October 24, 2015 Surf The Murph

I decided to run the 50 mile race at Surf the Murph after missing my 24 hour race in September to go on a Boundary Waters canoe trip with 5 other ladies. I had set out to finish a 50 mile race this year and felt the need to get it completed this year rather than waiting until next race season.

My training up to this race was not as mileage heavy as my training leading up to Black Hills. I was running 30ish miles (or less) each week due to my busy schedule. I managed a few long runs but really the longest would be the two marathon races I ran. Moose Mountain Marathon in September in Lutsen and the 6 hour Shuffle in Lake Elmo in mid October.

I have had a good year for races so really was not nervous about this race and figured I would be able to complete it in the 14 hours with maybe even some time (only about an hour) to spare. I was wrong about having that extra time!

The race started at 6 am and being 1 1/2 hours away I was not looking forward to getting up at 3:30 am to get myself to the start line. I decided to car/van camp at Horse Camp out at Murphy. They opened up free camping for those racers coming from out of town so I took advantage of that. My thought was that I could do the driving Friday night and be able to sleep in longer the morning of the race and also not waste any energy driving that far. I think this was a good decision.

I went to dinner after work with my husband and then took off for Murphy. I pulled in around 8 pm and there were only two other tents set up. I pulled my minivan through the locked gate near the others rather than parking in the empty parking lot by myself. One of the last things my husband told me was to make sure I locked the van doors before going to sleep so figured I would be safer being near the other campers.

I slept fairly well and was able to set the alarm for a 4:30 wake up. I made myself an oatmeal breakfast with some coffee and made the final preparations for my drop bag and start/finish line bag. The start/finish area was only about a mile away and I arrived to pick up my packet at around 5:30 am.  I saw several of my friends as we were waiting to begin. It had rained most of the night on Friday and was misting and wet as we got ready to begin the race.

Early Morning start

Loop 1

After the traditional pre-race announcements (namely it is really wet, muddy and slippery on the trail so be careful!) we were off. With it being 6 am we started the run with headlamps. It was slow going with the rain currently coming down and the wet and muddy trail covered in leaves. The mud was quite slippery and there were several times that I almost fell sliding in the mud. Going downhill was more difficult than going up the hills on this first loop in the dark. The first five miles of the course is where the majority of the elevation gain takes place. There are lots of both small and medium size hills. The first aid station is at mile 2.90 and the next one (Horse Camp) is around mile 5.50. The hills between these two aid stations are the worst of the hills. This was definitely my least favorite section.

By the time I ran into Horse Camp AS the sky was brightening and I was able to remove the headlamp. The sun was not shining but rather overcast. It was no longer raining though and this was good. Once through Horse Camp aid station the course levels out and traverses horse trails, goes around a lake and some prairie sections before heading back into the woods just before Natchez Aid station at mile 9.90.

Horse Camp Aid Station at mile 5.50 miles into the loop.

One of my favorite sections of single track running into Natchez. See how flat this is?

After leaving Natchez we had to run the road for about a mile before heading back onto the trail. I was able to make up some time in these flat sections and my pace was right on track with where I thought I would be. After Natchez AS you run through the prairie and back into Horse Camp AS at mile 13. From Horse Camp AS the next leg is back to the start/finish line and the completion of the loop.

There are some more hills on this final section but what is most memorable is the beaver dam crossing. Up until the Beaver Dam crossing I was feeling great! I was not prepared for this. It was muddy and very wet and when I came upon it the first time I was contemplating the best way to cross with the least amount of mud and water when another runner comes up behind me and says "you just have to run through it". So that is what I attempted. Epic failure! Rather than trying to balance across some very narrow and unstable looking logs I opted for the mud. A few steps in it sucked my shoe in and I was stuck. I fell forward and put out my right hand, which was wrapped in a cotton bandanna for some extra warmth, straight into the mud up to my wrist! I was able to save my left hand by using a nearby log instead of falling into that shoe sucking mud. What happened to the runner that told me I just needed to run through it? He looked like he sailed right across the top without getting either muddy or getting his shoes sucked into the mud!

Beaver Dam. I tried crossing in the left side of this picture. Photo credit: Selena

I was not happy at all. I was cold and now had a hand covered in mud with a bandanna that was useless as it was also full of mud. I ran the last few miles covered in mud carrying a wet, cold and muddy bandanna in my wet, cold and muddy hand! Oh and my shoes? They were covered in mud up to my ankles and I spent those last couple of miles trying to lose said mud.

I got into the start/finish line AS in 4:15 which was right on target, however I was rattled, full of mud and generally cranky as a result. When asked what they could get for me I said please get this mud off my hand! I was complaining about having to cross the beaver dam on the next two loops and Rob Henderson told me the trick to a dry crossing was to go to the left of this mess and cross there (outside of the picture to the left).

While I was still in the aid station finding something to eat Janet Hausken caught up with me and told me she would run her final loop and my Loop 2 with me. I thought this sounded great!

Loop 2

Janet and I headed out to start Loop 2. Oh great, five more miles of those darn hills! At least this time it was in the light and I was able to see better. Although it was still muddy and slippery the trails were starting to dry out a little but.

This time I stopped at the North AS and while there grabbing food I overhead a young man say that his longest run to date had been 4 1/2 miles. And he was running the 50k! He headed out of the aid station with us and decided to get behind us to try to keep up. He was feeling pretty bad and said he felt he could only mostly walk. We encouraged him and told him that he could even just walk the rest of the loop and he would finish as he had a total of 13 hours to get it done. We had some good conversation on the trail working our way to the the Horse Camp AS. Remember this was the really hard and hilly miles section! We told our new friend Jimmy that it was perfectly normal for an ultra trail runner to walk during the race and definitely walk up the hills. It was actually nice to try to encourage someone else in their race as it took my focus off my race.

Running into Horse Camp AS with Janet H and Jimmy

I was starting to slow down on this loop and I could tell that Janet had it in her to run faster than I seemed to be able to but she stayed with me and, in her own way, tried to push me to keep moving forward. There was a 3pm deadline to get this loop finished and at the speed I was moving I was going to need all of that time to get in by the cutoff. Only a few miles from the completion of loop 2 Julio came running toward us to run me into the aid station by the cutoff and then get me ready to head out on loop 3. He kept telling me to run faster and then I could spend more time in the aid station before heading out on Loop 3.

I got in with just 7 minutes to spare, which I was told by the race director when she asked me if I was planning on going back out for the final loop. Of course my answer was YES as I was definitely going to get this thing done! After being waited on by several of my friends all asking me what I needed and me not having a clue, I moved out of the aid station, ahead of the sweepers, to start my third and final loop!

Loop 3

I was blessed to have company yet again on this loop. I was accompanied by Robyn Reed who was going to run only some of the loop and Julio Salazar for the entire loop. For the first 5.5 miles of this loop (remember this is the hilliest section of the course?) I listened to Robyn and Julio chatter back and forth. I actually enjoyed this as I could suffer in silence and not be required to engage in the conversation. As I huffed and puffed up the hills those two talked and I just listened. It was nice. I had brought my trekking poles for this loop and I was glad to have them along as they helped me climb the many hills in this section. They were helpful both uphill and downhill as the downhills were also hurting. My right hip had been hurting for most of the second loop and the trekking poles helped to aleviate some of that pain.  In fact my hip no longer hurt on this loop.

I started to experience some burning pain on my left foot and knew that when we got into Horse Camp AS I better take off my shoe to assess the damage happening and wrap my toes to complete the race. This was a very smart idea. I was able to wrap my pinkie toe and change into a clean sock and this helped tremendously.  Robyn said goodbye at this point, told me she knew I would finish the race, and ran back down the trail to her waiting family. I grabbed my jacket and was told I better grab my headlamp as it would be getting dark soon and Julio and I headed back out to finish the last 11 or so miles of the loop.

I was definitely moving slower and had lost track of my average pace and what I needed to be running in order to finish by 8 pm. Julio kept pushing me knowing that I would need to move quickly in order to stay ahead of the sweeps. There were one or two runners behind me, also in front of the sweeps, so I figured I would be cutting it close to finishing by 8 pm.

Prairie section as the moon was rising although my camera did not capture it.

We got into Horse Camp AS the second time at 7 and I did not stop but kept going. I knew trying to get those last 3.8 miles in one hour was going to be tough and could not afford to stop. I had water and food in my vest so really had no reason to stop. At this point food was unappealing anyway. My stomach did not feel the best. It was not necessarily nauesous but just uncomfortable.

These last 3.8 miles were in the dark yet again. Started the day in the dark and it seemed I was going to finish the day in the dark. Julio pushed me, as much as I would let him, to get moving and all I could think about was how I was not going to make it by 8:00 pm. Julio told me to stop worrying about it and just keep moving forward as fast as I could. At one point he said something about seeing if I could sprint for a bit and I told him that I was sprinting!

With three minutes to 8 I looked at my watch and I tried to pick up the pace, and could have done a good job of it had there not been those final hills! But with the finish line in sight, finally, I managed a sprint up the hill to cross the line at 8:03:39. (Ok, no laughing here! My sprint may have looked like a crawl to those around me but my body was screaming this hurts so it must be a sprint!) There were a few folks still at the finish line, well the volunteers anyway, and Dawn Klaes was one of them. It was nice to see a friendly face at the finish! I was tired, sore and overall not feeling well but oh so glad to finally be finished!

Julio with his volunteer medal and me with my first 50 mile finishers medal!

This was a tough race for me. Mostly physically tough, though, as I don't recall experiencing any lows on the run. Just pain and being tired and wanting to be done running. 14 hours is a new PR for time on my feet and 50 miles is my new PR for longest distance.

Witnesses will tell you that I was spewing "never again" with vigor but I am claiming temporary insanity and can't be held accountable for what I may have said immediately following my first 50 mile finish. I just may be looking forward to tackling the challenge again with the goal of running it stronger, not necessarily faster.

My Spoils from the race

Forgot to get the required muddy shoes picture.This was the mess after taking the shoes off