When the race started at 10am it was overcast and lightly raining. The rain brought the temperature down to the high 70s, which was cooler than anyone could have asked for a July race. I decided not to listen to music for the first lap of the race because the course is a narrow, paved trail. I was thankful I'd made that choice when it started to pour around mile 3. After about 15 minutes of heavy downpour, the rain lightened to a drizzle.
Note: 50 miles over a 12 hour span (including breaks) is impossible to recall on a mile-by-mile or hour-by-hour basis, so I've broken down my recollections of the race by 8.46 mile laps.
I don't remember much about the first lap other than the rain, the energy of the volunteers, and things going by way too quickly. I finished the lap in 1:24:29 - about a 10:00/mile pace. As I crossed the start line again I was energized and ready to keep going.
A few minutes in to the second lap, a gentleman around my dad's age, John, started running with me. As we were talking I realized that John is a running rockstar. He's completed 31 marathons, several ultras, and this was his third 20in24. I was enjoying my conversation with him so much that I forgot to check my pace until halfway through the lap. I realized I was running way too fast (I planned on running 11:00 miles and was running an 8:45/mile pace with John) and let John go on without me.
Once I slowed down, I realized my shoes felt a bit heavy. In fact, everything felt a bit heavy. My dad took a photo of me as I finished lap 2. Looking at it, it's blatantly obvious why everything felt heavy - I was drenched.
I may have looked like a drowned rat but I felt great, so I decided to hand my dad my fuel belt, grab a bottle of Gatorade, and head out for lap 3.
Lap 3 was probably my favorite lap. I met a nice lady (whose name I don't recall) who ran/walked the first 2/3 of the lap with me. We talked about anything and everything and she was truly fabulous company. I think my favorite part of the conversation was when she asked me if I had a boyfriend. When I said no, her response was "well let's find you one today." Please consider that response after looking at the photo above. Ha ha, yeah right. My new friend hit a point where she needed to take a walk break, so I continued on my own.
About a half mile later I decided I needed a walk break and slowed down. I'd only been walking a minute or two when a guy passed me, looked at my race bib, told me it was too early for me to be walking, and started running backwards. He said he was going to run backwards until I started running again - I let him continue for a minute or two before I started to worry about him getting hit by a biker. As it turns out, the guy, Chris, is an Ironman triathlete who gets up at 3am on weekdays to train... and he thinks I'm crazy for running an ultramarathon. Pot calling the kettle black much? He kept me going at a 9:00/mile pace until we could see the finish line. I told him I was going to take a break after that lap, so he pushed me to sprint to the finish with him. As he wasn't participating in the race, he kept going toward home as I headed to the timing table to let them know I was taking a break.
A wonderful thing about 20in24 is the resources they have available to runners throughout the race. There were masseuses on-site from 11:00am-midnight. After I peeled off my soaked running shoes (my feet looked like I'd fallen asleep in a bathtub - I probably should have switched my shoes after lap 2!) I headed over to the massage area. I only had to wait about 15 minutes before getting my massage, which was heavenly. I felt like an entirely different person afterward.
After my massage I choked down some "real" food and changed my shoes, socks, and shirt. After a quick stop at the medic tent to get my chafed arm taped up it was time to get back out there and start lap 4...
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