San Juan 50K Recap
5:09:02 (1st F / 6th Overall)
Race Site Here
It took me exactly four days to get back on my running feet following the wonderful San Juan 50k. I was pretty wrecked post-race after taking another few spills in the first half of the race. It wasn’t all the missing skin that concerned me but my poor knee, both times I managed to bang my left knee which was the one I had been complaining about for the last month. Luckily, the running Gods are once again on my side and everything seems to be back to normal (less the missing skin).
San Juan 50k was a great last minute race decision as I found myself very anxious for Leona Divide coming up at the end of April; it would be a great opportunity for me to log some long miles on a course I had recently become fond of. I was also very excited that my friends would be proudly supporting Runner’s Booty by each wearing a green themed tech top.
Signing up for the race, my intention was to use it as a long training until Andy told me that if my body felt good, I should use it to gauge myself for next month’s race. Of course this excited me because no matter how many times I try to convince myself or my coach that I will just “jog” or “take it easy,” race-mode automatically gets turned on and I can’t even stop myself from running through the bad kind of pain. I know that is horrible…I am trying to work on that.
Avalon Benefit 50
Avalon Benefit 50
7th Overall / 2nd F
7:34:21 (Garmin Stats here)
If I could sum up how I feel about my first 50-miler — the experience, my results, I’d still use the word: HAPPY.
Unlike past racing seasons where I’d race shorter distances much more often, it felt like I hadn’t raced forever. I was nervous, anxious and excited. I couldn’t wait to get to that starting line and experience another NEW race distance at another NEW place. Avalon had also held a special place in my heart because it was about a year ago that I started putting Runner’s Booty together and a year ago I debuted a few tank tops at this race. Ash had strongly suggested I run this race because she thought it was very similar to El Moro, a local trail that we hit up on occasion. She also thought I could be a top finisher (I think she is my biggest fan, haha).
I really feel like I headed into this race with positive attitude. Yes, I was a little worried and I had a lot of questions about the race and myself but I don’t think that was a negative thing…I’d like to say I am realistic. And I felt like my experiences at Javelina had carried me to the starting line — both the lows from all the pain and having to drop out (and being OK with it), to the highs of finding out I had set a new course record for the default 100k finish.
Amongst my close friends, I had already established a reasonable goal but I didn’t share it with anyone else simply because I (probably you too) am still learning a lot about ultras and the one thing that we ALL know is that anything can happen on race day. My intention was to finish in 8 hours and I really felt like it was doable — I knew I had that in me. And I knew that I needed to average a 9:36 mile to do it. (more…)
E.T. Full Moon Midnight Marathon 51K Race Recap
The E.T. Full Moon Marathon (51K in my case) did not disappoint this year. Thinking about it, it was also great last year too, well, with the the exception of me dropping out around mile 6 during my half. The gist of this point-to-point race, and also what makes it really unique, is the midnight start along Extraterrestrial Highway in the dark. A few hundred runners donning alien inspired costumes, carrying glow sticks and wearing headlamps show up at the Hardrock Hotel in Vegas and get shuttled to the start, more than an hour away to Rachel, NV. We are dropped off on the pitch-black highway, lit only by the gadgets we bring along, and run straight to the finish which just so happens to be near Area 51 at the A’Le’Inn (Alien Inn). Oh, did I almost forget that we also get glow-in-the-dark medals?! So cool! (more…)
Trace B. 