I felt the same level of anxiety before Washpool 50km as I did before my first ultra back in 2010, which was also a 50km. I've done a lot of ultras since then but I have had a long off season. My last ultra was back in November 2012, so 50km seemed like an awfully long way again. I wasn't terribly confident about my fitness over a longer distance as my longest training run was only 35km and left me with quite saw abs. I figure my abs are the body part taking the longest to recover from pregnancy given they were worked and stretched pretty hard for so long. At least for this 50km I didn't enlist a friend to drive around to every checkpoint with a car load of gear and food, I just enlisted my mom to babysit.
Getting to the start line on time proved to be the first hurdle of the day but MM managed to get us there with a few minutes to spare. I have never been this close to missing the start but with Verity waking several times during the night, I was a little slow to get moving this particular morning.
The course was as beautiful as I remembered and I was exhilarated to be back out taking part in an ultra. It didn't take long for my nerves to settle and I just enjoyed being out in such a beautiful part of the world. Upon reaching the first checkpoint I stopped and breast fed Verity. This was the best option as she isn't too keen on the bottle and I didn't want to leave mom with a screaming, dehydrated baby. I also would have had to pump at some point if I didn't feed her, so it seemed kinda pointless for mom to battle her with the bottle. It didn't take long and then I was on my way again, running down, down, down the big hill.
The next water stop wasn't long after the first checkpoint and then it was no water until the next checkpoint at about 35km, so maybe around 22km without water. This sounds manageable, but I think people tend to under estimate what they need as this is a very hot and exposed section of e course. I went through 2L and was empty a few km out from the next checkpoint but I figured that my hydration was just fine given the myriad toilet stops that I had to make.
I fed Verity again at the next checkpoint. Mom and MM (who had come third in the 25km) reported that she had been a very happy bub so that was a relief. My plan had been to pull the pin at this point if Verity was getting cranky or if I was moving too slow (as we still had a long drive back to Brissie and I didn't want to keep her out too late). I was very happy that I was feeling good and moving much faster than I expected. The feeding stop gave me a nice little break and MM got my pack ready for the last section.
When I did this race in 2011 I really struggled through this last section and I had expected that to happen again. As the kilometres kept ticking by I kept waiting to completely hit the wall but somehow my energy levels stayed just fine, something I have never experienced in a 50km. I always find myself really struggling in the last 5km so this was a very welcome change. I finished the race over an hour faster than I did in 2011 and was happy to be back with Verity. It felt like such a huge achievement for me. Although my time isn't fast in comparison to other people's, it is a time that I am super proud of as it is quite descent for me. I felt like I had a really good race and I'm really looking forward to the next one.
