Running race 8:43:00 [3]
Well the Bad Thing lived up to its name for me! Having had a great 50K about 5 weeks ago and a half-marathon that felt good two weeks ago, I was thinking that this was going to be a good race for me. It was super fun to hang out at the Diamond house with everyone on Friday night where we were treated to awesome homemade pizza and great conversation. I left the conversation a little early though as I was too excited to go hang out and sleep in Big Earl. I had a better than usual pre-race sleep although I will need to figure out how to make his heater work!
Saturday a.m. I was psyched out a bit by the fact that there were only around 30 people in the race as I automatically feared being at the end. I enjoy running with company so decided to run with Julie and Sarah, who were both aiming to complete their first 50K. Unlike Dances with Dirt a few weeks ago where I felt I had abundant energy throughout the whole race, I felt drained within the first 10K, which really affected my head space. I'm not sure if it was the poison ivy trying to fight its way out of my blood or the result of a week of nearly no sleep because I was up scratching all night, or maybe I shouldn't have tried two 50Ks that close together, but I had no get up and go and the race was a real struggle for me. I felt like I was drinking enough (had planned on 12 scoops of Tailwind plus a few extras) but none of my systems seemed to want to co-operate. I had cold sweats all day, a brutal headache, and every joint in my body seemed to hurt. I kept thinking I had a succubus inside of me that was stealing all of my energy (and at times, my soul).
So, it ended up being a long day and I was thankful for the great company. I really wanted to quit between 20-30K and weighed the long term regret I'd feel for that decision vs. the short term satisfaction of not having to run anymore. If I'd been on my own, I probably wouldn't have kept going but the three of us made the best of the day, each dealing with our own struggles.
The race was very well-organized although the course was longer than advertised and the aid station locations didn't always seem accurate. At the last aid station, which I had as about 40km on my Ambit, I was told we were only at 36km and that did not impress me! But overall, I think that the RDs did a great job for their first trail race and hopefully they let me people in next year. I'd never been on the Maitland trail before so it was fun to explore a new trail system and see lots of AR friends. And on the plus side, I am way less itchy today so maybe the PI left my system for good yesterday!
Congrats to Hermes and GStix who dominated the 25K, STORM, who kicked ass and took some names in the 50K, 'Bent, whose stomach finally agreed with him, Bash, who won the award for most awesome tights, and Sarah, Julie and Greg who all completed their first 50K. This was not an easy one for a first go at that distance!