In the past, I've averaged about 2 hours per loop on this course. My second loop has been around 20 minutes slower than the first. Since I was pretty happy with my training leading up to this race, I was hoping for less than 6 hours for 3 loops. As soon we entered the trail and I saw how muddy the course was, I knew that 6 hours was out of the question. As it was, a lot of the mud was still somewhat frozen on Loop 1, so I managed the first loop in 2:01.
I still felt good heading out for Loop 2 until I was a half mile or so down the trail. That's when I saw the carnage that was left from the 250 or so 10 mile runners who had passed through an hour after the 250 or so 50k and 20 mile runners. All of the remaining snow and ice had thawed, and with all of the runners passing through, the trail was now an ankle deep pool of muck. These trails are always pretty rough, because they are meant for horses, and unlike the trails meant for 2 legged creatures, horses tend to create a deep trough or channel in the ground. Running through these muddy channels really takes a toll on your hip stabilizer muscles. I've been doing strength workouts for my hip adductors and abductors, but even with that, I wasn't prepared for 30 miles of slip/sliding forward, side-to-side, and yes backwards. So, Loop 2 was 2:46, and I was feeling pretty worn down.
As I headed back out for Loop 3, I knew that everyone's finish times were way longer than they'd hoped, mine would be too, so it goes. I was sick of the mud, but this was what I'd signed up for, running for hours when I'd really rather not. I will need mental toughness if I'm going to run 100 miles in September, so this was just what I needed to do. Loop 3 was mostly hiking all the way around the lake, I tried to take advantage of any runnable sections, but they were few and far between, and my running wasn't very fast.
I hiked nearly the entire section from the start to the first aid station. There were many familiar faces among the awesome volunteers cheering me on when I arrived into Aid Station 1, and that really helped to perk me up. After leaving the aid station, the course goes through what is called "The Triangle", which is a meandering section of trail about a mile in length, after which you wind up on the other side of Aid Station 1. As I started the triangle I mentioned that I'd be ready for a shot of Fireball Whiskey when I exited. Of course the awesome volunteers didn't disappoint. The shot was waiting for me and they even provided a toast so that I wouldn't have to drink alone (not that it would've bothered me). That was a first, I've never had any alcohol during a race, but at the pace I was going, I knew it wouldn't hurt anything, and besides, it was pretty damn chilly.
Somewhere on Loop 3, as we were climbing up one of the muddy narrow channels, the guy in front of me lifted his foot and realized that his shoe had stayed in the mud. I offered some help, but he insisted that I just go around him (thinking back I don't know what help I possibly could've been). That wasn't easy to do however as it was so slippery that if you tried to climb to the side, you would just slide back into the middle. After awkwardly bouncing off of each other a few times, I managed to get around him and continue on.
About 2 miles from the finish as I emerged from the woods at the final aid station (at the top of a tough hill), I was greeted by one of the volunteers shouting "Heyyyy M*&#@!*+=#er!". I started laughing so hard that it took me a few minutes before I could answer and ask them for another shot of Fireball. They poured an extra-healthy dose and cheered as I downed it. I really can't say enough about how I appreciate the volunteers in these races. The races simply could not happen without them. It's no small thing to give up an entire Saturday and wake up at an ungodly hour to work for no pay in the cold and mud. Having done it a few times though, I can say that it is completely worth it to see/help the runners achieving their goals.
I finished Loop 3 in 3:28, almost an hour and a half longer than my first loop. Total time for the 50k was 8:17. On the bright side, I should definitely be able to improve next time. On the brighter side, I had lots of good friends to cheer and greet me at the finish as well as some new sweet swag!
I had a hard time figuring out how many layers to wear for this race. Temps were in the 30's at the start and the forecast was for early afternoon rain and a high in the low-mid 40's. I ended up packing a backpack with (it seemed) 3 complete changes of clothes, putting it with the drop bags, and never using it (in fact I forgot it completely until I was driving out of the park and had to double back to get it). So, a tech fabric t-shirt, insulated arm sleeves, a long-sleeved tech shirt, and a water resistant jacket tied around my waist worked perfectly. I got chilly on Loop 2 and put on the jacket when the mist started turning to light rain. Once the jacket was on, I kept it on for the rest of the race as I wasn't moving fast enough to get too warm. From past experience, I'm cautious about running in cool wet weather. Running in wet clothes may be OK at first, but after getting worn down in a long run, you can reach a point where you can't move fast enough to generate enough internal heat to maintain your core temp. So I try to keep a rain resistant fabric at hand and layer properly so as not to sweat through the layers underneath.
I drank plenty of water, but didn't eat much during food this race, and that wasn't very smart. I didn't ever "bonk", but I did catch myself a few times on during Loop 3, just sort of lollygagging along. If I'm not able to run, I try to at least hike with a purpose, but it was tough staying motivated once I knew that my finish time would be so slow. There were some vegan energy balls on the first and second loops that were really good, I probably had 3 or 4 of those. Between loops 2 and 3, I did shove about 10 Pringles in my mouth at one time. I tried to apologize to the volunteer that witnessed this, but that just made matters worse as the crumbs flew out as I tried to speak. I don't really know why, but I also downed a cup of pickle juice at this stop. Maybe I felt some leg cramps coming on and wanted to prevent them anyway I could. I'm not sure if it helped, but it did remind me that I don't really like pickles. As these things normally go though, the foods were pretty well picked over by Loop 3. I had a baggie full of dates in my flip-belt in case I got too hungry, but never needed them.
That's it. Step 1 of my plan to get ready for the Hawk Hundred has been successfully completed. Two weeks after Psycho Wyco is the Pi Day River Rotation, I'm signed up for the 5k and the half marathon (long story). I can't wait for it, great race with awesome people! April 7th is the Rockin' K 50 miler, I've definitely got some training to do before I'm ready for that.
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