Stone Cat 50 Recap or How to DFL with Grace - 11/8/2014

The day had come for me to redeem myself at the Stone Cat 50. The race course consists of four 12.5 mile loops. The race has a strict cutoff of completing the third loop (37.5 miles) in nine hours. Miss that cutoff, you are out of the race. Last year was my first attempt and I missed the cutoff to start the fourth loop by three minutes. On the bright side, hey, I PR’ed for the 37.5 mile distance! However, I mostly agonized over those three minutes for the past year. This time will be different I told myself. My strategy was to keep moving forward - do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not fiddle with my shoelaces too much, do not chat it up at the aid stations, just keep moving forward.

That black thingy on the top - very important piece of equipment!

My running partner, Betsy, and I got to the race just in the nick of time for the pre-race meeting. For various reasons, Betsy had to decided she was not going to be able to complete the full 50 but would try to at least do half the race. Well, things didn't start out very well. I was filling up my water bladder when I realized that I left a critical piece of it back home - the black thingy (I believe that’s the technical term) that seals up the top of the bladder. I thought, okay, maybe if I make sure it stays upright in my hydration pack, it will be okay. Nope. As soon as I bent over to adjust my laces, I was soaked. I started with the race a wet and cold butt on a day where the temperature was just hovering over freezing. Super. After about a mile of sloshing and fussing with my pack, trying not to get more soaked, Betsy suggested that I dump my water. I immediately felt relieved but then my next concern was how to continue on without water. I did have a fuel belt bottle that I was using for Gatorade so I decided that was going to have to do between aid stations. While I was still wet and uncomfortable, I did find my groove and kept moving. Unlike last year, we started after the time change and had daylight on our side. I was enjoying the sunshine and hoping my butt would dry soon. Betsy and I ran together for the most part and also leapfrogged a couple other ladies going about the same pace. I was very much enjoying their company through most of the first loop. At one point, Betsy stopped to fix her laces and I continued on. That was the last I saw of her for a while.

I made it through the first loop in 2:38 and felt good about that. I didn’t waste much time at the finish/start line, just grabbed a grilled cheese and went off into the woods again. This time I went a little slower but now without my cumbersome hydration pack, things went a lot smoother. As it turns out, the bottle was just enough to get me to each aid station, although I could have used just a little bit more water for a couple stretches. I timed taking a GU as I approached the aid station so I could wash it down right when I got to the station. In the end, it worked out well for me.

I finished the second loop with a spectacular fall as I approached the field, because, the best falls are always done in front of an audience. I quickly recovered and made it through the start/finish with at least a 20 minute cushion. Grabbing a potato that I overly salted, I went across the field and into the woods again. I was secretly jealous of all the marathoners who were finishing up their race. I kept wondering why I was torturing myself when I could have been done already. As I approached the next aid station (Al's Cat Lounge), a fellow advised me to grab food at the aid station but keep going and walk up the next set of hills while eating. And then on the downhill, he said to “roll” striking with my heels. I think it was he was to trying to give me a push knowing that I could be in danger of not making the cutoff again. I actually took his advice to heart and noticed that my pace did improve and also felt a little better.

I made it to the last aid station (Fast Freddie's Cafe) with an hour and 15 minutes to make my cutoff and about five miles to go. The friendly folks there assured me that “I got this”. Well, if it was a road race and if I haven’t just run over 30 miles it would be no problem. But alas, my legs were shot. I thought I was going at a pretty good pace until someone who was finishing his or her fourth loop would pass me like I was standing still. Just about each and every one of them would say something encouraging like "looking good". What a glorious lie! As demoralizing as it was to be passed, I also felt encouraged and would add a spring to my step each time as if I could catch up with them.

At about two miles to the finish one such runner did look back at me and asked which loop I was on. I held up my three fingers. He said “okay, just keep moving forward, you got this!”. But I don't. Or maybe I do, no, no, I don't... My thoughts kept going back and forth. Then I looked at my watch seeing I only had a few precious minutes and more to go, I thought I wasn’t going to make the cutoff again. So I just started to walk and resigned myself to that fact. Thoughts of getting back to the B&B with my husband, Zeb, soaking in the humungous bathtub and then out for a fine dinner filled my head. It was our wedding anniversary after all. Ah, I told myself, there’s always next year. With this thought in mind, I started to run again as I wanted to see my lovely husband. As I approached the field, Zeb was right there telling me to keep moving, I was going to make it! And I did, with three minutes to spare! My first thought was “oh, crud, I am actually going to have to go back out there again.” Betsy saw the look on my face and said that she and Zeb would meet me at the next aid station. So I begrudgingly took off again. The next four miles were slowest and loneliest of the whole race. My legs did not want to move any further. I felt like a cartoon character where a big hand was pushing against me as I was trying to move forward. I walked, a lot. I heard an owl in the distance and it started to get dark and cold. I started to feel sorry for myself and decided I was going to drop out at the aid station. As I ran-walked my favorite part where the trail divides thorough a cattail filled marsh, the sun was just setting, casting the sky with rays of pink and purple through the sky. My thoughts drifted to my mom and what she would have thought about all this. I cried and then laughed. Somehow I knew she was probably shaking her head and smiling at the same time. The way she was with all my crazy endeavors when she was alive. Never quite understanding why I would do anything so insane but always supportive and proud at the same time.

Once past the marsh, I saw someone on the bike coming my direction. He said “oh, there you are”. I later found out his name was Randy. He told me that the aid station was right up ahead and that I was doing great. I told him I was ready to drop out. He said that since I started the loop on time and I’m doing fine that I can still finish. He said it was up to me and he left me alone to think about it. Just then, I turned the corner and Betsy and Zeb were right there. Zeb played “You’re the Best” from the Karate Kid on his phone for me. It was very sweet and he was so excited for me. As I was eating a bit of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Betsy offered to pace me the rest of the way. I couldn't let these guys down at this point! One of the guys at the aid station offered up his flashlight for Betsy to borrow and we continued on. I’d start running and realize that Betsy was still keeping up with me walking so we fell into a good strong power hike for most of the way. We even joked about how my next event would be speed walking an ultra. Our conservations went from speed walking to ill fitting menswear, to our kids, work, and travel. It was very reminiscent of a late night descents from my avid hiking days where I was dead tired but knew I had to keep going. I was grateful to have her company as I couldn't have imagined doing the last eight miles alone in the dark. Betsy - you're the best!


We got to Fast Freddie's as they were just closing up and waiting for me. They had a little party going on - the music was going, bottles of booze were laid out on the table and lots of exuberant chatter. This is definitely where I want to volunteer next time! As I much as I wanted to shot of tequila to warm me up, I opted for some burnt and cold grilled cheese and Gatorade. We continued on to finish the last five miles. Randy would come back and forth keeping tabs on us while also giving us space. Finally, we got to the corn field which meant there was too much longer to go now. And then to the last switch back of single track, thankful that the scary clown who was there was long gone.

As we reached the school field, I heard lots of howls and not from coyotes. I bellowed back as I ran across the field. The last of the volunteers formed a human tunnel as I went through the finish. I was so touched. Pretty much everything was taken down but that didn't matter. I was surrounded by some of the most awesome people around. I blew kisses, did a little curtsy, and hugged my wonderful husband and my super pacer. I was handed a beer, given hugs and high fives, and lots of congratulations. I know people were waiting for me to finish so that could close down and get home but everyone there was so truly supportive. So I want to say everyone to there from the start to finish, thank you, thank you, thank you! I will never forget it. This is what keeps me coming back to trail racing.

Final time: 13:12:45 - DFFL - Dead F-ing, Fabulous Last!!

Zeb, me and Betsy at the finish. Semi-cold beer in my hand

My most awesome pacer!!

My most awesome husband!!

Pinnacle 50k Recap - 10/5/2014

I decided to revive my blog to give a recap of my first 50k race. Yep, in the past four years I have gone from insane to completely insane.

First off, the Pinnacle 50k is actually a "training" run for the Stone Cat 50 (miles). I attempted the Stone Cat 50 last year as a way to spend the last day of my thirties (because I know how to really party!). The race course is four 12.5 mile loops. To stay in the race, you need to finish the third loop in 9 hours or you're cut off. Well, I missed that cutoff by three minutes (3!! 3 lousy minutes! Maybe I shouldn't have retied my shoes, changed my shirt or paused too long at the aid station!). Needless to say, I have a score to settle with the cold Stone Cat.

In that year, I learned a lot more about trail racing, started training a little better (although I still feel my volume is lower than it should be), found another crazy person to run with on occasion, and, on the whole, just felt better about myself.

Now back to the Pinnacle 50k... I arrived at the Newport High School to pick up my packet just after 6 AM. I parked my car to where I would be running by twice through the course and then waited for the shuttle to take me to start of the course. There was about fifteen of us there who opted to do the early start at 7AM. With very little fanfare, someone yelled "go" and off we went! The course started off with a covered bridge and some road until we hit the rail trail. I quickly fell into the back of the pack. I did try to keep up but I reminded myself that I was in this race for myself not anyone else. Once I accepted this, I maintained a brisk (for me), but steady pace knowing I wouldn't have it so easy once I get into the mountains (yep, I would be climbing two small mountains - twice!). I was a little worried that trails would be muddy with the all the rain we had the night before. However, the rail trail is normally sandy so the water just filtered through and prevented the sand from being kicked up making it quite pleasant. The rail trail also went through two rail trail covered bridges. There's only seven in the country and I got to run through two of them! And since, it was an out and back, I got to do it twice - how cool is that?

While I enjoyed the sun filtering through the fall leaves as the trail winded around the Sugar River and the relative easiness of the flat, wide trail; I was honestly getting a little bored toward the end of it. A couple dirt bikes that came out of the woods did help wake me up, though! There was a little bit of road until I got to the 13.1 mark of what would be the first out of three times that I would go through the finish line. I was pleased to see the clock timed 2:16 as I went through. I grabbed some food and water at the aid station then went to my car to shake out my shoes and Vaseline up my feet before heading up the The Pinnacle (1362 ft) and Coit Mountain (1590 ft) for the first time. I was very happy to get into the forest and single track! The trail had enough switchbacks so while there was some steep sections, it also provided lots of opportunity to open up and really pick up the pace. And at moments, I felt complete bliss running on this perfect autumn day. The rain did make for some slippery footing especially with the pine needles and leaves. After reaching the Pinnacle, the trail opened up to a woodsy field where the aid station was at the 17.1 mile mark. I grabbed a PB&J and a couple other goodies and hit the trail again. After a bit of a hill, the trail went back into the woods and approached Coit Mountain. This portion was definitely more tricky with lots of open rock to navigate. Once at the summit and it descended on what website described as "fantastic snaking descents on pristine singletrack". And fantastic it was! If I was a mountain biker, this would be a real sweet trail with lots of banked turns. However, as a runner, it was a little tricky with my footing. I finally made my way out of the woods onto to a bit of road and then to the finish line (again!). There was a bunch of people around who probably thought I was finishing, but, in fact, I still had 9 more miles to go! I wanted to yell "no, no, stop cheering, I'm not done, yet". 

At that point, I was not relishing the fact of going up and down those mountains again. But I fueled up and I went back into the woods again. There was another runner, an older Canadian guy, with me and we kept each other company off and on for that last loop. I was so relieved to get to the aid station again at the 26.1 mile mark. At that point, I knew I only had five miles to go! No problem, that's like a regular run in my neighborhood or a loop through Mine Falls. Well, that was the most brutal five miles of my running life. The Canadian caught up with me and we went over the open field and into what we thought was the trail. It really didn't seem familiar but after 26 miles, who knows? He was ahead of me for a bit until the trail just stopped. We went back to retrace our steps to find out we both missed a trail marker that pointed left instead straight! At that moment, I was feeling defeated, my legs were shot, I missed my family, and I just wanted to be done already. The Canadian and I again leapfrogged for a while until he pulled ahead of me for the last and longest mile or so. I kept going down the trail thinking the field to the school and finish line would be around the corner but it wasn't. I was swearing just about every step of the way until I saw the finish. I picked up the pace and ran through the finish line for third and final time. By that time, the small crowd was gone and it was just handful of very nice volunteers who congratulated me. Final time was 7:50:40. While I wasn't truly trying to race, I still felt disappointed with my time especially being the last one in. The Canadian was at the finish and apologized for getting us lost. We wished each other well in future races and then went our separate ways.

Still feeling deflated, I begrudgingly went to the post race meal at the school. I was pleasantly surprised that there was still hot food left! I grabbed some food and went to sit down while they started the awards ceremony. I was taking a bite of chicken when I heard someone announce my name as the winner of the female age category of 35-49 (oddest age category ever)! I was shocked and shouted "GET OUT!". The race director laughed and said "nope, I have it written right here". My prize? A nice big jug of maple syrup!

Come to find out, there was only one other female in my category and she didn't finish. But hey, I'll take my syrup and run! Lots of lessons still to be learned as I venture into the world of trail and ultra racing but I am so pleased to have actually finished (and win!) my first ultra race!