Did it!

5:30 am, Sunday June 1... my alarm went off and for a few minutes I thought I had overslept... it was so darn light out! It's amazing how quickly the long days set in, it seems like yesterday it was still kinda dark at 6:30. After a few minutes of rushing around and checking multiple clocks to make sure I was on time, I made myself a big fruit smoothie with lots of peaches, strawberries, blueberries & blackberries. I was pretty darn nervous and had been for a few weeks, I really wasn't sure if I was ready for this kind of mileage yet.. but since this 35 mile run was entirely for me, I figured I could shorten it at any time if I just couldn't do it. I assembled a cooler full of watermelon, oranges, soda, bananas, dates M&M's & pringles to bring along for myself and anyone who was choosing to join me on my birthday trek. I walked out of the house a little bit later than I wanted, given the 45 minute drive to the trails, but I figured surely they wouldn't start without me!
When I got to to Clinton Lake there was 9 of us that were running... one of my favorite people to run with, Gary, had gotten super sick and wasn't going to be able to run but came out anyway to make sure everything was OK and to make sure I knew where I was going! We had decided on a 20 mile loop, back to the cars to grab food and then a 15.5 mile loop. After a bit of dinking around and getting everything together, we were off! The fast guys took the lead and after an exhilarating 9 minute first mile, I dropped way back along with the other Mud Babes... it was going to be too long of a day to go fast!

Christy, Sophia, & I ambled along at a nice easy pace, gossiping and sharing stories, laughing and having a good time. Temps were still in the low 70's and the trail was nicely shaded, it was a bit humid, but not as awful as last Sunday had been. We continued on like this for awhile with the guys waiting up for us at some points and then continuing on quickly. It turned out a bunch of them were not doing the full 35 or even the first 20, so there was no need for them to go at an "ultra" pace. Bad Ben had been wonderful enough to set up water stations at periodic points on the course so we were never without cool water. We lost a bunch of the guys at one point, but picked up Kelley our local Mizuno rep who is faster than fast and brought a fresh energy to the group. By the end of the 1st loop all I could think about was getting some cold watermelon! I was still feeling pretty darn good by the time we made it back to the cars.

Ate a bunch of watermelon & oranges, refilled the water & called the husband. The plan was for him to start hiking backwards on the trail so we could meet up near the end. It turned out it was just Sophia & I heading out for the last 15 miles. Sophia is a super stud Mud Babe and was even late for work on account of me! Now that's a true friend! I hit a low spot at about 27 miles and she kept me going, taught me some good hypnotic breathing and kept being her cheery self. It really kept me going otherwise I probably would have walked a whole bunch more! The heat sucked pretty hard by this point, but we just kept plodding along. At Lands End we met up with the husband and at that point Sophia ran on ahead so she wasn't horribly late to work. I hiked the rest of the way with the Husband which was a great finish to the day. I loved being able to share the trails with him and include him in my crazy wish for the day.
Finishing felt pretty darn good, by the end my knees were screaming at me and my hips were pretty tight. Took 7:45:44. Husband & I indulged in some watermelon and picked off a few ticks. I got my first tick of the year... actually my first 3 ticks of the year. I went home and sat in an ice bath for awhile... husband came in and laughed at me for a few minutes until I stopped swearing. Then I sat on the couch and watched bad movies for the rest of the evening.
Couple of notes to myself:

I got bored of eating around the marathon mark and kinda stopped... this is not good! I have to keep eating, I think this contributed to feeling very un-chipper the last miles.

I run with the best people in the world. Hands down, no arguments, Trail Nerds/Mud Babes are the most fabulous!

I need different shoes for longer distances, I really like my North Face shoes for shorter stuff but today the bottoms of my feet feel bruised.

I need to train a bunch more... I was feeling pretty cocky after the marathon... sometimes I'm a dumbshit.

I had a great birthday!!