What an Adventure!

Please bear with me as I try to make the recount of my 50K adventure as brief as possible.

It started when I picked up my friend at her house at 1PM on Friday afternoon. We drove about 2:15 to get to our motel in a little town called Minden. The Halliburton Wolf Reserve, which is where the race was held, was 45 minutes away from where we were staying but we were unable to find a place closer.

We drove right to the race site to pick up our race kits and then drove back to Minden. After sharing a Pizza, getting our race gear finalized and relaxing for about an hour, we called it a night. The race started promptly at 6:00 AM and because we both like to get to the race at least 45 minutes before the start, it meant that we had to get up at 3:30 AM.

Neither of us got much sleep and we left for the race site at 4:30 AM (thankfully there was a Tim Horton’s across the street that was open 24 hours!) We arrived at the race site at 5:15 and soon realized that we both didn’t have any headlamps/flashlights. Even though I’ve done well over 30 races, I’ve never started one in the dark. Lucky for us they did provide us with light sticks and that, combined with the fact that we stuck close to those runners who DID have headlamps/flashlights, made our race that much safer.
It wasn’t until about 45 minutes into the race that the sun made its appearance.

Without a doubt this was the toughest race both mentally and physically that I’ve ever done. There were parts of the race that made it impossible to run as the vertical climb was just too steep. Just when I started to find my running rhythm, another long hill would appear.

Even though I had done the 25K race here last year, there’s nothing really that can prepare you for Halliburton. It’s one of those races that will challenge you each step of the way and I needed to be mentally focused or it would have demoralized me. Towards the last half of the race I realized how much fun I was having and I seemed to relax more. It was almost like I knew at that point that I had arrived as a trail runner. I learned very quickly how to do the “shuffle run” as my legs and knees were aching at around the 30 KM mark. I’m proud to say that although I stumbled a few times, I didn’t fall and that is an accomplishment on its own.

It was very hard to get the sugars into my system as I went through at least 8 gels as well as bananas, oranges, E-Load and watermelon at the aid stations. Unfortunately the aid stations were every 5 Miles (8-9 KM’s) so I had to carry 4 water bottles with me. At the aid stations I would refill my bottles with E-Load and Water (two of each). My weight belt kept slipping on me from the back, so I had to carry two bottles, one in each hand, for the whole race.

Those that know me know that I love to listen to music while I run. Unfortunately there are only so many times you can hear the same songs before they lose their significance. Towards the end of the race I was tired of hearing the same songs and would have preferred to have some company. I met up with a few runners, one who was hurting so bad that he had to walk the last 25 KM’s. I stayed with him for awhile and after the race I thanked him for being there. During trail races of this length it’s easy to get disoriented as your blood sugars start to drop. There were times when I had to really focus on where I was and ensure that I was on the right path.

My goal for this race was to finish strong and although there were times where I questioned why I was out there, it never crossed my mind to give up. I feel like I have crossed over into the world of trail running and will make that my focus from now on.

Two years ago, when I started running, I never dreamed that I would have completed two 50K races in the same year including my first in the trails. Once I sit back and let it all soak in, I’m sure I’ll feel good about what I’ve done. Right now, though, I just need some Advil……….