Badger Trail 50K Recap
I'm an ultra marathoner for a second time! Here's a recap of the weekend:
The race was scheduled for Sunday with packet pickup on Saturday so I took advantage of the free camping at Belleville Community Park that night. I packed my car up and drove the 2 hours down towards Belleville, WI, a small but quaint little town just Southwest of Madison. I was determined to have a good experience this round. My first 50k was at Dances With Dirt in Baraboo, WI. I camped the night before, it poured rain all night, my tent got wet, I brought my old GPS watch (which had a dead battery and no charger), my phone died in the middle of the night and the course was extremely challenging (took me 6 hours and 41 minutes!). When my phone died my alarm also died and I woke up the next morning 10 minutes prior to the start of the race. I filled my water bag, put my running clothes on and drove to the 2 minutes to the start line with my shoes in my hand. They let me start as I was only about 4 minutes lat but waking up in a panic with no time to get ready is not a good way to start a 50k. Needless to say, I was ready for a slightly better experience this time.
I got to the park and found a place to set up my tent. I got my gear out of the car and the tarp down, went to unpack the tent and realized that I had no tent poles with me.
So much for a flawless experience.
Let me tell you though, I did not freak out. I wanted to! I wanted to blame my husband for not reminding me to check that the tent was all good to go (ridiculous, right?) BUT I took the advice of all the books I've been reading this summer and realized I was only mad at myself for not double checking. During our trip to the Boundary Waters in June we repacked the tent in order to distribute weight among our bags better. I clearly remember doing this and clearly remember being too tired to properly put things away when we got back. So I drove 10 minutes away to the nearest hardware store and bought a cheap Coleman to camp in for the night. I have to say, my reaction to this incident was one thing I was most proud of this weekend 😁
Ok, so tent was put up and packet picked up which contained a women's cut t-shirt and a pair of socks. I grabbed some pancakes and fruit for dinner at a local place and read a book for the rest of the evening. Sleeping went well with the exception of a family that decided to set-up their tent at 11 PM. The guy was pounding in stakes with a mallet and yelling at his kids to be quiet while they ate dinner (see the irony). Either way, I slept well and woke up to my alarm ON TIME. A local group had coffee for sale in the morning so I had some breakfast and before I knew it 7 AM came around and I was off!
7 AM is a bit of a late start for a 50k in August but there were so many races Saturday and Sunday that they had to space them out. The course was an out and back on the Badger State Trail which is on an old railroad bed that goes through Stewart Tunnel. Think a FLAT and STRAIGHT course. The out was fine and I felt great. I met a woman and ran with her for a while, she was training for a 100 mile race so this was just a training run for her. The company was nice however I wanted to hover around 9 minute pace and we were hitting 9:40's so I picked it up a little. It really was a lonely race, I think I only ran 2 of the remaining 26 miles with another person. I was really excited about a flat and fast course but that trail was really messing with my head. The sun came up and was really pushing the temperature (80's with high humidity) and the trail looked the same the whole way. By the time I got to somewhere around mile 28 (my watch had lost GPS signal in the tunnel and stopped tracking miles at that point) I just needed to get OFF of that trail. I can't even imagine what those 100 mile, 100k and 50 mile finishers felt like doing their last stretch. They looked so miserable and defeated. I give so much credit to all of the ultra runners out there gutting out those miles, you guys and gals are truly amazing! I'm not sure if it was the heat, the humidity or my half-ass training that just defeated me that morning. The last 5-6 miles just sucked the life out of me. To put it in perspective, I passed through the marathon in 4 hour and 1 minute (9 min pace) and finished the last 5 ish miles in 1 hour and 10 minutes (14 min pace). I walked a bit and battled in my head between feeling sorry for myself (which is dumb because it was my choice to be out there) and feeling grateful to have the ability to even be out there. After walking a bit, I turned on some Missy Elliot Pandora radio and got my butt moving to the finish. 5 hours and 11 minutes (new PR!)
I sat down at the finish line, grabbed some water and began the trek across the small field to my tent. I had to sit down twice on my way back so I didn't either pass out or puke. I wasn't sure which was going to happen. And I felt even more ridiculous because there were people around me that just finished running 100 miles and there I was feeling like a wreck after 31. I pulled a blanket and towel out of my tent into the shade, called Chad to tell him I was alive, and then passed TF out for about an hour. I woke up, packed my gear, and made my way home in one piece.
Ultras are always cool because you meet so many different types of people. I think most would be surprised what kind of people run ultras. They are people of different ages, genders, colors, sizes and styles are out there. They don't look like Emma Coburn or Paul Chelimo necessarily, the just look like your next door neighbor, Becky, who is in her 40's and works as a physical therapist during the week and tends to her garden with her dog Cody on the weekends. Lots of people are out there for lots of different reasons and they all support one another along the way. Ten Junk Miles did a great job of putting on the race. The free camping, the gear, the medals and the aid stations were put together very well especially considering they were organizing a half, full, 50k, 50 mile, 100k and 100 mile all in two days. It was well aided (every 4 - 5 ish miles), clearly marked and information clearly provided ahead of time. The volunteers were so amazing to spend their time helping out. The community is awesome and it's never to late to get out there. What are you waiting for?
Here is the link to the race info, check it out.
www.runwithcoachfischer.com
The race was scheduled for Sunday with packet pickup on Saturday so I took advantage of the free camping at Belleville Community Park that night. I packed my car up and drove the 2 hours down towards Belleville, WI, a small but quaint little town just Southwest of Madison. I was determined to have a good experience this round. My first 50k was at Dances With Dirt in Baraboo, WI. I camped the night before, it poured rain all night, my tent got wet, I brought my old GPS watch (which had a dead battery and no charger), my phone died in the middle of the night and the course was extremely challenging (took me 6 hours and 41 minutes!). When my phone died my alarm also died and I woke up the next morning 10 minutes prior to the start of the race. I filled my water bag, put my running clothes on and drove to the 2 minutes to the start line with my shoes in my hand. They let me start as I was only about 4 minutes lat but waking up in a panic with no time to get ready is not a good way to start a 50k. Needless to say, I was ready for a slightly better experience this time.
I got to the park and found a place to set up my tent. I got my gear out of the car and the tarp down, went to unpack the tent and realized that I had no tent poles with me.
So much for a flawless experience.
Let me tell you though, I did not freak out. I wanted to! I wanted to blame my husband for not reminding me to check that the tent was all good to go (ridiculous, right?) BUT I took the advice of all the books I've been reading this summer and realized I was only mad at myself for not double checking. During our trip to the Boundary Waters in June we repacked the tent in order to distribute weight among our bags better. I clearly remember doing this and clearly remember being too tired to properly put things away when we got back. So I drove 10 minutes away to the nearest hardware store and bought a cheap Coleman to camp in for the night. I have to say, my reaction to this incident was one thing I was most proud of this weekend 😁
Ok, so tent was put up and packet picked up which contained a women's cut t-shirt and a pair of socks. I grabbed some pancakes and fruit for dinner at a local place and read a book for the rest of the evening. Sleeping went well with the exception of a family that decided to set-up their tent at 11 PM. The guy was pounding in stakes with a mallet and yelling at his kids to be quiet while they ate dinner (see the irony). Either way, I slept well and woke up to my alarm ON TIME. A local group had coffee for sale in the morning so I had some breakfast and before I knew it 7 AM came around and I was off!
7 AM is a bit of a late start for a 50k in August but there were so many races Saturday and Sunday that they had to space them out. The course was an out and back on the Badger State Trail which is on an old railroad bed that goes through Stewart Tunnel. Think a FLAT and STRAIGHT course. The out was fine and I felt great. I met a woman and ran with her for a while, she was training for a 100 mile race so this was just a training run for her. The company was nice however I wanted to hover around 9 minute pace and we were hitting 9:40's so I picked it up a little. It really was a lonely race, I think I only ran 2 of the remaining 26 miles with another person. I was really excited about a flat and fast course but that trail was really messing with my head. The sun came up and was really pushing the temperature (80's with high humidity) and the trail looked the same the whole way. By the time I got to somewhere around mile 28 (my watch had lost GPS signal in the tunnel and stopped tracking miles at that point) I just needed to get OFF of that trail. I can't even imagine what those 100 mile, 100k and 50 mile finishers felt like doing their last stretch. They looked so miserable and defeated. I give so much credit to all of the ultra runners out there gutting out those miles, you guys and gals are truly amazing! I'm not sure if it was the heat, the humidity or my half-ass training that just defeated me that morning. The last 5-6 miles just sucked the life out of me. To put it in perspective, I passed through the marathon in 4 hour and 1 minute (9 min pace) and finished the last 5 ish miles in 1 hour and 10 minutes (14 min pace). I walked a bit and battled in my head between feeling sorry for myself (which is dumb because it was my choice to be out there) and feeling grateful to have the ability to even be out there. After walking a bit, I turned on some Missy Elliot Pandora radio and got my butt moving to the finish. 5 hours and 11 minutes (new PR!)
I sat down at the finish line, grabbed some water and began the trek across the small field to my tent. I had to sit down twice on my way back so I didn't either pass out or puke. I wasn't sure which was going to happen. And I felt even more ridiculous because there were people around me that just finished running 100 miles and there I was feeling like a wreck after 31. I pulled a blanket and towel out of my tent into the shade, called Chad to tell him I was alive, and then passed TF out for about an hour. I woke up, packed my gear, and made my way home in one piece.
Ultras are always cool because you meet so many different types of people. I think most would be surprised what kind of people run ultras. They are people of different ages, genders, colors, sizes and styles are out there. They don't look like Emma Coburn or Paul Chelimo necessarily, the just look like your next door neighbor, Becky, who is in her 40's and works as a physical therapist during the week and tends to her garden with her dog Cody on the weekends. Lots of people are out there for lots of different reasons and they all support one another along the way. Ten Junk Miles did a great job of putting on the race. The free camping, the gear, the medals and the aid stations were put together very well especially considering they were organizing a half, full, 50k, 50 mile, 100k and 100 mile all in two days. It was well aided (every 4 - 5 ish miles), clearly marked and information clearly provided ahead of time. The volunteers were so amazing to spend their time helping out. The community is awesome and it's never to late to get out there. What are you waiting for?
Here is the link to the race info, check it out.
www.runwithcoachfischer.com
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