2018 Last at the Lake - 50K Ultra Race

Last at the Lake is a 5k, 10k, 50k, 24 hour relay, and a last man standing race. The last man standing is Exactly what you are thinking in which you run until you can't and which ever lucky runner successfully completes the most laps will be crowned Last at the Lake.  The interesting aspect of this race is that you have to make a lap every hour to stay in the race.  Mike and I chose to run the 50K.  We traveled together for this race since it was at West Point Lake on the Georgia side of the state.  I say that because you are literally looking right at Alabama from the starting line of the race.

We left Friday evening and decided we could get there around midnight or so and then just sleep in the car until the race started.  Mistake.  Once we got in and got parked we set some chairs out on the sidewalk and ate a snack and stretched our legs.  We then discussed if we should go ahead and try to find where the race starts and park there but we both opted to stay and rest which never really happened.  I don't know if it was the excitement or me missing my bed but sleep did not happen.

Race morning Mike and I pulled down the road and parked at the race starting area which we were literally a quarter mile away from where we originally parked so that worked out.  We go check in and and discuss our game plane for the race and where to put our gear at for race.  Last at the Lake is a 3.1 mile trail loop that is a mixture of sand, dirt, rock, and a small amount of road running to make up the loop.  Our plan after discussing several options was just to leave our bags at the tent so that every loop we could grab whatever we needed.  We truly did know if that was the best option or not because neither of us had ever ran a small loop that many times.  Remember it is only my second 50K.  Leaving our gear at the tent worked perfectly for this race and made me a fan of the small loop which I was unsure of in the beginning.

We all lined up at the lake ready for the start of the race.  Here we go!  Out of the gate like a bottle rocket... here we go again as we take off at around an 8 minute pace but quickly check that down to 10-12 minute miles for the first 13 miles.  It's hot.  It's extremely hot.  I remember reading on Ultra Signup when I first saw this race they used the words CRAZY HOT and they were not kidding.  We were sweating and shedding clothes.  At this point Mike and I were both running laps with a 20 oz bottles of water in our hand.  I just remember Mike looking up at me during the race and saying "we have hundreds of dollars of gear and we are carrying plastic water bottles."  I laughed and chugged more water down.  We were basically drinking a whole bottle of water for every lap we were running at this point and eating Popsicles at the end of every lap just trying to cool down.  I think Mike had already ate a dozen at this point but he wasn't slowing down.  Its amazing what foods you crave during an ultra run....
Overall this was a great loop to run with minimal elevation but the last section of road was brutal and running with full sunshine staring you in the face as soon as you got on the pavement.  It was miserably hot.  I am surprised my plastic water bottle was not melting at this point.  We also overheard multiple conversations about this race in previous years that multiple people dropped out due to dehydration and even some left by ambulance.  I have no idea whether that was true or not but definitely stayed in my head and worried me.
Now, on a good note its my second ultra run and I am over 20 miles in with no knee/ IT band issues.  No pain this time, just fatigue.  We are about to make another lap and I realize I am no longer sweating.  I got worried.  That is not a good thing especially with all of the water that I thought I was drinking.  We started our next lap and I was hurting all over but nothing that we don't usually push through.  I felt weak though.  I drank two full bottles of water, took some salt tablets around this lap and started feeling better.  Not the muscles though... they still hurt.  That doesn't go away you just keep pushing and enduring.  That why its called an endurance run.   The last 10 miles were not our best effort but we did not care.  We were going to finish well within the cutoff time so we just trotted along.  On the last lap we were excited and ready to be finished with this CRAZY HOT race.  As we made the last turn and saw the finish line we were both ready to just cross the line and go lay in the lake with a nice cold beverage.  We did receive our awesome hand made finisher medals which I thought were pretty awesome.  Major changes for this run were smaller stride length and my new shoes the Altra Timp.  But overall the shoes and my pace seem to be the biggest difference so far for me.  Also I have not had a black toenail since I started running in these shoes.  Score!!  I continue to focus less on heart rate training at this point as I am really starting to be able to tell how my body feels and my amount of effort I am putting in.