Cheyenne Mountain 50K 2014

Last Saturday, I was able to take a run in the park, Cheyenne Mountain State Park. Thanks to my mom's coming to stay with us for a week, my husband and I were both able to run the 50K race. I'd run the same race two years ago. That outing was my first and only attempt at the ulta distance. I'd run several other races on those trails and have a great appreciation for the difficulty of the course that I didn't have three years ago when I ran my first trail race (a half marathon) at the same park. So knowing the course and the difficulty of the trails involved, I was rather nervous about my ability to handle both the distance and the hills. Two years ago, when I finished the 50K, I'd had the opportunity to attend regular exercise classes that had significantly built my core muscle strength. This time around, I'd not been able to fit in those classes so felt much less strong and feared that the lack would show in my leg fatigue on the climbs and downhill sections of the race (that happens to be most of the course.) My husband and I arrived at the park and immediately found a friend who was also running the 50K. We applied sun screen, and deposited our drop bags then waited for the pre-race briefing. The day was warm at the start so though I tied my long-sleeved shirt around my waist, I never needed it. I had two goals going into the race, one was to control my pace early on enough that I wouldn't be suffering through the last half of the race. The second was just to completely enjoy the opportunity to run on trails in the mountains for a day. With those goals in mind, I followed my husband's advice for the first lap and attempted to keep my breathing under control. Any time that I started to gasp, I stopped to walk the uphills, or slowed the pace. The first loop of the race was run on the Cougar Shadow side of the park. I enjoyed the other runners and watching the 50K and 25K leaders sprint past me. It is a joy to watch well trained athletes compete! I even held a conversation with one man who had been running ultras for 39 years. He gave me some great advice before we got separated at an aid station. Because it was hot, I started taking a salt tab at each aid station. I also began pouring large amounts of water on my face and head. That and the occasional breeze kept me from overheating. I also opted to change from my cap to the visor at the drop bag at the end of the first loop. I had started eating a gel about every hour to 45 minutes. There were only a few moments in the race when I felt my energy lag, and I found that the gels were working so kept using those instead of the food. I did eat a PB and J at the first aid station. It seemed to go down fine. At the end of the fist loop, my time was one hour and thirty-three minutes. A touch faster than the last time I'd run this race, so I was a bit concerned, but I was feeling strong. I reapplied my body glide and started the second loop up toward North Talon. By this time, I was running mostly alone, but some 25K runners were still passing me so I wasn't completely alone. I tried to run all the uphill that I could comfortably. At the aid station on the way down, I drank some hot coke and took a salt tab. Something about the combination (I'd just taken a gel) didn't sit well on my stomach, but the queasiness eased, and I was able to push on. The loop took me two hours. I was very excited, but lagging just a bit as we came back to the start area where I once again stopped at my drop bag. I took time to reapply body glide and sun screen and also body glided my feet which felt hot after the downhill sections of North Talon. (The best part of the race is standing on top of North Talon and looking in all directions. I'm always tempted to stop and soak it in!) I started on the third loop which is a repeat of the first loop on the north side of the park. At this point I was all alone. I remembered from last time the mental struggle of running this loop alone after having so much to distract me the first time. God was very gracious to me. Early in the lap, I remembered my goal of having fun. I picked up the pace from the shuffle of the lonely, tired runner, and pushed into the pace of the joyful, playful runner enjoying a run in the mountains. I had such a good time, that even the occasional times of feeling overheated, didn't slow me too much. I prayed, I sang Irish songs that the children have been singing nonstop for the last two months, I laughed, and just enjoyed the day that God had made for me to practice the gift that He has given me to love running. After getting to the aid station, I pushed up the rest of the hill to the downhill and coasted in for a one hour and thirty-five minute third lap. It was just a few minutes slower than the first lap on that side. I was beginning to realize that I could possibly better my time from two years ago by a big margin. As I came through the aid station near the start and the drop bags, my husband who had started the race on a badly sprained ankle, came through the aid station having just finished his 25K. He decided to drop there rather than push on for more punishment on his painful ankle. We talked while I reapplied body glide to my foot then I was off to start the last loop and one more climb up North Talon. I was beginning to feel my quads especially on the downhill parts of the third loop, but my body was responding nicely. I'd had to take time to stretch my hamstrings early and often, but all was going okay to this point. I was also trading hands for the water bottle that I carried, in an attempt to take some stress off of my right side that had been tight from the beginning. I'd had pain in the right hip most of the race, but the stretching made it bearable. It was near the aid station on the way up, that I started to feel light headed. I drank extra water, took salt, and ate a gel. I was also getting small side aches in this section so think that I was having a difficult time breathing deeply on the downhills as my core was tired. If I concentrated on getting deep enough breaths, I felt better and kept the side aches at bay. I knew at this point that if I could run that loop in two hours, that I would beat my previous time by at least an hour and also beat the times that I'd thought were well beyond my ability to run. I concentrated on keeping the average time down with as much running as I could manage on the ups. I even noticed that when I did walk, that my body began running again on the easier sections without a mental decision to start running again. Everything was clicking. It was on one of these downhill sections that I thought to myself, that I'd rather just keep running the extra 20 miles to make it to 50 miles rather than have to do it another day in September. I felt that good, and my mental state was that positive. I was having a blast and was so thankful to God for the opportunity to run and enjoy His great creation. I made it to the top of the ridge once again. I'd been singing out loud this time so that the bears could hear me as I was mostly alone. On the third lap, I'd passed six runners. Usually, I run so fast at the beginning of races that many runners pass me at the end when I just can't run any faster. In my last lap, there was one runner who came up from behind and passed me. We played leap frog down the hill as I ran the down hills faster, but he caught me on the ups. He finally beat me by half a minute. At the top, I knew that there was only a 5k left. I started to push it, but pulled back so that I could run all the way home. I had 30 minutes to break the seven hour mark. My legs were starting to feel the fatigue and so I didn't push quite as hard as I maybe could have. At the aid station two miles out, I ate a gel, and filled my water bottle. I motored in with a way too fast sprint for the end of a 50K. My husband was there to greet m, and a kind young man took my chip. I stretched, and we headed home to the kids and Grandma. My final time was an hour and six minutes faster than last time. The final time was 7:04. I felt sore, but not unable to walk. Looking back, I might have been able to run it a bit faster, but I am super excited to have run a negative split for the course and to have been able mentally to enjoy the opportunity to run. If I can keep that mental approach in Steamboat in the fall, I will be thankful.