Ceej-try-2-keep-up

It's Official!!!

I finished my first Ultra marathon today. A 50 miler.... actually 51.5 miles. Time 11h 21min 01sec. I wasn't really shooting for a particular time, but just to finish the overall thing. My partner was looking for a 10 hour finish which was totally in reach at the beginning, but things don't always go the same at the beginning as at the end.

Pre race meeting
The start of the race was at midnight. We had a pre-race meeting where the officials went over some of the rules and stated (I forget what his actual words were but something like) "You'll have thoughts of quitting around miles 30 and 40, but don't let your mind tell you your out". They then showed us the medal for finishing and the prize for not.... a handshake. Melissa took a couple pictures and then we were off.


Miles 1-10
I totally felt great. We were running in a large pack for a while. It was pretty humid though. I think my tech shirt was soaked after a couple miles. Kind of passing and getting passed by the same people as we put our running strategy into play (Run 2 Walk 1). Actually for a while we were running 20 min and walking 10 cause we didn't realize they had mile markers out. It was just too many people and dark. A headlamp was mandatory for the first lap of the race. It was fun to see all the people sort of glowing with the reflective material they were wearing. I used it more on the backside of the course. The first side of the course was flat and fast. When we hit mile 5 a brutal hill began. The hill lasted through most of the mile and there was a full on food station just before mile 6. Mile 6 was then all downhill through 7. Then the course became flat and fast again.

Miles 11-20
For these miles we ran back the way we came. So instead of continuous running circles you ran the next loop backwards. I'm not sure of the purpose behind this other than to mix the hills up a little. Through these miles we realized there were mile markers and started our Run 2 Walk 1 technique. We still were also passing and getting passed by the same people.... still playing the cat and mouse game. I'm drinking a ton of gatorade and water, eating salty foods, even pouring some salt on my hands and licking it off. Salt keeps your electrolytes up which keeps you from cramping.... potassium and magnesium are also a big part of that. I still didn't take any Ibprofen yet. I wanted to wait til the next loop.

Miles 21-30
Before we left the aid station on the next opposite loop, I hit up some magnesium, salt, and more gatorade. I think I also grabbed a bagel which I ate about two bite before tossing it on the trail while we were taking off. It was just a litte too chewy and heavy. A little past mile 21 there is a wooden bridge on the loop. There was a nice breeze going which felt amazing. Legs were kinda getting heavy toward the end of this loop and some people we started to not see anymore passing us. The hills were more punishing this round too. Also at this point the trail was lighting up with more n00b runners. They were giving us a lot of encouragement thought so it was all good.

Miles 31-40
By the end of this loop my feet were shot. Toes felt like they were rubbing up against my shoes and blisters were forming. I brought a change of shoes, socks, and running shirt and they were due. I also hit some Ibprofen before I left. I'm not gonna lie it was painful getting going on this loop. We switched to a Run1 Walk 1 on this loop and were still pulling off 10 min mile runs and 13 min walks. At the end of the loop I could tell I was on the verge of a nasty crap in my quad and hamstring. We were pretty much set in the pack at this point. No passing was going on at this point. Survival mode was in play.

Miles 41-To Glory!!!
I made sure to hit up some salt, magnesium, and I had a drink one of my friends gave me to try "Squincher" which is supposed to have double the electrolytes and potassium of gatorade. I also gave Melissa a two hour warning for finish time. For the most part of this lap we were walking. Still punching out 13 to 14 minute walk miles though. My pinky toes were killing me and that's what was really keeping me from running. It seems pansy, but the pinky toe is a brutal one to have being smashed repeatedly. Trust me! On the first mile back we encounter some older women who had a super powerwalk going on. I made sure they knew they'd be tripped if they came on me....jk. Most people at this point were walking or running so slow they might as well have been walking. We ran when we could throughout this loop. The real sucky thing was it started to rain and squishy shoes are not fun.

Eventually one guy came up on us and passed. His run though was about as fast as our powerwalk. On the HORRIBLE hill we caught him and started chatting with him. This was his 36th Ultra. He noted he'd had some problems holding down food through it. When we got up the hill, we grabbed some food and took off. He took off a little before us and was gone in flash. I didn't even see where he was he took off so fast. At the mile 6 marker another person passed us. It was this asian dude who was totally sandbagging it the whole race. He ran right by us. We kept our powerwalk on and pressed forward. Two more people passed us near the end. One I called "Hulk" cause of his green shirt. The other was Arnold Begay. He's done the Badwater Ultramarathon in 2009. Watch the documentary "Running on the Sun" to see what this event is all about. We passed one guy around mile 48. I text Melissa about a mile out noting our color clothes and what to be looking for. We jogged it in at the end of the run.... STRONG FINISH!!!! I'll post more finish picture on FB. I didn't get any video of it though.


Glory!
Ceej:)

Labels: events, marathon, midnight madness 50 miler, ok, running, tulsa, ultramarathon

posted by Ceej @ 4:53 PM