Day 3,930 —Today and the Shippey 100 Part 2: I had some Help—

There are so many things I need to do, but what I want to do is finish editing my video and take a salt bath, but that is not going to happen today most likely.

I was up late because I had class until 10:30 p.m., so I slept till 5 this morning before getting bumbled up to go back outside for another run.

This morning, it was mainly the cars that were annoying. How close they were to me on the shoulder of the road and how oblivious the drivers seemed to their surroundings, but I would probably be like that too if I was driving.

I shouldn’t be too critical. The main issue is the lack of a sidewalk almost anywhere because it is snow. I wore my tights from the race and tied them up high to see if they stayed on any better. They did feel big, but it wasn’t like in the race, where I was constantly reaching down to pull them up.

The Second Lap 20.3-40.6

Time of day 10:32 a.m.

I ran until I got a signal on my phone, a little after 11 a.m., and texted my dad and Joel, my pacer, “need poles.”

My dad I knew had two sets of poles, and I figured Joel would have something he could bring to use for himself. This was a major departure for me because I never run in poles, but I felt like I had no choice. I wasn’t sure when my dad would be back with them, but I had done my part. If I didn’t have anyone to ask, what would I do? Would I need to leave and go buy poles and Yaktraxs and come back?

During the first leg of the next lap, I went the wrong way and ran down a steep icy hill only to realize, “This doesn’t look right,” I saw Brian the guy I ran most of the Shippey with last year pass me as I walked slowly back to the route.

At the end of the leg at the aid station, I saw a set of poles from myself from my dad. He also brought some for Joel and put them at the Start/Finish aid station. Joel told me later that he was trying to cut down sticks to make poles before he contacted my dad and told him he needed some.

I was getting annoyed with the two creek crossings that were impossible to pass without getting your feet soaked. I tried so many ways to jump around, but my shoes just kept getting wet. I complained about it only because the aid workers were asking me if I required anything else, and I think someone might have thrown some logs in one of the crossings that I was able to use for the rest of the run. The major crossing still had nothing to help, so I started throwing branches to create spots one could jump to.

Even though I was finishing a marathon and a 50K in this lap, it didn’t feel like much of an accomplishment when my focus was only on not falling, and I did fall and hit my elbow hard on some ice.

I didn’t look at it until I was back at the aid station, where my dad was. I pulled down my sleeve to see a wound as big as a silver dollar, and it was bleeding. I was hoping it wouldn’t be bleeding. I asked him to put a Band-Aid on it after cleaning it out.

         “You’re not supposed to clean wounds with alcohol anymore. You’re supposed to use only soap and water,” he informed me of this as he used a wet washcloth to dig into my wound.

         “You should have brought bigger Band-Aids to use for this.” I responded and said I had brought that little first aid kit everywhere, but this was the first time I had used it.

         “You should bring bigger Band-Aids.”

I asked him to put Neosporin on the wound, but he didn’t seem interested. I brought some that numbs the pain from the wounds as well as helps your skin recover. Part of me is mad I didn’t put the ointment on myself, but I am pretty impressionable when running.

Before, I left, my dad made sure I understood I needed to put my hands through the hand straps on the poles, which I did for almost the whole leg back to the Start/ Finish.

However, it wasn’t easy using the poles the entire time, which I had to do because my hands were through the straps. I was wearing my arms out trying to keep up with my feet, and I was moving substantially slower.

Another runner passed me who was carrying their poles in one hand as they ran, and I immediately started doing the same, and I was finally able to start moving like normal again.

Lap:                     2

Miles:                   40.6

Time of Day:         4:35 p.m.

Course Time:        10:35:36

Lap Time: 6:03:29

Pace:                    15:40 min/mi

Part 3 tomorrow! It get dark!