Nate and I spent our taper week on vacation in Sarasota, Florida, running on beach and eating way too much. We arrived back in Joplin late Thursday night and headed to Ottawa on Friday. I feel like it had been raining for about a month, but the weather actually looked perfect for race morning - 50s/60s and cloudy.
Just like going into the 50 miler, I had no idea what my target pace should be, although whatever complicated formula Ultra Signup uses suggested that I could run a 10:45 pace, even though I ran 50 miles at a 9:21 pace. So my A goal was to run under 6 hours (a 9:00 minute pace) and my B goal was to break the course record which was 7:04. My plan was to stay around 8:45 per mile to allow plenty of time for stops at aid stations. I planned to run the whole 40 miles because I made it about 43 at Prairie Spirit before I decided to change to run/walk intervals. During the 50 miler, I borrowed a fancy Garmin from Nate which only stayed on for one mile, so I was extremely excited that I would have a working Garmin for this race and would know my pace and distance!
Since I was traveling with Nate, we arrived at Celebration Hall about 20 minutes before the race started, but at least we made it for Eric's pre-race briefing! Even though it wasn't supposed to rain, it was already sprinkling, a disastrous situation for my hair, so I decided to wear my trusty North Face hat that I purchased in Boston when I realized we might be running the marathon in a monsoon. Anyone who knows me knows that perhaps the only thing I dislike more than getting my hair wet is getting muddy, and the start/finish line was pretty muddy. I made a strategic decision not to start by Nate because he enjoys splashing people, and when Eric started us off I tried to tiptoe out to stay as clean as possible.
The Flint Hills trail was very similar to Prairie Spirit - very flat gravel - but I thought it was more scenic. If it had been hot, the trees would have offered plenty of shade. Because we would see our crew at miles 13 and 27, I mentally broke the race down into 3 segments of 13, 14, and 13 miles. Speaking of crew, Nate and I didn't know we had anyone coming to help us, but we found out Thursday that Brian Smith and Ken Schramm were planning on coming up to crew for us, and they were the best crew ever! I barely had to slow down at any of the aid stations because I was able to trade out a water bottle with snacks already in the pouch when I saw them. Tom Rogers was there too to offer encouragement and take pictures. He also provided valuable Facebook updates, which I think made my mom feel better because she's a worrier.
I hit the half-marathon point in 1:49, an 8:19 pace which I figured was a little too fast but I was trying to run at a pace that felt easy and not constantly check my Garmin. After I saw Brian and Ken and got new supplies, I came out of the aid station pretty fast to make up some of the time I was stopped and headed out to the turn-around. I saw Nate heading back around mile 19, and he wasn't feeling well at all. When I reached the turn-around, I was still feeling great. According to my Garmin, my marathon time was 3:36, so I'd unintentionally sped up. When I reached the aid station, Brian was ready with my Rice Krispie treat and I took my iPod because it was getting kind of lonely out there and I wanted to listen to my "Epic Playlist" for motivation for the last 13 miles. The most difficult part of the race for me was the last few miles, because the stretch from 1st Street to 17th Street seemed to last forever! But I made it, and Nate, Ken, Brian, and Tom were all there cheering. I had hoped the finish line mud had dried up, but no such luck, so I tiptoed in to the finish. After the race, my friends told me I had veered off so much to the left to avoid the mud that they thought I wasn't even going to cross the line. I finished in 5:30:49, an 8:14 pace according to my Garmin.
I ran my first ultra in March at the Prairie Spirit 50, and not only did I not die, but I actually found it to be an easier race distance for me than a marathon. I ran about 2 minutes per mile slower than marathon pace, ate lots of snacks (including two Rice Krispie treats!), and stopped for a moment at every aid station. So, even though Nate and I registered to run the Minneapolis Marathon on May 31st (for only $20 since we were standing at the starting line when they canceled last year), we decided we would rather see all our ultra friends and run Flint Hills instead. Plus, Epic Ultras always offers top-notch events!