Green Swamp 50 miler: Running with the right 'tude...

Attitude. Amazingly it is sometimes the thing we think about last when about to start a race, maybe getting into the right attitude, and having the right outlook at the beginning can help us get through the weird scheisse that inevitably hits us... This past weekend was all about having the right attitude during the Green Swamp 50 miler, my second fifty miler in two weeks.

The Dances with Dirt Green Swamp event is one of four events that make up the Dances with Dirt Series. Saturday's races included a 50 miler (duh), 50k, Marathon, 1/2 Marathon, 10k, and a 50 mile relay- which would totally throw me off in the last couple of legs of the race. Luckily the 50m started about 90 minutes ahead of all the other events- this of course meant a super early morning, after a full 7 1/2 hour day of driving up from the keys to Tampa- with Rip', getting settled into the hotel, dinner, etc.. all after a very bumpy, and quite unfriendly packet pickup experience.

Race outfits are always a big decision... for this one I decided to wear all blue, down to the hair ties and shoes to show my support for blue4ben. For those not from Western New York or Clarence, Ben Sauer is a four year old boy, one in a set of twins that is fighting for life after being diagnosed with a stage IV glioblastoma, a malignant and extremely aggressive brain tumor.  www.blue4ben.com  follows the  ongoing journey of his family as he lives out his last weeks/months, and the support from family and friends and the city neighbors-Buffalo, NY all of whom are praying for a miracle for this little boy... truly inspiring...

Needless to say 0300 came very quickly; and my body was screaming at me that it needed more sleep in the lovely voice of nausea- which really made it hard to get calories in the body- I struggled to get every ounce of food down.  I arrived to the course start about 30 minutes early- and it was chilly... unfortunately I didn't plan on temps in the 30s- but luckily I had a lightweight jacket that would do the trick for the first 5-6 miles...

Seriously- this is Florida...

Getting ready to start... 

So I pretty much hung out in Juan Tiguan making my final adjustments before heading out to the race start.  There wasn't really a brief or anything, but she did wish us luck and we were off... heading straight out- then wait we are heading in the wrong direction...redirected by a volunteer on the course... okay... this could get interesting... a u-turn at the beginning, and we were off on the first 5 mile loop... The first 4.6 miles were pretty nice, winding through an area that we would return to in light later in the day... I was pretty good about staying on pace- and on course- meeting some nice ladies that were doing their first 50, and a veteran who was trying to stay conservative at the beginning... and then it happened- about 8 of us turned left, at a posted sign with reflective tape- about 1/2 mile later there were no flags- and we came up on an earlier portion of the loop, so after some reflection we headed back... the sign clearly pointing left- the flags continuing the course- clearly straight across... so after adding a little over a mile to the loop we made our way to the start/finish aid station- let them know- dropped my jacket and headlamp and headed out to the first 20 mile loop with a smile... a tad frustrated at the extra mile, but excited that I was actually had some solid food at the aid station. I just tried to remain focused on maintaining pace; an extra 17 minutes added by a mile of running and a couple extra minutes of confusion had me doing math in my head, making sure that I would make the course cutoffs.  There was a guy from outside of Detroit running just in front of me early into the first 20 mile loop, we stopped to enjoy a couple of picture opportunities early on... he would fade before hitting the 8 mile-Ranch Road aid station.

Scenic view from the bridge over the Withlacoochee River

Sunrise... finally..

Running into the Ranch Road aid station I was cruising right along. The volunteers offered some words of encouragement and with a handful of pringles I was out... Yep that's right pringles... my favorite on race day. The next leg of the course was pretty awesome, with some rolling (Florida-sized) hills even- not big ones- but enough to keep it interesting, the temperature was still pretty cool, and there was a nice breeze in the more open areas.  Then I ended up at the Traffic Jam Aid Station- and these volunteers were awesome- they were from a local hashing group- and they had plenty of energy- luckily I would get to see this kilted group a total of four times!  and so it was off for another 11ish miles until I would see them again.  Up to this point I had not seen any other runners, but I knew with the pace I was comfortably maintaining that I was bound to catch up to someone at some point, but not before almost rolling laughing at the sign below... those of you reading this with some military experience will understand why I thought this was amusing...

If only they had signs like this when I was a LT...

But it was straight ahead for me... and soon after this photo I ran into a fellow 50 miler. We exchanged pleasantries and I offered some encouragement, and kept rolling.  At this point I was just in a groove- temperature was perfect, pace was perfect, and I hit the next aid station... There were two marathoners and a 50ker that would pass me, but I caught another 50er, we walked/ran a little together and I was keeping a much faster pace and would leave him some where around mile 19 (or 20ish according to my watch!). The temps started to rise a little as I made it back towards the Traffic Jam A/S. Although we had some nice shady spots, and some mud heading there- and a bridge that would prove to be way more treacherous on the second loop!

bridge over troubling shoe sucking mud...

Then it was back at Traffic Jam A/S- super motivated volunteers in kilts, some high fives- one of the volunteers asked if I was one of the ones that was lost early on... Yes- and my response... hey I get an extra mile plus of beautiful scenic running that I didn't pay for... so I am the one winning! He laughed gave me a fist bump and with some more high fives to the kilted... I was off and being chased down by the half marathoners, they were running fast around me- not that I was going that slow... but now I know why it was named Traffic Jam... we moved off the road into some cypress knees... or more like a minefield of cypress stalagmites which led us to the refreshingly cool river crossing of the Withlacoochee River- thigh deep- almost felt like a mini ice bath about 24-25 miles in...

 Made my way back to the Start/Finish Line A/S to find a West Point Alum doing some volunteering- I didn't immediately recognize him but did chat a little once I figured it out... took some pics and headed out- I was really trying to reduce my time at the aid stations-this was not one of them...

Small world-photo op...

I started off on the second loop- passing some slow half marathoners... surprising the couple at Ranch Road A/S- they gave me my staples- told me to stay strong and I was off to see the kilted crew at Traffic Jam... not before doing a tuck and roll, combatives type roll-out after biting it on the trail... As I headed out towards the next manned aid station I realized wow it is getting pretty darn warm out... maybe mid-70s or even warmer...  but I was not going to slow down- I was feeling good and it still wasn't as hot as Fakahatchee two weeks ago.. plus I had two more 50ers in my sights, I passed them and kept moving... at the aid station I asked for ice... no ice... seriously... okay... oranges and lemme drink some coke...hot coke... like coffee temperature... not good... but I was off... the gin gins came out about 10 minutes later... so I was alone again and started up my ipod- although there were these really fast people that I kept seeing- but not 50 milers, but on the course... these I would learn later were the relay runners... at least they kept me motivated to keep running on pace. Heading back to Traffic Jam- it was hot, an open field, and my water was at best luke warm... I was happy to move back into the shade, I met up with a marathoner who was walking along- wished him well and moved through the muddy-but shaded area... and that bridge seemed way more menacing than before...

Hot and sunny second 20 mile loop... still happy

I was back at Traffic Jam- and about a 10K from finishing... I was hot, but happy to see the kilted crew. They were AWESOME... they shared ICE with me... such a morale booster!!!! Thankfully the kilted crew needed some ice to store their beer and Angry Orchard in... they offered me some hard cider- but I thought that might just make my stomach angry... they laughed and cheered me on as I ran towards the minefield of cypress knees- luckily the path was well worn at this point... and back to the start/finish to start the last five mile loop...

Cypress knees from hell (2nd  20 mile loop)

At this point I realized that I would be finishing somewhere around 52 miles... and if I kept a good pace under 11 hours... not bad considering the events of the day... so it was coke and ice (the only RD provided ice) and on my way.  There were lots of people out walking- some of them had been relayers, some 50kers still working their way to the finish, and some families who may have thought we were all crazy... but most of them had encouraging words and I kept moving through the loop, which looked entirely different in the light.  I was like wow, a tower, a building, a bridge... wtf... where were these on the first 5... I hit 50 miles on my garmin at about 10:29 and change, and I knew I had about two miles to go... and there goes the math in my head... and of course reminding myself straight not left... straight not left finally and then about 1/4 mile into the finish... I gave some high fives to the a/s volunteers on my way in... and the kilted crew- with all their hashers- were cheering- I gave some love and then into the finish- feeling strong at 10:52... not too shabby for two 50s in three weekends...

After finishing, I was walking back to my car when the kilted crew stopped to thank me for being the runner with the best attitude out there on the course, always smiling, saying thanks and having great energy. Interesting- I had never been thanked by a volunteer before, let alone a whole aid station of volunteers. Having a good attitude and a positive outlook on whatever was happening on the course- whether it be getting "misdirected", getting bonus miles, falling head over heels, or just being hot- my 'tude, the right attitude definitely made the difference... and made for a more rewarding experience...

Next up... April 18th Free State 100K