9/3/09 Lynch's Woods 50k

I had not been running long distance for a while cause of the summer heat so when this ultra came up I knew it was going to be tough.  I talked Aly into coming with me again and just a week before the race Terri the rd emailed me and asked if Aly wants to run the whole 50k.  I said yes and told Aly to get ready as she is gonna do the whole run.  She was a little nervous as her longest run to date was about 15 miles so doing double was really a stretch she thought, but I know how strong she is and told her she could do it no problem. 

Well race day came and it was a beautiful day just a little to warm (around 82) for a long run in the woods.  We headed to the race and got a ticket so by the time we got to the start we were 20 minutes late starting.  We took off on the first 4 mile loop on the dirt road and tried to keep a steady pace not going out to fast.   We finally caught Terri the rd as she was sweeping at the a.s. at the 4 miles.  This trail was run once on the 4 mile outer road and then 4 times around the 7 mile inner trails which were quite rolling not as up and down as the Chattooga 5ok but still more hills and harder than the 34 miler at Buncombe Trails.  

We kept a pretty good pace up and caught up with a few more people on the second lap and stayed with them until third lap of the 7 miles.  Aly kept trying to tell me she was gonna stop after 25 miles but I  could tell how strong she was running that she could do the whole 50k so I told her no way.  

The third lap around the 7 mile after we left the a.s. I thought we I had left our food in our cooler so we did this lap with no food.  (found out later it was in my camelback)  This ended up being a pretty big mistake later.  Anyway we finished this lap and Aly felt good enough to go out for the final lap so we took off.  I had found the food in my backpack and was trying to get Aly to eat something but she just kept drinking cytomax and powerade.  We finished the 50k in 7:11 which was amazing to me with the temp being what it was and Aly never having run more than 15 miles.  

She was really tired so I went to get the truck from up the hill.  I took off walking to get it and my legs cramped so bad that I almost yelled in pain every step.  I got to the truck and went back an picked Aly up, she did not feel good at all.  I thought she needed more food and salt but after considering everything she had during the run we decided she was over electrolyted and needed more water.  She felt better the next day.

I am really excited and proud to have finished a 50k with Aly what an accomplishment.