I was very excited to experience this course, as running at Devil's Lake for training has always been a "treat" for me. I love the views and the single track terrain. However, it is a very popular spot in the summer time, so runs are usually interrupted with weird looks from hikers.
I was feeling very sick and tired all week. I was having a random stomach bug that I couldn't shake. I decided not to taper, and I woke up on Friday morning just feeling like complete crap. My brother Dylan and best friend Melissa signed up to run an aid station at the race, so we all left that night to stay close to the race. I decided to eat more than I usually do, just because of all the stomach issues I was having during that week. I also knew that I was in for some non stop climbs, and that was a very small chance that I was going to be able to handle solid food during the race. I slept great and woke up feeling more refreshed than I did all week.
I was so distracted before the race with getting all the little stuff taken care of, which was great because I was having a hard time "focusing" on what I wanted to do that day. I had absolutely no plan, and I decided just to go with whatever. As soon as we were off, my mind switched gears immediately. I was ready to run.
I went off way faster than I had planned, but I thought "why not?". It was one of the races where I just wanted to test out different ways of running. The technical, single track parts were treating me very well, and with new shoes (Grit3) I was flying over the rocks. After about 18 miles in, I went through my brother's aid station. I decided to just go through it, as I knew I was going to back to it at the turnaround. When I came back to him, I knew I had to fuel up. The only thing I was able to hold down was twizzlers and held my nose drinking gatorade. Every time I put fuel in my stomach, it went to instant hell. My pace slowed down tremendously and I kept almost throwing up everything I was eating. I decided to take a chance and stop worrying about fuel. My mind was so focused on the fact that I had been sick, and I just had to regroup and tell myself that I was fine. When I changed my thinking, I started getting back into the game.
I reached the half way point, and spent a little longer than I wanted to at this station. However, I was really enjoying the pack of runners who I was with for most of the race. We were all trying to focus on the fact that we had to do another lap and just laughing from all the misery that came with that thought. I took off before them, as I knew I would be passed soon. I couldn't get my pace back to par when I had stopped for that long, so I knew it was going to take a couple miles to get back to that. The advil finally hit, and I was off again when I reached the bluffs. I was still ahead of the main pack of runners I was able to stick with, until I realized that I hadn't seen a trail sign for about 10 minutes. I realized this when I noticed the bluffs had a considerable amount of climbing this second round, and I hadn't seen the guys in awhile. I realized I was off course, and got a little pissed off. (Huge pet peeve... and biggest fear in races). I wanted to take a chance and just go straight up and get back on the course, but I knew my thinking was a little off and didn't know if that was the best decision. I turned back to all the climbs I just did, and finally got back on the course.
I FLEW down the bluffs, probably taking down a couple hikers. I was raging mad. I went through all the aid stations, including my brothers, and finally completed the second loop. The next 5 miles were quite entertaining. I spent 3 miles at a 8 min pace and two miles at a 13 minute pace. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do or what flow I wanted, but I didn't care either. I was going with the surges and then going with the burnouts. I was ready to be done.
I reached the finish line, only to be told that the 50 miles still had to go up and down a huge skill hill and loop around again for 5 more miles. (My watch had died, and with my extra mile or two, I had no idea what exact mile I was at). My brother came and cheered me on during this whole time. The hill was just incredibly soul crushing. Once you started going downhill, all of a sudden it would go back up. The best part of the race was actually getting to fly down that hill and cross the finish line at a crazy speed.
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I finished this race feeling pretty exhausted physically, emotionally, and mentally. It was the first time I actually had in my head to drop to a 50K, but I knew I would never actually do it. But the thought was so appealing, thank God I'm so stubborn. My brother being there at the end, made me realize how much I really do love this. Sometimes, I can get wrapped up on just dying to see the finish line during the end of my races, that I forget to actually just to enjoy the run. I finished the race pretty happy and smiling, and talked with the other runners for a couple hours afterwards. I had a great day, and enjoyed conquering the mental shit storm for 10 hours. :)
Overall time: 10:01
Place:
3rd overall Women,
2nd in age group women
3rd in age group overall
18th overall
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