Palo Duro 50k Race

The day before the race, I drove down with my rogue classmate Jason. It was fun driving down together and we even listened to some Christmas music. I was very excited about the race and was not nervous at all. My boyfriend and dog were planning to drive to Palo Duro after work on Friday and I would be driving back to Austin with them.

I arrived in Canyon, with some time to relax before the pre-race dinner/packet pickup/speech. We had spaghetti, salad and key lime pie for the pre-race dinner. I have trouble eating spaghetti (never learned how to pick it up!), so ended up only eating a couple of bites of dinner. When I got back to the hotel at 6:30 I was really hungry and thought about going to get something to eat. However, I decided to get my clothes laid out and drop bag ready for the race the next morning since I would be waking up early. I watched some tv and went to bed early (before 10).

Jon called at 2am to get into the hotel. I was happy to see him and Domingo. I had some trouble falling asleep after that, and was very sleepy when I went down to the lobby at 5:15am to carpool with Kelly, Kurt, and Melissa to the race.

We started the run at 7am in the dark. I took off my warmup fleece and ran in shorts, a long sleeve shirt over my sleeveless shirt. I brought my flashlight with me but didn't end up turning it on since the trail was light enough from the other runners headlamps. I should have wore gloves though since my hands were freezing! The first 1 1/2- 2 miles was slow since it was singletrack. After the first aid- station, the course was wide open since this is where the 50 milers split from the 50kers. I ran the rest of the first 10k loop with Brenda, Jim and someone from North Dallas. I got started on the first 20k loop at about 1 hr 15 min after starting. I ran for about 1 1/2 more miles with Brenda, then I let her pass since I wanted to slow down a little. At around mile 10 I started to feel light-headed and tired. This was odd for me, since I don't normally feel bad this early in a run. I keep running at a pretty good pace, and passed some people (mostly 20kers). At 15 1/2 miles, I was at 3 hrs running time. I got back to the start/finish area and left there for my last loop at about 3 hr 30-40 min. My legs were hurting some and I was tired at this point. By the time I got to the aid station at 21 miles, I was feeling really light-headed and nauseous. I waited around here for about 15-20 minutes to see if I felt better, but I didn't. So I decided to quit the race early, and take the 3 mile shortcut back to the start. I was feeling so awful that I had to walk all the way in from there. I am so glad I made the decision to end the race early. After resting for awhile at the finish area and eventually eating something I felt better.

Jon came about 45 minutes after I finished running. We hung around for a little bit and then went back to the hotel so I could shower and play with Domingo. We drove to see the "Big Texan", and then went back to the race to watch the 50 milers come in. When we got back to the race, we went for a walk with Domingo. I think all of the walking I did kept me from getting sore.

This was definitely the most beautiful run I have ever done, and I would love to come back next year!

Lessons:
- Don't go to bed hungry the night before a race/run!
- Wear gloves and maybe ear muffs