Day 4,351—Today’s Run, and Part III of the Thunder Kiss 100—

 

      I wanted to run during sunrise, and I accomplished that mission today. Whenever I am off work, it seems to take longer to do the things I normally do, like running and writing. Yesterday, I seemed to spend all my free time running, writing, and then going to Grant’s Farm with my daughter. She had been wanting to go all break, and yesterday was the first day it was nice enough to go, so no regrets. I wanted to do something different this year because she is getting older, but it isn’t always easy to convince her to try new things.

        I was thinking I would run for about an hour this morning and make it my longest run this week. I did that. The only thing I didn’t do was run a route that wasn’t as close to home. I had planned to go somewhere else, but once I saw the sunrise, I wanted to run in the direction where it would remain visible. This wasn’t a bad route, and I felt thankful for how strong I felt.

The Thunder Kiss Part III 

Time of Day: 11:04 a.m.

Miles 20-40

Temperature: 60s-80

        Travis started the lap before I did. I remember he drank some Coke and grabbed his poles. I was almost ready to start back, but I was trying to drink more water and the Right Stuff hydration I use. They had bottles of water at the start/finish, so I grabbed one, mixed it with two packets of hydration gel, and downed it quickly. You’re not supposed to drink it at that concentration without more water, but I had planned to drink more water quickly, and I was worried about my hydration as the day got warmer. It was already getting into the 60s, and I hadn’t stopped losing water since the beginning of the race. Travis started only a minute ahead of me, but I could not catch him in that first section. He was now moving faster than I felt comfortable with. I figured I might be close to his pace, but since he started earlier, I might not catch him on the current lap.

        When I made it to the first aid station, hitting almost 25 miles, I saw Travis with the runner we had met earlier. They both seemed in good spirits, and they went on ahead as I filled up my bottles. I tried to eat a little more and had some orange slices and corners of peanut butter and jelly. I usually avoid unknown bread and peanut butter, but there hadn’t been a lot I could eat at the aid stations except fruit, chips, and those sandwiches. I was already not hungry and knew it would only keep getting worse. I decided I would need to snack on something when I got to the next aid station, where my drop bag was. I caught up to Travis again just past the waterfall, which was gorgeous. I looked at it and debated taking another picture. I knew I already had one video of it, but now I wish I had slowed down and taken a more thoughtful picture. I was in a hurry to catch up to Travis. We were going at the same pace again, and we talked as we reached the soccer field aid station. Once there, I sat for a minute as I snacked on different treats from my bags. I was already getting to the point where I was sick of sweet food, so I tried a few chips.

        We hadn’t made it that far when Travis realized that he had left his poles behind. I suggested that he go back because it wasn’t that far, but he insisted on getting them next time. I had decided I would use my poles on the 3rd lap, but I was still doing okay on this one. At the same time, I felt like, in the first lap, I had held back; this one, I was pushing it a little past my comfort zone. I was getting more and more worried about my hydration. So far, I had peed twice, but I was losing so much water and getting so hot. No matter how hot I was, Travis was worse. He was wearing an ice bandana around his neck, and when we got to a spot next to the stream, he splashed himself with water, practically dumping his head into the stream. When we got back to the aid station in the middle, that was the last spot until we made it back to the start/finish. Travis filled up his bandana with more ice. I could tell my cheeks were burning, and my neck was red, but I still felt okay, but close to a spot where it might take me a while to cool down. I asked the guy to put ice in the spot on my hydration vest right next to my back. I had done this before, and it is nice because it is a decent space for ice, and I don’t have to put anything around my neck. I still felt like Travis was pacing ahead of me in this stretch, and I was just focused on holding back and not pushing myself past the point where I might start throwing up. I was already worried about how little food I had eaten, and I decided I would need to eat more at the start/finish because all the food was starting to sound gross to me.

       No matter how miserable I felt, everyone else I ran into seemed worse off than I was. I saw people struggle through the more technical section on the way back. One guy told me he decided he only had one more lap in him, and then he was calling it quits. I suggested he wait before making those kinds of decisions, but he wasn’t at a point where he could hear something like that. I have been there too, not being able to finish, so I am not unsympathetic. The one thing that was helpful for me to hear is that I need to be open to the possibility that no matter how bad I am feeling now, I might feel better in the future, or at least there is a chance I might feel better, so it doesn’t make sense to exclusively make decisions based on how I feel now.

Lap 2

Lap Time: 5:03:52

Total Time: 9:04:12

Time of Day: 4:04 p.m.  

Miles: Official 40

Lap Pace: 15 minutes and 11 seconds

Race Pace:  13 minutes and 36 seconds