huffing THE HUFF 50k

Ross and I completed our FIRST 50k on Saturday, December 28th --- and when we finished, we said at almost the same time "We're NOT doing THAT again!!!"  but after 2 days of hobbling around the house because my legs are so sore from the trail running terrain of the 50k...... I think I might do the race again next year :)

It was the PERFECT December running day (in the Midwest) --- I think the car said 49 degrees as we were driving home.  I was very worried about the weather for this race -- just a couple weeks ago, we saw single digit temps for highs and just last weekend - it was raining for almost 24 hours.  But with just a light dusting of snow over the trails, the conditions were ideal..... for December.  By the second loop of the race though, the trail was quickly turning to mud.  Ross and I both wore YakTrax for the run, but found them a little annoying as leaves and sticks would clump to the bottom of them as we ran on the soft parts of the trail.  At one point, I looked down and I saw 2 sticks poking out from the sides of my shoes and I sometimes felt like I was carrying an extra few pounds on my feet --- not something I wanted after already running 20 some miles!

I finished 65/400 runners and was the 7th Female overall.  I finished 2nd in my age group and had an overall pace of 9:28/mile.  Overall time was 4:54 --- my goal was to finish in 5 hours because I've never run more than 26.2 miles --- and the trail-type terrain was new for me too so I didn't know what to expect.  I knew that I wanted to finish under 5:23 -- -my Ironman marathon time from August (yes, that time still haunts me and I know I can't really compare the final event of an Ironman to anything else --- but I vowed to run faster than a 5:23 from now on).

Ross finished in 4:55:02   ---- yes, that's just 1 minute behind me... if you're keeping track... like me :)  let's just say it's been a LONG time since I finished ahead of Ross --- 4 kids have "challenged" my training, training time, and general energy level :)  I chased Ross all summer --- finishing just a few minutes behind him in our Half-Ironman and 2 minutes from his best marathon time.  2014 could be my year...........

I don't have much of a race report - but here are my thoughts:  Trail running was definitely different -- a challenging type of different for sure.  We carried our own water and nutrition for the race.  I ate 2 PowerBar Applesauce throughout the race, drank water, and used my Enduropacks Electrolyte spray to add to a couple of my bottles.  I had to refill my fuel-belt bottles twice along the course -- and as a I look back, it's probably because the temperatures were much warmer that day.  I was just thankful the temps were above freezing so our water didn't FREEZE!   I also took a bite of a granola bar since I ran out of my applesauce --- the same granola bars that I ate during my long Ironman training bike rides but I found it hard to chew while running.  I knew I was within 3 miles of finishing and doing ok so I wasn't worried about needing more nutrition to finish.  I found "the wall" hit me about mile 21 --- similar to the time that I've hit the wall in previous marathon.  I was starting to feel tired, it was about 6 miles into the 2nd loop of the course and I was quickly remembering all the switch-backs and up/down hills from the first loop. 

The running crowd seemed to thin out pretty much for the 2nd loop.  I only tripped once... which is good for this girl whose middle name should have been Grace for sure!  I got distracted by another runner (he was doing a relay portion of the race and they ran a slightly different course than the individual 50k'ers) who was coming down the hill in front of me in the opposite direction.  I had just made a left turn and was unsure if I had made the correct turn, so I was looking back to see if any other runners were close behind me to double check my path - when I looked up and someone was running right at me :)  - I lost my footing a bit and slipped, but no big deal.  I was ok!  Just a little embarrassed. 

There was one point in the course where you had to jump over some running water --- on the first loop, I paused before jumping because I didn't want to get my feet wet (wet feet = possible blisters!) and Ross told me that the runners were quickly piling up behind me ready to jump over the flowing water.  It's one of those moments where everything goes silent - you are not aware of anything around you but your task at hand --- I was so worried about missing the 2 rocks that I needed to jump over ----- I made it!  Probably frustrated a few runners behind me in the process but I did notice on the 2nd loop that no one was around me and I took my time again trying to navigate the 2-rock jump :)  I probably lost a good minute or 2 as I pondered the best path over the water --- hoping that my 'gracefulness' would carry me across.

first loop:  2:15:48.31     8:45pace           second loop 2:38:19.49      10:12pace -- ugh!    4:54:07.80overall time       9:28overall pace

 

 

 This is Ross  --- a few minutes after showering at home --- he got his pillow and CRASHED :)

 10 fuel-belt water bottles total for the 2 of us ---

The HUFF race bling ---- the medal is actually a belt buckle - pretty cool!  We even got a cool lunchbox and keychain.

I've been trying to stay off my running feet for a couple days to recover --- mostly because I'm still hobbling around with sore legs!  This afternoon we took down our ornaments from the tree and I decided to string ALL my race bibs together and hang all my medals on the tree.  I have race bibs from the early 90's when I ran some of my first road races.  On most of the bibs, I actually put times down on the back, so it was fun to look through the race bibs.  Can't believe I have enough bibs to fill a Christmas tree!  Races range from 5k-50k and sprint distance triathlons - Ironman.  I used 2 mylar blankets on the bottom for a tree skirt.  Like the running shoes on the top?  Ross came up with that idea :)

Excited to see what 2014 brings for my racing season --- 2 marathons back to back in May, Long Course Triathlon Nationals (Half-Ironman distance) in June, Ironman Boulder in August, Ironman Wisconsin in September, a few half-marathons and sprint triathlons sprinkled in-between, probably a late fall marathon too so I can try to qualify for Boston 2016 --------and maybe, just maybe The HUFF 50k in December 2014 :)