Short version :: Yamacraw 50K in Stearns, KY. Finish time :: 6:56:12
Long version ::
Back in October a group of us decided to stay up until midnight to register for this amazing race called Yamacraw that was supposed to be beautiful in the southern Kentucky springtime. So I registered because, well, why not? A 50K is doable. It sounded pretty. I didn’t have Kentucky for my 50 states yet, and it sounded like a fun adventure. Between October and April a lot of things happened. I guess part of the story starts last August when Kanawha Trace 50K fell apart on me. Or rather, my body fell apart on me. Since then I worked with coaches who helped fix my body and get me stronger. I registered for this race before the IT100 where I injured my knee and was pretty much not running at all until the end of December. I wondered whether or not this 50K was a good idea. I figured I’d be ready for it by April but there were plenty of times I could barely run 5 miles and didn’t know how possible it would be to do well.
Another change started in January when I decided to step into the keto world and adapt my body to burn fat rather than rely on carbs during a race. I didn’t actually take this decision lightly based on my past and based on the flack I might get from friends who might think it was another diet attempt or something. To this day, actually, I haven’t posted anything about it and my Pinterest board is private for that reason. But I guess if you’re taking the time to read this, you know now! Anyway, I did it for a number of reasons. IT100 was rough on my body not only with my knee, but with my GI issues. I had those at Mohican as well. And I’ve always struggled to make myself eat enough during a long run to have enough energy to really finish it. Since I’m registered for Twisted Branch in August, I knew I needed to do something to be able to have the energy to keep going. Keto sounded tempting because it would allow me the freedom to not eat if I didn’t feel like it AND still have the energy from my body burning fat to keep running longer with more strength. So Yamacraw fell about three months into that change and it would be a good test to see how it was going.
Training leading up to Yamacraw? It actually went pretty well. My coaches were having me do speed workouts and tempo runs and I could tell I was getting stronger. My long runs got a bit faster and my tempo run times were getting faster. The few weeks leading up to taper were hard because I was traveling to New York and moving and things got a little hard and there were some long runs that were skipped. I did do a pretty cool trail while in New York – a 26 mile hike/run on the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail. It was meant to be a long run but with the recent overwhelming rain north of NYC, much of the trail was pure mud AND it was one of those trails that goes through small towns and isn’t always marked so I had to pull out my phone a TON to find directions and make sure I was going the right way. It took far longer than I had hoped, but it was good time on my feet and it was beautiful along the Hudson. The next day my brother and his family and I did a 5-ish mile hike up Bull Hill which was also beautiful. I was happy because as hard of a climb as it was up there to the top, my heart rate stayed really low, which told me I was more physically fit than I thought. Training must have been working. I had no more long runs – just a couple more speed workouts before the 50K at that point so “the hay was in the barn”. My knee has healed up and I wasn’t really having any physical issues. My foot was getting a little sore with tendinitis because I was increasing miles and not doing my PT exercises every day like before. But I also knew that I could work through that and often, the tendon calmed down part way into the run after it had warmed up.
Some time before the race, Stacy, who was also running the 50K and I had briefly chatted about trying to run under 7 hours. Now, my personal 50K PR was actually one of the first 50Ks I ran and was 7:55 on not nearly as hard of a course, so I knew that would be a challenge, but I also enjoy a challenge and something to work toward. I also knew I was running better than a few years ago when I hit that time, so it might be possible. I kept it in the back of my mind even after I found out I’d be running it without the company of my friend. I held the goal loosely because I had no idea what race day would bring. There was a lot of rain leading up to the race and as a result, the course had an alternative route we would be taking bringing the mileage from close to 34 miles down to an actual 50K at 31 miles. The actual distance is still being debated as many peoples’ watches read short. I’m chalking it up to the switchbacks and trails and GPS just not reading switchbacks well because I honestly DID feel like in the beginning, my watch was off on some of my paces per mile. I would run almost the full mile and it would still say 15 minute pace, which I knew was not right. So something was clearly going on there. Whether or not the course was 31 miles, I’m still claiming it as a 50K because with trails, you just don’t know. Trail miles are so different than road miles.
The day before the race, I packed up my car and headed south to Kentucky. I planned to arrive at packet pickup about 6 or so (it was closer to 6:30) and then head to our AirBnB house about 30 minutes away. I picked up my things, bought a t-shirt because why not, and headed to dinner next door with Stacy and her kiddo. We arrived at the AirBnB as it was getting dark. I tried to get things ready for the morning as I knew it would be an early drive to the parking lot where the shuttles were picking us up to drive us to the start/finish line. It would be warm – 75 by the time we finished so I decided on shorts and a t-shirt. Hindsight is 20/20 and I totally should have worn higher socks or something because my legs got pretty torn up from the sticks and twigs and roots and other things hitting them. I went to bed relatively early deciding that I would play the race by ear and not really have too many plans. I loosely knew what my pace had to be to run under 7 hours, and that was really about it. For once I wasn’t staring at cutoff times because I was definitely confident I could make the 10 hour and 15 minute cutoff for the race.
Race morning I filled my water bottles, brought some food with to eat before the 7:45am start, and headed to the shuttle parking lot. We waited inside until loading the buses which was nice because it was still a little cool outside. I lost track of Pat and Ashley who were also running and we ended up on different buses but finding each other at the start line. It was not my intention to run with anyone during the race, but Pat and Ashley and I ended up falling in line pretty early on and stuck together almost the whole race. I did tell them at one point to leave me because I didn’t want to hold them back, and they went ahead, except I stuck right behind them. The first half of the race was HARD. Most of the climbing was in the first half and there were several brutal climbs and those, coupled with the excessive mud and stream crossings, slowed my pace to where it would not be possible to run under 7 hours. The trail itself wasn’t overly technical, but there were a LOT of leaves on the trail covering up the roots and sticks, so that definitely slowed me down. I walked through most of the larger mud puddles because first, I didn’t want to lose a shoe, and second, a guy had slid in the mud right next to me early on, going down hard and splashing me with a face full of mud. I didn’t want to be that person. So I slowed through most of it. At the aid stations, I had planned on not eating anything and I passed the first one, barely stopping to refill my water bottle and scolding myself for not drinking more. The next aid station, however, I did take some peanut M&Ms because they sounded amazing. and kept me going until the ext aid station where I had a few more! I made myself take 2 SaltStick orange chewable tabs every hour, starting at 30 minutes into the race. This strategy, while it wasn’t an actual planned strategy, worked REALLY well for me and I’ll probably keep doing it.
Before the halfway aid station, there was a particularly brutal climb that kept going forever and ever and ever. I think we clocked it at a mile and a quarter long, with no switchbacks. There may have been cursing. My climbers were broken. I was hurting but still moving. We got to the top and walked, knowing the aid station was close by. I honestly did not think I’d be able to run again after that climb because it had been so rough on my legs. But, then I ran. The entire race I had a song I had listened to the day before stuck in my head on repeat. It had been the first time I heard the song but on my drive down to Kentucky, I threw it on repeat because the words were just so, so perfect for this race weekend. The chorus ended up being my mantra for nearly seven hours as I sang it over and over in my head, making myself believe every single word. I figured it would be appropriate to share it.
We arrived at the 16.6 mile aid station which was where our watches were reading the mileage at only about 15 miles. They told us that was what people were saying, but honestly, the switchbacks up until then had been VERY plentiful, so I’m pretty sure that had something to do with it as well. They told us it was another 5 miles to the next aid station, putting us there at about 21 miles. That was probably the hardest stretch because of coming off the long hard climb and there were several other climbs in there, but there was also a decent amount of downhills. I started running with Simon around then, I think. We chatted and that helped the miles go by. We walked a bit because our legs were recovering, but then once we started running again, I felt better. My legs were sore and tired, but still allowing me to move. We met up with Pat and Ashley again before that ext aid station. It was warming up a lot and I had gone through just about all of my water. There was another big climb to that aid station and I tried to conserve my water until I could refill both bottles. I had eaten some actual food at the previous aid station which had given me a good boost of energy. That nutella tortilla wrap was AMAZING and I couldn’t wait to get another if they had them!
I stayed with Pat and Ashley and Simon until the last 5 miles We came into that aid station and with 5 miles to go, I realized it might actually be possible to hit under 7 hours. It might be close, and I might not make it, but I sure wanted to try AND I was feeling good.
THIS. THIS was such a HUGE change from any of my previous races. Usually by the last five miles I’m barely hanging on and just trying to trudge through to the finish and get done. That was what Kanawha and Huff and the previous Kanawha had been like the last couple years. Just hold on and try to make it. Hope you have a little energy. Run if you can for a few seconds. But here I was, five miles to go, telling Pat and Ashley and Simon that I was going to take off and try to make my goal. I grabbed one last handful of peanut M&Ms and made sure my bottles were full, and took off. I heard Simon behind me telling me he was coming too. We ran. We barely stopped. We walked only to climb a couple hills that were in that stretch. Those were my fastest miles by FAR, clocking 11 minute paces after already running 26 miles. I had one mindset and that was to reach my goal, and the best part was that my body actually allowed me to DO it this time. With about a mile to go, Simon said “we can do this!” and he took the lead, booking us down the trail at sometimes a 9 minute pace and I just kept trucking behind him telling myself it was just like a tempo run. The final turn onto the bridge, he took off and I followed, at about a 7 minute pace which is just purely ridiculous but it was amazing at the same time. I crossed the finish line at 6:56 and was giddy. My body felt pretty good. I was walking okay. I was sore, of course, but I wasn’t injured even with my two pretty hard ankle turns, and I wasn’t falling on my face exhausted and out of energy. I felt like I could have run some more.
I’m usually pretty okay mentally during a 50K. I want to push myself. The issue is that usually my body has nothing left to push myself, ending in total frustration. This race was neat because mentally I wanted to push myself, and physically, my body LET me push myself. THAT is the change I see. I’ve trained hard. I changed my diet. And I think that combination working together really helped make Yamacraw a fabulous experience. I’m ready to get back to training now as soon as my quads decide to let me walk normally again. 🙂 They’re pretty sore!
After the race, we headed back to the AirBnB and I showered and then decided to go exploring because I had seen a sign for a Natural Bridge and it sounded pretty cool. I drove there, walked around a bit, took some cool photos, and then headed north to eat dinner before heading back to the house. I’m glad I decided to stay Saturday night as well because I had a beautiful Sunday morning sitting on the deck listening to the birds and the wind. It was a peaceful house and I’d definitely go back to that one again, too! AirBnB is pretty great.
If you’ve read this far, congratulations. It’s over now!
the migrained runner 