Face plant at the start line

Ok, so here is my Trail Mix 50k race report...  It was quite a day!

Saturday morning the alarm is set for 4:45 am - but I am lying awake at 4am... The birds aren't even up yet - they didn't start chirping until at least 4:15! So I just try to lay quietly and rest, since I know it's going to be a long day.  What seems like forever, and the alarm goes off.  Up and at 'em I go - clicking on the coffee pot, and making the day's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Pretty soon we are on the road - a few minutes ahead of schedule actually.  That never happens!

We get the race with plenty of time for packet pick up and porta potty stops.  As we begin to gather at the starting line, our wonderful friends, and fellow "Team Junkyard" members are there to see us off - Jennifer and Jonathon.  What a great surprise!

Soon the announcer is calling 1 minute to the start, and we make our way into the group.  POP! the gun goes off, I start my watch, and BOOM! I'm face first on the ground!!! Oh my, it was really comical!! I'm just glad that it was a small race, and nobody stepped on me.  It happened so fast, one second I'm ready to go, the next I'm face first on the ground! Call me Grace!  Anyway I picked myself up and got dusted off.  No blood.  Ok, I'm ready to continue.  I am now literally at the back of the pack.  Oh well, I've got all day to make my way to the middle of the pack where I belong :)

As I start into the first of 4 loops, I realize my left pinkie finger is really quite sore, and I'm finding it very distracting.  So I stop 3 or so miles in and ask a First Aid volunteer to tape my pinkie and ring finger together.  Ahh, my fingers are much happier now.

I think the 1st loop was mentally the longest.  Loops 2 and 3 went by ok.  Listening to music, meeting some new people.  Finally loop #4.  I think it's getting colder.  It was high 40's at the start and very comfortable.  The forecast is for rain as the day goes on.  If only that rain would hold off for an another hour and a half...

No such luck.  A couple miles in to the last loop it starts to rain, and blow.  All race I had been walking the uphills.  Now I am walking the ups and the downs... but now it's colder and I'd dumped my long sleeve shirt after loop #1.  Well if nothing else, being cold certainly forces you to keep moving! Probably faster than I would have otherwise.  So I keep plugging along.  Some dull pain is now taking up residence in my right leg, I think my tendons and ligaments have been replaced with steel rods.  One step at a time, one hill at a time, one new friend at a time.  And then, there it is, the last few feet to the finish line - and it's all up hill!! I guess I better run this one!

And there it is, 30+ miles and 5:45 later, I have run farther than I have ever before.  I slayed a few demons out there, and simply kept moving forward.  Another experience of putting your mind to it, and putting one foot in front of another.

A mix of nerves and excitement

One week until the Trail Mix 50k.  I'm certainly excited, but that is coupled with butterflies in my stomach as well.  This last week of training hasn't been as flawless as I would have hoped.  For whatever reason I have been struggling with headaches.  I'm looking at what conditions might be causing them - tight muscles, dehydration, alcohol.  So far getting some bodywork done has had the best results.  I guess riding multiple horses 5 days a week coupled with running long, my body needed a little TLC.... I think I earned it!  Anyway, since I'm in taper-mode, I haven't felt too bad about taking an extra day off here and there.  I'm sure my legs will thank me come race day.

Yesterday, Matt and I headed out for one last loop around Lake Rebecca.  It was a sunny, warm day.  A nice change from the damp, cold, windy runs from the last 2 weeks.  Things have really started to green up as well.  So refreshing to watch Mother Nature blossom into Spring.

This is really my favorite time of year.

Our goal for this year is to run a 50 mile trail race.  Early on, we had our sights on the Voyager Trail Race that starts and finishes in Carlton, MN - it runs from Carlton to Duluth and back.  It's easy to talk about signing up for something like this, but as I'd check it out online, the website wasn't updated for 2012.  So up until now, it was all talk...

Not any more!!! Last night we bit the bullet and put our money where our mouth is.  We are officially registered for our first 50 MILE trail race!!! Talk about being scared and excited at the same time!  I feel like I should go out and start running hill repeats right now!

http://voyageurtrailrun.blogspot.com/

Until next time, happy running!!