Friday, October 10, 2008

My first ULTRA

Awesome is the first word that comes to mind. I learned so much about myself it isn't even funny. I had two goals entering into this run, 1. finish 2. finish in under 6hrs i ended up finishing in 5hr 55 min. I coudn't be happier.The race was the Blues Cruise 50K near Reading, Pa. I prepared for this over the last 3 1/2 months by training roads and trails averaging between 30-50 mile weeks. At 5'8" and 195lbs(on race day) i am not exactly the picture of an endurance runner, but i was happy to see alot of people who looked like me...well minus all the tattoos, lol. The trails were beautiful and the friends i made on the trail were even more amazing then the scenery. The aid stations were packed with food, gels, drinks, and entertainment. The most pain i experienced on the trail, oddly enough, didn't come from my legs, knees, hips or anything like that. It was my guts and my feet. The last 10 miles of the race i felt a mix between quezzy and bloated and my feet blistered up. My foot issues were due to my socks and the queezy feeling i am not sure what that was due to.
I really didn't eat food but this is was my oral intake looked like

6 liters of water
2 Gel packs
1 pack sport beans
10 S-caps
3 ibuprophen
At the aid stations i had
1 cup of coke
2 cups of water
6 cups of Heed(not even sure what this is)
3 cups of Mt. Dew

With 1/2 mile left in the race i felt my blood sugar drop dramatically. I got sick to my stomach and i got real shakey feeling. Strangely though i wasn't in pain. My feet eventually went numb(i would have stopped and taped them if the race was any longer) I had no pain in my knees or hips. I have read numerous articles about people actually having hallucinations from running distances ranging from marathons straight on up to 100 milers. I didn't have this but i will tell you i kept hearing people breathing as they ran up behind me. Every time i would move aside to let them pass there was no one there, lol. Ah well it was a fun time and i am already mapping out my next one. Hope you all have a great day thanks to everyone for your the advice.

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