Fast Recovery

I was back in the box the day after the Caumsett 50K. A 2K row, 50 HSPUs (or pikes of a box in my case), and deload week for the front squat. Never in a million years would I have thought I could row a 2K the day after Caumsett 2011, 2012, and 2013, and I only did the 25K in 2011!

below parallel after 31.2 miles

Sunday Funday: 31.2 Miles

I ran the Caumsett 50K yesterday, again. I know I said I retired from ultra running after Rock the Ridge, but I wanted to see if I could get a sub-5 hour finish. The answer is no, I could not.

It was really, really, really effing cold. Painfully cold. It's the first time I have ever run this race and never warmed up. I wore a sweatshirt over that top and a furry head warmer for the first nine 5K loops. I took them off for the last lap to light some fire under my ass and finish strong.

I really didn't enjoy running this race. I spent a good portion of it thinking, "This is neither constantly varied nor functional." I was bored.

We had some changes this year. We ran the 5K loop in the opposite direction and I liked it better this way. This was also the first year that there was an official marathon time marker. I entertained the idea of PRing the marathon like I did in 2012. As I approached the marker, the only thing I could think was, "Wow. The last time I ran a marathon this slowly, I was high."

Sometimes you have great runs and sometimes your runs suck. This run sucked.

50K Style Guide

What do you wear for a 50K?

If you lose a bet, like Keith Straw, you wear the most beautiful running outfit in the world.

Keith was a good sport and let everyone who asked take photo, including me and my mother.

It snowed the night before the race. This is my car 10 minutes before I left for the course.

The weather has been colder each year I have run the Caumsett. I ran the 25K in 2011 in shorts and a tank top in the pouring rain. I ran the 50K in 2012 in the same black shorts with a tank top and a red pullover. This year I wore capris by Yoga Bella (I never run in capris), a C9 by Champion for Target tank with built-in sports bra, and the red C9 by Champion for Target pullover.

oh hey, it's just after 6 AM on a Sunday

I also busted out a fresh pair of Knockarounds. I buy the red, white, and blue pairs in bulk because I love them and I love America. Many people I meet also love them, so if I'm wearing an older pair, I'll just give them the ones I have on me.

I love me some good color-coordination so I made sure to wear my red Brooks Adrenaline 11s. I ran the 50K in these last year so I figured I couldn't go wrong in the same shoes.

courtesy of GLIRC. All Rights Reserved.

I'm blaming this photo on an unflattering angle. It never got warm enough for me to take off my red pullover, so my patriotism wasn't obvious to everyone. I wore my Brooks gloves for most of the race and frequently lamented that the neon yellow detracted from my overall outfit.

No Mile Splits?!

Last December, my Garmin Forerunner 305 decided to die. The amazing folks at Garmin helped me to realize that it was still under warranty and sent me a new one. Everything has been great. Until I realized today that I never set it to AUTOLAP every mile and now I have no mile splits from my freaking 31 mile race.

I thought it was weird when I could hear everyone else's Garmin making noise except for mine, but I thought the sound was just off.

I was at first pretty sad to find out that I ran all of that way and don't know my mile splits, but then I remembered that until last year, I didn't own a Garmin and never had any idea of how fast I ran each mile. However, I do have my sick ass race print out from each of my Caumsett runs.

Here are my 5K splits. The first four splits I ran with music. My phone died during split 5 because I was listening to Soundcloud and Spotify - rookie mistake. Next time I will turn my phone to airplane mode and make sure that I download everything I want to listen to. I also might bring my old school iPod as a back up.

I also think I was dehydrated from going out Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and that I didn't drink enough water on Friday. I overcompensated Saturday and had to pee every freaking 3 miles, adding to my time.

I also walked the hills during splits 5 - 10. I think I will walk the hills during every loop in the future because it will save energy. As you can see in split 10, walking the hills didn't negatively affect my overall time and I was actually able to run the entire thing faster than splits 2 and 3, even though I didn't walk at all during those.

One of my favorite things about running is analyzing data because I am a data nerd.

Caumsett 50K 2013

Because this is what you do when you finish a 50K

I finished another 50K! It felt much harder this year, but I was able to finish really strong. I was running sub-7s as I came in.

I really appreciated your messages! Unfortunately Soundcloud killed my phone battery somewhere around 14 miles, so I didn't get to see most of them until I finished, but it was awesome to see all of your support when I got back into the car.

10 miles down, 21 miles to go

I ran the race in 5:21:49.21 (slower than last year), and I am okay with this time. I came in 40th place, I was the 9th woman, and I came in 2nd in the 25-29 division. I got two medals, one for finishing and one for coming in second place.

 

Stayed tuned for more posts about the Caumsett 50K this week.

Want to know about the Caumsett 50K?

I completed my first road 50K on March 4, 2012. If you're interested in hearing about 5 hours, 8 minutes, and 44 seconds of running, post your questions below!

Check out those 5K splits.