After a 4:30am wake-up call, I ate my usual race-day breakfast of Sustained Energy and a Hammer bar. On the way to the race I drank a cup of coffee (and saved some for the race)…I’ll take all the help I can get running 31 miles in the hilly trails As luck had it, a cool front moved in on Friday, and lingered until the morning, cooling us down to the high 50’s! What a relief. I made it to the race site, checked in and found my buddies. After a brief race update, 75 of us hit the trails for a 31-mile run.

A lead group took off and my friend Julie and I stayed together for the first half mile or so, then she plugged into her music and took off too. I ran the first loop of 7.7 miles pretty much on my own, coming in contact with a person or two. The lead group was way ahead, but I knew that I needed to keep my heart rate under control in order to hold out for 6-7 hours, so I went my own pace. Julie and I played cat and mouse for some of the race, her bouncing ahead, me catching up, her passing, and on occasion running together. After the first loop, I refueled at my cooler (they allowed us to pack our own goodies and had them available at the end of each loop), then donning my MP3 player, headed out for loop number two. Same thing second time around, walk the hills, put it in cruise-control the rest of the time, with some walk breaks along the way. I don’t know if its because we’re in Florida, or if our trails are common, but sometimes its like running on the beach…the sand is thick and tough to maneuver through. So of course, I walked when the sand was too deep. (My speed-walking training paid off).

Half-way through the race I was exactly at three hours, and feeling great. Well, except for a weird, full feeling in my gut. It didn’t hurt (I’ve had serious stomach problems in the past, and this was nothing like that thankfully), but though I felt thirsty, I didn’t feel like I should consume any more calories. Had I taken in too many for breakfast, and not allowed enough time to digest it? I’d taken in around 600 calories by hour three. But luckily for me, I have what I like to call “stored energy” and didn’t worry about not taking in additional calories….I knew I could make it through til the finish. So I kept my bottle filled with ice and water, and continued taking in electrolytes…it had heated up to the high 80’s by 10:00am.

Typically in a marathon a runner will hit “the wall,” usually around mile 20. My interpretation of this is a mental block that tries to stop your body from moving forward. Well, my “wall” comes prematurely around mile 15 or 16. In my IM marathons, and any run longer than 20 miles, I’ve noticed at that point, I have a big mental problem: either my body wants to stop, moves very sluggishly, or like today, I come close to crying (imagine that!). A sentimental song came on right about that time, and whammo! I welled up and fought off crying for nearly a mile, lip quivering and all (yes, I'll admit it!). Finally, I saw an aid station (there were three total on the course) and sucked it up and pulled myself together. There’s no crying in Ironman…and I’d bet there’s no crying in ultras, either :rolleyes:

At the coolers, fellow Florida Ultra Runners cheered and consoled and encouraged. I headed out for the final loop and by then, even this directionally-challenged gal knew what was coming next…some hills, the peace-sign, a stroll through the forest, the pits, an aid station followed by 4GF (stands for Four Green Fields…an Irish bar in Tampa) and another couple miles to the coolers. Hot damn! I was going to make it beautifully through my first ultramarathon…and on the quick side of what I anticipated. But not to make it too easy, the race director has you nearly crawl up a hill, maneuvering through steps of roots and branches before crossing the finish line. I kept trucking uphill, stubbing my toes on the roots gosh dang-it! I’m sure to lose a toenail or two.

I saw that finish line and heard the runners cheering me through. Its not nearly as grand as other finish lines with announcers and videos and music, but honestly, the feeling is just as grand. Knowing that I can do this stuff…like running 31 miles amazes even me sometimes. Total time: 6:12…I actually ran (and walked) 12 minute miles...a little surprising for me, considering the course.

At the finish line someone was grilling up burgers (not for me, of course), and handing out beer, along with all kinds of other treats. We all pulled up our chairs and chatted about this race and others, and what was next on everyone’s race schedule. This ultrarunning community of people are some of the nicest, accomodating, encouraging people I’ve met in sports. And its by far the most fun I’ve ever had training. Will I run this week? Probably not (ok, later in the week :D ). But will I run in the trails again…I can hardly wait!