Ultra numero uno!

The race started at 8am, and we were instructed to get there by 6am to avoid the parking jam. I left home at 5:40, a little later than expected, then realized I needed gas. After filling up, I got back on the freeway and was immediately pulled over by a cop. Turns out, my registration was expired! So after all that, I got on my way, arriving at the race around 7:15.

The temp at 7:15 was 35 degrees, but the sun was coming out and we were expecting a big warm up. So I started with just a t-shirt and my arm bands. This turned out to be perfect clothing choice, because it did get hot later.

So the gun goes off. The first 3 miles are on paved road, and the lead guys took off FAST. I kept an okay 8 min pace, doing my best not to get caught up going out too fast. The first 7 miles were uneventful, other than a ton of mud. It had poured all day Friday, so the trails and streams were overflowing with water and mud, and then having 575 people tromp through it, it got pretty mucky! The first aid station was at 7 miles, and because I had my own GU and 2 water bottles, I didn't stop. This wasn't a great decision, because by the time I got to the 16 mile station, my bottles were empty.

Around mile 13, I had pretty much stayed dry and was cruising along at about an 8:30 pace. I was running with a small pack and having fun. Then I took my eye off the trail for a second, and clipped my foot on something and did a full tumble, landing smack in a pretty good size stream of mud. But I was okay, got up and kept going. There were 2 good size hills in the first 16 miles, and in my head, I mistakenly thought that these two the two huge hills, Ball Bearing and Goat Hill. So I was feeling good, because I thought the major hills were out of the way. Ha!

Around mile 15, I got a coach boost from old Coach Bob, who was out in the boonies cheering people on. This gave me a 5 mile boost of good thoughts.

The second aid station was a relief. I filled my bottles and was craving sweets. Rice krispie treats and Paydays bars did the trick. Then it was off running again.

The next section was Dead Truck Trail, which we had never seen on out training runs. This was the first of two really large river crossings. (See pic) There were plenty of smaller creeks that still required full dunking of your feet, but these went "balls deep" if you know what I mean. But they felt good, the icy water seems to help my sore knee.

This was around mile 20, and the fatigue was starting to set in. Next came the real Ball Bearing Hill. Nearly a half mile of straight up climbing. The mud was so deep and slippery that it felt like one step forward, two steps back. I had many bad words slip out of my mouth as we climbed this beast. But then at the top, another aid station. This one at about mile 22, and I was so thankful.

At the aid station I accidentally contaminated the GU Brew of everyone behind me by tossing a used GU wrapper into the Brew. :P It looked like a garbage can! I got scolded for making a rookie mistake. This aid station, sweet was out and all I wanted was salt. I had a handful of potato chips and my new found best thing, boiled potatoes dipped into salt. Sounds gross, but that's what I needed! Then off running again.

It's really hard to get going again after stopping at the aid stations, even though you are only there for about 3 mins. The next section was Goat Hill, which is actually steeper than BB, but not as long. I was thankful to finally get there, because you are forced to walk. So even though its hard, it's sort of a mental break. There was another AS at the top, at mile 26. This was another welcome station. This time, just ate potatoes. This was also a good one, because it was the end of marathon, and now ultra marathon. I was now running further than I had ever gone.

I had 5 miles to go, but these were brutal. This was about the only time I was getting passed on a regular basis. I walked more than expected these last few miles. I was trying to play games, counting down the miles on my watch. I was also trying to make it in in less than 5:30, but realized here that that wasn't going to happen. So i trucked along, ate my final GU (3) and sort of walked/ran/shuffled. I was only doing about 12 min miles at this point, but it felt like a sprint.

One last AS at mile 29, but I didn't stop. You can hear the finish line from here, but that still wasn't enough to keep me running. I ran/walked until I saw the one mile to go sign, then ran the rest of the way in. My coaches had finished 40 mins and 30 mins ahead of me, and were there cheering on at the end. It was a big adreneline rush crossing that mudding finish line at 5:39.

Then I hosed off a ton of mud, at some lunch, got a 30 min massage, drank a beer, then went home. The whole time out there, I kept saying "how am I gonna do 50 miles next month?" But now that it's over, and other than being pretty sore, I can't wait for the next one!!


Food eaten:
1 pack of Powerbar gels
3 GUs
2 very small rice krispie treat
2 chunks of Payday bar
3 small red potato halfs with salt
handful of potato chips
lots of water