Rocky Hill Ranch/ Hells Hills- July 6,2009

WOO-HOO!!! I ran a race and did well. :) Going into this race, I did A LOT of personal research and preparation to try and improve how I felt during a race. I have felt "off" for about a year with my running in races, so this just feels GREAT! OK, here is the report... more detailed then most of my reports, b/c I want to put in my race day prep.

Daniel and I are in the process of moving to CO. On Wednesday, the moving guys came and packed up our house (mostly..but that and the stress of this move is another story for another time). We woke up at a little before 3am, rolled of the not too comfy comforter on the floor, and began getting ready to race. I made 3 English muffin, egg and cheese sandwiches (low fat cheese in 3 different flavors), ate 1.4 of them, and left the rest for Dan. Then I took a lukewarm shower to let my skin soak up water to capacity. I know this sounds funny. But Dan has been doing research and experimenting with hydration. This trick he read about worked for him, so I wanted to give it a try. Then I drunk some water and took 1 S Cap.

We left our house a little after 3:30 and headed to Smithvillie. About 4:45am, we pulled through a McDonalds drive through for coffee. I had a large nonfat mocha, 3 (not 6) pumps of chocolate and yes to the wiped cream.

We got to Rocky Hill Ranch at 5:50, and I took another S Cap. Being the race started at 6am, we hurried through check-in and a potty stop. I grabbed 2 Hammer Gels and the race began. Aid stations were at 5.5miles, 10.5, and then the start/finish area at 15.5 miles. My nutrition plan was to carry my S Caps and gels, but drink the water only at the aid stations. At the 1st station, I ate a Hammer Gel and drunk 2 cups of water. My running plan was to start at a comfortable pace that didn't feel slow. I knew from my current long runs this would be under 7mph, but over 6.5. I figured I would pick the pace up to hit 14 in about 2 hrs and then take it from there based on how I was feeling. At the end of the first hour, my Garmin 405 said I had run 6.9 miles. :) I was feeling great, and ready to pick it up. Just before the next aid station, I ate another gel and took another S Cap. At the station I drunk 3 cups of water. I finished the first 15.5 mile loop in about 2:08, and I was feeling great!! It was getting hot, but I was feeling ready to take on the heat. I ditched my soaking shirt, grabbed 3 more Hammer Gels, drank lots of water and started loop 2. Shortly after starting this loop, my legs started feeling heavy, so I followed my instinct and downed a gel. I reached the 1st aid station in just under 3hrs, took 1 cap, another gel, and 3 more cups of water. At this point I was supper excited. I was over 21 miles into this 50k, running in the heat, and still feeling great! For the next 10 miles I just run as hard as I could get myself to run with out getting out of breath. I walked the 2 mondo hills in the last 3miles, but really pushed the end other then that. I finished in 4:20:41. First female, second finisher. But the more exciting part for me was getting to set a new course record. :) I've never done that before. :) :)

Also extreamly exciting: Daniel finished his 1st ultra!!!!! GO DANIEL!!!!!!!!!! I love my hubby.:)