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Iron Horse recap



Iron Horse Endurance Runs, located in Florahome FL. Sponsored by Altra Running, this is a BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL course! 25 mile loop, about 5 miles of paved flat trail, then 20ish miles of changing terrain, mostly sand, gravel, dirt and grass. Trail was "rolling hills", but nothing too hard, actually felt good to have those to switch up things some.

Aid station were on point, had anything and everything you would need running an ultra- very well stocked! 

Volunteers- I honestly could not have bounced back from my "wall" without these people. Thank you- You're humor and kindness went so beyond what is expected.

I originally was registered for the 100 mile- but had to make a change the week of to run the 50, the hubs was deploying that week and wanted to make this a day trip.
I entered this race because I never did an official 50 mile, heard the course was flat and was looking to PR:

Goals/
A. sub 7 hours
B. PR 50 miles
C. Finish

Overall, this was a very humbling race for me. Battling the usual we do with ultra running, mental mind games we try to play with ourself, hitting wall after wall.

The first loop I mostly tried to keep the leading male in sight- ran along side Dave Craver- Congratulations on a great win and speedy time of 6:50!

I wanted to hit a fast 50k to get in a good training run- I hit the 50k around 4:01. Which I was very happy with- only 3 miles later is when my mental block came.  Stopped in the rest room, I walked on and off for 4 miles- came to the aid station where I needed to sit out- I told them I was done. One of the young ladies who was volunteering said but you are so close., I told her to tell me to suck it up. I sat there for maybe 10-15 minutes figuring out if I should continue. I did, I am so happy that I made this choice, I was back at it, slower but still pushing 8:30paces.

I finished 1st Lady and 2nd Overall with a time of 7:16:30, which I am proud of, I didn't DNF, I continued and did very well.

What's next? Concentrating on trail running, learning to run and climb. A few 50 mile races are in my near future... I'm done with this flat stuff for a while.






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