Freak 50K

 

 


Found out I was free to do this event a couple weeks before hand and it was still open so I decided on the 50K option since the next weekend would be starting on the Center of Nations Series. Arrived about 11am and I had to go in as a walk in camper as the sites were already sold out in advance but found a place that wasnt too far of a haul in. If you pay beforehand you can actually drive to your campsite if not you have to park across the street and haul all your stuff. It took about 3 or 4 trips but was fine. I started to put the tent up and have been using it a lot this year and as I pulled out the rods that support it the damn band was broken...Thank goodness I brought heavy duty tape as I was going to be decorating my tent for the Woodstock Festivities.  This held it in place for the weekend!  My friend Sandy was coming to pace her friend for the 100 miler and this was the first time I actually got to meet meet her husband...was nice to know someone there but did make lots of new friends as well.  On Friday night there was an evening 5K on the trails with an option after you got about a mile in to go off course do an "all natural" option...there was I guess a tent there to change or unclothe as well as a bar in the woods to sit and chill as long as you like then a one mile loop to run free.  I actually thought about this a lot but just dont have the self confidence....I also thought to myself it's prolly like at the beach, the guys you see in the speedo that shouldnt be in the speedo. I got done with the 5K friday night and my tent neighbors from Cincinnati and another group of all guys had all said the did the all natural and I should have done it and I really need to on Saturday. Some were younger then me some prolly my age but all nice looking so I thought ok...its not like at the beach and gonna be all this saggy schlongs dangling around and boobs to the knees so my boobs only hit my belly button so I may be ok to try it Saturday night :) Up and at em Saturday am and had to start with a flashlight for a little while...it was 2 loops for the 50K and the 100 milers and 100K runners had started at 4pm the day before. The course was nice had some decent climbs that I really wasnt expecting. There were a few mountain bikers on the first loop coming straight at us that got frustrating then by lap 2 there were hundreds...and most wanted us to move off the single track trail for them. I got thrown into a tree once...I really felt for those who had been out there since 4pm the day before and having to move out of the way....was hard enough to stay focused on your running let alone when they would come flying at you. I finally asked is there some bike event happening as well and then I found out there was an annuaul bike event held on 3 of the trails systems all we were using as well and there were hundreds of them....somebody had some poor planning since both Run Woodstock Weekend and the bike event were now the same weekend! I never worried about my time well I never worry about my time anyways unless I know Im gonna be super close to the finish cut off!. The course was a mix of nice single track, quite a bit of sand which "sucks" couple places with stretches of road plus had some bridges not too technical and a little bit of mud towards the end of each loop but nothing major. It got hot out there and looked the maybe it was gonna rain a couple times and finally towards the last 4 miles it did. it wasnt a pouring rain just a nice wetness that helped clean off a lot of dirt on the legs.  When the bikers would fly by and the ground was so dry you would have to cover your eyes and mouth due to the dust flying around. Sandy sent me a text and told me to find Erick as he had a band I could use to get into the REAL showers-being the walk in camper I only had access to the outdoor cold shower. When I finished I searched and searched for Erick but couldnt find him...so I decided to head to my car and change into my bathing suit in the backend...I didnt want to track all the dirt and mud into my tent. I got to the shower and wow that was COLD!!!! Washed my hair the best I could and scrubbed the body down enough to feel kinda clean. I got talking again to my tent neighbors from Cincinnati, the girl was doing her first ver 50K and her boyfriend was running the 100.....he was on the bench with his feet up and she had me look at his awesome bloody blisters she had helped take care of and he also had this crazy rash on his legs, assuming from all the sand we had to go thru plus the dude was fast as shit!! He freakin WON the 100 miler!!!  Then I went to wait for Sandy and her friend to finish. I had seen them at an aid station on his last lap out and I had only about 3 to go, he had been having tummy issues early on but seemed to be finally getting them under control.
Went to the hot dog stand and had a hot dog and when I hooked up with Sandy and Erick Erick had made some burgers and fixed me one up....boy that hit the spot!! I opened a bottle of wine and had a glass or two then had a beer. Visited with all them for awhile and listened to the bands playing and even watched a wedding! A guy had did the 100 mile run then after the run he cleaned up and they got married.....I giggled with a comment she wanted it after the 100 miler since he surely wont be in his right mind. Slept pretty decent that night and decided when I got up sunday not to stick around for the 5 mile run and just started packing up to head home for the 5-6 hour drive. I threw the tent out as Tanner said the chances of a replacement pole on that tent were slim. I then pulled my car on into the camping area since it was so early and got things loaded up much faster.  I think I would love to do this event again next year if it fits in my schedule, maybe the 50 miler there would be fun

Beast of Burden 100 turned 50

     Little recap of this event. It had a 10am start on the flat erie canal tow path...no shade which we knew about. The webpage boast All three aid stations will be stocked with a wide variety of food and cold beverages. We really try to offer a feast at our Beast! Our drop bags were at the end of the 12.5 which was the turn around and at the start. I started off with Sandy and things were feeling good and we were going out WAY too fast...we both spoke of this a lot and I had a plan to follow and but still came in almost a min and half faster per mile for this 12.5 mile loop. The heat and lack of food started to play a toll already and I was consuming a lot of water but also started having major cramps, like side stitch cramps in my upper belly near my ribs that I couldnt get rid of. My tummy looked bloated and felt bloated, my head was hurting, my ears were popping and felt hollow and I was dizzy already....never felt like this before at all. My mind and legs all felt great but something wasnt right. At the first aid station which was about 6.75 miles out they didnt offer ice had water, heed, cookies, candy, PBJ quarters and fruit. I tried the PBJ but just wasnt gonna cut it so it was a small banana and water and scaps. Made it out to the 12.5 mile AS and again, PBJ, cookies, candy, and fruit so here it was watermelon but they offered ICE!! filled the bottles with ice and little water as the heat made the water so hot within min this would be cold for a few. Here again nothing not even the food I packed tasted good still cramping still dizzy and overheated and I grabbed water melon. On the way back I set my watch to a 4 min run 1 min walk...this was quickly too much for Sandy so I changed to a 3 to 1 and that worked for a bit....legs felt like lead, lungs felt like lead and the strange cramps in the stomach still were not going away nor was the ringing of the ears. Got thru the first 25 and the pace had slowed way down, the heat was unbelievable and lack of nutrition wasnt helping things. I got a snowcone with little bit of red and blue juice and it tasted great! Still only PBJ candy and fruit for choices and I grabbed watermelon and brought with me...it was hot too so I kept it close to my water bottle just to give it a chill....stopped at my car since it was able to be the main AS got right on the course and grabbed my twizzlers and a couple things hoping something would taste good but it wasnt. Sandy started out a few before me and I saw them up ahead but I just went with a 2 to 1 pace at this point....I also knew that I was going to just stop at the 50 miles and i was ok with that.....I kinda thought even leading up to this i may just do the 50 but told my friend I would do it with her as her first 100 and then she bailed on the sunday before due to lack of training this summer, getting married and her dog was now scheduled for a surgery the day she would be home. So I send a message to the RD about seeing if it was too late to drop I never got a reply back...that was another thing...communication before the event was terrible...posts on the FB went unanswered by many and emails as well. Earlier when I had asked about dropping I was told you sign up for one or the other..you get a DNF if you sign for the 100 and stop at the 50 but had read last year there was a certain date you could do that by but didnt see that this year.. Randomly they would respond to post.  So I got the AS that was just a little over 6.5 miles out...looking again for food!! Now there is broth in the crock pots, ok not many calories but maybe it will settle the stomach so I can handle something else...poured it in a cup took a sip cold as ice....just sitting in the crock not turned on...shit...so back to the watermelon. Made it out to the 12.5 and was so dizzy by this point I thought about dropping there but then I really wanted to get atleast 50 in and if I took it easy I wasnt going to hurt myself?? I could just see myself in a buffalo hospital alone and them calling my folks to come get me 8 hours away. Finally some food!! semi warm grill cheese but that was heaven for a moment...changed shoes and put vaseline on my toes as the ones next to my big toe were starting to blister underneath the toe nail. I told the gals there whats up with the poor food choices and the cold broth? They said the guys prolly dont know how to turn the crock pots on. I said I was gonna stop at 50 that something just wasnt going right with my body and I have a lot of other stuff coming up this year I didnt wanna miss and this was kinda a last minute sign up to do with a friend who bailed on sunday anyways....they said to let the guys know at Gasport that I was gonna drop and they would call them and have them send my drop bag to the start. I got back to Gasport let the guy know could tell he wasnt going to understand or do it cause to get me checked in with my number took about 5 min of what was that number again...did I get you checked in,,,what was your number again....so now im looking again for food...its 9pm and I went to the crock pots and I said is the broth warm or hot yet?? They said oh we are just getting ready to turn it on? Hmmm ok you have a race that starts at 10am in 85 degree heat no shade you know people are not going to be consuming the calories they need nor what they are use to so they gotta get it from somewhere else like liquid....just not much in a slice of watermelon and not much in broth but there is some sodium too....so no food again. It was now starting to get dark and the nasty big ass bugs were out they would go up your nose in your mouth yulk belch ick...I pulled a bandana over my nose and mouth still they snuck thru then i just used my hands and kept trying to wave them away....used more energy but that was nasty!! It may have lasted about 30-45 min??? Then it was frogs haha small ones big ones every so often and i didnt want to squish any. I did put my music on here finally and just stayed focussed on a 2 to 1 pace and still my legs and mind felt good but I knew I needed to stop. I got there and told the RD who was at the laptop I was stopping at the 50 he says oh ok...and then he is pulling up the winning time for the Boston marathon discussing it with the guy sitting with him...I then tried to ask about my bag as i didnt see it and he just looked at me at first...i said I told them out at Middleport I was planning to stop at the 50 and they told me to tell them as Gasport so they would call and send my bag then a lady says are you sure its not there and the RD says oh ok you were there when we were and that was the last trip I said no when I was there is was just ladies and its been almost 4 hours ago and he says yes thats when it was we dont go every hour..then I said ok can someone please tell me how to get there and get I can go get it....now remember this is after 11pm I just ran 50 miles in the heat my ears are still ringing completely dizzy havent eaten anything except a half grilled cheese and watermelon and this RD is too busy playing on his laptop...never even questioned how was I feeling either when I was dropping....but now the gal looks at me and says are you ok?? I said well Im dizzy and disoriented and my ears are ringing but they have been like this all day...there hasnt been much food choices the broth still wasnt turned on and now I dont have my bag I think I'll go sit for a second.  I got up when I saw pizza boxes and it was sooooo cold you couldnt even get the squares apart...it was upside down cheese off half of it a wreck...yes I took photos so if i ever am having a day I feel like eatin pizza and I shouldnt i can look at this picture and ruin that craving. So now Im back to please tell me how to find my bag as I need to get it and I now also still need to find a place to stay tonight since I checked out thinking I would be running all night. So I said even if you can just give me an address I can put it in my gps...so this other guy next to the RD says yes I can do that....as he's looking for an address the RD then says...It's all online you can go there and get it if that helps....I was shocked I was pissed I was like oh ok....thats cool I'll do that...and shook my head and walked to my car.....he said we can do it we can do it Im like please dont let me trouble you. So i get back to my car spend some time in the back trying to pack up my stuff some since the back end was my aid station and posted on my FB page I am totally unimpressed with the folks that put on the Beast of Burden 50/100 mile run....took my blood pressure i always have my portable one in the back due to doing bootcamps out of my car some evenings back home and if necessary its handy...Mine was registering 70/60....then sat to try to find where I was going but now no bars but it says 4G....now here comes the RD...(he is on my friends list from where I wanted them to see the video I made rewording the song Beast of Burden) he says do you still need direction i just posted them on the FB page...I tried to pull it up but it is so slow I said I dont have any bars...then finally it came up and its giving me direction like go south here East west etc i looked at him and I said I have no idea where the heck i am right now let alone which is east north west or south i said can someone please just tell me how to go or give me an close by address??? He finally says oh yes its very simple go up two street turn up the hill to main street turn left and its about 12.5 miles total...ok thats all I asked for over 30 min ago!! which i didnt say but come on...granted I had ONLY ran 50 miles and was by myself and yes I did sign up for this and drove myself but you would think they would be a little more helpful and attentive. I got my bag and was so livid I just grabbed it and thanked those volunteers again and went to my car. The hotel did have a room that night still left they said it was a small one and I said it didnt matter. I heard from some friends out there food got better in the night and folks got very attentive I just musta came in at the wrong time. I meet some great new friends and met some FB friends as well.....I am grateful for my ultra running family! We understand each other and would bend over backwards for each other at any given moment. This is why I do Ultras. Real Friends! Am I happy with my choice to do the 50? Yes very much so...my schedule is packed and I surely dont even feel like I just did 50 miles a day and half ago. I took the week off to get my son back to college Weds and get my house organized so today I have gone up and down all flight of stairs carrying storage containers, my bike racks, 4 bikes downstairs, sweeping mopping and oh I even trimmed the bushes out back!!!

50K from Hell!

Kanawha Trace 50K! Where do I even start.  At the pre race meeting the evening before we are told we will be going over barbwired fence but there are tripods built for us to climb over, we would be going under electric fences, thru a field with a loose bull and each year a lot of people do get lost. So maybe this is why there is a 10 hour time cut off for a 50K with some finishing in the 11 plus hours last year??? I camped in my tent the night before and didnt get much sleep but only brought the thin air pad so my hips and such bothered me causing me to toss and turn during the night, I think i got up to pee atleast 4-5 times too. The run was to start at 7:30am and busses took us to the start.....that seemed like forever and even though I travel to WV often I just couldnt grasp where in the world we were and how were getting to the finish. We got off the busses and there was one porta john about a half mile down the road so I followed the large group that headed that way...ugggggg They did wait for everyone and started the run at about 7:50am. The start was on a road road for a couple miles then we hit the single track and I could tell it was gonna be a day! The hills and trail were tough to start out and it was already super humid out, temps were not super high but the humidity made up for it. The course was not marked well at all and at two points I was passed by the same big group of front runners due to them getting lost already twice. I met up with Kim and some others and we didnt remember hearing anything about creek crossing but where we were sure enough it was a creek crossing, it actually felt good as my socks were already wet from sweat dripping down my legs, as we noticed the tall grass was tramped down we followed it even though we saw no yellow flags, opps wrong way, back down the creek we go to where we crossed, ah ha we should have turned right and climbed the steps up that bridge, I do recall the RD saying there would be bridges at the creek crossing. Back on track....it was mentally draining getting lost so much! I found myself backing off some as the balls of my feet were getting some hot spots, I think it was the little gravels in them and I didnt get it out in time, my feet just hurt. I finally arrived at the half way aid station....shit half way and its been like 5 hours!!! I sat down to stretch as my inner thighs were killing me. One of the ladies at the AS said I have a mat over there I can stretch you out I was all for that. She did a great job, took about 10 min or more though but I knew it was gonna be a long day. I was with a group of 3 other guys leap froggin up to this point but the stretching set me back as they went on, as I was leaving the AS the guy was informed all the others after me had dropped out. I couldnt tell exactly how many more miles were left as my garmin was reading almost 2 miles extra from all the wrong turns. There was a lot more big gravel road roads then I expected as well. After this AS I head into the field with the loose bull, this was terrible! I knew nobody was behind me there was no markings in the field anywhere, I saw 2 horses but never the bull, I followed what looked like the trail back and forth over and back over fences for almost 25 min trying to figure out where to continue on, it started spitting the rain which felt amazing but I was so upset by now I just sat and cried for a few minutes and then decided to head back towards the AS and see if they were still there to tell me where to go, this was prolly a mile?? As I started to climb back over the fence I thought maybe I'd go straight up the field and the guy who owns the farm here may be out and could tell me?? Got to the top there was the electric fence to crawl under and there was the trail marker again!! Back on a road road, I passed a young girl sitting in someones yard and she was a runner, I asked if she was ok and she answered she was fine but she had enough, she too had been lost so much it just emotional drained her, she said she had a ride coming asked if I wanted one and I answered no thanks I dont like to quit things but this one has me wanting to quit but I cant. She understood she said this was her first time quitting something.  I got to another AS and they asked how I was and I was honest...this sucks, the markings are terrible I have been lost so many times! I refilled my water and grabbed some pretzels, shortly after that the bike sweeper was to me, he had good intentions but really was an ass. He said so many had been lost and last year the course was almost over marked and he wasnt sure what happened this year, Im not sure where he went but I got to another area and no more flags, a car was sitting straight ahead on the road and a sign that pointed to the left said something trail so i thought ok will go this way, headed out there for awhile still no yellow flags so I turned around, as I was heading back that way I could see another bridge and a yellow flag in the distance and oh the bike guy, gee thanks for telling me which way to go up ahead! The damn car was sitting on top of the yellow flag!!! After this he had to go a different route I believe as the trail was heading into an area with a lot of rocks and climbs and was really cool when I got to a cave...hmmmm which way do i go from here? I venture into the cave holy shit how cool the trail went thru the cave! A couple hills I had to use my hands to climb the rocks later and one hill I had to sit down and scoot. There was another area of beautiful rock and a gnome sits in one of the holes...looked like it had blood dripping from its mouth ha. Asshat bike is back now and telling me we still had another 10 miles to go.....great.  Then he starts telling me that since I was the last one the next AS would be closed but he had some water, I said you better be going ahead and seeing if the AS is open cause if im staying out here getting lost and shit and its gonna be closed im gonna be more pissed! He didnt go ahead instead he decided to tell me that they prolly wouldnt be there at the finish either and wouldnt let me finish....seriously dude i know you are a volunteer but these are things you DO NOT say to someone that has been lost of a course in the heat of the summer and has been out here for 6 plus hours already!! We did arrive at the next AS where he was telling me I still had 5 more miles but the AS was open and i said to them in front of him...he's been telling me you were going to not be here they said they are there till the last person comes thru, I said I believe that is me since the few others behind had dropped, I then asked if I was going to be allowed to finish as he had been telling me I wouldnt and they say yes indeed they will let you finish and you only have 3 miles to go.! Ok...so I looked at him like WTF dude! I ate about 6 orange slices that tasted like heaven and off I went, he came upon and started telling me about where I was going to go and I said did they just say 3 miles left?? Is it 3 or 5??? He said they musta changed the course since he was on it last they said 3, well my garmin already had almost 30 miles here anyways. I made it up the hill and here he comes again saying boy you were trucking up that hill, i stopped and stretched my legs a bit and then he says in this sad voice "oh no its really starting to hurt now isnt it?" I said no I just wanna stretch so that it doesnt. I keep moving forward and have about a mile to go and then he says, lets see the run started at 7:50 its now what ever time it was and then he says so you've been out here.......and I immediately said YES NINE HOURS AND FIFTY ONE MINUTES!! then he proceeds to tell me I still am not going to make the cut off....I just wanted to kick him off the bike. I saw the lake had about half mile from what I heard them talking about and i ran it at a 9:23 pace and came across the finish in 9:58! Bite me Bike Sweeper! The RD was super nice and apologetic about the course markings and I then told him about how inappropriate this sweeper was! I was glad to be finished thats for sure, I threw my tent in the back of the car and drove to the shower house then headed on home. There were some really beautiful places on the course some I was shocked we had to climb the rocks and such but was fun after the fact. There is a lot I have prolly left out but I have been so bad about doing some sort of race report for myself lately I thought I better get on the ball before I didnt have anything to say

Loonies Midnight Marathon

Found this marathon about a month before and thought how cool is that....a marathon that starts at midnight and it's only about a 5 hour drive plus it will count as the State of Tenn for my 50 states challenge. I got up and taught spin class that am then had some things to do and drove on down to Livingston TN.  I had been in contact for a couple weeks before with some other maniacs that were going and also with Alex and Shawn from Columbus who I had not met yet but had chatted on occasion with about other events in our area.  When I arrived Maniac Ed was there and he and I went to Pizza Hut to eat and such. Packet pick up wasnt going to be until 8pm and the timing company was late so it was I think closer to 8:30 or so. By this time I had met Alex, Shawn, Traveling Marathoner Tim, female Shawn and some other 50 Staters and Marathon Maniacs...yes we really thought we would be able to rest in our cars before the run started....I brought a small air pad and it was humid but left that back end up and windows down put some ear plugs in and a eye mask to block the street lights and I think at about 10:30 I dozed off, 11pm came and Ed was tickling my toes to wake me. Gathering with everyone really woke me up and the start was a little late. Boy was it humid!! The course went a mile and half then did 5 5 mile loops around the town, we crossed highway 111 and I wondered what some of those truckers and out of town drivers passing through thought when they were stopped for runners to go by at 2am 3 am 4 am etc! ha I was completely drenched this entire run, my socks clothes and I wonder if it was from my maniac shirt, this was the first time I had worn my pink diva tank...at one point I wanted to just run naked! I chaffed in some areas that normally you wouldnt chaff in just a 26.2 mile run. During the run it was fun to pass by the folks I had met earlier and online and give them a high five. Alex and I would stop and hug and I'd take a photo of he and I together...we were close to the same speed I may have a couple miles ahead of him is all. When I finished I saw male Shawn and he had showered ohhhhhh I heard there was a shower where where where! So I got my stuff out of the car and was heading to the shower and Shawn said Alex should be finishing soon...so I wanted to wait for him to come acrossed, I saw him heading up and I had sandals on but I jogged down to meet and ran in with him...then took a lovely shower everything felt amazing except for those areas of chaffing ouch!! Got dressed and started heading home....ok I didnt think it would be a big deal to drive down friday sleep 30 min run a marathon and immediately drive home ha....I was hungry but not super hungry, I decided to wait a bit and stopped at a cracker barrel, it was still early and totally forgot it was going to be breakfast food oh well it was food and it was delish. I was starting to feel tired and drove a bit further and by then my eyes were having a hard time staying open so I decided to stop at a church parking lot and take a quick nap, the problem was it was already almost 90 degrees so I had to keep the car running and ac on to stay semi cool in the back end. I set my alarm for an hour and think I dozed off pretty quickly but got up after about 45 min, I did feel much better and refreshed and had about 2.5 hours to go. I didnt start feeling the tiredness again till about 30 minutes from home but I set cruise control and sang a lot! This was a super fun marathon with awesome people. The bling was great and unique and if I dont have anything on tap next year at this time I will drive again for this one!

Have some catching up to do....

Looks like I have some catching up to do...will try to work on that this weekend. Still have to post about the awesome runcation my son and I did when I went to do the back to back Bear Lake Idaho Utah marathons!! Grandmas marathon and some of the 24 hours of booty bike ride.  I do have the loonie midnight marathon upcoming on the 19th well the 20th since it starts at midnight, the following weekend is a 50K at Kanawha trace and Ultra Running Peeps peer pressure which didnt take much have now talked me into do the Beast of Burden 100 miler just 42 days aways.  Of course I'd love to finish but wont be disappointed if something happens due to the fact that just 4 weeks later I have the Center of the Nations series 5 states 5 marathons in 5 days...3 weeks later is the Double Ironman which I have not even begun to swim train for!!! 2 weeks after the Double is the Day of the Dead series 4 marathons 4 days....two more week later is JFK 50 which is a tough one to recover from due to the portion of the AT 3 weeks later Rocket City another 3 weeks for Mississippi Blues and it keeps getting crazier hahaha. Another single marathon another 5 states 5 days 5 marathons and Zion 100. I might wanna start thinking before signing up?????

Umstead 100

WOW...It is real!! Where to begin and hope to not be my normal self and jump back and forth all over   the place making reading this a total nightmare for those interested!
The fun started Wednesday evening when my left IT Band started to bother me - All week I felt some pain but couldn't figure it out since I haven't had any ITBand issue for a long long time...I was worried about the hamstring and glute more then anything. I decided to foam roll out the ITBand Wednesday evening and my dog Andi always thinks if Im on the floor its time to play..and she jumped back and forth over my head and when I went to protect myself her hind leg nailed my right eye! Started to swell right away and at that moment I knew I would be going into my first 100 mile run with a black eye! Who would think a foam roller could be so dangerous. I drove to Raleigh on Thursday to get settled in and a friend of a friend contacted me about pacing me...this was my Easter present! Up till then I didn't have anyone going with me or anyone that I knew knew that was going to be there for sure. On Friday I got up and decided to drive over to the park to see where I would be going to pick up my packet, after I left I called my mother and I found out that when I was talking to someone on the phone they could only hear me on speaker or bluetooth so I had to find an apple store. They gave me a new phone but lost everything except for my contacts (then when I got home I plugged it in and hit restore from my previous iphone and then lost all my texts and photos from the new phone! yes all my late night crazy texts to Amber and Trixie) Went back for my packet and then met up with my pacer Ben and some new friends Alex and Kelly (Alex was doing his first 50 and his fiancee Kelly had done Umstead last year and was hoping to do it in under 24-by the way she is a amputee runner and she kicked total ass going under 23 freaking hours!!!) Super company and conversation to get me ready for my first 100! I got back to the hotel a little after 8 and tried to get a decent nights sleep. It was a typical night up and down looking at the clock counting how many hours left till I had to get up, ended up just going ahead and moving around 3:45am. Ate a bagel with PB got dressed and made sure I had everything I needed. The hotel shuttle brought me to the race site and we left at 5am. Arrived put my AS 2 drop bag on the truck and found a spot inside the cabin for my main drop box. As I got up there was BEN!! He came to check out the start of the race and wish me well....was really a nice surprise. The race started and I tried to keep with my plan...walk every up hill and run the flats and downhills, someone was talking with me in the beginning and even though it felt good to run I was not going to go off that plan...I had read too many reports of people feeling good and running because they felt good and dying and having to DNF because they did. I came into the first AS and was ahead of pace a bit but I didn't know what the course was like to know the back side had a bunch more hills, refilled water and grabbed a quarter of a PBJ sandwich, wasn't too hungry but I also read grab food no matter what at every AS! I got thru the first lap in 2:39 which was 6 min faster then what my plan called for but it didn't alarm me....BEN was there!  Lap 2 still uneventful when I got to the first AS they had the grill fired up and decided I'd go ahead and have a wiener! 

Finished this lap in 2:50 and was ahead of this lap pace by 5 minutes. Think I changed shoes here for the first time as my other Hokas didnt have as many miles on them and something wasnt feeling 100%. Started out on Lap 3 my vest started to rub my back where I had a tank top on and my pinkie toes were starting to get kinda hot, when I arrived at the first AS I decided to take off the tank and just put a short sleeve shirt on, took off the socks to tape up my toes and could feel both of my IT Bands kinda acting up? This was strange as my hamstring and glute that had bothered me for so many months and this was not an issue at all. Ben was getting ready to leave and try to rest and would return in the evening and sent me a text so I told him about my ITBand...he went to a Dicks and grabs some straps and had them with my stuff at the HQ AS for the start of lap 4. Lap 3 also started with my inspire notes, I had requested if anyone wanted to send me an inspire drop it off in a sealed envelope or email my mother and she was combining them into envelopes for the laps so when I had some down moment everyone could lift me up-boy was I overwhelmed at all the notes of support! I made it thru lap 3 pace had slowed some as I found I was better off going at a very fast walk pace cause even the slightest jog and added pressure was killing my left side...I coulda run thru it but I also knew if I did I would never make it to 100 miles and that was my goal. Time for lap 3 was 3:14 and I was suppose to do a 3:05 this was ok i was still on track since I was 11 min ahead of schedule. I also knew my plan gave me an hour and 55 min of emergency time for incidentals. I strapped up my IT Bands and the right side did stop but the left side (my bad knee) just continued to get worse. This sucked! Or as my new mantra the rest of the run became THIS SUCKS ASS or THIS SUCKS ASS AND BALLS (sorry for the foul language but I repeated that and the some for the next 18 hours!) Lap 4 begins...once I finish this lap I would be half way there and then only one more lap till I got my pacer Ben. I got to the first AS again and when they asked if I needed anything I asked for a shot of cortisone...nobody found that as comical as myself  but the PT lady did come and ask where would I want it if she had some...asked about the straps I said the right one stopped but left wont...she barely touched it and wow it hurt but I let her take "the Stick" to it to try to loosen it up a bit and she tried a wrap to take the pressure off but that didn't work either.  Made it thru lap 4 (14 minutes behind schedule) and now I knew every step I took from here on out would be one step further then I had gone before. Here I had to switch to my other Garmin and plug in my 910 that I was using into a portable charging device I bought, I had to have something to be able to watch pace at all times because I figured I would be close. I had also bought an iphone portable charger cause I knew I would be face booking and texting and talking to some folks out there, The love I felt from everyone on FaceBook was so amazing and kept me pushing on. I honestly believe you can do anything you set your mind to and I love to update my status and post pictures throughout all my runs as if it only inspires ONE person to change there life style then it was worth it! During this lap I was overcome with tears, it was still daylight and I had this overwhelming sensation of my grandparents being there with me in disbelief and so much pride in what I was doing. My grandfather had passed when I was still wearing a size 24 and smoking 3 packs of cigs a day and my grandmother passed shortly after I had lost weight and was finding my new healthy lifestyle. I couldnt shake it off, I would hyperventilate while trying to get the lump out of my throat and then I put my music on to try to get into a different place. That worked! The pain started to get unbearable in my left knee and I made a video in the dark for my facebook friends to see my wonderful view and yes I used my mantra THIS SUCKS ASS in that video. All you could see was my flashlight lighting a path in which I found hilarious because most of my videos and picture do show the pretty scenery. About a half hour later my body came to a stop, I literally couldnt get my leg to move forward as the pain was so bad...I debated what to do, I had some stronger pain meds with me but then I was worried about taking something stronger at 9:20pm and having 10 hours to go in the dark but I also knew that in just a couple miles I would be picking up my pacer Ben and he could help me stay awake if I decided to go ahead and take it. I texted my 2 friends Trixie and Amber both multi 100 mile run finishers and told them what I was going thru, (too bad my phone wiped out all that as I dont remember all the conversations) they both helped me thru that and I did decide to take the pain pill and start walking on, it seemed to help pretty quickly and the pain went to around a number 8 on a pain scale of 1-10 which sucks ASS :-) but I can deal with that level.  Got thru lap 5 and now it was time to have Ben come with me. I needed to get some warmer and dry clothes on as it was getting cooler and would continue to drop and we would be moving much slower, I grabbed a dry bra and tried to find a place to change and a lady took me behind a door and stood in front with her jacket open and I walked back into the cabin to find a dry shirt and just used short sleeve and a heavier jacket. I also  felt like I had to get out of the Hokas and into my Asics just for one lap I told myself thought maybe that would help with the pain, well after 1 lap I forgot about switching back until we had headed out on lap 7 and I wasnt turning around. During Lap 6 it was night and around 10:15, I was scheduled to start this at 9:45 so I was ok, I knew if I kept moving forward I would make the time cutoff. Ben grabbed envelope 6 to read to me on the back side while we went up the hills and he read a few but then it became to hard to try to read and not fall off the hillside or sprain an ankle! It was funny cause each one he would read I would then feel the need to tell him a story behind who wrote it....the strangest thing was my mothers, to this point I didnt have any notes from her and he pulled hers out and it read " I know your Grandma and Grandpa are on your shoulders" Now that kinda freaked me out because 6 plus hours earlier is when I felt them on my shoulders and had a little emotional break down! So then I proceeded to tell him another story of how my grandmother loved yellow birds and when I see yellow butterflies out biking and running I always think of her and wonder if its her spirit coming to say hello. Now we are done with Lap 6....less then a marathon to go but knowing that this marathon is going to take over 9 hours to do was a hard bite to swallow. Our time in the AS's started adding up now as I changed back into my Hokas here, changing flashlight batteries and just so many small details that take a few extra minutes.  I dont recall if it was lap 6 or 7 where I got super cold, Ben had a fleece on top of long sleeves and he took it off and gave it to me so now I was feeling much better but by the time we got to the AS he was freezing.  Instead of wasting time in me taking off my jacket and his fleece we got in my bag and found anything warm, he squeezed into my pink Lululemon long sleeve shirt and I had a lightweight jacket, grabbed some coffee but his hands were too cold to drink it! I actually had coffee here as well hoping for some new found energy and it worked for a couple steps. Ben had grabbed a cup full of pretzel sticks and the way he was holding them with the headlamp reflecting off of it made it look like he had on a big boxing glove, when I stated that and laughed he began making all sorts of hand shadows, we taped some of that too and it was good for some uplifting laughter for a couple minutes, then back in the death march. 12.5 miles in 4 and half hours wow...you have got to be kidding me....now we begin trying to figure out the clock and what pace I have to keep to finish in time and if I was still ok with time...so Im trying to figure in my head and using my calculator and realize we are fine we are fine even if I do a 26 min mile pace for the entire last loop. The sun was now back out, but I needed changed into real socks, my toes were getting so swelled that I had to get out of my injiji socks. Ben went ahead to get them as to not waste time but when he got in the cabin a friend of his who was also pacing wouldnt stop talking to him so I sat outside and waited for a few so I didnt have to go inside but hated to take off my socks incase I didnt have normal socks inside, after about 5 min I went on in and he had them laying out on the table so I switched as quickly as possible, wow it felt awesome to have my feet out of those socks but they were so swollen the toes were touching each other and that burned a little bit. 
We headed out on the last lap ONLY 12.5 miles to go!!!He grabbed me a banana and I ate some of it on our way out, once we got off that campground terrain and back on semi flat fire road we managed to go a couple miles at around a 16-18 min mile pace...awesome lets keep this up, It didnt last long, my knee was killing me I was tired everything was hurting and Ben found me a walking stick, it was a little short but it helped even if it was mental it helped. He then began looking for another and now I had 2 new legs!!! (arms will be sore the next day due to using walking stick for 4 hours!)  My cousin lives fairly close and she and her oldest daughter were planning to come see me finish, I received a text from her when we only had about 4 or so miles to go and told her its would be about 2 hours maybe an hour and a half and she was like move it move it you got this you can go faster then that get done cause we want to take you shopping....ummmm thats not something you tell someone who has been moving forward for the last 25 and half hours knowing how close they are but cant move any faster then what they are moving. I read that to Ben and we laughed about the shopping part too. She said they wouldnt let her come out and I explained it was an open course ask someone where to go and I also told her which way to turn once she got up the nasty campground entrance road,,,,have I said how much that SUCKED ASS!! I had about a mile to go and there she was with her oldest daughter Alex, We cried and hugged and I started ranting with how back it sucked and what it sucked and came up with all sorts of words. This last mile I think took almost 28 minutes, going down that campground road hurt so much and you could hear the people at the finish cheering for you and one of my walking sticks broke! I hobbled on up the path and makeshift steps with Ben, Charlie and Alex and my walking stick as tears were just streaming down my face. Finish time was 29:33:19...I remember my cousin saying can you get there in under 29:33 and I just grunted and said as long as its under 29:59:59 Im happy!! I sat in the chair so hard thought I would break it, another volunteer took off my shoes and socks and Ben gave Charlie my scissors to start cutting off the tape now while things were numb so the skin wouldnt rip off later. That was painful for her as much as me! Alex went inside and ordered me a omelet and I watched and cheered the last 6 folks across the line. We hung out for an hour or so in the sun then Charlie loaded my stuff in her car and grabbed me a sub from Jimmy Johns and took me to my room, I showered and got ice for my legs and tried to sleep but things were just throbbing and I couldnt get any sleep. I had a couple more pain pills at the hotel and tried that for sleep but think I only dozed on and off for about an hour here or there. I was hungry around 8 but knew I couldnt go anywhere and didnt want pizza so ordered another Jimmy Johns and they brought it to my door. The next morning I went ahead and got moving and headed down to the lobby for breakfast and decided I may as well check out a day early and head home, would much rather be in pain at my own house! I stopped to stretch every hour or so and was glad I made that decision. Would I do it again.....you bet! Already trying to decide if I want a different course or try for Umstead again next year!

Last minute Double Marathon Weekend

Been having a lot of mind games going on asking myself "what makes you think you can do 100 miles" "How are you going to go without sleep and be in continual movement for 30 hours" "are you fucking crazy""Why is it you wanna do this""Have you trained enough" "Did the 100K mess with dropping and it being cancelled screw you up" "You missed so many miles babying that hamstring on and off" I had to revamp my training plan 3 weeks ago after the 100K didn't go as planned and had tapered leading up to it and had a fall back week on the schedule the weekend after...last weekend I got my runs in....23 on Saturday, Tiff went with me for 18.5 and Cory joined us for about 11.5 of it. Sunday was beautiful, sunny in the 70's but I would be going 30 by myself...the plan was for 4 laps if I felt like it which would be 32...I headed on lap one felt good refilled my water and grabbed my pretzels and headed for lap 2...as I got to about mile 3 I decided you better take the road on down and keep going or you will talk yourself out of the 4th lap...this way you will only have one more to get the 30 in, I did this but it was such a hot day I had to really watch my water intake. I was almost done with that lap which would get me to mile 23 and started seeing signs in the dirt, GO JEN GO and ITS DOWN HILL THANK GOD...then I saw someone ahead and it was my friend Louvina...she brought one of her friends out to run a bit and see what the fire road was like...Lou ran with me back to the car and she had some extra water on her then I refueled again. They had to leave so off I went to get the last 7 in and made....mentally I didn't want to but it was so pretty I told myself what else you gonna do its so pretty out enjoy the day!
So now this leads me to this weekend...the last long back to backs on schedule before Umstead...I knew I could NOT miss these no matter what and our forecast was calling for High 44 and 70% chance of rain on Saturday and rain and snow on Sunday....I now knew I would never keep myself out there for 25 on Saturday and 30 on Sunday especially by myself! So I searched the 50 states gadget for some back to back marathons in driving distance. I found a trail marathon in Chesterfield Virginia on Saturday then had a couple options for Sunday - Virginia beach marathon which I enjoyed last year but temps only 40s predicted and the hotel I stayed at last year was booked so I moved on...Cary NC...ok that sounds nice but online registration closed and can only register at the expo on Friday and Saturday and if it is possible they will sell out and i wouldn't get a slot...ok....now there Wrightsville Beach...its a 4 hour drive after the trail marathon which I assumed would take me close to 6:30 hours to do and it was suppose to start at 7:45 and if I go to Wrightsville Beach I can visit my Aunt and I have 2 cousins that live there....perfect thats it. The Blockade Runner was sold out but I found a place online that allowed me to book a room...didn't hesitate but now there was the factor of how do I get my packet since I would not be in town before the expo closed....couldn't get either of my cousins and my Aunt has MS so I hated to trouble her and her friend Cindy but they were awesome and said you bet we will get your packet!! Talked with my cousin Maggi and she and her husband had a Red Cross function the night before but I knew i'd be tired anyways and then my other cousin was busy with folks from out of town and never heard back from him.  I woke up Saturday am around 6:00 only to find 2 BEDBUGS in the bathroom at the Super 8 Hotel on Hull Street Rd...DO NOT STAY THERE! Now Im feaking out and starting to itch...I had never seen one so took photos then googled then got the hell out of there and let the goofball at the front desk know...thats another story! I got to the start of the race and it was just starting to spit some rain and headed down the hill to the start line....here I ran into the Mullet Men who I had met this past October in Dover DE...I went and introduced myself of course as Richard Simmons as that is how I was dressed for the Monster Mash and how they would recall me so this was really cool...they were doing their first double marathon weekend and were going on to Cary NC for Sundays run. The rain started to come down pretty hard before the start and there was a delay due to the folks from The Fisher House wanting to thank us and wanted photos and the singing of the Nat'l Anthem then the rain really turned on and we were off....it was kinda pleasant and I brought a lightweight jacket with holes so it could ventilate and it seems like it stopped raining around mile 7 or 8 and was really pleasant, the trails were absolutely beautiful and was a nice rolling course. My hamstring did fire up a lot and i stopped and stretched a bit. Around mile 12 I took my jacket off as it was really warming up. I finished the trail marathon much faster then planned....5:20 and that included taking my shoes off since I forgot my gaiters to dump the gravel...there was 4 creek crossings but nothing like the Double Top 100K stuff!  I'll have to play catch up and write about that one soon.  I showered after this run at the campgrounds and thru out one of my bags there and left my towel in case and off to Wrightsville Beach I headed. I arrived at a decent hour and stopped at my aunts and gave them some doughnuts from our local doughnut place and some Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce...2 of their request and grabbed my packet and went to check in at the hotel then back to their house and we went to the restaurant  across the street for a nice visit and dinner.  Slept pretty well and parked at their house before the run and walked to the start. This run I wore my Hokas and really felt good...didnt have the hamstring issues and ran much faster then planned. It was kinda a 2 loop course and the second loop around my aunt had just messaged they didnt get up to watch us go by the first time which would have been around 6:30-6:45 and I realized it was another loop and I would be going by in about 5 min so i let her know....she has MS and is in a wheelchair so she was trying to get down on the elevator when I called and said im out front! She said shit im on the elevator...so I said thats ok I'll run over haha so I head over to her house and ran up the steps and Cindy was there and said wont you get in trouble? I said for what she said going off course haha I said Im not worried about my time and its only gonna add some distance and make my run longer and I would much rather say hi as I ran by...I think they both really enjoyed that...to have the run go by their house and their niece doing it. The shirts were super super small and they said we could exchange at the finish line anytime...so i ran with this damn shirt in a waist pouch only to find they had ran out....guess it was the same shirt for the half marathoners and most people had family that were at the finish waiting and exchanged for them...I didnt even think about that so that was a bummer.  I had a slice of pizza and it was so good then had a beer and head to the shuttle to take me back to the start and walk to my aunts. I visited for a few then went and showered and met my cousin maggi and some friends at The Dockside for a couple then onto halligans to meet up with mags husband matt and some other friends of theirs. We had a great time but 2 marathons in 2 days and a slice of pizza and all those beers I was drunk! I left about 4ish and put the wrong name of the hotel in my garmin and ended up 30 min out of the way at Caroline beach haha. Made it back finally and ate at a great place she had recommended...if I knew I would have been that much later I woulda called my aunt and Cindy to come eat but thought Id be eating around 4:30 which i felt was too early for them and the Bucks were still on but by the time I got there I shoulda thought about it and called them. I was just so duhhhhh you put the wrong hotel in the garmin and was sooo hungry I wasnt thinking. Got back to the hotel and chilled out for a bit then went to bed. Had a nice breakfast at the hotel then stopped by Marcias and got to visit for about 45 min before leaving town. Sure do miss your family when you were so close as kids growing up and dont get to see them often but the little bit of time is better then no time at all! All in all I made the right decision....weather here Saturday was pleasant but then Sunday was a cold wet snow all day and it would not have been pretty all by myself all day in the forest for 30 miles plus I wouldnt have been able to spend time with my family! Again Im not proof reading this post so if anyone does read the stuff I apologize for all the jumping around and incorrect grammar....I just type as the shit rolls off my head and it comes out kinda fast and all over the place :)  I'll add some photos later too.