Monday, September 14, 2009

DWD- Hell 50M Race Report

Welp...with the help of Señor Bill, I finished the 50 mile race. Woohoo! This was the second race that I entered not knowing if I would finish; Mohican being number one. It was a weird feeling.

Since I was already wingin it with the whole race, I decided to wing it even more and not carry my CamelBak for the first time during an ultra. Instead I carried my Nathan Vest with a handheld bottled water and a smaller bottle in it. It worked out perfectly and was awesome not having an extra 7-8 pounds on me.

At the start line, I met Nick for the first time and then saw Dorn and Michele too. Bill and I ran last year's race together and decided to do it again. We literally started out at the very back of the pack and that pace even felt too fast. After mile 8 or so, I started having more fun with all of the nasty trail path and so the miles came more easily.

This year they let the ultras run through an awesome mud bog section early on instead of just the relay runners and it was a great change. It felt like you were sloshing through some nasty, thick swamp-gunk and you could feel a million little pieces of crap getting all over you.

Here's a random video from last year's race. It's hilarious. I know this guy had to have gotten hurt even though he said he didn't.



Around mile 22 my legs were feeling tired but the combination of salt, ibuprofen, and an interesting course improved it all. Around mile 31 I got an 8th wind and felt surprisingly good and we finished strong together in 11:57. I looked in the mirror afterwards and looked like someone from Lord of the Flies; dirt all over my nose, cheeks, hat, shirt, legs, bloddy heels from too low of socks...

I saw Greg on the trails (from DWD-Gnawbone) and he sped off to finish in 11hrs. I found out that he drove to MI by himself from C'ville, 30 minutes away from me. Dangit! Why didn't we carpool?

Speaking of driving...the ride home sucked. I was tired after the race but thought I could drive a little, stop to sleep for an hour if I needed to, and then head home that night. Nope.

  • Drove for 1 hr, stopped at a Bob Evans to sleep for 1 hr
  • 20 minutes later, slept at McDonalds parking lot for 1 hr
  • 1 hr later, went to cluster of hotels at midnight: lowest was $60, didn't want to pay that price for 4 hours of sleep; Slept in hotel parking lot for 2 hours
  • 1 hr later, slept in another hotel parking lot for 3 hrs
  • Got home at 8:45am on Sunday...full of swampy, foul stankness and unable to walk. Trifling.

That drive home was a hot mess! Yes, I would have camped out another night or paid the hotel price upfront had I predicted I'd be so tired. Caca.

I don't think I would have made the whole run if it wasn't such a fun, diverse course. I'll have to break 11 hrs next year and try to gain on some of these girls who pass me.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

so did the drive home take longer than the run? :) Nice work Clara!

Heather said...

Nicely done chica! I'll bet you smelled awesome and looked super cute when you got home. Good thing you've already got a man!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on finishing 50 miles with very little training - you make it seem easy, but your one tough corredora!

JW

sparlingville bill said...

Sra Clarita,
Como te dije ayer, eres un milagro.
Me da pena que sufriste tanto manejando hacia la casa.
Si tu piensas mejorar el resultado tanto (bajando una hora) vas a estar solita, o tal vez me puedes ayudar a entrenar.
Primer puesto en tu grupo es muy bueno, notaste que ya es escrito en piedra? Yo he mostrado la piedra a todo el mundo en el trabajo.
Haz el favor de traducir a Heather que yo lave los zapatos y todavia los puedo oler desde el garage.

Rainmaker said...

Congrats - very nicely done!

Clara said...

Thanks all. BTW- who are you, JW? Run yourself?
Heather- Bill informs me that his washed shoes are still trifling! :)

Unknown said...

Clara: You are incredibly tough.
It was great to meet you too. Let me know and I can get you those pictures I took of you and Bill.

I need you to fly out to Phoenix on Halloween and help pace me for Javelina.

Clara said...

Nick- You buy, I fly.

Jeff said...

Nice job!! That video from last year is hilarious...FACEPLANT!!!!

Thomas Bussiere said...

Clara – Congrats on the 50! I stumbled on your blog and had a flashback to Mohican last June. And what a coincident – I’m in one of your pics at the start of the race. I also took about 2 months off from any serious running to give myself a break, and now starting to ramp the mileage up for Rocky Raccoon 100 in Feb. If you’re looking for an easy 100 - RR100 (TX) is the one. I DNF my first 100 with the Arkansas Traveller, learned a ton, and came back on a tougher course (VT100) to get the monkey off my back. It never felt better!

Unknown said...

Clara! I found your blog while surfing for DWD Hell reports and video. Congrats to you and Bill for hanging in there and finishing under 12--pretty good considering your lack of preparation. I was tired through the 20s, but felt stronger after the 50K cut-off and kept a good pace to the end. Kicked like mad to get under 11, but didn't quite make it. The mud and water made that a much tougher course than Gnaw Bone.

Sorry about your epic drive home--I was fighting fatigue for the last hour, but made it home by midnight. Turns out that another guy from Crawfordsville finished just ahead of me, and he also drove separately. We should all try to coordinate better next time. Good luck with your training this fall.

-Greg

Clara said...

Thomas- Good to meet you! Thanks for the 100miler tips- I'll consider Rocky Raccoon.

Greg- Glad you found the blog. You had an awesome finish! What's your next race on the list? Go Colts!!

Brian said...

Nice job Clara.. You DIRTY GIRL!!!

Unknown said...

Clara, JFK 50 is my next race. Andrew and I are going for a 50-mile PR, which would be anything under 8:30 (though we dream of a sub-8).

I read through some of your amusing blog entries. I was a lazy runner too until I hit 35 and realized that I had squandered some good years of racing. Wish I had that decade back! Can't believe you race as well as you do on so little training. See you on the trails....

-Greg

sparlingville bill said...

Sra Clarita,
Acabo de cumplir cincuentynueve millas @ Woodstock, y me siento acabado, pero por fin he corrido mi edad. Para la proxima vida, debo comenzar un poco mas joven.
Viste que te dije mi dirreccion electronica en tu parabrisas @ DWD? Yo me permanezco delante mi computdora esperando una palabrita.
Sr. Bill

sparlingbill@aol.com said...

Sra Clarita,
Haz el favor de escribirme electronicamente para pedirte un favorcito que no quisiera que todo el mundo sepa. Te doy mi direccion.

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

Nice Clara, video was hilarious...that guy was hurting- lol

ouch on drive umm sleep)) way home :-(

chris mcpeake said...

congrats on the race