Monday, December 28th…. Still debating whether I should do it. “Mentally, was I ready” was the question. My body was ready, although not as trained as I have been for my first two 100’s. I put in the training, but it had been a rough few months. I had dealt with recovery from a torn meniscus from the spring, which led to a rotated pelvis. I was consistently doing acupuncture and physical therapy. I was healed and I was strong. But was I ready for a hundred miles? This was virtual though. I could take the time I needed. The cut off for the Yeti Challenge was 36 hours. Although part of me wanted to see what I could do. And I had my buckle. But I would never keep it unless I earned that bad boy. It was still in the package. No need to open it unless it really was mine. I had never gone further than a marathon on the road. How would my body hold up? How would my pacing adjust? 1PM…. I’m gonna do it.
I got my “aid station” ready. All my food was ready, although not to my usual standards. I usually have baggies with calories marked and ready to grab and go. Not this time. I didn’t feel like I needed it. It was just me. I could grab what I needed and go. The one thing concerning me was the temps. Highs were going to be in the 40s and lows in the 20s though the night.
The plan: I had planned out a 5ish mile loop around my neighborhood. I had three amazing friends lined up to run with me at night. Other than that, my crew consisted of myself and my mom giving me hot chocolate. My “aid station” was a cooler and card table in my garage. I would stop every other loop and refuel. Simple enough, right?
Tuesday, December 29th…. 4:30am – ate breakfast and tried to psych myself up. Ensured my aid station was ready to go.
6:30ish am…. I hit start on my Garmin. GO TIME. Things worked like clockwork and went according to plan. Just me and some podcasts, the miles ticked away.
By mile 40 the loop was getting old. I was starting to think about the next 60 miles I still had to go. The last thing you want to focus on in a hundred. So I shook that thought away and kept grinding.
Finally I got some company! Megan Hardy, pacer #1 joined me around mile 53. My feet were holding up well, I filled up with some hot chocolate and we were off. Running through the Christmas lights was something you don’t get to do in most ultras.
Around mile 70-ish, pacer #2, Vickie Bryant joined me. I decided to swap out my shoes and socks at that point. My feet were still doing well but I was having some shin pain. I think the impact on the road was starting to wear on me. But I was still running strong and was on track for a 24 hour finish!
Every time we stopped to refuel, it was so hard to get going again. The warmth in my house felt so good. Going back out into the cold night was hard. But I was determined to finish. I found myself still running until around mile 86. That’s when my knee got angry at me and it was a death march the last 14 miles.
Pacer #3, Andy Carpenter joined us for the finish. I finished at 25:49, a new PR. But I don’t think that 100s really have PRs. They are each their own beast with their own challenges and are hard to compare. I’m super thrilled to have finished my third 100.
Would I do another virtual ultra? Without any other racers for company? Without any race day crew encouragement and crowds cheering? This was more mentally challenging than I can put into words. I would have loved to do it on the trails, but I stuck to my neighborhood for safety reasons. In the end, I set a goal for myself and I was going to finish it.
