31 miles and strong

For a few years now I have contemplated running an ultra race (any distance longer than a 26.2 mile marathon).  My experience with myself (which is long and vast as I am my oldest friend) is that the longer the distance, the better I perform.  Which I why you will NEVER see a post about a 5k distance. I stink at sprinting.  My family can tell you that.  I was never the first picked for any ultimate frisbee game :)  But once I start running, I can maintain a pace for a long, long, LONG period of time.  So I always wondered...what as life like after 26.2? 

Fantastic.  Incredible.  Beautiful.  Holy.  This gorgeous scene was what I got to run next to for the majority of my race.

And this gorgeous face is who I got to run my race with-- well for at least the first half mile before we realized what it means to run on a narrow trail (it means solitude).  Kari had just run a marathon in a Boston qualifying time the week before this race, so she was a little tired even before we began running (to say the least)

This was what the trail was like the majority of the time.  So I was alone with God and His creations for much of the run.  I loved it.  For a long time I just looked and breathed and lived, mourning for people who never get to see views like this or who live in congested cities.

I took pictures throughout my run, so I was obviously not concentrating on winning the race, but more experiencing my first ultra marathon.  I really enjoy running and I was absurdly happy that I was about to run 31 miles.  This is how I like to spend my saturdays.

We got to do some crazy cool things during the run whenever we needed to cross the river-- it usually involved logs...

And more logs

and run in long stretches of mud.  I joked that they should have called this race the "tough mudder."  Feel free to lol at my cleverness :)

more than anything, I was just amazed at how beautiful everything was. I felt so blessed to live in the Northwest!  And I know that there is cruelty and filth and evil in the world, but there is also beauty and purity and peace and serenity.  Now you know why I run!

This was me at halfway through the race-- roughly around 18 miles or so.  And feeling great!

We ran on about 2 miles of road only-- and this is what it was.

And this is me after the race.  Still feeling great.  Not terribly sore.  Really happy!!  I will definitely be running more races like this!

Here were some fun facts about my race that day:

1.  At the aid stations in ultras, you get things like baked potatoes with salt, goldfish crackers, oreos, jelly beans, and m&ms..
2. When I reached the second aid station, they were not fully stocked yet and did not have any water there.  Not good.  I actually asked another runner at some point to drink some of her water because I didn't want to hang out at the aid station until water arrived.  I drank from her camel back.  Thats love between runners!
3. I tripped twice during my run.  Thats what happens when you start listening to music-- or in  my case, bill cosby, on a trail run.
4. I finished in 6 hours and 38 minutes-- well below my goal of 7 hours.
5. I used the same fanny pack I have used since 2004 for all my marathons and wore hand me down running stuff.  I also used the same shows I wore for my marathon 2 1/2 years ago (I am glad-- it was really muddy and I needed shoes that were really comfortable and seasoned!).
6.  I got zero chafing or blisters during  my run.
7. I finished 10th overall and 3rd in the women (there were really only 50 runners though)
8. The food at the finish line was awesome.  Salmon and meatballs and potstickers and cookies and candy and rice and watermelon.  There was just this guy making a whole bunch of random food on a camp grill.  It felt like a backyard bbq-- which was exacerbated by the fact that most of the runners knew each other (ultra running is a small, tight knit community)
9.  Everyone tells you "good job" or "good work" when they pass you on the trail.  And it doesn't sound condescending, because anyone who finished a 31 mile race, no matter how slow, really is awesome!