I had a fun time running my best at Ray Miller, achieving a time of 7:38, which was a 30 minute course record, 1st woman and 2nd place overall. There were a couple reasons things worked out. I was looking forward to touring this beautiful course, having been there twice before with friends. Also, I had the great support of Greg, whom might get more nervous for me to race than I do, and definitely gets more nervous for my races than his races.

So first up, let me display some pictures of my two times to Point Mugu State Park, where the race was held. The mountains rise right out of the ocean there with awesome views, sea breezes, quickly changing landscapes, and a variety of terrain.

I heard it was “literally freezing” at the start, so I dressed for it. It was 52 degrees.

After a moment’s hesitation (no one wanted to go first), we set off.

Chugging up a hill mid-race

Like I always think, “Hallelujah, the finish!”

She made it tough (the course), beautiful (the location), and do-able (well run and reliable aid).

Strava data

Strava data https://www.strava.com/activities/914317377/embed/6e3eb5f51fcc945c2a2080aabda712e69999605c“>here.

Running along

zippity do da

Well, my run at the Mad City 100k didn’t go that well.  But I did have a great visit in Wisconsin!  There was a big old ice storm the night before the race, making for a dicey drive to the start line.  Once running, I warmed up quickly though and it turned into a nice day.  That was lucky because the slow walk I was doing later in the race would have been miserable in the cold.

It was a lonely, boring day.  I ran with Traci Falbo for the first 400 meters, then was on my own.  By the fourth lap, I was bored.  There were few people out spectating and except for passing another runner once in awhile, there was no one to talk to.  The no headphones rule really sucked.  I was relying too much on liquid calories with my Tailwind pre-filled water bottles for every lap.  After stopping to pee once, I couldn’t stop.  It was painful to hold it 3 miles between porta potties.  I have no problem with peeing out in the woods, but we were running through neighborhoods so I held it and hurt.  Finally, I got behind on calories and had a nice long sit-down at an aid station where I was fed lots of warm soup.  That really helped!  I kept pushing on, looking forward to my next cup of warm soup.

I know I was just a headcase out there because when it finally came to my last lap, I was able to run again!  My poor parents, Chrissy and Greg having to wait around for me for so long.  At least Greg was able to keep my mom from pulling me from the race though!  She’s a big proponent of just stopping when it doesn’t feel good.  Oh well, once it was over, I was glad to have done it!

Picked the wrong spring weekend to come home

Chicks on the farm

Battling a Woolly Mammoth, as we do near Horicon Marsh

Since I’m headed to Wisconsin this weekend to visit my grandparents, I thought I’d throw in a race.  I’ve been interested in Timo Yanacheck’s Mad City races for awhile because there aren’t many road ultras to choose from.  I’ll run the 100k and Greg will run the 50k.  Crazy, he never chooses the shorter distance!

I got to wondering if anyone has won the National Championships in both the 100k trail and 100k road races in the same year.  According to the USATF website, the 100k Trail NC has only been held since 2008.  But also the most recent result on there is from 2011, so who knows how accurate that is.  The 100k Road NC results go back to 1987.  It looks like Mad City has served as the Championship race since 2007.  From what I can tell, no one has won both even in different years.  Check for yourself here.

I surprised myself with 2nd place in 2:56 down in Woodlands, TX.  Every time I tried doing a marathon-specific workout, I either bailed or failed miserably.  Thinking it was important to get some flat, fast miles in, I’d try to run marathon pace on the bike path. I could barely do one mile at 6:50 pace, so I figured I was doomed.  It was my goal to run under 3 hours to get in the A wave for Comrades. Here is the qualifying times for Comrades’ waves.  My previous qualifier was the hilly, rooty Squamish 50, putting my behind thousands of starters in the F wave.

Adding to the pressure, I saw my write-up in the Race Guide.  

So instead of running my 6:50 miles,  I hiked up mountains,  shuffled on snowshoes and danced in jazzercise.

This is what my tune ups looked like the week of The Woodlands…

searching for a frozen lake

found the lake!

Summit leads the way

When I finally accepted that I was going to race, I figured I needed some fast-looking clothes.

Crafting shorter shorts and a handheld

The ride from Greg’s cousin’s house to the race location included two false starts and being pulled over by the police.  But we made it!

The race looked good in the dark

Ready to start! , Aunt Karen, Cockatoo, Cousin Erica

A great bird’s eye view of the race from Asset Aerial Imaging

At the race,  I kissed Greg goodbye and slipped into my corral with the elites.  I felt as out of place as I could be.  I was the only one with a water bottle.  This is my favorite way to fashion a handheld.  It collapses down to fit in my pocket between aid stations, and with all the fancy duct tapes available, you can make it to match any nail color!

When the gun finally went off, I felt so much relief.  I looked around and saw the fog lifting, a colorful sunrise, a silly drone overhead and lots of people out cheering.  It was actually fun!  I was expecting the good times to end when I’d hit the wall and start suffering, but it never happened!  I was enjoying the speed and ticking off miles. Somewhere around mile 16 a female competitor came up alongside me and then over the next few miles pulled away. I had a bit of a side ache from a single gulp of Gatorade, so I just relaxed and I figured I’d just see her later. Sure enough, I did! With a couple miles to go, she popped out of the bushes and was running alongside me again. Once more she pulled away, but I just thought “no worries,  I’m still feeling alright and I’ll have a finishing kick.”  When I passed the 26 mile mark, I turned it on and zoomed into the finish. The whole race seemed so short!  What had I been so scared about?

To make the whole experience even better, our whole group had good races! Greg’s Aunt Karen did the 5k, his cousin Erica ran the half along with Jeff, who managed to run it on just a couple hours sleep. Greg set a massive PR and was hot on my tail.  We even won matching backpacks!

podium

look at this handy backpack

Greg got his matching backpack

Jeff may have used all his energy dancing before the start

Here’s my results on https://www.strava.com/activities/512015438/embed/eb20564b75e5723669ae68645502a669eadceb60” target=”_blank”>Strava.