Jen's Rooster Romp 50K

It has been a while since I've done a race. My last ultra was the Covert 50K, a race I totally made up, and my last real one was the Palm 100 in October. It's been too long, and though I know I'm running a 50 miler in 3 weeks and a 50K the week after that, I did not have the patience to wait. The idea of doing another self-supported 50K took hold of me last week. My 100 miler training plan has me doing LOTS of 30 mile solo runs anyway, so all things came together for me to do this!

I had to drop my husband off at the airport at 11am. I was home and out running by around 12:30. My plan was to run from my house to Key west, about 15 miles, and back. This covered miles 83-97ish on the Keys 100 route. I drive this all the time and have been scouting it, but running those last miles was going to be really useful.

And it went great! While that distance is hard, it doesn't feel super epic for me at this point, which is good because I have to do it a lot for the next couple months. But here are some thoughts I had along the way:

• Stuff will hurt and so much of this is getting comfortable with that. This is a thing I know from other races, but training it and reminding myself in a way that a 20-mile run doesn't do is really useful!
• Some stuff will hurt and then it will stop hurting, so keep running. I'm working on issues with my hips/hip flexors these days plus some big toe pain on both sides. I know how to address these issues, but they aren't quick fixes. These things hurt while I was running, but they also stopped hurting at some points. This really helps with mentally pushing through pain.
• Migraines. I get them. A year or so ago, I remember thinking I'd never be able to do a 100 miler because I get migraines even on marathon runs, and there is no way I could manage running another 74 miles with that escalating throbbing. I was not wrong - I could NOT run 74 miles with that throbbing. However, I've learned how to manage them better. I still get the headaches on long runs, though drinking coke every 5 miles helps. I can also take my migraine medicine and it actually works on the run. I often have to re-take it after 4 or 5 hours, but I manage. There's a risk here, but I feel like I'm learning to manage it and it's not going to stop me from the 100 miler.