58.85 Miles, 9:47:33, 9:59 Pace
3:00:00 - Gym Crosstraining
This week I still put in quite a few miles and gym workouts considering I also ran the Psycho Psummer 50K this past Saturday. I didn't taper for this race but did decide to take Friday off from running and the gym so there would be a little bit of life in my legs for the race; now to the report...
This race took place at Wyandotte County Lake Park outside of Kansas City, KS and was hosted by the Kansas City Trail Nerds. I was making the trip with new SLUG Stephen Reynolds. My sister has an apartment in Kansas City so I had sent out an email to the SLUGs about a month ago inviting people to carpool and stay at my sister's apartment; Stephen took me up on it. Turns out he is also an attorney here in St. Louis and knows many of the same people Mindy and I know so our car conversations were split between running and law; I felt like I was at home. Mindy dropped me off at Stephen's around 2:30 pm and we were on our way. The drive was relatively uneventful and we arrived at my sister's apartment around 6:30 pm, dropped our stuff off and headed out to grab a bite to eat before turning in for the night.
I awoke at 6:15 am and we were gone in less than 20 minutes. We made a Starbuck's stop along the way and arrived at the race start around 7:20 am. We parked right next to my good friend and KC Trail Nerd Gabe Bevan and I jumped out to greet him. I introduced him to Stephen and then we headed over to packet pickup where I ran into another friend, David Wakefield who had chosen to wear the same sleeveless 3 Days of Syllamo shirt as me (he was the overall 3 Days Winner so I was in good company). While getting my race number I said hello to fellow SLUG, Becky Leahy, who ended up being the 50K female winner; way to represent the SLUGs Becky! After making some last minute preparations we headed over to the start around 7:55 am. Bad Ben, the Race Director, gave us the "lay of the land speech" and we were off at 8:08 am. 
Once entering the woods this trail starts off in a very hilly section; you say "There are hills in Kansas???" Apparently, and they are steep! The course consists of 2 loops around Wyandotte County Lake which is the Home Trail for the KC Trail Nerds as they have built many of the sections. The heat wasn't too bad on the first loop but the humidity was unreal; I was running with Gabe for most of the race and we both looked like we had been drenched by a waterfall by mile 5. Gabe and I chatted for most of the first loop and were joined by Dan Volk; this was Dan's 2nd 50K so he was asking us questions and we were giving him tips about hydration and electrolyte replacement. The 3 of us crossed the 15 mile finish line in right around 2:43 and were off on our second loop.
We started the 2nd loop at around 10:45 am and the day was beginning to heat up! I had been taking around 3-4 Succeed Caps every hour and was carrying 2 water bottles; this strategy was working and I was feeling good. Usually I don't eat much during a 50K as I have trained myself to do this distance with little calorie consumption but at mile 19 I was bonking; that all too familiar feeling was beginning to wash over my body. Because it was "only a 50K" (always RESPECT the distance, which I didn't in this case) I didn't even carry any gels on me so I had no emergency calories and at this point was runnng alone; Gabe had dropped back as the heat and humidity were starting to take their toll. I knew the next manned aid station was still a few miles off but luckily stumbled across Dan's Dad at a road crossing; he was kind enough to give me some Gatorade and in a few minutes I was good again.
Pat Perry, recent Western States Finisher, was working the next aid station and he hooked me up with a lot of ice for my bottles and poured some cold water over my head; ooh that's nice, thanks Pat!!! As I was leaving the station I ran into Rick Mayo who was on his way back. He asked me about Gabe and I said he had dropped back a bit because of the heat but that he was still moving; I didn't really know for sure but figured this was true, Gabe's a tough dude! This next paved section was HOT and as I came back through Pat's station I wasn't feeling too great. He drenched me again and I was on my way at right around the 5 hour mark and 4 miles to go. I then entered a new section they added as Becky Leahy was exiting the same section. She said hello and shouted "We're almost there" as we passed; I know we're almost there but man is it HOT!!! 
I ran most of this section but then struggled through the last 2.5 miles which is the easiest section of the course. I kept talking to myself out loud saying, "Come on Carey, pick it up so you can be done with this. If you run more and walk less this will all be over sooner!" I talk to myself out loud quite a bit in races and it seems to work; usually I'm by myself so people don't hear me and think I'm going crazy from the heat. I emerged from the woods on top of a big hill overlooking the valley with the finish line. I raced down the hill and through the valley where I was met by Bad Ben running beside me and shouting encouragements along the way. I've never had an RD run in with me before and thought this was really cool! I crossed the finish line in 5:51:37 and Gabe came through a few minutes later; see, I told you he was tough! As soon as I was done one of the volunteers handed me a handkerchief filled with ice while another one took off my race number and yet another one filled my water bottle and asked me what else I needed; it was great! I headed over to a shade tree where I relaxed for a minute and enjoyed the feeling of being finished. Click HERE for the full results. 
Stephen, in only his 3rd race longer than 7 miles, toughed it out in the heat and humidity for a strong finish; way to go Stephen!This was a great race and I will definitely be back for more KC Trail Nerds events in the future! There was plenty of ice, the drink on the course was Succeed and they had S-Caps at every aid station in addition to the usual fare. Thanks to Bad Ben and the volunteers along with Dick Ross for all of the cool photos. I'm feeling good although my quads are a bit trashed; those steep downhills really took their toll! I hit the gym for crosstraining yesterday and will probably do the same today; back on the roads again tomorrow.
Another great racing experience! Hope all of your runs are going well.
Happy Running,
Carey
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