Pineland 25K, Torture Day, where fun with friends makes things OK!

I wasn't expecting to have an amazingly fast Pineland race. My plan was to run at whatever pace felt good for the day and to enjoy it- a day traipsing over hills and fields and through sasquatch filled woods with friends is a day well spent. Mostly, I was aiming to have a really fun day!

The Pre Pineland Pizza Party is possibly the highlight of the entire weekend. Get a group of runners, Ironmen, and crazies together- add in some wine, ice cream and about a dozen large pizzas and you have quite the party.
As is always the case, the PPPP was pretty cold- the temps had managed to creep into the low 60's after a downright frosty start. Chilly.

See these people? They are COLD!!!

I seriously love these people, we talked about all the important things in life (running, meeting people from the internet IRL, marrying people from the internet IRL, eating, eating WHILE running, marathons, and on and on we went... SO fun!) We ate an amazing amount of food. I made a bold choice to have a pizza pretty heavy on the veg and spice- in retrospect not smart, but I am not an elite winning trail runner and sometimes you simply must live a little. (live to regret, haha.)

SO MUCH BADASSERY!!

Race morning dawned pretty cold. I could not make it to the start in time to see the 50 milers run away because I am lazy. No other valid reason! I did make it there in time to see the 50k'ers start which was very exciting. By the time they were getting underway the weather had transitioned from cold to WARM.

Compare today's attire to yesterday's. Compare today's weather to yesterday's. Say fuck it and eat chips!

After the 50k was underway I had 2 hours to prepare (so, talk to my friends. try to eat and basically fail. watch Sarah E run thru at mile 18 out of 50. apply sunscreen and bugspray liberally.)

Sarah N and I were taking a crack at the 25k with 450 other silly people. We spent some time mulling over our race plan possibilities but kept getting distracted by the ever rising temps. We did snack a bit, she lost AND found an earring, Eric drove in on his bike, we mulled around and chit chatted. Good stuff. Mostly, we undressed more and more and grew hotter and hotter!

Bottom line, it was 80 damn degrees when our race started. The end! (I lied, this is not the end..)

Putting on a happy face while noticing high levels of BO all around me. Too early for that, yo!

IT WAS HOT as BALLS. Blazing Sun. Basically, the start of this race felt like the end of MCM a couple weeks ago- BLERGH! What the hell, I freeze a horrible death all winter and now I am being poached. No middle ground!! At any rate, we lined up, already sweating, ready to get the madness underway!

My usual view. Backs and elbows,

I struggled thru the first few minutes of the race- I hadn't had a great week at all and my legs and body were already telling me that the miles could be trouble. Luckily, after a bit my legs loosened up and I thought we might be in for a pleasant little run.
HOWEVER. The one thing that I really can't cope with became a issue VERY early on. My stupid stomach started kicking up fits- to make a long story short I basically could not eat or drink without experiencing horrible cramping and moderate nausea. To cover 15 miles on an 86 degree day without being able to take in something is next door to impossible.

I managed to get to the 10k mark in fairly good form. I saw Sarah H and Sarah N since the course is all full of switchbacks and tricky turns. I tried to drink. I attempted to FORCE myself to have a blast because I really wanted to.

Pineland. You just go UP and DOWN. I don't think there are any flat areas! I actually had fun running through the fields- they are usually my least favorite part but I liked them this year. I suffered more in the woods- who knows why! It was just how the day played out. My legs felt pretty good but I did bonk hard at 12 because I just could not eat- it was a drag. However, I have had a few GREAT races this Spring and I'm not really concerned about one icky one (but I will complain anyway, hahaha!)

The final loop is about 5 miles or so and at that point I had to back way off any "pace" I was trying to hold- I could feel that I was entering med-tent territory and I thought that would be a really dumb idea during a race that was for nothing but fun! I did a lot of walking during those miles. I marveled at how much sweat I could produce. I concentrated really hard on not vomiting all over my shoes. (that took a lot of energy.) I had also given up on trying to have an amazing time and decided to redirect my energy into simply not dropping out because that was very tempting!

See me there? That is the pose of a strugglebus of a runner. Wow.

I finished. 2:21 or so, 9:07 pace which is actually nothing short of astonishing!

HAWT. SO HAWT.

I felt disgusting but I certainly have felt worse which is both awesome and disturbing. I tried to get on the ball and rehydrate but my stomach really didn't want to play. I quit running 100 times. I sat on a random table and had Eric take my shoes off of my filthy feet. #love

The pic does NOT do the dusty slimy legs justice! It was grosssssss.

I was hoping to stick around to see all of my friends make a victorious finish! But mostly I grouched around feeling not my best and complaining loudly to anyone who would listen.

I amused myself by taking unflattering sick looking selfies. I don't have to share them but why not!

I was very happy to see Sarah N run thru shortly after I finished. She finished looking really good which made me and my sick face jealous! Obviously eating chips pre race is her key to success! ;-)
Not too long after, Jocelyn finished the 50K and won her age group- apparently she is superhuman and impervious to heat- and an amazing trail runner as well! (she is also awesome- I was so glad to finally meet her in real life!)
Danielle had called it a day around the marathon mark because, like me, she could see the med tent beckoning (we have both been in the med tent. Don't need to do it again!!!) She promptly organized a sweet new running club for smart people who want to run maybe a mile, and then drink beer. I immediately joined and can NOT wait for our first drinking running club event!
Maddie zipped thru taking second in the 50 miler because she is amazing, she basically signed up that day which proves her badassery. She was actually so fast, even after 50 miles in the sauna that I almost missed her running thru the finish. So, so awesome!

(there were many other people who I cheered for! but in my depleted state I'm not realllllyyy sure who! sorry.)

I spent some time sitting clammily under a tree sipping gatorade and trying not to regurgitate it. Lovely. (and I totally win over my stomach because I did NOT barf!) I spent some quality time admiring my amazing finishers prize which was so large and incredible.  (and I was happy as always for the free Darn Tough socks! and I wasn't feeling up to drinking my two beers, booooooooooooooo.)

So large.

I made it long enough to watch Jamie finish her first 50K with the ever awesome Isaac- it was GREAT to see them after much too long!! (well, it has been forever for Jamie and her hubs Mike- I basically see Isaac at every race hahaha!)

WHEEEEE There goes Jamie and the best pacer Isaac!!!

 I really wanted to stay and watch Sarah E finish the 50 Miler but the suffering was too great and we decided to skeddadle. It's lame when the silly race at Pineland messes up the social part! Maybe I will just spectate next year :-(  (needless to say she crushed it- every time I saw her she appeared to be having the time of her life and she sprinted her way to an incredible first time FIFTY FUCKING MILE finish!!!)

Anyways, another Pineland in the books. It's really not easy to run there! I'm glad I made it to the finish and I am thankful that there was no vomming.
I might not have had a stellar day of running but I had a WONDERFUL time seeing so many of my running friends who I rarely have time to catch up with. They are a really great, caring and slightly insane (in the BEST way possible) people. It's great to see them and to see them running like a bunch of badasses!

I also got an excellent care package from my friend Leslie (YES, the Leslie who JUST BQ'd!!!! She might have had a lousy MCM but she got back on her fast feet and BQ's the shit out of VCM on Sunday. Incredible! And she sends ME a care package... #notworthy)
Anyway, care packages like this really cheer a girl up and make me appreciate my running friends all over again!

Amazing care package!!

That's it on the running front. More to come soon on my late Spring and Summer plans- I'm hoping not to fall off the face of the earth again this season. We shall see....