50 Miles..done!

But it was tough.
Really, really tough.

I'm breaking my race report into The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Let's begin with...


THE BAD STUFF


SUN! LOTS OF IT!

The sun on Saturday was very mean

The race day weather report predicted lows in the mid 40's and a high of 71. Lovell Canyon is about 40 min away from Las Vegas and about 15 degrees cooler. Perfect weather for a 50 miler.


Except it wasn't perfect weather. The tempt at 7am was in the 50's, it must have climbed to the mid 80's by noon. 


Hot sun with no shade is a bad combination. Guess what makes it worse?


I DIDN'T CARRY A WATER BOTTLE!
I'm a minimalist. I don't carry a water bottle or wear a fuel belt. Heck, I don't even have a garmin! 


Besides the 50 & 100 mile races, there was also a marathon on Saturday. Plenty of water stations.


Until the marathon was over. After that, there was an aid station every 5 miles. Plenty if you are carrying water. Not too good if you're the only one who isn't.


Hot sun/ No Shade/ Minimal water. I'm getting woozy all over again just thinking about it.


THE UGLY STUFF


SALT!
All over my face! In my hair! Between my toes! 


I was a human salt lick. I was still peeing at regular intervals so I didn't think I was getting dehydrated. I was popping electrolyte pills and had coconut water in my drop bag. I felt confident that I could avoid bonking.


I was wrong. Around 2:30 pm, around mile 30, I hit the wall. I kept hitting the wall for about 5 hours.


NAUSEA!
My stomach began doing flip flops around mile 35. People were scattered along the course vomiting, in the bushes. One guy said he threw up 5 times!


One lady at an aid station recommended sticking a finger down my throat. She said I'd feel  much better. I'm not a vomit type of gal so I lived with nausea for about 10 miles.


Enough with the bad and ugly. Let's move on..


THE GOOD STUFF


SCENERY!
Lovell Canyon is gorgeous.

The 50 mile course was an 11 mile out and back, done 2 times. The last 6 miles was a 3 mile out and back. 


KIND VOLUNTEERS!
Around mile 30, I was ready to settle for a DNF. I was a salty, nauseous mess. If a car had passed me, I would have stuck my thumb out. 


At mile 33, I arrived at one of the aid stations. The volunteers sat me in a chair and made me a cheese sandwich. 


I petted Lumpy the dog. He elevated my mood and made me laugh.

A dog that looked like Lumpy.

When I arrived at the aid station, I would have paid $5 to have someone drive me to the finish line. After about 30 min of relaxing and regenerating, I was ready to continue.


KIND PASSERBYS!
Around mile 25, a car pulled up next to me. The driver said he noticed I didn't have a water bottle (I'll never make this mistake again). He didn't have any water but he did have some ice. He gave me a handful of ice to carry in my hands. I also put some under my hat. It cooled me down for a couple miles.


Another random driver handed me a warm bottle of water. I wanted to give him a big salty hug.


KIND ULTRA-MARATHONERS!
I've read that the ultra community is very supportive, now I know it's true.


Every 100 and 50miler I passed asked how I was doing and encouraged me to continue. Ultra marathoners rock!


Here's a photo of Yolanda Holder...

Thanks Yolanda!

Yolanda is in the Guinness Book of world records. Her record is the most marathons for a female in one year. She completed 106 of them! And she's in her mid 50's!


Yolanda shared her flashlight with me until I could get mine from my drop bag. Without her I would have walked off the road. 


SALTY SNACKS! 


Around mile 46 I was out of energy. I was walking for 5 minutes, then stopping for 1 minute. I wanted to finish but it seemed improbable.


Then I came upon a table with packs of pretzels and chips. My stomach was still rolling, I almost didn't take anything. But I figured "What the heck" and took a bag of potato chips...

Thanks Fito Lay!

Wow! Within 3 minutes I felt almost normal! This non-primal bag of junk food gave me enough energy to get to the finish line.


and last but not least...


MY HUSBAND! 
He was at my side for the first 22 miles. Then he returned to finish the last 6 with me.


At mile 45 I laid down on the road for a couple minutes. He was my lookout for cars and wild animals.


He elevated my attitude when it kept dropping.


He didn't make fun of my salty, splotchy face. I'm sure I didn't smell too good either.


I need to dust off the pots and pans and cook him a big meal.




Despite being a day chocked full of ups and downs, around 11:30pm, I finally made it to the finish line. Originally I thought I would finish under 15 hours, it took me about an hour and a half longer.


And here's the kicker....I was the last 50 miler to finish. But I was 1st in my age group! I received a decorative cactus!


I'm happy I did it but even happier that it's over. I would like to earn a 100 mile belt buckle. I'll have to get it by doing a 48 or better yet, a 72 hour event. 


In the meantime, I'm working on my primal transition. More to come...