Buckeye Trail

So, thanks for all the advice on the last post.

I decided on Saturday I felt good enough to go for it. Even Coach Emily said that I might as well give it a shot, and if the worst that happens is I get 8 miles in on the trail and then have some coffee with friends, how bad is that, right? Which was true.

I still didn't feel totally 100%. I tried to get some dinner at the grocery store last night and literally NOTHING sounded good. Do you know what we had? A small pizza and some chicken wings for Matt, and for me--EGGO waffles.

Seriously. That's ALL that sounded good.

So I had my 2 eggos and a few strawberries, and Matt had his pizza and wings. I did have a small slice of pizza after I decided it might smell good, which then rounded out the most bizarre and random dinner ever.

So the alarm went off at 4:50am so I could meet TriEric and Aimee to hitch a ride. We headed out and the snow was coming down pretty good. The roads were a mess and I wondered what the trail would be like.

So it went like this: there were two loops, the 8 mile and the 5 mile (and change). So depending on what race you wanted to do (which the RD announced was basically whatever you felt like doing! It was a TOTALLY laid-back vibe), you either started on the 8 or 5. The 8 was supposedly a little more challenging than the 5. We were starting off on the 8, so I was a little nervous to see what I could do. My plan was to do the 8 and if I felt like I could keep going, I'd keep going.

Aimee and I at the start

DaisyDuc, Me, and TriEric

JT, getting ready to rock!

Let me just say how AWESOME the volunteers, course, and race were. I'm totally back for next year! It was an absolutely gorgeous course. We are really lucky to have such an amazing park system and ultra/running community here!

Right about now, at the start line asking myself, "Stomach--you in, buddy?"

Aimee on a stretch known as Pine Lane. Thanks to the volunteers who shoveled a bit of a path for us!

The hills were KILLAH. I mean, really, REALLY tough. They would have been tough without snow, and tough if I hadn't had the flu this week. So they were kicking my BUTT. But it was still a TON of fun, and I was really enjoying it! Everyone out there was so awesome.

I swear this guy just never stops smiling!

TriEric crosses the creek


I could tell I was pretty weak on the uphills. I just didn't have anything left. So Aimee and I decided after 8 miles, we had enough. The funny thing? It took us 2:13 to go EIGHT MILES.

2:13.

FOR EIGHT MILES.

I am usually running an entire half marathon in 1:50.

That's how tough it was.

A guy I talked to at the finish said it best when he described it "like running in an old bar of soap." You know...like when your soap starts disintegrating and just breaking apart? Yeah, it was kinda like that. I'd have to estimate 12-14 inches of snow on the trail, and some drifts were much deeper than that.

SUPER HUGE KUDOS to anyone who could finish the 50K--especially my girl DaisyDuc! I can't even IMAGINE doing 18 miles, let alone 31!

When all was said and done, I had an absolute blast and held up better than I even thought I could. The goal was to have a good solid day of training, and I did. I am FREAKING TIRED now and I had a BIG OL' cheeseburger tonight for dinner.

Because you know what?

Tonight, I was FINALLY hungry.

:)