THE ULTRA New Year's Resolution 2014-2017

Every year on New Year's Day, I make a list of resolutions.  I try to keep them simple:  read a book/month, smile more each day, or teach Carson how to write an essay!  I don't like to set myself up for failure, so I try to make my goals achievable.  Unfortunately, there has been one "elusive dream" that I have written down each January 1st and chased for four straight years:  to run an ultra marathon.

An ultra marathon is any race longer than the classic marathon distance of 26.2 miles.  For some strange reason, I decided four years ago that I wanted to complete an ultra.  So . . .  I made the same New Year's Resolution (4 years in a row). I bought books on how to prepare for an ultra.  I followed runners on Instagram that run ultras.  I browsed the Internet looking for an ultra race that would fit into my family's life and my running schedule.  I never found the "perfect" race, so I never signed up, I never trained, and I never checked off my New Year's Resolution.  Finally, this summer I decided that enough was enough.  I was FINALLY going to JUST DO IT!  So . . . I looked up ultra races offered for Fall 2017, and I found it!  An ultra race that was not all trail.  An ultra race that was close to home.   An ultra race that offered a 50k (31.0686 miles).  An ultra race that had beautiful scenery.  It was the ORRC Autumn Leaves 50/50:  a 50k and 50 mile race held in Champoeg State Park along the Willamette River.  I signed up, paid, wrote up a training plan, and started to run!

The course for Autumn Leaves is a 10k loop made up of 80% paved bike paths and 20% single dirt track.  For the 50k, I knew I'd need to complete 5 loops of the course.  (The 50 milers have to run 8 loops.) I was a little bit nervous about how I'd handle the repeated loops both mentally and physically. **I ended up LOVING the course!  I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to run an ultra.

I put in all the training over the next four months:  long runs, speed workouts, trail runs.  In the end, I knew I'd done all of the work, but my main concern was still how my stomach would handle the mileage of a 50k.  Would I fuel correctly?  Would I be racing from porta potty to porta potty for 31 miles?  Would I be able to enjoy the race or merely have to endure it?

Warning: Don't read the following paragraph unless you are a 40+ year old female runner that doesn't mind TMI! *Unfortunately, I found out that Aunt Flo was going to come visit the morning of the race.  This caused me even more angst.  What was going to happen on the course?! I reached out to a running buddy that gave me some great advice:  take Imodium!

So . . . the week before Autumn Leaves, I made my final preparations:  I tapered, I bought a new race "robe" for inspiration, I bought a banana for my pre race fuel, I bought 7 GUs for fuel, I bought a new pair of Saucony Kinvaras to run in (Note: You should NEVER wear a new pair of shoes on race day!  Luckily, it worked out this time!), and I bought a package of Imodium.

Race day morning:  I woke up at 3 am, ate my waffles, prepped, and left for Champoeg (pronounced sham-POO-ee) at 4 am.  Does anyone else notice the irony in the pronunciation?!  Ha!

When I arrived at the State Park, I was greeted by the cheeriest volunteer, Kelly, whom I'd met at a previous race.  Sweetest girl ever!  She pointed me in the right direction, and I was off to packet pickup.   P.S.  Kelly is pictured in her amazing cat tights below with the awesome race directors, Bret and Gail.

Next stop:  the porta potties!  Autumn Leaves has the COOLEST tradition ever!  Ever person that registers for the race by a certain date gets his/her name entered into a drawing to win a personal porta potty that can be used ONLY BY THAT PERSON before, during, and after the race!  It would be my dream come true to win my own personal porta potty.  Although I didn't win this year (because I registered too late), I did get to meet one of the winners, Karey, and got a tour of her porta potty.  Her name was posted on the outside, and the inside was fully decorated with lights, candles, and streamers.  BEST PRIZE EVER!!!

After I toured Karey's porta potty, I stood by the fire to warm up, watched the 50 milers cross the starting line at 6 am, and headed back to my car to do my final fuel up before the race.  I ate my banana, took 3 Imodium (crossed my fingers), took off my Poo Emoji "robe," and headed back to the starting line. I was excited to see Jerry, an amazing runner I'd met previously at the Portland Marathon Training Clinic.  The seconds ticked down, and the race began!

I started the race wearing a long sleeved shirt and a wrist light.  It was cool and still dark outside.  I ran beside/behind Jerry during that first loop.  He was talking easily, and I was gasping for air.  I always really struggle at the beginning to get my breathing under control.  I tried to stay with him.  Jerry knew a lot of people on the course: both runners and volunteers.  Hearing his cheery, "Hello!" to fellow runners and friends made the time fly by for me.  When we got to the turnaround point around the 3 mile mark, I was still trying to hang with him.  We ran another mile and a half when we hit the single, dirt track.  This was the part I was dreading.  I was really nervous about how my legs were going to function on the trail.  We ran along the path.  It was absolutely gorgeous.

The fog was lifting over the fields, the leaves and ground were covered with autumn leaves, there were some small hills, and then we popped back out onto the pavement and headed back to the starting line.  Loop 1 was done!



I dropped my light and long sleeved shirt, took a GU, and headed out for the next loop!

During Loop 2, I tried to keep Jerry in my sights.  He was so inspiring! He continued to talk to runners on the path.  We saw some amazing costumes.  It was fun to see all the runners multiple times throughout the race as we passed each other going back and forth through the loops.  Everyone cheered each other on.  The comaraderie amongst the runners was top notch!



I'm like Gargamel in this photo!

I really enjoyed the 2nd loop!  I looked around and really soaked in the beauty of the park.



I started to fade a bit every time I hit the trails.  I tried to keep Jerry in my sights, but as you can see here, I started to slow a bit.  I kept on running though.

The bridge was a fun part of the loop.  We had to run over it to head to the 3 mile turn around, and then we ran across it again on our way back to the start.  I saw some more fabulous costumes.  I saw Wonder Woman on each loop!


Loop 3 was tough for me!  I think it was at the end of this loop that I saw my friend, Teresa, cheering me on.  I was so happy to see her.  I yelled, "Are you going to run with me on the last loop?!" I ran the fourth loop knowing that I was going to have company soon.  I pushed through. As I crossed the starting line, I thought, "Four!  One More!"  I saw Teresa up ahead.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  I knew she would talk me through this final six miles.  I was able to introduce Teresa to Jerry, but then I started to fade.  Jerry pulled ahead.  It was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other.  Teresa was fabulous and chatted as we ran along.

I knew that I just had to make it through the trail section one last time.  I just kept chanting to myself, "You can do hard things!"  I also kept thinking about pizza!

Teresa ran ahead of me through the trails.  I willed my body to keep running and try to catch her.  She cheered me on until the end of the trails, took my picture, and headed up to meet me at the finish line.  My feet hit the pavement, and I made my way towards the finale!


I cannot begin to explain how I felt when my feet crossed the finish line.  I was laughing, and I was crying.  I couldn't believe that I had FINALLY finished my resolution from years ago.

I am so grateful that Teresa showed up to cheer me on and run me into the finish of this race.  She was my angel!

I smelled so bad at the end of the race that I crouched down hoping that the race directors couldn't smell me as much!

In the end, I dressed like the Poo Emoji, but I didn't have to stop once to use the porta potty!  It was an Imodium miracle!  I was able to cross the finish line as first female with a finish time of 4:05:47.  Moral of the story:  NEVER give up on your goals.  Sometimes it takes YEARS to achieve what we set out to do, but it WILL happen in the end.  One step at a time.

Thoughts after the race:

"What just happened?"

"Ready for a cool down mile!" Ha!

"Jerry rocks!"

My favorite after race snack!

I met the sweetest girl with the cutest signs.  She was there cheering on her friend who was running the 50 miler.  I got to pose for some pictures with her and her signs!

This was my favorite!