I survived!! The Story of my First 50K.

I cannot believe I lived to write this post but...this Saturday I finished my first 50K!  Translated for those of us that don't speak in kilometers, thats 31 miles.  The one I happened to choose to run was an extreme trail run in the Appalacian mountians.  Literally, there was no straight land in this thing.  It was either going up or going down.  It wasn't so much of a run as a...very fast paced adventure hike.  For those of you that saw Hunger Games this weekend, the running through the woods sections looked shockingly familiar after this thing. So today, I thought I would give you a brief tour of the most incredible and painful 8 hours of my life.  As you read this, rmember, 2 1/2 years ago, I couldn't run a mile.  This is the type of thing you could train up to too. (in any sport, not just running).

We started by driving 4 hours up to the racing spot Friday night and camping at the start/ finish line.  I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of ...rain.  Well that blew sleeping out of the water.  All I could think about was the fact that I now had to run a race I was terrified I couldn't do in the POURING RAIN!  Well, by the time we got up at 5:30 in the morning, ate my breakfast of Multigrain Cheerios and a banana, and got out of the tent, it was just drizzling.  We started at 7 AM in the rain.  We started climbing up the muddy trails and came to... a small river. No joke.  I realized I was not going to be dry for quite some time.  So we plowed right on into the knee deep water.  And the rest was history.  We climbed up mud paths, over rocks, and up and back down mountains.  It was treacherous and scary and absolutely beautiful.

Here is just one example.  This is at the summit of Terrepin Mountain... about 23 or 24 miles into the race.  It had finally cleared up at this point so we could see this amazig view.  From here, we had only 7 or 8 miles left, but they were some of the most technical (or treacherous) miles of the race.  We literally had no trail at one point - we just went down a pile of rocks. 

One of the coolest things about this race was meeting the people you were running with.  One guy I ran with carried a pizza through the entire race. No joke! A pizza!  He offered me a slice, but I had just had some food at one of the aid stations (aka pit stops) along the course.  I fell behind him and his friends when they started running uphills.  Then I ran the next over 20 miles with a guy I met that is actually also from Wisconsin!  It was awesome.  Being able to talk to someone while on the course was the thing that really helped me get through those miles.  It made the time go fast, and kept me moving. 

This is my running buddy and I coming on the final stretch.  We literally have a couple tenths of a mile left and I am doing something I did not think I could ever do...I am still running!  Behind us you can see the mountains we just spent all day running in.

After just over 8 hours, I crossed the finish line! Still running!  That was the most beautiful sight of all.

My husband Sam and my sister Emily were the ones that really encouraged me to succeed in this race.

Thanks to taking two solid spills, I came back looking like this!

  Awesome huh??  The next day, I could barely move.  Standing was a huge challenge.  Walking was...ridiculous.  I came out with a lot of muscle pain but no joint issues. Add in a few scrapes and bruises and I've got some good battle scars from this adventure. And...I'm considering signing up for another one next month!  I love being an ultramarathoner!  Its something I never thought I could be, but it just goes to show what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it.  After all, running (and all exercise) is 90% mental! Happy trails!