Warning: this is a long report
This is surreal. It surpassed even my fantasy goals. My number one goal was to finish, and then I wanted to go under 20 hours, and then secretly wanted to get close to the course record of 18:19 and even more secretly fantasized about going under 18 and winning overall. It all happened.
I gotta thank my friend Jason who helped me with training advice to work around my tight schedule demands and devised a plan with back to back long runs every other weekend. I had a few setbacks with the demands of life and while my training didn't go perfectly, I felt that it went good enough.
Night before: Chris and I went to the pre-race dinner and briefing. It was a good pre-race dinner--beef brisket, hash brown cheesy casserole, maple brownies,chocolate brownies, chicken and rice, salad, dinner rolls. I pigged out. I rolled into bed about 9pm, slept until 10:15 pm, and then woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. I tossed and turned and finally got up about midnight and piddled around and ended up back in bed around 2am.
Alarm went off at 3:45 am. Not a lot of sleep but typical for me the night before a race. I picked Randy up in El Dorado and we rolled into Cassoday at 5am and checked in. I did my usual nervous pace and chatter and pretty quickly the time came and it was a pretty relaxed start at 6am. Weather was cool in the high 40s and barely a breeze. Perfect.
Battle Creek--8.2 miles, In the first section it was mostly flat and easy dirt roads, it was cool because you could see the line of headlamps in the dark. I ran with Randy and a guy named Alan and a few other fellas and mostly talked. I was reminding myself to be conservative and hold back. I sucked down my 20 oz handheld of G2 and took a hammer gel halfway--determined not to fall into a nutritional hole this time. I had half a ham n cheese sandwich at the aid station and was in and out quick.
Lapland--16.8 miles. This section is the hilliest, lots of steep rollers. I would run fast on the downhills, run about halfway up the uphills and then power hike the steep parts. I told myself to just take it easy and relax and not burn my legs up too early in the race. I actually really enjoyed this part. I had another gu, more g2, and knocked down another ham n cheese sandwich and an s-cap at the aid station. I was now in second place overall behind a guy.
Teterville--25 miles. More rolling up and down and roads were much rockier. I had yet another gu and was excited to see Jason manning the aid station. I ditched my headlamp and gloves and ear covers and tied my long sleeve shirt around my waist and took off with another half sandwich.
Texaco Hill--31.2--Long long climb up and the rain the night before made this a mix of mud and big rocks. It was tough going up. First place guy missed the turn to the climb and had to backtrack about a quarter mile so I was in the lead here. I had to stop a few times and scrape the mud bricks off my shoes. He caught back up to me and we talked a while and then he started run/walk intervals and I pulled ahead. I don't remember what I ate at the aid station, I think it was just a handful of pringles.
Ridge Line 36.5--I was starting to feel fatigued and puny. It had warmed up some and the wind had picked up. I was a little frightened because it was too early in the race to be tired. My legs felt fine and my stomach was still okay so I didn't know why I felt so worn out. At the aid station I tried something new and slammed two cups of mountain dew and I don't think I ate anything.
Matfield green 42.5--Mountain dew is my new best friend. I felt like a million bucks. I had to go back to holding myself back and not getting too carried away. There were rollers in here but nothing terribly steep. The main issue was the rocky roads. I wondered how long my feet would hang on. I came into the aid station and drank two more cups of mountain dew, filled up with water, and munched on a peanut butter and jelly tortilla as I came out.
Lone Tree--50. As has been said before, there is something about reaching the halfway point that is exciting! I was pretty thrilled to see Coleen and know that I could turn around and go back. Legs felt good, but my stomach was starting to feel a little stubborn. Coleen had potato soup and it was perfect. I had just one mountain dew, drank a cup of soup, and then walked with another cup to the trashcan up the hill. Filled up with water and turned around to journey back. Second and third place were two guys and they were only a minute or so behind me.
Matfield Green 57.4--Finally!! My first pacer, April R!! I was so ready for some company. It was perfect timing. I was starting to hit a slump. My knees and back were protesting the mileage and and my stomach was riding on the edge of nausea. I could no longer handle mountain dew or gels. so drank some ginger ale followed by a cup of potato soup, filled my water, took an s-cap, and was off.
Ridge Line--63.4--struggle bus. April was great. She talked and kept the conversation going and it helped keep my mind off my declining physical condition. I switched to 10 minute run, 1 minute walk at this point. I hurt, and the nausea was clamouring for my attention. We rolled into the aid station and this was my introduction to ginger chews. I swallowed one really fast, drank a cup of ginger ale, sipped on some ramen, and that was all I could handle. First place guy, who had been in third, passed me and immediately opened a huge gap and disappeared.
Texaco hill--68.7--I continued to struggle and do walk/run intervals but I was glad I wasn't vomiting. I told myself it would pass. April kept the energy and conversation going. At the aid station they gave me two more ginger chews. I drank a cup of potato soup and a few spoonfuls of bean soup that this kindly older gentleman swore up and down would settle my stomach.
Teterville--74.9--Things were looking up. Stomach was settling! I was pumped to see Jason! I dropped April off with many thanks and picked up my new slavedriver, Kodi. I didn't want to push it with my stomach so drank salted ramen broth and a cup of ginger ale and called it good. A beautiful sunset was happening and my spirits lifted. Kodi told me we were gonna go get first place but I didn't believe her.
Lapland-83.1--It got pitch dark. Coyotes were yipping. I told Kodi 10/1 run/walk intervals but she was doing 20 minutes run/30 second walk and I was too brainfried to realize it. Best fibbing pacer ever!! :) My stomach was back to normal so I got a gel down at Kodi's insistance. My biggest problem was pain at this point. I was limited to a shuffle with my knees and back. I took 600mg ibuprofen at the aid station, knocked down more soup, and we were off into the hill.
Battle Creek--91.7--10 minutes after taking the motrin, everything changed. The pain was under control, and I felt great. We charged the hills. I was back to running fast on the downs and ran all but the steepest of the ups. Eventually, we saw headlamps way ahead, and began to close on them. As we entered the final aid station, first place was leaving. I looked at my watch and knew if I kept up the momentum I could get the course record and go under 18. I was hungry for the first time in many hours and inhaled two pieces of zucchini bread and grabbed a chocolate covered rice krispie treat for the road.
to the finish: we passed the guy at mile 93, running full speed ahead. We did a few 30 second walk intervals on the last long hill and then as we entered the flat it was a game. I would check the time, Kodi would start making predictions and encouraging me. She said things like "30 minutes and you're gonna be done". She told me course record was in the bag. I was ready to be done. I picked up the speed more and more and decided I wanted to drive the record as low as possible so it would stand a while. The last 3 miles where intense. No walking, just running faster. A few times I had to say out loud "I can do this" and force myself to concentrate. We made the last turn into Cassoday, less than a mile to go. I could see the train tracks and knew the finish line was just on the other side. I gave it everything I could make my body do. Kodi told me my last mile was 7:30. She told me "go ahead sweetie" and I sprinted over the tracks toward the cowbells and cheering and turned and ran through the cones and it was over.
I started crying and it made my knees weak and they buckled but Chris and the safety lady held me up and after a few seconds I could stand up and walk. I hugged Kodi and Chris and a few other people and went inside to sit down. I didn't feel like eating but Drew and Adele put a beer in front of me and it was delicious. I went out to watch the first man finish and cheer and then got really cold so Chris put me in my warm car and drove me home.
I am so grateful. I had the best pacers ever and the aid stations were so outstanding there was no need for crew. I have a ton of people to thank. I beat the record by 41 minutes, and it was the first time a woman has won Heartland outright. My Creator was definitely allowing the strength I asked for in my pre-race prayer.
Today I am walking around pretty well although I'm super sore and my appetite is ridiculous. I'm not sure what is next, still processing, but am looking at Rocky Raccoon at the end of January.
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