“I H❤️TE RUNNING” - @semi_rad tells it like it is. . 50 miles. Still trying to soak in the ridiculousness which that number - that distance - now represents. A distance meant for wheeled things to travel, but which my own 2 feet took me in 11 hours of nearly nonstop, mind and body punishing running. . Make no mistake - that was HARD. My legs turned into stiff limbs, my feet into bricks - and much earlier in the race than I had hoped. Why was my body falling apart so soon? My cardio wasn’t the problem - the base I built over the past nine months was plenty. And my eating routine pre-race was solid, my system offered up no surprises during the run. But my muscles, my tendons, my ligaments, those bastards got the crap beat out of them from the hard pack trails, extended distance, and... dare I say it, my age. My body either needs more training to withstand this level of abuse, more rest to allow time to recover between races, or to simply be 10 years younger. . But regardless of the hobble I’m walking with today, the simple sweet fact is, through a cramped calf, tight hamstring, battered feet, and the mind wanting to quit early, I didn’t give up, finding an extra gear I didn’t know I still had over the last 7+ miles. And, most importantly, I finished. Finished before it got dark. Finished running in a full sprint. Finished under 11 hours. I finished a fifty stinking mile race. That, my mind says - much to the consternation of my lower limbs - was a nearly inconceivable but shockingly doable #notasuck