Labor Of Love 50 miler - RunUltra Marathon

The race started at 7am and it was about a 30-40 minute drive to the parking area then they bussed you to the start. I got up around 5am and ate my bagel with crunchy peanut butter and drank a diet dew. I was unable to go to the bathroom so grabbed my gear and headed off. I started drinking water and diet dew on the way over as it was to be another record breaking day of heat. I arrived at the parking lot and met a couple folks there and it was around 70 and I put on a lightweight jacket just to wear while we waited for the run to start and then took it off. Before the run I spoke with some folks that were planning on doing the hundred miler I wish I would have gotten their names and such cause I really enjoyed their pre race stories. Through out the run when we would cross paths we always spoke and sometimes a high five. I recall one guy who was a super cutie from LA, I was coming in from my second lap so about mile 36-40 and he was on his way out for lap 3 and he said "this is starting to kick my ass" I know he was in the top for the first couple laps but by looking at the results I can't tell how he finished as it doesnt list where people are from. There was several different distance going on-at 7am the 100 miler, 50 miler and marathon started then at 7:30 they started the half marathon and at 8am started a 10k. The elevation at the start of the run was around 4662 and I was coming from an elevation of about 530. The run started and it was a gradual 4.6 mile climb up to about 5350 feet and I just took it nice and easy, I had decided I was going to run for an hour unless there was a big climb then after an hour I would go to a 5 min run 1 mil walk game so I started this after stopping at the first aid station. This station was at the bottom of a mile long 500 foot drop, from the top of this hill you could see way down in the distance the camper and tent for the aid station. I already had a headache, not sure if it was due to elevation or salt loss and asked a guy if I should take tylenol or motrin at this point and he asked if I was already hurting and I said no just a headache and he then said he used advil and he too kinda had a headache. I took 2 tylenol since is was so early in the game. I made sure I had plenty of gels, got 6 salt tablets and grabbed a payday to bring with me as the "dry heat" was sucking the moisture right out of me. Here we begin another long gradual climb for another 5.5 miles up to the 11 mile marker turn around...this is about 6000 feet. I was feeling really good and was excited about getting to gradually go downhill for such a long time and even described this station as the half way of the half way before the quarter remains-atleast that sounded great in my mind. I usually dont listen to music but went ahead and took my ipod and headset and turned it on. I was just singing my heart out and dancing around, those that I would cross paths with seemed to enjoyed it or their big smiles made me feel like they were. I got lots of high fives and encouragement and I also gave them in return. Even though this was a gradual downhill I decided to try my best to stick with my plan of 5 min run 1 min walk until I got to the aid station before what I named to be "hell hill" A couple of these miles I was pulling off some 10:20 min mile pace! I got to the aid station and looked to see if I needed anything, drank a few drinks of a cold diet dew, my ice in that cooler was almost melted at that point but the diet dew was still cold, I wish I had asked them to re ice the cooler at that point so that I would have a nice cold COKE ZERO for my next trip up "hell hill"
I grabbed my ITB strap incase it would act up I would have it on me and talked to a few folks there and then it was time to climb 500 feet in just a mile...it sucked but I made the best of it. Once I hit the peak I started my run/walk and here kept a nice 11 min mile pace, I was really feeling great. When I hit the mile 22 point I checked in grabbed a half of pbj sandwich, thought I would love to roll out my legs with the foam roller but there wasnt really anywhere to be able to roll on it so I just took it and pushed it up and down on my quads to get myself pumped, one more out and back then a quick 3 miles out 3 miles back. I also decided to grab my iphone and that way I could text my son and some friends and let them know where I was. As I headed out on this lap I noticed so many folks just walking ahead of me and it was getting really hot so I too decided to walk quite a bit. I got to the aid station and for some reason I decided to change shoes and socks? Maybe cause my feet were hot, they were not hurting at all and even though they were the same style shoe those had a different insert (I was use to both the insert and the normal insert) I thought maybe as I went further that little bit of extra support that the insert would give my arch may be important. By this time the marathon aid stations folks were finished so it left us with 5.5 miles between each for fluids and such. I refilled my 2 bottles for my fuel belt and due to the heat had them both drank with still 3 miles till the next station! Others were running into the same problem. I made it and spoke with them about it and they were aware and were working on fixing this problem, one lady took some water with her and drove her car down a mile and was there for people then they put pitchers of water unmanned at several more of the tables that were remaining from the earlier manned stations. This was mile 34 and one of the ladies working this station said it looked like I was starting to burn but my sunscreen was at the next stop, she said oh I have some but it was the rub on and she started to run it on my back and it was solid salt-you could actually hear her trying to rub it on my skin "scratch scratch scratch" I never really paid too much attention to my garmin on this second loop, I didnt want to see where I was even though by the course I knew where I was, I didnt want to see my time I just was having fun and taking it all in. Here I was again at the bottom of "hell hill" It was kinda exciting because I knew I only had to go over it once more then just out 3 and back 3 and I was done! It was so hot my food in my special needs bag had melts, I grabbed a couple more paydays and when I opened one I had to bit it off the wrapper. I also grabbed a couple swedish fish, or should I call it a clump of swedish fish since they were melted together. They asked if I wanted some pasta salad and they put some in a cup, I got a cup of ice and poured some of my coke zero on it and that was heavenly. I had just sent my mother and son an update telling them I was getting ready to climb that monster hill for the last time and that I was feeling really good and my hands were full from a cup of pasta salad, a coke zero and cup of ice so when I was climbing the hill trying to put my phone away it slipped and down it went, totally breaking the glass front. Good news is it still works. I made the crest of the hill and then just ran when it felt good walked when I needed to. I had about 4 miles left to the mile 44 check point and I could feel a major blister coming on the toe next to my big toe on my left foot.My friend Lara had arrived from California and I sent her a message to see if she could find my blister kit as I knew I had a good one coming on. They had not returned my drop bags from the course yet so it wasnt there, a few minutes later I could actually feel the blister taking over the entire toe and each step I could feel it squishing around in my sock. I then messaged her and said I think its gonna be a bad one so see what you can find out. I made it to the check in, only 6 more miles to go. I sat in the chair and Lara friend Hector started taking off my shoe, the medic seemed preoccupied telling the race director about locking her keys in the car so Lara and Hector became my medics. Finally I got the race directors attention and asked her opinion and she said it was so many layers of blister and so deep that popping it shouldnt be considered, instead she put a bandaid on the top of the toe then wrapped around the toe to keep the toenail from falling off over the next 6 miles and to try to keep that squishing sensation away. It was painful at first because of the compression and the 3 mile uphill I struggled alittle, I hit the turn around mark and refilled my water and knew I had 3 miles to go. I did look at my garmin and it told me I only had 2.5 to go but I was just past the mile 3 turnaround so my dancing back and forth on the course added some distance to my run. :-) I got to mile 50 and I just stopped I thought ok Im done! Its mile 50 come get me!!! But I was actually feeling good so good that I averaged a 12:30 min mile for those last 3.5 miles! I finished at 50.48 miles in 12:10 I couldnt believe it but in the back of my mind I was hoping to be around 12 hours but never dreamed it possible. I also had the preconceived notion that I wouldnt be able to even walk afterwards and I was feeling great! I sat down and we had to wait for my gear bags to be returned before we left, I ate a small cinnamon roll and drank some ice water. One thing that was kinda a bummer is that all the shirts and the medal was the exact same for all the distances :-( so someone that did the 10k got the same shirt and same medal that I did, dont know why thats important but it did kinda bum me out. There was a guy that came in just in front of me getting ready to leave and he had an orange bib this was for the 100 miler, I about dropped my jaw and said you did the hundred in 12 hours! He then said no he had dropped to the 50, the heat was too much for him. My bags arrived and we headed back to the hotel, Lara drove my car even though I felt ok to drive I think this was the best thing to do. We made it to a Mcdonalds and all I could think about was an Iced Carmel Frap! So I got that and a double cheeseburger. When we arrived back to the hotel, Hector brought my drop bags up to the room and we all hung out talking for hours. There wasnt any rooms available but I had 2 double beds so they just stayed with me. I had some humas dip and triskets left in the cooler and ate that and later ate some peanut butter pretzels, I still didnt have a big appetite. We went to bed around midnight I guess but I couldnt sleep, tossed and turned alot and had some muscle soreness but not at all what I was expecting. My knee and joints felt fine, my toe was nasty and it was hard to sleep due to the weight of the sheet just touching it. By 6am I was thinking about an In and Out Burger and Hector said it's Vegas they will be open so he headed down the road to grab us some, they were closed! When he got back it right at 7am and the buffet was just opening downstairs so we headed down to that. I had some bacon, tator tots, some little breakfast burrito, a pancake, piece of french toast and little waffle, then a couple of apple things with some icing on them. I didnt over do it and felt ok. I decided since I don't know when I will see Lara again that I didnt want to go back to bed instead lets go do something so we headed to see Pawn Stars place then to old Vegas to the Golden Nugget and such. Leaving our hotel was a challenge as Hector couldnt remember which door he came in after looking for In and Out Burger earlier so we walked around and around the hotel till he finally asked where the garage was that he parked in. My left side of my stomach had been cramping alot especially when I walked, I think it was due to some gastral and bowel issues since I really hadnt had any. When we got to The Golden Nugget I was super thristy so we found an open bar and I guzzled about 3 or 4 waters then we snuck outside "hotel guest only" and got a closer look at the shark tank. We walked around for a good couple hours and by this point my legs were still not bad but I could feel the tiredness in my eyes so we decided to go back to the excalibur and hang by the pool in the 99 degree heat! Once we got to the pool I had a couple frozen drink (the yard kind) and that was enough of those. Met a super nice couple and hung with them till Lara and Hector had to head on home, they left around 4. I realized that I hadnt eaten since 7am and my tummy was starting to feel sick, I was still thinking about an In and Out Burger but my tummy was feeling so bad I didnt feel like driving anywhere so I stopped at a burger joint just off the elevator at the hotel, ordered a cheeseburger and fry. The fries were really tasty and ate about half those but only took a couple bites of the burger and was feeling alittle better and decided to go get the In and Out Burger I'd been thinking of all day. I only had 2 more bites left on my burger and I am the type that eats around something and saves the best for last and my tummy really started to cramp I knew at that point I wasnt going to get to eat those last 2 bites! Off to the potty I briskly walked but was disappointed, nothing and still cramps. I got back to the hotel and got an ice cream from Coldstone Creamery and also some cinnamon nuggets for later from Auntie Annes Pretzel. The ice cream tasted great but when I got back to the room my tummy was still bothering me and I lost my ice cream and my burger :-( atleast ice cream is smooth coming back up!! I went to bed and the next morning the only plans I had was to lay by the pool. My friend Trixie had suggested a short run to flush things out if I felt like it and I got up at 7am feeling great. It was already warm but I decided to take a slow run and see how I felt, I wrapped some tissues around my toe and off I went. It felt surprisingly great! I ran about 3.5 mile in about 40 minutes then went back to the hotel and walked over to the Luxor for their breakfast buffet. It was really good! They had different pasta salad, humas dip and pita bread which was perfect. I had on pancake and wasnt that special but loved the pasta and pita bread. I sat and drank my drink and just relaxed to let settle what I had just ate because I didnt want to stuff myself and get sick. I spent the next couple hours poolside and met a couple gals from Vermont. When they came back with their lunch consisting of a pretzel dog and something else I had a craving for a hotdog?? I remembered seeing a Nathans sign at the Luxor which was just across the street so I headed that way. I turned the wrong way when I got inside and it ended up taking me almost and hour and a half to get to it! Again these fries were really good and so was the hotdog. Once I got back to the pool I hung out till about 4pm and Lara had texted me and suggested I go to the Mirage for Carnegie Deli, she said I could take a cab or walk and that it was a good walk. I decided to walk, I wasnt in any hurry but it sure looked closer then what it was. Once I got there I ordered the turkey bacon club, side of fries and (a piece of cheesecake to go) I ate about half the fries and half the sandwich and took the rest of the sandwich back with me. I decided to hit run keeper on my phone to see just how far of a walk this was and it was 3.5 miles each way but it was worth it and my body was feeling remarkably great. I flew out the next morning and wore my compression sleeve due to a long flight. On my way back from Columbus I stopped at my favorite place for dinner and when I was in the middle of dinner I decided to see if the results were posted yet and they had them up. I started searching from the bottom because I am usually at the back of the pack and I saw a Jennifer age 44 with a different last name placed like 4 from the end and thought they got my name wrong, when I looked over at her time I realized nope keep going! There were 36 people in the 50 miler and I placed 14th! I started crying again! There were 6 women in my age bracket 40-49 and I placed 2nd! HOLY COW. There were 15 women in the 50 miler and I was 5th overall woman! I have no regrets I feel fantastic and know I coulda pushed myself harder if I wanted to but it wasnt about that for me, it was like all the events that I do FUN. Enjoy every minute of it!

this is a link to my blog in which I copied and pasted the race details from. There are some photos there as well as my trip to Badwater Basin the day before the race

http://jenntrisnruns.blogspot.com/2012/04/labor-of-love-50-miler-we...