Taper Madness

[e]

Pretty quiet around here. Guess I'll have to regale you all with the splendiferous account of my most recent ultra exploit.

A little historical background.... The Landsford Canal State Park is located south of Charlotte, NC along the Catawba River. It's in SC but there are no other large cities nearby for a reference point. It's a very nice little park that contains the ruins of a canal bult to bypass rapids on the Catawba River. It was built in the early 1820's using slave labor. It was never very profitable and after 1840 was not used any longer. All that remains are the locks and the gatekeepers house. The last 1.25 miles of the course ran along the ruins of this canal. There were many informational signs and it was a nicely shaded trail that I enjoyed each and every time I ran it.

Here are a couple pictures I pulled up off the web. I didn't carry anything but water with me as I knew the course was not very scenic.








Very small race. Field was limited to 40 runners. 37 toed the starting line and there were 3 DNF's. One aid station on the course at the start/finish line with plenty of fluids and ultra type snacks. Plus there were gallon containers of water placed out on the course at about the 3 mile mark. The course itself was a 4.25 mile loop. It was roughly shaped like a lopsided rectangle. The first 3 miles were on blacktop roads.

Side 1....run up a short hill, through the parking lot, up another steep longer hill, level out a bit, up another hill, level out again and then turn left. (1 mile)
Side 2....run down a road that went on forever and ever. Totally flat except for one minor hill. It really looked like the road to nowhere. Another left. (1.5 miles)
Side 3...nice little downhill and another left. (0.5 miles)
Side 4...the canal trail. My favorite part of the course. Very runnable trail with a variety of footings...dirt, gravel, wood shavings. (1.25 miles)
At the end of the trail you were dumped back out into the park and ran up a short hill to the aid station.

I seem to do better on loop courses than point to point so having to run this loop 7 times plus an out/back in the beginning did not bother me. I always knew where I was and how long I had to make my water last. That was a biggie. When I arrived it was already 75 and the humidity was just hanging in the air. Temps at the finish were low 90's. I knew I needed to manage my hydration and electolytes carefully since I am such a slow runner and would be out there a long time (I think the front running men passed me 3 times and the top women a couple times).

My main goal was to finish and earn the Team Slug Ultramarathoner shirt. I figured running conservatively I could manage to run each loop in under an hour plus some extra time for the out/back. So, kinda had 7.5 hours in the back of my mind as a tentative goal time. I decided to carry one handheld for water and stop by my car each time we ran through the parking lot to take my Scaps and anything else I needed that they didn't have at the aid station.

Saw lots of familiar faces from other ultras plus there were a couple maniacs. Chatted for a bit, listened to a few pre-race instructions and off we went. Up the hill. I already knew I was not going to waste energy running that hill. So, by the time we got to the top, there were only 5-6 like-minded runners behind me. I ended up running most of the first loop with another lady who had run the Chattanooga stage race. I vividly remember her zipping by me in the last mile on the 3rd day. She was there with a bunch of runners from the Alpharetta, GA area. I think she said 4 of them were running their first ultra. In SC. In July.

The first few laps weren't too bad. The sun was still low in the sky so we had plenty of shade. I was fighting stomach cramps though. It was too early to be due to heat so I just ran the best I could. I was afraid to eat anything the first couple laps in the fear that it would get worse. But by loop 3 I needed some calories so ate some ginger snaps. That seemed to do the trick. The cramping went away so each time I ran through the aid station after that I would take a hand full of ginger snaps and walk up the hill munching them.

The aid station volunteers were great. The minute you ran up they were taking your water bottle and filling it with ice water while you got whatever else you needed. A lot of times it was the RD himself. He was either there or on the road delivering water out to the unmanned water station. Never a problem getting adequate fluids.

The temps kept rising and the road sections of the course lost all shade eventually. It felt like you were running through an oven. Even the trail section wasn't as inviting any longer but still better than the road. The air was heavy and stagnant under the trees. I remember thinking at the end of loop 4 that I still had 13 miles to go and I got quite discouraged. I looked like I had gone swimming I was so covered in sweat. Even my shoes were soaking wet. I was filling up my handheld at both stations by then. So was sucking down 40 ozs. of water every 4 miles plus drinking ice water and gatorade at the main aid station. I made sure I took an Scap each lap and was watching my hands for swelling in the later laps but never had a problem with that.

But onward, ever onward. Somehow laps 5 and 6 disappeared under my feet. I started running with a very nice guy (Tony Rouse) who has run many, many ultras. I enjoyed hearing his descriptions of the races and got some ideas about future races. We trotted into the aid station at the end of lap 6 and everyone there started comparing where they had been stung by the jellow jackets. I was the only one who hadn't been stung. Guess it was my lucky day! Plus, I was happy to see that I was well under my goal time. If I could finish the last loop in under an hour I could break 7 hours. That put a little more zip in my shuffle and off we went.

Right away we passed 2 ladies struggling up that final hill. That was encouraging. I started to pick up the pace a bit and Tony told me to go ahead. I made little deals with myself.....run to that tree then you can walk for one minute. Run to the fence post and you can walk. That was how I managed that last 1.5 miles of hot hell road to nowhere with not one speck of shade. I gained ground on another lady and eventually caught her at the end of the road. She was one of the first time ultra runners. I had talked to her on an earlier loop. I told her I was trying to get back in under 7 hours and that energized her a bit. She ran with me down the half mile road to the start of the trail and then she started walking.

Hit the trail and really wanted to just stroll along, or maybe even take a short nap. But I could see a runner further ahead so I went back into stalker mode. It turned out to be an older gentleman (saw in the race results he was 76) so whoo hoo, bad ass Lynne beat a septagenarian. Ran past another runner just sitting on a bench looking really bad. I asked if he needed any help and he said he was just resting a bit. Kept pushing it and was very happy to cross the finish line in 6:53. Granted the course was probably the flatest 50K course I've run but I conquered the heat and ran very even splits all day. No death march the last 6 miles as I'm prone to do.

Received my Team Slug shirt and the handmade finisher's plaque. Also picked up a Runner from Hell t-shirt. Considered taking a dip in the Catawba River but decided to hang out at the finish and cheer the runners still coming in.

Final stats: 7th out of 14 women. 22nd out of 34 overall. Oldest female finisher in the race. 2nd fastest 50K time to date. Very happy with my day.






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Marathon Maniac #712
28 marathons
9 ultras

[GBN]

Splendiferous.

I really like those old-school ultras where all you have is a gallon of water hidden behind a tree somewhere and an RD praying that no one dies.

[no twitch muscles]

Agreed. Splendiferous.
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Ian

[EatDrinkRunWoman]

Awesome! I find these smaller races really treat their runners well. And I love how you started making little deals with yourself; I often do the same. Well done.
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- Betsy, Maniac #1077

[Rita]

... I am so amazed that you just keep kicking them out...wow... good job
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"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves..." Sir Roger Bannister

freerice.com

[Babs]

Fantastic job.... oldest female runner and probably only Grandma! Way to go. Congratulations on another fantastic Ultra.
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Barbara
Logan's, T.S.'s, Lucy's , Conner's & Grace's Grandma
Maniac 1016

[2Ls]

[ksimkoid]

Lynne - I love reading about your adventures and you just continue to amaze and inspire me! Not that I have ANY desire to run farther than 26.2 miles, but knowing how great you make it seem, just the thought that I MIGHT be able to crank one out is pretty cool. Congratulations on another incredible accomplishment.
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Kathleen

Carpe Diem!

[MotherRunner]

Very well done, Lynne! You are amazing!
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Sarah

[kent]

Sounds like a great little ultra. Congrats on another fine race.
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-k e n t

Running slow40 Hazelnut Butter Rutabagas Bulgur - the new tofu brussels sprouts ART Neti Pot 16 cool.
"I was a good kid, but it just seemed that most of the things I did were either stupid or illegal, go figure." - Evil Don

[leannNO]

badass granny! congrats. I'm thinking maybe I'm not sorry we couldn't meet up to run this week.
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"But it is better to live here in sackcloth and ashes than to own the whole state of Ohio." -Lafcadio Hearn on New Orleans, 1877

see my map!

[e]

Right Leann. I'm pretty sure that you would have had no problem running with my slow behind!
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Marathon Maniac #712
28 marathons
9 ultras

[tom]

Damn E, you run the most interesting races with equally interesting reports and photos to boot. Great pics of the plaque and t-shirts. As always, nice job out there. Sounds like a damn hot day for a 50K.

[Shoeless Matt]

Way to keep grinding them out. How many is that this year now?
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- Shoeless Matt