Journey Fitness

West Seattle Fat Ass 50k

Sunday was my very first ultra marathon! I was both excited and “meh” about it, but not “meh” in a bad way. I found any time I stopped being “meh” I would get really nervous and nauseous so I kept telling myself, “It’s no big deal…really. No big deal. Not at all. What’s that sound? Oh that would be my knees knocking together. Ignore them. (it’snobigdealknees).”

For those who are unaware, I am a member of the Marathon Maniacs (www.marathonmaniacs.com). This is a group of crazy people who are into running multiple marathons, sometimes more than one in the same week…often more than one in the same month. This was a “maniac” race if there ever was one. It was small, no frills, just good people out to do something fitnessy on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

The race was on Alki in West Seattle. Roy and I got up and headed to Alki about 5:30 on Sunday morning, February 1. It was dark, but fortunately we had our GPS to guide us. We arrived a bit early so were able to duck into Starbucks to make use of their facility.

Because I didn’t want to carry a lot of water, I asked Roy if he’d mind being our “water stop”. The race was a double out and back with amenities only at the start (and middle) of the race. He agreed so we’d put together a delightful selection of bananas, granola bars, and a big thing of Gatorade and dragged that with us.

When we arrived at Lincoln Park the sign on the parking lot said it opened at 6:00 a.m. but alas, it was not open (it was 6:30). We found some on-street parking that didn’t close until 9:00 and made our way down to the beach front in the dark. It was eerie, but beautiful. The Fauntleroy Ferry was coming in, shining its lights on the water and leading us down a steep hill to the start line.

As in most low key races, there was little hooplah to get us started. Nic Plemel, our intrepid race director, called us out onto the path in front of the cover. He gave us instructions, “Don’t cross the street, don’t run into the water” and then called out “Go!” And we were off!

I was running with my friend, Marie. She was all discombobulated so we had a rocky start (not bad, just kind of funny) as she tried to right her water belt, figure out what to do with her phone, and get all situated. We started right in running 5:1 since this was my first 50k, and she just completed the Goofy Challenge a few weeks ago.

(The Goofy Challenge is a Disney Endurance Race that consists of a half marathon on Saturday, a full marathon on Sunday, netting the runner three medals—Donald, Mickey, and Goofy—and bragging rights as well as a one-way ticket to the asylum. I’m already registered for 2010.)

It was still dark, but was starting to get a little light up in the sky. We were way in the back of the pack, but that was fine. The pack wasn’t very big anyhow (about 30 people) and I fully expected to lay back and just do my thing, chatting with Marie and catching up.

Marie is a friend I met on the Couer d’Alene marathon. We were running about the same pace and kept talking with each other, and then finally decided to just run together. Since then we’ve run three or four marathons together. She lives in Gig Harbor, I live in Marysville, we rarely talk between races so it’s perfect. We have TONS to talk about ON the race! In fact we both specifically save up our questions for the runs because we know we’ll have a long time. The great thing about Marie (well, one of them) is that she’s faster than me so she pushes me. That is, in part, due to the fact that she’s about a foot (literally) taller than I am.

As we ran we picked up a third party. Paul had completed the Desert Classic Marathon the day before, and today was his 931st (or some crazy number like that) marathon/ultra marathon! He had a 100 miler coming in a week, so he was taking it easy. Finally we all just decided to run together. We made a GREAT team!

We ran out along Alki, which is this beautiful stretch along the waterfront in West Seattle. The weather was chilly and slightly overcast, but much warmer than it had been and only called for a light jacket and long sleeve tech shirt. The course was a double out and back, so Roy found a parking spot about six miles from the start and parked. He set up a little table, and was a VERY welcome sight four times on the race!

We ran along and yapped and laughed a lot. Poor Paul probably wondered what he got himself into! I took video, Marie stopped and took photos. Obviously, we are very serious runners.

A mile six we took our first water stop break. Roy was there with a table, Gatorade, and granola bars. I told Paul to help himself (and he did…I’m glad because I later found out he hadn’t eaten anything since the night before, and that was just a bowl of soup). We also told others who were running by that they were more than welcome to help themselves.

I gave Roy a huge hug and a kiss and we continued on down the beach. We passed the Statue of Liberty, the birthplace of Seattle, some crazy people DIVING on February 1, lots of fish and chips places, and the later it got the more runners, skateboards, and dog walkers we saw out enjoying a rare beautiful day in Seattle in February.

The turnaround was QUITE fancy! It was a chalk arrow that said WSFA50K on it. We had a little ceremony, took a picture, and made our way back to the start. At mile 10 or so we saw Roy again. He said he’d found an article about a Marathon Maniac in the paper, and brought it out for us. We all gathered around the hood of the car and read it. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/stevekelley/2008693716_kelley01.html Again, you can tell we are VERY serious about our times!

As we ran we bid hello to many people out running. One thing I love about an out and back course is that you can see the people running in while you’re still running out, or running out when you’re running in so I was able to see every other runner on the route at least three times.

We continued on to finish our first half of the race, enjoying the course in the daylight! One of the BEST sites I saw all day (besides my honey and the finish line) was a flowering cherry all in bloom! It was so exciting, I took video! We hit the turnaround point at 3:02. We stopped to have some Gatorade and pretzels, and then made our way back out for our second half!

Unfortunately about mile 18 Marie really started hurting. Her IT band was acting up. We tried some stretches, but it wasn’t touching it. Then I remembered that this week I had done a seminar in each of my running classes on treating and avoiding running injuries, so I happened to have The Stick in my van! I told her that when we saw Roy she could “stick it” and see if that helped. Thank goodness I never clean my van, because sure enough it was still there! She sticked her leg and felt a great deal of relief. Paul and I refueled a little and then we headed to the last turnaround.

Someone obviously MOVED the turnaround this time because it felt MUCH further away from Roy than the last time. And yes, you may have noted that while I was running, poor Roy was SITTING IN THE VAN making sure that everyone had hydration and fuel for the route…and he knew none of the people outside of me (obviously) and Marie. He’s a great guy.

Three cheers for Roy!

We finally hit the turnaround. I have no idea what mile this was because I had decided I was NOT going to focus on distance at all from the start of the race. The idea of running a marathon and then just running 5 more miles was something I had a hard time wrapping my head around. So I just decided we were “going out for a long run” and it would last about 6-7 hours. No biggie. Meh.

We hit Roy again for the last time and asked if he’d mind meeting us in a few miles so Marie could use The Stick again. We filled our water bottles for the last time, thanked him PROFUSELY and took off. Right before we hit Roy we picked up a stray maniac named Bob. Bob wasn’t in the race, he just happened to be out running and saw Marie and me in our Marathon Maniac shirts so joined us. Why not? The more the merrier! Bob had some great stories, and as he hadn’t already been running A Really Long Time, he was full of energy and had no problem holding up the conversation! He ran with us for about 3-4 miles and then pointed to a 90 degree hill and headed in that direction for some hill work. We declined his offer to join him, and ran on.

About this point Roy met us again, holding The Stick out the window for Marie. She massaged her poor IT band one more time and then we headed in for the home stretch. Our walk breaks had started to get longer, our conversation had started to falter. In fact, we’d gotten so quiet even PAUL had started to start conversation! He was so sweet. When Marie was really hurting he suggested we slow down so she wouldn’t feel bad. Neat guy. Love those maniacs. (Paul is from Arizona, by the way, so not a local maniac. He just enjoys Seattle so much that he comes to run here often.)
The end is just beautiful. We ran into Lincoln Park along the waterfront. Gulls were screaming, lots of people were out enjoying the cool overcast (but NOT rainy) day. We ran out past Colman Pool and into the throng of screaming fans…okay Nic was there! He cheered us in and called out our times and then offered us some food. I snarfed ¼ of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and it was the BEST PB&J sandwich EVER!

We had passed Monte about half a mile back, so we waited to cheer him in. Yay Monte! He is a guy that always has a big smile on his face and makes you immediately feel good about being in his presence, so it was a honor to run with him for awhile and cheer him in at the end.

How did I feel at the end of my first ultra marathon? Well first, I tried not to cry. Finish lines really make me emotional, particularly if it’s a new goal met or a new personal best. As this was my first ultra and I wasn’t confident going in that I could do it, I found myself getting emotional.

Physically, I felt pretty darn good! I was really surprised. Definitely I had some pain, but it wasn’t horrible pain. It was “Wow. You just ran 31+ miles” pain as opposed to “Someone shoot me and put me out of my misery” pain. The next day I went out for a two mile run and it felt pretty good after the first half mile. Got in 6 the next day, 7 the day after and the legs feel slightly tired. God bless this crazy body of mine for letting me pursue all this insanity!

Thanks to everyone who came out and ran, and to Nic and all the volunteers for making this race possible. Thanks to Marie and Paul for running with me and keeping me company on my first 50k. Thanks SO MUCH to my amazing husband who patiently sat there for over SIX HOURS making sure we had hydration and fuel. And finally, thank you God for giving me the health and stamina to do these things.