I did it! Woohoo! Here I am struggling to run out the last 200 meters (or so) of the 50 mile/80k race.A week ago yesterday, I had no idea what I was in for. An 80k course that consisted of 4 - 20k laps awaited me on Saturday November 5th - The
Whistler 50 (mile) Ultra. I opted for the early start with 6 others and we all met at the
Whistler Conference Center at 4:45am. There was a cut off time at the 72k mark that I needed to make so the early start was a must. I remember stepping outside the hotel in the morning to walk over and it was freezing. Definitely, not really used to sub-zero temperatures. I had a few things going against me at the start of the race. Fighting an icky cold, a hip that I pulled a few weeks prior (while doing the
Grouse Grind twice in a row) and dealing with practically no sleep because I was too nervous about the race! Not to mention, this was my very first Ultra and I chose to do one that was 80k in length. Having only completed 1 full marathon 6 months prior, it didn't really give me much basis on how long this was going to take me either. So, I went into the race telling myself (and everyone else), "I'm just going to go as far as I possibly can. It doesn't matter if I finish." Keeping in mind, I would say that while cringing. The truth be known, it did matter. It mattered a lot to me! I didn't run all that distance in prep only for me to NOT finish. That would have completely sucked.
All 7 of us stood at the start line (which was about 467 meters away from the finish line as 50 miles is slightly longer than 80k) and we started our race at 5:10am. So we got a 50 minute head start than the rest of the group. It was mandatory to carry a flashlight or wear a headlamp. I decided to look extra cool and I wore 2 headlamps. Mostly because I have a horrible fear of the dark and if one suddenly went out, I'd be having 15 panic attacks. The trail was well marked with glow sticks and cones. Unless your night vision was lacking, I would say it was pretty hard to get lost. In the first few hours of the race, there were 2 people I was trying to keep up with so I didn't have to run completely alone. All of a sudden, they disappeared... and there I was... running alone... in the pitch dark... in the middle of Whistler... where there are lots of bears... Turns out, those 2 runners just took a brief wrong turn and they caught up quickly behind me. I was
so relieved (and not because I crapped my pants! LOL).
One of the dumbest things I could have done was wear a sweatshirt under my running jacket and over my running shirt. Guess where all the sweat collected? Yes, in the first few hours, I wore a sweatshirt because I was cold... but that's when I sweat the most and of course, I started to FREEZE. Thank goodness I remembered to slather myself in
Body Glide or it wouldn't have been pretty. When I finally arrived at my drop bag, before anything, a very sweet volunteer first offered me the four-legged foe of any long distance runner... the CHAIR. The CHAIR was trying to lure me with it's power but I fought hard against it. I politely, said, "No thank you - but I would like my drop bag to grab some Advil and change my shirt." Unfortunately, there wasn't really anywhere to change, so the very sweet volunteer offered to hold up my jacket while I ripped off my drenched shirt and sweatshirt and then put on a new one. I don't exactly have the same sort of perfect body as all the other ultra runners so no one needed to see me take my clothes off. LOL. Needless to say, I felt
so much better after changing. I was still freezing, but I quickly warmed up to a tolerable temperature when I started running again. Another volunteer asked me if I wanted something to eat... I said, "Sure, anything that will make me kill a few more minutes before having to run again." A few of the other runners thought that was funny as they were delving into the snacks, too.
By 8am the sun was fully up and it was getting warmer. It was nice to be able to view the lovely scenery that I couldn't see in the darker hours. This was also the time when the relay runners started. All of a sudden, there were tons of people passing me but turning around to look at my race bib. They would yell things like: "You're an inspiration!", "You're amazing!", "Keep up the fantastic work!" ...and it just went on and on! It was almost embarrassing. When I came through my first check point (after the relay begun) there were a few relay runners before me and behind me... but I'd hear someone yell "ULTRA!" and everyone went crazy with the cheering! I felt like a total Rock Star! LOL. I still felt pretty good. Sore, but good. I started to wonder how much longer I was able to keep this up for. Then the dreaded happened...
I hit around 54-55k and all of a sudden, everything in me was seizing up. Then I started having an internal fight with myself on whether or not I was going to finish. I knew at this point I still had plenty of time to do it in so I started to slow down. ...a lot. Like turtle speed. Every hill - big or small - I walked up. There was some snowy areas where I decided to walk through as I didn't feel that stable on my feet. I felt weak and at some points I could have collapsed and went to sleep. What put it over the top was the headache. My head was totally pounding. I don't know if it was due to my blood pressure (which is normally perfect), sinus congestion (from my cold) or the fact I was lacking sleep, food, salt or electrolytes. I had 2 other runners stop and ask me if I was OK. I told them I was fine, and just needed to "walk-it-out". When I finally made it back around to one of the bigger aid stations, I stood around for probably close to 10 minutes. Having soup, banana, a cookie, Coke and water (but I still refused the CHAIR). I called my boyfriend who was waiting for me at the next checkpoint (only 3.5-4 km's) away and told him I don't think I can finish it. I was holding back the tears. He told me to just take it easy and he'll be waiting for me. I walked a lot of that 4k - was probably the longest 4k I've ever dragged out in my life. Relay runners kept passing me still yelling their encouraging words... and instead of me smiling and saying, "Thank you," I would bark back, "I'm not finished yet!" ...I felt so defeated.
I reached the check-point (which was also the 60k mark) to where my boyfriend was waiting for me. I repeated myself again to him. "I don't think I can finish. I think I'm done." He was very supportive and encouraging and told me that I didn't have to - I had already come so far... but he said it with that "look". The look of, "Awwww. Why didn't you just do the relay?" The Race Director came up to me and asked me how I was doing. "I don't think I can go on. I'm hurting pretty bad," I repeated. His response was, "You only have 20k left to do. The sun is shining and it's warmer now." Hmmm. Only 20k?
ONLY 20K?! I guess you only hear those 2 words together in ultra running because never in my life have I heard "Only 20K". 21k is a half marathon for goodness sakes! People can train for 6 months to run one of those! On the same hand, I totally understood his logic and was grateful for it. It was
only 20k and 1 more lap. I decided to think about it while going for a bathroom break. I went to one of those
porta-potties. I fought with the pain in my legs while hovering over the toilet seat. I have this weird fear that something is going to reach up and grab my butt if I sit on one of those. I was probably in there for a while. Good thing it was a surprisingly clean/non-stinky one. When I was done, I walked out and told my boyfriend "I'm going to finish." He looked so happy. He knew how miserable I would have been if I did quit. I still had just over 3 1/2 hours to finish. In normal circumstances, that would be tons of time. Unfortunately, this wasn't one of those times and I knew I'd be a slug. Before the race, I read up on what you do when you are getting into those higher kilometers and you just don't have that "gas power" anymore. Apparently, you're supposed to either run 5 minutes and walk 1 or run 15 minutes and walk 5. Well, I was running from trail marker, to trail marker - which in this case, were orange traffic cones. I walked up all the hills and walked down all the hills. All inclines/declines hurt like Hell. Thankfully, I knew I was on my last lap and I just kept telling myself that.
I ended up at one of the aid stations and they watched me plod my way over. One of them asked me very cheerfully, "How can I help you?" ..."Electrolytes, please." She handed me some and I gulped it back. "Jellybeans???!!!" she asked, enthusiastically. My response was a little over the top. I squench up my face and I was like, "Oh dear God no!" She threw them back down. My stomach was feeling sick and I just said, "Thank you. You guys are great, but I'm just hurting really, really bad." One of the fellows responded with, "Ya... but you had to have known that was going to happen, right?" My response was, "Well, Ya! Of course!" Unfortunately, the truth was that I didn't really think about the pain when I was training for it. It's a-given that there would be some pain. Especially it being my first ultra... but I had no idea how much. My legs gave up already 20 kilometers back. By this point, it was no longer my body that was getting me through... it was my mind and knowing giving up just wasn't an option.
I knew I was getting closer to the finish and to the 'big' aid station where they have real food. I kept asking every race volunteer how far it was. "3 k", "2.2 k", "less that a kilometer", "down the hill"... I think I saw the heavens open and angels start singing when I saw them. Strangely enough, out of anything I could have in the world, I was craving Coke. ...and I knew they had some. I'm not a big "pop" person. I especially, don't much care for
Coke... unless there's rum in it. Weirdly enough, in this situation, it was just what I needed. Sugar and caffeine - oh ya! The fizz also helped settle my stomach. It was just what I needed along with all the wonderful encouragement from the volunteers.
After I was finished, I had about 42 minutes (before 5 PM when the course closed) to do the final 3.5k. I plodded along to the end of the street where there was a slight incline. When I had to turn, a race volunteer saw me and said, "Most people haven't ran this hill, so you are doing really well!" ..."Thank you!" I said... but what I was thinking was, "Well, this isn't really a hill and I'm more like doing a shuffle"... and then I realized, how hard I am on myself. Who cares?! I'm doing it! Isn't that the point?! I tell other people it doesn't matter if you walk, jog or run. The point is to just keep moving! :-)
I know I was getting close to the finish line and I was getting really, really, REALLY excited. I was listening to my tunes and was in my own little world. If I wasn't in so much pain, I would be dancing and doing cartwheels. There were very little racers left on the course so I was pretty much on my own in the last stretch. So there I was, spacing out, along the river and I was just making a turn and OH MY FRIGGIN GOD THERE'S A
GIANT BEAR. Have you ever seen a 700 pound bear jump? Well, I have!
AND he was only about 10 feet away! This was the closest I've ever been to a bear that didn't have some sort of electric fence between us. He started to take a few quick steps towards me and I started waving and said, "Hi Mr. Bear!" (Hopefully it wasn't a Mrs. - I didn't want to offend the bear. LOL) and then he slowed down but still kept walking towards me. I backed up slowly and suddenly, all my pain turned to adrenaline as I shot up the hill towards the overpass. Luckily, he wasn't interested in following me. Most bears aren't. They are just looking for food. I'm pretty sure if I just stood off to the side, he would have just kept walking past me. However, I wasn't really interested in taking that chance. Especially, when I was probably sweating out Gatorade and
Clif Shots.
After the bear passed, I ran back down on to the trail and kept going. I wasn't far. I called my boyfriend to let him know what was happening and then told him to meet me before the finish line by the giant
Inukshuk.
As I approached him, I said that I needed to walk for a minute if I wanted to be able to run (not walk) through the finish line. He was so excited for me and kept saying, "You did it! You finished it!" Reality started settling in for me and I was like, "Man, I think I'm gunna cry!" He laughed and told me to start running as the finish line was only about 200 meters away. So I did, and then I heard the race announcer say my name and how it was my first ultra marathon. I don't think I could have had a bigger smile on my face! I was so unbelievably happy! I was the last "official" finisher at 11 hours, 37 minutes. There were 52 starters and 46 finishers. I was also the only one that went over the 11 hour mark which reinforced the fact that opting for the early start was a
VERY good idea. Going by the theory of doubling your marathon time and adding 2 hours was somewhat accurate for me. This was the first race I've done where I didn't give a flying fig what my time was. Finishing was my only goal!
I have to give full kudos and 10 stars to the
amazing race volunteers. They were all so wonderful, helpful and supportive. The Race Director was organized, awesome and very personable. The spectators and the other racers were great. The views of the lake were gorgeous and running through the trail system was a nice, non-overwhelming experience for a first-timer. Overall, it was a fun, fantastic race and I hopefully will get the opportunity to take part again next year!
The Whistler 50 replaced the
Haney to Harrison 100k Ultra and Relay. Last year, I did
leg 7 in the relay and I told everyone I planned to the Ultra this year. ...but I was
KIDDING! LOL. It just goes to show... you never know what you're capable of until you try it!
So I took a full week off of running to get rid of my cold and heal my hip. I went on an easy 10k run this afternoon. I still have a bit of hip pain, but the combination of Advil and taking it slow made it bearable. Was a significantly long blog report this time which is why it took me so long to post it. Thanks for reading my novel! :-)
We were then all told to make our way to the start line. I've learned to just go right to the back. I find it a lot nicer to pass a bunch of people than have a crowd of people pass me. Plus, it gives me a challenge. Generally, I see 1/2 and 10k runners and just a handful of 5k'ers making their way to the start but this time I was surprised that there were more. There were even a few right up at the front waiting to sprint it. The weather didn't seem to hold them back either. As you can hear in the video below, the rain was coming down pretty hard. You can also hear my daughter cheer me on and see me at the end smiling and waving like a big nerd. :-)
We were then all told to make our way to the start line. I've learned to just go right to the back. I find it a lot nicer to pass a bunch of people than have a crowd of people pass me. Plus, it gives me a challenge. Generally, I see 1/2 and 10k runners and just a handful of 5k'ers making their way to the start but this time I was surprised that there were more. There were even a few right up at the front waiting to sprint it. The weather didn't seem to hold them back either. As you can hear in the video below, the rain was coming down pretty hard. You can also hear my daughter cheer me on and see me at the end smiling and waving like a big nerd. :-)
My daughter liked seeing the swans. They were pretty friendly until they realized we had no food for them and they took off again.
The weather was still a bit dark and there was mist/fog on the pond. By the afternoon, it was sunny. Wish I could have woken up to that rather than the freezing rain! *sigh* Well, I guess I can't complain. We are heading into December, after all. Overall, I was happy with the race and will probably do it again next year. It was well organized and the turn out was great despite the weather - but a little rain doesn't usually deter us crazy runners. ;-) Thanks for reading!
