I survived another 12 hour night run on a 400 meter track.

12 hour run through the night on a 400 meter high school track. Sounds like torture, right?  That's what I thought last year after I'd signed up -- and then found out it was on a track!  I survived it, loved/hated it, and came back for more this year.

Wearing my "lucky charms":
Fearless skirt
Chattanooga 70.3 tank

This time though, I brought my girls with me. It's a very small race and because it was well-lit on the track, tent would be placed near the aid station and I would see them while I was running, I felt it was safe.  (I was also given a green light by the race director).  I also managed to talk my boyfriend, Ben,
into running this with me... or should I say "highly suggested" this race to him and he made the decision to go ahead with it ;)

Germantown High School

Our little station.

The race started at 8:00pm and as most ultras go, it was a great energy from the start.  There were the 24 hour runners who'd been running since 8am and the daytime 12 hour runners who started at 9am.  So we were, as one 24 hour runner put it, "Fresh Meat".  I'm pretty sure he said that to our group last year as well! The time and the loops seem to fly by until the cold started getting to me.  I had obsessed over the weather like any good athlete would, including the hourly temps, and was ecstatic to see that it'd be in the low-mid 50s. PERFECT!! Last year was 90+F plus 90% + humidity.
What I'd failed to take into account was that the sun will be down.

I threw on a long-sleeve tech over my tank and that worked well. Once I started walking, I'd get chilled almost immediately and after throwing on my North Face tech hoodie, I'd go over to the bathroom just to warm up. REAL bathroom, by the way.
 The joints in my legs started locking up and I considered throwing on my old sweatpants that were to be my post-race pants but by then, I was beyond sore and tired that I couldn't imagine having to untie my shoes, bend over to put the pants on and tie the shoes on again.

To me, the best part of ultras is that you get a chance to talk and get to know fellow runners. As I walked up beside one of the 24 hour runners. I made a small joke about the "ultra shuffle" (aka slow running, feet dragging).   At first glance, I figured he was around 65 years young. (He was not the only senior runner there, by the way).  As we chatted, I mentioned that I'm an avid trail runner and my joints & muscles are hating me for the added stress I'm putting on them by running on the hard surface.  He laughed and said he totally got it. There's something magical about running trails. Though both pose different challenges, I would take 50 miles on trail over 50K on road.

I asked him what his goal was. "I was hoping for 80 miles but I'm only around 60. I'll probably have to settle for my age ... 74."  I had to shake a my head and take that in. ONLY 60 miles? And will have to SETTLE for 74?  At the age of 74?  I looked over at Ben and I knew he was thinking the same thing -- before we repeated those questions out loud.  This gracious man laughed and said he's been running ultras for a long time; His first ultra was in 1981.  "That's when I was born!" I cried out.  He continued reminiscing and we just took it all in.  If you have a chance to talk (listen) to a seasoned runner, do it.  They have so much knowledge and from him, I also learned that there were a handful of amazing ultra runners at this race! I believe 3-4 had run Badwater and 1 (or 2) Western States, with the race director being one of the Western States runners.  What a boost of energy to know you're running among some badass runners! That, to me, is celebrity status.

One of our stretch breaks, putting feet up.

We crept along and we were hurting pretty bad.  My days/nights were messed up from trying to prepare for the race.  I'd been dealing with low back pain, possibly bulging disc/sciatica. And well, we'd been running over 8 hours and my feet were screaming.

I was so looking forward to sunrise and renewed energy.  I checked on my kids in the tent throughout the night and more than once, I thought about joining them :)  My little one woke up right as the sun rose so I stopped to spend some time with her. During this time, my boyfriend collapsed on the ground with a groan. With a panic, I asked what was wrong. Is it his knee? One knee was to the ground. He was double over and just shook his head and by now, I was beyond freaked out. Trying not to scare my daughter, I told him he should sit this one out.  I pointed to the tarp to my right (he was to my left) "Just lay here and put your feet up on the chair and ...".  When I looked back at him, he was still on one knee but held up a ring.  I was so confused. Whoa, a ring. OMG, is he proposing? So he's not dying (?). Wait, what? I was so confused. Seriously, he's ok?
"Will you marry me?"  And I gave him my answer "You scared the sh*t out of me!" followed by "Oops, sorry. Yes!".  My oldest one woke up from the commotion, stuck her head out of the tent and asked "Is there pizza?"  He apparently told them there would be a surprise at sunrise.  I have to admit, food would have been my first guess too!!  After I showed her the ring to signify that's not the surprise, she perked up and then asked for confirmation "So.. there's no pizza then?" *face palm* Welcome to my family.

Just before sunrise

Ben did indeed take a break on that loop after all and I continued running. Ok, I stopped in the bathroom to message my friend who'd known about the ring ("You knew?!") and then continued running.

If you don't take a pic of the ring, did you even get engaged?

I didn't have any distance goals in mind as this was a prep run for the 50 M.  With the big race only 2 weeks away, I was not going to push it too hard and injure myself.  As I'd told Ben, I wasn't going to push myself for 40+ miles on this training run only to be injured for the 50M.  This was purely for "time on feet" training. 12 hours was the goal and that's what I was going to do.

Less than an hour left!!

Until I saw that I was close to 40 miles.  Then I started running more. Ok, ok. Shuffled but in my mind, I was an Ethiopian.  Just 1/1000th of the speed and grace.

I got a little over 41 miles, going by my watch.  I know it's not official but I did not hear the mat beep on 3 separate occasions - that was when I was paying attention.  The laps and the miles didn't add up from hour to hour (we got hourly updates).  I figured that my watch usually gives me less mileage than the actual (compared to Strava and ipod) so I felt ok using my own distance, not giving myself more credit than I earned.  I believe they have me close to 40 but the info hasn't been posted up yet :)

End of the race, waiting for race director to measure
the final distance.
My family is ecstatic.

With each race, you learn.  Lesson learned here was the huge difference in how the temperatures feel  without the sun. During the night, it was 57F and I was chilled. By sunrise, it was 54F and I was back in only my tank but still sweltering in the heat.  I started with 12 hour run with only the goal to finish out the 12 hours with my boyfriend and I did indeed finished...with my fiance.

As for the gentleman whose goal was to finish with 74?  He got in 76, I believe.  During the last few laps, I asked him how close he was.  He'd already passed his goal.  And he was still running. I congratulated him on finishing off the race with a big bang and giving himself a new goal to crush next year. He replied "Always. You always leave everything you've got at the track. Come back next year and give it all again."  

~ Dye

Post race. 

*As you may have noticed, I was wearing Skirt Sports (again!) at this race.  I am an ambassador for the company but do not receive any monetary payments for showing or mentioning their products. Before becoming an ambassador, I was already a huge fan and well, having the title of Skirt Sports ambassador is an honor in itself.*