Le Grizz 50

An easy course, they said...
You'll PR, they promised...
50 miles of undulating gravel.
Ouch.

Le Grizz is one of the oldest 50 mile ultras in the United States. It's known for blazing course times and incredible scenery. Held in Western Montana in the heart of Fall, you're basically running in a postcard.

 

The course is simple.....run ten miles in one direction, turn around.....run fifteen miles in the opposite direction, turn around. Because the race was on a low-traffic rural road, your crew could follow you throughout the entire race.

 

 

 

I chugged along quite nicely for 25 miles....One foot in front of another.... A race can NEVER go perfectly. Around mile 26ish, I felt pain radiating from my groin / upper inner thigh down to my right knee. It wasn't crippling but mobility became rather limited. Jeff attempted massaging the muscles but let's just say that he should stick with engineering. At this point, I figured that I should stick with walk-run intervals....I'd walk for 1/10th of a mile and then run the rest (albeit slowly).  Yoshimi joined me for a short stretch between stations. The problem was that Yoshimi does best when running at a solid pace. Otherwise, he's far too distracted by every smell and sound. His lack of focus proved difficult so I didn't run him as much as planned....Don't feel too bad for him....He got an abundance of treats and met several new canine friends.

By mile 35, I was reduced to 50 percent run/walk intervals..... walk 1/4 mile, run 1/4 mile.... When a good jam would come on, I would attempt to run through the entire song. I cannot tell you what a boost the song, "Bohemian Rhapsody" provided.

Around mile 42, the pain had increased quite substantially and I was hobbling along SLOWLY. I wasn't even walking a reasonable pace. The pain that I was experiencing led to an altered gait which contributed to other problems (namely tight, sore hips).  Sometimes I would just run to certain landmarks that I could see up ahead (this mailbox or that bend in the road).

I DID set a PR in the 50 mile distance....a whopping seven minutes hahaha. After the race, I experienced soreness unlike anything before. I've never ran so much of a 50 miler before let alone on such unforgiving surfaces.

Fuel
2 scoops Tailwind (200 calories)
2 bottles Gatorade (320 calories)
3 small cans of Coke (270 calories)
Random goodies....a handful of potato chips, bite sized chocolate bar, a few gummies

 

A finish tastes delicious....and a bit like PBR

And now like a freaking insane person, I'm running a hilly road marathon in the morning....