The weather took mainstage at today's event. It was actually snowing on my way up! Then it turned to a nasty cold rain, topped off by an arctic wind coming off the water. So much for spring.
I think everyone had a unique experience in today's activities, as ultras tend to be a bit less mainstream than a typical road race. Tray and Lee both ran along at a smokin' pace, not sure if they really got a chance to really check the lake out with everything going by at such a blur!!! Kudos to both of them on their times.
I took an early start and went out at a really slow pace in an attempt at 50 miles. Early on, I ran with a group of Marathon Maniacs from a variety of states. The guy I talked to the most was from New Mexico, here on the East Coast to run 10 marathons in the next 4 weeks. I guess they don't call themselves Maniacs for nothing. Most of the Maniacs were in the middle of a double header, tommorow they are running the Easter Marathon in the Bronx. They were an interesting bunch, but were running a little too slow for me (is that possible?????). There were also a few 50 Staters out there, one guy was on 46 or 47. He still needs HI, I told him to come with me in December!
Anyway, I felt great mentally and physically when I reached the last point to pull out of the 50 mile event...but started to realize that in the rain, wind, and cold temperatures the risk of an injury or bad outcome was ever increasing so I headed back. While that lead to a pretty slow time, I am quite happy to report it was a zone 1-2 run the whole way and as a result I already feel recovered and am about to jump on my bike trainer. I'll still be making good on my charity pledge, it will be a per KM donation rather than per Mile now.
I don't know who else will ever see this blog but I want to thank the race directory, all the great volunteers, and our personal support crew of Linda, Momma Rose, and Peter who helped make this possible.
Can't wait to hear the stories from Tray and Lee, as well as see Linda's pictures.
PS- don't post any photos of me, I had a bad hair day and wardrobe malfunction!
PS #2 Rose, I will sign up for Ironhorse.
PS #3 Hope to see some of you next Saturday for the Granby Road Race.
Great report Lani. I've posted some pix on Facebook so go there to see them. I really enjoyed the experience and am pleased w/ my time. I am especially happy for Tracy whose 5:30 was I'm pretty sure better than she thought she could do. I think your decision to do "only" 31 miles was very smart. Thanks a lot for the book; I'm not sure I'll become a regular ultra runner but maybe the book will change my mind. Tray gave me a gigantic tub of Heed for my bday so I'm good in the electrolyte department for 2011. Here's a good shot of us:
ReplyDeleteLake Waramaug - Tray, Rose, Lee, Sherry
Lani, soungs like you had a great experience talking to all those different people. Hopefully, it made the miles go by faster. You were wise to start out conservatively, especially planning to run 50 miles. I don't know if I could ever run 50 miles on that particular race route because of the temptation to cut it short. I kind of want to do a 50K trail race so once Ironman is behind you, let me know if you're interested. :) I can't believe you are biking. When I got home, I showered and passed out for an hour and a half. Then when I woke up, I seriously had trouble getting down the stairs.
ReplyDeleteFunny comment that Lee and I ran at a "smokin' pace" (Lee more than me). I averaged a 10:38 pace, which I don't think qualifies as terribly fast. However, I did spend quite a bit of time visiting all of the aid stations so my actual pace was definitely faster.
Thanks so much to Momma Rose for getting me off to a great start! And to Linda for her endless support and encouragement!
Lee, you ran awesome and I will shut my mouth from now on about how you train. In fact, maybe I'll let you be the "governor" from now on! LOL
Thanks so much for the inspiration, guys. What a blessing to have met all of you last Nov.
Just got the "unofficial" results by email from Carl. I'll have more to say about all this shortly but just think about this for awhile: no functional electronic mat, heavy wind / rain at times, 101 or so runners, 3 distances, each runner crossed the S/F between 5 and 9 times and and and ... the race director is able only 4 days after the race is over to publish easy to read, color-coded spread sheets showing us how we all did. Impressive.
ReplyDeleteJBLWU 2011 Results
We HAVE to do the 50 miler next year! All of us. Did you see the time for the winner of the 100K - a 9:28 pace for 62 miles. Kill me now.
ReplyDeleteYou're funny and, believe it or not, I was thinking exactly the same thing.
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