I started an ultra training program back in June. I had signed up for the VT50 miler which takes place the last week of September. A friend at work who has run many ultras gave me a training plan for women. It looked like my marathon training plan. I thought,
"there is no way this plan will prepare me, mentally or physically to run 50 miles". So I found a fairly aggressive plan on the RW website and decided I could "dumb it down" if I needed to. I had just run Sugarloaf marathon in Maine and Vermont City 2 weeks later, and they were fairly easy, so I did not want to lose that momentum. I also felt that I had listened for too long to the play it safe theories. The wonderful thing about my friends who are ultra runners, is they never say "oh, that's too much running", or " you are overtraining". They say things like "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". That is exactly what I have been missing all these years.
If I want to run a good race I need to push harder with the training.
I picked up my mileage during the week, started back to back long runs on the weekend, and added trail running. I have not had good luck with speed training, it had become a source of injury and frustration, so I decided to let it go for a while.
I had considered signing up for the 12 hour as a trial run for the 50, but I held off because I also committed to pacing my friend Steve for the last 30 miles of his 100 miler. I wanted to give that priority, and see if I did well running through the night. (Incidently, Steve rocked his 100 miler!)
Once that was complete, I got a little nudge from my friend Newton, who was already signed up for the 12 hour and knew I was considering. That was all it took.
My significant other Jack, aka best boyfriend/crew/pacer in the world, agreed to drive me down, crew for me, and pace the last few miles. The race didn't start until 7:00 PM, so I took a brief nap in the car. We arrived around 3:00 pm, checked into our hotel that I mostly booked so we could shower and take a quick nap the next morning. I didn't know how to eat, so I based it on what I do for a marathon, 3 hours before. We went to the hotel restaurant and I ordered a vegetable and rice stir fry, thinking the rice would be good carbs. I probably should have eaten a smaller portion.
We drove to the race start and picked up my packet then walked to where they told us the pre-race meeting would be. We met up with Brenda, who traveled all the way from Tennessee to support the VT contingent, Newton who was doing the 12 hour, Betty who was doing the marathon, Lori-fellow marathon maniac running the marathon, and Jan who also came for support and made it feel like home. Newton gave me some last minute tips, of which I remember
1. Don't go out too fast
2. take regular walk breaks
3. patience is key, let everyone else go, they will be hurting later.
We set up "camp", took some photos, got changed and headed to the pre-race meeting. The director talked for a painfully long time, I knew logically that his talking past 7:00 would not take away from the 12 hour time limit, but I could not shake the fear that I would now only have 11 hours and 50 minutes. We lined up at the start, and did an initial loop of about 1.16 miles before we could start our laps around the lake. This extra mile was added so the marathon would be the official distance, and all the runners ran it. After the extra 1.1, we ran around the lake which was 3.16 miles. The course was a mixture of paved sidewalks, cement sidewalks, some of which had dirt paths on the side, some of which did not, and a very small section of trail with roots. The first lap was spent watching my Garmin, trying to get a pace and not go too fast. If I looked down and I was under a 10 minute mile, I forced myself to slow until I was at least at a 10:30. My strategy, if you can call it that, was to run 2 laps and then incorporate the walk breaks everyone told me I needed to do.
After a lap was completed we ran through the shute and tried to listen for the beep of our computer chip registering the lap. It was hard at first, there were almost 300 runners on the course, many of us running through the shute simultaneously.
After the shute I saw my peeps. I drank my electrolyte drink, chatted for a minute and said I was going to walk. I really wanted to chat, but I did not want to waste any time. I asked Jack if he wanted to walk with me for a few steps so I could visit and continue to move forward. I am not the fastest runner, and learned early in my marathon career how to drink while running, never walk the water stops, and if I have to walk, walk with a purpose.
I gave my drink back to Jack and headed out again. I caught up to Lori, who was running the marathon. She was running on the road, which had a more consistent surface of tar. I tried it for a lap or two, but it meant I would be running a larger perimeter, which would take more time. Also when it started to get dark, I did not necessarily trust the "Masshole" drivers.
Lori seemed surprised to see me and said " I thought you were going to take walk breaks?" I replied that I had planned to run the first 2 laps (6-7 miles) and then begin implementing the walk breaks. This was a strategy I read about on line which worked better for me than the alternate strategy of implementing walk breaks immediately. I was already running slower than I ever had in a race, walking on top of that seemed like overkill.
Next lap around I new I should take in some fuel. I saw Jack, Brenda and Jan. I told Jack I was ready for some GU chomps. He rummaged for them as I drank some electrolyte drink, and when he pulled them out he asked me if I wanted him to open them. Even this small act seemed like a huge waste of time and I wished he would have just done it and handed them to me so I could be off already. Again I used my logic, the 20 seconds was not going to break the race for me and he was being so great, I needed to relax! Jan asked me how I was feeling, I told them that the course was very rough on the bones, my feet and lower legs were already quite sore at this early stage, they were taking a pounding with the cement. Jack reminded me again to go slow. I headed off for a few more laps, and used some more "logic". (a huge part of racing for me is this self-talk, or logic). I realised that I had to nip the negative thought about the pain I was feeling and focus on the positive. Negative thinking would destroy this race. I tried to squeeze in some walk breaks, for each lap I would walk through the water stop on the opposite side of the course, and the food and water stop at the start finish where my peeps were. My walk breaks were quite brief, especially on the side where my peeps couldn't see me. A couple times I tried walk breaks on the cement portion, speed walking for a few steps. I felt like I was cheating a bit on the walk breaks, but this way I could say "yes" in good conscience when Jack asked me if I was taking them.
At mile 20 I made another lap through the shute, and Jan asked me how I felt. I remembered my commitment to staying positive and told them that the good news was this was the best I ever felt at mile 20. I wasn't lying. I also was trying to eat one block at each lap or at least every other lap. I do not eat a lot when I run, my stomach is prone to GI distress, but I knew I had to maintain a level of energy. I had already made a porto-stop at lap 2 because of my large dinner, but unlike a marathon I did not worry about the time here, I had 12 hours!
I reflected on my pre-race conversations and my goals. Originally I had signed up as a stepping stone between my 30 miler and the VT50. It seemed like a good way to dip my toe in the ultra world by just seeing how far I could get in the 12 hour race with no pressure. I did look at the previous years results, and noticed that the winner for the women had done an extra lap, second and third place had done 16 laps for the 50.+ miles.
Before the race, Jan and Jack asked me what I wanted out of the race, and told them anywhere from 30-50. Jack seemed concerned about my lack of goal. I said " I should commit to the 50 shouldn't I?" I think we both knew that if I said I would do it, I would, and I should not leave myself an out.
The first mental block I needed to get by was the marathon distance. When I went through the shute at 26.2 I felt a huge relief. I have never done a five hour marathon, and I really did not want to here. I made it through the shute in 4:40- something and breathed a sigh of relief. Jack told me that was a good time and I needed to slow down. I told him it was time for him to stop telling me to slow down, it was not helping my moral. I said that once I passed the marathon distance I was no longer in danger of going out to fast, and now he needed to push me. I did not need to use logic this time, I knew I was right and tried to sound firm but not bi*&#y.
Through out the race, a high point for me was getting near mile 3 of the loop. I could always pick up the pace, because I knew soon I would be at the mile 3 marker, then just 0.16 miles until the timing shute, my food and drink, and I got to see Jack. We discussed when he would start to run with me. Pacers were not allowed on the course until after midnight, when the marathoners cleared out. At one point I asked "are you going to run with me soon?" I knew it was too early, and he reminded me that he could only run for a set amount because of his injury, and it would be better if he ran the end. The next lap he asked me " do you want me to run with you next time?" This time I told him a couple more laps. I figured I wanted to run at least 10 laps by myself, then he would only have to run 6. This would also give me something to look forward to after my next mental block, mile 30. The farthest I had ever run. I cruised through mile 30 and Jack began pacing me. At some point I started not needing to "fake" the walk breaks anymore. I explained to Jack that it was ok to walk, as long as I walked with a purpose. I still tried to keep the walk breaks seldom, brief, and at a quick pace. I was very glad to have someone to run with me. Some of the locals on the bike path earlier had been less than polite, some beat up cars drove by shouting some incoherent verbage out the window, and it had thinned out quite a bit with the marathoners gone. Lori and Betty were done, I had only seen Betty once, I only saw Newton once. I saw Lori a few times, and my new friend Neil. He was wearing a Vermont city marathon shirt so I asked him about it. He was from MA, but had family in VT, and had just run the 100k at the race I had been at. He was just a bit faster than me, so on occasion we would run together and chat for a few before he went ahead.
The miles were ticking by. I had taken 1 tylenol, and was thinking I might like another. I do not like to take medicine when I run, but Tylenol is better than Ibuprophen, and I figured since I had only taken half the dose it would be ok. It did not "cure" the pain of the cement, but it did take the edge off. Around lap 15 I hit a low. I hadn't taken a block the last lap or 2 because I had run out of Chomps, and the shot blocks were making me nauseous. I had replaced them with some handfulls of salty chips, which helped a bit with the nausea, but it came back and I really felt awful. I took what was probably my longest walk break. Earlier when I was running strong Jack said I was going to hit 50 long before the 12 hour mark and he thought I should take a victory lap. I was all for it then. Now that I felt sick I just wanted to be done. The lap seemed to take forever. Jack tried to get me to run by suggesting we start at the next tree. I nodded yes, but when we got to the next tree I thought I might hurl and my mouth tasted like old shot block. I mumbled "next tree" and got 15 more seconds of walking. At the next tree I started to shuffle, and informed him there would be no victory lap. I knew he was dissappointed, but I just couldn't. When we got closer to the 3 mile mark, we realized my nausea was probably because I stopped eating. I stated that I would love a peanut butter and Jelly sandwich. When we got past the shute I stopped at the food tent, and to what to my wondering eyes did appear? PB&J sammiches! I think I proffessed my love to the volunteer, ate a sandwich and sent Jack back for another, and started running. This was my last lap! 50 miles, I could not believe I was doing it. I was feeling so good at one point, and the 50 mile run seemed so easy, I had an awful thought. "Jack, is this real or am I just dreaming I am running the 50?" The discomfort seemed quite vivid for a dream, but that could happen. I would hate to wake up and realize It was a dream. Jack started to reassure me, then stopped and considered. "Well supposedly in a dream you are unable to turn on and off a light switch." So he turned his head lamp off then on, and said "It's real".
At some point in that 16th lap Jack planted a seed. An evil, motivating seed. He said, you know, last years winner did 17 laps. Maybe it was the evil seed, maybe it was the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but there was a woman ahead of me and I muttered to Jack to check her bib. "WHAT?" he said. I clenched my teeth and said it again. I wanted to know if she were in MY race or th 24 hour. He had no idea what was going through my exhausted mind. I started running. Really running, fast. In my mind I thought if she had a 12 hour bib on, and I missed placing by seconds, I would never forgive myself. I could hear footsteps behind me, and logically I new it was probably Jack running after me, but I wasn't chancing it. I ran right through that shute, and then did something that amazed me. I kept right on going for another lap. The clock at the shute said 10 something, I know I had plenty of time for another lap. Jack caught up and told me he was proud of me. He said when he saw me sprinting he thought that was the end, and was disappointed.
My last lap was the best. I had run 50 miles. I didn't know that I could do that. I was only halfway through my training plan. Jan ran out to meet us at mile 3 and ran us in. I said "Jan, guess how far we are running? 54 miles!!!" He said I looked great, and I believed him, because I felt great. I made it through the shute and a volunteer congratulated me and handed me a prize. I turned back to Jan and Jack and shouted "That was AWESOME!"
Later Jan, Newton Jack and Betty were looking at results. They only had 9 hours worth. They said at 9 hours I was second female and 15th overall. I lost hope of placing, because I had that really bad lap, but I still felt that I had done pretty well. Then they started the award ceremony and called up the 3rd place woman and it was me! I was so happy. I thanked Jack, he was so tolerant and such a good motivator. Unfortunately I ate too many oreos and coca cola in my excitement and had to leave for fear of getting ill in front of everyone, but even that could not kill my buzz.
