Cry Me A River 50K Race Report: No Crybabies!

RACE: 33 miles in 8:28. 6100' of elevation gain!
2nd female out of 18 finishers. 8th overall out of 39 finishers.

Overall, a TOTAL SUCCESS! And the hardest 50K I've raced and probably the hardest trail I've run on. So this will be a long report to get all those wunnerful details in. 

Thursday and Friday were total rest days. The bulk of driving was Thursday afternoon, then Friday evening I drove to park. Lots of sitting, unfortunately, which is restful for the legs but not for my head. Lots of think time. 

Friday Pre-Race: Start/Finish and camping all at Camp Wokanda, and packet pickup was everything you want it to be in a race like this. "Hi, pre-registered? Here's your bag" and all that's in the bag is a timing chip, t-shirt, and race bib. I set up the tent in a secluded quiet area next to a couple with a cute clementine-loving dog named Manu. Turns out the runner of the couple is also running the Evergreen Ultra. I took a brief 15 min walk out onto park of the trail. Found a pretty, shaded overlook (photo above) and meditated on my goals for the race.

1. Walk the uphills

2. Stick to the nutrition plan, don't get behind on food and water

3. Keep a "nose breathing" pace, no red-lining

4. Don't get injured

5. Pace so the last 10 miles are strong, not a trudge-fest

Later on while I worked on a sudoku my other tent neighbors showed up with a dog named Wilbert. Turns out the runner of that group is running Farmdale. So I've just met some friends at both of my next races! However this second tent neighbor was a bit of a negative type, her plan for CMAR is to fast-hike the first 20 miles Saturday, sleep, then do the last 10-13 miles Sunday. That's fine, but don't spend the conversation with me and your friends complaining about your lack of training, how you can only hope you'll finish, how terrible the hills are, how awful you think you'll feel, how you don't know if you'll survive, blah blah blag about the negatives. Geez just SHUT UP. So I disengaged and went back to my sudoku and the perfect camping weather under all the stars. Before I forget: meal was 1 serve of white rice and 2 eggs in a pancake form, some clementine oranges. Lunch was bigger with some chicken and veg. 

Saturday Pre-Race: Woke up at 4:45am to see the 100 mile start at 5am. Ate my pre-race brekkie of 200g russet potato, 1T butter, and 2 poached eggs. Got dressed in Craft shorts, Cascadia 9's with BodyGlide and tape, 2XU compression socks, wrist bands, visor. Packed the Camelbak with my baggie of treats (15 mints, 2 powerbars, and 3 gels). Unfortunately my new Sparkle Skirt did not arrive in time for this race, but I did have my gold-painted left thumbnail. Bathroom business as planned but longer than expected, something to keep in mind for the next races.

I still had more than enough time so I packed up the tent and gear so I wasn't doing it later. This was a good idea in the end. We lined up for the start, brief meeting to our small group of 10K, 13.1M, and 50K runners. Discussion at the start was about the hills in the first loop, long and slow. And about how there are "not bats in the Route 6 tunnel". Sarcasm noted. Good to know!

RACE! 

Trail conditions dry and soft. Weather sunny, mid 80's, dry, light winds. In other words, perfect. 

Miles 0-11, two mile loop then out to Detweiler Park. The race started with a 2 mile loop around Lake Wokanda. And yes, there were hills. Long, short, shallow, steep. Oh and steps! Plenty of those. Uneven, rugged, big, thankfully with a handrail. Based on how long it took the 100 milers to finish the loop I knew this would take about 30 mins, and it did. It's harder to pick your own pace when you're in the cha-cha line of runners on a single track trail, but it's helpful because it limits running too fast too early. After 30 mins, back through the start/finish area and out towards Robinson Park and Detweiller. Here the pack thinned out as the 10K runners went for two more loops. 

Soon we passed my meditation perch from last night, I'm glad I did this as it reminded me of my goals and how peaceful those quiet moments felt. I carried them forward into the next 30 miles. More hills, more steps. In fact, that about sums up the entire course: Hills, more hills, even more hills, punctuated by steps and waterbars. I stuck to my goals of walking the uphills, and quite honestly there wasn't much other choice, they pretty much weren't runnable anyway. If racing the 13.1M race, you could try to run as you could afford the muscle fatigue over the shorter distance. For me? Nope. Walk 'Em. The first aid station was unmanned at 4 miles and I didn't stop. 

This next segment was the hilliest part of the trails, constant hills. Shortly after Robinson, I stumbled over a root and fell (of course I did, that's my pattern this year). Took a hard hit to the right side, rolled, PAIN, and immediately my mind is racing....what did I break??!?!  GETUPBEE GETUPBEE GETUPBEE WALK WALK WALK Got up, took a deep breath, let 4 runners that came up behind me pass, deep breath, evaluate the damages. Elbow had some bleeding on the outside and immediate bruising on the inside. Knee scraped. Hip hit but OK, The major problem -- another hard hit to the ribs with my elbow. My elbow hit the buckles and clips in the Camelbak -- that's the bruising - but my rib was starting to complain. Walk! 

Luckily a steep uphill was next, and I walked behind the runners who passed me. Things hurt, but it was too early and I was too endorphined to know the full damages. Kept walking and ignored it for now. In this section I met Orange (never got her name), a woman runner wearing an orange shirt that I leap-frogged with for many miles today. We didn't talk at first, but finally I broke the ice and we chatted awhile. This helped distract me and passed the time faster. She's thinking about trying for a 100 miler!  The next aid station was around 7.5 miles in Green Valley Camp. This would also be the turn around for my second loop, but for now it was a pit and bathroom stop at about 2 hours. In and out. Chatted with a volunteer in a Captain America shirt -- he said "You're leaking!" and I thought he meant my water pack. Nope, he meant the elbow. Now for the segment to Detweiller.

Guess what, more hills!  But some really flat areas in cooler creek beds that I cruised on. The trails jumped more here, with road crossings and trail switches. Now all this time I knew that sooner or later I'd start seeing the 50K runners heading back towards me and I could get a sense of my place in the pack. I really had no idea if Orange and I were first, fifth, tenth, in the women's field. Here I learned -- we were 4th and 5th. At Detweiller a volunteer refilled the bag, asked if I needed first aid and deemed my elbow 'superficial', I recognized the RD's voice for the Hennepin 100, and ate some warmed steamed russet potatoes (Oh my those were so good!!), and finally paused to evaluate my injuries. I was OK to run, but the ribs was aggravated by the Camelbak, especially once fully loaded. The straps hit exactly over the injury. This got the attention of the volunteers who wanted to know full rib symptoms -- can I breathe, where does it hurt -- and gave me a chance to send a message to my potential crewing crowd. I asked for ice and sent a time update to Mom, then ran out behind Orange to had back to Camp Wokanda.

So far, I was on schedule with water and nutrition, enjoying my mints every 2 miles, a third of a powerbar every 45 minutes, and a bonus Tootsie Roll every 10 miles! 

Miles 11-20. Or 12-21 if you ask the Garmin.This section seemed to go by fast, as I was now on the "inbound" and I kinda knew what to expect with the flatter creek bed sections. I got ahead of Orange here and focused on not focusing on the rib, successfully learning to ignore it and adjust my breathing. Lucky for me I had a 3 hr run recently in which I practiced my pain meditation. So more of that here. Breath in and gather up the pain into a small ball; roll it around until ready; Breath out and expel it; Repeat as needed. Were you to watch me run, you'd see my hands helping me mentally process this ball of pain.

As I got closer to the Green Valley camp station, I came up behind Purple, another woman who was in 3rd place earlier. Purple never seemed to walk, she had a slower steady pace, not like my run/walk strategy. Seemed to be working for her. Orange and Purple stopped at the station while I kept going - I didn't need to stop and I wanted to get away from other competitors so I could focus on my pace and my race. I didn't want to be distracted so much by "how far ahead am I" and "is she catching me" because those stupid thoughts were already filling my head. Not my goal to win anything! But once I realized I might be in 3rd place I couldn't shake the idea. 

Mom and I texted back and forth in this area, chatting with her woke me up and motivated me. She seemed worried that I was hurt and said Dad was here! Yay! But he wasn't sure if he was in the right area, this distracted me good and bad. Wondering and worrying about him kept my mind off the run but also kept if off the run. I needed to focus so I didn't trip and fall again. So between wondering where Orange and Purple and Dad were, this section cruised by. I also had an idea at this point that the Garmin was off distance. Dang it. Under the tunnel (no bats), through Robinson, and back to Wokanda in 5 hours. 

I knew from Mom that Dad should be here, so I dropped the Camelbak and the aid station and went looking. Found him! Hit the bathrooms (not drinking enough), felt bad that he was going to have to wait in the heat much longer than the initially estimated 7 hours, talked a bit, then headed back out. Orange was at the aid station and I wanted to stay ahead of her. Turns out she fell too, her knee was messed up. Felt bad, but ran out quick, buoyed by seeing Dad and knowing I'd see him again in just 30 mins.

Quick review of systems: other than the fall injuries I had lots of quad pain. My left hip was starting to squawk, nothing new but I didn't know how much longer it would last today. No known foot blistering. Hydration kinda low, fueling on track and good. This was a big jump in distance and time for me, so feeling this good at 20 miles and 5-some hours made me happy. 

Miles 20 to 27, or 21 to 29 by the way the Garmin flies. From here on out, every step I took was the longest I'd run so far in 2016. I came into this race having only run one 20 miler, and that was weeks ago. This time around I knew the course, two mile loop then out to Green Valley and back. Soon I came up behind the woman I thought was in 2nd place wearing Black. So guess what I call her in this report? She had fallen too, and was walking. Didn't feel bad though as I passed here. While we chatted, she said another woman was 10-15 mins ahead of us, and at my pace I could catch her. Not my goal, and I didn't think that time estimate was correct as I'd spotted the first place woman waaaaaay ahead of us earlier (note foreshadowing). Found Dad as I descended the hill back into the aid station, briefly chatted while looking over my shoulder for the women behind me, then off to Green Valley camp to the last turn-around.

There were some mile markers in the first miles, and from these I found the Garmin was accurate at least here, so I looked forward to using these markers as my Almost Done signposts. But that's for later, not now. I had time estimates from my previous loop here so I knew what to expect, and counted the minutes until I'd see my cheering section. When I came into the Robinson unmanned station, I didn't see his truck right away and got worried. But nope, I could see the truck further up in the shade. It really did help to have him to look forward to, I'd think of things to tell him that I'd forget to mention. He said the funniest thing here -- was I running a lot of hills? Because driving here was all uphill! LOL!! This had me laughing for miles, I needed that :) Oh yeah, there were some hills.

I guestimated that I'd reach Green Valley in 35-45 mins, but I was running behind that estimate. I'm not sure if I slowed down or just had a bad guess. I think the latter. I was eating less and noting the drop in mental energy more. I wasn't needing to pee much, so noted the potential for dehydration. The other runners I was passing, especially the 100 milers, were commenting on how the heat was getting to them. I didn't really note the heat until then, as I like warm weather, but yes the day was heating up. So I dialed back the effort, focused on nose-breathing pace, sent a text to Mom that I was behind schedule. I started anticipating the aid station too much, and this was a mental drain. But soon enough I could here talking, see the white tent, and saw Purple on her way out of the station!?!? WHAT? Apparently she passed me while I was talking to Dad back at mile 20. I was OK with this, but it was a surprise. I thought (needlessly as it's not a goal!) that I was maybe running in second place. Now I had to wonder, third? Still respectable, and still not my goal!

Captain America refilled my pack and talked about Cloudsplitter 100, I chatted with Dad, grabbed some potato chips for salt, skipped the bacon they were cooking. Capt America (who also had a tree of Gondor tattoo...) said I should be at mile 27 with 6 miles to go. Before leaving, I got to see the train car mentioned at the pre-race briefing. Missed it the first time though here.

Miles 27-33. AKA 29-35. Last segment! Now I was chasing Purple and looking for Orange and Black. The other women in the field were so far behind us that unless I fell or got lost or really sick I didn't need to wonder about them passing me. Orange was a few solid minutes behind me, but close enough. But I never saw Black, did she quit the race with injuries? Run dang it, forget about this! Oh, and don't eat those potato chips, eh, they don't sit so good in the tummy.

Ooooooh the hills in this section. My quads and calves were starting to feel the burn, and the big steps were getting harder and harder to descend on tired legs. Left hip still talking, little louder now. Additionally, the more tired I got the less I could ignore the rib that complained on every deep breath and every step down. 

But even though I was getting tired, I never wanted to quit running and walk. Sure, I walked the uphills I had enough energy and momentum and focus to run the flats and downs. This was a great sign, and what I'd hoped for in my goals. The trail was so quiet and empty now, only the 100 milers and 50K runners were still here, and most of them were walking. This was another good sign - that I could self-regulate to a pace that lets me keep moving steady and not fade late in the race. But oh my gosh, this was taking way longer than I thought it would. I was now estimating an 8.5 hour finish. All previous 50Ks were 6-6.5 hours. So not only was today's run my longest mileage in 2016 but also the longest run time since June of 2015. Luckily I was handling it OK, had enough fuel on board, and stayed confident that I wouldn't burn out get an overuse injury. But still, 8.5 hours!?

Met Dad again in Robinson, mmmmmm the shade he was sitting in looked so good, and he mentioned Purple. Said she was minutes ahead of me and I probably won't catch her. This was good to hear, if I had the idea that I might catch her, I'd burn so much energy trying to do so that I'd ruin my race goals. So happily I set out for the last miles, and of course looked for Orange over my shoulder as I did. 

Two more miles, and I had landmarks to look forward to. The only wet-mud spot on the course. The bridge over the huge ravine. The flat grassy areas with field maps for hikers. And my mile signposts! Once I'd realized I had extra miles (thanks garmin) I started saving mints so I could carrot myself though these last miles. Can't believe I did that, but I did. I pushed it in to get done under 8:30, crossed the bridge, rounded the final corner looking for dad, and DONE!

Post-Race. While I had a few moments of "why do enjoy this?", overall this was a fun race and I told the RD as much. It's a terribly wonderful compliment to call a race like this a Fat Ass and I'm glad he agreed. Otherwise....

I walked a bit and noted I was stiffening up fast. Another race perk was on-site showers, so once that was done I went for my recovery meal which unfortunately did not survive the hot day. So no food! Happily the RD suggested a good place to eat and I bought by crew a big double-beef patty topped with pulled pork and garlic sauce and cheese crackers. Oh my that looked good! But my beef patty with bacon and egg was too :)   Never had burgers as a post race meal, usually I focus on carbs. I took care of those once I got home.

Summary, evaluation of goals, and NEXT TIME!
1. Nailed this run! Hit most all my goals and really feel great coming out of it. I treated it as a training race, and didn't reduce my mileage over the entire week, so this ended up being a 54 mile week for me. I re-arranged my schedule to taper, but still high volume. Win!
2. This was my first race on the new diet. Every other race of this time effort left me bloated, cramped, and in pain. Not today!! Holy cow, I might have fixed this problem!
3. Having a crew/cheering section/ability to text made a huge difference. I knew I could contact other people when I was feeling down or lonely. Messages of support from another friend also helped, so I'll plan to bring my phone more often in races like these.
4. Speaking of the phone, I didn't listen to my headphones the entire time. I thought I'd want them late in the race, but the woodpeckers, bird songs, babbling creeks were too pretty to block out.
5. Oh my goodness the bucket of warm steamed chunked russet potatoes at the Detweiller aid station were my favorite aid station food. Definitely want more of those in the next race. How could I manage that? The bacon at Green Valley did not smell good to my surprise, and the baked potato chips upset my stomach too much. Lessons learned.
6. All gear, clothing, and planning came together. Nothing I'd change there next time.
7. As for the injury, I'll heal. Frustrating to have happened, but I'm happy that I got up and kept going without sitting there bemoaning the situation. That's what I wanted to do!

Overall, a success!

Gonna brag this race to my running friends, so close to St Louis and such a challenging race.