i was well trained for this run and i covered my prep in a previous blog. this is just simply the story of raceday.
my plan was to complete the course in 5:30 hours but I told myself i would be happy with 6 hours. the forecast was drizzly, windy and starting temp around 48 with a high of around 63. the course time limit was 8 hours.
so anyway... i set my alarm for 4am. the same time i wake up everyday. the whole plan was to make the day as close to normal as possible. i got up, took my normal caffeine pill, drank some coffee to get things flowing. (if you know you know)... and proceed to make sure i had everything packed and ready to go. i was nervous AF. i checked my bag like 9 times. packed my breakfast and paced around the house for a while because i was naturally about an hour ahead of schedule. i met some of my running buddies at one of their houses and the plan was to all ride together since parking was going to be tough. so once again i got to her house super early. sat in my car for a while still nervous. second guessing everything i had packed... done in training... prepared for... everything. i get super nervous in these situations. i knew i was ready... i think... but at the same time i terrified i would fail or not meet my goal and be upset. as we drove to the site of the race (I had never really met these 2 girls except from our little virtual running group we created) so the car ride consisted of alot of small talk. we got to the race gates before it opened. got in... and realized we were like an hour and half early. i tried to delay breakfast as long as possible so my body would use those calories as long as possible. still nervous. i tried to drink as much but as little as i needed to get into the race so i wouldnt have to stop and pee.
we decided to go wonder around the start a little bit and then for some reason i had this weird overwhelming feeling that i do not belong. everyone had the "look" like they were real runners. super nice expensive gear, the best shoes, gear, watches, tons of race stickers on their cars... and here i was... in shoes with about 500 miles in them, target brand clothes and big over the ear headphones.people were stretching, jogging around, big groups were congregate sharing all the years race stories... i was outta my league. but there was no backing out now... just dont embarrash your self dude. 250 people in the race just dont be last!
anyway made it to the starting line... i was absolutely freezing. the wind coming off the bay was cold af. the race started out with a little 1.5mile jaunt on pavement before turning into the trails for the other 30 miles. my hope was to work my way up to the front 1/3 of the people while on pavement and then just try to use adrenaline and my competitiveness to keep my going from there and not get passed by too many people.
BOOM! the gun goes off. i started my tracker and tried to find a path through people with out commiting the CARDINAL SIN of racing... never go out fast!
but i was feeling good. so i figured id push it until i got onto the trails and figured out how the terrain was feeling. the most frustrating part of the start was how many people grouped up together. i actually made a push to get up into the top 10 just simply to get out of the crowd.
we turned onto the trails and about a mile in i found an old high school buddy (Greg). he was running about an 8:30ish pace which was a little faster than i planned, specially for 30 miles, but whatever it gave me someone to pace off of. i made it clear he was to maintain and if i drop off... dont wait you do you bruh. honestly the first 15 miles were pretty low key. we seperated out into our own little group and stayed together for a while. the biggest regret i have is i decided to listen to my body in the now and not think ahead and i skipped the first 3 aid stations since i was carrying water and a couple snacks with me i didnt want to slow down. big mistake.
we were on our way in from the first lap and apparently there was a super high tide coming in that day so 6 different parts of the trail had about 20-30ft stretches of trail completely covered about a foot deep in FREEZING cold December salt water. i was so stoked i had made the first lap of muddy terrain through completely dry and then we hit that! GAH!... so my plan was to come in at the turn around for lap 2 and quickly change my socks and shoes and head back out... well that was ruined to grabbed an energy shot from my drop bag and headed right back out. Greg didnt wait and turned around immediately. i caught back up to him and boom! right back through the water. my feet almost warmed back up and then right back in it. so we are about 17 miles in at this point. i had been out of water since about mile 12 so i decided the next station i needed something. i hadnt eaten anything yet. my body was so focused on what i was doing i wasnt hungry. i forced down a slice of orange and some water and hit it. i was feeling good. we were still managing about an 8:30 pace. we were inthe top 20 at this point. we counted people that passed us at the turn around. i was feeling good. really good. we hit the 20ish mile aid station and i grabbed about 3 little cups of mt. dew. man was it good. i grabbed a hand full of skittle and kept going. i was in my own world. i noticed it was quiet but i figured greg was still right behind me... i turned around and not a soul in sight. he must have stopped. but i selfishly was still feeling good enough and i kept going. the miles started to get longer. i finally hit the 26.2 sign. i did it! my first ever marathon! and now i was an ultra-marathoner! i was stoked but feeling it big time. i think being alone changed things for me. i was on my own for pace. at that point i was just on auto-pilot and almost just running subconsciously. i passed a dude who was puking. i was cramping a bit. i was starting to get to "that" part of the race. the wall. the suck. i left the 26ish mile aid station chugging Gatorade and mt. dew and skittles. i still hadnt eaten anything of substance. i was hungry but everything but skittle was off putting. so i set out. still somewhere near the top 25 feeling happy but hurting. i tried to listen to music. i couldnt. i find anything to distract my mind. each step started to suck. my right foot started to hurt really bad. my toe was rubbing funny and it hurt like crazy. i was about 6 miles out. only a 10k. i run those in my sleep. but i was deep into the wall. i finally stopped. counted to 10. and slowly kept going. i was in a hilly part of the trail. it sucked. i finally passed someone still going outbound and asked where the next aid station was. he said "a mile up man!" so ok. 9 minutes. you got this. 9 minutes passed. nothing. 12 minutes passed. nothing. wtf. i finally found the next person and asked the same question and they say... "about 2 miles further" WTFFFFFFF. that absolutely crushed me. i actually think i teared up. i was hurting. my foot hurt. i was holding my abs trying to massage the cramp out of it. my mouth was drying out. i was soaked in sweat. the sun was out now. running through clouds of fog and humidity. music was off putting. but what the heck could i do? im over 40k into this thing.
i stopped looked around. put my head between my legs and screamed a certain 4 letter word to get some emotion out. stood up... pressed on. 2 dudes passed me. that made me mad. i knew this was my fault since i skipped so many early aid stations. lesson noted.
I FINALLY see the aid station. again i teared up a bit. i was so happy. i almost slipped coming in since there was so much mud. i seriously think i chugged about the equivalent of 2 cans of mt.dew and took off. no food. i was at mile 29.6. 1.5 left. i knew the water was coming. and i know how far a mile and half feels so i just said screw it and went for it. there was a girl who came up behind me and my only goal for the rest of the race was DONT get passed! i turned the last turn before you get to the marsh. heres the water. i swear it was deeper and colder. the only nice thing was the race photographer was trying to get some action shots of the water section so that gave me a little boost.i was about half a mile out... no more water... just the last little stint. i looked behind me... she wasnt too far... so i gave it everything i had left. i cant really describe the feeling when i turned the last corner. the first thing i saw was the clock.. 4:37 and the next thing i saw Cullen and Erin. they made it with less than a minute to spare. i didnt anticipate that time i told them to get there almost an hour later and so i texted her at the 26 mile point and said im about 45 miles out im sorry but im doing really good! lol. well she made it. cullen made it. i was an hour faster than my goal. i crossed the finish line and was over the moon stoked. but i was cold again. wet. soaking wet actually. i didnt cool down properly. my legs were shaking. i wanted nothing more than to get home and get drive.
i almost fell over in the bathroom trying to change in the parking lot. my muscles froze up quick. the lactic acid exploded in the car once i stopped moving. i couldnt sit still it was excruciating. it was the craziest feeling i have ever felt but it started to subside after about 15 minutes.
the next moment wrecked me for a minute. ask erin. i was head in my towel almost sobbing. i compared my time to that of last years race and i would have been 14th over all. for some reason i lost it realized i did so well.
why? probably because sometimes its hard to see yourself doing something when deep down you dont see your self that way. the analogy would be like people always ask Tom Brady why do you keep doing it.... well deep down Tom still thinks of himself as the 199th pick. MJ was probably haunted by being cut from his high school team. I still think deep down i saw myself as the old 275# fat kid from high school. so it was kinda the validation that i needed to say no... thats not you... you beat that.
so thats my story. i was stoked. i ran my first half, full and ultra marathon (officially) on the same day. i finished 21st over all... 4th in my age group. but i think most importantly i beat myself.
