Jemez 50k part 3! I don't usually do the same ultra over again, but it's hard not to with this one so close to Santa Fe. It was the most beautiful I have ever seen this course too, due to all the moisture we got this winter (what a far cry from last year!). I'm still working with coach Heather, and going into this race my longest run was 12 miles, which is completely opposite of what I did last year! Last year before Jemez I had 5, 5-7 hour runs and a bunch of 4+ hour runs under my belt already. My weekly mileage was about the same though, and I felt fit from the 5k training. I shared some early miles with Stephanie, who was doing her first 50k ever! Once a line of people started to pass us though, I tried to stay in front of them because I always seem to have issues getting around people on this course. I'm not very pushy, and people don't care that if you come up on them, you're probably going faster... I felt okay in those early miles. It's a looooong stretch of douche grade and like last year I tried to run as much of it as I could without tiring myself out for the many miles ahead. I was going back and forth with a woman, Heather, so when I caught up to her after the Pipeline AS (where I saw Kurt volunteering! Thanks volunteers!) we chatted and ran to the ski lodge together. I didn't want to spend too long there, but I did make sure to reapply my sunblock and drink an entire 16oz of Skratch Labs (my go-to electrolyte drink. #dietitianapproved). I ate a couple pieces of boiled potato and headed back out for the 1000 foot climb straight up the ski hill. At the very top a group of us had to spend a few minutes finding the course- I think some course markers must have blown away/been vandalized but with some good old fashioned teamwork we were back on track. One part I wish I'd gotten a picture of was us sliding down a snow bank off the top of the ski hill. I think that's the only time I've seen snow on this course?? We were all laughing and hollering as we slid down, fun stuff. The section after the ski hill is so technical and where I ate it last year. I almost fell about 6 times this year, and rolled my ankle hard twice, but no falls (well, not until later when I slipped on a rocky down climb and into a tree). I felt like I was at exactly the same time as I was last year, but wasn't really sure. I never place well at this race, so my A goal was just to beat last years time. At halfway I was around 3:45, and almost exactly 6 hours for 26.2 miles. In the last 10k I managed to pass a handful of women, which was a surprise! Even with a longest long run of 12 miles before the race, I still felt strong (ish. I still had the usual upset stomach and hiccups) at the finish and ended up 10 minutes faster than last year in 7:09, 7th female. It being slightly cooler definitely helped I think, but also Heather keeping me in shape after 5k training. So another Jemez 50k is done and done! Thank you so much volunteers, I'm sure I'll be back again!
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