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So I'm a year older as of last Sunday. Rather than go through the traditional midlife crisis an dye my hair (or more appropriately, BUY some hair!) or get a sports car or have an affair, last year I ran a 50 miler just for fun. I enjoyed it - last year I did a 5 mile loop 10 times, had some friends join me for a few laps, got to restock my supplies at my car every 45 minutes or so. This year I decided to run the Flying Pig Marathon course backwards and then forwards for 52.4 miles total. I convinced some friends to join me (Bill for the entire distance, Ed for the first 26, Ron for the first 6-7 and then he'd turn around, Bill K for miles 7-17 or so, Nate for miles 18-36, Kenji for 21-36, and CJ for 21-30).<br><br>
My birthday was Sun but I switched the run to Sat because the weather looked better- and it was ideal. I started off in a long sleeve shirt and a cycling jersey and a very lightweight jacket that I took off after 4-5 miles, gloves, and shorts. The gloves came off after 30 miles as the day warmed up to mid 50's.<br><br>
The run was fun, but uneventful. Bill and I started off slower than Ron & Ed and once Ron turned around, Ed waited for us. Shortly after that we met up with Bill K - both Bills were on my team for the Hoosier 200 relay a few years ago so we recounted some nightmare stories from that race. Once Bill K peeled off, we continued and met up with Nate who shared some knowledge about certain terminologies that can't be repeated in mixed company - it kept us giggling all day long. We ran by our cars and were joined by Kenji and CJ - Nate pointed out that although he likes having nice looking ladies running with us (CJ is a girl) he gets mad because they are always better runners than he is. We all stuck together as a group once Ron left us - the pace was relaxed for everyone, we took walk breaks here and there, I stashed a bag with drinks and snacks at the 13 and 39 mile mark, and when Kenji and Nate stopped running we took a pee break at the local running store.<br><br>
Last year I packed way too much food and didn't use most of it. This year I went more basic - Clif bars, PB&J sammiches, pretzels (which almost killed me), Gatorade, water and Diet Coke for a change of pace. Energy wise I felt good throughout though if I do this again I would stash another bag in the last 5-8 miles as a mental thing to look forward to. We were strugg-a-ling once it was just Bill and I for the last 16 miles. Not much to talk about that late in the run, and we were both ready to get 'er done! We stopped at a gas station for a Mtn Dew which perked us up enough to get to the finish.<br><br>
Time - the first loop of the marathon course took us 3:59:25...I thought we'd be about 10 minutes faster than that but we did take a few extended breaks. The second loop took us 4:20:22 for a total time of 8:19:48. I estimate we spent a total of about 25 minutes of standing around during breaks (at our cars, at the drop bag and at the running store). We slowed down more than I thought we would after taking the first marathon so easy - I think we would have been better off being more disciplined about more frequent but shorter breaks, but with fresh people joining us we'd just run for 4-5 miles at a shot without a break. Last year when I was by myself most of the way, I took a break every 2.5 miles and I was much more consistent the entire way.<br><br>
Anyway - that was how I celebrated my 37th birthday. I felt good enogh to wolf down a burrito right afterwards, and I wasn't too sore in the days since the run. I was very glad we ran on Sat - I woke up at 6am on Sun to heavy wind and rain and the temp plummeted throughout the day, so we would have been soaked all day and then froze our asses off after 30 miles. It was great to have friends join me - vey cool to do that with a group of people, so big thanks to them.<br><br>
We talked about what to do next year - I was thinking an 8 hour relay or something like that where we can get more people into it. Who knows?
My birthday was Sun but I switched the run to Sat because the weather looked better- and it was ideal. I started off in a long sleeve shirt and a cycling jersey and a very lightweight jacket that I took off after 4-5 miles, gloves, and shorts. The gloves came off after 30 miles as the day warmed up to mid 50's.<br><br>
The run was fun, but uneventful. Bill and I started off slower than Ron & Ed and once Ron turned around, Ed waited for us. Shortly after that we met up with Bill K - both Bills were on my team for the Hoosier 200 relay a few years ago so we recounted some nightmare stories from that race. Once Bill K peeled off, we continued and met up with Nate who shared some knowledge about certain terminologies that can't be repeated in mixed company - it kept us giggling all day long. We ran by our cars and were joined by Kenji and CJ - Nate pointed out that although he likes having nice looking ladies running with us (CJ is a girl) he gets mad because they are always better runners than he is. We all stuck together as a group once Ron left us - the pace was relaxed for everyone, we took walk breaks here and there, I stashed a bag with drinks and snacks at the 13 and 39 mile mark, and when Kenji and Nate stopped running we took a pee break at the local running store.<br><br>
Last year I packed way too much food and didn't use most of it. This year I went more basic - Clif bars, PB&J sammiches, pretzels (which almost killed me), Gatorade, water and Diet Coke for a change of pace. Energy wise I felt good throughout though if I do this again I would stash another bag in the last 5-8 miles as a mental thing to look forward to. We were strugg-a-ling once it was just Bill and I for the last 16 miles. Not much to talk about that late in the run, and we were both ready to get 'er done! We stopped at a gas station for a Mtn Dew which perked us up enough to get to the finish.<br><br>
Time - the first loop of the marathon course took us 3:59:25...I thought we'd be about 10 minutes faster than that but we did take a few extended breaks. The second loop took us 4:20:22 for a total time of 8:19:48. I estimate we spent a total of about 25 minutes of standing around during breaks (at our cars, at the drop bag and at the running store). We slowed down more than I thought we would after taking the first marathon so easy - I think we would have been better off being more disciplined about more frequent but shorter breaks, but with fresh people joining us we'd just run for 4-5 miles at a shot without a break. Last year when I was by myself most of the way, I took a break every 2.5 miles and I was much more consistent the entire way.<br><br>
Anyway - that was how I celebrated my 37th birthday. I felt good enogh to wolf down a burrito right afterwards, and I wasn't too sore in the days since the run. I was very glad we ran on Sat - I woke up at 6am on Sun to heavy wind and rain and the temp plummeted throughout the day, so we would have been soaked all day and then froze our asses off after 30 miles. It was great to have friends join me - vey cool to do that with a group of people, so big thanks to them.<br><br>
We talked about what to do next year - I was thinking an 8 hour relay or something like that where we can get more people into it. Who knows?
