North Face Endurance Challenge

50 Miles 7:08:39 6th Overall 1st in age group (30-39)
6:00 am) mid 30's light mist
Mike and I drove drown Friday and picked up our packets. We then
went out for pasta dinner and then back to packet pick-up to hear
the guest speakers. Afterwards went back to the hotel and got gear
ready for the morning. Got to bed around 10:30 pm. Alarm went
off at 3:45 am. First thing we did was eat. I made pancakes. Then
hit the shower and got dressed. Loaded up the car and on the road
at 5:15 am. Arrived at 5:30 dropped off our drop bags and made
final decisions on what to wear.

The race started at 6:00 am in the dark. We all had head lamps on
so it was not that bad running in the dark. I started out in pants
over my shorts and had a light jacket on with a t-shirt underneath
and arm warmers. I was warm after a mile. Luckily I new Mike and
I had drop bag at mile six so we could drop off excess clothing.
First 6 miles went smoothly. We were not going real fast but at a
good pace. A few runners went out much faster. At mile 6 some
of the volunteers said the leaders already went through 6 minutes
ago. So I arrive at mile 6 looking for the drop bag. It's not there!
I went ahead and took of my pants and my jacket. So no bag what
do I do with my clothes? Mike asked the volunteer if she could put
the clothes in a bag and write our bib # on it. So we put it all in a
pile for her to put in a bag. I had sat down my water bottle on the
ground when changing and picked up the bottle with the clothes
and it was in the pile. I didn't realize this till I was about a mile
away from the aid station. I wasn't going back for it.

So know I'm feeling all out of whack. I'm thinking to myself 44 miles
to go and no water bottle this is not good. In my training runs I
always carried a bottle and drank every mile. Know I have to drink
every 5 or so miles. At this point I'm running fast trying to catch
back up with someone. After 2-3 miles I caught back up with Mike.
I was then able to slow my pace down to a more reasonable pace.
While running with Mike I had to stop a couple more times to use
the bathroom. I stopped 3 times in the first 20 miles to go. I'm not
sure why though I was not overly hydrated. At each aid station I
was having to stop and stand around and drink out of the cups. I
would try and drink 3 cups.

At mile 21 was another aid station and also had drop bags. This is
where I stopped got some items out of my bag including my mp3
player. I grabbed some salt at the aid station. I was stupid though
I swallowed a bunch of it and left the aid station with nothing to
wash it down. No water bottle! Oh well I kept on running turned
on my mp3 player. At this point is when I lost Mike. I would be on
my own the rest of the day.

This is my first race I have ever used music and I'm sure glad I did.
It really helped me. I ran the last 30 mile feeling good. My first 20
felt like I couldn't get into a groove. I passed many runners in these
30 miles. I was never passed the rest of the day. I did not walk any
of the race other than some of the steep hills and I would power
walk them.

The course was awesome I expected it to be a mess with all the
rain we had all week but it wasn't. Sure there was some puddles and
mud but I couldn't complain. I had extra shoes in my drop bad but
never changed them.

I finished the race feeling strong. I think I could have kept going.
My parents were at the finish and I was happy to see them. The
last time they saw one of my races I did not finish so good. I was
injured and couldn't even walk afterwards.

I'm so glad I did this race. This was a great experience. I look
forward to doing more ultras.

b/asr6/63

Sunday 3 Miles recovery run.
b/asr6/189