Weather
Sunny and 35° F to 71° F
Results and summary
Glacier Ridge Trail Ultra 50 Miler ⛰️🏔️⛰️🏔️
It was grueling.
I set a goal that would be challenging, actually unachievable, but it was all for a reason.
I thought, “why not? I’m going to find out what happens.”
The result was over an hour PR from the last time I did this race.
In 2022, I finished 3rd female, 17th overall, in 12:35. The elevation gain was 6,824 ft.
This year, the race was more competitive.
Finish: 11:14
Overall: 12/38 (7 DNFs)
F: 5/11
Elevation gain: 7,329 ft (the course changed, removing 2 road sections and adding single track trail.)
The other women were very strong and fast.
1st: 9:54
2nd: 10:38
3rd: 10:48
4th: 11:13
Strong women, comparison, and battling negative thoughts
Comparison can be such a struggle for runners, and then that leads down a dark path of negative self-talk, lower self-esteem, lower self-confidence, etc.
Know how to manage them and during your training, put yourself in challenging situations, so you create the opportunity to face your inner demons.
Until I reached Jennings aid station, all I knew was that the women were passing me on uphills earlier on in the race. I was counting them, so I would have an idea of what place I was in (little did I know, at least one of them was a relay runner. Ger). We all jogged the majority of the uphills. It was bada$$. I knew that I could and needed to, so I didn’t fall too far behind.
“All of the training and hard work that I put in, and I still suck at running.” “This isn’t for me.” These are a few of the negative thoughts that I struggled with.
I was focused and stuck to my plan as much as I could. My emotions told me otherwise. Disappointed, frustrated, and stressed out were a few of the emotions that made me want to toss out my goals and make any excuse to do so.
I did stick to my plan. “Follow the plan, not your emotion.”
I accepted that there will always be things to work on and areas to improve. It was important that I balanced out the negative self-talk with constructive thoughts and my mantras, like “you’re fine” and “you are doing better than you think you are.”
I said a few short prayers during these struggles, asking God to strengthen me, help me overcome the negative self-talk, and to have fun.
Not long after the struggle bus of beating myself up between miles 5 and 20, I was feeling better about my performance. Not great, but better, and that stuck for the rest of the race.
The current course
The race directors keep changing the course over the years. In the past, runners had to do a loop, plus an out-and-back on the swamp section to a book hanging from a pole. At the book, runners had to rip a page out of the book and take it to the swamp aid station to prove that they were there.
The course was slightly harder this year because they wanted to keep us off the roads. In my opinion, the roads weren’t busy roads. Maybe it was something that the park asked them to do. So, they built 2 trails, adding more mud, rocks, and hills. Yay. The dirt was still a little soft. It was a little difficult to follow the winding trail and keep a decent pace.
Once we exited the trails, the lady running behind me mentioned how she didn’t like that. We chatted about it and agreed that they should have kept the roads.
When I was doing my long training runs on the course, I was running the road sections. I didn’t know that that was what changed, I was planning on picking up time on the roads.
Once I learned the changes, about two nights before the race, I felt a little angry and disappointed, so I messaged my run coach. He said that as long as there isn’t a Chupacabra out there, then I’ll be good. Ha! Oh well. I thought about that during the race and I was okay with it and still felt strong on those new sections.
Stressed over setting a huge goal
At the race start and up to about mile 20, I wasn’t feeling like myself. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why, but I talked with friends, as usual, except I was more quiet.
I think that I was feeling overwhelmed because I knew the task that was coming up. One of my goals was to push myself at a moderate to hard pace throughout the event.
This wasn’t how I normally pace ultras. I usually do them pretty easy and play to my strengths. One of my strengths is that I lean into feeling happy, grateful, look around at nature, chat with runners and volunteers, and have fun.
I ran 90% alone. I liked this because it made sticking to my plan easier. Run my own race. That gave me peace.
Other stressors
I didn’t look at my COROS all day because I didn’t want to know the mileage or pace. That sometimes stresses me out. I do a lot of training running by feel. I love it, it suits me. Sometimes, for specific speed workouts, my running coach will plug the percentage of the threshold pace that I should do.
At one point, I felt my sensitive-to-touch watch flip to the time of day screen. It was going to bother me knowing that it was on a different screen, I wanted to make sure that it was still tracking.
When I looked, it was still tracking, and I caught a glimpse of the time I had been running for. Around 8 hours. I considered the fact that I was nearing the final 10 mile stretch, but knew darn well that it was back to the big hills.
I knew that this was going to add a chunk of time to my race.
As I ran, I also stressed myself out on the mental list of race weaknesses and how I will target them during the next training block.
For example, my uphill running is good, except for when it comes to the fatigue I feel later in ultras. – My power hiking is not good. It is probably a combination of being short and needing to continue to work on my hamstrings and glutes.
As far as my height goes, I take 2 steps per another person’s one step. I try to not pay attention to that at races because there’s nothing that I can do about it. There are other things that I can control.
I could also strengthen my lower back during the next block because that pack gets heavy.
The training that I did to specifically target this race, and my next one, which is Laurel Highlands, has really paid off. I focused a lot on technical running and speeding up on descents. I nailed it!
Acknowledge your strengths and progress.
Trying caffiene in my water
No good for ultras. I’m guessing that I lost about 20 minutes going to the bathroom 3 times and trying to find a decent tree. – At one point, I didn’t find a tree soon enough, so you know what happened a little bit. 😵💩
I DID use the caffeine during training and long runs. It didn’t become an issue until about mile 35.
During races, I pay close attention to my stomach and what my body is telling me that I need. Some of this takes time to learn.
Definitely start with your daily routine. I’ve talked with many people over the years of treating eating disorders (as a mental health counselor), and have heard runners and other busy people describe having difficult connecting with their hunger and satiety cues.
Ways to get more in-touch with your stomach and body is to be fully present, free from distractions, even while on your lunch break at work. Incorporate mindfulness, like being non-judgmental of your food.
Pause and check-in with how you are feeling before eating. For example, ask yourself how hungry you are. When you are almost finished with your meal, you can check-in again. Are you satisfied or do you need to eat more? After the meal, check-in one final time.
Describe the food as you eat it. If you are eating tacos, notice the various flavors, like sweet, spicy, and savory, for example. Notice the crunch of the lettuce and the juiciness of the tomatoes.
If you struggle with fueling during races, it is a good idea to ask for help. Maybe try reaching out to a dietician and run coach.
It took me a few years to figure out that Spring Energy was causing poop problems. I’ve replaced it with Hammer Nutrition and Skratch products. If you are stuck, don’t give up, pay attention and ask for help.
Cooling down during the warmest part of the day
Coming into the 528 aid station for a second time (I returned from Jennings), I knew that I had about another 10 mile stretch to the swamp aid station, and that it was going to be the hottest part of the day. The swamp section also has some exposure to the sun.
Mike, who is a friend and he paced me at Burning River 100, was helping me out at the aid station. He asked if I wanted ice for this long stretch.
I do not like my new UD bladder because it is complicated and feels like it takes too much time to open it up. You have to pull it out, slide off the top plastic thing (sometimes a rubber string gets in the way), unfold the top of the bladder, pull two side handles hard, and then find the hidden opening.
I wanted to be quick at the aid stations, and I also didn’t want a bunch of weight in my pack. I planned on filling my bladder at swamp aid station.
Mike had the idea of putting ice in my pack, around the outside of the bladder. I decided that we were going to go with that because it didn’t take long. I knew that I’d be risking chaffing as the ice would melt and get clothes wet, but I didn’t care. On my way out of the aid station, I grabbed some fruit to go.
About 2 miles later, the ice was melting and felt super cold on my back and glutes. It felt good. It also felt strange that part of me felt really cold and the rest was much warmer.
The ice completely melted by the time I got to the swamp aid station and my clothes had mostly dried. I did get a little chaffing in a spot that I won’t go into, ha.
The ice served it’s purpose, but I don’t think I’d do it again just to save time. I’ll either go without ice or I will take the time to place it into the bladder.
Originally, I wanted to have a crew of one or two people and a pacer, which was allowed because I was going to compete, but I couldn’t find anyone to help.
This threw out my plan to swap out vests or bottles when I would see them. It would have allowed me to basically bypass aid stations and shave off seconds or minutes. My fingers are crossed that I can find help at Laurel Highlands and get to try this strategy there.
I’ll be able to recover later
I recalled the conversation with my coach a week prior to the race about running harder and where that line is when it comes to injury. Laurel Highlands is exactly one month away, and I wanted to make sure that I would fully recover from this one.
When I do ultras, I usually use phrases like, “mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter” and “I can recover when I’m done”.
My coach shared that he does something similar, I won’t share it because it probably isn’t internet friendly, lol, but I thought about it. It slightly helped me. I pushed knowing that I would be recovered about two days later.
He had me take four days off from running afterwards. When my weekly long run rolled around, it felt like I didn’t run a race the week prior, so everything had gone as planned.
Adventure in the swamp
The swamp is the worst section. It is mostly puddles, mud, forest management sections that made following the trail tough, and hills. I tightened my shoe laces, but the mud was sticky enough that my heels would slip out. This happened three or four times total.
The only wildlife I noticed all day was in this section. I saw a garter snake, millipede, and a swarm of bees on horse poop. I’m sure that I missed some critters because I took this run too seriously. I did take some seconds to notice trees, flowers, and views every once and a while to try to be more mindful.
Going around the two mile loop, I was following two runners. I kept their pace because it wasn’t worth using the energy to pass. The trail was a little gnarly and hilly, so I waited it out until we went back through the aid station and were back on the mixed dirt and gravel road.
At the aid station, one of the volunteers said that he’ll be at the mile 56 aid station at Laurel Highlands. I told him that I’d see him there. Before leaving, I got my bladder refilled as planned. The two runners that I had my eye on were walking the downhills, so I passed them. Downhills were my strength.
Shortly after that, I got super stuck in a mud puddle. Both feet were stuck tight and I was unable to lift them. It was NUTS.
The mud was nearly over the shoes and about halfway up my gaiters. The gaiters saved me. They kept the mud out of my shoes and were the only things keeping my feet “connected” to my shoes.
Since I was stuck real good, I checked behind me to see if I could see the other runners. They were way far back, coming down a hill. I didn’t want to wait, so I used my hands to dig myself out.
I reached down to the front of my shoes into the mud like my hands were digger machines at a construction site. I then scooped until I heard a de-suction sound. My hands were a mess, but I was free. It was wild how the mud entrapped me.
Ugh, relay runners
The relay runners needed different colored bibs because I was confusing them with the 50 milers. One woman became a rabbit. I mentally beat myself up when she passed and tried chasing her.
I didn’t realize that she was a relay runner until we reached the swamp aid station and I saw her telling a teammate where to go. At least she motivated me to go faster, ha!
Using music as a tool
The plan was to pick up a pacer around mile 30 at the swamp. For this race, if you are competing, you are allowed to have a pacer. I recalled previous years, the women who won had pacers. Normally, I would never consider a pacer for a 50 miler, but I wanted to have one push me hard towards the finish.
Since I couldn’t find help, I decided to use music at that point. It worked very well and I was able to keep my groove.
For long, training runs, I usually don’t listen to music because I want to be able to hear my environment (the woods) and practice being in my head. Music is too much of a distraction. There’s some good mental work to be done without music.
Allergies
A cough developed. I thought that it was allergies, maybe not? It lasted through the next day, and my nose dripped constantly. There was all sorts of pollen and stuff on the trail. I kept seeing strands of white fluffy stuff throughout the swamp.
After the race, Stephen and I sat with our friend Dave. He said that he was coughing out there, too.
Thankfully, the cough developed in the back half of the race. It cleared up three days after the race.
Heading towards the finish
With 10 miles left, I was feeling great about how the day turned around and my performance. I created a big gap between me and the woman behind me, and in the last 5 to 7 miles, I passed a man while we were running downhill.
My plan was to “drop the bomb” on the last 5 or so miles. I had just enough left in the tank to do that. Sort of, lol. I’ll have to look at my mile splits to see the pace increase.
I moved as best as I could with the remaining quarter mile. As I closed in on the left turn at the road from the bike path, which goes straight to the finish, I saw a woman in front of me. I wondered if she was fourth place.
I shortened the gap and didn’t know that I had shortened it that much. She finished about a minute ahead of me.
Once I turned on the road, I saw the other women finishers coming and going from their vehicles. We congratulated each other as I ramped up my pace to have a strong finish. People were cheering and clapping. I saw Stephen taking a video.
The next thing that I saw was the big, red timing clock. I was filled with happiness when I saw that it said 11 hours and 14 minutes. I knew that I achieved my huge PR. It all paid off.
After stopping running, I felt like Jello and sort of stumbled around. I was tired. The lady giving out the finisher glasses asked me if I was okay to take mine yet. I held it with both hands, so I didn’t drop it. For the next few minutes, I walked it off and was feeling better.
Random things that need fixed for the next ultra
It is important that we try to solve gear issues like these before the next event, even small ones.
Other problems I faced. My pack was too full. Shoes kept loosening up. The nozzle on the bladder hose popped off at one point and because I was carrying so many snacks, I couldn’t tuck the hose where I normally would.
For Laurel Highlands, I plan on carrying less snacks in my pack because Stephen will be crewing me and we will have a system in place. Having a lighter pack will allow the bladder hose to fit normal. Also, to prevent the nozzle from the hose popping off, I just have to be mindful to not chomp it.
Final thoughts
Since reflecting, I realized that this race wasn’t as much of a train wreck as I thought.
Overall, I followed my plan and did what I could out there. I learned a lot. I feel proud and accomplished. There was a lot of growth over the years of hard work and dedication.
I’ve done a number of things to dial in my training and racing over the past year. I’ll carry these helpful insights with me into Laurel Highlands.
If we want different results, then we have to make changes, stick with your dreams, and stretch.
Lastly, HUGE thanks to my friends and family who support me!
Celebrating
The day before the race, I bought myself a celebratory beer. Trail Marker, Imperial IPA by New Trail was highly appropriate.
The day after the race was Mother’s Day, so I hung out with my family and did yardwork while enjoying this brew. My Mom and I then took my daughter to see Moana 2 at the local, historic movie theater. It was a nice day of family time and reflecting on my run accomplishments.
Blister under my big toenail
*WARNING* NOT FOR THE WEAK
I spent two days draining this buddy. So gross! – And painful. When I laid in bed, I couldn’t allow the blanket to touch it and if I wanted to sleep on my stomach, then my foot needed to hang off the bed.
Being an ultrarunner is hard.
Related articles
My Pre-Race Questionnaire for Glacier Ridge Trail Ultra 2025
How Do You Get Pumped Up to Race?
What Will You Do Today to Finish Stronger?
Badwater 267 Virtual Race: Multi-Sport Division Race Report 2025
The Running Mullet Podcast: Winning Temptation 200k and race strategy
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