1-1-11 Frosty First Frozen Fat Ass 50k...or something like that :)

Well, the Frosty went off without a hitch :) We all (all 4 of us) headed out at midnight for out 4 loops. I had driven the course earlier in the day so I knew what to expect and what to warn people of. The 'snow sections' were not bad at all, and made for an interesting distraction. The weather was as perfect as a night in January could be with mostly clear skies and temps in the high 30's. We had set up an aid station in the garage with the usual Ultra fare, plus some veggie stew.  As we were gearing up to head out, a last minute entry arrived which was very cool (and became even more cool one I realized just how speedy our new pal Mark was, as he would have been slowed down painfully if he had to stay with KZ and I) We (or maybe it was just KZ and I) were lamenting how we didn't know WHO the rocket scientist was that thought it would be a good idea to run at midnight was, but we were darn near ready to beat her about the head...then go to bed ;) But, being the crazies we are, ended up going out and running instead.

We all headed out on our first lap together so everyone could learn the course. Despite a headwind that lasted about a mile (then smacked you for the last .5 of each loop) it was great. After the first loop, the 2 speedier dudes took off never to be seen again until they almost lapped us at the end :)

I felt great for the first loop and a half, after which my knees really started to swear at me in several languages. KZ was kind enough to share his motrin with me at the halfway point making the next 2 laps much more plesant knee-wise. But...then my stomach decided to revolt. Ugh! It was an odd revolt though, one I had not experienced before and I wasn't sure WTF was going on, but it pretty much rendered me unable to eat much of anything at a time it would have been helpful to do so. Switching to plain water and trying to eat ginger periodically helped some, but it was an uncomfortable lump of miles there...

I was in good company, I will say. As always, KZ and I have the established understanding after havig run many a mile together whereby we can spend time chatting, waxing philosophic and being silent very comfortably with each other. This is an important skill set in Ultras, particularly if you are going to spend MANY hours together as you definitely go many places during these types of runs. Its cool to be able to do that along side a friend. I don't know many other people I could run with for that long :)

We zipped through the aid station for the last time as I warned KZ that I was not dilly-dallying as I just wanted to get this done. I kew it would be light soon and though I was looking forward to the sunrise, I was also starting to feel the fact we had been up all night. Towards the last few miles, I had to keep telling myself why it would NOT be wise to *just close my eyes for a couple minutes*...I also thought my kidneys were doing bad things but later realized that it was just muscle soreness in my back (you were right, K)

Though I ended up running slower than I anticipated, it was overall a great run and a great time had! I had anticipated doing somewhere in the vicintity of 6:30 and it ended up being something in the neighborhood of 7:40ish which I am hoping means I will recover quicker as I didn't really overdo it. Other than some expected stiffness, post-coma-nap I am feeling pretty good. The speedy dudes finished in the neighborhood of 5:45ish and almost lapped us as we were heading out for our final lap as they were sprinting to the finish(yes, they were indeed sprinting after running 32 miles...) Bottom line, I do believe a good time was had by all and by golly I actually fiished an Ultra I set out to do. I started 2011 with an Ultra, and I am pretty darn happy about that. :) I am thinking ahead to next NYE and doing the Frosty again...I am thinking a trail version :)

Thanks to KZ, Mark and Jeff for coming out and gettin' your run on with me and a big congrats going out to Mark for completing hin first Ultra distance race! You are going to be a force to be recconed with, methinks :)