50k? Certainly that must be a typo.

I've neglected the blog for a bit.  Since I last posted I ran the Hogeye Marathon March 30 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  It was mentally challenging but it was worth it to cross the finish line with my 5 year old son. 

On April 12, I ran Rock the Parkway Half Marathon in Kansas City for the third year.  This time I ran as a Girls on the Run Solemate and fundraised for this wonderful organization. Here is my fundraising link if you would like to so are before May 10 https://www.raceplanner.com/donate/Girls-Rock-the-Parkway TIA!

I had a great race and set a new PR :)

And I got the best finish line photo EVER:

(Time not adjusted for wave start)

April 26 I traveled to Springfield, Missouri to tackle my first 50k.  I have never gone farther than 26.2 and honestly, never really planned to.  How did I get in this mess?  A friend posted on FB that she was going to run the Frisco Railroad 50k, so I commented that I would do it too.  No one even had to ask or persuade me, I just volunteered.  I think I have a problem.  

I didn't follow the training plan I expected to, but I figured that finishing 2 fulls this year would count for something.  My strategy to cover the 50k was to stick with another friend  of mine who had gone past the marathon distance twice before.  I didn't want to start off too fast and hit the wall.  So we planned on doing 30 second intervals of running and walking and I hoped I could stick with her.  

The forecast for race day was supposed to be sunny and in the 80s, but luckily it ended up being overcast at the start and we actually got rained on for most of the first half off and on.  At times it was chilly, but that is always better than too hot. The Frisco race started the marathon, 50k and 50 miler at 7:30 and the half marathon and 8k at 8:00. We knew that the fast halfers would catch up to us and pass us. It got pretty annoying after they turned around and would tell us "almost to the turn around, ladies"!  Our bibs were color coded based on distance, but they must not have known that.  We kept trucking on through the rain and some thunder, dodging horse poop on the trail.

The aid station right before the marathon turn around was stocked with snacks, beer and Jell-O shots. I had some peanut butter and jelly and some salty snacks.  I really love how ultrarunning  includes more food.  At this point my right hip was starting to bug me.  By the time we hit out turn around I was in quite a bit of pain.  I told my friend I was going to have to walk a lot more.  I fell a little behind and it got really hard mentally. The sun came out, too and made the temperature rise.  

 As I hit the food stocked aid a volunteer asked if I was ok and noticed that I was limping. They gave me some prescription strength Advil, a pickle, and more pb and j and I headed back out. My hip started to feel better, but I continued to walk most of the time.  Going beyond 26.2 had me holding back on my pace.  I didn't want to struggle too much those last 5 miles so I kept a brisk walking pace. When I looked at my splits after the race, those last few miles got faster and faster!   There was a photographer around mile 20: 

The last 2.5 miles or so were back on an asphalt trail, a long uphill, full sun, headwind, and the trail labeled every tenth of a mile that we covered.  I felt pretty good physically, but it those (1/10) mile markings really messed with my head.   It felt AMAZING to finish!!  Adding 5 miles was not as hard as I expected, but I had the blisters to prove that I had done over 31 miles. (31.6 according to my phone).  I hobbled over to eat some chips, a slice of pizza and 2 cans of Mountain Dew, which I never drink in real life.  I cannot believe I am an ultra marathoner, I have qualified for Marathon Maniacs, and I am searching for another 50k to run to improve my time.  Is a 50 miler in my future?  Possibly.  I've pretty much given up on saying "never" at this point.