American River 50 mile April 4, 2015 American River 50 mile April 4, 2015American River was an odd choice for a 50 mile race as I was training for a race with a lot of elevation (>13k ft). However, I was also eager to run a 50 mile race that didn't have elevation (only 5k ft) and see how fast I could finish. This could be the first time that I finished a 50 mile in the daylight!
As usual, Kristin and I ran this together. We were planning an "easy" race with a goal time of sub-10 hours (compared to our previous 50 mile PR of 12:30 at Northface Endurance Challenge CA 50 mile).
The morning started out awesome with a full lunar eclipse! It ended right before the race start, so we all got to hang out at the start after the bus ride watching it. Well, and huddling in the tent to avoid the cold. It was a good time though!
The course is best described as two marathons: a road marathon, followed by a trail marathon. The road marathon was a bit boring, but it was fun to socialize on the bike path around Folsom Lake. The hard surface made for some sore knees the next day, however. The second half was a traditional trail marathon with some neat rocky climbs but no significant elevation until the final couple miles.
The first 24 miles was uneventful. After reaching Beal's Point aid station, the course went onto trail and the next 6 miles until the mile 30 aid station. The rolling hills here were fun and Kristin I ran them with the mid-pack medical sweeps. They were some awesome people that we would see before the very end as well. I was glad they were there too, however, because I started to get a bit nauseous after mile 30. I had some trouble eating and nearly puked for the first time in an ultra. One of the medical sweeps gave me a couple tums and I eventually recovered.
The rest of the race went well for me. I was tired, but had no other issues. Kristin started getting some blister's around mile 37 and waited until Rattlesnake Bar (mile 40) to fix them. They popped right as we entered the aid statio so minor surgery was needed. However, this was also the time when we got to see Kristin's parents. Her Dad had some stronger athletic tape and she used a safety pin to clean up the blisters. We moved on after she changed her socks and was in pain.
The final 10 miles was mostly rolling and Kristin's feet hurt. We had made good time on the first 30 miles, but we were slowly losing site of a sub-10 hour finish. Kristin was upset at this (and I was too), but the wheels fall off after 30 miles and you never know what to expect. I thought that we could still get a sub-11 hour. Kristin stuck it out despite the pain and we run-walked some of the final hill. We were glad to have a hill at the end! We rolled into the finish in 10:53 for our first daytime finish.
What I learned: