Another 31 mile ultra in the books!
At the end of each year the Recover from the Holidays ultra is held on December 31 – New Years Eve.
It’s somewhat of a misnomer to even have the word “recover” as part of this race name. Not much “recovering” takes place in a 31 mile endurance race!
Here’s the skinny on this one, at least as I experienced it.
For me, it starts the day before. It’s all in nutrition the day before. Get this part wrong, and months of training are out the window on race day. I decided on Chic-fil-A for lunch. Original chicken sandwich and a side salad – with buttermilk Ranch. Perfect choice and will go with this in the future. But here is where things get dicey – dinner. I like to eat early around 4 pm. For this one I decide on a breakfast burrito that I’ll create myself. I should have stopped there. Two eggs and shredded cheddar cheese on a tortilla. But then I decided to make a side of grits – love grits! Good there. But then I decided a little fat would be nice. So I decided on some bacon. Not 1 slice, not 2 slices, not 3 slices, but 4 slices. Seemed like a pretty good choice. In retrospect too much bacon fat – can’t believe I just said that!
Race starts at 8 am. at the Huntsville Cross Country Course on Airport rd. This is when it gets really interesting as I have never run this course For whatever reason I was under the impression that it was a pretty flat course. Note to self – go run the course in advance when possible. The race starts with a loop to spread everyone out then you run the same 3 mile loop 9 times. Course was not flat! Had one killer hill. Not killer like you might have on Monte Sano, but it was tough since you had to go down it and back up it 9 times or so. Now, if you’re not a runner, going downhill just thrashes your quads and knees. There were several long grinding uphills that weren’t necessarily steep but taxing nonetheless. Overall it’s a fantastic course. Just enough flat parts to get your breath for the next uphill. Then there was the really flat field run to the aid station which you passed on every lap. GREAT aid station, coke, Mt. Dew, Poweraid, soup, candy and so much more.
When all was said and done I finished, which is always my first goal. No real mishaps on this run. Just had a great time and I’m really sore.
Following the race I was extremely hungry! Problem, I was muddy and pretty sure I had a not so pleasant aroma! But I was only a few miles from my favorite Mexican restaurant – Little Rosie’s. You’ve already guessed what I did! I went to Little Rosie’s in all my running gear. Muddy legs, shorts, compression socks, and that lovely aroma! It was one of the best chicken burritos I’ve eaten.
This will be one that I will probably do again in 2016, including Rosie’s!