My First Ultramarathon

Holiday Lake 50k++ February 13, 2010 near Appomattox, VA - Per the website it was 33.26 miles long, my Garmin clocked it at 32.5 miles, 7 hours 5 min 32 seconds.

Highlights

• The trail was snow covered, it was also snowing at the start of the race
• Some snow was hard (dirt road section), some snow was powdery (ahem, near the powerlines) and like running through sand (but consolidated and harder mid day with the sun out)
• I was worried about making the cutoff at 4hrs15min, I went through at 3hr33min
• I was worried about bonking as I wasn't eating much and had done a long run of 6 miles (stupid but allowed me time off to heal from achilles tendonitis).
• I ran with yaktrak I had won from iRunFar for the first half and they worked great!
• I was 1 of 2 people that raced in a Portland Marathon finisher Tshirt (mine 2008, his 2000)
• I didn't take any pictures, but the trails were postcard perfect covered in snow
• One guy was running in a plaid kilt complete with matching sash (I didn't see him after the turnaround but I am sure he finished)
• Loved running with my Garmin Forerunner, still learning how to use it
• I got matching blisters on my middle toes, lateral aspect at the tip (and nowhere else, weird)
• Coffee in the morning is my friend, but not mid-race
• Pretzels and pringles are good race foods (I had cravings for ramen at times)
• Got a little snow sunburn on my face, but was wearing a hat (forgot sunglasses in the car)
• I met several great folks, all with the same crazy addiction to running
• Always a hoot to see David Horton talk, how does he have energy to run after talking so enthusiastically!?

A Favorite Picture

This picture was from Freshman year in High School at a home cross country meet, I am on the left, Erin is on the right. We were the only 2 girls on the team that year. I had pondered playing football that season but decided against it once I saw how big the high school boys were (true story). Each year thereafter we had a few more girls join, enough to compete as a team.

Check out a few giveaway contests going on in the running blogosphere.

• Snow Day Giveaway
• Big Giveaway/Raffle
• Bondi Band Fundraiser

More snow on the way today, makes for slow days at work but I am not complaining!

Snow

A few workers clearing snow from the Pavillion in Charlottesville, VA.

Winter and Summer

As we are enjoying a record snow fall (for the second time this winter), my boyfriend moved to Santiago, Chile for his job. Check out his blog. It is summer there, sunny and 90 degrees every single day.

P.S. I ran a 5 miler this morning in the snow before the idiots drivers were out and about. I wore the YakTrax Pro I won from iRunFar a few months back and they worked flawlessly on the plowed but still snow covered roads here in central Virginia.