Iceage 50K only one version, long and slow like the race.............

This was my first attempt at a distance over 26.2 not to mention the whole trail part.
Training I should have started December started in Jan. I had a recurring mysterious calf issues that still plague me on and off. I really hadn't been running much, my base was between 15-25 miles per week very inconsistent running. I made a promise to myself I wouldn't cheat any runs and would remain consistent albeit very slow. I incorporated a lot of trail running near me in Indiana,we have the Indiana State Park Dunes with great and challenging hills, I ran up and down sand dunes, we found long winding rooty single tracks, and I logged most of my miles in my home course a local park with a lot of challenging hills and well marked courses that I repeated over and over again. It took a long time but I finally felt myself getting stronger on the trails and I wasn't always the last one up. I did a trail 5K in march and was pretty happy with that run. I did a half trail in April I finished in 2:24 I was very happy with that time since it was trail. I logged several weeks at 50 miles and I had a real solid training run ran 6 days a week no excuses,wind ice snow , I did it

I was lucky enough to have my whole family join me for this big adventure.My husband and oldest daughter Amanda drove with me,and we met my youngest daughter Madeline at the race she goes to school in Dubuque Iowa. we spent the night in whitewater I actually slept some before this race which is unusual for me.
Race day came we had beautiful weather I didn't start until 8:15 Wendy and Randy (who was probably freezing) started earlier,we did have significant wind but that didn't worry me because I figured most of it was in the woods. I knew there would be hills but I didn't realize how big, I heard our elevation for our first loop 13 miles was 2000 ft. I believe it!

Prerace atmosphere was really awesome it just felt like something really big was about to happen. the main staging area also was a drop bag site my family stayed there and I saw them twice during the race and at the end which was great!

And were off! We started in an absolutley breath taking forest area with huge pine trees and soft dirt mixed with pine needles it felt like we were in a prehistoric forest so awesome! I was real excited I was running with my training partner it was also her first 50K. after about a mile of heavenly running we started the ascent,it was mostly single track with a lot of sizable rocks among all the roots. I got a little nervous at first I've fallen a lot and one of my goals was to not fall. We had to slow down a lot but it was fine. We would come up to a corner and I would think maybe this is it ,maybe we turn around now, no such luck, for a long time,we came across a beautiful view I stopped for a second to take it in, I couldn't believe how high we were but we continued to climb climb rock root rock root single track. then it got real fun the very speedy people (my self not included in this group) started to come down the route right at us, I couldn't believe how fast they were flying down seemingly fearless we would yell runner then jump to the side.That got old pretty quick ,finally I hear the cowbell and we are at the turnaround . I've always said I love downhill, well these downhills scared me a lot I was big rocks and didn't want my face attached to them. the decent didn't go very fast. We covered the first 13 miles in 3:10 not anything I thought I would be near, at that point I knew my silly idea of 6 something finish was not possible,and I really doubted myself a lot that I would even finish, I kinda panicked . but I saw my family and they lied so well, said I looked great ,and had a great time. I dropped my belt with them took the hand held water bottle bathroom break and I was on my way.

The next section we repeat the same loop, we started off and found ourselves in a very flat grassy field, it was a little warm and windy but I thought hey if the rest of the race is like this we will be fine. I had this idea that maybe the race director had us do the hardest part first and the rest was " a walk in the park". Hell no it wasn't all of the sudden we started to go down down down I know this is bad because we have to go back up. Yep the nine mile loop had some serious hills as well. the terrain was way more runnably though almost no rocks, or roots just some really big hills,over,and over again.

I had doubts again we were on a run walk plan we would run 20min. walk 5 mins. but we also walked the hills, there were lots of them, I have never run so slow as I did that day. the aid stations were life savers I ate PB&J and had nasty heed, and chugged water like a camel.

Last loop woo hoo we saw my family again they lied again I believed them and continued on........ I knew at this point I was going to finish this even if I took the whole 9 hours allowed I didn't want to take that long but I knew I would finish. this time around, the down hills really hurt, pretty much everything really hurt, and I was very beat up. I was glad to have someone to run with and Tammy my running partner said she was glad to have someone with.We both admitted we wanted to quit after 13 but laughed because we didn't tell each other this . When I looked at my watch and it said 27 miles I couldn't believe it. I told myself I will come out of these woods a new runner and I did . I have never felt stronger than I did at the point. Finally the last two miles came we decided to skip our walk break and try to make it in under 7:30. We did ,she actually started speeding up so I responded and started sprintinig at the end Hey she started the speeding up thing I would have been content to run it in , but I sprinted and beat her in I felt awesome!

That lasted for 20 seconds ,and I really really hurt, I tried to stay and eat something I would have liked to stay around and talk to Wendy and Randy about their races but I wanted my bed. I saw Randy at the end He looked beat too ,we hugged and kinda exchanged wow that was quite the day thing.Next time Randy, and Wendy ,hopefully we can talk sometime.

In all this was the hardest and most awesome thing I've ever done ,I'm doing that race again next year, I will put in more miles during training and hope it won't be so difficult. I can't explain how beautiful that park was ,amazing ! the atmosphere afterwards was awesome too they had so much food, and a band ,and beer, it was worth every penny and way more. I'm hooked on these trails I love them. It's not even one week yet from my race I'm going to run an 8K on saturday it's 4 miles on a sandy beach then some sand dunes that I used to think were so big until I met some real hills . Wish me luck, it might be a crazy idea but I'm going for it! We finished in 7:28

OMG, I had no idea you were running the 50K, amyjoann. So sorry that we didn't wish you luck, but it sounds like you didn't need it. Congrats on an excellent race! I am impressed.

Woot! That sounds like a tough but amazing day. Congrats!

So glad your family was there to share it with you. I bet they didn't lie to you, either: you probably looked great!

Congratulations on your first ultra!! Great job!

AmyJoann, congrats on your first 50k!! Super job and I'm glad you had a good time. Does that mean we'll see more ultra reports from you in addition to next year's race?

Sounds like a tough course, congrats on the finish, Amyjoann!

Soild report what clearly is a tough course but you did it in fashion and got it done. Congrats on turning into ultra status.

Congrats on a great race. Nice job toughing it out. That's great.

amyjoann wrote:
In all this was the hardest and most awesome thing I've ever done

It's amazing how often "hardest" and "most awesome" coincide. Congrats!

"When I looked at my watch and it said 27 miles I couldn't believe it. I told myself I will come out of these woods a new runner and I did . I have never felt stronger than I did at the point. "
That's something you don't see if your average race report!! Nutty to actually feel good BEYOND 27....congrats on a great accompishment.

Well your report may be long and slow, but at least you've discovered paragraphs. That's good. What's also good is your performance. You just kept putting one foot in front of the other ... to finish under 7:30. MASSIVE! It's great that your family was able to be out on the course in force. And now you're hooked too. Live long and ultra!

Nice!

Awesome, congrats!!!

Downhill on rocks/trails freaks me out too.