So, its been a few days since the completion of my 100 mile quest. I ran. I finished. I didn’t die. I didn’t see teddy bears. I didn’t see people on skate boards. I did see the eyes of an bobcat, raccoon, sunk, deer and other animals. I remember each AND every mile. Seriously, I really do.

The race director asked me at the awards ceremony “how was the race?”. My reply? “It was a hell of a race”.

And indeed it was. It was one of the hottest days South Dakota had in a while. Of course it was race day! It was around 95 for most of the day. Best part? NO SHADE!!!

I remember my feet. They started hurting very early on. Too early in fact. Like mile 10. I remember coming down the hill around mile 45. I landed on my right foot and heard a pretty loud “pop”. I burst into tears. You know it had to hurt. I don’t cry. I can not describe the pain. There are NO words for it. Pain isn’t the right word, brutal is. I hobbled to the aid station and sat down. They took my shoe off as I tried not to scream. My ENTIRE heal was COVERED with blisters. **Side note** only later on did I really see what damage I had done** At that moment I could not fathom that I had 55 MORE miles to run. After duck tape, Vaseline and hugs from a very kind lady (Debbie), I set off down the trail. I will ALWAYS remember that moment.

I remember running in the dark thinking this is crazy. I have been up for over 15 hours and I am STILL running.

I remember running in the dark. Alone on the trail. Half being scared. The other half trying to run as fast as I could to the next aid station.

The complete race report is coming. I am still pinching myself that I finished. And finished well. Oh and didn’t die:)

OMG!!! I really did it! I had NO doubt in my mind that I would finish the race, but when I actually came around the corner, saw the finish line and crossed it, I was in shock. Releaved. Happy. Excited. No longer a 100 miler virgin. (Yes, I thought about writing that line the last 10 miles:)).

It will take a few posts to fully do justice to the increadable feat of running 100 miles in 24:58. For now, I am going to answer some questions.

Q: How many pairs of shoes & socks did you use? ~ Jen

A: I changed socks only once.  I believe around mile 45. And regrettably I wore the same shoes the whole time. If I run this distance again I will change shoes. My feet REALLY took a beating. Ouchie!

Q: Were you surprised how much pain set in after? ~ Erica

A: I will admit, yes I was. I am usually able to bounce back pretty quickly, but 100 miles is NO JOKE. After the excitement of finishing then I felt (and saw) how much damage I really did to myself. The pain was intense for sure.

Q: Why were you not able to swallow? ~ Erica

A: Good question. I am not entirely sure why (maybe a doctor can help me out on this one). I think it had something to do with my auto immune condition. I have had this issue many times before. I was really hoping that it would stay away though! I was forced to drink & eat. Just was hard to do:)

Q: How did you keep your mind busy while running? ~ Amanda

A: Yes, what do you think about for 25 hours- STRAIGHT??!! My first thought was to make it to each aid station. My second thought was to remind myself not to die. Third, thought about how many life’s I would reach with what I was doing. Fourth, I thought of what I would do when I would finish. Fifth,  I just got in a zone (especially the last 50 miles) and kept one foot in front. Six, I thought about new business ideas. Surprise, surprise. Seven, I thought of all the people encouraging me. And I think a lot more:)

Q: What support did you have? ~ Sue

A: I will go more into depth on this later, but I must say I owe my finishing to my AWESOME friend Gregg. He was at every aid station. He took such great care of me. From ice cold towels for my head/neck to making me fluids (and forcing them down me) to asking me what I needed, to helping bandage my feet to cheering me on AND to also staying up for 25+ hours!!!  Gregg, let me thank you right now. You made my race a success.

Q: What was the hardest part of the run? ~ Jeff

A: It was the miles during the day. They sucked. It was 95 degrees in South Dakota and a VERY dry heat. I think miles 30-50 were the toughest.

Q: Did you know the recovery was going to be this tough before you started? ~ Fred

A: HELL NO!!! And I am glad I didn’t! I would have still ran it, but would have known what to expect after the fact:)

Q: How did you begin to trust yourself re: knowing when & what to eat while on long trek? ~ Amy

A: I had to trust Gregg and I also knew that if I didn’t eat or drink it would be very tough for me to finish. This is also where my training came in. I trained with food and fluids, it was time to trust that it would get me through. I also had to  have faith to change things up when the currant plan wasn’t working.

Do you have a question? Let me know! I will be happy to answer them!’

Photo by Bast

Last day at home! To say today was crazy would be an understatement!!

I spent most of the morning with an athlete doctor. Got some good feedback, advice, counsel and changes to my life+training will be coming after my race Saturday. I am dedicated to making the change, although it will be hard!

Then it was on to more appointments, getting last minute things for race (socks, flashlights, cash, GU, you know the usual stuff:)), post office, UPS, Barnes & Noble to finish up a few projects, found out that a server was down, spent 20 minutes on hold only to find out that it was the hosting company’s issue, then a massage (read: pain-body was beyond tight!), Whole Foods (Kashi, Rice Milk, Coconut Water, Smart Water), driving home realized I forgot Epsom Salts, so had to make another stop to get that, then finally home. 12 hours since I left this morning! Whew!

I was VERY excited to see that my Hammer Nutrition order arrived. Just in the nick of time!!

Friend Gregg arrived soon later. Printed off race plans, aid stations, etc. Then it was onto packing. I quickly realized that my main bag was going to be over 50lbs. So I quickly got another small bag and started packing that. There was no way I was going to pay $125.oo for checking one bag!!!

Let me say this. Preparing for a 100 mile ultra marathon is an ultra in itself. The amount of stuff you have to pack is insane. 5 shorts, 5 tank top, 5 sports bra’s, 2 pants, gloves, 8 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of shoes, gloves, hats, , ZipLoc bags, Vaseline, baby wipes, wash cloths, bottles, containers, race belts, food, water, more food, more GU…….you get the idea.

Finally, we were done packing. Had to eat yet. Had some Sushi, pasta (go figure), tomatoes w/ mozzarella cheese (you know my cheese obsession) and cantaloupe.

Its WAY past my goal time of 8pm. 10:45pm to be exact. Lights out. Sweet dreams!

Photo by Sushi-Ina

Home sweet home! Its fun to travel, but its nice to be back home. Own bed. Back in the grove of things. And yes, back to cycling! How I missed you Trek!

Spent a good deal of the morning catching up on porjects, deadlines and writing. Then it was time to show some love to my bike. How I missed thee!

Wanted to ride 50 miles, but had to settle for 25 instead. Back to the hills. It was humid out. But it felt great to ride again!

I can’t believe that in 2 weeks I will be on a plane heading to South Dakota. Yikes. But I know I have trained hard. I am ready. 100 miles here I come!

Photo by Moriza

So, for the month of July I had a **little** personal goal of running+cycling 1000 miles. Yup you read that right, 1k miles. I knew that it would be tough to get in the miles due to my travel schedule. Over the weekend I realized that I would have to get in 350 miles in 6 days. Totally doable.

However, a little thing called “taper” was going to start. AND. I was starting to feel tired. I really did not want to face the facts swirling in my head. Then I remembered what my coach told me a few months ago, “being an athlete is more then just performance, it is being a smart athlete”.

So with that thought, I made the hard decision to NOT go after the personal goal. I will be VERY close to it. But for my main goal to happen-and do it WELL-I know I made the right call. And, I said all of that for the next profound statement. Be smart, not head strong. This is mainly for me to read. But I hope it helps you as well.

As you know, I am a very focused gal. And sometimes I am SO focused on a goal that I don’t want to admit that it might not be the right thing to do. I am slowly learning the lesson. It has taken a few years. While I really want to do the miles this month I know that I will set my self up for injury, tiredness and a mile heavy body.

The lesson that I am STILL learning is to be smart. Not only in training. But also life. Sometime we have goals or things we would like to do, but how often are they really the smart thing for us? Its GREAT to have goals, but as you go about achieving them, make sure you are being wise about them. I know, easier said then done.

That is where friends, coaches and good, sound & wise counsel come in to play. Use it. Do it.

But watch out September, I will again go after the 1000 mile goal. And I know at that time it will be the right AND the smart thing to do.

Photo by Alainf1