Well guys I survived the 31 miles in 6 hours. I was 5th in my age catagory.

I woke up at 3:00 am and jumped into my car around 4:00 am. I drove to the Conoco complex where I met up with some girls I have been training with. Eva Luckey rode up with me, we made pretty good time since the roads where pretty empty, gee I wonder why?

About 10 miles away from the park we get hit with the cold front, strong winds that rocked my car and rain that came down in buckets, it was suppose to have been in Houston on Friday so we could have the clear sunny skies on Saturday. No, the race was not cancelled, as my wonderful friend Gary knows. (sorry we messed up your beauty sleep.) We got there early enough to eat some hot breakfast, biscuits with egg, cheese and sausage that Eva found for all 6 of us as we jammed into one of the other girls Dodge Durango's.

We lined up for the start of the race at 7:45 am, it was sprinkling and the temperature was bearable in leggings and a t-shirt, I ran the first 2 or 3 miles with Eva, the Marathon Queen, then she took off, she place third in her age group. She did GREAT!!!. I kept the same pace for the first 18 miles. The trails were a deplorable mud heaven, if we had been at a farm the hogs would of enjoyed the mess. I had not realized until I stopped for a breather that I had been setting the pace for a pack of people so run I did, and they pulled me along for a bit as I got my breath back. I had some cantalope, pretzels, oranges, power bars and some water and gatorade The temperature was dropping since I first started out in this nasty wet cold mess, and I could feel the cold start to bite in a bit. At the last check point of the first loop I saw another one of my buddies, Bob Blundell (we have done some adventure races in the past) he handed me a windbreaker to keep me warm and he was my "moral support" for the last 12.5 miles, which he ran with me. Bob just would not shut up . . . I am totally grateful that he kept up the yappin' it kept my mind off next mile. He would say things like: "you look great, look at all those people you pass their form looks like they are hurting, you look strong, you're the boss, eat this, drink this, what's hurting, eat this at the next check point." By now the trails were all a slick and slippery mud, giving the illusion of air walking every time you took a step, you slide back just a tad. Sometimes my shoes would sink a bit in the soft ground and I would have to pull it out, wasting my precious energy on the soggy ground is not what I had in mind. And then, there were times where I would slide forward as if hydroplaning, that is the worse because you feel so out of control. During this last loop I ate peanuts, pretzels, canatolpe, HOT chicken noodle soup, water, gatorade, coke,sprite, power bars, fig newtons, and oreos, I ate all of this and did not gain a single pound, that is the greatest feeling. We ran most of the last loop and walked some of the harder hills. We finished around 1:45 pm. I finished up in 6:00 hours. Both Cindy and Gary Bucek were there cheering me to the finish line and taking pictures, they drove up from Pearland, Texas, they got in the afternoon before from a business trip and were very tired . I am so thankful to have had them there as well. As I finished I had someone there removing the time chip off my shoe, then off to get me medal and afghan (I knew I would not use the jacket so I chose the afghan.) Cindy my "finish line" moral support, grabbed onto to everything and ordered me off to change and get out of my wet muddy clothes. I was very appreciative, I am a wussy in cold weather as most everyone knows, so I wasted no time in following directions. Cindy stood in line and got me an assortment of food to eat, potatoe-salad-yummy, BBQ Chicken-yummy, a hamburger-I only took one bite, warm tea. And Gary, well he went nuts with the camera, he even got a shot of me looking all greasy from the chicken(I did not have napkins at the time) I will thank you later for this one I'm sure. Bob took off shortly after as he had a Christmas dinner that night and was driving home to Crosby, Texas to prepare for an evening out. Cindy, Gary and I walked around looking for Eva, who was claiming her trophy, a bronze stallion. And home to a nice warm shower and bed we did head.

Thank you to all for your support and friendship. I had a wonderful experience on my first ultra ever, next in line is the Houston Marathon(my first marathon) or a 24 hr.mountain bike relay race. Who knows I might do both.

A special thanks to my hubby who although does not accompany me to my big events, puts up with all my races and is always there to make sure I have all my equipment with me and to help with packing the car even at 3:30 am when he could be in bed. He is there when I am hurt or ill to take care of me, I would not heal as quickly without him. Thanks honey...

cya jen

Ps. all I remember is WET, COLD, WET, COLDER. It did start raining again as we left. I was so happy to be in my car with the heater on heading home. There were people out there with just shorts and/or a sports bra. CRAZY!!!!