Yours Truly 50K

The Yours Truly 50K is one of those strange runs that has people running their own routes, with their own start times, all over the world. In our area, a route was selected. Runners chose their own start times. There was a Race Director - he marked the trail and set up a self-service aid station at each end of the out-and-back. Our route was on the Cedar River Trail, a double out-and-back of 7.75 miles. Rob and I were planning to run and decided an earlier start would be best. We chose 6:30 am. Eric and Jamal decided to join us just yesterday. Now, it should be said that Eric and Rob both ran the Pigtails 50K yesterday, and Jamal ran two fast 10-mile laps of yesterday's route. I went to First Aid/CPR class and did not run at all.

The roads were a little slick this morning and by the time we got to the trail head and set ourselves up, our start time was 6:40. It was still dark and we all had our headlamps on. It was also snowing lightly and cold. As we started down the gravel trail, we were surprised to discover that it was a sheet of ice. I expected it to be frozen, but instead it was a sheer layer of ice over the trail. Right in the middle, or sometimes on the edges, the gravel poked through for a little traction. Anyone who knows me, knows I hate running on ice. I did it anyway, and in the dark! We crossed several bridges and roads that were very slick. The ice covered the trail for 4.75 miles. At that point we turned up a hill and most of the ice was gone, though it still showed up in patches. We got to the turn around just after the RD set it up - he was still marking the trail with flour as we passed him. I was already feeling fatigue and some soreness when we hit the turn around - a measly 7.75 miles in. I attributed it to running on the ice.



I was sure the ice would melt off before we hit it again, but I was wrong. Back down the trail, another 4.75 miles of ice. There was a dusting of snow over clear ice - we could see right through to the leaves and gravel beneath. I'm still amazed by that. We were kind of trudging along at this point, and we had more than one discussion about going out for the second out-and-back. I swear, if any one of us had said they were bailing, we all would have caved. We couldn't do it though, because Rob is going for the seven star level of Maniac, and we couldn't blow his streak. We got back to the ever-lovely Kermie, refueled, ditched gear and headed back out.





Guess what - the ice was still there, no change, slick as ever. I hate running on ice and I was doing it for the third time today! We were 15 miles into the run and I was worn out. Rob, Eric and Jamal kept the conversation going, and kept me laughing. We finally got off the ice and onto the frozen gravel part of the trail - not a lot of give, but no sheet of ice. I struggled through here - upset tummy, tired, sore. The guys kept me moving and I tried to eat a bit at the aid station, but my tummy never really settled down till we were home.

Several others started the race a bit later than us - we saw them as we left the aid station and knew they would be passing us. Sure enough, they did. I had reset my timer from a 5/1 to a 3/2, and I am here to tell you that three minutes never, never lasted so long. I think I hit the wall and stayed mashed up against it till the end. I don't know if it was last week's run in the forest, or running on ice, or what, but boy was I toast. I kept trudging forward though. I ran 21 miles this week before taking this on, so that could have been it too. I ate really well on Thursday and Friday, and drank well too, so my pre-fueling was okay.


Bonking hard while Jess passes us.

I started wondering out loud how I could possibly run 50 miles. Rob hushed me and told me to stop thinking like that. I think I mentioned it several more times though. I've wondered about it since we finished too. Eric tells me I will just do it, one step at a time. I sure hope so.

The good news is that most of the ice was gone on our way back. There were still some bad sections, but only for short distances. We finally rolled into the finish in 7:26:57. My other 50k times have been 7:22, 7:08 and 7:05. I'm okay with today's longer time - especially considering the ice. I'm taking it easy for the rest of this week and next weekend. I've got some blisters that need to heal and I need to rest up a bit. If I put aside my struggles to keep moving, then I have to say I had a great day. The three guys were great company, and it was fun to finally run a race with Eric and Rob. Hope we can do it again someday!