Day 4,015 —Physically Fine, but Mentally Struggling and Part II of the Potawatomi 200—

 

I have been dealing with a lot of extreme emotions recently. Mainly, the feeling of being impatient seems to dominate. I don’t want to do anything and a lot of what I do for work doesn’t seem to matter anymore. I shouldn’t think like that, and I do a lot of things that have value, but getting up and getting started was impossible yesterday, so I spent the whole day taking a salt bath. It paid off in one way, and my knees are not bothering me at all today. My skin is still irritated on different parts of my body, most notably my cold sore, but there isn’t a lot I can do about that. Yesterday, I got started on the video. I edited all the pictures and put them in a timeline and started going through everything. It is going to make a good video! I also wrote up a near-complete version of the race report. It is rough, so I am going to keep releasing parts of it each day to give me time to edit it and make changes. Also, if there is ever an aspect of the run you wish I would cover more, please let me know. I often skip the frequency of things like changing my clothes unless they seem important when I am writing the report. 

Day 4,008-11 —the Potawatomi 200 Part II: Thursday Night 40-70 Miles—

 

Lap    Distance             Total Time     Lap Time     Lap Pace     Time of Day

 

5        40-50                 14:25             4:48            28:48          F 2:25 a.m.

6        50-60                 17:39             3:14            19:24          F 5:39 a.m.

7        60-70                 20:20             2:41            16:06          F 8:20 a.m.

 

I walked at first and then ran until I warmed up. It had been so windy by the start and finish, but when I made it to the bottom of the first hill, the wind had died down.

I had been drinking 64 ounces (2.42 kilograms) of liquid (water and Tailwind) per loop, plus 32 ounces (1.21 kg) of the Right Stuff at camp. I wasn’t sweating, but I was cold.

I knew I only had two laps until morning, and once it was morning, I was planning to have my first taste of caffeine.

The morning didn’t come quickly, and it was at this point that I started listening to the new Hunger Games book. The main character is not super likable in the main series, and this book reveals the very good reason that he is such a jerk. In the movies, he is played by Woody Harrelson, but I couldn’t remember if it was him or Philip Seymour Hoffman. The book helped me stay awake, but there were also coyotes and owls. I think in the past I had confused owls’ hoots sometimes for coyotes' howls, but I was starting to hear the differences. Owls sound almost like witches laughing, which is how a guy I ran with for a minute described them. 

He told me that he had completed this race over 5 times and gave me some history of how the route was marked before. Once you hit 1000 miles (1,609.34 km), you get free entry for life, so that is certainly a reason to keep coming back. I liked the race for a variety of reasons. I don’t know if I will be back next year to run another 200 miles; I might consider one of the other races.    

 

There were lots of deer throughout the course, even though I was completing 20 miles (ca. 32 km). It felt like less when thinking of it as two laps.

Part of me was frustrated that I had let myself sleep so long after only 40 miles (64.37 km), but I prioritized not being miserable in the cold.

I started my 7th lap a little after the 50-mile race started. Sometime after 6 a.m. I had my caffeine and was feeling amazing.

I passed so many runners. I started to get frustrated, but I could have left before them if I had had a shorter break.

They were all nice and cheered me on when they saw my bib. 

I wasn’t particularly chatty and was talking quietly. I had some anxiety about getting 100 miles (ca. 161 km) done. I just wanted to know how I would feel once hitting 100 miles and having 100 miles more to do.

I got some pictures of the sunrise that I liked and passed two other 200-mile runners!

Tomorrow Part III: Miles 70-110