Day 3,831 —Today and introducing Part Three of the Farmdale Trail Run—

 

I liked running in the cold this morning. I saw two police officers on my way down Watson. One had their lights on and looked at me when I ran past, the other one had all their lights off and they were in the parking lot at the bottom of the hill. I wonder what they were up to.

 

I am mostly done with the write-up. I even edited it yesterday, but I still want to rewrite the first two parts, so here is part 3 for today.

Part 3: What I Did and Didn’t Do

What I Should-of Could-of Would-of, if I could do this again, but I can’t.  

 1. Keep more of my preferred hydration solution (The Right Stuff).

I have so much hydration stuff at my house that I usually just grab whatever I have on hand, but for this race that didn’t work out. I didn’t have any of the stuff I have been using more recently. I could have taken the caffeine Roctane that I have, and I probably should have now that I think about it.

2. Bring drinking water.

You would think one thing you could count on from the people putting on the race is some decent water, but that has not always been the case. I don’t know if this water made me sick, but it was yellow when I poured it into a cup. I wasn’t surprised. The water at the hotel was yellow too.

3. Bring food (or plan) for the night before.

I ate this impossible meal, which I have had before, but not recently, but these looked off, and I should have trusted my instincts and gotten something else, but I didn’t. I have never had this happen before where literally nothing in the vicinity sounds like anything I would want to eat. The closest thing on the HappyCow App was almost a 30-minute drive, and it was only a place that had at least one vegan meal, but there is plenty of stuff here I could have bought and brought down, or even stuff to make for the night before next time.

4. Always have a goal

I needed to relearn this lesson, but I didn’t have a goal, and it made me feel so apathetic about the whole experience when I was struggling. I was trying to talk myself into a goal of having 8 buckles, which I still want, but what’s the difference between 7 and 8 really? Maybe a time goal makes more sense for me in the future. I will be on the course for 24 hours no matter what, and I am serious this will be my next goal.

5. All Supplies should be Organized and Labeled.

I thought it was nice to not have to have a bunch of drop bags to make, but what I needed to do was label all my clothes and supplies, so I didn’t spend so much time at the aid station wondering what I was supposed to do.

What I Did 

1. I ran 60 Plus miles, which still manages to complete my year of Ultras Seasons Edition. I completed two 100Ks in Winter and Fall, and two 100-mile races in Spring and Summer. Next year I would like to do a 100-mile run in each season, but I also want to attempt a 200-mile run in April, but I need to figure out this short loop format. I also did a 50-mile run and two 50 K-plus runs this year, but is that all?

2. I slowed down.

It wasn’t easy to do 60 miles in zone 1. Most of the time my heart rate was around 100, so it was a struggle to have to slow down every time noticed that I was again starting to sweat profusely because I had broken into a jog by mistake.

3. I took a nap when I was dehydrated.

When I was extremely dehydrated at the Go St. Louis, the only thing that helped me was time, and I remembered that and didn’t even try to drink anything. I just took a nap, and then I was able to eat something. However, by then I may mentally have given up. Part of me was just thinking. How is it possible to even complete 100 miles with all the time I have lost, I cannot think like that. I need to focus more on getting through the tough parts and not the parts I haven’t gotten to yet.

4. We didn’t drive home.

Only the time that a deer hit the car and we both were scared and had to get a ride home, this time it wasn’t so bad getting a good night's sleep and feeling rested when I got home on Sunday.

5. Stopped when there was still time to recover and not wreck my week

I have stuff to do, and that stuff includes running each morning, being out on my feet a big part of the day, and playing with my kids, so I don’t like coming home and being miserable.