Weekly Mileage #167 and the 50k Trail Run

starting line, 7:20 am

Monday I got up earlier than I have in months to run my 50k. The park opens at 7am and I was there shortly after that.

The first loop it was cool enough to wear a long sleeve shirt and I did the full back loop, which has the worst hills. That was the only time I did those hills and I kept to the flatter front part of the back loop and the front loop for the rest of the race. I didn't want to wear myself out unnecessarily on those steeper hills. I didn't get a lot of sleep Sunday night so I was feeling pretty tired this loop, but eventually got in my groove.

The lighting in the forest changes throughout the day.

It warmed up, so on the second loop I ditched the long sleeve shirt. I set up my aid station in the back of the car with everything I thought I'd need. I checked my moleskin (not as helpful as it's been in the past, unfortunately), added body glide, refilled water and electrolyte bottles, ate some food (granola bars, crackers, and cheese), changed my socks, and so on. I did spend longer than I'd have liked (about 70 minutes total throughout the race), but checking my feet each time took time.

At the halfway mark: 15.5 miles. 

I'd originally planned on four and a half loops with four aid stops, but during the fourth loop I decided to skip the fourth aid stop and just power through the last 11 miles so I could get done sooner. But then my Garmin gave me the low battery message, so I had to stop and charge it for a bit so it wouldn't die before the end of my run.

At the 26.2 mile/full marathon mark:

The last half of the run (15ish miles) was definitely a suffer fest, which I knew they would be. I haven't run more than 13.1 miles since September 2018. I knew I would be undertrained and was prepared for that, but it looked a little different than I'd expected, though I did have a hint of it after the half marathon a couple weeks ago. All that hill work left me with super sore knees (actually, my knees feel fine, it's the muscle attachments above and below my knees that are sore), and my feet struggled with the uneven surfaces of the trails. On the positive side, my right foot where I broke it and where I injured my big toe didn't bother me. I did get some pretty spectacular toe blisters and some of them felt like they had blisters.

I never felt super tired and exhausted, even when I was hobble-running through those last 11 miles. It was my feet and legs that were the issue. Admittedly, I kept to a very conservative pace (avg for the race was 20 min/mile), and that was definitely a good thing. Since my energy levels have been such an issue for almost two years, this is huge. While my pace did slow down a little over time (as would be expected), I was able to stay pretty consistent.

When I was almost done, I called Jeremy and he brought the kiddos and they had a crepe paper tape for me to run through :)

11 hours and 11 minutes after I started, 31 miles were in the bag!

I remember hitting the wall bad during the full marathon I ran back in 2008, around mile 20 or so, but I didn't hit the wall in this race. I'm not sure why. I do know that listening to podcasts helped keep my mind off how my body felt, so that's probably part of it.

I used my run/walk technique that I used during the half marathon a couple weeks ago: run half a mile, walk a tenth of mile, run half a mile, walk a tenth of a mile. A couple times the walk or the run was a smidge longer, but I kept to that pretty close. I was prepared to lengthen my walks during the last half of the race, but I didn't end up doing that. I totaled up all my running stints and they equaled 24.2 miles! Even when I ran my full marathon I didn't run that much. Yay me! (and yes, I totally tracked my running and walking during the race. partly OCD, partly to give me something to think about in the background. I jotted them down and totaled them up along the way in the notes app on my phone)

I was really hoping the Parks Department would re-open the bathrooms, but no such luck. That left me trying to find secluded areas off the trail not full of poison ivy, with enough cover that someone on the trail wouldn't see me. This was harder than you'd think because the tree canopy is thick enough that there's not a lot of ground cover to hide behind. Add in all the extra people on the trails these days, and it was a bit dicey, though I managed it.

It was a good day for a run. It wasn't quite as cool as I'd have liked (low to mid 50s are my preferred running temps), but honestly it was quite good. The high was 75 in the late afternoon and about 50 when I started. Most of the trails are shaded by trees; there's only a couple stretches where I was in the sun, and those were short or had sporadic shade. So I never felt over-heated and the humidity wasn't that noticeable either. So glad I did it Monday, since the rest of the week was hot and humid. I think we hit mid-90s on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yech! I have a friend who flat out refuses to run in our hot and humid Virginia summers, and will only run from October to April. She's definitely got a point.

The last 5 or 6 miles I noticed that I was starting to wheeze. It was quite unlike any wheezing I've done before (which isn't that much, but back in high school I was diagnosed with exercise induced asthma). It wasn't super loud and I doubt anyone who wasn't right next to me would have noticed it, but it was there. I didn't think the pollen count was that high, but I guess after 11 hours of running around in the woods I was bound to breathe in enough crud to make my lungs unhappy. My post-race asthmatic cough was lovely. My lungs definitely weren't happy that evening and they were still pretty gunky on Tuesday and a bit tetchy on Wednesday. They feel fine now, though.

Going into this, I was pretty sure this race would be a one and done. Having finished it, I can confirm that I'm good not running another ultra race. Maybe if I had time to train properly for it I would, but even then I don't know that I would. And I'm glad I moved up my race date- no regrets there. The long training runs were draining me more than I have the time and energy to deal with, so even though it meant I was more under-trained than I'd originally planned, powering through it now rather than later was what I needed to do.

It also confirmed that I really do like the half marathon distance.

From an endurance perspective, I'm really glad I did it and was able to push myself and accomplish a very daunting physical feat. It was definitely a good decision on my part to do a virtual/self-supported 50k rather than a race with a bunch of people. That would have been so much more stressful on so many levels. Regardless, I can now say I've done an ultra race!

I do plan on continuing to run on the trails which means I'll continue to have built-in hill workouts. I'm really curious to see how all the hill work affects my road 5k times once we start holding races in person again.

I managed to go to sleep Monday night without any problems! This was not a given, as I still had insomnia after my half marathon. I did take a bunch of ibuprofen to help with all the sore muscles, but that was it.

Tuesday morning I woke up sore all over, which I mostly expected. I wasn't expecting to be sore between my shoulder blades- I must have been tensing up pretty badly while hobble-running the last 11 miles. My feet felt better, and the blisters were less angry, and while quite impressive in themselves, not as numerous as I thought Monday night. Walking was a smidge easier, but stairs were so painful.

I was tired, but not as wiped out as I was afraid I'd be. I unashamedly took the day off (after the kids' music lessons) and just rested while zoning out in front of netflix.

By Thursday the toe blisters had deflated and I was walking normally again.

The finished basket I shared last week, with the handle on. The leather was not stiff enough to stand up on its own and the handle is too long. So I won't use this leather for this basket and I'll make the handle shorter: a good learning experience.

Once I'd spent some time recovering from my race, I buckled down and got to work on my leather projects. First, I made two leather notebooks, one an order and one for Ocean's speech therapist as an end of year gift. Then I had another go at the wood and leather gather basket. It's close to where I want it, but still not quite right. The next version should be good to go.

I thought it would look fine if the handle didn't extend all the way to the bottom. It doesn't. It needs to be a lot shorter or go all the way to the bottom, no weird in-between.

The first version I sewed entirely by hand, this one I sewed on the machine. I need to practice a bit more (leather is very unforgiving, so you can't make mistakes and then fix them), but overall using the sewing machine is so much faster.

Next I made my first tote bag. I hacked the pattern from one I purchased and a couple bags that I liked parts of to get one bag that I like. Constructing it was a learning experience but I'm pleased with how it turned out. This one is unlined, eventually I'll do a lined version, though the interior pocket will need to be different for that one.

Riveted pocket.

The bottom is a different leather than the top, but you can't really tell it on the outside. It's most obvious on the inside.

I bought an arbor press after seeing a leatherworker on youtube show all the things he could do with it. Super versatile, labor saving, and so much quieter than hammering on punches all the time. And cheaper than buying a press from Tandy. I'd rather have the pull down lever on the Tandy press, but the price on this press makes the turning handle something I'll live with.

The shiny square thing is a neodymium magnet that will hold my punches, like the one below, which punches holes for hand stitching.

Eventually I'd like to order a brass stamp with my logo for stamping my work, but I haven't decided for sure that I want to keep my current logo or change it up. In the meantime, I made an acrylic stamp with the GlowForge and it's doing pretty well when combined with the arbor press.

Well, I actually had to make two, because the first one I did I forgot to flip it so it was mirrored. That would be the top one. As soon as I stamped the leather I realized what I'd done and went back and fixed it.

Brass edges will stand up to more than acrylic, but like I said, it works for now and it's super easy to knock out another one if something happens to this one.

I forgot to sew the logo patch on the tote bag, so I'll have to do that on Monday.

I also made these cute little tags on the GlowForge, to be used like a hang tag that you'd find on a bag at the store. I'll probably change up the leather though. Depending on the lighting, it's kind of difficult to see the logo on this one.

Oh, and I don't think I ever posted a picture of my new leather sewing machine. It looks like a treadle on the bottom, but really it's just a giant lever to push on, which is easier than the smaller levers and buttons of my other machines.

~~~~~

Final thoughts on the 50k. While I was tired, I was not as wiped out as I thought I'd be and even the sore muscles didn't hang around as long as I thought they would. My knees are still tired, but they no longer hurt, and after 31 miles of hills, tired knees aren't unexpected. Overall, I've recovered a lot better and faster than I thought I would.

I'm so glad I did it when I did. It's been hot and humid ever since. I'm sleeping better, so mission accomplished in trying to minimize one of the stressors that contribute to my insomnia. And I'm working my way back to eating low carb, so again, mission accomplished.

I've never really experienced the letdown after a runner's high before, but I definitely felt it this week. It was probably influenced by the tired that accompanies doing a 50k while not fully ready for it and not fully rested because of chronic insomnia. I'm feeling better now, though.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 31.0 miles run and hiked
total- 31.0 miles

2020 totals

22 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

146.41 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
11.00 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
150.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
307.41 miles total