Day 3,931 —Today and the Shippey 100 Part 3: the Winter Shawnee Hill —

 

Today—Does anyone want a Couch?

I was a little miffed that it was still cold, and I had to spend 10 minutes getting dressed before I went out but look at this couch! It looks like a nice one. I wanted to write this earlier, so people could get it if they wanted, but it has most likely been taken by the trash people now.

I needed to be at work by 6:30 because I needed to write a report before I had to leave and go to a meeting, so after 2 miles I was tempted to call it, but I decided I had enough time for three, and it felt good. It always feels good running the week after the run.

The Third Lap 40.6-60.9

Time of day 4:35 p.m.

I had been carrying my headlamp since the start of the race. I could have left it at any of the aid areas, but I just kept forgetting to take it out of my vest. It is always so stressful at the aid stations to remember all the things I wanted to do and by the time I look down, I notice that it has already been 10 minutes.

I lost a lot of time at the aid stations. I know this because I changed the type of run to “ultra run” on my watch after talking to some guys after the R3 run, and they said that it would still be listed as a “run” in my official stats, which was the only hesitation for using it in a race, and I like the feature that it keeps track of when it shows that I am resting.

However, it was super discouraging when it would just stop and say “rest” when I was walking up a particularly steep and slippery hill. This was the last lap I would have to do without my pacer! So I was excited that Joel would be there by the end of this lap, but still, it is always hard to hit 50 miles and realize that you still are only halfway there.

I looked at my watch at 50, and it showed I was a little over 13 hours, so part of me was like maybe I can get there in 26 or 27 hours, which isn’t great or even close to my PR on the course. I knew this was discouraging, so I stopped thinking about the math, knowing that it was only making me realize more and more how difficult this run was going to be.

I started running some with these two guys Pat and Hank were their names I think, but Hank’s name might be Tom; it is always tough to remember names while you’re running and thinking about so many other things.

Pat I had met before in the 6-hour run I did over the summer. He told me he tried to do a running streak after our conversation over the summer, but it only lasted 10 days. He seemed a little disappointed in himself, but I felt encouraged that a conversation I didn’t fully remember had such an impact on him. I bet most people don’t get to that many days their first attempt.  

He was struggling some, as was the other guy, but they were trucking along and excited to be running their last lap. One of the guys dropped back, and the other one ran ahead of me, and I ended up doing most of the lap by myself.

A little before 8 p.m. I looked at my phone and Sarah had sent me some videos of her and the kids. My daughter had asked me so many times to make videos and send them to her, so I watched their videos first, and then I created a few of my own, which wasn’t easy because it was getting so cold, and I had to take my phone out of my pocket and remove my glove to start recording. I recorded for a few minutes before I realized that nothing had been recorded, so I had to start over. At the same time, my tights kept getting pulled down as I was running, so I was reaching to pull them back up and when I did that the safety pin on the bib came loose, so I had to bend down to reattach the safety pin.

      

Imagine having to stop in the ice and cold and take your gloves off repeatedly to get the safety pin back in your clothes, only to have to do it again after my tights kept getting pulled down. I tried to get my running pants up higher past my bellybutton, but I had tied a knot earlier in the race that wouldn’t come undone easily, so I couldn’t think of anything to do when I was running, but figured I would take care of it at the next aid station, but then I kept forgetting.

As I was finishing the last leg of the loop and went down this particularly steep part that had a rope you could use. I saw the previous race director from the Shawnee Hill taking pictures. She recognized me and said hi, but it was crazy to see someone familiar at this point. When I went into the aid station area, I saw one of the other guys from the Shawnee Hill working the aid station. It was good to see him and be around so much positive energy. I mentioned how I thought that the Shippey was the Shawnee Hill for the Winter.  

Lap:                      3

Miles:                   60.9

Time of Day:         10:39 p.m.

Course Time:        16:40:08

Lap Time:             6:04:32

Pace:                    16:26 min/mi