After Hennepin I took a few weeks of recovery and then focused on keeping somewhat of a swim/bike/run base (swimming was very lacking). I knew I wanted to focus on ultras again this year (maybe if Ironman race entry fees drop I’ll give a full another go), so I decided to kick off the season with the Prairie Spirit Trail 50 Mile race. I had raced the fall version of the race in 2020 – different name, same trail, same race company, the 100k in the spring of 2023 and also a 12 hour race on a part of the trail last summer. So I would say I am pretty familiar with the trail/area, making this race feel more low key/less stress.

Training went pretty well, since it’s the beginning of the season I didn’t have any crazy workouts like I did for Hennepin, just one weekend of 3 hours saturday/3 hours sunday, and the next weekend 5 hours. Yes, five, that was a long day. I’ve been running in a new brand of shoes, Topo, in search of a wider toebox to save my toenails. So far in training they felt great and toes were happy, and hoped they would work well in the race. I headed into the race with a relaxed attitude, no real goals (well fine, it would be nice if I PR’d but wasn’t going to kill myself) other than to finish to make the 4is hour drive worth it, lol.

Race morning I drove the 5 minutes to the race start, hung out inside the hall/building to stay warm and then lined up at 6:30a with the others running the 50 mile distance. Within the first five minutes I already found myself on pace with a small group of people and after about 2 miles we started to chit chat, asking where everyone was from, race goals, etc. The time flew by as we chatted, one of the guys stayed in a very seedy motel across the street from the race and was telling us the horrors of his room. When we hit the first manned aid station we ended up splitting up as some went to the bathroom, some stopped for refills, and I kept going still having plenty of hydration.

Everything felt good leg-wise, but my big problem was my hands. In cold weather they just struggle to stay warm, even wearing mittens and having hot hands inside them, they get stiff and claw-like. When they do finally warm up they are still claw-like for quite awhile and I can’t grip anything. It was (not very) amusing after some longer runs in the winter trying to pry my key out of my pocket and using two hands to try to put it in the lock. Taking gels was even worse and I struggled getting them open and when I did, I usually got some of it all over me. However, I expected this and knew that’s how the first few hours of the race would go… but it was still frustrating. Meanwhile some of the people in our group didn’t even have gloves on and were in t-shirts! It’s official, I cannot do cold-weather/winter ultras.

Finally around the 3 hour mark when the sun was really out and coming over the trees, I felt like my hands were getting their mobility back. It was also around this time I decided I would turn my music on since everyone was pretty spread out and I was mostly running solo. The music was a good distraction for the miles still to go, and I tried to stay relaxed and remember to take my nutrition every 30 minutes.

I looked up ahead and noticed a big white lab running along with another runner. I wasn’t sure if this was his dog that decided to hop in at an aid station, but then he ran back towards me and ran with me for a bit, and then back up to the other guy. There have been stray dogs on this trail that run along with people for a bit, so it wasn’t a huge surprise, however this dog was logging some miles. On and on he followed us, running back and forth between us, no barking just panting happily. Since I had been running solo for a while I decided to talk to the dog and ask how their day was and a few other random questions I would ask my dog.

Soon I was approaching the turn around in the town of Garnett, this was where my 12 hours night race was and I reminisced about running that night on the trail: the coyotes howling, seeing the stars, hearing the noisy tractor pull happening in the nearby park (learned something new!), doing bad running math, ah memories. When I reached the turn around at the train station I grabbed my drop bag – a ziplock gallon bag so I could toss after and not wait for them to drop it back at the start, stuffed my pack with nutrition and filled my bottles. It was a quick pit stop! Note the dog followed me into the train station but decided to stay and not follow me out. I was a little sad he wasn’t coming back with me.

I was off and back on the trail, however ten minutes in these two little boys rode up on their bikes and told me I left something at the train station – the handed me four of my gels! I was rushing too much in there and must have completely missed they were still sitting on the bench. I told the boys they saved my race and thanked them for coming to find me. Phew! I could have improvised with aid station food, but I’d rather stick with what I know my stomach can handle.

Once I hit the 30 mile mark I could feel my legs getting heavier and holding a ten minute pace took some effort. I kept trying to hang on, but the pace was beginning to slow. Then I realized I had tylenol with me and decided to take it to see if it would help with my aching legs, and after about 15 minutes they were feeling better and I was back to running closer to a 10 min pace. I ran through the next manned aid station as my bottles were still pretty full… but I wasn’t sure if my stomach was still in a good spot and slightly regretted not stopping at the bathrooms. After a few more miles I realized it was in fact, a bad decision to have skipped it, and started to desperately search for a big bush or some foliage on the side of the trail that would hide me. I finally found one, climbing over branches and almost falling. I could see a runner coming but knew he wouldn’t see me when approaching but if he turned around after passing, well, he would see everything. As he passed I kept thinking ‘don’t turn around! don’t turn around!’ and fortunately he did not and shortly after I was back on the trail. I did manage to get the Ace of Base song ‘Don’t turn around’ stuck in my head on and off for the rest of the race. How I remembered that song is a little baffling. Things get a little weird in the later miles.

I reached the last manned aid station at mile 42.5, refilled my water and was off to finish the race. I texted my coach that I was at mile 43 and had 7 to go. Then I went into focus mode and tried to get the pace back to sub 10 the remainder of the miles. I was mostly successful and soon I could see the highway where the trail ended and that I was close (a mile?) to the finish. I kept pushing and wondering if I pushed too hard too soon and if I was not going to make it. That sounds dramatic but it really did almost happen during a 50k, I was wobbling and could barely get to the finish line, yikes. But my legs held up, I could see the orange cones where we turned to the finish, and tried to finish strong. I could see 8:39:07 on the clock which was less than 3 minutes off from my race in 2020. I had trained really hard for that race being my big goal of the year, so with this just being a season starter, I was pretty happy. I also managed to get 3rd place female, so that was exciting to take home a little hardware.

I headed to the hall to hit the bathroom and get some water, and ended up chatting with a guy that was in the initial group I ran with at the beginning and we had also passed each other several times during the race. After sitting for a bit and getting a little pep from a Diet Coke, I hit the road for the 4ish hour drive home. Another fun race in Ottawa, KS, and I’m sure I’ll be back again. I am also happy to report my toes were happy, no blisters, that seems to be a win in itself for me!