Possum's Revenge 52 Miler (Race Recap)

Graford, TX

Saturday, May 22

Weather - Overcast and humid

We had originally signed up to run this in 2020, and when the race gave us the opportunity to roll our entry over to this year, we jumped on the opportunity. I had planned on doing the 69 miler for the amazing buckled, but a week out, I opted to drop down to the 52 miler.

Most of our friends that were signed up last year opted to join us, and we were excited to hit the trails! I had planned to run the 69 miler with Lesley, and even though I had dropped distances, we planned to stick together since our races started at the same time.

Race Day

I had the alarm set for 4:15, but shockingly, I woke up before the alarm went off. Since we had arrived so late the night before, I wanted to be sure I had time to get ready and take a quick shower before heading out. I had laid out most of my stuff, but wanted to double check my gear before leaving. Even though I was "only" running 52 miles, I still planned on having a drop bag with a change of clothes - mostly because I was starting in a sleeveless top and I wasn't sure if I was going to have my underarm chafing.

Thankfully, we were staying very close to the start line, and the map that was included was helpful in getting to the start line - especially since it was pitch black! We parked the car with plenty of time to find out where to leave my drop bag and use the bathroom a few times. I wasn't sure how dark it was going to be when we started (at 6:00), so I had my headlamp ready to go. Lesley found us before the race briefing and I got to meet her husband. (As a side note, Lesley is really tall, and her husband is even taller - 6'4"!)

Pre-race selfie!

Loop 1 (4:34:46)

Lesley convinced me that I could start without actually needing my headlamp, and she was right. She thought that even though it had been raining for a week, that the trail would be pretty dry - and at least the sand wouldn't be as bad. Within a mile, I was ecstatic that I had dropped distances. It was so humid, and the trail was way different than I expected. There was sand. Tree roots. Rocks. More climbing than I thought there would be. I was in a great mood because I was able to spend time with Lesley AND I was no longer worried about cutoffs, nor did I have to run nearly 70 miles.

The plan was to take it easy, and keep the pace where Lesley would be on pace for a finish. We had a blast chatting and the first loop went by without anything exciting happening. I don't think I even took any pictures the first loop. A guy named Eric latched onto us early in - he was also running the 52 miler. He kept up with us until the second to last aid station in the loop, where he said he was going to hang back and get more fuel.

We saw Ben a few times, and he was looking good the first loop.

Loop 2 (5:15:46)

We were in and out of the start/finish pretty quick after the first loop. Slowed down a bit, but not by too much. Lesley was starting to suffer a bit more, she was having some breathing issues. The other distances had started at staggering times after us, and the first person we saw that I knew was Lisa! Lesley knew a TON of people on the course (which makes sense, the race was only a few hours from where she lives). 

I finally took some pictures during this loop, although I didn't get any great shots of just how technical the trails actually were.

Because of the "complicated" route that was a lot of "crazy 8's" and loops, we saw people we knew! First was Mike, who was running the 17 miler, and then later we ran into Annette and Maureen - who were also running the 17 miler.

Every time I saw this I thought it looked like Jason's mask - scary!

This also looked like a scary cactus, haha

I wasn't sure that Lesley was going to continue. By mile-ish 32 she was in pretty rough shape. She said she was taking it aid station by aid station, but I wasn't super optimistic. We walked a LOT towards the end of this loop. I had noticed I was chafing under my arms mid-loop, so I planned on swapping shirts after coming in. The Colorado friends were all hanging out waiting for me (dawwww) and got some pictures.

Not a great picture...

This is better... I'm happy to see people!

Lesley veered off to chat with her husband and I opted to have a beer with my friends before heading back out for my last loop.

Loop 3 (5:29:31)

Lesley decided to go back out, which was nice! Between all of the walking and the extended aid station breaks, she was really going to need to pick it up to stay on pace for a finish. We had banked enough time that a brisk walk was fine. We were a few miles into our loop when we saw two girls walking towards us - on a section where there shouldn't have been two-way traffic. They were running the 52K and had missed the turn off for the finish line! We offered to let them stick with us until we could get them back to where they missed the turn. They were pretty upset about the additional mileage, and commented that we walked really fast. We got them on their way, and we continued on. We hit the first aid station of the loop and Lesley was in pretty rough shape. She still headed out, but we were really going to need to move it. We had walked the whole first 6.5 mile section, and continued walking.

About halfway to the next aid station, she decided to drop. We were at a trailhead that was accessible by car, so she used my phone to call her husband to pick her up. Once I was confident that she was going to be ok, I headed back in to finish things up. After walking so long I was in the mood to run, and the rest of the race went by pretty quick. I was in and out of aid stations fast and feeling good! At this point, the main goal was to try to finish before it got too dark so my headlamp time would be limited.

When I returned to the same aid station where Lesley had dropped, Maureen, Annette & Lisa were there! They told me that Ben had just been there maybe 10 minutes earlier... That boosted my spirits so I headed out in a run to see if I could catch him. I saw him sitting at the final aid station and I figured it would motivate him to get moving if he saw me come in, but he still sat there. I grabbed a cup of coke and told him I would see him at the finish line. I had to use my head lamp the last couple miles since I was in a wooded area. The girl who left right before me was someone we had met at Rocky Raccoon a few years ago - she apparently hadn't planned on being out that late as she was using her phone for light!

I ran pretty strong into the finish - and everyone was STILL waiting for me to come in!! It was really sweet.

Not QUITE as cool as the buckle, but still pretty nifty.

I had a beer, and Lesley had brought me a burger and fries (isn't she sweet??) It was another 15-20 minutes before Ben came in, and I think he was irritated that I hadn't waited and/or run with him for those few miles. He asked if I could come back with a battery for his Kogalla, so we would need to come back at some point.

Official Time - 15:20:03

Overall Place - 17/23

Gender Place - 5/8

Garmin Time - 15:19:51

Miles 1-5 - 15:34, 16:44, 16:36, 15:28, 14:40

Miles 6-10 - 17:34, 18:02, 17:21, 15:24, 18:01

Miles 11-15 - 17:27, 16:53, 18:28, 14:56, 18:27

Miles 16-20 - 16:02, 19:30, 18:08, 17:24, 17:54

Miles 21-25 - 16:51, 18:24, 21:46, 18:54, 17:55

Miles 26-30 - 18:47, 21:35, 17:18, 20:08, 17:43

Miles 31-35 - 23:26, 20:58, 16:45, 28:03, 20:39

Miles 36-40 - 20:39, 20:36, 19:17, 21:56, 26:57

Miles 41-45 - 21:24, 23:54, 16:04, 19:34, 15:10

Miles 46-50ish - 17:13, 15:48, 17:30, 17:25, 12:36

 

Ariel ran the 8 miler and did really well! She got 22nd overall and 7th female! She actually could have probably been a half dozen people up, but she ran into Ben and walked with him for a bit. Sharing the below picture of her with our friend Greg, who also did the 8 miler. Aren't they adorable?! 

Thoughts:

• The medal/buckle was what enticed us to run this in the first place. I'm a bit jealous of Ben's buckle, but the medal is cool too.
• Shirt is meh - cute pattern, but a unisex cotton tee, so I'll never wear it.
• TROT puts on amazing events! Great aid stations and good trail markings. I doubt I'll run THIS race again, but if there is ever a great airfare deal and car rental costs ever go back down I'd do another event with them.

Week in Review (May 11 - May 17)

Tuesday (13,967 steps) - Work in the office. Took Pika for a short walk after work. That's it?

Wednesday (20,477 steps) - Work from home. I went for a run late morning that was "fast" and pretty amazing! I've been working with Abby for about a month now, and I think I am actually starting to see some changes in performance. Took Pika for a walk at lunch.

Did a strength video, then another Pika walk after work.

Thursday (21,597 steps) - Work from home. 

Went for a "long" run mid-morning while A was at school. The first 5ish were pretty darn great, and then a mile that wasn't, but finished strong. A 7 mile run midweek? Who am I? I'd love it if runs were "mostly" good like this. Picked A up at school and took her to get her first vaccine shot! We had to go to a sketchy neighborhood and the clientele was a bit "rough around the edges." The other kids that were there were all excited to get vaccinated, however.

After work I headed down to watch A's track meet. Sadly, I missed her first event, the 1600, by about 10 minutes, sadness. She ran really well at all her events, and even won her heat of the 400m!

We didn't feel like making dinner, so we picked up Qdoba. Since I hadn't had time to walk Pika earlier in the day, I took her for a nice evening walk to the lake after dinner.

Friday (21,459 steps) - Work in the office. Met up with the gang for a walk at Wash Park and coffee before heading into the office. Went for a walk at lunch and found a new (to me) pedestrian bridge I hadn't used before, so that was neat.

After work I had to rush home and pack - we were going to be going on our first camping trip of the season with Shelly, and I hadn't even packed. Luckily Ben and Ariel were still finalizing stuff as well, and we got out the door around 6:30. Thankfully, it is still early season so there wasn't any traffic heading up to Dillon. We had enough time to grab a beer at Outer Range, then we picked up a late dinner at Whole Foods.

Ben backed in perfect the first try, and we were able to get settled in pretty fast. We ate dinner and started a campfire, but I got cold, so we went into the camper and played a few games of Uno before heading to bed (very late).

Saturday (22,909 steps) - Initially, I woke up right around sunrise (just like at home), but after using the bathroom and taking Pika out, I was able to go back to sleep - staying in bed until 9?? We didn't really have any plans for the morning, but headed into Breckenridge to go to Clint's for breakfast, then decided to walk to see Isak the troll! From town it was a decent walk, a few miles round trip.

I definitely wanted to get in an easy run/hike. I had mapped out about a 4.5 mile loop on the trail system behind our campground. I was actually familiar with all these trails since they are part of the Run the Rockies course, which I've run multiple times. I was surprised the trails were in such good shape. We took it super easy and had a great time!

Thankfully we didn't get rained on. We headed into town to go back to Outer Range, where our friend Lee met us for a drink. On the way back to the campground we stopped at the grocery store to get hot dogs to grill, some sides, and of course, s'mores!

Lee joined us for a bit, but had to head home early because he had an early shift. We enjoyed another campfire, and more Uno! (Which by the way, Ben is new to playing and seems to think Ariel and I were making up rules... "why did I get skipped?" haha)

Sunday (11,715 steps) - Realized that check out was later than we thought, so we took our time getting ready. Took Pika for a nice walk on the lower trails, then headed back to Clint's in town for more coffee and pre-birthday cake!

Opted to head home before it got too late, what a gorgeous morning!

Once we got to the other side of the tunnel, the weather shifted and it was foggy and rainy all the way home. We stopped at Over Yonder for a beer, then once home we unpacked everything. Took Pika for a walk, that's it? Glad we didn't get home super late.

Monday (11,423 steps) - Work from home. Took Pika for a walk at lunch. Had to take A to her track meet, and figured I could use my hot spot between events to work so I wouldn't have to take the afternoon off. Why is there a meet at 2 pm in the second to last week of school? A ran the 1600 first and had a REALLY strong race. Was super happy that she ran another PR, 6:52!!

Immediately after their event there was a lightning delay of a half hour. We sat in the car while we waited to see what was going to happen. After 45 minutes of lightning and POURING rain, her coach decided to cancel the rest of their races. A was only supposed to run the 800, so she wasn't too upset about it. It ended up raining all night... Ben picked up Indian food for pre-birthday dinner, and it was delicious!!

Stats:

• 123,547 steps
• 16.47 miles run
• 0 minutes of rowing
• 10 minutes of Peloton
• 20 minutes of strength training

Week in Review (May 4 - May 10)

Tuesday (27,442 steps) - Work in the office. After work I had decided I would go for a run in Bear Creek on the sidewalks. Since it's been so rainy I wanted to stay off the trails. I had planned on 6 miles, but I felt so good at three miles that I ran for another mile before I turned around. The weather was absolutely perfect for running, and this was the longest midweek run I've done since... last summer?

I didn't actually get rained on, so that was nice. I went to Green Mountain to grab a quick beer with Maureen before heading home for burgers & Batman Sour's 7th birthday!

After many MANY years of wearing the same collar, he was gifted a snazzy new one - with a bowtie! He looks soooo adorable in it :) 

Wednesday (22,935 steps) - Work from home. I went for a run in the morning, and once again, I selected a road route since it's still been wet. Another good run! Dare I say the diet/sleep changes are starting to kick in? (I hope, I hope!) Then I took Pika for a walk. 

Did a lower body strength video. Left work a few minutes early so that I could head down to Ariel's first track meet of the season! She was put into the 1600 and 3200 - on the same night! I was there early, so I went for a walk before her first race. She did amazing in the 1600 and ran her first official sub 7 mile! I went for another walk while I was waiting for Ben to get there. She also ran very well in the 3200, and set a new PR of 15:18. 

Ben left to pick up special beer for Cinco de Mayo, and I took A for a froyo reward. Shockingly, we had tacos for dinner.

Thursday (25,208 steps) - Work from home. Went for a run at lunch that was ALSO pretty amazing! I ran on the south side of the lake and jumped on the trails because I thought they may have dried out. They had NOT, so I didn't stay on them for very long. Took Pika for a walk. 

After work Ben and I took Pika for another walk. Delicious dinner of sausage and veggies again.

Friday (19,794 steps) - Work in the office. Met Pete & Kristin & Christy at Wash Park for a walk and then coffee. First day of covering for Nicole while she's on vacation for TEN days. Eeep. Nothing super eventful at work, thankfully. 

Flowers in bloom are the highlight of wandering around downtown on my lunch hour

After work we went to Kristin's house for happy hour and a doggie socializing. Probably had too much beer & too many snacks. This is how I get derailed!

The name of this beer is hilarious, though

Saturday (17,564 steps) - "Slept in." Took A to practice, and then Ben and I went for an easy jog with Pika.

Took a shower, picked A up from practice and had lunch. Finalized packing, then walked Pika over to Kristin's for the night. Headed to the airport for our flight to Austin. We ended up being delayed out of town because of weather and actually had to be rerouted, which added more than a half hour of air time. We landed well over an hour late, but luckily picking up the rental car didn't take too long. Thanks to the car shortage, we ended up with a piece of crap car with tons of dents and over 40,000 miles. Hey, but at least we got a car! We drove down to Bastrop and met Heather and Lisa for dinner.

The pizza was delicious, and so was the beer! The venue was really cute, with tons of decks and live music. Before we realized it, it was already 10:00! Heather headed home and Ariel went with Lisa to her house for the night. Ben and I walked over to Bastrop Beer Company for a night cap before heading to the Days Inn for the night. By the time we crawled into bed it was after 11! Ugh!

Sunday (58,895 steps) - Wildflower trail marathon.

Within 20 minutes of finishing our race we were in the car headed back up to Austin. Ben's parents had driven up from San Antonio to meet us for food & drinks. Before we arrived at the brewery we stopped to change at a Texaco and rinse of in their bathroom sink. Not an ideal way to prepare to meet your in-laws for the first time (remember, Ben's mom had back surgery right before our wedding and wasn't able to travel), but it worked out. It was still insanely hot, even sitting in the shade on the patio.

The beer was delicious, and we finally decided that we were hungry enough to get a burger from the food truck - which was also delicious. Ariel and Lisa had brought me some dessert for a Mother's Day gift, which Ariel and I shared. I can't believe I didn't take a picture, but it was chocolate-covered strawberries and chocolate cheesecake.

Sadly, after a few hours we already had to head to the airport. We were flying out of the sketchy south terminal (that I didn't even know existed until this trip) and still had to return the rental and take the shuttle over. The flight home was thankfully way less eventful. Since Ben had paid for covered parking we were the first people off the bus. We got to Kristin's at 10:00 to grab Pika and we were all in bed shortly after. LONGEST/SHORTEST WEEKEND EVER.

Monday (10,515 steps) - Work from home. Raining all morning, but still took Pika for a walk at lunch. Did a Peloton ride in the afternoon and an abs video. Got pho for dinner, watched a movie and went to bed early.

Stats:

• 182,353 steps
• 47.75 miles run
• 0 minutes rowing
• 20 minutes Peloton
• 15 minutes cross training