My First 50 Miler!! Race Report (and 100th post!)

I completed my first ever 50 miler this past Saturday, November 6th. It was fun, I would definitely do it again!! I'm going to do this race report a bit different than usual. First off, the race was the Stonecat Trail Race in Ipswich, MA. The 50 miles took much longer than I thought it would, I figured it would take about 10 hours but I did it in 10:53:00. I'm not a great trail runner so I definitely lost a lot of time due to poor trail technique!!

THE GOOD:
- The weather was great! I wore the same outfit all day long, just changed my socks once because they were soaked(had to run through water 8 times)
- I can't even tel you how fast the day went by. It was by far the fastest day of my life. The first 3 loops flew by and then all of a sudden I was on the 4th and final loop.
- I liked the course, it was a 12.5 mile loop 4 times.
- Mentally running 50 miles was EASY. That's right, I said easy. Mentally, not physically :-)
- Ryan was a great supporter, he ran the marathon so I got to see him a few times during his run and then I saw him at mile 37.5(end of 3rd loop) and then at the finish.
-At mile 37.5 Ryan put Vaseline on the bottom on my right foot, awww.
- I rant he whole way with my friend Ken, who was running his 7th 50 miler. I also ran part of the way with my friend Mark (from Biggest Loser season 5) he did amazingly well! (watch The Biggest Loser special the night before Thanksgiving to find out...)
- All 50 miler finishers got embroided fleece finisher jackets!! Very nice! And we got tech shirts too, and all the food we could possible eat! I only paid $65 to run! What a bargain!!
- I felt really strong running and I was able to pick up the pace from miler 45-50. I was really pleased with my endurance.
_ i did a good job with nutrition and hydrating. Actually, I probably drank too much bc i peed 5 times!
-I slept 8 hours the night before.
-The race organizers, volunteers and fellow runners were all AWESOME!!!

THE NOT SO GOOD:
-I'm NOT a good trail runner!! Although most trail runners would say this course was easy, I definitely struggled through all the loose rocks, roots and wet leaves.
- The trail was covered with leaves so we could not see what was under the leaves.
- We had to run through (freezing cold) water (about 7" deep) 4 times and then there was another wet spot later on in the loop but it wasn't nearly as bad.
- My feet were soggy, I could feel my wet socks pulling on my toenails, lifting them up.
- As usual, I rolled/twisted my ankles at least 2 times per mile. My ankles are VERY flexible so when I twist/roll them, I'm still able to keep on going, it doesn't usually hurt til the next day.
-The back of my left knee bothered my after about mile 32. That has never happened before but it quickly went away once I stopped.
-We started in the dark and had to wear headlamps, mine was obviously too tight because my forehead is still sore to the touch!
-My time wasn't bad, and it was my first 50 so I'm definitely NOT complaining, but it is a little frustrating because I know I lost at least 1 hour due to bad trail technique.
- My feet and ankles HURT
- My muscles weren't too sore after wards, it was more joint/tendon discomfort from 10 hours and 53 minutes of rolling and twisting. Everyone always says how painful running on the roads is. Running on the roads is NOT painful AT ALL to me, running on trails is painful to me!! I'm like polar opposite of everyone else but I'd much rather run 50 miles on roads! It would have hurt a lot less!!

I really did enjoy the 50 miles! I will definitely run 50 again! Ryan wants to do the 50 next year so we will most likely run it together.  Here are some pictures from the day:

 About 20 minutes before the race.

 Mile 37.5, end of the 3rd loop. Apparently I don't like whatever I'm drinking.

My soggy feet at mile 37.5. I was getting a blister so Ryan put some Vaseline on the spot while I changed my socks.

Coming into the finish. That is my friend Kenny, he always does this thing where he pretends to block the person he is running with. I ended up beating him tho, by like 1 second.

More pictures to come once they are posted by the race people. Ryan will write his race report soon. Thanks for all your support.

woohoo, 100th post!