Day 4,471—Another Hot Day! and The Vero Beach Octopus 100 Part III—

 

Start time: 10:09 a.m.

Weather: Low 80s, wind 5.6 mi/h, Humidity 76%

  

      I was surprised by how much my shoulder and leg just weren’t bothering me even though I felt sluggish running out in the sun. It felt miserable, but I was still happy being the week after a 100-mile race, so no pressure to do a lot this week even though I would like to get at least 25 miles in, which shouldn’t be too hard, although I won't be able to do a lot tomorrow because I will be focused on getting things ready for my daughter’s birthday party. She had a magical day yesterday! We went to Lava Island, and she just loved running around with her brother everywhere as fast as she could. She wanted to go to DD Mau for her birthday, and they gave her a free piece of vegan chocolate cake! I saw these bird feeders today just stacked up like they were going to be thrown away! Every time I go out, I am still just thinking about the Octopus 100. What a crazy experience that was! 

The Vero Beach Octopus 100 Part III

Start time: 6:00 a.m.

Weather: Low 90s-100s, wind 2.7  mi/h, Humidity 91%

Arm 1: The Awakening

Arm Distance: 16.7 Miles

Terrain: Pavement, dirt trail, beach

        We started right before the sun was out. The sunrise wasn’t supposed to be until 6:30. I figured there was enough light to leave my headlamp at camp. I moved towards the front of the pack before we started because there was a single-file section up a bridge, and I didn’t want to be stuck in the back during that part. Even though fewer than 30 people were doing the 100, the first arm was overflowing with participants. All the races started at the same time, so the first arm combined almost all the other races and ended up with over 150 people. I immediately started drinking water once we made it to the beach. At first I was loving seeing the sunrise on the ocean. I couldn’t stop taking pictures! It was the coolest thing I have ever witnessed in a race! Then running in the sand started to become less glamorous. I felt like I was carrying so much weight, and after we ran 4 miles on the beach, I was done with it. It was high tide so the sand was wet and I had to keep swerving and running up and down the dunes. There were only a few people ahead of me, and I was running at under a ten-minute mile, which was much faster than I had planned.

        I kept drinking water, but so far my hydration pack didn’t seem to get that much lighter. After more than 6 miles of running on the beach, I was finally turning off the beach, and I couldn’t be happier. If I never ran on the beach again, that would be a travesty, but I could handle never running an ultra there again. The sand is not fun to run in! When I turned off the beach, I immediately saw a water fountain, and I wondered if I should stop. It was reassuring to know that water fountains were out there, but I still felt like I had enough water. The thing about hydration bladders is you never know exactly how much water you’re carrying until you’re out.

        I was running on a sidewalk now, back the same way I came, so the beach part was over, and it meant I should be opening up and going fast, but this is when I realized that I was almost out of water. I had none left in my bladder and only about 500 mL left in my front water bottles. I started walking and letting other runners pass me. I wasn’t super tired, but I had at least 6 miles back to the Octobase, and it was getting hot, and I only had enough liquid for a swallow every half mile or so. I was so mad at myself! How did I let this happen? I started the day by drinking water; why was I so thirsty?! 

        I figured it was a combination of me going too fast, having less than I thought I did, and getting used to such a long section without water. I felt good enough to run slow, but as soon as I felt myself pushing myself hard at all, I went back to walking. With about 2 miles left, I turned left into a trail section and took a few more pictures. I kept reminding myself to distract myself with pictures, so I loved this section of the trail. It wasn’t long, but there were some glimpses of the marshland. When we exited the area, I was shocked to see a bathroom and a water fountain! It was only a little over a mile back to the Octobase, but it was still awesome to not have to make it there dying of thirst, so I drank plenty of the warm water and sat for a minute as I repeatedly filled up one of my water bottles and emptied it.

        When I was back on the bridge, running, I had less than a mile left and heard a few other runners talking. I made some comments, but I still hadn’t had much of a conversation with anyone. This time, the other runners were still passing me as they headed back to the Octobase. I heard someone say they were speeding up to make it back by the three-hour mark. Having finished the first 12 miles in under two hours, it should have been no problem to make it the next 4 in an hour, especially because that was the easy part, but at the rate I was going, I was going to barely make it. I was already mapping out my plan to get back and get a bag of ice. The RD mentioned so many times that they would have so much ice for us, so I was just looking forward to using the ice in my cooler, my ice band-aid, and for my water. I pushed myself so hard to make it back, but I was hoping arm 2 would be an improvement. When I asked an aid worker for a bag of ice, she looked at me like I was being unreasonable, left, and came back and asked if I was done running. I was like, no, I just started! She eventually gave me a bag of ice, but I also learned it would not be as easy as I thought to get ice during this race, and that wasn’t just bad news, but it could be the reason I don’t finish the race. I started wondering whether I would need to stop at a gas station to buy ice.

Total Distance: 16.7 miles

Race Pace: 10 minutes and 46 seconds

Lap Time: 3:00:00

Total Time: 3 hours

Finishing Time: 9 a.m.