The morning after...

So this weekend... I hung out in the woods for a while and ran around a bit... 32 miles later, I finished a task that to me had always seemed rather impossible.

Well, hello there ultramarathon! It's nice to meet you...

I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into. When a good friend of mine said that we should do the Wild Duluth 50k together, I immediately said, "WOOOO! Yes please!" and then sort of forgot about it because I was really just going along with the insane idea during the car ride. Ha.

But of course, the thought stuck with me. What would it be like? The Hercules "Go the Distance" song came to mind- "I can go the distance, I don't care how far, somehow I'll be strong. I know every mile will be worth my while"...

STOP.

REMIX.

Around mile 28 it went something like:

"WHO'S IDEA WAS THIS?!!!!!!!!????" and

"THIS IS BY FAR THE STUPIDEST THING YOU HAVE EVER TRIED TO DO. EVER!!!"

Needless to say, my body was desperate to stop. No more cookies, peanut butter sandwiches, grapes or Mountain Lightning (yes, this is a trail race, Mountain Dew is too 'high class') were going to make me feel like going any farther. Bless my crew-woman, "Just a 5k, Andrea, all you have left is a little more then a 5k". And I'm completely thinking, "5K MY ASS" "I don't want to run anymore, who wants to run anymore?"

But I couldn't stop. I had to finish. I was not about to let 5 and a half hours of trail running go down the tubes...

OH, BUT IT HURT SO BAD

Somehow, I chugged a little more Mountain Lightning (barf, but it was the 'nectar of the gods' on Sat.) and waddled up to Enger Tower, because it was all down-hill from there...

One would think down-hill would be great by then! WOOO HOOO. Rollll it down-hill! Heck yes!

Ah, not so much. It felt more like stabbing knives in my quads. Or like a 3 year old pushing really hard on a purple bruise on your leg and laughing because it makes you double over in pain. Yeah, something like that.

But I made it. Stumbled down the hill and crossed the finish line in Bayfront. I had two great friends there to congratulate me on finishing. No huge throngs of people. No loud cheering. Just a few happy faces and the volunteers for Bentleyville watching on with crazed looks on their faces...

And the joy of running became completely apparent as I woke up on Sunday and couldn't move.

Literally. Looked from side to side as I'm face down in my pillow and thought to myself, "I can't get up" Like the movie "The Christmas Story" where the younger brother is wrapped up in 3 snow-suits and can't put his arms down and when he gets outside, he falls over and is rolling all over the ground and yelling to Ralphie, "I can't get up!! Ralphie, I can't get up!" Yeah. Something like that...

Suits me right. I kind of asked for it...

I just love running

Cheers!

Go do something you've never done and be happy about it