I completed my first 50 mile race. It was
exciting, fun, scary, nerve wracking, painful, but absolutely the best
challenge both physically and mentally.
On Saturday, May 2 at 6 AM I started the Rock the Ridge
50-miler at the Mohonk Preserve in Gardiner, NY.
I was up at 2:30 AM to eat and get ready then left the hotel
at 4 AM to get to the parking area where a bus picked up the runners and dropped us off
at the start. The start was at the Gatehouse of Mohonk Preserve. There all the
runners stood around talking, taking photos, eating more, making last minute
gear checks and changes, checking in bags for drop-offs to be used later in the
race, and of course used the port-o-potties.
After the National Anthem was sung the race director kicked
off the race and everyone took off, everyone with their own plan of attack. My ‘attack’
was to finish, preferably in one piece and standing upright. You think I am
joking? Nope. Since this would be the farthest I would have gone on foot then
my goal truly was to complete it.
With that goal in mind, I put a couple of audiobooks on my
headphones to help keep me at a slower pace. That worked pretty well until the
headphones died at about 10 and a half hours into the run. Luckily, I was
mostly prepared for this as I brought a second pair but those had music on
them, but that was good. I needed a little kick in the butt to keep me moving.
I wore two sport watches; one was my fitbit surge (which is
supposed to last 7 days…and never has) and the other was my Garmin 910. The
fitbit only lasted 10 hours, but until then it was right on the money and
tracking. The Garmin lasted the entire time, but it’s tracking on distance
seemed to be about 1.5 miles behind from the fitbit and the actual distance
markers on the trail. That was annoying when trying to gauge one aid station to
the next and of course that last push to the finish line.
I had some great advice from a group of ultrarunners who
said to break the race up into pieces and to do that aim for each aid station.
This worked fabulously! Kind of like baby steps for fifty (50) miles.
The aid stations were terrific. Plenty of fluids, fruit,
chips, and various other snacks including potatoes and chili to help fuel the
body covered the tables. I did bring my own energy food, like squeezable
applesauce, beef sticks, chia granola bars, and lifesavers so I didn’t have to
rely on the aid stations, but I did partake. The volunteers were fabulous,
helping you reload, get your drop bag, or just plain give up a chair so you
could change your socks. Thank you volunteers! This message can never been said
enough, especially to those that were out there in the wilderness late at night
to give us a glass of Gatorade or water and generally make certain we were
moving forward with a little cheer of encouragement.
 |
| Lake around mile 30-something |
A cell phone was absolutely necessary during the race. Why?
Obviously for some sense of security especially when aid stations were as much
as ten miles apart. The camera in the phone was also good to push myself to
enjoy the scenery as I whizzed or more likely walked by and not focus solely on
the finish line. It was fabulous as evidenced by the images of the waterfall,
the lake, and the hills. Besides those, I had the experience of almost stepping
on a black snake. Thanks goodness it made its hissing sound just in the nick of
time. But boy, you’ve never seen this girl run so fast up a hill in your life.
Hands flailing and yes, I probably screamed. But I also saw the most beautiful
white-tailed deer that stopped, stared and then bounded off before it even
crossed my mind to pull out my phone for a photo.
 |
| I would have paid anything to jump in! |
I learned a couple of things during this event. First, wear
your hydration pack BEFORE actually using it so you know where it is going to
rub. My shoulders paid the consequences but luckily I had Body Glide with me
and applied that everywhere and that alleviated it somewhat. My shoulders are a
tad sore today from the weight of the pack and not the actual chafing so that’s
good. However, a hydration pack was the perfect idea because I never ran out of
fluids and when eating a beef stick to get sodium and protein in my body I had
liquids to flush it down.
One of the most important lessons for me was to learn that when they say cinder trail that means cinder block, that means hard, and that it is not softer than asphalt. Tip to myself: wear trail shoes! I thought my typical shoes would be good and cushy. NOT!
When night descended I resorted to a headlamp. Like the
good runner I am I attached it to my head over my very vibrant yellow hat.
Great! Bring on the darkness. Except, just FYI, if you have vertigo the use of
a headlamp is not so cool. My depth perception got completely skewed where I
thought the grass (where there was grass) was a foot tall when in fact it was a
couple inches. And my vision was so weird that it was like I had tunnel vision.
Carrying the lamp in my hand resolved those issues. Thank goodness!
 |
| Sunset after I reached mile 42.2 |
I probably should have done some late night runs BEFORE this
race as well because let’s face it; running at night, in the woods was a little
creepy. Remember when you were a kid out on a walk with your friends late at
night and you heard something rustle the leaves? What did you do? You screamed
and bolted for home. Okay, I’m no longer that little girl, but my heart raced
and I kept flashing my light around making certain the bear was not actually
following me. It was a tad unnerving. Plus, since the mile markers were only
every 5 miles apart, and the arrows marking the direction to go were not
abundant I became a little worried that I would go the wrong way. Day time that
was no issue. Sunset, well, the mind does play tricks. Cruel, evil tricks. But
since I am writing this I obviously survived and got out of the woods.
Let’s talk hills. I HATE them! But honestly, because I went
in with the right attitude I walked most the inclines and jogged the downs.
Okay, the descents to me are like slides at a park. Wheeee! This race had some
of both with over 7500 feet of elevation gain and loss, the most I have ever
done. My body did well. Legs were great! I could have kept on going…except the BLISTERS!
No matter the amount of sock changes (three in this race) and
the amount of Body Glide I applied, I still managed to get blisters. No, not
your teeny tiny, oh aren’t they cute blisters. I got blisters between toes, on
top of toes, and the mother of all blisters at the joint of the big toe where
it meets the actual ball of the foot. Excruciating! In all seriousness, this
was the only issue for me physically. And when I hit mile 40 every time I didn’t
pick up my foot high enough and I stubbed my shoe on a rock I was no longer a
lady, but the foul-mouthed brawler who wanted to cry. How’s that for an image?
 |
| One of the many hills. |
You know what though? Besides wanting to punch every rock
that bit at my blisters, and the pain of every step, I mentally pushed past it
and willed the mind to close out the pain. It worked off and on and worked even
better when a couple of runners who were behind me caught up for the last five
miles and we pushed each other on to persevere.
I will state for the record
when we saw the sign that said ‘Home Stretch’ we all wanted to know how far
that meant. A mile, half a mile? In this case it turned out to be a little over
two miles. You probably think, two miles, no big deal. WRONG! After 16 plus
hours on your feet, two hours is an eternity. I think the three of us will
state that the home stretch was by far the longest section of the race. It was
never ending! And the finish line, when we finally saw the lights never felt
like it was getting closer.
But it did! And we crossed the line. At the finish there
were more race volunteers to cheer us home, offer us a hug, a smile, and a boxed
lunch. The race director spoke with me at the finish and because I was a late entry he felt
bad that my name was not going to be on the bib so he printed a label with my
name on it and affixed it to my bib. It sounds like something so small, but
when you are on a course and someone yells out your name, it gives you the warm
and fuzzies all over. Thanks, Ken!
To the couple who hooked up with me in the last five miles,
I cannot thank you enough for helping take my mind off the blisters. And to all the other runners I met and spoke with that day. It was a pleasure.
If you are looking for a 50-miler, whether your first or
your fifteenth, I would highly recommend the Rock the Ridge Endurance Challenge. The funds raised are for a
worthy cause and it’s a well-run event with amazing volunteers. Thank you
volunteers!
