Monday Motivation: 50K

50K is 31 miles. I'm still not sure what made me think, "Sure, running 31 miles sounds like a great idea!"

I know what did it, it's Lisa's fault. My BRF (Best running friend) did the event last year and assured me that I could do it. Well, just because you can do it doesn't mean it's a good idea...

The short version: I did it, I'm not injured but I'm really sore. I'm proud of my accomplishment but I don't feel like I need to do it again. I got about 6 hours of car ride time to design and get a great start on a new design for Red Heart.

The long version:
The Eagle Up Ultra had 50k, 50 miles, 100K, and 100-mile divisions including a ruck (walk with heavy backpacks) division. So 31 miles was the SHORTEST distance I could do. These people are machines. I was in awe of the people who blew by us like we were standing still. We got LAPPED on several occasions. But it's ok. I'm 44 and never run a marathon, let alone an Ultra.

The course was a 5-mile loop along the Erie Canal. It was beautiful and mostly shaded. We saw turtles and lizards and crazy big birds and horses pulling the canal boats, and tiny toads.

We stayed in a hotel the night before and the breakfast bar isn't open at 4:45 am when we left to get set by the start by 6 am. So, I skipped breakfast. It was too early to think about food and I was still full from the pasta dinner the night before. (Which, in retrospect, worked well!)

After the first 10 miles, Lisa, Brian and I were cruising and in a happy place.

An Ultra is a little different than a typical race because it is so long that stopping to eat, reapply sunscreen, wipe your face, change shoes, change into a new shirt... all normal. Here we are stopping after 10 miles for 2-3 minutes to regroup and take a selfie!

At the 20 mile mark, I stopped and changed my socks and shoes, made a pit stop, took some salt pills. They also have water stations about every 1.5 miles. Two of the stations were water and the other two had water, potato chips, pretzels, Twizzlers, and candy. Both salt and sugar are important on long runs. I know from experience that I need salt more than I need sugar (cuz I get plenty of sugar in my day-to-day life? Because I'm sweet enough already?). Anyway, I ate at least 2 bags of chips during the race and a couple of handfuls of pretzels.

Brian, Lisa and me. We walked the last 11 miles as fast as we could though we all had blisters forming and various aches and pains.

At mile 25, I saw that Tom had met his 20-mile goal. (He was carrying a 50# backpack for his training to hike Mt. Rainier next month). He was lounging in a chair recovering while I re-applied sunscreen, downed a bottle of water and grabbed a piece of pizza. (Seriously, I took the pizza with me as I started mile 26).

(He's on the left in the orange hat).

Since it is a 5-mile loop, that means for the 31st mile, you have to actually cross the finish line, go out half a mile and turn around half a mile and enter the finish line from the back. It was so hard to pass the finish line and do ONE MORE MILE.

The event raised money for Team RWB, which I'm a member of. It's like the old VFW halls for veterans but instead, encourages veterans to mingle among the community while being active and being healthy and well. So, when you know the event is for veterans, (unless you are injured) you can't NOT do the final mile. Seriously.

Here I am, finished. I look a lot less perky than the 10-mile selfie! LOL. Then I promptly ate two hamburgers and another slice of pizza. Remember, I skipped breakfast and the only lunch I had was the pizza at mile 26. ;)

So, for Monday Motivation, I'm not asking you to complete an ultra marathon.  That isn't a good plan for everyone. (Ask me in a week if it was a good plan for me). But I will ask you to think about the hard work our military and their families do for us. Maybe today, go for a little walk or run and send some good vibes or prayers of gratitude and safety for them and peace in our world.