FIRST PLACE MALE FINISHER!!! Marathon #8 of 11 in 11 weeks for LLS is done. This race was at Heartland 50k (a 31 mile ultra marathon) plus over 2000 feet of incline. It was a hot one, 82% humidity at the start and 80+ degrees over the final 2 hours. My last run in these temps was in September, so my body wasn’t acclimated. I was sucking down the fluids and luckily carried extra salt as I used it all. I led the race for over 15 miles but began experiencing wicked cramp. I stopped a few times to stretch and was able to keep going. Around mile 26/27 I experienced the absolute worst running cramps I’ve ever had. My calf was completely locked up with my foot flexed like a ballerina. I had to lay down on the road to stretch it out before I could run again. My pace began to slow by 90 seconds per mile. Eventually the girl behind me (Sarah from Derby) caught up due to the stretching stop. I congratulated as I knew no one would catch her and I was determined to find a way to take 2nd. I had to dig deep over those final three but was able to run with very little walking to the finish, securing 2nd place overall. This race was a lot of fun with amazing scenery in the flint hills. I’ll post more pictures later this week.
Good luck to everyone running Prairie Fire tomorrow. iCRYO will be on site with free compression therapy after the race so stop by and say hello.
Have an awesome weekend y’all! Go get it!!!