Skip to main content

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.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Worlds End Ultra 50k

If you don't look off to the sides, bears aren't there.  If you don't focus so much on the trail infront of you, you don't see snakes...  Maybe that noise I just heard was just some other runner falling into rubbish or maybe it's a bear? Well no bear and no snakes sights during this event, which is a win in my eyes!  World's End Ultra Marathon.   Location: Worlds End State Park, Pennsylvania  Distance: 50k Elevation gain: 6200+ft Course conditions: Wet, Mud Nutrition: 2 liters water, 4 oz coke. Looking back at all the ultra marathons I have ran (over 30 finishes) closer to over 40 If you want to count the few DNFs and a few distance switches. Besides the point, out of 30+ ultras I have ran, Worlds End is the toughest, most challenging course I have come across for the 50k distance, and to make the race even more brutal, we ran it in a heat wave. Rewind to 2 weeks prior. I got an email that my name was selected off the waitlist to be a participant. I ...
Post a Comment
Read more

No Pressure, just smiles.

Decided to move up from 12 hour to the 24 hour for NJ Trail Series One Day race on November 8.  Why I moved up, has a lot to do with my upcoming race calendar. I've been trying to find a 100 to run this winter, but I couldn't find anything decently close. I feel like I'm ready for that distance, I'm curious to know what I can do. I have only ran one 100, that was on very little training and I walked the last 30 miles( 2 years ago ). So NJ One Day just fitting so perfectly with how I'm feeling about my training, also I planned on running 80-85 miles during the 12 hours, I'm also running a 12 hour (track) Dawn 2 Dusk 2 Dawn end of May and I believe my 80-85+ mile will be better off me pushing it hard on that track. Also, the 12 hour event at One Day starts at 9pm, I have nothing against night running, after all I will be doing it in the 24 hour after running 12 hours already....   As for my goals now for NJ One Day. Well, I know this is one of the last 24 hour eve...
2 comments
Read more

Gearing up for training for 50k Championships

15 weeks until Caumsett USA 50k Championships!!! I don't have my races planned until after Caumsett. Which is great, gives my body time to rest, recover and a lot of time to get me in the best shape I can for championships. Last year I ran 3:48:26 (2nd over all female) also qualified me for World Trophy in Qatar. This was a 14 minute PR in 50k distance. Running this time was a little shocking since 2 weeks prior I ran 79 miles within 13 hours of a 24 hour race. I wasn't training for a 50k, so I am excited to see with focusing on that what I can do. Over the past 2 months I have won and set over all course records at Pine Creek 100k, and Sloppy Cuckoo 12 hour. Also, I have hit my PR in marathon distance (3:02) which was also only 2 weeks post a 12 hour race, again with not focusing on marathon training. I plan to take 2 weeks off (but still running maintenance miles and strength training). After that I plan to focus all my energy into 50k training. The race is in Long Island NY....
2 comments
Read more