Cowtown 50K Race Report

Wow, what a day... my longest run ever!

Pre-race thoughts: I had bailed on the Rocky Raccoon 50-miler due to weather and sickness. I felt like I had trained enough prior to Rocky to get me through the 50K. However, I realize that I had a few really low mileage weeks right before and after the planned Rocky event, and I think that might have affected my endurance and/or confidence a bit. My goal for this run was to jog the whole thing in about 10-minute mile pace and try not to walk (except through the water stops). I threw that goal out the window around mile 22 though, as you can tell from my splits!

Race morning: I set my alarm for 4:45, ate a blueberry bagel with fat-free strawberry cream cheese and a banana for breakfast, and met my friends at 5:45. I followed them to the race site, and we parked on a residential street off Montgomery (easy, breezy!). We had about an hour to kill before the race started, and we sat down for awhile to keep our legs rested. I liked being in denial about running the ultra distance, because I just wanted to have fun and not stress myself out. It started to become real on race morning though, especially since there were SOOOO many people running the half, not nearly as many people running the full, and only a small percentage of participants running the ultra. It was kind of fun to get the extra “go ultra runner” cheers and support though!

The start: My friends and I made our way into the second coral and Shawna tried to keep me in check for the first mile. She did a great job with that (I usually get really excited at the start and bust out some ridiculously fast first mile). Shawna and Stacy ran ahead of me after that since they were doing the half. I tried to keep my pace under control and stay as close to 10-minute miles as possible. I felt really great and easy, like I was doing a shuffle run. I could feel the sweat all over my body REALLY early on though… like mile 1 or 2. The humidity was a BEAST! The ground was even wet on race morning, and it was 66 degrees when I woke up. YIKES! There were some pretty big hills around mile 5 (the hill on University/Northside) and mile 10 (going up Main from the Stockyards into Downtown). In fact, the whole course consisted of a lot of rollers! I purposely didn’t review the course map, because I thought that being surprised would make the course go by faster (and I think it did). I had run the first half of the marathon during a group run a few months ago though, and it was helpful to know about those two bigger hills. The half marathoners split off at around mile 10. Stacy and Shawna stayed at the split to cheer me on, and that was a nice surprise and morale booster. The next few miles were pretty ugly in terms of scenery (I’m horrible with directions, but we were running in the seedy part of the hospital district). I really had to pee, which was a good sign for my hydration. Fortunately I made it to mile 12 though (after the half marathoners split off), so I didn’t even have to wait for a Port-a-Potty. I felt like Tom Hanks in “A League of their Own” though. I popped a squat, and my quads were shaking, and I was wondering when I would finish up! I felt so much better after that though, and I split a 9:48 and a 9:50 on the next two miles. Looking back on my splits, I probably should have tried to ease up a bit.

Official 10K split: 1:02:11
Official Half Mary split: 2:12:41

The food situation: I managed to eat my Gu at miles 5, 10, and 15. The Gu at mile 15 was a bit of a struggle though, and I realized that I would have a hard time choking down my planned Gu at miles 20 and 25. I was also affected by my inability to “go” to the bathroom (*ah hem*) that morning, and my tummy started rebelling. After my Gu at mile 15, I ate a few banana halves, a few tootsie rolls, and a fun-sized Krackel (which tasted amazingly good). I think my nutrition definitely affected my last 10 miles, and I need to find something to replenish my calories (besides Gu). I also need to invest in some salt tablets. I didn’t take any salt supplements during the race, and I couldn’t eat enough salt after the race (pizza, cup of soup, Baked Cheetos, etc.). Those were good lessons learned (although I seem to keep learning them and then I don’t take any sort of corrective action).

The last 10 miles or so: If I was doing the marathon, I think I could have kept jogging/running, but I knew with about 10 miles to go, I should start walking a bit so I didn’t completely die. So I started to walk using a bit of strategy, and eventually the walking became much more prevalent. We split off from the marathon at around mile 25 and did 5 miles on the Trinity (out-and-back) before rejoining the marathon route for the last mile. The Trinity portion was mentally tough, especially the way out. I did quite a bit of walking, but I stayed pretty positive about it and I told myself that 5 miles was no big deal.

Official Mary split: 4:36:23

Hey there, finish line! You sure do look purrrrdy.


The finish: I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to see University Drive! I ran the last quarter of a mile or so into the finish and immediately saw Stacy and Shawna waiting for me and cheering me on. I was soooo happy to be done! I wasn’t as sore as I thought I would be, but I started getting pretty hungry. We made our way over to the DetermiNation tent, and I inhaled five (yes, FIVE) slices of Papa John’s pizza. Scrumptious. We hungout for about an hour or so, and it was fun to see everyone and bask in my post-ultra glow (even though I was quite stinky).

Token bloated hunchback photo:


Post race: I drove home and got in the ice cold swimming pool, which I really think helped speed up my recovery. GusGus kept jumping in onto the first step and whining because he wanted to swim (but it was cold and he didn’t have his life jacket on). I showered and then enjoyed some red beers before heading to dinner at the Italian restaurant up the street with Cliff and Leslie. I slept like a baby that night, although I could have used about four more hours of sleep!

Celebration station (I couldn’t stomach beer yet, but thank goodness for some pizza!)


Splits:
Mile 1 – 9:44
Mile 2 – 10:03
Mile 3 – 9:47
Mile 4 – 9:58
Mile 5 – 10:13
Mile 6 – 9:47
Mile 7 – 9:55
Mile 8 – 10:00
Mile 9 – 10:00Mile 10 – 10:05
Mile 11 – 10:15
Mile 12 – 10:58 (bathroom stop)
Mile 13 – 9:48
Mile 14 – 9:50
Mile 15 – 10:17
Mile 16 – 10:15
Mile 17 – 10:25
Mile 18 – 10:21
Mile 19 – 10:32
Mile 20 – 10:23
Mile 21 – 10:41
Mile 22 – 11:12
Mile 23 – 11:38
Mile 24 – 11:21
Mile 25 – 11:16
Mile 26 – 12:24
Mile 27 – 12:10
Mile 28 – 12:27
Mile 29 – 12:52
Mile 30 – 13:17
Mile 31 – 12:02
Remaining 0.33 – 5:37

Official Time: 5:37:44 (10:53 pace)
Age Group Results: 5th out of 9
Gender Results: 23rd out of 65