Javelina Jundred Kilometers

Yesterday felt like a dream. Did it really happen?

I arrived in Phoenix Thursday morning and Scott came Friday morning. We are staying with his uncle. I hung out with his cousin Emily trying to distract myself until Saturday morning. Thursday and Friday night I kept wondering why on EARTH I signed up for this race.

Checking out the Pemberton Trail 

Hugging the Cactus for good luck 

Javelina Jeadquarters

We woke up at 4am and were out of the house by 4:30. We parked at McDowell Mountain Park and took a shuttle to the Javelina Jeadquarters. I was freezing cold and hung out by the heaters not saying much to Scott... freaking out about how much it was going to HURT. I was wishing I could fast forward to the part where its dark and start there.. I knew that was the part where it was going to be really tough.

With my boyfriend/best friend/pacer/crew

Nervous Smile

The gun went off... well not really.. the clock just hit 6:00:00am, and we took off for our first 15.5 mile loop. The race is composed of 6.5 loops and we come back to the Javelina Jeadquarters between each lap where crews are allowed to set up camp.  The trail was hardly wider than single track, so we walked about a half mile before we could even start running.

Javelina Jeadquarters from above

I was comfortable and warm by mile two, and the sun came out by mile 5. I tied my jacket around my waist and before I knew it I was done with 15.5 miles. I was grinning so much when I came into the jeadquarters to meet Scott. I gave him my headlamp and jacket, took 4 S-caps, downed a gu and a PB sandwich and set off for loop number 2.

Lap 2 was pretty easy. I coasted and ran near Shannon, a super sweet girl who owns and designs clothes for Moeben. It started to get really warm and I made sure I was drinking a full hand-held water bottle every three miles. I was a little sleepy and drank three cups of mountain dew. I didn't talk to anyone because we were all running and walking different parts. I liked running up the hills so I passed a lot of people on the up-hill, and then they would pass me on the flat parts. We went back and forth the whole time. Not having anyone to run with made me bored. I missed Jason and Jonathon who I ran with most of Ice Age! They are such great friends to run with. Ice Age (my most recent 50 mile ultra) was the best/most fun/most interesting day of my whole life. Hocking Hills 60k was really fun too!  Honestly, I wasn't having any fun at this race.

I came into the aid station at mile thirty feeling fresh. I sat down a little longer than normal and scott tried to feed me a Nutella sandwich. Um, GROSS. I spat/gagged it out in the trash can. Instead I had some more Gu's... apple flavored carb BOOM!  tastes just like apple sauce. Delicious. I had 4 more S! Caps and set off for lap number 3.

The sun came out and I could felt my face and arm getting burnt. My face was caked in salt and my shirt had gone from purple to white. I crashed hard and fast. I felt nauseous, week and shaky. I was glad that my stomach was the problem, not my legs because that meant I could probably fix it. I peed and it was bright yellow. I sat down and told the volunteers I wouldn't leave the aid station until I had 4 cups of water and tons of S! caps.

The distance to the next aid station was SIX miles. that is a lot when you're rocking a 14 min/mi pace. I ran out of water in my bottle and felt nauseous and shaky again. I had a fever. It was bad. I asked a young guy on a bike how far it was until the next station and all he could say back was "uhh.. kind of far" thanks buddy. At least I peed about once every half mile, so I knew I was set on salt... just needed water.

FINALLY I hit the aid station and grabbed gatorade thinking it would be more helpful than water.  That was dumb. I was so sick I couldn't keep the gatorade down, which I didn't realize until I was already on may way to the next station which was another 5 miles away. That meant I couldn't drink anything for five warm and sunny miles. I couldn't keep food down either. I was tired and depressed. I missed Scott so much and I just wanted to see him more than anything. I was so upset I was crashing this early and I knew it was because of the heat. My legs felt fresh and I was able to keep a somewhat steady pace, but whenever I ran faster than a 14 min/mi i would feel nauseous and start to vomit. I reeeeally didn't want to throw up because I needed to keep food down. I was already hardly eating anything because of the dehydration. I just wanted Scott.

What seemed like hours later, and a few tears later, I was back at the headquarters for mile 46. I didn't see Scott anywhere. Scott's buddy Jay's crew girl informed me that he was out pacing Jay for a lap and would pick me up after that lap to start pacing at mile 62. I broke down in tears. I have never cried so hard in my life. I was sobbing so hard that it took the whole dehydration issue to a new level. I was sick and depressed. I took an antidepressant because a lot of times running far distances can mess up my serotonin levels. Sometimes an extra pill that day can help. Three very sweet ladies wrapped a blanket around me and gave me soup, water, and m&m's for a quick pick-me-up. I cried in their laps and they hugged me and comforted me. I just wanted to see Scott. I cried for a few more minutes to let it out. It felt so good to cry. It made me realize how lucky I am to have Scott as a boyfriend, best friend, pacer, and crew. He is so sweet and inspires me to try my hardest and take on challenges I would otherwise never do.

My tears started to dry up and I took off for lap number 4. I met Kelly Gaines, who's husband was running, and their sweet baby Caleb. He was so adorable and precious. It was comforting seeing them, but I was still in a rut. I still had a fever and although I was able to keep the food down finally, running just made me feel dizzy and weak. I had been working hard to catch up on my hydration, but the nausea wasn't going away.

Cheered up by mile 47

I remembered Jay's orange singlet and knew he was coming from the opposite direction. I fixed my eyes straight ahead on the trail looking for Jay and Scott and managed to stub my toes on rocks. My shoes were too small, and my toes were getting beat up bad. That was certainly not the worst of my problems at this point!!

3 miles later I saw the orange singlet and a guy just behind him. I KNEW it was Scott. I thought I was going to break down in tears when I saw him but instead I instantly perked up. The sun was setting and I would be allowed a pacer in 20 ish minutes. But, if Scott finished the lap, I would have had to wait another 10 miles (which at this point could be four hours) to see him again. I desperately asked if he could maybe start pacing me now, and not finish the loop with Jay. He agreed and told Jay is plans and set off with me. (Sorry Jay!)

The next five miles were incredible. I was happy for the first time during the race. I chatted non stop to Scott about the race and we ran the whole time. I didn't notice my stomach, or the fact that my legs were getting tight because I was just so happy to be with him. I laughed a lot and smiled most of the loop.

Then came the hard part- the gap between two aid stations was 6.5 miles. It was pitch black. I kept running off the trail. What seemed like 5 miles was a half of a mile. I was sick again. My face felt hot, I felt nauseous and I was having weird cramps in weird places. I felt like I do when I get weak after I go to the hospital and see injured people, or like I do when I see a lot of blood or a gross injury or just something gory. The kind of feeling you get right before you pass out. I think I ran into a cactus but hardly noticed. (Later, after the race, I found the cacti needles sticking out of my leg, and I had to pull them out one-by-one, not fun when you already feel like crap!) I began talking to myself. Honestly I had no idea what was going on. Somewhere in that stretch I decided I was done. I would earn a belt buckle and I didn't want to get another IV(I had my first this summer after a cycling injury), which would have happened if I had run even one more mile. I was so weak and sick. I sat down at an aid station and tried to gain some strength with Ramen Noodle Soup. I chatted with the aid station workers trying to remain positive despite the fact I knew it was not possible to keep going when I got back to the headquarters. The last two miles took over an hour because I was so sick.

I crossed the start/finish area and told the lady I was done. I had been running for just under fifteen hours. She handed me my buckle and congratulated me. I was so relieved. 100 kilometers is the farthest I have ever run, and I still got to take home a shiny new belt buckle. I've only run 50 miles before, and before that 37 miles twice. Making it that much farther despite the heat and dehydration/fever was such an accomplishment. I didn't cry. I sat there in silence tired and out of it. My legs were trashed. I was still sick. It started to rain. I just thanked God for Scott and for my family and all my friends who have been so supportive. I prayed for my cousin Madeline who's been in the hospital for a month in a coma, recovering from a car accident. I thought of my Mom and my dad and my brother, my roommate Katie, my best friends Wes and Wendy. I thought of Jason and Jonathon who taught me that ultramarathons should be fun. I thought of Tricia and Fefe and Aubrey, My Little 50 teammates. I thought of all the people who DNF'ed there first 100, and how they still managed to try again, and all of them finished their second. The fact that they had the guts to try again after such a painful experience and extreme effort that lead to failure was so inspiring. Mostly, I thought about Scott and how sweet he is to me.

Showing off My belt buckle at the Finish Line

My new belt buckle!!

I hardly remember coming home. I sent some texts that I didn't remember sending at all. It turns out it poured all night long. Only 35% of runners finished. Most dropped out when I did. I think a lot of runners coming from a different climate had issues with the heat too. People from Arizona claimed that the weather was "cold". I remember laying in bed that night being in so much pain I took a tylenol PM (as if I needed the PM!) I fell asleep while Scott was trying to tell me that I needed to get some sleep. Apparently I was one step ahead of him.  Instead of dreaming about the race I dreamt about my friends and family. I am so lucky. And I'm thankful that I can run and for my health. Most of all, I am thankful that I have the most incredible boyfriend in the entire world.