Last weekend Josh and I drove up to San Francisco for the North Face Endurance Challenge. Luke had mentioned to me that Lizzy wanted to run the half marathon there so he was considering doing the marathon. Somehow that ended up with Luke and I running the 50k while Lizzy stuck with the half. I tried to train for it but only managed to get in one 20 mile long run before the race, which is not nearly enough for a 50k. I didn't even run enough short runs, but it looked like so much fun I decided to run anyway, carrying along an injured from my last 50k that I ran with an injured foot.
Anyway, Josh and I drove up on Friday after his class to meet up with L&L where they live. They had made a great pasta dinner that was perfect for pre-race food. They also bought me pizza for my race day fuel. This made everything a lot less stressful for Josh and I after the long drive. Shortly after dinner, we packed Lizzy's car and drove up to Mill Valley where the official race host hotel was. It was dark so we didn't get to sightsee much, but it was fun to catch up with them since the four of us hadn't hung out for over a year! The hotel was nice which is a good luxury after hard races.
Race morning, Lizzy dropped us all off at the start (the parking was weird...couldn't park at the start or finish, so there was a shuttle system) while she went to drop off the car. It was still dark and not yet raining.
Luke and I started out a little bit fast but not as fast as a lot of the other runners. I still don't understand 50ks at all. It seems like almost the entire race starts out too fast and then dies. Which I don't get. I mean, I did too but I didn't plan on it and I know I have not figured out how to run a 50k yet, or more importantly, remember to eat enough food. So Luke and I tried to run slower at the start and sort of succeeded a little, although 7:30 miles are quite fast for a 50k. And felt slow - thanks adrenaline. We ran through the first aid station together and saw Josh and Lizzy. After a quick stop we moved on.
It started raining sometime in during the first few miles, which is normally great, but it turns out parts of the course were made of that clay stuff that turns into the most evil running mud I've ever seen. Its drives me crazy. To make it worse, I was wearing normal KSO five fingers. I love five fingers, but I just can't run in them in mud. Its like running on ice. There is absolutely zero traction. And I didn't really know how this would work in a race until I hit a downhill muddy section that I just could not run without falling down a loooong ways, so Luke took off enjoying his La Sportiva shoes. That was the last time I saw him during the race.
I fell on the way up to the 14 mile aid station due to mud. It was a miracle I didn't fall many many times before that where I was doing everything in my power to stay on my feet for about 5 miles. But hey, its trail running, and if I came poorly equipped that is most definitely my own fault. Another runner pointed out xc shoes would have worked...which were the ONLY pair of shoes I left at home! In the end, the hill went by really fast because I spent the whole time trying not to fall. It was putting a lot of strain on all my muscles, but especially my knee. I sort of decided to drop out at the 14 mile aid station to avoid doing more damage.
When I got to the 14 mile aid station, I was all set to drop out. The conversation went something like this:
Josh - "So are you going to stop?"
Julie - "NO WAY! WHY WOULD I DO THAT?"
Ok so that didn't go as planned. The next thing I knew I was off and running (without eating enough food). The next section was super fun single track. This is dangerous. It means I ran waaaaay too fast considering I was just about halfway through the race. A couple of guys were following me and commenting on how good I looked, to which I responded something along the lines of I will pay for that later but its fun now so I am going to run fast anyway. This is exactly why I am not doing well at 50k running!
Around mile 19 I did pay for it. Hugely. I went from running well under 9:00 miles to a dead stop when I ran out of carbohydrates. I mean, I know I have issues with that. I have carb issues when I am not running. So you'd think I would try to keep track of it during an ultra. But no. I had forgotten all about eating for about 10 miles. I KNOW better than this but somehow during the race it just does not compute. I even know it doesn't compute. The result was about 100ft from the next aid station I just stopped. I couldn't even make it that far. So I sat on the ground and ate 2 huge chocolate chip cookies (stale, but I didn't even notice), a huge number of goldfish crackers, cheese curls, and a slice of pizza. Then in a carb deficient daze I slowly walked to the aid station and proceeded to eat about 15 brownies. And pretzels. And Gu chewy things. The unbelievable part is it didn't make me feel sick at all. A long time later I left the aid station to try to walk to the next aid station where Josh was hopefully waiting if he hadn't given up on me and gone to the finish with Lizzy.
Due to medical exercise testing when I realized I was having some kind of issue with running, I know that my body burns muscle quickly when I run out of carbs. This is bad. So after leaving the aid station I was hoping the food would help fix my non-functional legs, but the reality was I had been running too long on nothing. At least my head was kind of fixed though. Making it to the 2nd to last aid station was slow and not very fun. I like to race, not drag myself along firetrails. There were pretty ocean views though where I spent some time looking at what could be a really sweet reef break.
Finally I made it to the aid station and Josh was still there! Yay! So I switched out of five fingers into real shoes (hmmm I should have done this a lot earlier due to the mud but shoes cause injury so I didn't want to risk it). The real shoes and warmer shirt made a huge difference. I started walking to the finish, but did the math and realized I didn't want to be out there that long, so I ran the rest of the way. My last 2 miles were decently fast (maybe 9:00 pace?) so I guess the shoes helped.
At the finish, I found Luke who had finished his first 50k! Josh and Lizzy did pretty awesome being outside for over 7 hours while I finished (this is way way slow).
We got food and Luke and I limped back to the car for a ride to the hotel while Josh and Lizzy laughed at us. Its ok, they deserve it after hanging out all day for our race. We got smoothies for pre-dinner and then pasta for our post-race and Lizzy's pre-race.
Back at the hotel, it turns out they had an ice bath for the runners!!!!! YAY LARKSPUR HOTEL! You are awesome! And a spa and heated outdoor pool, which we made quite a bit of use of.
The next day, Josh and I dropped off Lizzy and Luke at the half marathon start. Josh and I had to wait for Luke to come back from the start before driving to the next aid station, so we took a walk on Tennessee Valley beach. I almost cried I wanted my bodyboard so badly. ARGH! I'm not sure how well that would have gone after the 50k but I didn't care. Instead, I just enjoyed slowly walking around such a beautiful area.
Pretty quickly the hour was up and it was time to go get Luke. The three of us drove over to the aid station for the half marathon. After a little waiting we watched Lizzy fly through on her way to one of the major climbs of the race.
We hung out for another 45min or so before we came back through on her way back to the finish, so we jumped in the car and raced her there. We made it in plenty of time and got to watch Lizzy finish strong in a hard trail half marathon. The finish area was fun to hang out in and they even had hotdogs for very hungry previous day racers. :)
Unfortunately, the awesome weekend had to come to an end. The four of us drove back to the Palo Alto/Mountain View area so Josh and I could continue our drive back to LA after some Golden Gate Bridge sightseeing.
We said goodbye to our friends and despite the exhaustion got on our way. The drive was pretty hard due to very high winds and very intense rain at times. We even got a 4 foot diameter tumbleweed stuck in the front of my car, which stayed with us for about 100 miles. Josh managed to drive all of it although not without a lot of tense moments. It was a pretty awesome weekend and I am super psyched we got to drive up, visit friends, and enjoy a very well done race weekend.
Its funny, in short distances I'm mad if I don't run well. I still enjoy all the other aspects of trail running, but I do want to run fast. In 50ks, I do too, but when a 50k goes bad, I am actually happy just to finish. I had a great time and somehow am left with the feeling that it was actually fun. I would like to be able to race long distances, but clearly right now I can't yet, and somehow it doesn't really bother me. Its just different. I think I actually like not being at the front. The challenge is all personal, which is very different from what I am used to. Or maybe its the people I've done 50ks with. Both times, I combined the race weekend with visiting family or friends, and that makes a huge huge difference. It definitely makes the experience richer.
