Run Rabbit Run 50, 2010

Wow, what an awesome, awesome weekend!
As I was walking into the Bear Bar where Run Rabbit was based, the evening before the race, someone asked me if I was running. I said, "Heck no! I've been injured for over a year. I'm not trained-up. I can't run 50 miles through the mountains!"

Then Fred offered me a bib and I just TOOK it! What was I thinking? I think it was something like, "Life is an adventure - get on the frickin' boat and shut up!"

I somehow managed to have everything I needed to run an ultra in my car.
My pre-race meal was pizza from Blue Sage Pizza.
Naz A offered me floor space at his hotel room. It was his 1st 50 miler, and he did great. He finished about 2hr 30m faster than me.

Being so under-trained, my goal should have been just to finish, but instead I decided to take 30 minutes off my previous best.

Fred A. told me I had to finish. I said I can do bad, or I can do terrible, but I can't quit.

The weather was almost perfect, but like the Saturday before, there wasn't a speck of cloud in the sky and it was a scorcher. Luckily, it was a mildly gusty day, and the course gives a fair amount of shade. I took two Ultimate Direction bottles and always had water in one, sport drink in the other. So I was able to use half my water by squirting it on head and shirt. This kept the heat from bothering me at all.
I also paid better attention to my hydration and electrolytes than the weekend before. I ate regularly, used about 6 gels, ate potato chips and banana at the aid stations, and just kept moving.

The course is 50.2-50.3 miles, so it's almost exactly 50, with just enough extra to avoid any arguments.

The weather obviously helped everyone. All the records fell.

I love this course! Very beautiful, several lakes, very challenging, great people, great town.

I never felt bad during the race. My asthma hurt early, which concerned me, but it never got worse and I never faded.
Charles Danforth and I somewhat leap-frogged each other the whole race, especially the last 3rd or so. It's about time I got to know a guy whose name I keep hearing, and whose blog I've stumbled across several times.

The last 10k of the race is steep downhill, but this time I wasn't as fast. Since breaking my arm, I keep having visions of crashing. I still take some chances, but not like I used to. I actually got passed three times during that final descent. A fourth guy nearly passed me too, but I managed to stay ahead through the chute and across the finish.

My body was wrecked! I was almost in shock. I had to keep moving or I would have passed-out. Then when I was finally able to sit, I started turning to concrete, so I had to move some more. Eventually, I got some post-race pizza and one beer into me, but I couldn't stand to consume anything more, nor could I stay conscious much longer. So I went back to my car and passed-out on my sleeping bag in the back of the car. I slept right through the awards.
Around 11:15, I struggled out of bed, drove to a convenience store and bought some Gatorade. After drinking the whole thing, I drove a few miles out of town on a dirt road and slept until morning.
After Breakfast, I soaked at Strawberry Park Hot Springs. Then ate pizza at Beau Jo's back in town. I don't think I've ever eaten so much pizza in three days in my life.

Right now, I finally feel human again. Tomorrow, I'll be 100% again.