Mt. Si 50K

Mt. Si 50K. Rick and I finished arm-in-arm, 7:05:37. That is approximately 3 minutes better than my first. First, my awards speech: thanks to Rick for sticking with me through good and bad, a special thanks to the best husband ever - Eric, for running about four miles out onto the course with a loaded pack to see if we needed anything, then hustling back to the aid station to lay out our stuff, then showing up again at mile 16, running back to the aid station at 21, then meeting Rick and I four miles from the finish and running us in. Eric logged about 20 miles today - all done with a full pack. Sonya also gets a special thanks for hanging at the aid stations, filling bottles and getting us whatever we needed and especially for standing in the rain for a couple of hours. Michelle and Melissa ran with us for 27 miles before kicking it into gear and heading for the finish. Patch looked strong out there too. Patch, Michelle and Rick all completed their first 50K today, and Melissa achieved Maniac status. It was a good day!

The course is an out and back - a slight incline for 14.5 miles, then a nasty downhill (only nasty because you have to come back up) to the 15 mile aid station, and then a lovely slight downhill back. Just to show you how gentle it was - Garmin shows it as a 1000 foot elevation gain over 15 miles. We had a lot of fun - conversation ranged from disgusting to hilarious to serious. My favorite part was seeing all the other runners on the trail: tc, Van, Hippo, Diana, Stacey, Arthur, Karen, Barb and many more - all 50 milers. And all the other 50K runners, plus all the relay teams. Running the gauntlet of teams at the relay exchange was awesome - the cheering and encouragement made me feel like a rock star. All the relay runners passing by gave loads of encouragement and told us we were awesome. That was very cool and gave a good boost.

Coming into the finish, Rick and I locked arms and ran across the line together. To the best of our knowledge, we were DFL. And that was fine with us!

Sadly, this is going to have to be my last 50K. I suspected it was not a good distance for me at Pigtails and I confirmed it today. Apparently 31 miles is three miles longer than my heart can handle. I started struggling for breath about three miles out - if I didn't know better I'd think I had asthma. However, I have had the definitive asthma test, and I don't. The last three miles were very hard - I just couldn't breathe. We resorted to my old familiar point-to-point. I was panting when we walked - and we were not running hard at all. My chest was tight. I finished up and wheezed for about five minutes, then it was over. The other symptom I get showed up at dinner (my favorite pizza place again!) - my jaw is so tired I can't chew. I used to get that on five mile runs, so I'm not complaining about it after 31 miles. Add it all up and I recognize the beginning of my usual heart problems. So, that's it. I have to be smart about this. I don't have this trouble in marathons, so it's marathons or less for me from here on out.

Oh, and the toes. Don't look any farther if you can help it - one toe is bad, plus I got blisters in two new spots. What is up with that? I attribute it to the rocky, gravelly trail - I think my foot slid from side to side a little and gave me new blisters. I also think I had the bad toe wrapped too tight. The Kineseo tape worked great on my troublesome big toe - not a blister to be found.

All in all, it was a great day. I enjoyed it, I enjoyed the friendship of my running buddies and the camaraderie of the Marathon Maniacs, and the support of Eric. I love the social aspect of these runs. I'll be back next year - not as a 50K runner, but as a relay runner. Rick and I are going to get a team together.













Signing off from the North Cascades, where the racers are friendly, the support is fabulous and the 50Ks are over.