I’m late posting this morning because I was sidetracked. I hate it when that happens.

On Saturday night, I ran El Scorcho. It’s a race that typically starts at midnight but if you were doing the 50K option, you had the choice to early start. You have until the sun comes up to finish the race. Why is the race at night? Because we live in Texas and it’s hot!

The race seems to be pretty well organized. Packet pick up was a breeze and the ride to the park wasn’t bad either. They even had volunteers to drive you from the parking lot to the race start which really wasn’t that far. It was kind of like a big party because people set up tents and camped out. Everyone was really friends.

The logistics: it was a 3.1 mile trail loop around the park. You have to keep up with your loops yourself, which kind of was a problem for me. I’m usually a person who is in bed by 8:30pm so this was a big problem for me. I miscounted my loops a couple of times.

El Scorcho is a great race, but during that time I decided that ultramarathoning isn’t for me. I’ve been doing this for the wrong reason. I did it because I thought this was the next step for me in my running, but I really don’t think it is. I started to hate it. I was in a foul mood and just wasn’t having a good time.

Am I wrong for thinking out the box from where I stay?
Am I wrong for saying that I choose another way?
I ain’t tryna do what everybody else doing
Just cause everybody doing what they all do
If one thing I know, I’ll fall but I’ll grow
I’m walking down this road of mine, this road that I call home

In the end, I don’t think I was doing this because I wanted to do it; I was doing it because a lot of my running friends were doing it. It’s just not for me…right now. My big problem is I have NO desire to stay on my feet that long just to be running. I LOVE running but this might be taking it too far for me. I think maybe if I were a bit faster, this wouldn’t be a big problem for me. So maybe in the future, after I’ve really worked on my marathon time and improved, I MIGHT try this again. The entire time I was out there I kept thinking this is just taking too long.

When I was done, the first thing I thought was there is no way I’m doing a 50 miler in December. I’m taking it off the books! Being an ultramarathoner is just not my goal in life. When I close my eyes and think about what I really want, I want to spend my time on becoming an Ironman and not a super endurance runner.

Here are some things I did right:
1. I wasn’t really tired for the event, so taking the naps was a good thing.
2. I handled the bug situation very well. I was coated in Avon Skin so Soft and that stuff really worked.
3. The heat really didn’t bother me and that’s probably because I had been training in the heat and humidity. Also, I had done a great hydration plan.
4. I beat my marathon pace by 13 minutes which was great.
5. I was heavily lit up with a headlamp that I never used and knuckle lights. I only fell down once.
6. I prepurchased low fat chocolate milk. I figured they wouldn’t have it at the finish line and I knew the stores wouldn’t be open at 4am when I finished. It was so great to have that when I was done. RECOVERY has been a huge issue for me lately and I wanted to make sure I was doing everything right.

The wrong side:
1. I definitely didn’t fuel my body right. When my watch clicked off I didn’t fuel at that time and chose to wait until I got to an aid station which kind of messed me up. I’ve been trying to get away from the GUs and try real food when running, but this was a mistake.  I’m sticking with the GUs and all the GI problems that come along with it. I was chasing it the back half of the race.
2. My watch doesn’t last that long so that kind of sucked. Hence the reason I got my loops messed up.
3. They said they were giving out gatorade on the course but that wasn’t gatorade. I usually come with my own electrolytes but I passed on it this time because I was just going to use what was on course. Shouldn’t have done that.
4. I don’t think I fueled up well enough post race. My carb loading consisted of eating Subway salads and I really think that wasn’t enough. I should have gone for some pasta or something.

BUT it was an enjoyable experience and something I would love to do again.  So next year I’m definitely doing El Scorcho BUT i’ll sign up for the 25K instead and still have the experience.  And I’ll have a tent to really enjoy it.

So it is better to have tried and failed or not tried at all?  Tell me what you think.