Random Thoughts - Jackson Jackass 50K

My race recap was pretty long, I know, but I have a few more thoughts about the weekend I would like to share.

*This was the first race where I was the last person across the line. I’d always been worried about that before but knew going into this there was a high probability. I was okay with it.

*However, I really thought I would finish in less than 7 hours and was slightly mortified when I figured out I’d go past 8 hours. Then 8 ½ hours. There was a bit where I even regretted the fact that I hadn't brought a headlamp or my Knuckle Lights because I was afraid I might need them! But at least I finished in less than 8:45 (8:43:22)! Woo! Full results here. Don't get me wrong...I am very proud of finishing the JJ50K. I just hate being that slow and timid. I may have mentioned that my pride was in ICU on twitter. I was trying to convince another runner that his pride shouldn't be wounded since he finished before me but, I don't know, maybe I believed it a little. Then I got this...
It was a good reminder of this...

*The JJ50K was HARD. Definitely the hardest race I've done so far. The 12 HR was longer but was a cake walk by comparison (literally since we were running in circles!). With the 12 HR, I was able to "check out" while running. There was no doing that with the JJ50K. After the 12 HR, my legs were toast. After the JJ50K, my body was toast. I felt like I'd been wrestling an alligator in the mud all day. And I looked like it too. :) My brain was exhausted too. It was like being at 110% attention the whole time. More than 8 hours of being on edge. Even when I was at the aid station, there was no rest since I was constantly calculating time/needs/plans.

*I loved the twisty, turny, ups & downs of the course and running thru the trees. It felt very...primal out there. My trails are more sweeping. Long, sweeping hills, no tree cover, rocky w/cactus. I can see far ahead and forever on my trails. This course had a very narrow focus. You better pay attention to what's right in front of you if you don't want to hit a root or a tree. I liked that. Kept me from daydreaming which I have a tendency to do. I thought it was pretty too. The rain had saturated everything and deepened the colors. It made for a very earthy palette.

*I didn't do very well with nutrition & drink during the race. I tried to figure out how much I took in during the race in calories and I think it was around 1100 calories. If that. I probably drank maybe 40/45 oz. I'd planned on using this for a test of what I'd do for my 50 miler in March but didn't stick to my plan. I definitely need to work on that.

*Looking at my splits, I got about 5 minutes slower each loop. But I think I finished that last little loop pretty strong? I expected to be thoroughly wiped at the end with noodley legs but I felt pretty good. These are my splits:
*The one thing I enjoyed most about the day was the camaraderie. It was funny because when I was meeting everyone, I constantly heard "You must be Lisa" or I'd introduce myself and they'd say "I know". It made me feel infamous in a way. Or that I screamed Californian. ;) But I figured it was because they all knew it each other. Tennessee seems to have a very tight running community even with all of them being spread out so much. I really miss not having that here and I need to find that or create that. All of us at the start:
Fun crew!

I want to finish off this post with two of my favorite pictures from the day. This one I like because I look so happy. :) I don't usually like photos of myself but this one shows perfectly what I felt: tired, dirty, but very, very happy.

And this is another of my favorites. Me with the guys who celebrated my finish with me! It's only missing Jeff (who was taking the photo). This is me with (fr left to right) Dallas, Chris, Joshua, and Naresh.

All the photos in this post were courtesy of Naresh! You can see more of his photos from the race here:
Jackson Jackass 50K Photos