Hogs Hunt 50k 2008

Hogs Hunt 50k

I got up this morning early.  I hate to get up early but it was all worth it.  Daniel had the car all loaded and the heater on for me.  It was a bit cold this morning for me.  At the race I was greeted by Butch from Ft.Worth (badwater crew) and a new friend Thomas that I met at my speaking engagement here earlier this week.    I also knew another girl named Katy that will be doing ultraman.  We got started at 7am and I ran with Butch and Thomas in the beginning.  Butch set a really fast pace and got my heart rate up as soon as we started.  He also managed to take us off course….wonder if he should be my crew chief at Badwater? I ended up being a really nice day and the trials were not to technical so I did not fall down.  We chatted a lot about Badwater and before I knew it the first loop (25k) was done.   We started the second loop and shortly in the loop Butch started to cramp so Thomas and I went ahead but we did think that Butch would catch us.  We just chatted up a storm and as far as I knew I was third. I had a little tiny girl run by me in the first loop and the lead woman was out of sight as soon as the race started. The lead womn was focused and she had headphones on.  We decided that she probably was listening to something like Van Halen…she was moving fast.  Thomas and I just trotted along chatting…yes I am sure I was doing most of the talking.  Thomas kept the nice pace that Butch set and I made dumb excuses to walk on occasion.  The next thing I new I was getting passed by another girl. I did not have a problem with this at first but I did decided to quit goofing off.  Thomas and I picked up the pace and passed her again. We kept our fat pace going and then I could see the tiny girl in second ahead of me.  I think I got competitive..next thing I knew I was telling Thomas to be quite so we could sneak up on her.  She heard I was coming and stepped to the side to let us go by.  Once I passed the race was on between us girls. I think I had a good pace going and she was right behind me the whole way.  I was running out of nutrition and we came to an aid stop so I planned on filling up my bottle but as soon as I turned around the tiny girl was there.  I had dropped the lid to my bottle on the ground and the volunteer was going to wash it off but there was no time for that.  I took my dirty lid and ran with it.  I am not sure how far this aid station was from the finish but it seemed like I raced the last 10k at my 5k pace. Thomas was pretty excited about this and was cheering me on.  I never looked back and just kept running hard.  When we got close to the finish line the two of us girls were sprinting pretty darn hard.  I slowed down and we crossed together. If we ran another 50 yds she would of passed me…she almost did.  I have not raced this hard in a long time.  I was so glad to get finished.  It was a great race!

Badwater-  my wonderful cousin came up from Ft.Worth today. I have two other friends that came up with her.  Sandy will be crewing at Badwater as well. Johnny would be crewing for me but he teaches a summer camp and cant get away.  WE met with the race director (badwater finisher) and his wife to get some tips.  I have such great friends driving so far to learn about how to take care of me.  It makes me feel so special and blessed.  Thomas hung around for the meeting and is coming on the crew as well.  I have Butch, Sandy, and Donna that will be taking care of the serious race logistics and others to fly in and entertain me while I run.  As far as I know I have the guy that I ran with a couple of weeks ago coming on the crew. He called me and corrected me that he is not from Romania but is from Transylvania.    I might have to many crew members but I will be home next weekend and will get some details figured out.   I only reserved a certain amount of rooms and flights are also a factor.  We are planning on hiking Mount Whitney if the weather permits.