Taking some time to think about things....
I have been struggling a bit with some things in my personal
life.. and so I was looking for something..to get away from everything... I guess normal would be heading to the beach for some R&R... but I found something better....
Sole Challenge 24 hour race....
I mean what could be better.. ?!!....24 hours of me time to think!!! It was only 2 hours from home, on a long weekend, camping was allowed, a 1.54 loop....a perfect match for what I wanted to
do. So I signed up.. then I told Joe...
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| Sole Challenge Hoodie and Bib # |
“Joe, I am going to drive the camper to run this 24 hour race and then I will be back on Sunday..." OK..so that didn’t go as well as planned...I can only imagine how his face doesn’t just stay in the perpetual state of exhaustion.
I guess number one was.. he was in no way in hell going to
let me drive the camper back 2+ hours alone after being up and running around for
24 hours... and two.. I actually think he
enjoys crewing for me so he wanted to come that weekend!... I am SO glad he is
the “sense” in this relationship.
Since the race was not one that I originally had planned to
do, I had no stress about it, it was a SHOW AND GO.. as my girlfriend and I
always refer to races that we just happen to show up and go about it.. the only
difference here is I was not completely unprepared..
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| Bessie co-pilot |
OK.. so let's back up to the think part... if I had thought
about it.. I would have probably not started knowing this race was unexpectedly going to be hotter than hell....
We just had a month of cold, rainy, wet weather and now the forecast for the weekend was 90’s HOT, HUMID, and the course had no shade... can anyone say, "Where is my heat acclimation time?"
We just had a month of cold, rainy, wet weather and now the forecast for the weekend was 90’s HOT, HUMID, and the course had no shade... can anyone say, "Where is my heat acclimation time?"
So Joe and I packed up the RV on Friday and headed up to
Fayetteville PA.. a few miles from Chambersburg. For my weekend of thinking..
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| Joe setting up the camper |
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| Sunset at the Park |
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| Bessie watching the people arrive |
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| Fellow racer parked next to us for the shade! |
I walked down to see the marathoners off to their start (they started at 8am)...
Clint (who runs the Mainly Marathons) and Larry (1500 marathoner) were there and although I am sure they don’t remember me... I know them and was pleased to say hi..
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| Marathoners getting ready to start |
I think what I like best about these no frill races is how really old school they are.. you run to run not for the fancy trinkets, no expos, no need to have live bands... no need for anything but just Show and GO!
Calk marks the start and finish... there would be two lap
timers.. one at the finish.. and one half way around just to make sure the laps
were counted right..and a pleasant surprise is the course was actually wheel
measured and certified..
24 hours..I knew the hardest part for me would be when it came around to the time that I normally go to bed and to find that inner strength to fight back the really increasing desire to just lay down and die..
But even more so was the unexpected heat. Normally I am a good warm weather runner but
with no chance to acclimate ...it was unknown how that would affect me...
YES... it was HOT.. hotter than H-LL actually...and YES after mile 20 there was a lot of walking and longer breaks.. AND did I mention it was HOT!??
Luckily and I think this was my saving grace.. since the loop was only 1.5 miles I could get back and put my legs up and soak them in cold rags to keep my core temperature down.. I could change shoes and socks and make sure to stop and get fluids or fuel....
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| Good Morning, ready to get this party started! |
YES... it was HOT.. hotter than H-LL actually...and YES after mile 20 there was a lot of walking and longer breaks.. AND did I mention it was HOT!??
Luckily and I think this was my saving grace.. since the loop was only 1.5 miles I could get back and put my legs up and soak them in cold rags to keep my core temperature down.. I could change shoes and socks and make sure to stop and get fluids or fuel....
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| Dr Joe fixing up the patient! LOL |
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| Wonder what he is going to get into? |
Joe does an amazing job at this.. he knows exactly what I
need when I needed it and made sure he was there each lap icing my legs,
handing me ice pops, and making sure I was ok...if you look around at the best
runners... and I don’t mean the best in first but in the best in how they are
holding up.. have the best support crews..
If you have never been to an endurance event... what you see is a family of like minded people.
If you have never been to an endurance event... what you see is a family of like minded people.
10am (the Start) to about 2pm – felt good and motivated...being in fairly good marathon shape the front end of the miles came easier especially since I wasn’t actually “racing”... even though I was going a tad faster than I should be.. I knew within a few laps I would tone it down... I just didn’t expect it to come to a screeching halt.
- Things I was happy about: that I had gotten my hair cut a couple weeks ago! No more pig tails heating up the back!
2pm-5pm – Heat was intolerable. Trying to stay hydrated, stay cool, and stay
motivated.. well.. it took every ounce of strength to not just pack it
up and go home.. misery... trying to breathe was utterly impossible.. but then I thought of the reason why I was there..and I looked around and felt very blessed...
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Things I
was happy about: Watermelon and ice
pops..SPF50
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| Running along |
5-7pm – started to get depressed
and unmotivated... the heat had sucked the life out of me and now I was
tired, spent, hungry and miserable. I
really tried to enjoy the sunset and I did.. I looked up and briefly smiled but
I was feeling so dejected.. I had already done all my thinking... I was done
thinking.. I could go home now.. but then I couldn’t.. I was already vested in
this race...but now I am frustrated... I am not at all as far along as I thought I
should be and it's really hard to breathe with this DAMN HOT AIR!
·
Things I
was happy about: stuffing my face
full of crumbled up homemade choc chips and a soggy hoagie
7-10pm – had a nice special
surprise, a friend showed up (Manuel)to cheer me along and gave me an extra boost to go on (because last thing you want to do is stop running when
someone drives the 1-1/2 hours to cheer you).. right!? Joe took a slight nap while Manuel watch the
camp for a bit as I continued onward!
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Things I
was happy about: Periogies and
Chicken Noodle soup!
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| Ultra runners tent city at night |
10pm-midnight – HOW MUCH TIME IS
LEFT!???
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Things I
was happy about: UM YEAH not much LOL
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| It's kinda dark now |
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Things I
was happy about: That I was alone
and now I could think... really think
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| Most awful pic ever! LOL! |
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Things I
was happy about: the mind is a powerful tool and can make anything happen.
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| Sunrise over tent city |
6-8am – I’m BACK ... I think it's when Joe said to me only 4 more laps and you got 70 miles.. that motivated me to literally take off sprinting for 4 laps... it was still cool out and the sun was just coming up over the hills... and I was freeeeeeeee...
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Things I
am happy about: I only have a few
more hours of this shhhhhit too goooo..
8am-10am – The FINISH...the
sun was back up and it was HOT AGAIN.. but I had made it to 70 miles and so the goal
for these next two hours was to walk... walk as SLOW as I damn well wanted just
because I wanted to run the clock out.. I had accomplished more than what I thought.
My last lap... I happen
to have some issues prior to going out on my last lap that indicated to me that
my body was finally starting to break down and so I asked this wonderful ultra
runner friend (Stacy) who was just waiting for the clock to run out .. if she would
walk with me... and so she did.. and that’s how it ended.. with a friend... and a life win.
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| Walking with Ultra-runner Stacy |
74.256 miles
for me... so thrilled... and I am OK it is not an even number!
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| All done! |
PS: I was 4th overall in race.. fairly impressive that the top 5 were women
24-Hour
| Megan | Alvarado | F | 27 | Springfield, VA | 121.073 | |
| Stacy | Gagne | F | 40 | Gainesville, VA | 96 | |
| Linda | Dunbar | F | 55 | Elizabethtown, PA | 85.085 | |
| Wendy | Mastripolito | F | 50 | Glenmore, PA | 74.256 | |
| Lara | Gonzalez | F | 41 | Brooklyn, NY | 72.709 | |
| Tim | Sheahan | M | 51 | Gettysburg, PA | 65 | |
| Scott | Ferrari | M | 58 | Pittsburgh, PA | 63.612 | |
| Lou | Manza | M | 49 | Jonestown, PA | 63.427 | |
| Daryl | Lehman | M | 64 | Waynesboro, PA | 62.035 | |
| Charlene | Howard | F | 44 | Mount Rainier, MD | 61.88 | |
| Chancell | Condie | M | 24 | Piedmont, OH | 60.35 | |
| Andrew | Thomas Iv | M | 33 | Winchester, VA | 58.78 | |
| John | Godinet | M | 59 | Myersville, MD | 57.889 | |
| Jess | Sheahan | F | 50 | Gettysburg, PA | 57.239 | |
| Joyce | Ong | F | 65 | Bristow, VA | 53.298 | |
| Thomas | Green | M | 65 | Columbia, MD | 52.598 | |
| Amy | Good | F | 39 | West Reading, PA | 51.05 | |
| Paul | Betker | M | 70 | Hagerstown, MD | 48.003 | |
| Beverly | Dellinger | F | 64 | York, PA | 46.585 | |
| Jim | Wahl |
68
| Dayton, OH | 43.656 | ||
| Rick | Palmer | M | 46 | Lincoln University, PA | 41.76 | |
| Nelson | Stritehoff | M | 64 | Columbia, MD | 38.675 | |
| Lisa | Thomas | F | 34 | Winchester, VA | 35.58 | |
| Atlee | Burpee | M | 59 | Conshohocken, PA | 34.03 | |
| Stephen | Otto | M | 43 | Wyomissing, PA | 17.01 | |
