This is long, but it is about 31 miles.
I had asked Jason a while ago if
he was interested in running Frosty 50k again and of course he was. This is where we met in 2011, so we had
always planned on running it again after we were married. It’s “our” race!
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| Our 1st pic together - didn't even realize it until later! |
Going into Frosty, I had a time
goal of 4:30; I thought it was borderline feasible if I had a good day, but
wasn’t 100% sure I’d reach it because I didn’t want to break myself before
Myrtle Beach since that’s my #1 race this year. I had already planned on backing off if I
started to really hurt. I had a secret
goal of going sub 4:25, but didn’t tell anyone, as I thought it was way out of
reach since I was training for Myrtle, not a 50K.
Jason and I loaded up on pizza
the night before, to the point I felt sick, but 31 miles is a super long run,
so might as well eat a lot of pizza while I can, right? I stayed up later than I had planned, but Liz*
was here and we had to catch up! It was
well worth it, plus I ended up not getting good sleep anyways due to bad dreams
and coughing. Wake-up time came early
and I reverted back to my standard breakfast of Eggo low-fat nutrigrain waffles
and peanut butter (and a couple of cuties – my current addiction). I haven’t had this in forever, but it’s what
I ate before my first Frosty and before the Charleston marathon. I was convinced I needed this breakfast since
it got me through my first 50k and my BQ marathon. With full bellies, we were off to Winston to
log some serious mileage.
As soon as we got there, we saw
some familiar, friendly faces – Emily and Chas.
Emily and I had met two years ago at Frosty and Jason and I had met Chas
a few months ago at a local 5k. Jason
knew a few other people who were running, but Emily and Chas were the only other
runners I knew. It was right below
freezing at the start, but with an expected temp of around 40 at the finish, I
opted to go with shorts and a tank, long sleeve tech tee, and windbreaker,
which turned out to be a great choice of outfit. When in doubt, layer. At the sound of the bugle, we were off. Liz and I kept it steady and hit the first
turn-around in 1:06; this was faster than I had planned, so I wasn’t sure if it
would come back later and hurt me, but too late to change it. Liz and I ran together through about mile 10
and then split up. I hit the halfway
mark in just under 2:12, but took a two minute break to shed my jacket and ear
warmers, switch to lighter gloves, and grab another pack of Honey Stinger
chews. After a quick stretch, I was off
to finish the last half. Since I was by
myself, the iPod went on and I settled in.
I knew I had built a small cushion in case I had to back off some, but
felt good so I started pushing it a little.
I clocked the third quarter in 1:03, which was nice because that gave me
a big cushion and I wanted to be able to walk the one big hill and be able to
take a quick stretch if needed. I saw
Jason coming towards me and he looked at his watch and then told me I had
it. At the marathon mark, I was starting
to feel it and really just wanted to be finished. I didn’t feel like taking in any sort of fuel
after about mile 21, so at the Linville
Road aid station, another runner gave me some Mt. Dew for a pick me up to get me through the last
3.5 miles. He was on my heels as we left
the aid station, but the company was more than welcome, as I hadn’t anyone
around me for a while. He helped push me
along, but when we hit the last little hill, I powered through and turned it
on. At the one-mile marker, I realized
that I had a chance of going sub 4:25 if I held steady. 4:24:40 – secret goal complete. That gave me a 16 minute PR and a nice
confidence boost going into Myrtle.
Chas was at the finish and it
turned out he beat his goal of sub 4:00 by a few minutes. I had figured he would, as he was looking
strong every time I saw him. Emily and
Liz finished pretty close to each other, with Emily setting a big PR and Liz
finishing in 4:40 for her first ultra!
They are both awesome ladies that I’m so blessed to have as
friends. Jason had decided to run it
easy and had a nice, steady run and finished looking good.
I really love this race because
you can break it into quarters, the course is predominately packed dirt, you
get to see people around three times on the course, so you can offer
encouraging words and know how your friends are doing, the aid stations are at
good intervals, and the medals are unique.
I’m ecstatic with how I did and how my friends did. I’m also very, very happy that I was able to
go run today (one day after), so in other words I didn’t break myself!
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| Handmade! |
*A little background on Liz: We met during the inaugural Palmetto 200
relay and have been friends ever since.
Frosty was the start of her Boston marathon training - seriously. She is an incredible runner and an amazing human being. Love her!
Fueling notes:
I had planned on starting gels at
mile 5 and then taking one about every 3 miles, mixing in chews. I went with a gel at mile 5, chews spread
across miles 8-11, grabbed a cookie at Linville Road, gel at mile 16, grabbed
two cookies at Linville Road,
and then pretty much quit fueling. I had
a couple of chews at the last turn-around, but after that, went to straight
liquids. Solid food just was not
appealing. I wasn’t hungry, nor was I
feeling lethargic, so I tried not to be too concerned about lack of fuel. Afterwards, I felt slightly sick, but
eventually downed two cups of broth, which held me over until we hit up Cracker
Barrel. After a side salad (yes, salad),
three slices of french toast, and one bacon biscuit, I felt great. A few hours later I was starving, so Jason
took me for Mexican because I was craving chicken tacos and queso dip. I love running 31.1 miles!
By the numbers:
Splits: 1:05:54, 1:07:57,
1:03:06, 1:07:44
Total time: 4:24:40; pace 8:32; 4th
female; over a 16 minute PR; negative split of 3 minutes with first half in
2:13:51 and second half in 2:10:50.
I altered my splits a bit due to
stopping at the drop bag area at the halfway mark; splits by official race time
were 1:05:54, 1:05:57, 1:05:06, 1:07:44.
I pulled the two minutes off the third split and added onto the second
split for a more accurate running time.
Few notes for me:
Calves got tight and had the usual medial right knee pain that happens after a lot of mileage. Felt pretty good though walking around later. Ran 3 easy miles the day after and wasn't too sore, just a little tired. Should have stretched more after race and used foam roller.
Few notes for me:
Calves got tight and had the usual medial right knee pain that happens after a lot of mileage. Felt pretty good though walking around later. Ran 3 easy miles the day after and wasn't too sore, just a little tired. Should have stretched more after race and used foam roller.
"Have
you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting
God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow
weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the
faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths
shall faint and be weary,and young men shall fall exhausted; but they
who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up
with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." - Isaiah 40:28-31
