my race day:
The electric was finally turned on late Friday, so my house just got warm enough so that I could take a shower & not freeze the morning of the race. Frustration was running very high but I'll have to take part of the blame as I didn't purchase that backup generator as I had planned after Hurricane Ike last year.
I was striving to make this race one of my better efforts, feeling in pretty good shape after Mountain Mist. But the weather changed everything & I shifted my priorities. My favorite race was in question of being run at all !! So I decided "making it happen" had top priority -- if I could also run a good race, that would be a bonus ( I think hiking & marking the hilly 2nd loop on Thursday probably removed the last chance for a bonus).
Arriving at the start early, I ran into many familiar faces & it was great to chat with everyone! Names that I can remember pre-start: Susan, Matt, Cynthia & Todd, Ken, Brenda, Jeffro, Tim, Cassie, Steve, Kim, Josh, Thomas, Mike W., Mike A.
I felt OK at the start, but I knew that was just my adrenaline pumping. That feeling lasted about 3 miles! In previous years, I had no trouble running up part of the 3 hills on the first loop, this year, I could not run any part! This held true the rest of the day. I think the better condition you're in race day, the more fun you have. I had spread my fun out for this event over the previous 2 weeks, so the amount I had on race day was limited, but it was enjoyable! I had a half dozen people, who I didn't know (& still don't), comment (including during the race) that they had read my LLTH blog -- that made me feel good that it had a small following!
At the 15M/50k split, my legs were completely gone. After having looked forward to this race so long, I dismissed the thought of cutting the 50k short even though finishing the entire distance was in question. I'm glad I kept to it! Even though I walked most of the next 8 miles, I got to see & give encouragement to all the runners who were ahead of me -- which by the time I got to the turnaround on the out & back, it was most everyone in the race! Going so slow, my legs did get some feeling back in them & I was able to jog slowly on most of the flats & all the downhills the last 8 miles to the finish. Final time 7:29:21. Already looking forward to next year!
2 comments:
Great job on the 50K, Ed! That course really lives up to its name. :-) Was good to see you!
Thanks Cassie!
Yes, alot of lovin' was going on Valentine's Day! I read your race report -- glad you had fun -- that course was pretty tough & you took it in stride - GREAT!
See you at LBL.
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