.  She said she heard something pop and now she can barely put weight on her foot.  She tells me to go ahead, "You have a time goal.  Go!  I'll drop out at the next aid station."  It took her 1.5 hours of limping in the mud to get there.  She spoke with her doctor and she's probably out for the season

I continued making my way through the mud, cursing very loudly when no one was around.  I had to tighten my shoes as much as they would go to avoid losing them, which was starting to bother the tops of my feet, and I could feel all the muscles in my legs working really hard to keep me up right.  Most of the time.  Sometimes I did, in fact, slip and fall.  By mile 10 or so, the mud pits became less frequent, but every time I thought I was done with them, I'd enter another mine field.  I was feeling tired already, and I knew I was slowing down, and it seemed like people were passing me left and right.  As I came up on mile 15 with almost 3.5 hours in already, I felt my time goal of < 7 hours slipping away.

I got to the next aid station, and although my Garmin said 16 miles, they told me it was actually 17 miles, and that improved my spirits somewhat.  On the other hand, if Julia had been there with the SUV, I might have hopped right in.  The mud and all of the resultant falls were really getting me down.  But she wasn't there, so I plodded on.  Luckily, in the second half, either the mud had dried or I got better at navigating it.  Either way, I stopped caring about it as much.  There were a lot of stream crossings where I got to soak my feet for a second, and the numbing action of the cold, cold water made my feet feel so good. 

I started catching up with some folks and chatting with them, running their pace for a while to try to get into a groove.  Getting to meet new people on the run is one of the things I love most about trail running, and is probably why I wasn't having as much fun on the first part.  After the next to the last aid station, I met up with two older guys.  One was from Tuscaloosa, and he was running his first 50K after completing the 25K at Tashka in December.  The other said he had been running and directing ultras for 35 years and said he was in a 2 year project to run an ultra in every state.  He was very interesting.

Maybe they could tell I was on the verge of crashing and burning, but they took me along and the three of us ran most of the rest of the race together.  I fell down once so hard and I just wanted a few minutes to collect my breath.  "Are you hurt?"  "No, not really, I just want to sit here for a minute."  "I'm not going to let you sit here and feel sorry for yourself.  Get up."  So I did, and after that, continued on without much of a complaint

We nearly ran out of water before we reached the last station at the gravel road, all three of our party.  The man who was running his first 50K started feeling weak, and my other new friend stayed with him as I ran on.  Seeing the gravel road up ahead, I started running again for most of the way. 

Having run up the gravel road to get into the woods, I was sure it was downhill to the finish, but I was wrong.  Somehow this road was uphill both ways...no, as I continued on, it started to go down.  I was passed by a girl my age.  I wished I had enough power in my legs left to chase her, but I let her go. 

My new friend who was running the ultras in all the states caught up with me and we ran it in to the end as much as our tired legs would let us.  The time was 6:44x.  Woohoo!  I met my goal of a sub-7 50K and got a new PR of almost 25 minutes! 

I expected to see Julia at the finish, but I didn't, so I grabbed a hamburger and fries and large amounts of Mountain Dew, and went back up to cheer for the others coming in.  Julia still wasn't around, so i decided to curl up in the passenger seat and take a nap.  When I woke up about 45 minutes later, the parking lot was nearly clear and still no sign.  I had no cell phone coverage.  I would have driven to somewhere close to a tower, but I only had the remote, no key.  Finally, I spotted the note she left me under the windshield wiper that she had gone back to Birmingham with some of our other friends and the key was in the driver door.  So, I pulled myself together, hopped in the driver's seat, and drove home.  When I got into cell phone range, I found that everyone was very worried about me and were about to embark on a rescue mission!

I'm glad I finished the race.  I had a lot of negative thoughts in thegoing on in my head about the course and how I felt for a lot of the first two-thirds of the race.  I perked up through talking to people and telling myself that, especially as I start doing even longer distances, it's not ever going to be easy the whole way.

Speaking of not easy the whole way....next week: Mount Cheaha 50k.  No time goal for that one, just hope to make the cutoffs.

Hi Jen,

Your race report is SUPER - congratulations on the excellent time and the huge PR; sets you up for a good season and a great race next week (WOW!!). 

I must admit I didn't think you were going to meet your time goal when I read the first half of your report. I am always surprised at how the mind tends to entertain a lot of negative thoughts during the first part of a long run - mine almost always does. Same thing on long training runs. Somehow, after the first half is completed the mind starts to ease up and count down to the finish - even though the body is more tired at this point it somehow feels easier to run. 

Well, you did not have easy conditions to deal with - the mud sounds like a royal pain in the feet/ankles. The weather, on the other hand, must have been wonderful if it was anything close to the weather we had here. It was sunny and in the 60s for a high yesterday - first spring like day of the season. Hard to believe it is only a week ago the MB Marathon was canceled due to snow.............

Did you change into shorts during the race? Or did you keep the tights on? Must have been hot?

Thanks, flower!  Yes, the weather was absolutely beautiful and the sky was so blue and clear.  Perfect running weather.

I regretted the tights as I started warming up.  I regretted having all of it to lug around, the shirt around my waist and the moeben sleeves tied to my pack.   The only thing that I really liked about the tights was that I had no chafing at all like I do when I wear shorts.  In the summer, it seems like no matter how much body glide I use, I still have issues with it.  And I loved that the tights stayed dry the whole time, even though I sweat a lot.  Much better than my Nike tights.  I was also pleased with the Keen socks.  (I usually wear SmartWool.)  My feet were actually completely clean when I took my socks off and I only had one small blister on the side of my foot. 

By the way, I stopped for a few to chat with Terri along the way.  I didn't know that Lynch's Woods is going to be her birthday run.  I'll have to bring some cupcakes

I've gone back and forth with the underwear and I think I chafe less when I wear underwear, but it has to be the seamless, no elastic kind.  In the summer though, I just wear the shorts with the lining on the inside and just keep applying body glide.

I do wear a pack.  I have a 1.5 L and a 2.0 L Nathan pack.  I bought the men's kind because I'm kind of tall and I didn't want to risk it riding up too high.  I only wear the 2.0 L when I am on a really long trail run with no support or if it's above 90 degrees.  Yesterday I wore the 1.5 L, and as always, totally overpacked it...camera, hammer gels, an oatmeal creme pie (for emergencies...which happened at mile 22 or so), Succeed caps, ShotBloks, extra socks, toilet paper, my iPod (again for emergencies...which didn't happen).    It did give me a back ache by about mile 20, but i figure it will get better as race season goes on.

I've gone back and forth with the underwear and I think I chafe less when I wear underwear, but it has to be the seamless, no elastic kind.  In the summer though, I just wear the shorts with the lining on the inside and just keep applying body glide.

 

I do wear a pack.  I have a 1.5 L and a 2.0 L Nathan pack.  I bought the men's kind because I'm kind of tall and I didn't want to risk it riding up too high.  I only wear the 2.0 L when I am on a really long trail run with no support or if it's above 90 degrees.  Yesterday I wore the 1.5 L, and as always, totally overpacked it...camera, hammer gels, an oatmeal creme pie (for emergencies...which happened at mile 22 or so), Succeed caps, ShotBloks, extra socks, toilet paper, my iPod (again for emergencies...which didn't happen).    It did give me a back ache by about mile 20, but i figure it will get better as race season goes on.

I think I am going to buy a Nathan pack as well. The 1.5 liter may be enough. Do you carry hand helds as well as the pack? I guess it would depend on how far between the aid stations?

I have ordered a pair of Zensah compression shorts from Zombierunner - they should be in the mail within the next few days. They are being advertised as being seemless on the inside so they should cause less chafing than regular/other compression shorts. I will let you know how I like them.

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Are you recovering well from the 50K?

Remember not to overpack your backpack for Mount Cheaha 50K this weekend, OK?!