MISSISSIPPI 50 TRAIL RUN

For the past 16 weeks, I've been training for my second 50K. During that time, I ran 3 trail races (a 10-miler, a 2.75-miler, and a half marathon) and a road marathon, but it was really all about today. No pressure, right? I set a 6.5 hour time goal for myself based on my usual trail pace (anywhere from 10:00-15:00/mile, depending on the course terrain and length) and the fact that the Mississippi 50 Trail Run is touted as "a relatively easy course and a good first 20K / 50K / 50-Miler" (though notably wet and muddy some years, which obviously slows your pace), hoping to average a 12:30ish pace and get done before Robyn drank all my reward beer (just kidding, she doesn't like beer, so it was safe!) I ran a 7:45 at Equinox last year, and I wanted to finish in 6:30 this year, due to the above mentioned reasons, but also because I've trained a lot harder this year: I've run two marathons in the past four months, completed bigger mileage weeks (and more often/consistently), did more speedwork, and added more strength training. I was ready to get it done.

My Garmin gave me about 1800 ft of elevation change (compared to the 3000 ft a fellow runner logged just on the first 12.5 mile loop - I'm pretty sure mine is correct though, as this was not what I would consider a hilly trail).

Originally, Jay and the kids were going to come with me. Then we realized that soccer season would be starting and there would be games to coach. Then they changed the schedule and cancelled today's games (due to the start of spring break). But since we'd already made plans for them to stay home and for me to have a girls' night with Robyn and Sandra, I drove to Laurel solo. It just means that I'll have to run another 50K someday so that Jay can experience the LONG wait for me to finish while corralling the kids in the woods for half a day, hopefully outside of the fall and spring soccer seasons, yet not in the horribly cold/hot winter/summer camping/running weather... or not. This race went so well today that I'm not really itching to get back out and do it again anytime soon!

It's official. I do indeed have to get up and run 31 miles tomorrow...

So last night I met the girls at our hotel, they joined me at packet pickup, then we went out for calzones and cocktails (well, a beer for me... it's a good way for me to chill out the night before a big, stressful race - Robyn can attest to how high-strung I was...) I was in bed and drifting off to sleep by 11:00pm, so I got a solid 5 hours before my 4:15am alarm (one wake-up to visit the restroom, but no tossing or turning or pacing or doing midnight yoga to try and relax = success!) Once I was awake, I brushed my teeth and applied COPIOUS amounts of BodyGlide to my usual problem areas (and a few others...), then threw on my clothes and shoes, and headed out the door by 4:45am. I found hot coffee in the lobby (victory, since I hadn't thought to bring any!) and ate my breakfast in the car (a couple hard boiled eggs, a banana, and a chocolate chip banana muffin). I followed a fellow racer on the drive to the race start that I met in the hotel parking lot (because he told me he'd driven the 30 minutes down to the event site last night to ensure he wouldn't get lost this morning - don't worry, I saw his race BIB, he was legit), so it was even easier to concentrate on eating my food and drinking my coffee. By the time we turned off the county roads onto the dirt roads of the national forest lands, we had a line over a dozen cars deep behind us (the guy drove frustratingly slow for someone who was anxious to arrive and find a bathroom... due to the coffee...) Once there, I had about 40 minutes to go visit the pit toilet, double check that everything was packed appropriately into my race vest (water, Gu, aid station cheat sheet so I'd know when to expect to arrive at each of them, chapstick, SaltSticks, ibuprofen, car key clipped securely AND tucked in so I wouldn't lose it, and iPhone, even though there was no service out there in the boondocks - I used it to take some photos later in the race) and drop bag (actually a cooler this time around, with mini Gatorade bottles and extra Gu, an emergency change of clothes and shoes in case I fell head-first into a mud puddle, and my post-race snacks and drinks - this also made a great seat at the end of the race), take some photos of the moonlit woods and fellow racers at the starting line, get my gloves on, and eat one caffeinated Gu about 10 minutes before the start.

Moonlight through the pines. It was beyond peaceful out there, even with hundreds of people milling around.

I set reasonable time goals for myself, with positive splits for each loop (because I am apparently incapable of equal or negative splits during long mileage events). My plan was to run 2:30 for the first 12.5 mile loop (12:00/mile), 2:40 for the second 12.5 loop (12:48/mile), and 1:20 for the final 6.1 mile loop (13:07/mile), to total 6:30.

There were about 200 runners there for the 6:00am start of the 50K and 50-miler (the 20K runners didn't start until 8:00am). I have never run a trail race with so many people before! Forge Racing events usually top out at around 50 runners. It was both exciting and a little scary/frustrating (it took a few miles for the elbow room to open up and for me to be able to clearly see the many pine cones and fallen branches scattered across the trail that were tripping me up - though I can also blame the dark for that, since the sun didn't really come up until we were a couple miles into the race and nobody bothered with headlamps out on the course).

We've had a lot of rain over the past 2 weeks. And some sleet. And a good bit of ice. And even snow flurries... Based on the race director's response to the FAQ about wet feet on the race website ("There will always be some water on the course no matter how dry the weather, with creek crossings about every 2-3 miles. In dry years these are hop across affairs. In wet years some creeks can be waist to chest deep.") and our recent and ongoing weather trend, I was expecting today to be a total slog and a tough push to make my goal finish time (due to slow downs at stream crossings and mud puddles). I worried about my pace, but not about my feet. Since I survived 13 miles on wet and muddy trails at Dirty Soles without a single blister, I had high hopes that today would go as well. Rather than leave it to chance though, I slathered my feet in Trail Toes just to be safe. (I had received a free sample from Forge Racing, and what better day to try something new than race day?! That's sarcasm font, by the way. You should NEVER try something new on race day - not clothes or shoes, not food or drink, not fuel belts or vests, not supplements or "chemicals", as Mack calls them, not anti-chafe creams or even sunblock. Nothing new. Ever.) The Trail Toes worked though - I didn't get a single blister or rub mark, even though my feet were soaked from mile 5 onward (I had managed to jump over or tiptoe around the first dozen or so mud pits - it wasn't dry trail for the first 5 miles, just in case you wondered, but at least it was patchy and not just one big mud slick). The first and second loop (same route for each of those 12.5 miles) had 3 or 4 knee-deep stream crossings, and there was no hopping over or going around them (they were too wide for as far as I could see from where the trail crossed them). It really felt like "game on" after that first freezing puddle (which still had ice floating on top, since it was 26 degrees at the start of the race). The second loop was much worse as far as the mud pits went because all the foot traffic of the first loop stirred it up and smeared it around the trail (and any ice or frozen mud was melted), leaving no way to avoid slipping and sliding through some sections (the mud pits that were covered with Longleaf Pine needles were especially slippery). The final 6.1 mile loop was run on a southeast section of the forest, closer to the big creek, and thus there were more stream crossings (and consequently more hills...), so that trail was more mud than not, which was extra hard on legs tired from already running 25 miles. But it was beautiful! The whole trail system was beautiful, but the southeast loop went through an area that had more recently gone through a prescribed burn, so the understory was shorter (better views for us runners) and the bird songs were more frequent (I saw multiple groupings of double-white-ringed trees that reminded me of the marked and monitored Red Cockaded Woodpecker territories I've seen in Georgia and Florida, so I looked it up, and yes, they are present along the Longleaf Trail in De Soto National Forest.)

Longleaf pine woods in the daylight = gorgeous trails

Aid Station #1 - Bubba's Truck Stop (at the top of the hill, of course)

The first of the knee-deep stream crossings

 Robyn and Sandra had planned to meet me at 8:30am as I ran through the checkpoint after my first loop, but I ended up running a much faster pace than I expected to (11:06/mile average, so about a minute faster per mile than I thought I'd run, getting me through the checkpoint at 8:18am) and missed them by about 7 minutes (they'd arrived at 8:25am just in case I was a little early, but I had specifically told Robyn that she didn't need to be there any earlier than that - I just didn't know I was capable of moving faster than that on the trail). When I passed through, I dropped off my jacket and gloves at my cooler (it had warmed up to the upper 30s) and ran over to the porta-potties for a pee break (my second of the morning actually, so I was happy to know that I was hydrating well and kept my fingers crossed that it would prevent the dreaded calf cramps down the road, along with taking PLENTY of Gu and SaltSticks - I didn't take any chances), yet still ran a 12:22 for that mile (cue big smile when my Garmin chimed that one in - still ahead of goal pace even with multiple stops!) Throughout the first loop I ran with a few different people/groups for a mile or two each (and leap-frogged some of them a couple of times), interjecting a little conversation here and there, and mostly running at a comfortable pace (not my easy "conversational pace" effort of long runs, but a bit more effort than that - just not enough to slow me down on the gradual uphills or make it hard to breathe). Just before mile 9, coming off aid station #3 and heading out for an out-and-back along a dirt road, I passed a coworker (who I didn't know was running the race - I thought I was the only Vicksburgian registered) and got a motivational high five (he was about 1.5 miles ahead of me, since he was on the return). It was fun to get to see my "competition" on this little stretch and cheer on the other runners (both those in front of and behind me), but I also passed some people on that road, so that was especially exciting (it's usually me getting passed during trail races)!

Running through the check-in at mile 25 (we had to go past the finish line clock after each loop and check in with the officials to let them know how we were doing and whether we were continuing on as planned or changing our race distance - this is one of the rare race events where you can drop from the 50K to the 20K or 50-miler to 50K if you're having a bad day, or increase your distance from the 50K to 50-miler if you're having a good day, and are trained for such distance, obviously)

I got to see the girls after the second loop and it put a HUGE smile on my face, despite my growing exhaustion (they said I didn't even look tired, but I think they were just being nice). Even with the messier trails the second time around, I'd kept up about the same pace until I hit the wall around mile 18 and started walking the uphills and mud pits. Then around mile 22 I started to feel a significant ache in my right hip and knee, and my left ankle/shin (shankle?), which took some more of the pep out of my step... I still averaged 12:21/mile during the second loop though (almost 30 seconds faster than my goal pace for this loop), even with slightly longer aid station stops (I stopped at the two with food to eat little PB&J squares and pretzels), so I was about 18 minutes ahead of my goal time, rolling through at 10:52am. I took off my long-sleeved shirt (the temps had risen to the low 50s), grabbed a Gatorade to-go, and walked a couple tenths of a mile with Robyn and Sandra before I started off running again toward the shorter southeast loop.

Losing a layer and getting ready to head out for that final loop

Quick stretch for my sore knees

Heading off into the sun...

It was hard to know who was running the 50K vs. the 50-Mile or 20K during that second loop (there were different colored bibs for the different race distances, but you don't see those from behind when you pass people or they pass you - you don't get much "face time" with other runners, since everyone is theoretically running in the same direction), but it was obvious once I was on the final stretch with very few runners (plus, the 20K folks didn't have to run the south loop). There was only one guy that I ran with for a couple miles (it was his first 50K) before he pushed up the final hills to the finish while I continued to take occasional walk breaks, and two 50-milers that passed me around my mile 30 (so, their mile 42, since they had to run the big loop 3 times... meaning they were a whopping 12 miles ahead of me!...) It's always obvious who the front runners are on looped trails because they fly past and look like they don't have an ache or pain in the world... The second of the two asked me how far ahead the leader was, and when I told him "not more than 3 minutes" he said "oh man, tell me there's no hope of catching him, otherwise I have to pick it up", so I shouted after him (because he obviously just sped on past me) that he better pick it up and take home first place - and he did. The first and second place 50-milers ran a 7:03 and 7:16 - that's an 8:30-8:45/mile average pace over 50 miles! I can't even imagine... My coworker finished his 50-miler in 14th place with a 9:28 (11:22/mile pace - far faster than my overall pace!)

More mud puddles on the south loop, but they were generally smaller

Red Cockaded Woodpecker territory!

Staged finish (being silly, obviously) because Robyn didn't catch me stumbling to a halt and insisted I go back for a do-over. Luckily the runner's high returns when you hit the finish line, so I was walking on air for a few minutes and would have (attempted, anyway) to jump into the air for a victory pose had she asked.

Nothing feels better after a long race than sitting down! (My Lagunitas "A Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale" was awaiting my discreet consumption back at my car, since the race is held in a "dry county". Welcome to the Deep South folks.)

 That final 6.1 miles took me 1:22 (a little slower than the 1:20 I'd predicted...), so as expected I was queen of the positive splits! (Not a good thing, but at least I expected it and didn't delude myself. Maybe someday I'll learn to hold back at the start and run negative splits...) The good news is that even though I was obviously tired, and sore in some spots, I still felt strong. I never had any cramping, I never felt overheated or nauseated (even though the temperature was in the low 60s when I finished, which felt like the 80s, since you add 20 degrees to the actual temperature to estimate what it feels like when running). And I never got discouraged or disappointed in myself. I ran, for the most part, all alone in the woods with only my thoughts to keep me company for over 6 hours, and I enjoyed it. My official finish time was 6:15:13 for an average pace of 12:03/mile (over 30 seconds/mile and 15 total minutes faster than I'd expected to be), giving me a 1.5 hour PR over the 50K I ran last March! However, you can't compare trail races run on different courses (due to differences in terrain), or really even the same course over different years (due to differences in trail conditions and weather). It doesn't matter though, it's still my new 50K PR, I'm still thrilled, and I'll still feel satisfied even if it's the last 50K I ever run (unlikely, but you know what I mean - it's nice to not have an unachieved goal hanging over my head and taunting me!)

Official results! I placed 19th out of 80 finishers (some of those 90 50K registrants stopped after the first 20K loop or bumped up to the 50-mile, or just didn't show up to race), earning 6th overall female (they don't do age group awards at the MS 50).

My GPS signals were excellent and I ended the race with basically the exact mileage I was suppose to have (usually unheard of under canopy cover), so these splits are pretty darn accurate (other than some slight mileage added to splits 6 and 13 due to off-trail potty breaks - I never paused my Garmin because I wanted to know exactly how my time had elapsed as I went along, and because your official finish time is your official finish time - race directors don't care how many times you stop to pee or tie your shoes).

Since my Garmin "moving time" (6:03) was 12 minutes faster than my finish time (6:15), I can assume that I spent probably 11 minutes standing still at aid stations and taking potty breaks (I forgot to stop my Garmin at the finish line, so it read 6:16 elapsed rather than 6:15). I moved through the aid stations much more efficiently this year (Sophie and I spent 20-25 minutes at aid stations at Equinox, since we had no time goal and love chatting up volunteers), so that demonstrates how easily you can rack up minutes by pausing to eat and make new friends (and conversely, how easily you can improve your finish time by keeping yourself moving during a race). Speaking of Sophie, my most favorite and most missed trail buddy...

She sent me this while I was on the course, though I didn't get it until after we'd left the cell reception black hole and were back in civilization.

Sophie and her Davis CrossFit girls, sending me some love all the way from Cali

I ended my day with a record number of steps according to my VivoFit, the equivalent of almost 34.5 miles (and I obviously didn't walk around much after the race!)

I owe a HUGE thanks to Robyn and Sandra for spending their morning out in the woods, brightening the mood of myself and all the other runners they cheered for! Spectating really is hard work, and it's so very appreciated. You ladies made me feel special (hey, you even got strangers to cheer for me by name!) and motivated me to keep on truckin', and I thank you tremendously for that! And a relaxing girls night before the race turned out to be exactly what I needed to sleep well and de-stress!