Frisco 50k: Back (Miles 15.5 to 31)

The "out" (miles 1 to 15.5) part of the story is here.

I knew that after we turned around for the second half of the race, we were in for a 4.5 mile climb.  No part of it is steep, but it is unrelenting - a loooong incline.  Per Strava the elevation gains were 43 feet in mile 17, 62 feet in mile 18, 69 feet in mile 19, and 62 feet in mile 20.  It was early enough in the race that it felt fine, and our pace slowed slightly but when the splits are considering in combination with those from miles 12-15, we were right where we wanted to be .  Since the course was out and back, after we began our trek back we started passing runners going out, although the first we passed was around our mile 16, therefore he was a mile+ behind us.  Based on past results I'd been suspected that the 3 of us would be significantly out front.

I'd had to pee since early in the race (first noticed around mile 5, I think?), but I made myself wait until after the turn around because I sure wasn't stopping to go twice!  I decided I'd go in the middle of the long incline in order to split it up, so when there was a break in runners coming from the other direction, I stepped to the side of the trail and went around mile 17.5.  Strava tells me I stopped for 14 seconds (I kept my watch running), but it was definitely worth it because I never would have made it 13.5 more miles without going.  All my fast peeing in ditches during training runs finally paid off!

I was then effectively 14+ seconds behind Colin and Andrew, so I started working on reeling them back in.  Andrew had wanted to let up a little on the incline, so I caught back up to him pretty quickly.  I wanted to catch back up to Colin before the next aid station so that my family didn't think I was fading if they saw me behind him.  In hindsight, I shouldn't have worried about that at all, since it was easy enough to just tell them I stopped to pee, but at the time it seemed really rationale.  I was also still under the delusion that I was going to keep all of my miles of the race under 7:00, so I pushed the pace at that point, and that is my one regret during the race.  I ended up with a 6:52 split, so 6:38 run time, up 62 feet of gain, so it was closer to marathon effort and heart rate.  The mile after was similar, marathon effort.  It wasn't necessary and I now wonder if I could have squeezed out another good couple of miles at the end if I hadn't done that.  I also lost Andrew, because he was more intelligent than me in that moment and decided not to push (another reason I regret my pushing is because if I hadn't, Andrew and I could have run together for many more miles than we did, which would have helped us both).

I gained on Colin but couldn't quite pull him back in, though when we passed mile 20 I breathed a sigh of relief that the incline was over and ended up with a 6:34 on the first flat mile.  I also thought, "only 11 miles left!"  I started to wonder if I just wasn't going to catch him, and then started thinking that if I couldn't be the overall victor in the race, it would be nice to say that the only person who beat me was someone I coached.  Just as I was close to catching Colin to regain a pace buddy, he stepped into a porta potty at the mile 21 aid station, and like that I was leading the race.  I'd expected that the 3 of us would separate at some point late in the race, but I didn't expect it to happen like it did or as early as it did. 

Mile 21 aid station

Around this point I was also feeling really confident about cranking it in.  I thought "only 10 miles left" and focused.  I started using my "I'm on fire" mantra.  The marathon started at 7:00 a.m., so I was passing a lot of marathon runners on their way out, and many were very encouraging!  I was fully high on endorphins and ready to nail the thing!  This video is from the mile 23.5 aid station, where my dad thought I was "feeling it" and Jon thought I still felt great (Jon was right).

At each subsequent mile, I told myself, "only 9 miles left", "only 8 miles left", etc.  Around mile 24.5, I passed the half marathon turn around and suddenly found myself in seas of people.  The half started at 7:30 a.m. (90 minutes after us) and somehow I managed to hit their turn around when a lot of people were going out and a lot were coming back.  As you can see from the photo below, the trail is not suited for running more than 2 abreast, so the situation became not ideal real quick.  Whenever I was passing people who were running on the singletrack part of the right side of the trail, there were people coming out on the left side, meaning I had to somehow strategically weave around everyone or jump into the grassy uneven median.  Initially I didn't mind it because passing people gave me a boost, but it got old real quick.

However, I felt really solid and nearly jumped for joy when I saw my marathon split of 2:58:10ish - sub-3:00 marathon accomplished!  I really couldn't believe how great I felt having just run that, and I focused and kept grinding through the seas of half runners.

Then shortly before mile 27, fatigue really hit.  One minute I was ready to crank it down to 6:30 pace, and the next minute I started worrying I was in trouble.  Also refer to the elevation chart again - after the marathon mark we were on a pretty steady incline to the finish.  I knew I was going to finish the thing, but suddenly my negative split plan seemed a little too ambitious.  Once I saw a 7:07 split, I stopped looking at my watch and just focused on getting in as quick as my legs would carry me.  I was also still forcing down some of my last gel, hoping for a caffeine boost.  In marathons when I've struggled at the end it has felt like it was due to pace, but this time it felt like it was due to distance.  The pace never got hard, but around 27 my body was like, "hey, we always stop by now!"  I also lost all of my patience for going through the half marathoners, although I was in for that through the end.

Around 26.5, slightly before I wanted to crawl

This elevation profile is from the half, but it
illustrates the incline that is the final 5 miles well

From 27 to 29, I mostly focused on getting to the final aid station, around mile 29.  I'd given Jon a bottle and chews to hand me there but told him that I most likely wouldn't take them; in fact, it was a better sign if I didn't take those emergency supplies.  I still had half a gel in my hand and had been struggling with getting nutrition down since the turn around, so I really had no need for it, but I tried to rationalize that it was also good I wasn't dying enough to think I needed it. 

I couldn't quite run a straight line but I was smiling

My friends Casey and Christian were at the final aid station along with my family!  This was their first glimpse of the race, and they were phenomenal enthusiastic cheerleaders (video evidence at the end of my dad's video here - also evidence I was having a hard time running in a straight line).  They even yelled at some of the half people to move, "50k coming through!"  They ran up ahead to mile 30 then waited for me, and when I passed Casey said, "maybe you can qualify for something in the 50k now" as a very Casey-esque encouragement, and all I could think of was, "I'm qualifying for death!" so that's what I told her!

The final 2 miles took a lot of willpower to grit through, and I felt like I was running in slow motion and through sand, but I also knew I was going to make it in running.  The closer I got to the finish, the more I heard Sara-specific cheers.  All of my mental tricks and mantras were forgotten - it was just fighting to get in.  I was nearing the parking lot finish and knew I was going to win the thing!

Parking lot finish

I rounded the final corner into the parking lot still weaving through half marathoners and also through people who were walking to the finish food that was at a bike shop a bit down trail.  Due to the congestion, my finish was pretty anticlimactic, although the announcer said, "Here's our first marathoner!", and I somehow had enough energy to yell, "50k!", so he then corrected (it would have been a 2:34 marathon, so I'll consider his mistake a major compliment).  I saw the finishing clock at 2:34, and knew I'd run 3:34, although I didn't know exactly what that meant because I'd mostly been considering average paces vs. total time, but I knew I was well under the overall female state record of 3:59.  My dad's video of the finish is here.

My friend Derek (who is a multiple time ultra finisher!) was in the finish chute and it was all I could do to grab onto him before I fell over.  He was kind enough to hold me up for a couple of minutes, and by the time Jon got to me I saw Andrew on the ground in the chute.  I was disappointed I'd missed him coming in, but quickly found out that he was just 45 seconds behind me, setting a new men's course record and single age Missouri state record.  I then asked about Colin, and Derek said he wasn't in yet.  Andrew was surprised; he had passed Colin while Colin was in the porta potty but unlike me he hadn't seen Colin go in so he didn't know he'd won the race!  Soon after, we saw Colin come through in 3:37, which was faster than the previous men's course record and a single age Missouri state record for him.

My longest run on Strava :-)

The story continues here...