Bold, Brash, Beautiful, Burnt. Black Hills 50k: 2019
Per my new tradition I established last year with doing a race around my birthday every year, I knew what I wanted to do this year. I had the idea of doing the Gnarly Bandit series after recovering from my injury in late 2017. My coach advised me to slow down and think about the big picture vs. the present. I want to be able to sustain a life time of running vs. burning out while still being relatively young and new to the trail scene. I was torn between a few 50k/50 mile races, but settled on Black Hills. It would give me a good enough preview to see if I liked the area, how the race is directed, and if I would even fathom ever doing the 100 there in the future. Plus, it was within reasonable driving distance.
I hadn't raced since Coldwater Rumble in January, which freaked me out a bit. Plus, I was still lacking in nutrition and not being consistent with my nutrition during races (only eating/drinking when my stomach told me to), plus I seemed to always have stomach issues (not sure if I was hungry or sick to my stomach). I decided to pull the trigger and work with Rachel Turi, the dietician at Trail Transformation. I was very, very nervous to do this because it seems like my eating habits or things I do during a run might be ridiculed? Wrong? I have heard success stories and great things about people working with her and decided it's better to start somewhere! No question is left unanswered, and I don't feel judged or ridiculed in any way, shape, or form with where I am at, especially since this is a journey as well, a lifetime goal of overall health and not beating myself up over keeping up with what is considered healthy and what my body can handle. Everyone is so different and different things will work for different people!
Training had been going smoothly for me until two weeks before I was experiencing knee pain. I have never before had any sort of knee pain up until this point. I have had post tibial tendonitis for over a year now that has been on and off, and usually doesn't flare up. During the month of May I have noticed that at my job, I sit for long periods of time (boo). I would have to snap my ankle in place in order for it to move, which was discovered to be part of my post tib. tendonitis. Thankfully we happened to be in La Crosse the weekend before my race, and Coach Jake was able to take a look at all my aches and pains, gave me a plan, and some dry needling, and I felt more confident to race since I was second guessing the condition of my knee (turns out my left quad is just really tight!)
I had some more dry needling done by Mike at Endurance Sports PT located at Performance Running Gym. This dry needling experience was not as pleasant as the first due to the intensity of the electric pulses, but it got the job done and the road to full recovery will take some time, but this was a great start!
Long, my soon to be mother-in-law, Bean, and I left for South Dakota Thursday after work. This gave us some time to break up the travel to Sturgis, and gave us more time to play in the Badlands, since we love to stop there and take the opportunity for photos and free running.
We got to the Badlands on Friday morning, and it was already unbelievably hot! I had to mentally prepare myself because, based on the forecast, Saturday was going to be a scorcher as well. After our time in the Badlands, we headed to Wall Drug... which we soon learned after spending maybe 10 or so minutes there, that I will never have to waste my time there ever again.
From there, we drove to Sturgis to pick up my packet and head to the AirBnB in Lead. We also did a little shakeout in Deadwood (located next to Lead) to a beautiful overlook. My knee started to bother me on this ascent and descent only shakeout run (well, more like hike) and needed to stretch out the quad. The place and town we stayed in was so pretty and unexpected that I hope to return there in a different season. It is a beautiful town with amazing views and where the deer roam around like squirrels!
With an 8:00 a.m. start on Saturday, there was no reason for me to wake up ridiculously early, which I appreciated! I had my staple, fool-proof breakfast of granola (I am obsessed with granola, if you haven't heard!), blackberries and blueberries. Long's mom did my hair in the most beautiful and sturdy braid that I wish I could take her to every race because I cannot do my hair to save my life. I packed the rest of my remaining gear and we were out the door at 6:30ish (was supposed to be 6:15... but ya know... I was running around gathering things).
We got to Dalton Lake with plenty of time to get ready, me to go to the bathroom for the 754th time, to warm up, to catch up with KARI (whom I have not seen since Sandlot!) and other fellow Minnesotans. Before I knew it, it was time to line up for the race, but not before snapping this picture we had pre-planned for this exact moment when we ordered said prop from Amazon...
Long told be, before I lined up, to take the first 3/3.5 miles easy, as it was mostly all climbing. Kari had mentioned the same to me as well, and hell were they right. My heart rate skyrocketed (also due to pre-race anxiety and adrenaline). I was concerned that I was gonna crash hard after this climb. Everyone seemed to be running up this thing! I kept going over the race and nutrition plan in my head, sip sip sip! Many people had said "when you think of hydrating, drink some more!" The heat was already a factor, and I didn't want it to bother me anymore than a fact that day.
If I could sum up the course, it would be pine trees as far as the eye can see, soft pine bed single track, climb, cruise the downhills, trot the flats, and stop.tripping.over.all.the.loose.rocks. I can't tell you how many times I had to recover from kicking loose rocks! One time I did a full on Superman fly and had to catch myself on a neighboring tree from flying belly first on the ground. Still not sure if I am sad or relieved no one saw it.
On one of the winding, fun downhills, of course my bladder told me to stop what I was doing and pull off the trail. I checked around me, no one. Pee time... oh shit footsteps! I now have my PR in a trail pit stop, FKP (that is, fastest known pee!)
First aid station! I had never been so thirsty for water before at an aid station. This was also my first cup-less race I participated in, and I LOVED IT! I loved not seeing an abundance of single use cups. I filled my collapsable cup with endless cups of water and ice, refilled my bottles, grabbed some chips, and I was off again! "Those water crossings coming up are gonna feel great!" a runner said in front of me. Water crossings? Yep, they were 5.5 miles away. Totally left out of my mind. We got to the first one and it was a zig-zag of mud mounds and moving water. Thankfully they had rope systems to help us cross. The cold water felt AMAZING. It was a bit of a shock at first, as it came up to my knees (sometimes above) but I felt so refreshed. Lucky for me, I got to cross more water crossings... 4-5 more! As I approached one of the water crossings, I noticed a runner had crossed without the rope, as it had somehow became untied from the tree. I crossed, picked up the other end of the rope, and tried tying it as tight as I could back to the tree. There was a woman waiting on the other side for it, and I didn't want any runners slipping and hurting themselves. Plus, I got more time in the cold, refreshing water! I would have even dipped in if it wasn't such a fast moving creek!
Second aid station, where crew could meet you before mile 14. My crew replaced my old bottles and gave me fresh ones and sent me on my way. I couldn't believe how fast the miles were going despite the conditions and the course!
There was another water crossing at one point, and I was so excited! The lady who was in front of me? Not so much. She said she had it with them! I always make it a point that, whenever there is a negative runner around me, to run away from them. I told her that they feel great, and made my break on this flatter section of the course. I kept thinking about my past 50k experiences and how, at this point, I would have been counting the miles to the halfway point. I realized how meditative I felt, how calm and collected I was, and the fact that I wasn't watching the miles, I was truly having a great experience. The views were amazing, from summits, to vast landscapes of endless pine trees spread as far as you could see on either side, and exposed fields.
At one point, I was starting to run downhill, and with my gaze pointed at the ground, a green, slithering reptile made an appearance out of the right. I let out a loud "YIKES" and picked up my pace. Neither the green reptile nor myself hung around to measure relative size or type, we did not want to be around each other. I really don't mind snakes, but I do not want to ever make one mad, step on one, or be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hoped that I wouldn't see another one during the race again, and thankfully that was my only danger noodle encounter.
I strolled into the last aid station before the finish, getting a little overwhelmed and defeated by the heat. Long and his mom were super helpful, loaded me up with ice and encouragement, and I knew I would see them at the finish. I told him I would be doing a lot of hiking, and he told me to save it for the climbs.
"This is your crew today?" The woman in red sunglasses asked me, and introduced me to hers. We exchanged quick greetings, but didn't want to hang around too much. I had to take off my sunglasses at this point because the ice in my hat was melting faster than I could keep up with cleaning my sunglasses in order to see. I ended up catching up to red sunglasses woman later in this stretch on a climb. It always helps me talk to someone when I start to ride the struggle bus, it lifts me up and gives me that extra little push to pick up the pace and get me to the finish, and it sure did! Thanks red sunglasses lady!
The stretch of pavement towards the finish was nothing short of cruel. It was hot, flat, and nothing says "let's make you feel more defeated and beat up" by finishing an ultra run on more than a mile of pavement. I felt like I was becoming a fried egg, cooking on the sidewalks. There were many runners walking this section, as it seemed to go on further than it should.
Soon there was a crowd of people and a parking lot. I could see the finish! I cruised on in and was thankfully directed to the correct side of the markers to the finish. I was handed a sweet mug and was so happy to be done because I was HOT. So hot. The kind of heat that my ears burned. I dumped a lot of ice water over my head in attempt to cool down since I was having trouble with that. I sat and continued to dump water on my head until I felt it was controlled better. Shortly after, we packed up and headed back to our AirBnB.
I had a nice relaxing Saturday evening, and to be honest, I have never felt this good post-race. Because of my training and nutrition being so well dialed in, I had little to no soreness, aches, or pains. I felt like I could move normally, and that hydration was well under control (for the most part). The only thing I could have done better for this race was find a better sport sunscreen as I got badly sunburnt. I am doing my research currently on sport sunscreens, and need to incorporate that into my runs!
Every race has a lesson in store, whether you finish or not, and from this race I learned that I need to reapply sunscreen (which I will need to keep in mind for Voyageur!) and that even no matter how hot it gets during a race there can always be a plan to keep cool and moving forward!
Thank you to all the volunteers who make Black Hills possible, to the RD, my crew, Salomon, and to Rachel and Jake at TT!
I hadn't raced since Coldwater Rumble in January, which freaked me out a bit. Plus, I was still lacking in nutrition and not being consistent with my nutrition during races (only eating/drinking when my stomach told me to), plus I seemed to always have stomach issues (not sure if I was hungry or sick to my stomach). I decided to pull the trigger and work with Rachel Turi, the dietician at Trail Transformation. I was very, very nervous to do this because it seems like my eating habits or things I do during a run might be ridiculed? Wrong? I have heard success stories and great things about people working with her and decided it's better to start somewhere! No question is left unanswered, and I don't feel judged or ridiculed in any way, shape, or form with where I am at, especially since this is a journey as well, a lifetime goal of overall health and not beating myself up over keeping up with what is considered healthy and what my body can handle. Everyone is so different and different things will work for different people!
Training had been going smoothly for me until two weeks before I was experiencing knee pain. I have never before had any sort of knee pain up until this point. I have had post tibial tendonitis for over a year now that has been on and off, and usually doesn't flare up. During the month of May I have noticed that at my job, I sit for long periods of time (boo). I would have to snap my ankle in place in order for it to move, which was discovered to be part of my post tib. tendonitis. Thankfully we happened to be in La Crosse the weekend before my race, and Coach Jake was able to take a look at all my aches and pains, gave me a plan, and some dry needling, and I felt more confident to race since I was second guessing the condition of my knee (turns out my left quad is just really tight!)
I had some more dry needling done by Mike at Endurance Sports PT located at Performance Running Gym. This dry needling experience was not as pleasant as the first due to the intensity of the electric pulses, but it got the job done and the road to full recovery will take some time, but this was a great start!
Long, my soon to be mother-in-law, Bean, and I left for South Dakota Thursday after work. This gave us some time to break up the travel to Sturgis, and gave us more time to play in the Badlands, since we love to stop there and take the opportunity for photos and free running.
 |
| Running in the Badlands with my best friend! (photo taken by Long's mom, Hoa) |
We got to the Badlands on Friday morning, and it was already unbelievably hot! I had to mentally prepare myself because, based on the forecast, Saturday was going to be a scorcher as well. After our time in the Badlands, we headed to Wall Drug... which we soon learned after spending maybe 10 or so minutes there, that I will never have to waste my time there ever again.
From there, we drove to Sturgis to pick up my packet and head to the AirBnB in Lead. We also did a little shakeout in Deadwood (located next to Lead) to a beautiful overlook. My knee started to bother me on this ascent and descent only shakeout run (well, more like hike) and needed to stretch out the quad. The place and town we stayed in was so pretty and unexpected that I hope to return there in a different season. It is a beautiful town with amazing views and where the deer roam around like squirrels!
 |
| One of the deer on a porch of a neighboring house (photo by Long) |
With an 8:00 a.m. start on Saturday, there was no reason for me to wake up ridiculously early, which I appreciated! I had my staple, fool-proof breakfast of granola (I am obsessed with granola, if you haven't heard!), blackberries and blueberries. Long's mom did my hair in the most beautiful and sturdy braid that I wish I could take her to every race because I cannot do my hair to save my life. I packed the rest of my remaining gear and we were out the door at 6:30ish (was supposed to be 6:15... but ya know... I was running around gathering things).
We got to Dalton Lake with plenty of time to get ready, me to go to the bathroom for the 754th time, to warm up, to catch up with KARI (whom I have not seen since Sandlot!) and other fellow Minnesotans. Before I knew it, it was time to line up for the race, but not before snapping this picture we had pre-planned for this exact moment when we ordered said prop from Amazon...
 |
| Just cramming what I can before taking the final... oh wait the final is in a minute! (Photo by Long) |
Long told be, before I lined up, to take the first 3/3.5 miles easy, as it was mostly all climbing. Kari had mentioned the same to me as well, and hell were they right. My heart rate skyrocketed (also due to pre-race anxiety and adrenaline). I was concerned that I was gonna crash hard after this climb. Everyone seemed to be running up this thing! I kept going over the race and nutrition plan in my head, sip sip sip! Many people had said "when you think of hydrating, drink some more!" The heat was already a factor, and I didn't want it to bother me anymore than a fact that day.
If I could sum up the course, it would be pine trees as far as the eye can see, soft pine bed single track, climb, cruise the downhills, trot the flats, and stop.tripping.over.all.the.loose.rocks. I can't tell you how many times I had to recover from kicking loose rocks! One time I did a full on Superman fly and had to catch myself on a neighboring tree from flying belly first on the ground. Still not sure if I am sad or relieved no one saw it.
On one of the winding, fun downhills, of course my bladder told me to stop what I was doing and pull off the trail. I checked around me, no one. Pee time... oh shit footsteps! I now have my PR in a trail pit stop, FKP (that is, fastest known pee!)
First aid station! I had never been so thirsty for water before at an aid station. This was also my first cup-less race I participated in, and I LOVED IT! I loved not seeing an abundance of single use cups. I filled my collapsable cup with endless cups of water and ice, refilled my bottles, grabbed some chips, and I was off again! "Those water crossings coming up are gonna feel great!" a runner said in front of me. Water crossings? Yep, they were 5.5 miles away. Totally left out of my mind. We got to the first one and it was a zig-zag of mud mounds and moving water. Thankfully they had rope systems to help us cross. The cold water felt AMAZING. It was a bit of a shock at first, as it came up to my knees (sometimes above) but I felt so refreshed. Lucky for me, I got to cross more water crossings... 4-5 more! As I approached one of the water crossings, I noticed a runner had crossed without the rope, as it had somehow became untied from the tree. I crossed, picked up the other end of the rope, and tried tying it as tight as I could back to the tree. There was a woman waiting on the other side for it, and I didn't want any runners slipping and hurting themselves. Plus, I got more time in the cold, refreshing water! I would have even dipped in if it wasn't such a fast moving creek!
 |
| Creek crossings!! Splah Splah! |
Second aid station, where crew could meet you before mile 14. My crew replaced my old bottles and gave me fresh ones and sent me on my way. I couldn't believe how fast the miles were going despite the conditions and the course!
There was another water crossing at one point, and I was so excited! The lady who was in front of me? Not so much. She said she had it with them! I always make it a point that, whenever there is a negative runner around me, to run away from them. I told her that they feel great, and made my break on this flatter section of the course. I kept thinking about my past 50k experiences and how, at this point, I would have been counting the miles to the halfway point. I realized how meditative I felt, how calm and collected I was, and the fact that I wasn't watching the miles, I was truly having a great experience. The views were amazing, from summits, to vast landscapes of endless pine trees spread as far as you could see on either side, and exposed fields.
At one point, I was starting to run downhill, and with my gaze pointed at the ground, a green, slithering reptile made an appearance out of the right. I let out a loud "YIKES" and picked up my pace. Neither the green reptile nor myself hung around to measure relative size or type, we did not want to be around each other. I really don't mind snakes, but I do not want to ever make one mad, step on one, or be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hoped that I wouldn't see another one during the race again, and thankfully that was my only danger noodle encounter.
 |
| Staying positive through the heat and hills (photo by Long) |
I strolled into the last aid station before the finish, getting a little overwhelmed and defeated by the heat. Long and his mom were super helpful, loaded me up with ice and encouragement, and I knew I would see them at the finish. I told him I would be doing a lot of hiking, and he told me to save it for the climbs.
"This is your crew today?" The woman in red sunglasses asked me, and introduced me to hers. We exchanged quick greetings, but didn't want to hang around too much. I had to take off my sunglasses at this point because the ice in my hat was melting faster than I could keep up with cleaning my sunglasses in order to see. I ended up catching up to red sunglasses woman later in this stretch on a climb. It always helps me talk to someone when I start to ride the struggle bus, it lifts me up and gives me that extra little push to pick up the pace and get me to the finish, and it sure did! Thanks red sunglasses lady!
 |
| photo by Long's Mom |
The stretch of pavement towards the finish was nothing short of cruel. It was hot, flat, and nothing says "let's make you feel more defeated and beat up" by finishing an ultra run on more than a mile of pavement. I felt like I was becoming a fried egg, cooking on the sidewalks. There were many runners walking this section, as it seemed to go on further than it should.
 |
| One the wrong side of the flags getting ready to cross the finish! (photo by Hoa) |
Soon there was a crowd of people and a parking lot. I could see the finish! I cruised on in and was thankfully directed to the correct side of the markers to the finish. I was handed a sweet mug and was so happy to be done because I was HOT. So hot. The kind of heat that my ears burned. I dumped a lot of ice water over my head in attempt to cool down since I was having trouble with that. I sat and continued to dump water on my head until I felt it was controlled better. Shortly after, we packed up and headed back to our AirBnB.
I had a nice relaxing Saturday evening, and to be honest, I have never felt this good post-race. Because of my training and nutrition being so well dialed in, I had little to no soreness, aches, or pains. I felt like I could move normally, and that hydration was well under control (for the most part). The only thing I could have done better for this race was find a better sport sunscreen as I got badly sunburnt. I am doing my research currently on sport sunscreens, and need to incorporate that into my runs!
 |
| View from our AirBnB in Lead, SD |
Every race has a lesson in store, whether you finish or not, and from this race I learned that I need to reapply sunscreen (which I will need to keep in mind for Voyageur!) and that even no matter how hot it gets during a race there can always be a plan to keep cool and moving forward!
Thank you to all the volunteers who make Black Hills possible, to the RD, my crew, Salomon, and to Rachel and Jake at TT!
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