Day Four

What a difference food makes.

Since emptying my stomach of its contents yesterday after too much sugar, I was quickly reminded exactly how I got back in the game during my 100 miler a month ago - real food. The problem with me in ultras, when I have them, is handling and eating food. Now this is an integral part of an ultra so it is not something one can dismiss. It is akin to complaining about not being a good swimmer in the triathlon. Well, swimming is part of the event. Figure it out or move on. With me, I had figured it out but didn't really make use  of that knowledge so far in this run.  That's on me.

Finishing my run yesterday, I was met at the hotel by my friend Dave Cilley who was making the trip all the way from Connecticut to join me for miles this morning. We broke bread with my crew and I devoured a NY strip steak. I instantly felt like a million bucks, hit the sack, and hoped the next day would be much better. Waking up, we had enough time to eat an actual breakfast before starting my run. Due to logistics with the hotel and an interview I had with Women's Running magazine, we had to finish the first portion of my run by 11:00 AM. While just a few minutes before we left the rain had been pouring down, it broke away when we started, and we had just a calm cool morning to greet us.

Dave and I ran together, chatting about races, people, and how amazing it was that our GPS watches could be so different even though we were right next to each other. The miles flew by for me, even though they were harder for Dave to be running at my rather pedestrian pace. But before too long, three plus hours had passed and we had knocked out nearly 20 miles. I had my interview to do and Dave had to drive all the way back to Portland to catch his flight back to Connecticut.  Hard to say how nice it was that he took all this time and energy to come all the way across the country just to do a little jaunt on the Oregon Coast. I am glad the weather cooperated for him.

After a brief break I was back at it again, traveling through towns and hamlets. I kept checking my watch, thinking that something was askew, for every time I would catch up to my crew they were astounded by how fast I was running. Instead of averaging round 10 minutes per mile, I was doing 8:30s, even though I was going over hill and dale. I should not have been surprised as it was clear what had made the difference between today and the previous days: food. The steak I had eaten the night before had been my first real meal since Sunday. When we stopped again, I devoured even more lean beef in a salad, and after an hour break was again tearing up the roads. The views presented to me were astonishing and my legs loved every minute.

I will undoubtedly have more highs and lows over the next three days but I will never forget this day. When the lows do hit I will always remember that a high can be just around the corner.

Not a bad metaphor for life.


Starting weight: 178.5
Ending weight: 178.6
Miles: 200 and counting!