Goodbye Lost Boys 50 miler

The bus picked us up at 3:30 am from Lake Cuyamca. They drove us down a crazy road for about 30 minutes and I was so excited for the bus trip to end because it made me feel a little bit sick. I have never been a fan of sitting in the back seat on windy roads.
To my left on the bus was  guy named Alex and beside me is Julianne. (my ultra girl crush) I had never met Alex before and little did I know that by the end of the day he and I would become good friends. 

As soon as we got out of the bus there was that buzz in the air. The weather was perfect just a little cold and not too windy. I saw a bunch of my friends and some new people too. There was 40 runners. I love this part of race morning. I stop close my eyes and just take in that feeling. You're nervous and excited and you know this day is going to be an adventure. There was about 5 Trail Crashers and that for me is the same as having 5 family members along for the same ride as me. 

This was how dark it was when we started. We started running and about a half a mile in someone says Gloria where is your head lamp and I said oh I don't need one the sun will be up soon and, before you know it, I fell on my knees. Then I said OK peeps that was my fall for the day!! No mas

The desert was beautiful it's stunning watching the sun come out over the rocks in the early morning. It is  truly magical. I knew by mile 5 today was going to be really long day. My legs felt heavy and I just was not finding that happy place. I decided to just take it easy and just keep moving. I kept reminding myself how lucky I was just be there. I knew it would be a long day but I was surrounded by beauty and awesome humans. 

I was able to spend some time with my friend Colleen. I love hanging out with friend and running with them for miles in crazy awesome places it makes our friendship so special just knowing you had that time together. We helped each other up the crazy climbs and just kept making our way forward. This is a hard race so the trick is to keep eating and drinking and moving. 

Going up Orriflame was brutal, but I found a couple friends and we all struggled up together. It was hot and the headwinds did not help either. We saw this rattlesnake crossing the road . It was so much bigger in person. I finally ended up run walking with a new friend and I got to hear all his stories. We did the ultra shuffle and picked up two more friends along the way and eventually made our way to the top. You do the happy dance at the top of Orriflame. I always feel like when you get up there you should get a half medal or something. Lets see by this time a couple friends had gotten lost but found there way back. Other friends where throwing up. I was tired and a bit slow and my body just felt off . I know thats those are the times you need to just keep moving and specially when your running and climbing a race like Lost Boys. The key keep moving don't get discouraged and yes its hard but if it was easy everyone would do it. My mantra for this race was just because I feel something does not make it true. Sometimes specially out here feelings need to be put aside and you just need to keep moving. 
Things that made me happy on this race while struggling to make 50 miles happen on the crazy rocky course. Seeing Gemma along the way and knowing that even though yes she got lost she felt a bit discouraged she has what it takes to just crush it and she did. She got first place female. Then seeing Ilian along the way and just watching her help so many people. If your running by her and you need anything she probably has it. Oh  yeah I started throwing up for bit and when I was feeling just yuck I Phillip and Daniel and we all decided that running together would be so great for us. At this point we felt done but that was not an option yet. So we made it a 3 person ultra shuffle support group and with about 14 miles to go and Cuymaca Peak in our future we made our way together and got it done. In the last 10 miles Alex our new friend joined us and once again it was story time. He had so much to tell me the time flew by. That lake cuymaca finish was so hard. All those rocks my feet hated me but Alex and I crossed that finish line together.

It took me over 13 hours to finish and it was honestly so so hard. I never felt good or found my happy place. I just kept moving forward and made my way to the finish line. I love this race and I am sad its the Last Lost boys. I did get to run it 3 times so I feel very lucky and I can't say enough about the Ultra community and the volunteers. The race was amazing and Brian Gonzales puts on a class A event. (  I never got lost ) If you know me you understand the event was very well marked. One of the biggest reasons I love this race is because this was that race for me. The one that really scared that I thought I could never finish . Are you crazy G. Have you seen the elevation on this thing and its  so technical but I closed my eyes the first time I pressed pay on Ultra Signup and hoped for the best. Like my dad always tells me Princes showing up is half the battle. This race taught  me. G you can do hard things.

Dear past self, 
Thank you for pushing me through my fears. Running is really hard like I thought it would be, but I fell in love anyway. I do not want to ruin your story but I promise you if you stick with it, it will change your life.
Love 
me
P.S. the people you meet along the way will be in your heart forever