Pac Rim 24 Hour

I've been sitting here a few minutes trying to find the right words. I'm happy, I'm amazed, but most of all I'm deeply satisfied. Two years ago I was struggling to make six miles, so sick I could barely eat. I had this wild idea that having gall bladder surgery would solve all my problems and I'd be able to run at least a half marathon and maybe even a full. It was kind of a joke among my friends and I - that taking out my gall bladder would fix my heart. I think we were all surprised when it actually did help - taking that extra stress off my system made all the difference. Enough of that though, let's get on to the weekend report!

Eric left Friday afternoon for Bellingham. He planned a quiet evening with his Dad, who lives about two blocks from the start of the Chuckanut 50K.

Riley went out to pick up dinner for us (brown rice and tofu for me). He and Heather settled in to watching movies, I started packing for Pac Rim. Rob and Steve said to bring everything. I packed both running skirts, a pair of shorts, a pair of tights, four long sleeve and three short sleeve shirts, two pairs of gloves, four pairs of socks, ear warmers, two hats, arm warmers, a lightweight shell, a rain coat, and my vest. Oh, and two pairs of shoes. Then I started on food. Two PB & Js, pretzels, red licorice, chocolate chips, three cokes, two chocolate soy milks, ritz peanut butter crackers, sliced apple, an orange, banana, and a tofurky and cheese sandwich. Then I started on Sunday afternoon. Eric and I were invited to an event on a friends 90 foot boat and we'd be heading straight from Kelso to the boat. I knew I'd need options on Sunday morning about what to wear, options that would revolve around the condition of my feet. That meant a couple sets of clothing...Whew!

Jenny, Jamal and Cat met at my house and then we drove to Steve's. Steve was towing his trailer down for us to use as command central. Rob was already there, so we moved everything to the trailer and headed for the road. I rode with Cat in her fancy sports car (heated seats - I love them!). We followed the rest of the crew down. Cat had plans to run a marathon, then head home. Rob, Jamal and Steve planned to run for 24 hours, Jenny and I, for 50 miles.


Pac Rim garbage bags. Can you imagine what delerious runners might think of?



Once we arrived, we saw Sarah at check-in. She was our lap-counter for the most of the day. Her husband, the running cowboy, was planning to run too. We also saw tc, Tom, the other Steve, Tim and several other runners we knew. It's so much fun to see lots of friends at races! We started at 9:00 am. By lap two, we were getting lapped. That was to happen all day long, but Jenny and I were determined to hold our pace, run a 5/1 and stay steady. Every time Rob and Steve passed us, Rob would ask what lap we were on, and respond with something like "only 47 more miles to go!" I told him that wasn't helping and he laughed.

It felt like it took forever to get to the half marathon mark, and forever times two to make the marathon. The most amazing thing about the entire run was this: the first 26.2 miles were the hardest. I actually felt much better during the second half of the run than the first! We were able to maintain our 5/1 pacing all the way till the end. We took extra walk breaks a few times, but then would go back to 5/1. I'm very pleased at that.

I followed Meghan's advice about thinking on a small scale rather than large - thinking one or two laps ahead rather than all the miles to go. I followed Steve's advice as well - I ate something small - a quarter of a sandwich or a few pretzels or even two grapes, and a couple swallows of fluid every single time I went through the aid station - every lap. I also took an scap every hour and a half. About mile 38 I started to feel queasy, and I tried to keep fueling for a few more miles. Once we hit 35 miles, I started counting down miles. When we were down to the single digits I gave up on fueling - it was only making my tummy worse. Once I did that, my stomach settled right down. Eric brought me a soy chai (heaven!) I set it on my cooler and sipped from it every time we went by for the last four miles.

Wendy and Jessica came to pace us during the evening. They were ready to run from mile 37 on. Wendy ran seven miles with us, and Jessica the final 13. It was great having them - they took care of everything. Need help fishing out those S-caps? Wendy handled it. Trouble bending to the cooler, Jessica got it. They were great! Eric ran the final four with us as well - so important to me. I wanted him with me for these final miles because he was such a huge part of me getting there. He's been my coach and my cheerleader all along.


On our 50th mile

I will admit that I danced my way out of the aid station as we began mile 50. I was so dang excited! Jenny and I were giggling like little girls. That last lap felt fast and crossing the line, arm-in-arm, whoopin' and hollerin' was the best ever, the very best! Rob, Jamal, Wendy, Jessica and Eric were all there and Steve came through just seconds after. Hugs from everyone there, including Steve, before he headed back out. Eric went out to run a lap with Steve and we went to the trailer to sit down. I was a little amazed when I discovered it was 11:00 at night. I knew we had run for 14 hours, but it really seemed as though it should be only 9ish.

It really was a fun day. Jenny and I stayed positive, never got grumpy. There were quiet spells where we didn't talk much, and there were moments of but-gusting laughter (this always happens when I run with Jenny). The weather changed frequently -we were cold, we were wet, we were hot. Our shoes filled with grit (forgot my gators). We had aches and pains (mine mostly went away for the second half). We rested in the trailer for about 10 minutes three different times - changing shoes and socks, putting on dry shirts, just laying back for a few minutes. We ran with everybody at one time or another through out the day. I'm very thankful that Jenny's husband's event was cancelled, letting her join me for this. It would have been much harder without her companionship. I'm very thankful for an aid station every mile so I didn't have to carry my food and drink. I'm very thankful for real bathrooms with running water. I'm very thankful for a warm, dry trailer to change in. I'm most thankful for wonderful friends to run with.


Steve finishing.
I have to report this too - Steve ran 105 miles! He finished just shy of 24 hours, at about 8:40. Wow!

Recovery report: I'm a little stiff in the hips, but not bad. I have two small blisters and two numb toes. That's it! I was able to have a sub in Pilates this morning, allowing me to sleep in. I thought my week would go a lot better if I could have a couple of good nights sleep - important, because this week is my last big event at work. Really, I've felt worse after marathons than I do now. My heart did not give me one bit of trouble the entire race. I didn't wear my monitor - I didn't think I could take the chafing that would result. I knew we'd be slow enough, with no huge hills, to keep it down. On the way to breakfast yesterday it started skipping beats, and has been off and on since. That comes with a bit of dehydration and fatigue. It will pass soon.


Finished!

We ended our weekend on a lovely three hour cruise. I found I could easily go up and down the stairs, and I stood chatting for a long time. Today my ankles and feet are puffy, which I attribute to a long car ride, then standing a lot. That'll go away in a day or two.

Now, it's on to the marathons. Yakima is next - three weeks away. Oh, and the last thing. Pac Rim was my 20th race of marathon distance or beyond. Even better, my first one was just a year and a half ago. Like I said at the beginning, I'm feeling very satisfied with my accomplishment. It's hard to capture in words the feel of the race, or the feelings I have now. I don't mean to be boastful about my numbers or distances, instead I'm still struggling for those words to tell you what it means to me. I can only say that I am amazed at what I've done, that when I dreamed my dreams of marathons, I never thought I'd be where I am today. I have a lot to be thankful for, and I am.