Squamish 50 km - Is done!!

Sunday August 17th 2014 was D day.  Ten months ago, in the middle of October, I had a plan that I was going to run for Charity.  I ran for the organization Room to Read and raised $3,000 from family, friends, and co-workers.

It was a long haul to go from zero to 50km in 10 months but I had a great time doing it.  I've met some of the most wonderful people, and ran my heart out in the mountains that I love so much.

The run was not without challenges.  There was 2,500 meters of elevation, I had only ever done a maximum of 1,500 meters in any given run.  This was only my second 50 km ever, having run at Sun Mountain in Winthrop, WA in May as a test run.

I hardly ran the two weeks before, as I had some quad issues crop up about 6 weeks before the race that were stubborn and hanging on. I had been fighting my ribs moving out of place for the three weeks before the race, and of course I had a rib pop out during the run.   I had cramps in my calves that I had never experienced before.  But through it all I still had a smile on my face, and good cheer in my soul.

Beautiful river we ran over

The trail was beautiful.  It was mostly single track, winding thru huge cedar trees.  Trails were often lined on either side with soft moss and billowy ferns.  These are mountain bike trails, and we were often times running on the wooden raised biking trails.

The climbs were steep, and the downhill was very technical.  There was huge roots, and rocks to navigate around and over.  Big steps down.  That was essentially the run.  Run up, run down.  Run up, run down - repeat many times.  Little bit of flat to get you started, and a little bit of flat to get you to the finish.

It never ceases to amaze me how your personal level of what is acceptable and what is not goes out the window when you are out there.  I mean how often do you go to a buffet and stick your (rather dirty hand) into a bowl of food and jam it into your mouth - after about 100 people have already done the same before.  Or use a sponge in a bucket of ice water to splash over your head - with 100 people already doing the same ahead of you - same sponge, same water - and the water drips back into the bucket.  .   .

Overall I had a pretty decent run to about km 30.  Then on the downhill the cramping got pretty bad.  I had to try to run on my heels so that I wouldn't cramp.  But when the step down was too steep, I had to stop and go down sideways.  I tell you, the last 10 km were long.  and the last 5 km were somehow even longer!

It's true, that no matter how shitty you think your situation is, there is always somebody with a worse situation going on.  I met a guy on the hill climb up the the 30 km mark and he asked me if the trail looked familiar to me.  I said it did not, and asked if it looked familiar to him.  He said yes it did.  I laughed it off for him and said 'oh it's probably just the trees that look the same'.  At the top of the hill there was a lady checking off bib numbers - turns out she'd already checked his number off already . . . yikes!!

I am excited that I finished.  But not finishing was never an option for me - due to having collected money for charity.  I couldn't report back and say thanks so much - but I didn't do it - just wasn't going to happen.  It did take me longer than I had hoped.  I was hoping for 8 to 8.5 hrs - but I finished in 9 hrs and 4 min.

People already ask would I do the run again.  Yes I would.  I have definitely found a sport that I love and and will stick with it for the coming years.  However, I have a bit of break planned as I will be off travelling for 2 months.