12 hours is a long time to be on your feet, let me tell you. I knew I wanted to complete an ultra one day, I just wasn't sure which one would be first. Last year, after reading my friend Rob's book, Training For Ultra, and spectating Javelina Jundred, it was time. I signed up for Hotfoot Hamster and texted my friend to put my name on the calendar to rent his decked-out Sprinter van for the race. Why sleep in a tent when you can sleep on a super comfy foam mattress inside a van? Obviously, this was all before we'd get bashed with one of the worst pandemics in history. The race ended up getting postponed to July but they gave me the option to complete it virtually, which I was all for. Obviously, you know, I ran the Mesa Marathon and felt amazing after. Not one bit of pain or soreness and then started training two weeks later for this race. I wasn't betting the same result here. I put in 10 weeks of work running roughly 5 times a week. I would do one day of speed work, some days of strides and drills, and the rest was recovery runs. I was so happy to finally be back with my coach. She really is the glue that holds me together. But enough of the training. How did the race go?
We'll start with 24 hours before the start time. I had a short run with some strides thrown in. I spent most of the day laying on the couch, doing some PT exercises whenever I'd get up. I prepped some food for my aid station, which would be in the garage. I cut up a big 'ol watermelon, cooked up some potatoes, and peeled oranges. I made some peanut butter sandwiches and put cans of coke in the fridge. I like to watch a movie that will pump me up. For some reason, The Game Changers ended up being the one. Some people would be confused by that but that documentary is just on point. (Shameless plug time: if you are an athlete or really anyone who is curious about how you can perform like a friggin' well-oiled machine on a plant-based diet, watch it. It's on Netflix for free so you have no excuse. Okay, back to your regularly scheduled recap.) My husband cooks me homemade spaghetti before all of my races so that's what was for dinner. I hit the hay around 8:00pm.
I actually slept really well. Maybe it's the fact that this race was so relaxed. I had nowhere to be except right outside of my own house. I woke up at 5:00am. Ate my typical race day oatmeal (Shalene style), drank some Nuun, and brewed some coffee. I had everything laid out the night before so I didn't have anything to do but chill. Time went by quick, though. I hopped in the shower, did my pre-run warm-up, and before I knew it, I was counting down the clock to start my attempt at my first ultra. Pressed play on my iPod Shuffle and the loops racked up. I ran on a 0.41-mile loop right in my neighborhood, passing my house every lap, which made aid easy, including the use of my own bathroom. No lines! Yay! The actual racecourse is 500 meters so I tried to keep it as true to that as I could. This just made the most sense. I tried to (remember to) change directions every hour. Clockwise was harder due to the slight incline of the street but that meant different leg muscles would get woken up every once in a while.
Now, as with most races, I had a plan of execution I would try to follow. I wanted to try and power through to a marathon, ease into a 50K, and anything after that was just bonus miles. I started very fresh as if I was just doing another long run. The heat came quick, though, and I knew I had to change my pace or I would burn out really quick. The forecast called for 97 degrees that day. I am not a heat runner. I run early in the morning when it's maybe 70 at the warmest. The sun here is much more intense, too. I would end up using about 30oz of sunscreen at the end that would give me some sweet tan lines that will probably never go away but no major burns. I think it took me as soon as mile 6 to know this would be a really long day and I would really have to fight through whatever thoughts may cross my mind of calling it quits early due to the weather. My husband was my aid station/crew chief. He had all of my food out, threw me bottles of whatever I wanted to drink, and a big bucket of ice-cold water. I'd dunk my buff and hat in it. At one point, I'd just put my whole head in. But what did I eat/drink?
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| Scarfing down a peanut butter sammie. |
I started with some gels and energy chews, then Larabars, then needed actual food. I'd eat my peanut butter sandwiches and put potato chips in them. So salty but so good. I had some vegan ramen which actually tasted amazing. Maybe it was because, at that point, I'd take anything that would keep me going. The cold watermelon and oranges were lifesavers. What was the MVP, though? Coke. I'm not a pop (Soda if you're not from the midwest) drinker much. I love having glass bottle Mexican cola with my burritos or a Zevia every now and then but I never have it stocked up in my pantry. Today, Coke was the dream come true. Around 1:00pm, I was taking a longer break to kick my feet up for a bit. "Do you need anything else right now?" My husband asked. "I really want a cup of coffee." He ended up telling me that probably wasn't a good idea and he was probably right. I opened up what would be first of like five cans (the baby ones) of Coke I'd drink and I literally said out loud, "Holy crap, this tastes perfect!". When you don't drink or eat specific foods for a long time, they taste so much better. Later in the afternoon, I'd have some potato burritos which, for how simple they were, hit the spot. I never had issues with hydration or stomach pains. I never lost my appetite. Dean Karnazes had told me about ginger chews when we talked a few months back. They help settle a bad stomach. I ate one at some point not because I needed it, but it sounded good. I took one of my longer breaks (roughly 20 minutes) when I hit a marathon. After that, it seemed like every mile took forever to get to. It was really hot then. I changed my clothes and shoes. My husband wiped my feet off with a baby wipe and put some new socks on them. That felt so good.
Once I hit the 50K mark (31.some change), I wasn't sure what would happen after. I was so happy and astonished with myself at that point already. 31 miles is a long way to go. But what else could I add on? My coach was the only person I kept in contact with that whole day. She told me, "movement is miles, no matter how fast or slow it is" and she was right. The beauty of a fixed-time race is exactly that. Some people do try and go balls to the wall but this was my first one. I'll admit, I wanted to try and get to 50 miles but I didn't let that goal be my make or break moment. I had my A, B, and C goals. Given the weather conditions, I knew that wasn't going to happen and I was completely fine with it. I was already an ultramarathoner at that point. Nothing could make me upset. I reevaluated my love of running earlier this year and I told myself I'd never let pace or time ruin my dreams. If it happens, cool. If it doesn't, you tried and that's more important than anything.
It felt like the sun was never moving and stayed directly above me the entire time. I walked a lot after mile 31. I ended up meeting more people that lived in my neighborhood than I had ever talked to. Guess that's what happens when you're out in the middle of the day. One couple was from Michigan, too. Someone was moving into a new house down the street and as I walked by I said, "Welcome to the neighborhood!". He was from Florida. He didn't ask what I was doing but I know he was curious. I got a lot of weird looks as cars drove by. I wave at everyone. Eventually, I'd get sick of listening to music and would turn on the audiobook I was in the middle of; Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain. 35 miles would come. At this point, I had a little over an hour left. My coach said she could totally see me get to or close to 40. She was right.
My husband hopped on his bike and said, "Come on, let's get you to 40.". It was as if the second wave of energy came out of nowhere. I was running, slowly, but I was running after being on my feet for 11 hours. Determination was fueling this. Every time my watch beeped, I was closer. 36....37....38. "I'm so close", I said out loud to myself. I wanted to allow at least 30 minutes of extra time, in case I needed it. My watch went off at 40 miles and it was almost 11 hours, 30 minutes on the dot. I had done it. I wasn't finished with the race but 40 miles was completed. I walked the rest of the way. I was so proud of myself and how far I had come that day. I also wanted the sun to go down because I was sick of being in it. It's also as if my body knew that I was almost finished because I instantly got really tired. Right at 7:00pm, my watch stopped, and I was a winner. I walked up the driveway with my arms up like Rocky Balboa.
How did I physically feel afterward? Aside from my feet being a little store, I was fine. The next day, I got out of bed, walked out to the kitchen, made coffee, and stood there, not even thinking about it. "I just ran 40 miles less than 24 hours ago. How am I not walking like a baby giraffe?". Seriously, my legs felt fresh already. I took an ice bath anyway, did some stretches and foam rolled. I ended up going for a walk. I'm seriously impressed with myself for feeling the way I do. Call me crazy but ditching meat and dairy was the best thing I have ever done for my recovery. It's been roughly three days now and my body feels completely recovered and is ready to get moving again. However, I'm a compliant athlete, and what coach says goes. I'll be hitting some yoga practices for the rest of the week and that's it.
What's next? I'm signed up for the McKirdy Mile. I had to miss the first one due to race day but will pick up with everyone else on May 16th. That mile will be pretty slow but I'll have two other chances to see what my legs can give me. I also plan to do some virtual Ironman challenges. They've been doing duathlons and I've been very interested in participating, especially since we have an indoor bike now. But what about other races? Well, I won't be registering for any proper races until we're in the pandemic clear zone, which I don't see happening for quite some time. I haven't been trail running since the virus hit because I don't want to be around people. This will probably impact my decision on running Javelina but that's quite alright. Worse case, I'll find another virtual run to crush! I honestly like running solo. I pretty much always have so it's not new for me to be alone.
Another chapter is written and successfully closed in my running career. I hope you are all still determined to crush goals even with the conditions given. It can be hard to dig into that inner motivation when we aren't traveling to races but don't let that stop you from becoming better every day.
