AHHH I'm sitting here freaking out...Prairie Spirit is 17 days away and I feel so underprepared...I've been consistent in my walking....but still anxious about it.  Keep remembering the Pumpkin Holler and how much my back hurt even tho I know it was the car accident.  It's not bothered me since then but I still think about all the things that could go wrong. I'm hoping I can settle down by the day before the race.  Maybe my 20 miler will help .

Diane, thanks for all those links! I need all three states.

Lisa, cleaning is dangerous. You should really consider reducing your exposure to things like clean slippery floors.

I like the look of the Lean Horse 50. Though I have driven through the Black Hills a number of times and I think they are downplaying the elevation gains and losses. Rail to trail it may be but it ain't flat. However, 50 mile point to point can be more interesting than 25 out and 25 back.

So it is official. DD got a job offer yesterday -- she was worried because the references had all responded and no offer was forthcoming, but it turned out that the HR guy she had been dealing with had left suddenly. (Not a good sign when HR quits!) She talked to someone else in the HR department yesterday morning and soon after got an official offer email. So she will be going up to her new city next week to look at apartments, coming back to finish her 2 week notice at her current job (and, we hope, training her brother to take her place, manager is interested!), then she and DS and cat will drive up to the new city the week afterwards. Or to be precise she and DS will do the driving, cat will be a passenger.

Lisa -- HOW did you make a wrong turn on Long Play? I know they have changed some of the course from year to year, but did you go straight on the bike path rather than angling right along the road shoulder to get to the first segment of unpaved road?

Cathy, will be interested to hear what you think of The Librarian of Auschwitz. I didn't know about that aspect of the camp.

Ginny, sorry you are losing your trainer for a few months, but you might like the replacement one better and if you had stuck with the original one you would not have met the new one. Does that help at all?

Liz, hope you are very proud of your PR!

Elina, good luck with the floorball this evening -- beat Estonia!

No lunch today. Too much to do!

You're welcome Tessa, if you pick any of them let me know and I can see what I can do to also do that one.  I know the OK's I've done haven't been too technical. Not like the ones out west anyway.  I did a 5k at Turkey Mnt and it was pretty rocky with BIG rocks I had to climb over.  Post Oak had a couple of big climbs but not undoable.  Mowdy Ranch was the prettiest...and a lot of varied scenery.  PH is pretty much gravel roads like I live on.  It's along a river so if the trees turn it can be pretty.  When I did Mowdy and Post Oak I wasn't really familiar with aid stations but they seemed pretty solid.

I can't recommend the Angry Bull unless you like boring rail trails.  It's fast tho..the 50k female winner did it in 3:59.   I don't know of any other MO races with the exception of Dogwood Canyon. I don't know why it didn't show up...http://fitness.basspro.com/Page/Dogwood-Canyon-Trail-Runs.aspx  This is one I'm hoping to do probably next year.

I haven't a clue about AR but I do know that the SE border of OK has the Ouachita Mountains.  Not the Rockies but for here they are impressive.  I have gone horse camping there and even staying on the gravel roads they were steep and winding.

Long Play 33 1/3 2018

Short version: 9:54 for 33 1/3 miles (as in the number of rotations per minute for a long playing record), plus a bit of bonus mileage, the kind you get when you think you made a wrong turn, retrace your steps, and realize you have to be going the right way because there’s no alternative path after the last flag. Maybe 33.5 total. DFL but glad I did opt to do the ultra rather than the full.

Long version: I was supposed to go to a convention in Orlando last year. A few days prior to the convention Hurricane Irma hit Florida and slid up the Gulf side from the Keys to Tampa and then inland to take a swipe at Orlando. The convention site informed the CPCU Society that all the hotel rooms the convention had booked were occupied by refugees from the coast and those whose homes nearer Orlando had suffered damage. Convention was cancelled. I had booked my flight some time in advance so I had a year to use up the credit on Southwest, and that left me needing to take a trip before the beginning of May 2018 or forfeit the credit. I’m way too thrifty to do that.

So I asked running friends for advice. Needed: a marathon or ultra before May, preferably in one of the states I had not yet completed for 50 states status, bonus points for FE possibilities. A race with a generous time cutoff policy, ideally small and friendly and scenic. I received a number of generous offers and thoughtful suggestions, some of which I may consider for future trips. NotSoFast suggested Long Play north of Tampa, about an hour from her home, and looking at it and considering the merits of this vs. other Florida races I opted to sign up. (Sorry Disney fans. I don’t particularly like megaraces, I’m not a Disney fanatic, and I prefer to save my money rather than try to resist Disney’s practiced efforts to separate guests from as much of their disposable income as possible.)

I flew to Tampa on Friday and NSF met me at the airport. She and I have met several times before and enjoy each other’s company. May I add that she is a most generous and gracious hostess and her son G is a delight. We kicked back and relaxed the first evening. Saturday morning there was a shakeout run along Bayshore Boulevard, seeing the sights, followed by a visit to the cemetery where her older son is buried, then we met Newfmrs for brunch at a restaurant near NSF’s home. Good meal and good visit, the last time I saw Newfie we were doing Great River Relay and she had not yet had her second child. She’s now the mom of four. She had to get home due to family obligations so we had a free afternoon. NSF, G, and I headed for the Bay Area Renaissance Festival, where we spent an enjoyable few hours watching jousting and magic acts, drinking cider (probably the softest hard cider I have ever consumed), and watching G try out as many games and contests as possible. Back to NSF’s house. Runnertype came for dinner directly from the airport, Big Taco Feast, and she then left to go to her hotel close to the race – she had a flight out the next afternoon and was hoping to finish the half, get back to the hotel, and clean up before going to the airport. The logistics wouldn’t have worked out if she’d stayed in Tampa.

We set the alarms for 4 AM to leave at 4:45 for a 6:30 start, knowing that we would have to do packet pickup and other prerace rituals. NSF had run into some training setbacks and was not going to do the half, the race website said that there was a 5miler or 5K as part of the event so she was thinking about doing that. Got up, drove up, found the location at a park/boat launch area, and got my race packet. The 5 mile hadn’t been offered for several years but the website hadn’t been updated. NSF decided that she could run these trails at any time and she’d go home, do her planned workout, see if her DS wanted to run, and then come back to get me. It would be a while before I finished, we knew.

Stats for Long Play last year: 62 in the ultra, 25 in the marathon, 92 in the half. And I am guessing that in any given year a good number of those who finish the marathon are those who register for the ultra, get to the split point and decide that 26.2 is still a full marathon and at that point it sounds better than running 33 1/3. This year registration was down noticeably, probably due at least in part to the fact that the Skyway 10K across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay was the same morning and it had sold out within hours of opening. The last time there was a race across that bridge was in 1987 and there may not be another one for a long while, if ever. So a number of runners skipped Long Play, which has been around for a few years and is likely to be offered again next year.

We line up for the full and ultra start. The RD tells everyone that the course is different this year due to high water at points along the course. No gun, no countdown that I heard, just “OK-go!” and we are off. It’s just getting light. As is my usual practice, I gravitate quickly to the back of the field. I’m not fast, not even average, and I prefer not to impede any serious runners. I know there are a few behind me but not many.

First 3/10 of a mile is through the park, past the boat ramp, on a sandy hiking trail that looks as though it hosts the occasional park ranger 4WD vehicle. We get through this and cross a road, landing on a paved bike path. The RD had said that this is 7/10 of a mile and it feels about right. That’s the last asphalt we’ll see, barring a couple of road crossings during the race. The bike path goes past houses and businesses on the left (north) and residential properties on the right, including one property that has probably 20 goats in a pen bordering the bike path. Some of the goats look interested in the passing runners, others are completely indifferent. Get to where the bike path crosses the road and continues. We stay on the right (south) side of the road for about 50 yards, then turn onto an unimproved road which is access for a few homes and then goes through fields into the state forest. From now on we will be in Withnacoochie State Forest, Croom tract – this is a large state forest and there are several tracts.

Up the road for a couple of miles. I am following a man in a dark blue shirt, pass him, then pass a runner who is stopping to take pictures of the scenery. Unlike most runners he is carrying a sizeable camera rather than relying on his smartphone. I keep ahead of these runners until we get to the first water station, which involves a road crossing (no problem) and takes us by a day use area where a few bikers and other recreational forest users have already parked their vehicles. There’s a small building with bathrooms and I detour to make use of the facilities, knowing that most ultras don’t have bathrooms on the course. Mission accomplished and I rejoin the race, behind the dark blue shirt and the photographer. They pull ahead of me and I don’t expect to see them again. Continue on an unimproved road with a good deal of sand on it. This is national forest, most of this is pine trees. I get passed by half marathoners, who started 30 minutes behind us, mostly in pairs or running solo. There don’t seem to be that many runners in the half either. The surface switches to singletrack trail for a while, we pass a campground with no amenities other than a picnic table. I see the first runner coming back, it’s the half marathon leader, then we get to another road and the half marathoners are directed to run down the road to the left while the fulls and ultras continue forward.

Now we’re on singletrack for a while. The trail is marked with orange flags and blazed with orange paint, the paint wasn’t supplied by the RD but is useful for finding our way. For a while it’s pine forest, then all of a sudden it switches to oak and other deciduous trees. It’s definitely a circuitous course, I figure as long as we keep progressing we’ll get to the next AS eventually. Pretty country, rolling gentle hills, lots of forest. I hear hawks and other birds from time to time, haven’t seen much else – NSF warned me about pygmy rattlers but I haven’t seen any sign of a snake, it may be a bit early in the season for them. I do not mind snakes though I have a healthy respect for the venomous ones, so I am keeping an eye out for any snakes and I don’t see any the entire race. It may be a bit dry for water moccasins and I believe coral snakes are shy and would prefer not to be anywhere near humans if they can avoid us.

Long traverse here, then the flags take us off the blazed course and through a small gorge cut by water. Not sure why the RD chose to do this, except maybe for interest – we’re scrambling down a steep slope then back up out of the canyon and back on the trail again. I am feeling good, though slow, and I’ve decided that if I get to the point where the full turns back and the ultra goes on for a 7 mile loop before 10:30 I will definitely do the ultra, if I get there before 11 I probably will, if I get there between 11 and 11:30 I will have to think about it, and if I get there after 11:30 then I will be dropping to the full. I am not confident about doing the full, though, because this is a revised course and I really don’t want to find that I ran 26.1 miles and so can’t count this race for Florida.

I get to the next aid station and happily eat orange slices for a minute. The volunteer checking runners in and out is someone I chatted with at the start line, he heard I was from California and wanted to know details. Also he heard my accent and wanted to know if I support any particular team. No, not really, but my dad always cheered for Crystal Palace. This guy is a Chelsea fan but all three of his sons support Manchester United. (I’m sure he cheers for Liverpool when ManU and Liverpool are playing each other, just to get the boys riled up.) I probably should pick a team to root for but I’m happy to hear the merits of various teams from ardent footie fans. I mention I think I’m last. He looks at his list and says no, there are about 8 Long Play runners who haven’t come in yet and a couple of full marathon runners. I remark that if I’d known there were that many behind me I’d have taken a bit more care when I stepped off the trail. Volunteers laugh. I later find out that there was only one behind me and she dropped from the ultra to the full, so while I wasn’t last at that point I will wind up last.

This is mile 14, it’s 10:15AM, and it’s somewhere between 3 and 3.5 to the next aid station which is the split point. After the loop we come back to this aid station and then get sent on our 7.5 mile way to the finish – so obviously we are not retracing our steps completely. I thank them and head out. The next part is more singletrack trail, some covered in pine needles, then we get to the point where we join the Florida National Trail which will eventually run the length of the state. Right now the trail runs alongside a big bike trail but is not part of the paved bike trail. We are running in pine needles and sand. The familiar little triangular plaques that denote a national trail, that I’ve seen on the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the Appalachian Trail, are showing up on signposts from time to time. This is very sandy. I pull up to a runner ahead of me, a tall man who’s going slowly. He asks which race I’m in and tells me he is signed up for the ultra but he’s going to drop to the full, his feet are hurting him. I am guessing he’s not the only one. Under a highway underpass, more sandy trail, and one of the returning runners asks me if I will carry an empty cup back to the aid station for me since “it’s just around the bend!” Good news. Meet two more returning runners who assure me that the aid station is just ahead, and they are right. This is where the drop bags are. I didn’t leave one so no need to stop for long. It’s about 10:50 and before I know it I’m crossing the road and on my way to the 7 mile loop that makes this Long Play.

Down a grassy path which is very nice footing. There are a lot of trees shading this section. I see something odd and stop for a closer look, it’s a densely woven pouch of spider silk that is about 4 inches by 7 inches by 2 inches. I don’t think I have ever seen something like that before. It appears to have insects or eggs inside and it’s built on a framework of twigs that make it look as if there’s a bat trapped inside struggling to get out. Not sure I want to see the spider that produced that! I take a photo to look it up later and continue. Meet a quartet of tourists who are most impressed with the runners, though I’m hardly that impressive, then we leave that path and take another trail through the woods. The trail circles a pond and I look apprehensively at it, no obvious inhabitants. Fairly soon the trail turns right along the banks of the Withnacoochie River and there is a sign that warns users not to bother the alligators or the snakes. I’ll make them a deal. I won’t bother them if they don’t bother me. Up the bank for some way, meeting various of the faster ultra runners along the trail. I’m seeing more palmettos along here, probably because of the water, I think. No alligators in sight. (NSF informs me later that there are no alligators in this river because the source is spring water and that’s too cold for them.) Then it turns out to be a real loop, not an out and back. Turn right, leave the river, pass a sign warning us that the next portion is not for public use, and through a small valley. I am glad the RD got permission for us to run through here because it’s pretty. At this point the grassy ride reminds me of some of the ski runs at Angel Fire, though they are considerably less steep! It’s a long loop here, past a couple of fields, one with horses, another with cows. There is enough sand in this area that occasionally it looks as if there are snowdrifts on the course, although I think it highly unlikely that we’d see snow in March in Florida. There’s a stand of trees on the other side of the field with horses and I count seven turkey vultures circling – not sure what is attracting them but I would bet something is dead. As long as it’s not a runner! Very long stretch out and then a sharp turn and a water station with one lonely volunteer there. Water only, not a problem, that’s all I need. The last aid station warned us that there was no food at this one. The volunteer thinks there are a few runners behind me. I don’t think so. We find out later that there were a few DNS entrants so the count was skewed.

Continue on, back to the riverbank and I’m now running east along the river. This is not the way we came out. It takes longer than I thought to get back to the point where the course became a loop, but finally I get there and head for the aid station. Back past the palmetto stands, around the pond, across the ditch, and back up the grassy track. I’ve seen a few more of the spider sacks hanging in trees. Occasional wildflowers, lots of fresh new spring growth of various plants.

I make it back to the aid station at almost exactly 1 PM. I have just under 10 miles to go. And it is confirmed that I am last. Terry, a 74 year old woman, opted to drop from the ultra to the full and she’s probably an hour ahead of me, and she was the last previous runner. Bill and Katie at the aid station give me lots of M&Ms. I ask if they have ice and yes, they do, it’s currently being used to cool some liquid carbs (which they offer me and I decline) but they can spare some for my water bottle. They put ice in it and top off the water. I thank them and head back along the trail. Stop to take my phone out of airplane mode, text NSF to let her know I will probably be in about 3:30-4 PM, and hear a shout from behind me. It’s Bill tearing down the trail to hand me my water bottle, bless him. I forgot it on the aid station table and I will definitely need it, the day is heating up.

Back along the Florida National Trail. Signs advise us periodically that this is an archery hunting tract only, no firearms. A lot of this looks familiar. At one point I meet a hiker, male, probably in his 40s, who stares at me.

“Is there a race of some sort?”

“Yes. Long Play.”

“How long is that?” “Well, you remember long playing records?”

“Sure.”

“How many rotations per minute?” “Uh…33 1/3.”

“Right – and that’s how many miles this race is.”

“Dang, girl!”

He asks how much I paid for this race and marvels at what people will pay for the privilege of running in the forest. He then informs me that Lake Townsens is “a helluva long way away” and tells me he couldn’t do it. I grin and remind him that we’re both of us doing better than all the people weighing down their couches. He tells me about his mom and how she spends all day on the couch because of her fibromyalgia, and that he worries because she’s taking so much OxyContin. He would like her to try medical marijuana instead but “that’s for hippies” and she doesn’t want to smoke the oil. I recommend that she try edibles instead and cite an elderly woman I know who felt the same way but whose daughter gives her one chocolate covered blueberry each night without mentioning the active ingredient, which gives her a good night’s rest without the side effects of opioids. He says he’ll look into it. We bid each other good day and continue on our respective ways.

The aid station with the Chelsea supporter is not far now. I get in at 2 PM. The volunteers are talking to a couple of hikers and extolling the friendliness of the ultra community. I chime in in agreement. Snarf down a bunch of orange segments and refill my water bottle for the last push. 7.5 miles to go.

In less than a mile I cross a clear space under power lines, then traverse a small belt of trees and cross a road. After this I am fairly certain I am on the second part of the half course, when we parted company their route turned left up a road and I think they did a bit of road then got back onto this trail. This has a couple of fairly hairy sections, including a slide down a steep gully coated with leaves which offer no stable footing at all. I manage to keep my feet but it’s rough going. Once I’m out of this stretch I try to make up some time but this is rolling rooty track and I’m getting tired. Mixed oak and pine, oak, pine, palmetto, repeat. Finally make it out of this section. At this point I am going through the same feeling I get in most ultras, that this is going to go on forever, I am never going to be able to stop running. I know there is a finish line and there will be diet Coke and a car to sit in and eventually a shower and a couch, but I can’t make those seem real at this point. The only reality is relentless forward motion.

Up and over a hill and off the singletrack onto an unimproved double track. This is far worse because the ATV wheels have turned the surface into soft sand. I’m staggering. I pass the last (unstaffed) aid station, don’t need any water, and continue on. Slowing down considerably in the bad footing. There’s a stretch of at least a mile coming up. I stop, take my phone out of airplane mode, and text NSF to let her know I am past the last aid station and this horse is smelling the barn. (Probably this horse is smelling LIKE the barn, too.) That stretch of road seems to last forever. Sand. More sand. Still more sand. And by the time I got my phone back into airplane mode I was advised of at least 10 incoming texts. Group things. I am tempted to text back “GO AWAY all of you and stop including me in group texts when I am running!”, or words to that effect, but restrain myself. Finally get to the bend in the road. Turn right and still more sandy track, though it’s a little less loose footing now. I see cars up ahead. Turn left onto a shoulder for a little while and then – YES! – familiar scenery. This is the 7/10 mile paved bike path we were on at the beginning. I don’t have much more than a mile to go.

I get down the bike path stretch, stared at curiously by a walker and a couple of women on beach cruisers, and cross the highway at the end. Back onto track for the last portion of the course. Here I have a snag. I saw the flags after I crossed the road. I don’t see any for a while. I don’t know if I missed a turn. Retrace my steps to the last flags. No, there wasn’t a turn. Back again on the bit I just returned on, go further, and finally see the day use areas at the east end of the lake. One last insult: someone rode a horse along the trail, a nice healthy horse which obviously has plenty of fiber in its diet, and there’s a big pile of horse apples at the gap where I’m exiting the track. I dodge those and get my foot caught in a vine. I didn’t actually step in the meadow muffins but it was a near thing. Into the day use area, follow the flags, I don’t see the finish line but someone yells to me and I head for the picnic table. I hear someone call “Just about 4:30” and see him write down my time, though they’ve already packed up the finish line mat. No worries as long as my time is recorded. NSF is waiting, she’s been chatting to the race staff. One of them cuts off my chip and helps me empty my shoes. They offer me water, ice, beer (not risking getting NSF cited for open container violations even if I liked the stuff), and whatever else I want. I get a big medal and a finisher’s plaque which is an actual LP with the race sticker on it. Mine is the soundtrack of “Live and Let Die”. I will probably never play it but it’s an interesting souvenir, though I doubt I’ll hold on to it for long.

NSF drives this filthy runner back to her house for a wonderful shower. I think half of Hernando County has washed down the drain at that point. Cleaned up, we head to the pub around the corner for dinner. G is happy, he likes their grilled cheese sandwiches. I have a text from runnertype who says that her lack of orienteering skills meant she barely had time to shower before heading for the airport, though she did manage to make her flight. We’ll see each other again in May when a group of us are doing Pinelands in Maine.

I am very glad I did this, it was a good way to get Florida, and I am thankful I opted for the ultra because it’s a new course and I was a bit concerned that the marathon might measure short. It would be miserable to do all that and then find out that the course measured 26.1 so the race didn’t count for this state! No argument here that this is at least a full.

And it was a beautiful course. The state forest is lovely. So many people fly right over this part of Florida, going to Tampa or Orlando or Miami, and never realize that there’s a lot of wild land still there, a good deal of it open to the public so that people may enjoy outdoor recreation. I’m glad I have had the opportunity to see it. Running has given me a much broader knowledge of this country. I’m also glad for all the people I’ve had the chance to meet and to get to know as a result of being a distance runner.

So by my count I have finished 32 states, still need 18 plus DC, and now have 82 fulls and 32 ultras to my credit. (Plus a few DNFs.) I’m making progress on this quest!