Day 4,017 —the Video is almost Done! And Part IV and VI of the Potawatomi 200!—

I am never sure if the video is going to work until I put some music behind it and watch it start. This video was the most footage I have ever had to edit together, but I got it down to under 20 minutes yesterday and started mixing the music in. I should have a draft done tonight and be able to release it tomorrow! And tomorrow is my 11th streak anniversary! Is there a better way to celebrate?! I also have the race report mostly written, but I liked keeping it in parts, so I had more time to edit, maybe tomorrow I should make the full race report available. I cannot believe it was a full week ago now. It still seems like it was yesterday.

         I finally got some sleep last night! I was in bed for 10 hours! It was raining during this run, but it didn’t bother me. I was just thankful that it wasn’t raining last week. The Greater St. Louis Marathon is next Saturday, and I am feeling more confident that I will be ready by then. Not going to break any records this year, but I am planning on having a good time. Just the kind of race I need after this. I was looking at the next 100-mile race to try, and I found some over the summer that looked interesting. I usually wait until the end of August to run another one, but I don’t know if I can wait that long. I got the Berryman 52 next month, so that’s something, but I would love to run another 100 in June or July.  

Part IV: Running with Jake

Lap Mile Time Lap Time Pace Time of Day 

12 110-120 39:23 5:02 30:12 S 3:23 a.m.

13 120-130 43:34 4:11 25:06 S 7:34 a.m. 

Jake, the race director from Shippey, came up to pace me on Friday night, and I really did need the help. I told him I was going to take a brief nap after finishing 110, so I went to sleep for my second nap around 10:30 p.m. on Friday night. I slept for an hour, and Jake was warming up by the fire when I got up. It was cold again, so I put my pants and jacket on and headed out.

Jake immediately noticed that I had my poles too high, so he corrected them so they were lower. He also told me how to hold them so that I wouldn’t need to put as much effort into pushing them down and lifting them up. I was still carrying them with one hand occasionally when I was running, but for most of this night's run, I was using them the whole time.

         I was tired and more annoyed than anything else. I was dealing with my face hurting from the sunburn, as were my shoulders and back. I was also chaffed in my legs. I kept reapplying ointment, but it wasn’t making the rash go away.

Jake kept me awake with some interesting stories and learning more about his life. He told me a branch randomly fell on his wife on a totally still day when I commented on how scared I am sometimes of the trees and branches falling on me.

I was excited to show him my water shoe system, but when I made it to the other side, he realized I left my poles behind, so he was able to get them for me. That wasn’t the only time I left my poles randomly at the aid station or just on the ground. He reminded me at least two other times, and the possibility of me leaving them somewhere after he left seemed high.

He was there when I put the time down for 120 and joked that at 39 hours and 23 minutes, I had almost completed a 40-hour work week.

I felt bad going slow on those laps, remembering, he wanted to head out sometime around 6:30 a.m., but we finished lap 13 at 7:34 a.m., and he didn’t complain about it.

He helped hold my poles and fill up drinks and, in general, reminded me of the reasons why I was doing this. We both had a lot in common, growing up in St. Louis and working in education. He is teaching middle school health and PE, which is a class I have wanted to teach at times. It sounded like he is helping a lot of kids make better decisions about their health, but it isn’t easy. Health is only a one-semester class in middle school. When you consider how important nutrition and health are, you would think it should at least be a year-long class.

Jake also asked people about food for me, and I don’t know if I found a lot of vegan options but there ended up being more than I thought. There was vegetable soup the whole time at the main aid station. I also started eating apple sauce after passing each aid station.

Part V: Hallucinating in the Day 

Lap Mile Time Lap Time Pace Time of Day 

14 140 47:25 3:51 23:06 S 11:25 a.m. 

15 150 51:47 4:22 26:12 S 3:47 p.m. 

16 160 56:52 5:05 30:30 S 8:52 p.m. 

         It was difficult to say goodbye to Jake and be on my own again, but at the same time I was ready for the sun to come out, and I knew my kids would be here at some point. I hadn’t thought before that they would only see me after a 10-mile loop, which could take 3 or 4 hours for me to complete, so I realized I would need to check in with Sarah at some point today.

         I started lap a little before the 10-mile runners, thinking I didn’t want to end up having to pass runners like I did for the 50, but the 10-mile group was a different crowd. They immediately started passing me, shouting “on your left!” scaring me a few times. I was still feeling okay, but the sun was starting to bother me, and the caffeine had worn off.

         It seemed like I was spending so much time off to the side, letting people pass me. When I got off to let a few people pass, it seemed like a line just kept going. Everyone was passing me.

 

I thought possibly some 100-mile runners who started would be some good people to possibly pace with, but I didn’t see any of them, and I seemed to be going slower than everyone.

 

I started the morning with some caffeine like I did on Friday, but I didn’t want to overdo it. The night before when I was running with Jake, I was tired and hallucinating some, but talking with him kept my mind awake, but Saturday I started to experience daytime hallucinations.

 

They started out by being birds and other kinds of animals that I saw from far away. They were almost always a pattern in a tree. Some trees looked like they were about to attack me. They would have been more scared if they moved. 

I would see some sort of tall creature in the trees, but it was still when I looked at it, so I knew it wasn’t real. 

I would be looking at the ground and start seeing numbers in the patterns on the sand, “204.” Later, it looked like newspapers and magazines were on the ground. I also started seeing complete scenes in the thin trees. They easily became a pattern for two people talking, both wearing different colors.

I thought about taking pictures of the things I thought were something else, and part of me wishes I did, but it was easier to just focus on moving forward.

After the 10 mile runners passed me, there was a guy on a bike who screamed at me to get over. I moved over for him, and he said, “Have a good walk.”

He then moved to the first hill, and I heard him flip on an automatic motor, so he didn’t need to peddle up the hill.

A different guy started to pass me, and I moved over, and he started to lecture me.

         “You don’t need to move over when you’re going slow and hurting.”

He was being nice, but all I could think was that no one else seemed to know that because people had been plowing me over all morning. 

I started getting messages in the morning, and I knew Sarah might be able to meet me after lap 15. I told her I was going to be back in camp by 4 p.m.

When I got to camp, she wasn’t there yet, but I knew I needed a nap. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and it was too early for more caffeine. I was also burned on my face, shoulder, and back.

I should have been happy I had just finished 150 miles, but I was mostly annoyed I hadn’t signed up for the 150.

I was sitting in my chair in my tent, waiting for them to arrive. They were close, and I knew seeing them would make me feel better. When they got there, they couldn’t enter my tent because there were so many things on the ground. I wanted to give my daughter and son snacks, but I didn’t have the energy to find them. As soon as they got there, I started shivering, so Sarah left my five-year-old there and went with my toddler to get a blanket for me. It took a while because they had to park far away. I was struggling to stay awake and keep my daughter distracted, but while she was excited to see me, after a few minutes she wanted to leave and wander around the park. I was able to convince her to stay close, and then Sarah and Felix were back with the blanket.

 

I told Sarah I needed to go to sleep, so I went and laid down. I didn’t know this at the time, but Vivian was dancing and singing outside my tent as I was sleeping. I gave myself an hour to sleep, but I was hoping I would be up before then. Only one night left, I told myself, but I still wasn’t sure I was going to finish. 50 miles at this rate was going to take a long time! If I kept doing around a 4-hour lap, it could be another 20 hours until I finished. On paper, 150 seems pretty close to 200, but when you’re thinking of it in effort and time, that 50 miles turns into almost a day of running.

To be continued tomorrow—what will it feel like to finish 200 miles?