Good morning.  It’s early but I’m still excited from yesterday.  I ran the Ultracentric Gold Rush 6 HR Race.  The race is actually a 72/48/24/12/6 HR running event.  Yes, there are people who had been out there since Thursday morning.  I think that’s crazy.  The whole thing is set up where they serve you real food throughout the day to keep you fueled.  Ultrarunning is very different from road racing.  Let me back up, for people who don’t know what an ultra marathon is: it’s anything about 26.2 miles.  The atmosphere is more laid back.  It’s really all about having the endurance to push on and finish instead of time.  There are tons who people who do it seriously and do care about time, but it’s really about staying strong until the finish.

The race swag was pretty amazing. Instead of shirt we received an embroidered fleece jacket and beanie, a drawstring bag, an event cup and a water bottle. There were also some coupons that I didn’t have enough time to look at so I can’t really tell you what that’s all about. I was really excited to see the great quality of this stuff. It was amazing.

The event started at 9am so I was able to sleep in a little bit. Oh, the event was held in Grapevine which is a great excuse to come visit family. The weather was pretty crappy. It was supposed to be the worst day for weather with tornado warnings and lots of rain the forecast. I wasn’t really excited about that part. I had to pull out the rain gear which I knew was going to bug me. I was also going to try out some salt tablets and new hydration pack. I totally went into this with a training run mentality and I wanted to have fun.

We had a prerace meeting to discuss the course and we were off. It was a 2 mile loop of the course so you were never really alone and you always knew where you were going. The rain was causing me problems because it was a heavy midst that was making it hard for me to see with my glasses. It really slowed me down because I just couldn’t see. I was trying to be cautious not to fall down because parts of the trail were tricky.

Early in my foot was starting to bother me but not like last week. I KT Taped it up which was a lot better. My dad told me my shoes are too loose so that what the problem is, when I purchased the shoes they fit. That’s all I got to say. I had to stop and re-lace my shoes a couple of times to help ease the pain. It was nowhere near the pain level of last week so I guess I was winning.

It was a good time. The people were friendly! The spectators and volunteers helped out a lot. It was just a really laid back and fun situation. I ticked off the miles and just kept going. I had originally planned to do 32 miles but with the weather problems and my foot, I chose to have fun. I would stop and have random dance parties with some people who were struggling or just wanted to have fun. I tell you, I like myself better when I’m out on the race course. I have fun and I’m happy and I’m not so serious. It’s great!

And then a funny thing happened when I finished. I was sad that it was over. At the end of the 6 hours, you just stop. You don’t get credit for a partial lap so when it was getting close to 6 hours you had to decide if you could make it through another lap or if you should just stop. In the end, I finished with 28 miles because I chose to stop. There were only 3 people in my age group so I knew I would place but I never expected what happen. I came in second in my age group, but I wasn’t eligible for an age group award because I placed 3rd place woman overall. I couldn’t believe it. I actually beat other people. I NEVER thought I would win an age group award or even an overall award. It was amazing. I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy!

And you know I enjoyed my chocolate milk when I was done. I’ve got two more marathons this year. I need to stay strong.

I know I told you guys I would never run another ultramarathon but I really enjoyed this one so there might be a future for me. I’m not really sure but this has left a very positive imprint in my mind. It was great! Thank you to everyone who sent love my way through likes and congrats! It really means the world to me.