Hungryland Race Recap!!!
Happy sigh! Where to even start with this adventure? Here we go… Hungryland Slough is an hour from my house, so I could sleep in my own bed and drive to the race in the morning. I got there and set up in “base camp.” This was a timed race, with people running as many, or as few, 14.3 mile loops as they wanted. There were people running one loop, and people going for 100 miles. The 100 milers had some elaborate setups: Here was mine: The race started at 7:30, and it was 57 degrees! I started out with a light jacket, which came off after a few miles. But the cool air felt amazing. This race was all on trails of various quality, some very smooth and runnable, some deeply rutted sections, and some- shudder- SAND. But after the sand I encountered at Skunk Ape last year, this was nothing. Right around 5 miles or so, a man ran up to me and said “I already have diarrhea!” Um… okay! I told him I had Imodium, and that he was welcome to have some if he needed it when we got back to the start. He said “No, I should be fine- I just smoked a joint and that always makes me go to the bathroom.” Okay well- interesting strategy. His name was Ralph, and we ran the rest of that first loop together. Ralph was a wildly optimistic person. When I told him my goal was 60 miles, he said “Oh no- you can definitely do 100.” When I told him my fueling strategy, he said I should be taking beet juice shots instead. Later on when I told him I was thinking of moving away from Florida, he told me I should move to Spain. At the end of that loop, I was getting a little tired of Ralph. Listen buddy- I am NOT running 100 miles today, drinking beet juice, or moving to Spain! On his part, he felt that my pace was too “aggressive” and started to fall back (well yes, because I was “only” doing 60 miles and he was doing 100 and had to conserve energy- although of course in his mind I was also doing 100 miles). It seems that I always make a friend at these things, and Ralph was the friend for this event, and although I didn’t see him after that first loop, I saw his gear after every loop. He moved it under my canopy, as he didn’t have his own. His company made that first loop pass quickly, and I was feeling good. As I headed out for the second loop, I put in my headphones and listened to some podcasts, including this one by Sally McRae, mental tools to use when a race gets tough.. This loop got a little harder because it was warming up- but I still felt pretty good as I got back to base camp. And, my husband was there! He couldn’t spend the whole day there, but arrived to cheer me on after loop 2. My strategy before loop 3 was to drink a Monster energy, and turn on music (my playlist which started with the Beatles Birthday song, obviously). I started off feeling good and then… this loop got hard. It was the hottest loop. LUCKILY, it only got up to 80 degrees and the humidity wasn’t bad. But there was no shade at all on this course. I was also getting mentally fatigued, and it was hard to think that I had to do the entire thing again. Ouch. I got back to base camp, and had run 42.9 miles at that point. Here’s where things started to fall apart. I was nauseous, and none of my fuel seemed appetizing. I tried to drink another Monster but I couldn’t get it down. Luckily I had ginger ale! I poured some into a reusable cup (that I could squash up and put in my bag) and started walking the fourth loop. This had been my plan from the start- I knew it would be hard to start that fourth loop, and I decided ahead of time that I would not sit and rest, but instead grab whatever fuel I could and just start moving forward. As I walked along, the ginger ale sloshed around in my stomach and I felt… horrible. My legs ached, I had no energy, and as I said, I was nauseous. I thought “What if I have to walk this ENTIRE LOOP?” GAH. It would take forever. Then I remembered I had these… They saved me! I ate a couple of them and my stomach felt better. I was able to sip water, take a salt pill, and then I decided to try running again. I started with 30 seconds of running and 30 seconds of walking (anyone can do that… right???) I gradually increased the running intervals until I was, incredibly, trotting along happily again. At this point the sun was setting… And then it was dark. Now I was all alone- sometimes I could see headlamps far ahead of me, or behind me, but I felt mostly alone and it was kind of scary. I was worried I would get lost, but every once in a while I would see one of these to let me know I was still on course: After a while, I got used to running in the dark and realized I felt REALLY GOOD. It’s the biggest comeback I’ve ever experienced. I’ve had runs where I felt crappy and then felt a little less crappy, but this was a complete turnaround. The dark wasn’t scary anymore- it was cool and peaceful. My legs felt good and my stomach had recovered. I was so, so grateful to be running! It was one of the high points of the race. Here was where I implemented a piece of Ralph’s advice (finally! Something helpful from Ralph!) He said that on my last