Supersized Recovery Plan

Super fast recovery in a short period of time

While preparing for the Prairie Spirit 100 miler, I was trying a lot of new things, such as following a different training plan, adding in speed work, adding in a protein shake post runs, but unfortunately neglecting most of my leg recovery therapy.

Three weeks before the race on a city hike, I realized that my legs were just so heavy and tired. A good city hike is walking 7 miles to  Dovetail Brewery and 7 miles back with a 15 pound backpack containing 8 16oz cans of Dunkel.  It was an epiphany, “Wow, I haven’t been doing a good job with recovery”.  At that moment, I started researching new massage therapists and start getting all of this “junk” out of my legs. The massage therapist I saw previously has not been practicing because of COVID.  But it was also time to pull out the torture devices, again.

The typical beer haul.

 

The ROLLER:

As soon as I got back from that tiring walk, I dropped on my massive hard roller and went painfully slow over my quads.  I like to use this roller to start working the muscles as a whole and warm them up.  I can’t seem to get small sections very well or knots in general; but for the overall, it is nice to get a big section starting to break up. 

Foam rollers come in many different sizes and densities.  
Mine is 36" long and a high density. 

 

The MASSAGES:

I tried another massage therapist in Chicago who at first I did like.  He was able to help break up my calves pretty well after I ran the virtual Hennepin Hundred in October 2020. I visited him a few more times and but it just felt like my calves HURT when massaging them.  I wanted my legs to feel worked over, but not in pain.  Instead, my shoulders and back felt worse from clenching those muscles to compensate for the pain of my calves while being massaged. I was starting from scratch again to find someone I liked, felt comfortable with, and could help my legs. 

A small collection of the massage therapist's reference material.

Across the street from me, there is a massage therapist who has been in the business since the 1980s.  No better time than now to try a new person out.  Two days after my epiphany, I had my first appointment with him.  Like I said before, he’s been doing this since the 1980s so he’s a much more seasoned person than I am used to seeing.  Everything was done at a slower speed than I am used to, he worked on me for over an hour but only charged me for the hour. His technique, in my overall worse areas, felt like a deep pinching sensation.  I think that’s the best way to describe it.  He also worked other muscles that therapists in the past have neglected, such as abs and adductors.  

During the entire time, I kept running through pros and cons and if I thought I liked the techniques to make a decision by the end of the session if I was going to see him again. I decided to go for it and scheduled another session with him that week, two sessions the following week and a session for immediately following the race. 

As my legs and knots got better, his massage techniques changed.  A good massage therapist should work with what is going on with the client, not use the same plan for everyone. I normally don’t do so many massage appointments in a month!  I just REALLY wanted to get my muscles supple again. 

 

The STICK:

The day after my first massage with the new therapist, I decided to roll out my legs with The Stick.  Yes, that is the actual brand name. 

The circled areas were all of the knots on this one quad.

I always do a light warm up on my muscles first. I go over my legs with light pressure, all over the area I will start with first.  My quads were my focus.  After doing the warm up, I started on the outside of my left quad at the top and rolled down.  As I was going over the sections, I started to feel the knots (trigger points).  I haven’t been able to feel my knots in ages, that’s how hard my muscles were!  I was so glad to know that between using the foam roller and the massage, I can finally start working on these darn knots.  I believe I had 6-8 knots on each quad!  Yeah, that’s a TON.

I continued to work the knots about every other day.  They were getting smaller and some were even starting to disappear. 

The COMPRESSION BOOTS:

After working those poor knots, I like to sit for an hour with my compression boots and read (or watch TV).  I bought my compression boots roughly four or five years and it has been the best single thing for me with my recovery. 

Post run in my compression boots. 
I try to wear socks and long pants so my legs don't get cold.

I also started to use my boots after a run.  The goal was to keep the lactic acid from sitting around.  I wanted it out of my system. 

The EPSOM SALT BATH:

During those three weeks of heavy recovery I was doing, I did one half hour session in my bathtub with about 1 cup of Epsom salts and a few drops of eucalyptus oil.  The magnesium helps with muscle soreness and the salts help reduce swelling.  Another product I use instead of taking baths so often is Epsom salt lotion.  This just goes on like any normal lotion.  I focused it on my feet and legs.                       

 The OUTCOME:

I noticed a great relief in my legs.  I slowly were getting less heavy and less tired.  I went into Prairie Spirit with my legs, and body in general, feeling fresh.  

Prairie Spirit 100

Prairie Spirit 100 – March 27, 2021

The 100 mile start line.

Located in Ottawa, KS - just west of Kansas City, MO

http://www.prairiespirit100.com/

Race Options –
50k, 50 mile, 100k, 100 mile

This race is an out and back along the Prairie Spirit Trail, a rail-to-trail.  The surface is nicely packed with limestone and extremely well maintained.  There are manned aid-stations every 7-9 miles with unmanned water stations in-between.  

Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont

Fourteen long months have passed since my last in-person ultra.  This race was on my 2020 schedule but was canceled and rolled over to 2021.   

Official training started in December 2020 for the event.  Training for most of 2020 was a little boring for me and I knew I needed to add speed work again. It had been awhile and I was actually doing speed work thanks to the Ornery Mule Racing Winter Challenge. Doing the challenge gave me a coach guided 10 week program to reset my mind and body.

I was doing strides, faster steady paces, and even 1 mile time trials.  Who knew I could run a 7:04 mile?  I didn't know for sure.  A month later, I pushed that down to a 6:58.  I gained so much confidence that I put in my head I should try for a PR at Prairie Spirit (21:25).  

As the few people who are close to me know, I love to do math while running.  While on one of my long training runs, I was calculating how I would pace Prairie Spirit.  I thought to myself "Wow, that was pretty good, I'm not sure if I can shave any time off of that."  

When I returned home, I started plugging my mental numbers into Excel and came up with a game plan.  I was going to run an average of 11:36/mile for the first 100k which includes time for bathroom breaks and aid station breaks.  That was then broken down to an average moving pace of 11:00/mile and 5 minutes per manned aid station. I would split the rest of the race into 2 sections, 14:00 /mile and 16/mile.  That allowed extra time to change clothes, with the possibility of getting cold or chilled to the bone.  

My PR page calculations.

During my planning, I also kept a page for more conservative paces. I felt like I needed a back up, a crutch, a breakup plan.  As I reflect back on it, I kept the backup plan too close and didn't focus strongly enough on my top goal.

Don't come without strategy

The morning of the race started out like any other race: bad weather with rain and lightning. The rain stopped about 20 minutes before the start of the race. I was also second guessing clothing choices and finally decided on what I was going to wear, which can be a common problem. Pro tip - don't change what works. Lastly my body wasn't cooperating, not getting all of the biological waste out of my system. Maybe it was nervousness that kept me running to the bathroom just to sit there and have my legs go numb. 

The start of the race went like every other ultra, people huddled way too far back from the start, chit chatting and not having a care in the world.  Even non-runners were mixed in with us.  Much different from road races.  

Yes, this is quite typical of me to look dumbfounded, stupefied, etc.  

In any ultra, I start out slow.  I actually want it to feel slow.  That way, I don't get caught up with people who either went out too fast or people who are faster than me.  I had this crazy girl sprint past me and scream in my face "It's my birthday" to finally notice it was a friend - Anastasia - who went out with a big goal of a PR as her 100% mindset.  Spoiler Alert - she did get a huge PR and finished 2nd woman.  

So the two things on my mind were: 1) I still need to go to the bathroom and 2) let's try for this PR.  Notice I said try, and not do- dumb mistake.  

But it's home to me, and I walk alone

By mile 2 the pack of runners had slimmed out.  I had breathing room and was glad to be running completely alone.  That sounds sad I know, but that's how I like it.  I'm not much of a chit-chatter in real life nor in running life.  I made it to the first aid station right on time where I had about 4 oz of Coke and proceeded to get the hell out of dodge.  Quick and efficient.  

Guess what?  I still needed to go to the bathroom.  This trail is a rails-to-trails.  I have run on quite a few of these and I know how they are.  The side of the trails have bramble and short bushes and such right on the edge of it.  Behind that you may have trees, evergreens, or even a big drop.  But one way or another you have big drops on both sides of you.  It is very difficult for a female to find a spot to go to the bathroom.  The bramble is hard to get through and doesn't give any cover.  You can't go any further back because then you stuck on a big drop which can be slippery.  So I waited and waited.  Finally, at a country road crossing, I was able to get off to the side of the road, tucked back enough so people would have a hard time seeing my bright white butt.  

A very typical section of the trail.  Beautifully groomed, crushed limestone, no potty spots. 

Well, let me tell you, it didn't do much good.  I guess now is a good time to tell you that ultra runners have very few TMI items.  

My alarms for this race.

Around noon, my phone started playing music.  I set up alarms in my phone to help give me a push once in a great while as I don't listen to anything while running. However I was getting flustered because I know I didn't set a noon alarm and music kept on playing on its own.  I started fiddling around, turning alarms off and then back on again to try to silence it.  I put my phone back into my pocket.  I spotted my running friend, Greg, who was running the 100k, at my mile 33.5 aid station. Surprise - my phone started music AGAIN. Turned out it was the ole boob rubbing the phone through the pack.  For some reason, maybe because of my phone, I felt a little flustered, a little short on temper - that should have been my first clue that I wasn't eating enough. I grabbed Coke and a mandarin and got back on the trail. Not smart.

My ridiculous bathroom situation had really started to tick me off.  But I finally started working the puzzle pieces together:

• Was I drinking too much? - No, I didn't think so; I went through 1.5L of water in the first 25 miles.
• Was I getting enough salt? - Well, I had that bag of Lays and my Hammer Perpetuem, but that's it, so the answer was probably no. Again.
• Had I been eating enough? - In honestly, probably not.  I screwed up big time by not taking anything substantial from mile 33.5  I should have grabbed a stupid Uncrustable.  

The puzzle came together and showed me the bathroom issue was from not having enough salt.  The water was just sitting in my stomach doing nothing but sloshing around in the belly.  Luckily I kept  salt tabs on me so I swallowed one immediately.  Next, I was feeling a little tired, probably from not enough food.  All of these had me in negative space.

Should I just keep on chasing pavements

Another characteristic of rails-to-trails is the flatness.  It's so flat, that it looks like you are going up a teeny-tiny incline due to perspective.  But, I would look to the side and the water from the creek is also moving in the same direction as me.  Meaning I was actually going down hill. I told myself to see what the elevation gain was at the turn around.  Not for any real reason, just curiosity, and to prove that we were going down hill.

I had a very serious conversation with my self. 
Then I picked myself back up from the scruff and shuffled on my way. 
       

Mentally I was feeling a little whooped.  At mile 37, I found a raised concrete spot in the shade along the trail and sat down to think and shovel food.  I pulled out my pace chart and started overanalyzing.  Now I was just falling further into the hole and munching on plantain chips. This stretch was the earliest I have ever sworn off any more 100s.  It happens in almost every race, but generally much later.  I told myself I shouldn't be doing these, I'm not good enough. I should focus on shorter ultras.  Get stronger, get faster again.  I just kept digging that hole.   

I told myself to let go and get rid of the chart at the next station.  Did I feel better?  No, but I wasn't expecting it right away.  I did feel a little more calm with a plan in place.  There were 4 miles until the next aid station and I better eat every piece of food I had on me before I reached mile 41.  

When I arrived to mile 41, I told the volunteers I just needed to sit and regroup for a bit. I mentioned I was behind on calories and they immediately made me a large cup of ramen and iced bubbly Coke. Yes, it has to be cold and still have bubbles. While resting, I grabbed my drop bag to refill my vest with food and to get rid of that darn pace chart that was pissing me off.  I thanked the volunteers, told them I'd see them in 20 miles and headed off with ramen.

When in doubt on what to do, always EAT.  Mentally and physically it will do you a world of good.

The butterflies fly away

By now the salt tab was doing its thing and I FINALLY didn't have to go to the bathroom.  The calories were also starting to work their magic.  I was feeling much more confident heading into the turn around (51.25 miles) now with a new respectable goal of under 24 hours.  Looking back at it now, I shouldn't have gone to 24, I should have pushed myself to sub-23.  I was only minutes behind my PR goal pace but I felt the wheels starting to get a little goosy again.

I got to the turn around and immediately asked for a Coke.  The Coke had been sitting out all day and they didn't have ice.  Strike One.  The Coke was in a 2 liter bottle that had been opened for who knows how long.  Strike Two.  I saw instant mashed potatoes on the picnic table. They weren't prepared to make them.  Strike Three.  I drank warm flat coke.  Yuck.  I ate a small cup of  ramen, but not nearly enough.  I also sat there way too long.  Definitely my own AS (aide station) failure. I should have asked for more food.

This little doggie ran over 25 miles with runners. He did not belong to
anyone at the race and didn't have tags.

Heading back out, I checked the elevation, the gain was about 30 feet less than the loss; so yes, I was right, it was down hill.  So we were in Kansas, flat plains, nothing to break the wind.  I run in Chicago where you can run your whole time into the wind and 15 mph is considered my "normal" standard.  I started back out and we were going into the wind again.  After 50 miles already, this was not so much fun.  You will be going slower, yes. So head down, keep the same effort- not the same pace.  

I was walking more to conserve energy both from a tiredness standpoint and a caloric standpoint.  It took a little longer than I would have liked, but I knew I was very close to the next AS since I saw the same blue jays that were nearby last time I passed through there.  Once I arrived at the AS, they fed me a very large cup of ramen, which hit the spot.  "I said I'd be back, I just didn't say how long," I chuckled trying to lighten the mood, more for myself than anything.  These wonderful volunteers also made me a large cup of THICK mashed potatoes.  Why thick?  More calories.  This was my way to load up, other runners have theirs.  Once again, I sat too long, but at least this time I put my feet up a bit to drain since they were getting puffier.  I had already adjusted my shoe laces once.  

It's always darkest before the dawn

I am now getting to the part of the story that I don't remember very well.  At the time, I only had two subjects going through my head: 

1. A few lines of a song or maybe just the chorus over and over and over.  There were about 5 songs in rotation and I can't even remember those anymore.  
2. Possible finish times, goals, changing of goals, pacing, math.  Honestly, during the entire race this was pretty much all I had floating in there.  

I was getting so mad at myself and unsuccessfully trying to change the subject.  

A reminder of the total distance I was trying to cover.

I remember it getting dark.  I remember the temperatures starting to fall a little bit.  I remember actually feeling warm because I was still running/walking very strongly.  I was going into AS 77.5 knowing that I needed to get my jacket, loosen my shoes, fill up on Hammer Perpetuem, and eat more calories.  The volunteers asked if I had my jacket because the area was getting a little more open, bringing more wind. I had on a dry long sleeve, jacket, buff.  I thought I was in good shape.  Oh boy, here's where some wheels actually fell off.  

Problems:

1. The AS was heated, actually too warm.  Heading out to the cold air was a shock to the system.
2. I regretted not putting pants on and not grabbing my gloves. 
3. My body was so stiff from the warm to cold temperature change that I couldn't run. 
4. If I couldn't run, my body temperature would drop more.
5. If my body temperature drops more, I'd be using more calories to keep my body warm. 
6. I'd get behind on calories again.  

Now I was officially in the viscous cycle of calories vs body temp vs running.  

My body didn't want to eat, every single thing I had felt horribly dry.  It required me to drink a sip of water with every bite.  Do you remember as a kid or while raising kids, the pocketing of food they hide in their cheeks if they didn't like the food?  And then you'd force them to swallow but it ended up like they were chocking on the food?  Yeah, that was me.  Bite, sip, bite and mush, swallow a fraction, bit and mush, swallow the rest.  

I was freezing.  My body was tense from shivering.  I yelled at myself, internally only, to run, or at least shuffle along.  Get that blood pumping, let my body warm itself up.  Shuffle, Shuffle, drag, drag.  

Pain started in my right vastus medialis, next to my knee.  And at the exact same time, a pain in my left iliopsoas.  It started to hurt to walk fast or with long strides.  At this point, I thought about getting to AS 86.5.  I visualized it.  I visualized myself dropping.  Not the thoughts I wanted to have, but the little creepers got in there.  I really told myself that if this didn't get any better, I'd drop with only 13 miles to go.  

Wow, it was late or actually extremely early.  I was almost falling asleep out there.  

I finally have a mental regroup session with myself, again.  Common theme huh?  

Run Down:

1. Ok, muscle pain, took some Tylenol. I had it in my vest.
2. Tired?  I had a double shot Starbucks can with me. 

Luckily there was a bench shortly ahead to sit on and get my head together.  My coffee was in the back of my pack so I had to take that off to reach it.  My light was attached to my vest and that was sitting on my lap.  Another runner came by and was concerned that I didn't have a light.  I informed him I was fine, I just needed caffeine.  

Even though the Tylenol and caffeine hadn't started working immediately, I was able to get a little bit of a running stride going.  With the blood pumping, I started to warm back up and my horrible endless cycle was cut like a hot knife through butter. By the time I reached the next AS (86.5), I was feeling awesome.

I actually thought the next AS was 84.5, that turned out to be a surprise. That mile passed on by so I did a little math and realized it was 86.5.  As my watch turned over to 86, I kept a close eye for the lights of the AS.  I was also referring to my watch to see the tenths of a mile.  It finally said 86.47 and I could finally see the tent.  Like a savior.  This was the place where I was going to - but would no longer - drop.  I was going to grab cookies, Coke, and ramen.  Fast, in and out, with only a half marathon left.  Once in the tent, I look back down at my watch.  It's off.  Blank.  The watch died.  I had my cord and charger with me but it didn't give me a single warning that it was low.  I plugged it back in, started a new workout, and knew I had to keep doing math until the last minute of my race.  

Say to me, this one's a fighter

I had less than 2.5 hours to run 13.5 to get my PR.  Oh hell no, that is NOT happening tonight/this morning.  Three and half hours though, that was doable, roughly 15:30 per mile.  I was doing about that anyway.  The goal of sub-24 was definitely in reach. I knew I was going to be around 23:30.  

I was feeling great. I was running great.  I just had to do a lot of math with a weak mind to figure out miles gone, or miles left, how many miles to the next aid station, average pace, total time, etc. 

Finally, I got through the last AS (93) and messaged my supporters since they wanted to be at the finish line.  I hated sending them a text 3:45AM, but much to my surprise, Kathy and Greg were both there to see me come in at 23:21.   And in typical me fashion, I ran fast and looked strong as I crossed that timing mat. It was as if all of the bad moments had just blown away.

Kathy and Greg meeting me at the finish line.

Let me know that I've done wrong (when I've known this all along)

Always take inventory of your body.  If you don't pay attention, you'll miss important things it is telling you.  You can't always come back from those mistakes like I did.  

If your goal is truly what you want, don't be wishy-washy with it.  Own that goal.  

I really wish I had pulled out my earphones to listen to music.  I needed a distraction.

You will screw up.  How quickly you adjust to those screw ups is what matters.

Don't walk while trying to look up and stare at the gorgeous moon and stars.  You'll have the ultra-drunk walk going on.  

Before

After

Professional Race Photography by Mile 90 Photography.

The Endless Mile: The Planning

The Endless Mile – October 18, 2019

The start/finish line arch was light up for the campers the night before.

Located just south of Birmingham, AL

https://www.southeasterntrailruns.com/endless-mile.html

Race Options –
6 Hour, 12 hour, 24 hour and 48 hour solo races
24 and 48 hour relay races

Before the Big Day(s):

About 6 months before, my two running friends were tossing around the idea of doing a 24 hour race in Alabama.  I already have run a race in AL so I wasn’t very interested.  When you are trying to do a marathon (or longer) in every state, it’s hard to justify to do repeat states.  My friends signed up for the 12 hour to complete a 50k and spoke about The Endless Mile while we traveled to other races.  Somehow I found out that they offered a 48 hour.  I don’t know if my friends were thinking about a 100 miler for the 48 hours in the next few years for themselves, or if they were trying to appeal to my sense to crazy. Regardless, I was willing to do AL again to try my hand at a 48 hours race. 

Everything in this post is about my pre-planning for the event.  My next blog will be what actually happened (when the plan sometimes goes to shit) on Day One and Day Two of the race.

Research and Math

One part of my calculations.

The first thing I did was attempt to find blogs from other runners for 48 hours. I found two. And both were from fast guys.  While reading those two points of view, I did my own math and figured out about 2/3 of the miles would be in the first 24 hours and the last 1/3 would be in the second half of the race.  Being a numbers person, I started an excel spreadsheet (I do this for all my ultras!) to see what kind of mileage range I thought I could do.  With out boring you to death on how I worked everything out, I figured I would make a goal to be between 125-140 miles.  The breakdown would be 84-94 miles the first day and 41-46 miles the second.  Honestly, to make the math easier in my head, I did 80/40 even though that wouldn’t get me my minimum range.

Nutrition

Nutrition is an “easy” one, eat frequently, eat before you are hungry, and keep eating. Easier said than done (The Essex 1963).   I don’t think I have ever heard a runner say at an ultra that she ate too much.  Nope, never!  If I ever have a problem during an ultra, it’s because I didn’t eat enough or didn’t eat soon enough and normally a combination of both.  As I thought of ideas, I would write them down in my excel sheet (you know, with my calculations I was doing above).  

I need foods that are easy to eat that I can swallow without chewing.  I rely mostly on aid station food, but I wanted to have my own back up in case I was having a hard time chewing.  This sounds crazy if you have never done an ultra, but after awhile, you don’t want to chew anything.  Even foods that you think would be easy to eat, like PB&J or grilled cheese, I can’t eat without washing down with water.  Think of wallpaper paste in your mouth.  When this happens, then I start drinking too much water, and other issues come up, yadda, yadda, yadda.  (side note ended!)

So back to choosing easy foods.  A few of the items on my list were instant oatmeal (on the runny side), instant mac & cheese, pudding, Jell-O, instant mashed potatoes, and my all time favorite, RAMEN!  Ramen is my go-to ALL the time during races.  I could care less if it is 100F outside, I still want ramen.   “All noodles, no broth”  That’s my order!   Just like “Coke, with ice, and bubbly,” even when it is 45F (or colder). 

Campfire apples that Lori made.  Soft and easy to slurp down!
It's a granny smith apple, caramel, peanut butter,and cinnamon.

Training

In 2019, before The Endless Mile, I had already run 6 marathons and 4 ultras (three 100’s and one 12-hour) and few races scheduled after it as well.  With these events, I wasn’t starting from scratch on my training.  I had followed my normal 26 week 100 miler training plan to get me to Hallucination 100 in early September.  

5 weeks to Endless Mile: Resting from Hallucination. I did walk but just normal errand type things, no Garmin.  Plus, motion is lotion.  NEVER just sit after an event.

4 weeks to Endless Mile: 20 miles for the week.

3 weeks to Endless Mile: 30 miles for the week.

2 weeks to Endless Mile: 45 miles for the week. This included a marathon in WV (another new state!) on crushed limestone.  I made sure to run a nice consistent marathon and enjoy myself. I ended up running it with approximately 45 second negative split.  That is a good thing, I did not over exert myself in the beginning nor at the end.

1 week to Endless Mile: Taper Week; 16 miles for the week

The Endless Mile Week: My taper with only a few 3-5 mile walks. I didn't use my Garmin!

Had I not just come off a 100 mile race, I would have used my normal 100 mile training plan with the end date being The Endless Mile. 

Yes.  Just yes.

Breaks/Napping

When running ultras, I can say that I take casual breaks.  I may take a longer break at an aid station to change clothes or get more food in the belly, maybe even have a beer.   Sometimes I just need a few minutes off my feet so I sit and put my feet up on another chair (or box, or whatever) to drain my feet.  For the 48 hours,  I wanted to take more consistent breaks to roll my legs before issues started to happen and to also drain my feet/legs.  I didn’t want to set a schedule for that until I was out there running.  I decided to take ten to fifteen minutes breaks at our campsite where I would use that time as well to charge my watch and eat. 

"To sleep or not sleep?", that is the question.  I have taken a nap at one or two of my 100’s before.  I have previously set my timer for 15 minutes (or asked the aid station volunteer to) and laid down (if they had cots) or slumped into a chair.  Once that alarm did go off, I would grab more food and leave.  

I knew this 48 hour thing was going to be different.  I love sleep.  On a normal day, I like to get 9-10 hours of sleep.  I can sleep anywhere, anytime.  It’s a long running joke in my house.  I knew I never should have told my husband I slept on plywood when I was 10 years old in India.  So how was I going to get through 48 hours without sleeping?  

I decided that I would need sleep, at some point.  Rather than scheduling sleep (i.e. 2 hour nap after mile 100, or one hour nap after 24 hours, etc) I knew that I was going to have to let my body tell me when I needed it.  I know that I can go for 100 miles without sleep, I’ve done it.  So I wasn’t expecting to sleep until after that point. I did know that I was going to plan on my naps being between 60-75 minutes.  I did not want to enter REM sleep which happens approximately 90 minutes after falling asleep since it is so much harder to get up and drag myself back onto the course if I was in the middle of REM.  Heck, on a normal day if I wake up during a dream, I feel the negative effect of that the entire day.  So I had a plan which means don’t plan times for sleep but when I did sleep, keep those naps short. 

Packing 

The packed van, return trip.  That is NOT a box of paper towels,
it is a fire pit.  

The packing list grew and grew and grew!  Actually more for my running mates than me.  I was busy the whole 48 hours of the event, but they were not going to be.  All of Friday was open for them plus Saturday evening (they were completing the 12 hour event).  They needed some luxuries, camping essentials, and comforts.  Our list consisted of two anti-gravity chairs, one or two regular camp chairs, a fire pit, other cooking items for the fire pit, two large sleeping tents, one pop up tent, two tables, 5 gallons of water, food galore, and then some.  Of course we each had our own sleeping bags, cots/mats, running clothes, regular clothes, etc.  If it sounds insane, it was! 

As for me, for my running portion included the foods I mentioned above and special tasty drinks such as sparkling yuzu coconut water, green tea lattes, and hard ciders; and lots and lots of clothing!

    

Most of my belongings are in the corner. 
So even though my list looks long,
it really wasn't that bad.
And three of those bags hold snacks. 
(Sounds like L, K, & I ... ha ha ha)

• 2 jackets, both waterproof
• 3 long sleeve shirts (2 regular tech and one thermal)
• 2 pairs of running pants (one pair of tights and one pair of pull over w/ ankle zippers)
• 4 running shorts/skirts
• 4 running shirts
• 6 sports bras
• 4 pairs of Injinji socks (I wear these socks almost exclusively even when I am not running)
• 4 buffs
• 1 pair of gloves
•  2 pairs of running shoes – one of my normal pairs and one pair a ½ size bigger (since my feet do get larger being on them so many hours and for so many miles)
•  Large foam roller
• Rolling stick ("The Stick" brand)
• Hard foam ball and a lacrosse ball for rolling
• 3 small portable chargers with all of the many cords
• Running belt for bib only (easier to take on and off for clothing changes)
• Anti-chafe roll (I use 2Toms) and powder
• Ultra first aid kit (My own personal concoction - I am a travelling Walgreens/CVS)
• Salt pills
• Running hat (one with a bill to help deflect rain from the face)
• Headlamp
• Sunglasses and sunscreen (were not going to be needed because of the weather, but I always bring them anyways)

And that was just for the running.  I don’t have any of the post race stuff listed such as Epsom salt lotion, compression boots, sandals, compression socks, etc!  My list kept changing as I adjusted for changes in expected weather conditions, so your list will be likely be different than mine. 

So you can see that I did a little bit of planning without over planning, but...

Expect the unexpected.

.

History of Wombat Racing

I get the question a lot, what's a wombat, or why a wombat?  My old high school car plates even said wombat. Here is the story.

Why wombat?  

The wombat has been been my favorite animal since I was knee high of a...well....wombat!  Even though I grew up in the States and have lived here all of my life (one year was spent abroad), my dad was born and raised in Australia and I also have Australian citizenship.  My family  has been been there for generations.

Here is a lovely wombat I am petting in Australia in 1996.

So yes, a cute, burrowing marsupial is my favorite animal.  Learn more about them.

How did the racing part come in?

Roughly twelve years ago I started driving Porsches on the track.  We have had several Porsches over the years as we use them for product development and testing at our business, LN Engineering. I began with a slow 1999 2.5 Boxster and all of the other cars would fly by me.  But as I learned the proper techniques, I was able to catch them in the corners.  I then came up with the slogan "I know I'm Slow, Get Over It" with a wombat wearing my car number 107.  For these driving events, you have to wear long sleeve cotton shirt (yes, in the humid summers of Chicago) so had them made up for myself and my husband (with his number 407).  Wombat Racing was born.

I'm in line for a run at AutoCross back in 2009.
This car is still known as Wombat and holds my wombat plates that I have had for 23 years.

My  old logo, circa 2010.

And since then?

I haven't driven on the track for years, maybe I decided to get out while on top.  Our team had won quite a few awards in 24 hours of LeMons (yes, like the fruit) and we retired winners.

That's me in the corner (that's me in the spot light....)
24 Hours of LeMons at Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL.  We are the old beat up VW wagon.

What about the running part?

I ran my first marathon in 2008, The Chicago Marathon.  I ran my first ultra, Des Plaines River Trail 50, in 2013. For those of you new to running or know nothing about it, an ultra is anything longer than a marathon (marathon = 26.2 miles = 42.195 km).  As I started to run longer distances, which so far is 137.8 miles, I remembered to slow down and enjoy the journey.  I knew that my Wombat Racing applied to running as well.  Go slow to go fast.  Huh, how?  In endurance events such as marathons and  ultras, you need to learn how to pace yourself.  If you go out too fast, you will burn yourself out.  A popular saying among ultra runners is "Start out slow and go slower".

Finish line photo from 2008 Chicago Marathon.
I am currently on my way to have run
over 100 marathons or longer.

Turn around point at the DPRT 50 miles in 2013.
My very first ultra and certainly not  my last.

  

                                

So there you have it, Wombat Racing!  

The outfit that inspired the wombat's look.

I guess I look it, at least that's what people say.

Quite often I am asked if I have always been a runner. 

My short answer: Yea, I guess, somewhat.

My actual story:

Way back when in 8th grade, I vaguely remember having to do a fundraiser during PE by running mile loops.  I don't remember the charity, how much I raised, or how many loops I ran. I feel like I ran the most loops which later on was my only qualification for my peers to vote me as cross-country captain of a brand new team sport.  Some how we were able to conjure up a team and at least have practices after school in the big square grass field behind the school.

Freshman XC.  I also danced,
so that is why I am wearing a dance shirt and Danskin shorts. 

After that school year, I ran a 5k in the new town I moved to with my dad.  The high school cross country coach was also the RD of this annual race.  He found me at the finish and talked to me about joining the cross-country team which was just about to start practice for the fall 1994 season. Let me be pretty clear about this, if you even thought you could run a tiny bit and showed up for practices, you were on the team.  There were no tryouts and everyone was welcome; we are talking about a farm town school with 300 some odd students.  I wasn't a coveted runner that coaches were recruiting!

Senior Year XC, with our horrible warm up gear!

Through out my four years of high school, I ran cross country and track religiously.  I wasn't very good, I didn't necessarily enjoy it, but I did it.  It was just another school subject to me. For cross country, I was consistently the second slowest girl on the team, no matter the year.  I did improve some year to year but I was mid- to back- of the packer.  In track, the faster cross country girls did the 4x800 relay or the one mile.  I always did the 2 mile race and once in a while I was given the privilege to run the mile.  I vaguely remember thinking those 2 mile races sucked and lasted forever.  But, that was my job, to run that race.  To this day, when I smell slightly composting mulch of a sewer plant, I think of spring track practices (our track was across the street from the small town sewer plant).  Running the front straight 100, I would stare at the 50,000 gallon, light blue water tower across the street; the back straight 100, I would stare at the beautifully groomed green softball field and quite frequently listen to "Put me in coach, I'm ready play today."  Ah, memories.

My only two sports, all four years.

The summers between school, I don't recall running at all.  I think I still did participate in the local 5k/10k race every August.  Of course, I only did the 5k.  How could someone run over 6 miles at one time?  It seemed so much farther down the country road for the turn around, so isolated.  These were the only two distances that I even knew existed in long distance running.  I didn't know anything else but I also wasn't curious, wondering, or even really interested.

In college, I never really ran.  Once in a great while I would.  I remember specifically one beautiful overly warm February day freshman year, I put on tennies and pair of shorts to run along the lake path on campus.  That's it; that's all I ever remember doing.


Fast forward a few years later, while walking on the treadmill (only to warm up before my weight training), I saw an ad on the TV for the Avon 2 Day Walk for breast cancer.  Cancer doesn't run in my family so I am not sure what persuaded me to want to walk 39.3 miles over 2 days (26.2 miles day one and 13.1 miles day two).  In June of 2005 I participated while 4 months pregnant (I did not do the entire 39.3 miles) and then I returned in 2007 to complete the 2 day event.  This event may not have been the main reason why I started marathons, but I am sure that the training I did helped me eventually realize I could do it when it later became a goal. I continued to participate in the Avon 2 Day walk but as a crew member from 2009-2017.

While pregnant with my daughter, I gained about 45 pounds. I lost most of it, but I had that annoying 10-15 pounds that didn't want to come off.  I decided to start to run.  No reason in particular why I chose to do that.  But I couldn't go out and just run. I couldn't do a mile, I couldn't really do half a mile.  So without knowing exactly what I was doing, I would use time to set up intervals to walk/run.  I know today that I actually had a pretty good instinct to know what to do, I recommend to people who want to start running to do what I did back in 2006.  In the very beginning I would walk 5 minutes, then run for a set interval, walk again, etc.  As I went out more and more, I would reduce the time walked and increase the time ran.  Eventually I was able to run a mile without any walking.  I kept increasing my mileage and I finally was able to loose the last baby weight over time.

While I was finishing my Master's degree in 2007, my adviser used the analogy of the program being a like a marathon.  The beginning is fun and new but you're nervous; the middle is long and dragged out, you start to stumble at the end of the middle; as you are nearing the finish, you can see the finish line, you know what you need to to do to get there, it's possible to finish.  Let me say now that he had NEVER run a marathon.  How could he know what it was like?  People also say giving birth is like running a marathon.  That is when I decided I wanted to run a marathon.

I remember watching the 2007 Chicago Marathon; yep, the one that was cancelled and rerouted during the event because of extreme heat.  That there solidified me wanting to run a marathon.  Whoa there, how does excessive heat, running out of water, dehydration of runners, and loss of life make you actually want to run a marathon.

I have now learned, it was because I like a challenge.