Mission Accomplished: 50k pictures

I am officially an ultramarathoner (period). Owning that phrase still sends shivers down my spine. I was so overcome with emotion thinking about this phrase in the last 1/2 mile of my race that I started to cry. My throat started choking up, my shoulders tensed trying to hold back the tears, and all I could think was, "pull it together Katie they're going to take your picture at the finish line!" They say a picture is worth a thousand words... which is why I need many just begin to describe my experience running The Bear Chase 50k.

The morning started early with the setting of the moon...

and a beautiful sunrise over Bear Creek Lake
 (I ran up the hill on the right 2x during the race)

  The casual start line

Renzo had to wait an hour for me to finish the first loop. These are the friends he made at the start line :)

Eek! Seeing Renzo for the first time (mile 6)

 

Loving the trails and running through the creek

NOT loving the trails on the hot backstretch x2 (miles 14-18 and miles 27-31)

 The beautiful scenery of SW Denver

It was H-O-T, time for more sunscreen (mile 27)

Still having a great time (mile 27)

The aid stations ROCKED with runner volunteers.
How many  runners does it take to put a water pouch back in a backpack? (mile 27)

The aid stations also had awesome food - chips, cookies, skittles, mini sandwiches, fruit , pretzels -
and I really wanted a pickle, but had to know... sweet or dill? Thank goodness for dill pickles! (mile 29)

Pancakes after running 5 hours and 38 minutes!

The day after the 50k... still basking in the ultra glow while celebrating my 31st birthday.

And so the big question is... 8 months of training later with 2 barefoot marathons (one official, one as a training run) and a barefoot ultra under my belt for 2012, what now? I have already sworn to no marathons in 2013 as training ate into all of our hiking time this summer - but I truly found a passion for trail running during the 50k race. I came away uninjured, less sore than after a marathon, and time flies so much faster on the trails. As I wait for my running motivation to return, I have started doing more yoga, zumba and walking. No promises yet, but likely you'll find me back out on the trails in the spring training for yet another adventure. Stay tuned!