Birthday FatAss Containing the UXB

On a run with Xar, she was musing that she'd like to be able to do the UXB since her schedule didn't allow her to run all the Brad Dirt races.  The only day she seemed to have free before the Bruiser was Sept. 1st.  Then she mentioned she'd be turning 31 in Septemper; it'd be cool to do a 50k for it, but she didn't think she'd have any time for it.  Well, it didn't take us long to figure out to combine the two.  So Xar's Birthday Fatass was born.  As soon as George and Ann got wind of it, the plans for cake got under way. 

However, Xar started questioning whether she wanted to make a big deal of it.  Her Cinder Conk schedule was making it hard to get in any training; maybe we should just keep it low key.  The unofficial birthday committee took this under advisement and, with a bit of hesitation, decided you don't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need (thanks, Mick) so made it an official FB event.  Even though Xar then got her horrible chest chough illness in with her traveling, she embraced the event; she'd do what she could do.

Some last of the year (knock on wood) heat and humidity left just in time.  Actually, a bit of the humidity was there for the start, but left steadily during the day.When Rick and I pulled into the parking lot, George, Ann, Mindy, and NJ Dave were already there.  They'd already claimed out aid station table for the day, strategically on the path from the mountain to the east side.  We oohed at the cake (!) and set up more.  Soon Xar pulled in.  That completed the group that were starting early to get in the extra four miles over the UXB.

Ann decided she was just gonna do her own thing since she wasn't planning on doing the entire thing; she was going to run with Linda who was arriving after she finished work.  George peeled off with her, but planned to join back up with us for the UXB portion.  We ran easily chatting as single track allows.  I think we got back to the aid table just in time for the official start.  OK, maybe slightly late, but pretty close.  Here we added Ian, Amy, Michael, Blaine, Nathan, Bob, and Chandra.  Kevin (not Pathfinder, in fact, not a TM but a Kevin that does some of our Saturday runs) showed up for a Saturday run and hopped on the UXB train for the Scuffle portion.  The tally board shows Jeff's name and some times, but I never saw him.  Jeff, were you there? 

It wasn't long before the pace groups formed.  I fit into the middle group, but ran back to make sure the others knew the course (dammit, I'd forgotten the course maps.  I did call Linda who would bring them with her so everyone would have them available for subsequent courses).  Chandra had a park map which was better than nothing.  I made them repeat the trails several times before heading off to catch back up with the Squirrel, Nathan, Rick, and Kevin.  Again, more of the normal chatter.  On Ginn East we ran into Ann and George.  They were still out from the start, sort of finding their way back.  They asked the quickest way back to the start.  Hmmm...we were about 1/2 way into the Scuffle.  We had them stay with us till Old Tuttle Rd then sent them over and down the Snowmobile Trail to Link.

Back into base camp, we had just over 10 miles down.  A little refueling, visiting, and saying bye to Kevin before we started off on the Breaker.  Here we picked up Michael, who, recovering from some big events, decided a slower pace group might be nicer for a bit and George, who was back from his wanderings.  Rick's knee started being a pain around here, too.  By the time we were heading up the Boundary from the back of the park, he'd begun to drop back :( His fitness is back, so it's time for something to break?  Hopefully not this time.  Michael left for the day after South Ridge.  Now our group was down to Squirrel, Scout, TT, and George.  While we were refueling, Rick came in from a modified Breaker loop (skipped South Ridge).  He was going to ice his knee for a while, then assess; he was a couple of miles short of his 16 mile target.

I needed to change my shirt and slather on some Vaseline; I was chafing pretty badly.  Ah, that felt good.  I think it was here that we saw Ian heading out on the Bruiser.  He alone remained of the fast group.  Our group of four headed off to finish the Breaker.  When we turned off the Tote onto Northern Loop we came across Xar, Chandra, and Amy wondering if they were still on track.  We showed them where they were on the map.  Yup, they were doing it.  They all looked like they were having fun.  We stayed together till our peel off for the Terrace, while they headed for the Switch Back. 

Back down at the aid station, we took a little longer to get back out.  I'd been eating at least a PBJ section and a cookie or two at each stop.  By Nathan Pack was pretty empty so I added some water.  I wished I realized how long the Bruiser would take finishing off the 50K.  I should have added more.  I should have eaten more or grabbed something more for my pack.  The Squirrel was contemplating S-Caps.  Dave had a supply.  Meanwhile, George put his persuasive skills to use; he got Rick back out on the trail to finish off his planned miles.  That meant it was just Double S and Double T for our last leg.  These miles would have long stretches with no talking at all.  It took some pretty hard concentration to manage the trail's rocks and roots at this point.  Somewhere along the course, Nathan asked me for an S-Cap.  I have been carrying around several that Ian gave me.  I say that's all need - to have them.  I haven't bonked since :)  So he dug one out of my stash that hadn't been crushed.  On the Snomo Trail we took a short planned walk.  I choked down my Waffle.  Hmmm, wished I brought one of the HappyTots; they always go down easy.  We started joking about flagging down bikers to send them back to the aid station to tell someone to put food and drink at the start of the O.  Actually, I don't know how much I was joking. 

Finally,  the O.  We walked spots only for fear of falling, we walked stretches for fear of missing the trail.  I'm not sure how far in we were when we saw George!  He decided to cut across to where we were.  Yes!  The addition brought in more energy.  Finally, we arrived at the last rock-clusterf*ck and navigated it successfully!!!  Off the O, on the last stretch of Knights Woods, the Squirrel said to just leave her fallen body right there if she tripped, but we all remained upright heading in.  Mindy had to ask for fanfare, so we came into some cheering.  Yikes!  My. Feet. Hurt.  Hungry.  Thirsty.  Done.
Mindy sprawled on the picnic table bench.  Amy came in from the East side.  She and Xar got separated somewhere on Fox West.  Amy found her way in.  Xar continued on.

After changing into non-running clothes, putting on lots of Vaseline, and figuring out some food/drinks to take in, I found a pieced of ground to lie on.  The Squirrel wasn't far and we plotted what would be necessary to make the post-Virgil party more comfortable.  Soon the conversation turned to Xar.  She was alone on the end of a 50K on the O trail.  She could be in in an infinite O-loop!!!  George regretted changing out of his running gear.  He was ready to go back out there.  Soon, he was ready to go back out there, running shoes back on.  He ran backwards on the O, while Rick went out on the Link to check the trails around there.

Then!  Xar, with George just behind, finished up her birthday fatass, looking as fresh as she did at the start!  No kidding, she was all smiles with no limps or complaints :D  We didn't waste too much time before lighting her cool candles on her amazing cake.  Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Badassness abounds!

I'll get totals of the day out eventually and add some pictures, but, that's it for now.