OPSF 50k: Mud Slushies and STUDs ladies sweep

I chose the OPSF 50k largely because of the timing; it fit well in my training plan for IMTUF 100. Though it was a "B" race, I still decided to race it and I set an audacious goal: to win the women's race. I even made it official by telling people (okay, only Nathan and my mom) that this was my goal. Ultimately, this was a huge factor in maintaining consistency in my training over the past 2 months.

This was the first time in several years that I had managed such consistent training prior to a race, with several 50 mile weeks in a row before a short taper.

 

Still, the training was focused on IMTUF as the ultimate goal, and so my hard workouts were uphill intervals 1-3 times a week, with less emphasis on long runs and no running at intensity for longer than 3 minutes at a time.

The race is held at Owen Putnam State Forest near Poland, Indiana and offers 14 mile, 50k, and 50 mile distances on a lollipop course. The trails were rolling with some steep hills (I got 4900 feet of elevation gain over the 50k) and not technical, or wouldn't have been if it weren't for the mud. Apparently there is always some mud on the course, but it started raining and snowing a few hours before the race and we were expecting a day of 33 degrees and precipitation.

I started off at the front of the pack, though I didn't feel like I was going out too hard. My first mile was a little fast at 9:51 (my goal was to average 11:30ish miles and break 6 hours) but it had some road and more downhill than up. By 2 minutes in my feet were wet (and would remain so all day) and by 4 minutes in I was totally alone (and would remain so the majority of the day).

The first time around the "pop" of the lollipop course was mildly unpleasant with about 5% of the course made up of ankle deep slush (water and snow mix) in thick mud that sometimes sank down to cover your leg to mid-calf.  Another 10-15% was more "regular" thick mud that was still slow and exhausting to run in. I was on pace, but when I started the second loop around I realized what an advantage it had been to be at the front of the pack before. Now that 50 plus runners had come through, the majority of the trail was thick mud with even more standing water as it rained. I threw out my pace plans and decided to ignore my watch from there on and just go by effort. I then fell several times in a row, each time in the ankle deep mud water. I took a tree branch to the shin with one fall, ripping my favorite tights and giving myself a several inch long area of bruise/scrape that forced me to walk for a few minutes. My gloves were totally soaked now so I took them off since it was actually colder to have them on.

The run back to the start/finish before headed out for a shorter lollipop was definitely the low point of the race. It was now raining ice (I'm not really sure if it was hail or freezing rain) and also snowing. I couldn't feel my feet to have a sense of the trail beneath me. I had a bit of a mental breakdown with lots of swearing at the start/finish turnaround largely centered on confusion about where the trail was (the markings looked like they were blocking the trail) and inability to find my dry pair of gloves. All of this took about 10 minutes, but on the bright side, I gained about 3 minutes of being able to feel my feet, which was enough to lift my mood.

On the way back, I could see the runners coming in and I knew that I had a comfortable lead on second place. Since there was little point in a time goal now, I decided to just focus on keeping moving without pushing myself too hard so I could jump back into training soon after the race. For the last 3 miles of the race, I teamed up with a runner named Jared, who helped make the last part of the race much more enjoyable. We tied for our finish at 6:37 (7th place overall).

Fuller is modeling the finisher's award here:

And I won a beautiful ceramic plate for winning first female:

Aneta, tough as nails, would stick it out for another 29 miles and was the only female to finish the 50 mile race: only 4 people did total! The conditions were truly a special kind of miserable. It was a STUDs ladies sweep of the ultra events of the day!

The challenge wasn't over after the race, unfortunately, as my drive back through Indianapolis required several hours of 15-30 mph on poorly plowed highways as it actively snowed. I passed ~ 30 wrecks in and around Indianapolis. After waking up at 3 AM to get to the race (and driving through snow on the way there, too), I was totally exhausted by the time I got home. Nathan made a lovely meal of salmon, salad, and twice baked potatoes which was the perfect celebration.

Congratulations to everyone who toughed it out yesterday and thanks so much to all the dedicated volunteers who spent their Saturday in such nasty weather to make the event possible!

Thanks for reading!

-Jordan