Chuckanut 50k

My feet really hurt. Today was Chuckanut, and now I'm in a daze after doing this amazing 50k. My effort was poor. If this were a class, and they were handing back papers, I'd be the kid the other students talked about. I can't say I don't care, but Pearl Jam's Indifference comes to mind. How much difference does it make....

This is my fourth time doing this race, and I really enjoyed it, and that IS what counts. The race has grown annually in size since Krissy M. took over the RD duties, and once again, the organization was great. All the volunteers were always smiling, quick to fill the bottle, super people. Afterwards, lots of good food--I had a vegetarian crumble burrito with guacamole. Tasty.....if I ran faster, there might have been some other good options too. No soup for you!

It was raining CATS and DOGS on the way to the race. I got really wet hanging around for the start of the race. Maybe I should've went inside. I saw lots of great people, and especially my law school buddy Chris A., who I hadn't seen in about a year. He convinced his brother to fly up from Arnie Country and run the race. Since I sucked smelly taters, I never saw the brother again. Anyway, lots of smiles, and I hung out with some good folks afterwards. The trail running community is exceptional.

Trail report: I ran slow to Clayton Beach. I hiked to Fragrance Lake. I ran really fast to Aid Station 2. I hiked to the top of Cleator Road. I changed my shirt and ate a banana. I ran ok on the ridge. After that, my stomach felt lame, so I gave words of encouragement to the people who passed me. Good job. Way to go. Keep it up. I crawled up Chinscraper. Ran ok down the hill. Didn't really feel like running the final flat 7, and I wasn't interested in inspirational self-talk. I listened to 7 hours of music on my shuffle, and I drank unfiltered water from a waterfall. Rain early on, followed by mist and clouds. Mud everywhere.