Holiday Lake

           Wow, morning comes early the morning of an ultra especially after a Jeremy Camp concert the night before.  I woke up around 4:15 with my stuff ready to go and all laid out from last night I quickly grabbed a bowl of cereal for breakfast before heading out at 4:30 with Kalib and our ride my girlfriend and her sister.  Kalib and I the whole way there were talking about how crazy it is to get up this early to run a 50k....(another reason there might not be race day registration, I think everyone would back out and back to sleep!)  I don't want to say we were regretting it because we still stoked to do our first ultra together.  Downing a mug of coffee on the ride that I wonder now if it may have caused some of my stomach trouble in the race we quickly arrived at the lake.

It was a chilly morning, crazy bathroom lines, and just the other normal pre race chaos before an ultra.  Kalib and I had talked a lot about strategy and we were debating on taking a water bottle or not.  I decide I would not go without it this time as it proved crucial in Promise Land last year.  Kalib decided against it and I am pretty sure his lack of fluid intake cost him the race this year.  Heading out to the start I was freezing having tried not to over dress I just wanted the race to start as quick as possible.  I felt like me and Kalib were as ready as we could be that morning considering we were only in our first month of training since having taking some real down time over winter break.

The race kicked off and it got going pretty quickly up the road to the first trail.  Matt Woods was the only one with a flash light out of the 5 of us who ran the first 5-6 miles together so we relied on him for the first 10-15 minutes before the sun came up.  I was feeling good and wanted the race to be honest and consistent so I tried to keep the pace moving steady through the early miles.  At one point Kalib, Jordan, and I had put a decent gap on Matt and Nick and I wasn't sure if he was going to try and run with us or not.  But if my memory is right it wasn't long after the second aid station Matt went surging by and Kalib went with him.  Kalib and I said before the race we would run as fast as we had to and if someone else pushed it we would follow, but my stomach was turning from downing my first gel so I decided to hold back a little and wait.  Luckily I had Whitlock who was committing suicide to run with for awhile until my stomach settled down. (No knock on you Whitlock, I love the way you race and your competitiveness)

            By the third aid station I had made back up most of the ground and began to take another gel.  I quickly caught back up to them on the single track and the pace became rather moderate it was good to be back in the race.  I was feeling good other then my stomach being a little upset.  About a half mile before the bridge crossing my stomach really started rolling an I had to make a pit stop...rushing to try and catch back up I wiped out on a turn going too fast and my knees landed on a rock.  I was a little stunned and worried but luckily it was just a little blood and some minor bruising that didn't affect me too much.
            Seeing Kalib fly out of the turnaround leading Matt I could tell he was feeling good and I was going to have my work cut out for me trying to catch up.  My water bottle had frozen so I tossed it to the side at the turn around and just used the aid stations from there on.  I decided to try for a citrus gel instead of the strawberry ones I had been taking down and let me tell you that was not a good choice for me!  I couldn't get those down very well without them coming right back up.  Pushing my way through the second loop feeling pretty except my stomach it seemed as if the gap was staying the same through the next aid station according to what people were telling me.  The next pit stop after aid station 5 proved to be the one that put me out of the race.  My stomach was rolling so it took me a little while to get rolling again.  By aid station number 6 I thought I pretty much was racing for third.
            The gap had extended to what I heard was about 5-6 minutes to Kalib and about 3-4 to Matt.  I knew there wasn't much of chance to catch them so I didn't want to push that much and risk any chance of blowing up, plus I was struggling trying to get another citrus gel down.  I cruised in to the last aid station and got some encourage from now my new teammate and co-worker Jeremy Ramsey, who told me to keep pushing you never know what could happen to those two up front.  Shedding my hat and gloves and opting for some solid food cookies and M&M's over gels I took off with a handful of both.  To my surprise my stomach settled right down and I was feeling great, cruising along now trying to take in what had become a beautiful morning. 
            And then it started to hit me, this is why I want to do Ultra's...it's not for accomplishment or the competition; it's for the feeling, the beauty, and the peace.  "The peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" as Paul says in Philippians 4:7.  This is when Paul is pleading with the churches of Euodia, and Syntyche to rejoice always and with prayer and petition let your request be known to God.  That was the true joy in that race as I look back on it now.
            A mile or 2 later to my surprise I see Jeremy walking down the trail and he yells to me that Kalib is right up ahead and he wasn't looking good.  I wasn't sure if I should be happy I could get second or disappointed Kalib wasn't going to win.  I didn't have much time to think about because before I knew it I was right beside him trying to encourage him to run in with me, but I’m not sure you could consider his mumbling words a response or just deliriousness.  I encouraged him for a few hundred yards and then decided to kick it in to the finish.  Coming down to the finish I almost didn't want it to be over, if it was a 50 mile race I think I would of enjoyed the next 15 even more, not to say I wasn't tired!
            Seeing Kalib come in a minute or two later staggering towards the finish made me realize 25-30 mile hard training runs are different then 32! After 30 Kalib found out you need a lot more fluid intake but I am sure that he will learn from it and come back stronger than ever.  As for me I learned I have to practice eating and figure out what works for me.  I have to give credit to Matt Wood's though, that was an impressive finish and he ran a lot faster than we expected we would have to run to win.  I can't wait to race him again at North Face and hopefully this time my stomach will cooperate a little more...it should be a good one!

Thanks for all the support:
My girl Dacia, Chelsea, Kalib, now my new teammate Jeremy @theaidstation.com, and the Dr.'s Z and Horton!

Upcoming Holiday Lake

      This weekend I will be taking a stab at my second ultra marathon.  The first one was brutal but most would say it was a success, as I was able to start out my ultra career with a win.  Luckily this one is suppose to be way easier then the Promis Land 50k was.  Kalib Wilkinson and I went out to preview the course last weekend and to our suprise it was just as everyone said relatively flat.  We had been holding our breath because flat to most ultra marathon runners is not exactly what the common person would percieve as flat.  Although it was a bit muddy the trail were in good shape and there was even a decent amount of the course on dirt roads and jeap trails.

      The run ended up being 2 hours and 25 minutes, we estimated approximately 22+ miles.  We got a little confused and ended up running off the course loop a little and added about a mile to the two loop course.  There are going to be some hills in the first 4 miles and last 4 to contend with but other then that you can run the whole course at a pretty good clip.  It was cool misty morning, perfect for a long run.  We took it easy for the first few miles and the run was pretty modest all together.  We really enjoyed the course, and talked alot about the perks of ultra running.  The beauty that you get to intake, you end up running in places that most people will never see or would be able to get to except by running.  The ultra community and enviroment is so fun and relaxed.  Its always an enjoyable enviroment to be in, which is crazy to think since you are about to put you body through torture. Almost everyone who partakes does it for the love of running which makes it so much more enjoyable.



Lots of training w/ this guy not enough racing!



      Running along the backside of the CTT trail it just came to me how blessed we are to have the ability we do to run.  It felt so freeing and thinking back to injuries, struggles, and very other trials I have come through I realized I don't want to take this for granted.  I want to make sure I am doing it for the right reasons and my mind isn't on the monetary benefit or anything prideful but my focus is simply on enjoyment and glorifying Him.  John Piper wrote an amazing book that has deeply impacted my life and one of his great quotes I love is "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever".  I can't think of a better way to glorify and enjoy him then in an ultra marathon intake his beautiful creation and embracing his power and strength working through us as we use our bodies as a living sacrifice pressing, as Paul says running in such a way as to recieve the prize.  The incredible thing about running is there is always a prize for everyone in all ability levels to run for, there is always that new PR to set, that new distance to conquer, and for some it might be to litterally win the race.  But the beauty is since we are all running for a purpose and a goal it brings us together and unites us to encourage one another, which is what I love most about ultra running.  The community is what makes the sport and I can't wait be apart of that experience again this saturday morning!