Across the Years (Race Recap)

Glendale, AZ
Friday, December 30 - Sunday, January 1
Ultra marathon #21
Weather - Pleasant day 1, then #alltherain

Packing

In a moment of insanity (and ok, thriftiness) I booked my outbound flight on Frontier. With all the drama over Christmas about people having missed and incredibly delayed flights, I was really stressed out. I was also a bit panicky about the baggage rules. I studied the "personal item" information pretty carefully and decided that I could totally pack everything I needed into that so I wouldn't have to pay for a carry-on. See?

Thursday

Went to work in the morning. Headed out to the airport around lunch time. The lines at security were not very long and I was at the gate in plenty of time. I was incredibly amazed that the plane was there on time, we boarded on-time and we departed on time. However, it's been a LONG time since I flew Frontier. The seats are completely different. No more TV's on the back. No cushioning and the tiniest "tray tables" ever. I'm a tiny person and I hated this. It was so uncomfortable. However, I only paid $18.10 for the flight, and at least it was short, so there's that. Arrived a few minutes early and took the shuttle to pick up my rental car. Like last year I had to keep checking for a reasonable rate. Knowing I'm only driving about 50 miles total, I hate paying a ton for it, but know I need the heater for nighttime. Not as inexpensive as last year, but booked a piece of crap car (Chevy Spark) for the whole weekend for $83. Again, like last year, I stopped at In-n-Out for dinner, then headed to the local Wal-Mart for dessert (cheesecake) and beer. Arrived at the race and got my tent assignment. It seemed warmer than last year, which was nice. However, unlike last year I didn't have a sleeping bag/pillow. I did have a space blanket, but that didn't seem enough for me to actually fall asleep. So... Groundhog Day, try to sleep in the tiniest/most uncomfortable vehicle ever. Sigh.

Friday

Got about 12 minutes of sleep. (Well, maybe an hour here and there, but nothing to brag about). The race was scheduled to start at 9:00. I went to the food tent and got some french toast, part of a quesadilla and coffee. As I was getting dressed, I noticed I already had a small blood blister on one of my toes. Yippee! Went to the medical tent to see if there was anything I could/should do with it, and it was recommended that I leave it alone. Ok then. Picked up my bib, and it's time to go...

We started out running clockwise. Having run the race before, I had no plans of "racing." I took a walk break at least once every loop, hoping to save my legs. Within a few hours, I was already feeling pretty terrible. Back in the beginning of November, I rolled my right ankle and it was screaming at me. I also felt that I was developing blisters on my right pinkie toe and possibly my right heel. So basically, my whole right side was... wrong. I recognized many of the same people from last year, which was fun.

The only food I think I did NOT have.

Storm is rolling in...

What's not really fun? Running around in circles... I know, I know, what was I thinking? Anyway, I was feeling pretty terrible very early on, which doesn't bode well for a very long day. I was super disgruntled to not hit my 50 miles in 12 hours. I was not happy when it started to rain. I was also INCREDIBLY upset when I went to change into my warmer clothes for night and discover that my tent was flooded!! The rain flap wasn't attached on one side and pretty much everything got soaked. DAMN IT!! I had to gather up all my stuff and bring it to the car. I sat in the car for a bit (I think I was at mile 46) to get dry and to try to nap. DID NOT WORK.

Saturday

Didn't even pretend to try to get any real sleep. Any time I went to the car I would set my alarm for about a half hour. If I was still awake after 10-15 minutes I went back out. It was so muddy from the earlier rain, and my feet were really screaming at me now. I did not do much running. I know in an event like this that even walking and continuing to keep moving makes a huge difference. I really had a pretty terrible night. Unlike last year, however, I didn't have any issues actually being cold when I was out. In fact, one of the only things I brought with me that I never used were my gloves!

By the time the sun came up I was so blah. I decided to start my day off with one of my beers and some pumpkin pie. I walked a LOT. The most interesting part of the day was watching the course get squeegeed!

Yep, this guy is using a squeegee to get standing water/mud off the course!

That helped a lot, and the course did dry out quite a bit. By late afternoon I was at about 83 miles. However, I was moving SO DAMN SLOW. I couldn't even believe how long it was taking me at this point.

#allthemud

There was more rain in the forecast, so I went to the car to change clothes again and hoped for a quick nap before heading out for my second night. The biggest catastrophe of the day was when I headed back out. I got to the timing mat on the opposite side of the course and didn't beep. I looked down and realized I didn't have my chip on. OH NO. A few other runners convinced me it was fine and if I just talked to the timing people they would give me credit for the lap. Got back to the start and they said that was fine. I went back to the car to get my chip and COULD NOT FIND IT. I looked for about 15 minutes - throwing things around - remember, everything I have is now in the car because of the flooded tent. In hysterics, I go to the timing tent and tell them I lost the chip. They get me another one to use and warn me I'll have to pay $75 for the other one if I can't find it. I head back out and I'm looking everywhere... there is only a small section of the course where it COULD be, because I had done only half a loop before realizing it was gone. NOTHING. It was getting dark, so I figured now that I have calmed down a bit that I will go look one more time in the car. I mean really, where could it have gone??? Then I see it. I had put it around the emergency brake, for safe-keeping. Son of a... I turn that timing chip back in and off I go. Geez.
Hooray for pizza!!!! Another few hours and my feet are just pissed. I decide to go for my spare pair in hopes that I feel a little better. Just before 8 pm and I'm finally at mile 90. And then the longest night ever. Because of all the mud and my aching feet, I was barely moving at a 20 minute mile pace. Around 9 and the rain started again. Man, I can't catch a break!! Ugh. Lots of complaining and resting and just suffering to get it done. Right around midnight I headed out for my "last" loop. My "A" goal had been to beat last year, with 116+ miles. I was perfectly ok with stopping at just over 100 miles.

As soon as I finished I sat in the warming tent and chatted with some runners, and apparently, I was also just in time to spectate the "underwear beer mile." LOL. And most of these people had been out running for at LEAST 15 hours at this point. Crazy. Around 1:30 I went to the car to "sleep."

Sunday

It POURED all night. I was really happy I stopped when I did, because before I even got situated the rain had started. I dozed on and off until maybe 7:30. I decided to go out and do a lap or two since I had time. I was running pretty good the first loop, stopping to take a picture of how badly the course had flooded during the night.

I got halfway through my second loop and it started pouring again. OH COME ON, HAVEN'T WE HAD ENOUGH? So I ended with a total of about 103 miles. Not anywhere close to my goal, but damn it, I fought really hard through this one. I collected my buckle and then headed to the car to pack up all my stuff.

I guess it doesn't look too bad in the picture. But for real, everything I had was on this seat or the floor

At 10 I went over to the awards ceremony. Unlike last year, they only announced top three for each race. As an aside, had I hit my "A" goal, I would have been on the podium. Ah, maybe next year. I already have runnesia.

Goodbye, shoes! 400+ miles and two 100+ miles races later, these guys were TOAST

Miles 1-10 - 12:43, 12:51, 12:10, 12:18, 12:01, 12:01, 11:45, 12:18, 11:59, 12:46
Miles 11-20 - 15:14, 13:50, 12:39, 12:57, 13:17, 13:35, 15:06, 13:05, 13:11, 17:11
Miles 21-30 - 14:18, 15:32, 15:02, 14:41, 14:31, 15:30, 18:04, 14:54, 14:37, 14:49
Miles 31-40 - 14:29, 14:42, 17:28, 15:02, 14:57, 14:49, 16:34, 17:30, 15:35, 14:49
Miles 41-50 - 15:34, 19:12, 17:59, 15:48, 14:39, 59:28, 19:24, 17:22, 19:11, 18:16
Miles 51-60 - 17:51, 18:28, 1:34:01, 18:29, 17:08, 18:07, 19:03, 25:03, 18:53, 18:04
Miles 61-70 - 23:11, 18:57, 20:16, 2:01:42, 22:59, 20:28, 20:03, 20:00, 1:38:10, 17:39
Miles 71-80 - 15:53, 17:43, 20:49, 1:00:57, 21:33, 20:14, 20:04, 19:38, 20:03, 1:25:41
Miles 81-90 - 18:57, 18:36, 19:38, 20:12, 23:01, 49:24, 23:01, 32:14, 27:34, 30:25
Miles 91-100 - 23:00, 43:54, 21:10, 22:51, 28:30, 20:41, 31:31, 24:20, 28:19, 37:03
Miles 100-103ish - 23:32, 25:36, 25:31, 20:16

I did not stop/pause my watch at all while I was running, until I was finished. The incredibly long split times are when I was in the car trying to rest. I do not have any data from  the last two loops I did in the morning, I had forgotten to put my watch back on.

Stopped at In-n-Out on my way to the airport, dropped off the car, and went to the gate. Plane was on time and landed in Denver on time as well. All in all, the travel aspect was uneventful.

Thoughts

• As I mentioned above, I ran with my Garmin Fenix 3 and it recorded my entire run. I did not have it on ultra mode this time. Once I realized it could be charged on the run, I would wait until the battery got to about 50% (because I'm paranoid), charge it. It worked perfectly.
• I still have to say that this is one of the most organized events I have ever run. I love that there is an aid station that I can hit every single mile. The food is phenomenal, I never went hungry! I also like that I don't have to actually carry anything on me. 
• The race did an excellent job again of ensuring the course was well lit at night. And again, having someone out there to squeegee some of the mud/standing water off the course was amazingly awesome. 
• I actually got another awesome race picture! I haven't bought it yet, but I will. 

• Bummed to not have hit my goal, but I worked really hard at this race and I know a lot of people modified their goals because of the weather/course conditions.
• The only problem this year was with the live tracking. Last year it was spot-on, no issues. This year, there were major delays in the timing on the TVs at the start/finish, and they never did get it resolved this year. Not a huge deal, but I really wanted to know where I was at mileage-wise and with that not available, I had to complete another loop to find out.

Across the Years (Race Recap)

Glendale, AZ
Wednesday, December 30-January 1
Ultra Marathon #15
Weather - Sunny. Cold at night, pleasant during the day

For the last four years I have gone to Allen, Texas to run the New Years Double. I asked A a few months ago if she wanted to do the double 5k's again and she said no. So then when I started pricing everything out and it was going to cost me close to $1,000 to run... I decided to skip it.

Fast forward to October/November. Heather and I had plans to run CIM again in December. Due to lack of training, Heather decided to defer. Since I had already booked airfare, I started to think that maybe I could use my Southwest bucks for a different race. I wanted to do a race over New Years again and had heard good things about Across the Years.

So of COURSE I decided to sign up. Even though I have been running fairly regularly, my distance running has not been on point. I figured I would give it my best shot. My one and only goal was to see if I could get to 100 miles...

Monday - Tuesday

Of course I waited until the last minute to pack. I like to live on the edge. I did manage to fit all these items (plus a sleeping bag and pillow) in my backpack. I did end up using about 80% of the stuff I brought with me.

TSA was warning of increasingly long lines at security, so I headed to the airport a bit early. The lines weren't too bad, I think I only waited about a half hour. After getting near the gate I stopped at Rock Bottom and got a beer. I hate buying beer at the airport.

The flight was on time and is very short, maybe 90 minutes. I immediately headed for the shuttle to pick up my rental car. There was no line there either and I was on the road to the race pretty quickly. I did want to pick up a few last minute items and stopped at CVS for some water and wipes to clean my face. I also found an In N Out burger, which meant I had a nice, tasty "last supper."

Arrived at the start area at Camelback Ranch and wandered around until I found someone that could point me in the direction of where I could get the tent I had reserved. They were already all set up for us, which was great. I unpacked my gear, and then went to sit in the car and charge my phone. Around 9-9:30 I went to lie down.

Unfortunately, I did not account for it being FREEZING cold. I could not sleep because it was so cold. I was wearing everything I owned and it was not enough. Sad. Thank GOODNESS I had gotten  the rental car because I spent a LOT of time in there running the heater. So much for a restful night...

Wednesday

I woke up around sunrise. It was still chilly. I don't know if you can tell that there is FROST on my tent??

I headed over to the main aid station, where I got some breakfast and coffee. I sat in the warming tent until about an hour before the race start. Then I changed clothes and headed out. I was feeling woefully unprepared for this.

The course is a 1.05 mile loop on mostly dirt/gravel path, with a handful of paved areas. Apparently I should have read more closely and brought gaiters, as this proved to be an issue for a large portion of the race.

Anyway, we all lined up, I started towards the back, and we were off. We initially started out running counter clockwise. (Every four hours we would switch and run the opposite direction). There was a timing mat on the opposite side of the course.

What to say about the course... it wasn't super scenic, but there was this cute little pond on one side.

Early on, I met this little girl, Jane. She is 8 years old, wore this adorable little pack the entire time and had a goal to run 27 miles. (I saw her the next morning, and she beat her goal, running 29).

I had started typing up "status" updates on Facebook. Turned out to be a pretty fun way to journal all the crap I ate, if nothing else. You all know how I feel about grilled cheese, so this made me extra happy.

I was getting lapped and lapped and lapped... if you know  me at all by now, you know that I'm pretty slow and steady. So I didn't care. I was having a pretty good time - as is evidenced by this selfie I took about 5 hours in. (Only 43 to go?)

I took this when I hit the marathon distance

There were a lot of runners out during the day. In addition to the 48 hour division that I was running, there was also 24 hour, 72 hour and SIX DAY runners. (It totally helps justify my sanity when there are people who are out for SIX DAYS).

I hit the 50k around 7 hours. Not bad, since I've only run double digits a handful of times in the last two months. I changed into my "night" clothes around 4:00 because I knew how cold it would get as soon as the sun set and I didn't want to mess with it in the dark. Fellow runner took this for me after he caught me trying to take a selfie :D

I was still doing pretty well. Definitely had slowed down a bit, but nothing catastrophic yet. I was SO HAPPY to see that the water station had picked up some beer! I asked for a cup of beer and he offered me the bottle. So, I walked and drank it. I managed to finish the bottle in less than a loop (I was thirsty!)

And then I had a few really great miles. Like miles where I ran faster than I had at the start of the race. With pretty much zero training, I managed to hit the 50 mile mark at under 12 hours. (Imagine what I could do if I trained?)

Within a few miles, I began to get cold and my watch was already beeping low batter at me. I was tired, and since I had not slept the night before I decided to sit in the car, charge my phone and watch, and try to warm up a bit. I may have dozed off a few minutes here and there, and around 2 am I headed back out. I stayed out for about 4 hours, walking almost all of it, only getting in 13 miles. So by now I'm only at 66 or so miles and I am miserable. Still tired, and cold. So I decided to take another break, hoping that if I headed out closer to sunrise I'd feel better.

I maybe nodded off a bit, but nothing too spectacular. I got up around 6, grabbed a cup of coffee and headed out. FINALLY, the sun was coming up. YAY!!

The first two hours were slow going and I walked most of it. I did stop into the first aid tent to have some blisters taken care of. Grrr with these stupid little rocks!! I had some decent miles after the sun came up. I took this selfie right around the 24 hour mark.

Walk, jog, run. I spent a few minutes chatting with some of the other runners, but a lot of the time was spent listening to my iPod. Early afternoon, maybe around 2:00, I pretty much... stopped. I was at about 91 miles and I was overcome with exhaustion. It wasn't even so much physical exhaustion, I was just so tired after having been up for SO LONG. It was warm outside so I decided to lie down in my tent for 45 minutes. I was out immediately and woke up feeling like a new person. Totally good decision to stop for a few!

I put on my warm weather clothes and then headed back out. I wanted to get in as many miles as I could before the sun set.

After not craving sweets the entire race, they put out chocolate chip cookies with nutella. That might have been the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. That, and the pepperoni pizza. I walked and ate and then I hit my 100 miles. I decided to go for an extra few miles so that I would have gone farther than everyone who stopped at 100. I stopped around 7:00. I spent some time in the warming tent, then went to CVS to buy some celebratory beer (it WAS New Years Eve after all). I had a few beers and then fell asleep in the rental car. I really had no intention of getting up and running more.

Then, for some reason, I woke up, completely alert, around 5 am. I figured, well, let me look at the standings and see how everyone did over the last 10 hours that I haven't been on the course. I got some coffee and thought, what the heck, maybe I'll walk a few loops. I put on my grey sweats and grey hoodie (warmest stuff I had) and headed out. I hesitatingly jogged a few steps. Then a few more. Then a few more.

I was "running." Like for real "running." There were hardly any folks out, but the ones that were, were walking (with the exception of a handful of 24 hour people). Every time I got close to the start, I would almost stop, and then I'd think, what the heck, one more. I kept going until I didn't have time for any more. I did another 13.7 miles, which brought my grand total to 115.48.

These are NOT speedy times, by any means,  but these were my miles 102-115, and I'm damn proud of them

I grabbed coffee and a breakfast burrito and sat in the warming tent until 9:00, and then watched the next set of runners head out. While I was packing up my gear, I took this selfie:

I think I look pretty "human" after all this...

The awards ceremony was at 10:00 in the stadium across the parking lot. A little strange, since people were still going to be running for a few more days.

I collected my beer mug, and my FIRST BUCKLE.

I chatted with Cory for a few minutes (MY HERO! He ran 150 miles!), and then I was in my car and headed to In N Out for lunch before heading to the airport.

Part 1

Miles 1-5 - 11:33, 11:42, 11:43, 12:12, 11:50
Miles 6-10 - 14:24, 13:19, 12:59, 12:25, 11:56
Miles 11-15 - 12:22, 11:49, 13:38, 13:41, 13:30
Miles 16-20 - 16:21, 12:50, 13:34, 13:26, 13:06
Miles 21-25 - 18:39, 13:13, 15:00, 13:22, 14:25
Miles 26-30 - 14:04, 14:45, 15:22, 15:31, 13:40
Miles 31-35 - 14:36, 15:08, 19:11, 17:31, 15:48
Miles 36-40 - 16:04, 14:19, 18:01, 15:42, 15:18
Miles 41-45 - 14:39, 15:31, 17:06, 13:36, 13:18
Miles 46-50 - 16:58, 14:50, 13:51, 14:34, 14:06
Miles 5-53.25 - 15:29, 21:59, 28:37

Part 2

Miles 53-66ish - 18:30, 17:28, 16:08, 17:41, 16:00, 18:00, 20:38, 18:42, 27:55, 18:21, 18:15, 28:46, 14:17

Part 3

Miles 66-91 - 20:47, 19:08, 21:40, 19:29, 26:16, 19:32, 27:52, 12:41, 14:13, 13:08 12:57, 12:35, 16:26, 15:09, 18:08, 16:51, 16:21, 20:29, 16:15, 27:15, 18:37, 23:28, 29:10, 16:08, 16:24, 16:49

Part 4

Miles 91-102 - 21:32, 21:19, 21:22, 19:29, 19:43, 24:52, 26:10, 22:24, 21:11, 31:12, 20:28, 15:58

Part 5

Miles 102-115 - 16:27, 15:08, 15:50, 13:56, 15:53, 13:35, 13:03, 12:59, 12:58, 13:31, 13:43, 14:16, 13:56, 12:45

Thoughts

• What an incredibly well-organized event!! I loved that there was a tv at the start/finish where I could see exactly where I stood in the rankings, how long my last loop had taken me, and how many miles I had run. Especially since I get super squirrely, it was nice to know that I didn't really have to keep count. This was great for my mental sanity.
• They put out lights on the course at night so I didn't have to use a headlamp. I loved that.
• The warming tent was fantastic. It was great to sit in there and warm up for a few minutes, or to just sit and eat. There was also a charging station that I used a handful of times.
• Aid station = TEN STARS. There were all the typical aid station foods, pre-measured out in little cups so you could take them on the go. Candy, chips, pickles, potatoes. There was soda and coffee. And almost at any time of day there were fresh "hot" foods. There was pizza, chili, sandwiches... I did not go hungry!
• There were tons of pictures taken (sadly, none in my "Rocky" outfit), and pretty inexpensive at $5 for a digital copy. I did buy just one, from the first day:

Final Thoughts / Confession

OK - I hesitate to even type this. I am not looking for anything here, this is just an  honest representation of how I feel.

I'm embarrassed that I only was able to do 115.48 miles.

Yes, I know that I didn't really train.
Yes, I know that it is the farthest I have ever run.
Yes, I am PROUD of my accomplishment.

If this was just a 115.48 "run" - I would be OVER THE MOON... once you tack on the 48 hours I had to accomplish this, well, I'm sad to say that I wish I could have done more.

HOWEVER

I am so pleased that I got back out the final morning and ran until time ran out.. I have NO regrets. I really did leave it all out on the course.

Maybe next year, I'll go back. Maybe.