Delano Park 12 Hour Run
Mar. 15th, 2009 09:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
e_phemerartMy first ultra distance event. :)
The first time I've EVER gone further than a marathon distance of 26 miles, and my last marathon was years ago in 2004. The furthest single distance I'd done in recent training, starting from scratch nine months ago, was 18 miles. Amazing what the body is capable of. :)
Yes, I'm walking rather gingerly and creakily today and popping more tylenol! (Hannah was really laughing at me last night post race). Joint wise, my knees were fine, but my hips ache. Leg muscles (ALL of them)are tender and recovering today. Only got one small blister, on the top of one of my toes on my right foot; which is something considering my socks and shoes were damp to soaked all day. I Sooooooooo enjoyed a hot bath last night (absinthe scented bath salts), even though I joked about a) already having spent all day being wet and b)perhaps needing help getting out of the tub(I didn't, but by that point, lifting my legs was an effort.)
I think the temperature stuck around 50ish (cool is good), but it RAINED off and on ALL DAY! We are talking significant precipitation. I got so tired of rain and drizzle on my glasses. There were a lot of puddles and mud (although the race crew did a great job throughout the day trying to minimize the bad swampy spots on the path as they could.) The race started at 6 am and that first hour was pretty miserable, being dark and raining quite heavily, but also adrenaline exciting. I ended up changing wet for dry socks and pants three times during the course of the day (these were about 10 minute breaks, changing clothes and restroom stops, and the only times I stopped moving). Started out in sweats, but they ended up drenched (along with the rainjacket I was wearing), heavy and sagging off my hips; likewise with the next pair of exercise pants, which were too long and stretched out even more being wet, and I ended up looking rather dorky running on the bottoms of the cuffs. Wore the new leggings for the last 4-5 hours (memo to self--I should have picked up several more pairs of them instead of using my old stuff that really no longer fits, and I could have used at least one more pair of dry gloves as well.)
Had a couple of library coworkers (the library is right up the street from Delano Park) stop by during the day to cheer me on. Sandy, our library director, and Linda, and Anne. My daughter Hannah showed up for the last couple of hours, and I think having her there (and bringing me Starbucks) helped me finish strong. Other runners and support crew were also good sources of support and encouragement. One woman in particular, who actually was among the top women finishers, would say something encouraging every time she lapped me on the course. It was a mile loop path around the park--so the faster runners were always passing by, some nice attractive athletic butt views that way too. There were somewhere between 60-75 runners total, not a crowded field and not everyone ran the entire time limit. :) I kind of wish I'd had someone to run with/hang out with more of the time, or that I'd gotten organized and found some Ipod music or audio books to listen to; but really, I wasn't bored for the 12 hours--just found a meditative zone and stayed there. Some of the time, I was really high and happy. Sometimes you are just putting one foot in front of the other.
I hope they get the race results posted soon; I'm curious to know where I ranked and to find out the total crazy miles the top finishers completed. The first 50 mile finisher was right behind me, as I was finishing my 30th mile... I completed the marathon distance in 6 hours and 15 minutes; which makes it my slowest ever marathon pace--but oh well, time creeps up on ya (best time was when I was in my mid-20's and could run a marathon in under 4 hours). Now, I alternated jogging and walking throughout (start slow and taper off); not a fast girl---probably was between a not very speedy 13 minute mile slow jogging pace and 18 minute mile slowest walk--but proud that I kept it up for the 12 hour time limit.
Surpassed my expectations and feel proud of myself. 46 miles. :)
The first time I've EVER gone further than a marathon distance of 26 miles, and my last marathon was years ago in 2004. The furthest single distance I'd done in recent training, starting from scratch nine months ago, was 18 miles. Amazing what the body is capable of. :)
Yes, I'm walking rather gingerly and creakily today and popping more tylenol! (Hannah was really laughing at me last night post race). Joint wise, my knees were fine, but my hips ache. Leg muscles (ALL of them)are tender and recovering today. Only got one small blister, on the top of one of my toes on my right foot; which is something considering my socks and shoes were damp to soaked all day. I Sooooooooo enjoyed a hot bath last night (absinthe scented bath salts), even though I joked about a) already having spent all day being wet and b)perhaps needing help getting out of the tub(I didn't, but by that point, lifting my legs was an effort.)
I think the temperature stuck around 50ish (cool is good), but it RAINED off and on ALL DAY! We are talking significant precipitation. I got so tired of rain and drizzle on my glasses. There were a lot of puddles and mud (although the race crew did a great job throughout the day trying to minimize the bad swampy spots on the path as they could.) The race started at 6 am and that first hour was pretty miserable, being dark and raining quite heavily, but also adrenaline exciting. I ended up changing wet for dry socks and pants three times during the course of the day (these were about 10 minute breaks, changing clothes and restroom stops, and the only times I stopped moving). Started out in sweats, but they ended up drenched (along with the rainjacket I was wearing), heavy and sagging off my hips; likewise with the next pair of exercise pants, which were too long and stretched out even more being wet, and I ended up looking rather dorky running on the bottoms of the cuffs. Wore the new leggings for the last 4-5 hours (memo to self--I should have picked up several more pairs of them instead of using my old stuff that really no longer fits, and I could have used at least one more pair of dry gloves as well.)
Had a couple of library coworkers (the library is right up the street from Delano Park) stop by during the day to cheer me on. Sandy, our library director, and Linda, and Anne. My daughter Hannah showed up for the last couple of hours, and I think having her there (and bringing me Starbucks) helped me finish strong. Other runners and support crew were also good sources of support and encouragement. One woman in particular, who actually was among the top women finishers, would say something encouraging every time she lapped me on the course. It was a mile loop path around the park--so the faster runners were always passing by, some nice attractive athletic butt views that way too. There were somewhere between 60-75 runners total, not a crowded field and not everyone ran the entire time limit. :) I kind of wish I'd had someone to run with/hang out with more of the time, or that I'd gotten organized and found some Ipod music or audio books to listen to; but really, I wasn't bored for the 12 hours--just found a meditative zone and stayed there. Some of the time, I was really high and happy. Sometimes you are just putting one foot in front of the other.
I hope they get the race results posted soon; I'm curious to know where I ranked and to find out the total crazy miles the top finishers completed. The first 50 mile finisher was right behind me, as I was finishing my 30th mile... I completed the marathon distance in 6 hours and 15 minutes; which makes it my slowest ever marathon pace--but oh well, time creeps up on ya (best time was when I was in my mid-20's and could run a marathon in under 4 hours). Now, I alternated jogging and walking throughout (start slow and taper off); not a fast girl---probably was between a not very speedy 13 minute mile slow jogging pace and 18 minute mile slowest walk--but proud that I kept it up for the 12 hour time limit.
Surpassed my expectations and feel proud of myself. 46 miles. :)
