Day 4,469—Today, and The Vero Beach Octopus 100 Part I: Running in the

 

Sand, the Mud, and the Marsh—

Start time: 11:21 a.m.

Weather: High 80s, wind 4.0 mi/h, Humidity 63%

      

        I felt amazing when I started running today. I had no plans to go as far as I did, but I just wanted to run more today and wanted to run this route. I am so excited to start telling my story of the race! It is still hot in St. Louis, but the humidity here has dropped sharply this week, so even though my phone app said it felt like 90-something, it didn’t feel that bad to me. I am still amazed how much the injury I have been dealing with for almost a year suddenly feels better! I didn’t think that would be possible, but it happened. There weren’t a lot of shops in the areas that we ran in Florida, but there was a 7/11 that we passed a few times, and during the day I got a Slurpee and it was amazing! So, I decided to go by the 7/11 on my way home today, but when I went to pay, I couldn’t find my credit card! When I got home, I reported it lost. I have worried so many times I would drop it, but it has never happened before! I just realized this will be the first year I won't be able to run in Get Your Butt Kicked on Route 66! I 

The Vero Beach Octopus 100 Part I: Running in the Sand, the Mud, and the Marsh

       I left early on Thursday for the Saturday morning race. I spent Thursday night camping in Georgia after driving 11 hours, and left early Friday to make it to Vero Beach at 2 p.m. When I got there, no one from the race was there yet, so the lady at the front desk knew there was a race but didn’t have much information. I just wanted to set up my tent so I'd have one less thing to do later, but the location was currently being used by young kids taking part in camp. I figured I would go find some lunch and come back after 4 p.m. I wasn’t hungry even though I hadn’t eaten much. I went to a Jamaican place that advertised vegan options, and once there, I found an almost empty, touristy restaurant decorated like Jamaica. I ordered the fried plantains with ginger juice and ate slowly as I started looking over the race routes. I wish I had known how close the ocean was because that’s where I would have gone instead of sitting in a restaurant; I could have been collecting seashells to give to my kids!

        The information meeting wasn’t until 6 p.m., but I made it back to the Octobase a little before 5 p.m. and started the long process of setting up my tent. I first set up on top of an anthill and then moved it a few more times before deciding the best spot. Most people were close to the aid station, which was on a stage. I liked that there was shade there, but I wanted a spot where I could be on my own, and hopefully not too far from my car. I left for the information meeting early to get my packet. I brought a bag of chips and ate them as I watched people walking around. There were so many people there! I didn’t realize how big the race was going to be. He said that 160 people signed up for the race. The RD banged on the table to get everyone’s attention, and then the meeting began.

        There was a lot of joking and going over worst-case scenarios to start. I was mainly worried about the 20-mile section without aid, but I was happy to learn that both the 2nd and 3rd arms would have ice and water. During the 2nd arm, they talked about a section where a bridge is covered in moss, and the advice was to try to shimmy over it like ice. They also mentioned arm 6 as a potential scary place to spend any time. They advised not going in there alone under any circumstances. Once we got to arm 7, the 20-mile section, I asked if there was anywhere I could wait during that section, and he looked at me and just said, "No." He then went on to talk about a famous runner who had just run at Badwater and then the Vero Beach. He gloated that she said this race was the harder of the two, but then he told me that if I was in trouble, I could give him a call at any time and he would help me out.

        I walked back to camp, took a shower, and tried to go to sleep. I couldn’t find his number, so I figured I would ask him in the morning. I didn’t know what I had gotten myself into, nor what was going to happen tomorrow, but at this point I had invested so much time and money in doing this race that there was no backing out now, but every part of me thought about how nice it would be to not have to race for whatever reason. The heat advisory came out, saying the heat index was 110 and that no one should be outside on Saturday or Sunday. This race wasn’t built for solo runners, but that was part of the challenge. Before, I was more excited about the challenge, but that night before bed, I was just exhausted from the drive down and ready to pack up and head back home. I was hoping to meet some friendly faces, but although people were nice, I hadn’t had a conversation with one person since I got there. I was impressed with the bathrooms, which made me think about the RDs' repeated warnings about not pooping in front of someone’s yard during the race?! I just kept wondering how much of a problem this had been in the past, but I didn’t ask. Little did I know how much I should have been paying attention during the talk about the creepy section! Also, that the pooping in the yard stuff would keep coming up. 

Tomorrow Part II—the First Arm