I will definitely never forget about this! I do plan to write a full race report late tonight! This is the most incredibly difficult thing I have ever done running wise! Very fun and I spent a day and night hanging out with the most awesome people ever, and meeting new people, but there was a fair degree of misery involved, the hours of puking and pain were a tough ending! I got my Buckle!!
I hardly know where to start, this was a looong experience and a lot happened. The race was a USATF certified 1.23 mile loop that winds through a local park on dirt and grass. Person who gets the furthest wins--so there was a man who made it 107 miles, he is the winner really. Only one other guy and myself made it to 100. I was the first person through the 100 mile mark at 21:20 and tapped out there--good enough to get my buckle and only female to make it, plus I was in pretty bad shape as you will read on to see!
The challenge was 100 miles to get the buckle, and I thought it was doable but didn't know what I was getting into and didn't really have any expectations. The race started casually at 7am and I was good to go for the first 31 miles or so, trotting loops and talking to people. After that the sun had risen, the wind was battering at over 20mph, and it was an uncomfortable 73 degrees but not terrible. I was doing good with water and some coke, snacking on pb and j and potato chips, taking my sodium pills, etc...
I don't know precisely when the first crash happend, but it was somewhere between miles 40 and 45, suddenly my back and legs started to hurt and I was incorporating walking intervals. I really wanted something besides water but the Gu brew being served was nasty. Right at the 50 mile mark I was starting to feel pretty rough and already considering tapping out at 50 and calling it good. However, about this time a few friends showed up to cheer for a few loops, and Marcus went and got me some gatorade to put in my bottle, and I took two ibuprofen.
The ibuprofen was like cocaine or something. 10 minutes later I was no longer walking and was running through loops without difficulty and felt like a million bucks!
This didn't last long. Around mile 60 or so the ibuprofen high wore off and I was having sever lower back, knee, and hip pain. My legs hurt sooo bad. I was undertrained and definitely feeling every bit of it. I was also in the lead by several loops, and well on track to get 100. It was bad, the pain was pretty intense, I popped two Aleve and had to walk a few laps and then it kicked in, and like the motrin, was a miracle drug and soon I was back at it cranking the loops out again at a run. Night had fallen and it was eery in the dark with my headlamp, and I kept stubbing my toes on roots and almost biting the dust, but miraculously never actually fell.
This was where we all go to really know each other, I had great conversations in passing and sometimes running side by side with the few of us that were still out there struggling along. The wind had died down and the temps had dropped. I had changed shoes and socks at mile 50 and threw a long sleeve shirt over my short sleeve one.
Around mile 75 or 80, I don't know for sure, the ball dropped and the wheels completely fell off. I got nauseated, and this ended up being the driving problem for the entire rest of the run. I was so sick. I came into the aid station, terribly nauseated, fortunately by now my friend Jason had arrived and he was a miracle worker. He calmed me down, and got me some ginger ale and crackers and told me to get going. It got pretty tortuous, a few loops later the vomiting started.
For the next 4 hours, I threw up everything that went down. Jason worked overtime to keep me sipping at calories and eating saltines when I couldn't bear the thought, but obviously a little something was absorbing from time to time because I kept on peeing. The physical misery reached it's peak. My legs and back hurt so bad I could barely stand to be upright. I was still managing run/walk intervals, not sure how, but knew the faster I covered ground the sooner I could get to 100 and stop. Jason and crew put biofreeze and aspercreme on my legs and back and somehow convinced me to just keep going. It turned into run/puke intervals, I would walk, pull of to the side of the trail and barf, and then run while I could enjoy the brief nausea-free existence after puking.
Finally at mile 90 the miracle happened, I had a huge vomiting session and then afterward jogged into the aid station and Barry had brought Sprite at my request. What a great friend! The sprite was amazing, and suddenly, for the first time in hours, I was nausea free. I began to run through laps again and knocked out a few bottles of sprite, my body was desperately in need of the calories. Of course, the pain in my legs and back became unbearable, and the last two laps I was reduced to nothing but a painful, slow walk, but it was almost done. And then I crossed at 100.86 miles and was soooo happy!! I did not consider continuing, if I had I probably could have won outright with the most laps and beat John, who ended up running the full 24 hours and put in 107 miles, but I was more than thrilled to be first person through 100 miles and get the buckle, and my body. was. done.
I was given my buckle, the race director was very nice, and then Jason and Barry helped me to my car and I drove to my best friend's house where my daughter was and took the long-awaited hot shower. Going to be didn't go so well, everything basically hurt too much to sleep, and my stomach was queasy so didn't sleep much.
The volunteers and my great ultrarunning expert friends were amazing at this race. They all worked overtime to take care of me as well as the other runners, fixing up feet, doling out pepto, working with everyone to get them through. as I sat by the heater for a few minutes after finishing and watched as the few others came through, it was so strange to see them hunched over and in just as much pain as me, and still moving. What a beastly group of people. The last 4 hours of the night, passing each other was usually a "how are you doing?" with various answers. I remember dry-heaving Colleen being jealous because I had actually vomited.
That was freakin' hard. I have never hurt like that, never, nor have I combined that much puking and running before. Will I do it again! Heck Yeah!! But this time with adequate training and a nutrition plan my stomach can handle. Today I walk funny and appetite is still not quite there, I went to Old Chicaga and ordered this giant Calzone and could hardly eat any of it. Seems I should be much hungrier but probably in the days to follow it wil catch up with me. I walk funny, but am still getting around. Still absorbing the whole experience!
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