Galena Sky Trail Race {May 19, 2018} - My First Ultramarathon!

Galena Sky Trail Race

Galena, IL//8:00am

8 hour timed event/trail loop ultra

Total distance: 37.86 miles in exactly 8:00:00 

-24th overall of 86 total finishers (93 registered/7 DNS)

-5th out of 32 female finishers (37 registered/5 DNS)

-1st in the F30-39 Age Group

(My 8th race of the 2018 season)

This race was initially informally on my "radar" thanks to the beauty of Facebook advertising. It was popping up in my feed at what felt like a daily frequency. Galena is a beautiful place to visit and the pictures on their Facebook page were pretty enticing. The race director is Michele Hartwig of Ornery Mule Racing - they also put on the Hennepin Hundred in October.  We love the Hennepin event in the Wells household - Clint ran the 100 in 2016 as his first-ever 100-miler and then we went back in 2017 for him to run the 50-miler. As a spectator, I was SO impressed with the event - it was basically like a giant party at which everyone had a great time and became instant comrades because of the shared experiences. Earlier this spring I (pretty much jokingly!) said to Clint that the Galena Sky race was on my radar and that it looked pretty awesome...not really intending to actually DO it, but just stating the fact that it did look awesome and that IF I was even able to run an ultra-distance event I would be tempted to do this one.  

The event was advertised as an 8-hour and 4-hour timed looped ultra. The course was a 2.75-mile loop on trails at the Chestnut Mountain Ski Resort (read: FLAT land....HAHAHA!) that participants were to run as many times as they could in the time allotted. Originally it was advertised as 3 miles (and then the night before the race the race directors measured the course and it ended up being 2.75 miles). I told Clint that maybe, just maybe, I could shoot for 11 loops/33 total miles as my goal...I wasn't planning on running for the entire 8 hours (because I didn't think I would be able to do so), but thought it would be pretty amazing if I could somehow muscle my way through an ultra-distance.

We had planned to spend Mother's Day (the weekend prior to this race) with Clint's mom and dad. I wanted to plan to see my own mom and sister sometime around Mother's Day and reached out to them to see if they were free the following weekend - they were. The wheels in the Wells house started turning a bit. We knew that my parents' home was closer to the Galena area than our home was - and that they are great babysitters for Gabe. What if...we were to drive up to their home Friday after work, celebrate Mother's Day together as a family with dinner that night, sleep at my parents', and then drive up to Galena early the next morning while leaving Gabe with my parents all day?

My sister (who lives not far from my parents) added to the weekend-plan-fun by planning to have her daughter/our niece Charlee's birthday party on Sunday that weekend instead of the following weekend (which would've been closer to her actual birthday) - meaning we could pack a ton of fun into one weekend instead of driving up to their area two weekends in a row. 

Truth be told, as we considered registering, I kept coming back to the SWEET TRUCKER HAT that had been advertised as race swag. They had advertised that once the race shirts were gone, "late registrants" (after April 6) were not guaranteed a shirt but would instead receive a hat. I e-mailed the race director (seriously...ha!) to ensure that I WOULD get a hat IF I were to register (as opposed to a shirt). She assured me that they had PLENTY of hats and I would certainly get one. My second question was regarding packet pickup - IF packet pickup was available race morning and not just the night before, it would be ideal (because of our dinner plans to celebrate Mother's Day and because of the still-somewhat-long drive to Galena from my parents' we weren't planning to go up the night before the race). Once I got confirmation that, in addition to being able to obtain the hat I was lusting after, we could indeed get our race packets the morning of the race - we signed up. Please note - my decision to sign up had absolutely nothing to do with putting in the "appropriate" training for such an event.

OK, as many of you know, I did run a marathon in April...so, I did get in a few "long runs" (most notably a 20-miler a few weeks before my marathon and then the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon itself.  So, it wasn't like I was completely UNtrained...rather, I was just "minimally" trained for something of "ultra"-distance. Maybe, though, given my kind of anxiety-intense spring semester at school and in life in general...just maybe this was THE way for me to do my first ultramarathon - kind of "unplanned." See, there's no way to stress about something if it's a spur-of-the-moment thing, right?!  We actually bit the bullet and registered on Wednesday, May 2 - 16 days before the race.

I don't think it really hit me that I had actually registered for an "ultramarathon" until a few days prior to the race. It all seemed kind of "funny" and surreal until that point. We were planning to keep it a secret (#secretrace ha!!) until the morning of the race. I didn't want to put any pressure on myself to actually complete the "entire" race - my loose plan was to complete the 50k distance (or slightly over; whatever number of laps got me the closest to a minimum of 50k) and then I would just drop after that and wait for Clint to finish (Clint is perpetually ALWAYS trained for an ultramarathon so this somewhat-random decision to do an 8-hour event wasn't nearly as "crazy" for him as it was for me).

The week of the race, Clint and I went out to COMLARA for a 10k trail run (I posted a pic of this on Instagram with the hashtag "#crammingforthetest"). This, along with a 5k-ish portion of the recent Lake Run Half Marathon, was really the extent of my trail running this spring. As I was running along with Clint that morning I knew I would have to be very cognizant of LIFTING my feet higher when I ran so as not to trip over roots or holes or other trail items. I tend to be a bit of a "shuffler" - NOT a good recipe for successful trail running!

Tuesday of race week we ran our 6.2 miles on trails, Wednesday I ran 5 on roads, and Thursday I ran 4 miles. Friday I took a rest day as we traveled to my parents' after work.

Friday after both Clint and I got off of work, we loaded up our vehicle and set out for my parents' house. We had a great dinner at my parents' house (Hawaiian burgers - ham and pineapple! - were my choice for my pre-race meal) and spent time with Gabe's Gram and Pa and Uncle Danny, Aunt Megan and cousins Macy and Charlee. We tried to head to bed early-ish, knowing we had to leave super early in the morning to head to the race in Galena. For some reason we had it in our heads that it was about an hour away. In reality it was more like an hour and forty five minutes away. Ooops!

The race start was 8am, so we left my parents' house (with a still-sleeping Gabe in bed there!) around 5:15am. Our drive was pretty smooth - who else is out on the roads at that time on a Saturday morning?!  The Royal Wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle was being live streamed that morning...so guess what I had fired up on my iPhone as Clint drove?! Yup - not ashamed to admit I am a sucker for that crap. I will say - the sermon that was preached and the music that was performed during the ceremony was all pretty amazing. I am glad I had the opportunity to watch!

We arrived to the race site just before 7:00. It was very foggy and kind of ethereal-looking. The surreal appearance of the setting was quite appropriate for my mental state - was I REALLY about to embark on my first ultramarathon?!

I commented to Clint - "Change the M to a P and this hill is named for me!" HA!

We found the registration area inside a hotel at the resort and gathered our numbers, Clint's shirt, my (!!!!!) hat, and a bunch of samples of Squirrel's Nut Butter anti-chafe and Kramp Krusher electrolyte chews (these were kinda tasty!). We also ended up buying Clint a hat - couldn't say "no" to the amazing trucker hat for less than $20!

Our personal "aid corner"

We then headed back to our vehicle and gathered up our boxes and bags of gear. We hauled it all over to the aid station that was set up at the beginning of the trail loop. A large blue tarp had been set out for runners to lay out belongings (clothing items, extra shoes, nutrition items, etc.) that we would be able to visit as we passed by on each loop.  As it turned out, we actually would pass by the aid station area twice on each loop - once right at the beginning and then once around the halfway point of each loop. Convenient! Clint and I loved the fact that we didn't really need to carry anything with us since we would have access to nutrition items every few miles.

We were one of the first to arrive, so we were able to score a corner of the tarp - prime real estate! This meant, we were able to access our items at the edge of the tarp very easily after each loop and we didn't need to climb over other items into the center of the tarp or anything like that. Sweet!

"Rookies Ridge" - seemed appropriate for me!

As we busied ourselves setting out our items, visiting the bathroom, and taking pictures, the area began to fill with runners.  I've always been impressed with the generally laid-back demeanor of most ultra-runners. Additionally, I was reminded that I really don't have nearly enough tattoos to REALLY fit in with this crowd - yet. HA!

A girl who had set up her gear on the tarp near us noticed our Often Running/Normal IL jerseys and told us she was from Heyworth. Hooray for Central IL!

I had asked Clint to run the first loop with me - and had clearly stated that after that point I was completely fine with him doing "whatever." He is obviously much more skilled at this ultramarathon business than I am and is capable of running really WELL and placing high. Spoiler alert - he went on to run EIGHT loops (22 miles!) with me!

As we went out on our first loop, I noted that I was the first female. I kind of laughed about this to Clint, stating that I was fully aware that I had NO business being out there in that position and that I was sure it would change before long. I rationalized with myself that I wasn't really going out planning on running the full 8 hours and, therefore, didn't really need to "pace myself" for that expectation. My only goal was to complete a 50k-ish.  With the 2.75-mile looped course, this meant I needed to shoot for 12 loops for 33 total miles. I estimated that this would take me 6 or just over 6 hours (but, obviously, I didn't really know).

We had a great time running that first loop - as anyone who has run both knows, trail mile pace doesn't really compare to road pace. Our first mile was run at a 9:39 pace and our second mile (always the slowest mile for me of every loop, because of the terrain!) was at a 10:07 pace.  The weather was gorgeous at this point - slightly cool, overcast, PERFECT for long-distance running.  Our first two loops were very comfortable, with mile paces ranging from 9:39-11:43 (this includes aid station stops in there every 2.75 miles of course). We joked to each other about the fact that "normal" couples go out for dinner and/or a movie as a get-away from kiddos. We, on the other hand, left our child with a set of grandparents in order to "enjoy" (or suffer during!) a date day on the trails. Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. This was a really great way for us to (re)connect.

Our first loop seemed to fly by. It was clear to me that, as I got tired, the terrain would be quite difficult but not impossible. The loop boasted a very steep grassy climb about a quarter mile in (dubbed "Cuss Hill" by the race directors). During our first loop I wondered out loud to Clint if I would be climbing up the darn thing on my hands and knees by the end (I did get close, but I didn't ever need to actually climb up with the aid of my hands).  Following this climb, there was a short chunk of road running (another quarter mile or so), followed by a majority of the course being contained inside wooded areas on trails. The trails were never really flat - mostly rolling hills with a couple of steep portions.

Toward the end of the loop, the trail takes you to a clearing and this clearing is the harbinger of arguably the WORST part of the loop - Crazy Horse Climb. Basically, the course runs UP a grassy ski hill. Not only was it a huge ascent, but it the grass was long and itchy, there were tons of bugs, and there was no shade cover. UGH!!! After you crest this hill, though, you are greeted by the timing mats that mark the end of the loop - you simply run down a bit and celebrate A COMPLETED LOOP as you cross the mats and then run up a bit to the aid station.

From the very first loop, we walked up the ascents. This is a weird paradigm shift for me - prior to engaging in this ultrarunning business, "running" means "running." When I run a race, even a marathon, I really don't ever walk unless I feel like there is no other option (read: I am physically unable to continue running). However, Clint (and others) had advised me that this "running means running" notion really only applies to road races or shorter trail races. Saving your quads by walking up the ascents (or power hiking, really) is really a great strategy, according to many, and this proved to be prudent for me as well.

We crossed the timing mat after our first loop together, with smiles from both of us and a smack on the race banner hanging over the timing mat by Clint.  We powered up the little hill toward the aid station and stopped for a few seconds to grab a drink and continued on, down a slope and then UP-UP-UP stupid old Cuss Hill. The second loop went smoothly - it was kind of fun to have things be predictable after the first loop. Honestly, I really get a kick out of looped courses. Some people may find them boring - but I really do enjoy them. This was my second experience with a looped course - the first being the 8-loop Last Chance BQ Marathon in Geneva that I ran in 2015.

After our second loop together, we visited the aid station and I snapped a quick pic - time stamped 8:56am. I remember feeling pretty elated that I was actually DOING this thing! Things felt genuinely easy and comfortable at this point. I made sure to drink a full cup of water with Tailwind after each loop and I also used my (favorite) Huma gels regularly.

Two loops down! At this point I was still in disbelief that I was REALLY "doing it!"

As I tend to do to get me through "things," I started making deals with myself. I decided that I would post quick race updates to Instagram after every two loops I completed (distraction tactic...ha!). I made my first "in race" update using the picture above. I would also like to take this time to point out the fact that I had decided to sport my brand new race swag (THE lusted-after HAT!) during the race. As anyone who has run numerous races knows - this is kind of a "newbie" move. You aren't really "supposed to" wear the item (which is typically a race shirt) until after you successfully complete the event and "earn" it. Well - I didn't care. I was WEARING the HAT! Ha! I just had to be EXTRA sure that I would force myself to finish a respectable distance to really earn that hat!

Things went relatively smoothly for the next few loops...we power hiked the hills, ran most of the rest, enjoyed the fresh air and each others' company (and I continued to feel like I was doing something "wrong" because we were pretty sure I was one of the first, if not the first, women still at this point in the race." The temps stayed relatively cool and comfortable (and the sky was overcast) until mile 16 or so. Then...things started to get real. Real HOT. As you can imagine, this also added to the overall challenge of the situation.

Four loops done! (9:55AM)

Five loops done! (10:25AM)

Six loops done! (10:55AM)

Eight loops done! (12:01PM)

After eight loops (22 miles!) together, I told Clint to go ahead without me. I was definitely FEELING every bit of those twenty-two miles and HILLS! I pointed out to him that this was the LONGEST run we had been on together since I-don't-know-when! I was really surprised (and happy!) that he had chosen to run so far with me - talk about a self-sacrificing man!

I went on to run the next three loops by myself. Guys, it started to get EVEN HOTTER!!!  While I slightly lamented the fact that I wasn't strong enough to hang longer with Clint, I was also proud of what I was doing. This was HARD WORK and, let's face it, I was't exactly well-trained.  It was fun chatting a bit with random people on the trail - ultrarunners for the most part, are so friendly and fun to talk to. Camaraderie during any kind of race is pretty fabulous!

After ten loops...officially in "ultra" territory!!

At some point, I don't really remember when, I tripped over a root and my body got thrown forward into the air pretty hard. I ended up being able to right myself without biting it, but I was totally jarred. I made a crazy loud noise as my feet came stomping down onto the ground dramatically and I yelled, and then laughed at myself. A few runners directly in front of and behind me yelled to check in on me but I assured everyone I was "fine!" It was borderline embarrassing - but I was so thankful I didn't actually fall! I am actually pretty surprised that was my only near miss of a fall!

At some point on either my 10th or 11th loop (I won't lie, some parts of my loops are kind of a mental blur), as I neared the first crossing of the aid station area on that respective loop, I heard a child crying off in the distance. A male voice behind me said, "Not mine!" I echoed back, "not mine either!" I then looked behind me to see that the voice belonged to a familiar face - Eric Swanson, a runner I know from the LeRoy area. We ended up running and chatting together for the next mile or so which was AWESOME. It was a totally welcome distraction for a while! He let me know that he was running the 4-hour option and was a few loops in at that point. He told me that he had run into Clint a while prior to that and that he seemed to be doing well. Eric seemed very chipper and like he was running strong - great work, Eric! And - thanks for the company!

After I wrapped up my 11th loop, I entered the aid station area very excitedly knowing I had only ONE LOOP REMAINING between me and my big goal of 50k! I was VERY surprised to see Clint there waiting for me! After he finished his 11th loop, he ended up just chilling in the aid station area to wait for me so that he could run my final loop with me and be with me when I completed my first 50k. Pretty cool!

I fueled up and readied my brain and my body to get started on that 12th (and maybe final) loop. While I was confident that I could've finished it on my own, I was so grateful that I didn't have to and that I would have Clint with me to get through those final miles as I worked my way through to 50k+!

That last loop (understandably!) was absolutely the hardest. I was tired. And hot. And just kind of "over" running at that point! I definitely walked more than I would've liked on that loop...but I was determined to do whatever I needed to do to get to my goal of completing 12 loops and covering that 50k distance.  My watch read 31 miles at 6:05:39. I felt a big sense of pride when I saw the mile reading click over to 31 miles! If we are getting really technical, it's actually possible that my "real" 50k time was a bit faster than that because my Garmin readings were almost a mile off at the end (the official distance I covered at the end of the race, according to the final race standings was 0.78 mile longer than what my Garmin read). Doesn't really matter, of course, just interesting for me to think about.

This is my Garmin display after 12 loops...after I officially was able to call myself a 50k-er!

After Clint and I crossed that 12th loop together, we took a quick pic (of course!) and I sent him off on his 13th loop.  

Ultramarathoners! (2:28pm/ 6:28 on the race clock)

I allowed myself to take my first real break of the day...first order of business was removing my shoes. I could tell that I was developing some blisters on both feet. Once my shoes were removed I found two blisters - one large one on the outside of my left big toe and one smaller one on one of the small toes on my right foot. I put some sandals on, drank some more Tailwind, and ate some boiled potatoes and let myself breathe. 

I assessed my body - sure, I was tired but I also wasn't "dead." I thought to myself that perhaps I should try to walk one more loop.  At this point there were still about 90 minutes left on the race clock. I was fairly certain I would be able to cover the 2.75 mile loop, walking in my sandals, in 90 minutes or less.

So, I grabbed my cell phone and set out. My plan was to snap a few pictures of the course for posterity - and I also made a few phone calls (HA!). I called my sister and chatted for a bit, which was kinda fun. 

Pics from the course....

Somewhere in the woods...

Some portions of the course had scenic overlooks boasting great views of the Mississippi River, naturally my iPhone pics don't come close to doing the views "justice"

This is a view of the course about halfway through the loop - the first time you approach the aid station on the loop

I asked another runner (our sorta-friend from Heyworth!) to snap this nerdy pic of me
toward the end of the loop that I walked

This sign said "Sorry (not sorry" in the middle of "Crazy Horse Climb"

This was my watch display after 13 loops (actual mileage was more like 35.75 at this point) at 3:27pm

When I finished my 13th loop (successfully completed in sandals, might I add!), I decided I still wasn't "done." There was still just over 30 minutes left on the race clock...plenty of time to get in a bit more mileage! So, at 3:15 the race directors stopped allowing runners to go out on the looped course and instead runners were directed out to a shorter out and back portion where they were allowed to complete as many passes as they could before the clock clicked over to 4pm, thus racking up more mileage to count toward their final totals.

Since I was still upright and really doing "fine," I decided to keep on keepin' on! I set out and power walked two out-and-back loops. As I did so, I was able to look out and watch Clint near the timing mat as he wrapped up his 14th loop.

Clint under the ski lifts, nearing the end of his 14th loop

Once he wrapped up his 14th loop, he came out to the out-and-back portion and we passed one another a few times.

As I turned around on my final out-and-back, I had to stop for a silly selfie with this guy - he was actually in a full viking costume earlier on in the day when he served as the starter for the race

After I completed 2 walked loops, there wasn't quite enough time on the clock to walk one more loop - but there WAS enough time to run. I decided to give it a go...and ran that ~0.68 mile out-and-back portion, tired body, sandals and all and crossed the timing mat right as my watch read 8:00:00.

My watch was a little off, because I was able to turn around and wait about a minute to watch Clint finish up his final out-and-back - they pulled the cord on the timing mat the second after he crossed! I was happy for him that his last out-and-back mileage was able to therefore count toward his total!

Go, Clint, Go!

WOOOOOT!

Dang, that's a lotta miles! (The official race results actually had me at 37.86 miles - we all know Garmins can get wonky out there in the woods, so who knows)

These sandals served these feet well for 5+ crazy miles of mostly walking and some (like 1.2 miles of) running!

EARNED!

After we collected our (awesome!) medals, we cleaned up our aid station belongings and headed inside the hotel to the post-race dinner. We hung around for a while waiting for the awards ceremony...but they ended up having a debacle with the results that wasn't able to be remedied that night....so, we (and everyone else) ended up heading out after about an hour and a half or so. The results were e-mailed out after a day or so....and we were excited to see that Clint earned second in his age group and I earned first in mine! Clint was also 10th overall out of 86 - just imagine how well he would've done if he didn't hang out with me for 25 of those miles!!

My neat age group award (a magnet) - they mailed them out about a week after the race. 

One big perk of Ornery Mule races is the great race photographs that are taken and made available to participants! Here are a few of my favorites from the professional photos taken:

Race Start!

Walking the final out-and-backs...

HA! Finish line feels (this was after 13 loops before I started the final short out and backs)

I can't lie - I still really can't believe I actually completed an ultra! What a crazy-fun "club" to now be a part of. I mean...maybe I am not REALLY part of it until I run a 50- or 100-miler, though. Hmmmm....

My first shout out, as always, goes to Mitch. THANK YOU for letting me be a part of the Often Running Racing Team. This is one of the best parts of my life - and I am grateful for the friendship and support! Thanks to my teammates for the fun and love and camaraderie. Thanks to Clint for the endless advice and "coaching"...and for running 25 miles with me and sacrificing what could have been an even BETTER race performance for you on this day! Thanks to my parents for "babysitting" Gabe so his mama and dada could experience a running-date-day! Thanks to Saucony for the always-dependable gear (my new Peregrine trail shoes were amazing on race day!).

What's next?!

I am hoping to recover decently from this little "endeavor" and get some speed back - I am looking forward to getting back at some track workouts and re-focusing on my short game this summer (unless I get myself stressed out and hurt again).

I am planning to be at the following events this summer (as usual, our summer revolves around running :)):
-Toluca Double Diamond Dash (Clint and I were top male and female at this event last summer! While it would certainly be fun to re-live that, I don't think we will have a repeat of that this year :))

-Steamboat 15k

-Downs Freedom 5k

-Park2Park 5-miler

-Dog Days 5k

-The Bix 7 (it will be my fifteenth consecutive Bix!!)

-Evergreen Lake 5k

This summer I will be helping out as a leader at Heat Wave for my 4th summer (can NOT even wait for this! I love Heat Wave!!) and the Wells Family will be helping out at as many Kids Run for Fun events as we can.

Moving into the fall, I hope to be able to hit up another "longer" event. I am not sure yet what that will look like...BUT my sister let me know a few days ago that a new event was just announced the weekend of my birthday (the race is the day before my birthday - Saturday, October 27) -the  Hawkeye Fallout 50k. Apparently it is on the same course as the Hawkeye 50k that she ran in April, however the October event runs in the opposite direction on the 2-loop 25K course. Might be a fun birthday adventure...we'll see. (Here, I could ask myself What Would Carol Do?! I think the answer would be "Say yes to adventure!" HAHA!). I have also considered doing the 50-miler at the Hennepin Hundred event earlier in October...or training for another "fast" marathon and running Indy Monumental again in November. Who knows. We'll see what the summer brings...

I have some decisions to make, yes.  But, until then...bring on the summer! Here's to running for FUN and spending time with great people while doing so!