Expect the unexpected - Caloosahatchee Ultra

Last spring when we moved to southwest Florida, I found the Caloosahatchee Ultra and decided it would be a great goal race to keep me moving.  Within a drivable distance, its three 10.5-mile loop course sounded like a perfect opportunity to play on the trails on a Saturday in December.

I put together a standard training calendar and set out to train for the 50K distance I hadn’t run since Ghost Train (30) back in October 2017.  I quickly realized the heat and humidity of southwest Florida was no joke.  Scott and I slogged through many training runs, but I struggled with sticking with it. 

Team Smedz!

In July, our friends Brad and Jenelle were lured decided to register for this race.  Brad was ready to tackle the ultra-distance and Jenelle was ready to tackle a new long distance.  A fun long weekend began to take shape that would include carbo loading, running, and celebrating.  This is also when Caloosahatchee Ultra was fondly nicknamed the Hootchie Cootchie Ultra.

Race day morning felt oddly comfortable, with a light shower early on, lots of cloud cover, and a refreshing breeze.  The forecast warned that would be short lived, so we came armed with all the fluids, all the salt tabs, and all the attitude to cover a hot 50K.

Although Scott and I scoped out the trails about a month prior, we only covered about half of the trails.   The portion of the trails we didn’t cover were the hardest portion.  There turned out to be lots of ups and downs, with a healthy number of switchbacks.  At one point, I had to use my hands to steady myself on the steepest climb.  Yes, I said climb.  In Florida. 

Team Action Jackson

I expected it to be warm, but with everyone telling me “It’ll cool off and be beautiful”, I wasn’t quite expecting humid mid-80’s on December 1st.  I also expected this run to be hard.  Remember the difficult training cycle previously mentioned?  Yeah, nothing like feeling undertrained for a 50K.  There’s no avoiding that level of ouch.

I hoped I wouldn’t see any scary wildlife and although there was a rattlesnake sighting (quickly relocated by a park ranger), I only saw one other snake sunning himself on the trail.  I tip toed right by him.  After the first four miles, I essentially ran this race solo.  I enjoyed the peaceful trails, but I don’t know what I would’ve done had I come across the rattlesnake on my own.  EEEK!

One of these is real.....

Award time!

The four of us set out with our goals and left it all out there at Caloosahatchee.  Brad nailed his first 50K distance and Jenelle rocked her distance PR with 21 miles for the day.  And Scott?  He killed it, placing 3^rd overall and top master finisher!  One of the beautifully handmade awards I had been drooling over at the start of the race was now coming home with Scott.  Me?  I finished with tears in my eyes.  Physically, I was ill prepared for the distance and the course.  Mentally, I felt like I broke through a mental wall that had slowly been building over the last two years.  I’m thrilled with my day.

Expect the unexpected at Caloosahatchee Ultra!  The race director and team put on a great race!  I highly recommend it – whether the 50K or the 25K option.  There’s no way to get lost and there’s a very generous time cut-off.  And as hot as it felt when we were running in the fields, we had significant tree cover during much of the course.   They offered maximum food, beverage, fun, and personalized attention.  Brad’s day was made when a volunteer had a coffee waiting for him the next time he came into the aid station!  And how many race directors sign your friends in and immediately recognize them as “Hey, it’s New Hampshire!”

Caloosahatchee Cheers!