77 miles- How cool is my body.

How to even describe what happened in 77 miles? How to express the emotional release of crying for hours over how cool my body is? How to explain to all who helped me, gave me things, listened to me cry, ran with me, walked with me, and/or messaged me, that I couldn't have made it to 77 without each of you! 

IK am going to try to encapsulate what the experience was like. I started at 7am. Jen surprised me by showing up to see me start! What a happy welcome that was to my day! I ran from 7am-10am by myself. About 12 miles. Then Brittany joined me, and we did 7 miles. We gabbed and got POURED on. She is the real one for running in the pouring rain with me. Chafing started here more or less. I knew I was in for it. (Shelly, Gibson, and Candi- prepare to *ahem* take me in November because I didn't! #IYKYK

Mile 0!

Then, I ran by myself for a few more hours. Eat. Drink. Run. Walk. Repeat. Renee' joined me about 5pm and I convinced her to do 8 miles with me. We had a blast! She brought me coffee. That left me for only 2 hours by myself until Jen came. I was eating and drinking super well all day. The first few hours I was peeing so much I was a little concerned. 😂 Then the dark came. I talked to Candi until Jen came, which was a welcome surprise to keep me occupied. 

Did I mention she WALKED the pace I was RUNING? 
So hardcore.

Jen and I ran the Rez loop together. I hit my PR distance of 53 miles with her. That felt super good. Sabrina got stuck in 3-hour traffic, so Jen graciously hung out with me while we waited for her. Jen really helped me through the ‘early dark’ hours to be in good spirits and realize it’s ok that the dark miles are slow.

I was at mile 50-something at this point. My feet hurt. Ok. That’s an understatement. 50-something miles on pavement was killer. I could feel my heartbeat in my feet. I sat in the passenger seat with my feet on the dash, while I cried in pain and honestly questioned if I could keep going. Sabrina came and helped me get back up and get back out there. We ‘ran’ (walked) for a few hours together. They were slow, dark miles, but they got done. I can’t remember where I hit 56, but that felt super cool to hit because that is the half ironman bike distance. I know I got to 100km with Sabrina, and that felt super accomplishing.

We finished, and I got to FUU at 64 miles. I ran 1 mile before FUU started. Everyone at the race was so supportive of me. I couldn’t have made it to 77 without being at FUU. I cried more than I didn’t at FUU. Everyone was nothing short of amazing. Hitting 70 was an amazing feeling because that is the distance of a half ironman.

I think my favorite part of FUU was when I was sitting on the side of the road, crying, and JRay gave me a bandana of ice. Mind you, it was all on his neck/face, and then all over mine. I suddenly decided I NEEDED to eat a LOT of ice. So, naturally I opened the bandana, filled with sweat and who knows what else, and proceeded to eat all the ice. I needed more. There was a mailman right there. So I asked him if he had ice. He said yes, and kind of paused. I told him it was fine if the ice chest was dirty and to just put ice in my bandana. He said ‘with my hands?’ I said oh yes I don’t care. Thanks man! So I went back to where I was sitting and proceeded to eat all of that ice. In all I think I ate about 30 pieces of ice. I got up and kept walking.

At this point I am sobbing from the emotion of it all. Jimmy, Jennifer, and Karen asked me what I needed, and I said ice. Next thing I knew, Karen went to a random house and asked for ice. I continued to cry from thankfulness for them. Jimmy walked next to me for a little while and just pressed the ice on my neck/head. It felt so nice and comforting.

Once Brittany found out I ate icky ice, I was currently on a fixation of cuties. I ate so many. One part dropped on the ground, so she handed me that one first and said ‘this one has dirt on it so I’m giving it to you first, but the rest are ok!’ Thanks girl. 😜

Ok anyways, the first few hours of FUU were with Dustyn, and almost 3-year-old Cory. Cory roasted the heck out of me. We were walking, and Cory asked Dustyn if we were running. Dustyn, being the encouraging person he is, told Cory we were indeed running. Suddenly, a group of guys ran past us. Cory proceeded to tell us that THEY were running, and we were walking. 😂 Thanks Cory. You're the real one. I started to throw up at this point, so Dustyn went and got me my Zofran. (He also grabbed my Ativan. Tell me you're a psychiatrist without telling me.) Those were my most productive loops at FUU.

Dustyn left, and I did a little by myself and was sobbing. Brittany came and found me and drug my 40 min/mi ass back to the S/F. My chafing hurt at a new level. I couldn’t stand up straight. I relied so hard on my poles to keep me vertical. After 5 miles of that, I knew 100 wasn’t in my cards for the day, and called it at 77. I think I said ‘my body is so cool!’ no less than 500 times.

I am in awe that my body ran from Hattiesburg to Florence. It ran from Hattiesburg to Biloxi.

When asked my favorite part, I have many, but honestly the time with B was probably the best, because I was fighting so hard for every mile, that I earned the recognition for completing 77 miles. The first 14 hours were great. Didn’t really hurt that bad, considering. Ran, walked, ate, drank, peed, had friends join, but it didn’t really feel HARD. The hard came once I got past 40 something and my feet started to rebel. The hard continued when I closed my eyes while walking with Sabrina. The hard persisted when every ion of my being wanted to stop at 75, but nevertheless I persisted to get 77.

The question I am asked is how do I feel about my race now that it’s all said and done? I am 100% confident I could have made it to 78. However, it would’ve taken about 45 minutes more of immense suffering. Weighing pros and cons, 77 and 78 made no difference to me, thus 77 being my max. I am confident 80 was out of reach for me. I am confident 100 will be mine one day, but not that day. But I haven’t had a distance PR in 10 years and boy did that feel awesome to see not only 53, but a marathon more distance PR!

My wish was to order my own drink afterwards. I drank 1/6 and called it done. 😂

I am continually reminded that ultras are such a group sport. I am confident I would've stopped in the dark without Jen and Sabrina there to hold me accountable. I am confident I would have forgotten to eat and drink by the time I got to FUU without so many people on the course handing me things. I am confident that my success is not just mine; it's the combined effort of so many people rooting for me.

The amount of fear I had of disappointing people and fearing to be told I didn’t go far enough was immense. Now that I am in a normal brain, I understand that is illogical. However, I cried for a while over that. Jimmy helped me because he DNFed at 88 his first 100 attempt, so I asked him how he dealt with it, and it helped me be at peace with myself.

If I'd have kept this pace, I would've made it!

I am super proud of how great I did with food. The first 14 hours I KILLED it. I was so on top of myself. The next 10 hours weren’t bad but could’ve been better. The last 6 hours were just a death march of which I survived on cuties, tailwind, and a few gels because my friends voluntold me to all of the above. S/O recovery for shoving food down my mouth even when I was so tired of it.

Throwback to Viper because these are some of the people who will be
a part of my 100-dream coming true.

So, until November. We go for shot #3. Third time’s a charm? I know the best bully ever (Candi), ‘Tiffany’, Shelly, Alyssa, James, Gibson, and so many other people on the course will be there to remind me how much of a badass I am and help me get that coveted 100-mile buckle.