Speedgoat 50k - reflections

July finally threw me into the training that I've needed for September's big race.  The focus was two back-to-back weeks of extensive elevation gain.  July 12th was volunteering at Hardrock, offering 10,000 feet of gain over 28 miles.  July 19th was Speedgoat 50k, held at Salt Lake City's Snowbird ski resort, with 12,000 feet of gain over 33.5 miles.

My Garmin's battery only lasts 8 hours tops, and this time it cut out after about 7:45.  I finished in 8h 11m 25s.  The course was supposedly 31.5 or so miles, and I thought my Garmin was making up stuff when it was 2 miles ahead of the aid station demarcations, but everyone I asked had the same data.  This was not a reason to complain.  It was only more evidence that my Garmin simply could no longer keep up. 

Missing: last 4.5 miles and the winding descent to the finish.

I treated the race like a training run.  Managed to progress from 125th to 100th to my eventual 87th place overall (17th female) as the climbing accumulated.  Some of it was quite steep, just shy of hand-over-foot and on loose terrain.  It was awesome.  The aid station volunteers were *amazing*.  I saw three others I met (one who helped clear the first section with me, one other volunteer, and a racer I sat next to during the awards ceremony) and four others I recognized from Hardrock the week before.  There's more than a little something special about the ultra community. 

Temporary tattoos of the race were given out before the start.  Guess where I failed to apply sunscreen. 

But the biggest benefit was the overall picture.  After living in a new part of the country for nine months and wondering if I was able to participate in my beloved hobby to the degree that I wished (longer work hours with an earlier start, car commute, etc), I finally got the proof that it works.  Nine months is a long time to wonder if you've shot yourself in the foot when considering your goal race.  I may not have logged the consistent higher mileage I had been last year (usually about 10 miles per week less) due to acclimating to altitude for a handful of months, but I was able to perform what I considered to be decent efforts along some hard courses.

The other big factor was that I did it myself.  As in no one accompanying me or crewing me, no one to drive when I was tired or exhausted, no one to help plan things.  It was all me - the long drives, the logistics, the actual mileage, the parsing through new social groups.  I very firmly belief that everyone should feel comfortable enough with themselves to get on a plane alone, to go to a movie alone, to operate as a single entity.  It had been quite a while for me, and these two consecutive weekend trips sure fulfilled that need.  With all the second guessing that was in the back of my mind, I needed something like this to solidify where I am within my own self, my progress, my goals.

So, in crude summary: It. Was. Awesome.