2011 Arkansas Traveler
-Moments Before-
My first 100-mile race
I woke up at 3 o'clock, took a shower, and drank a 5-hour
energy drink. This ritual felt so
liberating (Not necessarily a 5-hr energy is a ritual, but waking up and
drinking some caffeine in one form or another). I knew that I was going to be
awake throughout the day, through the night, and into the morning. My mind was nervous about what it should
expect, whether I could make it, or even truly fathom the thought of 100 miles
of travel on foot.
I stayed in a hotel about 25 miles from the race start so I
had a solid amount of time on the way to the start to listen to music and joke
about the different ways I was going to collapse after so many miles.
Having a crew is so crucial when it comes to a first Ultra,
even if it is only one person. For my
first 50-mile race I had a friend of mine with me as my crew and that was
it(which was totally enough for the time.)
Not this time though, I was totally stocked with help. My mom, dad, brothers, sister, and brother
and sister in laws were there to motivate me.
My sister’s husband also ran in this race. He was really the reason that this race
became an official “to do” in 2011(as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts.)
Honestly my first thoughts when I agreed to run this race
were “there’s no way”, or “I’m pretty sure that a race like this is meant for
authors of books or just famous runners.”
Now that I think back I’m pretty sure I said that when I sat out to run
my first 50 miler too. Either way, this
was a journey into the unknown.
The thing that is amazing about Ultra marathons is that they
seem so unreachable, so distant, and almost unbearable to grasp at first, but
with training and mental preparation, these long events become very intimate
(do-able) with the mind body connection.
I say this because I can not imagine a single person walking up to a
starting line of an ultra without somewhere in the back of their mind thinking
“ok, at some point this is going to hurt.”
These races hurt! They really do. But that is no reason not to do them! Honestly, pain is never fun, unless your
someone like me who enjoys it. Most
runners enjoy pain; they have to, because running is nonstop discomfort and
trauma to our bodies. We are odd and
have weird fetishes toward the pain it creates, but hey, I’m not scared to
admit I’m addicted to it. I don’t do
drugs and I don’t drink, but if I don’t get to run, you might as well lock me
up and throw away the key because I will have a physical/mental breakdown.
To many times I have gone into a race thinking that I felt
invincible and was I going to really knock this distance out, only to be
slapped and drop kicked with pure humbleness by many of these races. Anyways, this was one of those races. And most of these thoughts above, those are
most of the feelings going through my head every time I stand on the starting
line of an ultra. Crazy running thoughts
= more fuel for the fire.
You want to experience some wacky, high energy, grown men
and women (mothers and fathers and even grandparents), then go observe the
start of an ultra. Better yet,
volunteer, or train to run in one. I was
22 years old when I ran the Traveler and I’m pretty sure I got beat by mostly
people twice my age.
Well yes, today was the day, the moment and time. In just minutes the timer would start and the
all day journey would begin. You are one
of many things in this position 1. In a Zen state of mind. 2. Saying your I love Yous to family. 3.
Staying quiet. 4. Blaring your music. 5.
Telling jokes to mask the butterflies. 6.
Meeting new friends. 7. Stomach is going CRAZY, or you have to pee a
ton because of to much hydrating. 8. Im going to stop here because the list
seems endless. The point is, the moment
before the storm (race), emotions are heavy and the final minutes until the
start are daunting or exhilarating.
There are no greater feelings then those felt immediately after the start of an ultra...
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