Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Run - RunUltra Marathon


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Huntsville, Texas
United States
Sunmart Petroleum Wholesale
80F / 27C
Overcast
Total Time = 6h 04m 44s
Overall Rank = 125/520
Age Group = F30-34
Age Group Rank = 6/24
Pre-race routine:

As we were driving to the race we were listening to Sirius 34 and heard The Postal Service and then Calvin Harris. I couldn't believe the were playing Calvin Harris and we sat in the car dancing to "Vegas" until it was over. Walked to the race site and found Shannon, Chris, Jeff, and Hilton. Watched the 50 milers start then drank some coffee. This race is awesome. They had a full breakfast and a huge spread after the race, too, for racers and spectators! Any race that has coffee that never runs out is top-notch in my book.We also found Aaron, Andrew, and Sidney and we all hung out. I had not pooped since I arrived in Houston on Thursday so I tried, but no luck. Seriously, I ran 31 miles totally and literally FULL OF IT! Just so you know. :)
Event warmup:

Oops, is that the starting gun? Ok, one more picture - we aren't in a hurry.
Run
  • 6h 04m 44s
  • 31.07 miles
  • 11m 44s  min/mile
Comments:

Holy cow. I LOVED this race!! Chippy, Trixie, and I started out together. The first 10K was ridiculously crowded AND on single track AND was an out-and-back so there were people coming the opposite direction! There was nothing to do but walk.
Once we got on the 12.5 mile loop things instantly cleared up and Trixie and I pulled ahead and started running. I was wearing a giant foam cowboy hat so we obviously spent a lot of time entertaining the other runners and talked to lots of people. We sexually harassed one guy and then had to pay for it later when we ran into him and his wife in the medical tent. :) I believe it was on the first lap that we saw Jeff and Hilton and I mooned them. Hilton totally raised the bar, though, and gave me and Trixie a fruit basket. Awesome.
The aid stations were great and I ate mostly M&Ms and potatoes dipped in salt. Drank Gatorade, coke, or water depending on what I felt like. I didn't carry a bottle so I only drank every 3-5 miles but it worked out great.
We started the second lap and I still felt really good (this is mile 18 or 19) so we just kept running. At the out and back we started walking up the hills a lot and my legs started hurting so I decided that I needed to get the race over with and I needed to walk less. At about mile 23 I started to get the pain that I was expecting and I was happy about that for some weird reason. If it wasn't hard it wouldn't be worth it, you know? Trixie and I started running faster and started passing people like crazy! We had lots of good running stretches at about 8:35 pace and it felt SO good. We went through an aid station and I thought we only had 5 miles left so we kept a really hard pace but we were really 7 or 8 miles out. Got to the last station and they said we had 2.7 miles left and those 2.7 miles seemed so freaking long but we were still doing sub 10s. It was just so cool to run that hard for so long at the end of an ultra and be passing so many freaking people!
I did have one problem, though. I had a urinary tract infection. Derek called in a prescription for me and I picked it up in Houston on Friday but the infection was still lingering which made me have NO bladder control. I peed all over myself a LOT, but I'm used to that. :) Derek, I love you and thank you for the drugs!
Crossed the finish line and Aaron came to meet us and helped us back to the chairs. I could barely walk.
I am totally hooked! I can't wait to do another one. I loved it.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing. First ultra, so it's just a learning experience.
Post race
Warm down:

Sat, ate, tried to walk occasionally. My IT band and hip flexors were freaking trashed beyond belief. I was more sore after this than after my Ironmans but that is because I ran hard and I was proud of that!

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Um, training? Longest run was 16 miles.

Event comments:

This is one of the best races I have ever done. Great organization, great food, just awesome. I will be back next year for sure.




Last updated: 2007-10-04 12:00 AM
Running
06:04:44 | 31.07 miles | 11m 44s  min/mile
Age Group: 6/24
Overall: 0/520
Performance: Good
Splits: 5 miles 57:42, 5.2 10 miles 57:53, 5.5 15 miles 56:20 5.5 20 miles 58:54 5.4 25 miles 57:57 5.4 30 miles 51:37 6.0 32 miles 24:21 6.6
Course: Varied trail terrain. Some single track, some wide trail. Mostly flat but plenty of hills to walk up...not real hills but definitely ultra-marathon walking hills.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5