Ultrarunner October 22, 2007

I DID IT!!!!

This weekend I achieved a major personal goal … I finished my first ultramarathon, the 50k trail race in Palo Duro Canyon. For those of you who don’t pay attention to this sort of thing, an ultramarathon is any race longer than marathon distance, in this case 50 kilometers (31 miles).

It was an amazing experience, for so many reasons. Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in the country, after the Grand Canyon. I didn’t take these myself, but here are just a few pictures of the canyon, to give you some idea of how incredibly beautiful it was …

In this next one, see that tiny trail at the base of the mountain?

Yep, ran that! And this …

None of these do justice to how it felt to run throughout the canyon … the rolling hills, the winding trails along the ridges, the awe-inspiring views of the canyon walls rising all around us.

Oh, and then of course there was the heat (not to mention the red clay dust blowing around). The race started innocently enough at 7 a.m., when the canyon was still in pitch dark. Anyone standing at the rim of the canyon would have been fascinated by the long line of tiny lights bobbing along the Juniper Cliffside Trail hundreds of feet below, as we covered the early miles with our headlamps. The sun finally rose after about 1/2 hour, just as I reached Phil’s aid station where the 50k and 50 milers parted ways. From there I continued on along the Rojo Grande, Sunflower, and Juniper trails to finish my first 6 mile loop … the entire race loop was 12.5 miles, but we 50k’ers did 1/2 loop to start, then the full loop twice. My legs felt great, my lungs felt great, and I got through the first loop in under 72 minutes, a solid 12 minute/mile pace on the rolling hard packed dirt and rock terrain.

After taking a few minutes to refuel at the start/finish line aid station, I headed back out for my first 12.5 mile loop, retracing my way back to Phil’s aid station, then another few miles along the Lighthouse trail and Cottonwood Flats to Dos Loco Senoritas aid station, where I dropped off my Camelbak for refilling and to complete the short out-and-back section, hitting the 6 Mile marker (12 total for me) along the way. After Dos Senoritas, the next section covered the Givens, Spicer & Lowry running trail, named for the founders of the trail race. This was by FAR my favorite section of the trail! Several miles of rolling hills winding around and around the canyon walls, up and down ridges – kind of technical, but so gorgeous and much more fun than just running on flat ground. You never knew when you came around a curve what gorgeous view you’d see next! After a while I came down some rock steps into a playground, leading up to the Hackberry aid station. This next section back to Phil’s was the shortest part of the course between aid stations, but was also the most tedious, just lots of flat and mud. It was sweet relief coming into Phil’s and then covering those last couple miles back to the start.

I came into the start/finish area at 3:38, meaning I had covered my second loop in 2:23. I was really excited, but I also knew that was not a pace I could sustain for another loop. Maybe on another day, but by now it was after 10:30, and temperatures had started to climb. They would eventually peak somewhere in the mid-90’s, making this one of the hottest Palo Duro races ever. I took my time at this aid stop, making sure I had on plenty of sunscreen, swapping my Camelbak for a handheld, getting some food, and taking another dose of my inhaler. Actually, I took a lot more time than I would have liked … note to self: next time, organize your drop bag!

The inhaler must have really kicked in fast, because I had a minor dizzy spell right as I hit the trail for my final 12.5 miles. I didn’t stop running, and the dizzyness subsided pretty quickly and never returned, thankfully. But this loop was just HARD. The heat and the fatigue from my pace on the first 30k really hit me, and I just focused everything I had on running as much as possible, walking the hills and whenever else I had to, and making sure I kept drinking and eating. In retrospect I didn’t really eat enough over the course of the race, but the heat made it hard.

This loop was where I learned that when it comes to food and hydration, all the preparation in the world goes out the window come race day. I had spent so much time figuring out what worked for me and what didn’t – potatoes, water, salt sticks, Sharkies, etc. – and in the end all I wanted on my final loop was Gatorade and pretzels. I suppose that’s really the key to endurance running, though – listening to your body and being flexible enough to switch gears in the middle of a race.

Well, there is one other key – mental toughness. People talk about this a lot, but it really does make all the difference, and this is where preparation and those really brutal runs come into play. When the sun was beating down on me, and my legs were so tired I could hardly stand it, and what felt like an hour of running turned out to be about four minutes, the memory of those tough days kept me going. I knew that if I could run those last six miles out at Inks Lake – when it was so hot, and I’d been attacked by fire ants, and I was suffering every step of the way but refused to walk because I was NOT going to stop – well then, I could certainly keep putting one foot in front of the other for the last six miles of this race! And that’s exactly what I did … I just kept running.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I came around the last corner for the run to the finish line. I saw the clock, so far away and just turning to 6:39, and I knew I had to cross that line to finish in under 6:40. Just as I prepared my last push, I heard people shouting my name and cheering! I crossed the finish line with my friends all there to congratulate me and take care of me, and I realized that I had done it … I had just finished my first ultra!

Not only did I finish, but I came in more than 20 minutes under my goal time of 7 hours! Not too shabby for a first-timer.

You would think that this would be the best part of my day … but it wasn’t. The best part was realizing what an amazing community of runners we have in Austin, and how proud I am to call them my friends. Those who had already finished or who had run the shorter 20k race distance took such good care of me when I came in … making sure I had my recovery drink, walking with me, making me get under the ice cold shower at the finish line (total bliss!). After that it was my chance to relax and cheer on the rest of our friends who came in … some finishing the 50k, others completing yet another lap in the long 50 mile run.

Sometime around 3:00, we started watching out for Stephanie, attempting her first ultra in the 50 mile race. We knew how important this race was to her, and that if she wasn’t in by 3:45, she was going to have trouble making the final 4:30 cutoff at Phil’s aid station. She came in with just a few minutes to spare, but was looking so defeated, we knew she wasn’t likely to get to Phil’s on her own, let alone get through another 12.5 miles. We gave her a pep talk, got her fed, watered, refueled, and started to send her out … and then Noelle threw on her shoes and went out after her. Leah, Larry, Brian, and I looked at each other, then hopped in the car to head to Phil’s to make sure the race officials would let Steph keep going for the rest of the race. She might have been exhausted, but I knew Steph would feel so much worse if she didn’t finish. We spotted Steph and Noelle along the trail – and looking so much better – and stopped so Larry could run out and tell them that he was going to pace Stephanie from Phil’s to the end of the race. Larry is an experienced pacer, who has done many runs much longer than 50k, and even though he had run fast enough to place third in this race, he had enough left in him to make sure Stephanie didn’t give up.

We made it to Phil’s, and made sure that they’d let Steph continue her race. Soon after, Steph and Noelle came in, we got Steph more water and food, and the she and Larry took off for the the final 9 miles of the race. We went back to the finish line, had enough time to cheer on Ramsey as she came in to win the women’s 50 miler, and then we went back out – this time to the Hackberry aid station. We had heard that even though they’d leave water there, that the race volunteers might be gone by the time Stephanie and Larry made it in, and we didn’t want her to get there and feel like she was all alone. Fortunately, the volunteers had no intention of abandoning their post until after the last runner had come through, so we all hung out, cheering on the final runners as they came through before the last few miles of the race. This time Stephanie came through with a smile on her face! She knew she was nearly done and nothing was going to stop her now!

Then it was back to the finish line to wait … and we didn’t have to wait long. Pretty soon, here comes Stephanie … crossing the finish line with tears in her eyes.  In the end, all but one of the Austin crew completed the race. Not only that, but Austinites pretty well kicked butt! Austin women won all three of the race distances (20k, 50k, and 50 mile), another guy won the men’s 50 miler, Larry got 3rd in the 50k … guess all that training in the Austin summer heat finally paid off!

There are no words to adequately express how much this weekend meant to me. The incredible satisfaction of completing an ultra … to know that my body and mind and spirit can carry me over all those miles … I’ll get to carry that with me forever. And even though I plan to do more, I could not have chosen a better race for my first time. But most importantly, to get to do this race with the support and encouragement of my friends – and realizing what these people will do for one of their own – makes me feel so blessed. I have been a runner for years, and have done many races, almost all of them alone. So to have this experience with my friends – to play together, to suffer together, to recover together, to celebrate together – well, life just doesn’t get better than that.