Event Name, date, location.
Glacier Ridge Trail Ultra, 05/10, Moraine State Park
Pre-event, what were your hopeful outcomes?
What were the actual outcomes?
To push myself to see how much I’ve grown. I used the goals of getting as close to the course record as possible and nabbing a podium spot. I knew that aiming for these highly set goals would be motivating enough to give my best.
My underlying goal was a PR for this race, and going after the other goals led me to achieving a 1 hour and 11 minutes faster time. My race time was 11 hrs and 14 minutes. Overall: 12/38 (7 DNFs). F: 5/11. Elevation gain: 7,329 ft.
What was the event like?
Hot, cold, wet, windy?
Crowded?
Poorly organized?
The event was well organized and the course was well marked, though difficult to follow in one highly muddy section of the swamp section. I did find myself about 20 feet off the trail at one point. I fixed it quickly.
The aid stations and volunteers were great.
It was cold during the first 4 hours. 33 F. The high was 71 F. To me, this is perfect weather. I sweated some during the hottest part of the day, especially while going through exposed sections in the swamp. I purposely slowed down, and never felt too hot.
The course had a lot of mud, rocks, roots, and climbs. The mud slowed me down more than anything. My heels came out of my shoes 6-7 times. At one point, I came out of both shoes at the same time. When this happened, I did tighten my shoe laces, but it continued to happen. My trail gaiters kept the mud from going deep into the shoes.
When I was stuck tight, I couldn’t pull myself out. I looked behind me to see how far back other runners were. I decided that I didn’t want to wait for them, so I dug down into the mud with my hand and scooped my foot out.
My training for this event was solid and I did not notice the rocks and roots as much as I did back in 2022.
How do you feel about the results?
This may include time, your placing, and how you performed regardless of those numerical results.
How do you FEEL about your performance?
Reflecting on the results and how I feel about them, I feel really pleased and proud. I had a huge PR on a harder course than in 2022. It was crazy that I didn’t podium with a PR like that, but it was a competitive year.
The women around me were motivating and inspiring. They were strong and fast, and I was trying to compete with them. It was good stuff.
It is REALLY hard to push close to your limits for the duration of an ultramarathon. A lot of the run was done either at threshold pace or above. I wanted to “find out” what would happen if I did that, and so I did.
What area of the event could have been executed better?
Sleep, lodging, travel, intra-race nutrition, better course scouting, etc?
Please expand upon your answer.
During the fist 20 miles, I struggled with negative self-talk due to the combination of comparison and giving a moderately hard effort. Who would have known that I’d feel like crap about myself due to these factors, ha.
I wasn’t running poorly at all, it was just perceived that way because it was hard and I was paying too much attention to the other women.
I ended up balancing myself out through mantras, positive self-talk, strategies, and sticking too the plan (not following my emotions). The rest of the race went really well.
I talked about the mud; my shoes could have been laced tighter from the start.
Also, I could have carried less food in my vest. It was just too much. I didn’t want to spend too much time at the aid stations. I wanted them to be quick ins and outs. Everything was on me if I needed it because I wasn’t using a drop bag. This wasn’t really an issue, but it can be improved.
My original strategy was to have a crew and pacer because I was going to compete, but since I couldn’t find help, I returned to my usual strategy, minus visiting with others at aid stations.
My new caffeine ended up being a big problem. I tried it during multiple run workouts and long runs. It was perfect for that, but later in the race, it wrecked my stomach, causing me to have poop issues. I ended up having to go frequently, and was able to stop 3 times in the last 20 miles.
It got so bad though, that as soon as I went, I had to go again. I spent too long looking for a tree and I think there was a little squirt. The poop issue added minutes to my time. If I remember correctly, my moving time was about 10 hrs and 50 mins.
My bad big toenail (the messed up one that I’ve lost twice) was getting really beat up on the downhills. I guess I didn’t cut it short enough. It began hurting, but I ignored it. The whole toe is purple, swollen, and the nail is purple and loose. I need to pay better attention to my nails. The other ones were okay, but for the sake of this one that keeps getting injured.
In your training, what do you think could have done better to improve performance on this day?
I jogged smaller hills. During the race, I had difficulty with power hiking the big hills. I was getting passed on them. I noticed that when I got fatigued, it was actually easier to jog the hills than to power hike, but I was too tired to jog the hills. My hamstrings and glutes burned on the hills.
I was creating a list in my head during the race of the issues and how I was going to work on them during training. I need to add weighted power hiking. Treadhill doesn’t do it. I will literally need to practice hiking.
What part(s) of training do you think helped this event, the most?
All of the downhill training, plyometrics, and strengthening were spot on. I did well on the technical trail and downhills.
My endurance was really good, overall, so whatever run workouts I did that helped with endurance.
What event or events are next?
Laurel Highlands Ultra and Oil Creek 100.
Anything else you’d like to add?
For Oil Creek 100, I will need to add power hiking into the training block. It is too late to improve this for Laurel Highlands, but that is okay.
Lastly, in the next 2 weeks, I need to begin to figure out my goals and pacing strategy for Laurel. I’m very excited for that one. It is a challenging course and attracts a bunch of competitive runners.
More on Glacier Ridge Trail Ultra
My Pre-Race Questionnaire for Glacier Ridge Trail Ultra 2025
Glacier Ridge Trail Ultra Race Report 2025
More mindset and mental wellness content
Reasons Why I Run: Digging deep
How I Overcame My Fear of Trail Running After Encountering A Cougar (Part 1)
How I Overcame My Fear of Trail Running After Encountering a Cougar (Part 2)
Self-Care Assessment For Athletes
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