Let me pre-face by saying I’m out of shape. Not in a quarantine 15 kind of way, but I’m out of ultra shape. I ran my last 50K at the beginning of March and with the exception of doing the Yeti Trail Runners 24 hour challenge (5 miles every 4 hours for a total of 30), I’ve mostly been cross training on my bike and running shorter distances faster. The good part is that I’ve gotten a mile below a 8mm again, the bad part is my longest run was 11 miles in the past month and a half.
Ahem….so I decided that I would run twin virtual events in the same go. I signed up for the Yeti Path to the Cult mystery box which came in two flavors 13.1 and 50K and because I’m a dumbass…I went 50K. Mistake #1 I was determined to knock it out before the holiday weekend which ended up being the hottest day of the year so far (the 90s with a humidity of what the eff are you thinking). I planned with arm sleeves, and ice bandanas, and all my snacks laid out. The goal was to knock out a chunk on the local rail to trail early and then to do loops around my neighborhood so I could use my house as an aid station and be in air condition to feed the baby as needed.
(Warning…breastfeeding mom shit here)
I get up at 5am and vaguely realize we were nursing on one side, but the other was a little fullish but since I was coming right home after 14ish, it should be fine. I do own a pump but I use it so little that I haven’t the slightest idea where all the parts are and pumping mid run hurts WAY more than nursing. This is the side that I’ve been having some clogged milk duct and milk blister issues and it’s a bit sore anyway.
So I get up and get on the trail and about 2 miles in start to see chalk motivation on the trail. I see one talking about a 10K and think…awe wish I was only doing a 10K and then see one with my name on it and cheering me on for a 50K and realized it was from my fellow mama runners with MRTT and I just had a huge smile. I met up at mile 5 with one of my socially distant run buddies and we did about 7 together. The first 14 miles, I wore my monitor so I could slow myself down if my heart rate got too high. I didn’t have a set number in mind, but I knew that if I started in the 140s and then kept it below 160 that should keep my pace slow enough to not burn out. I have a problem with going to fast in the start and I was trying to save some for when the heat was worse and I would need the energy. This was mistake #2. Banking time works for me.
The trail is getting hella crowded, so I swing by my house and get more water and Tailwind and put on my solar sleeves instead of switching out my whole shirt (mistake #3 because my Swiftly shirt WAS NOT sun proof). The baby decides he is NOT going to nurse. Since I’ve had him, we’ve done a 12 hour as a team, I’ve run a marathon, and a 50K and today is the first time he’s shunned the boobs. I picked up socially distance running buddy #2 and we start doing intervals. 3 miles in and I’ve gone through all my fluids and I’m getting the chills and leg cramps. She drops me back at my house at 4 miles. I grab an ice bandana and my husband shoves a banana at me (get your mind out of the gutter) and I grab my 8 year old and we walk a mile to evaluate. My stomach is off and I’m realizing that this is the furthest on ROAD I’ve done in one shot since having the baby and um….yeah my body is not digging it. We come back, I lay on an ice pack and the baby keeps giving me hugs and laying on my sweaty head, but he is NOT here for boobs. It’s here when I realize that my Garmin Fenix 3 is adding mileage as I lay on the floor, so now I know that my mileage count is going to be off…Fuck.
I run another loop and come back and try to nurse again, still no to the boobs. My family grabs the stroller and we walk around a loop. It’s getting hot as shit, I’m getting burned, my right boobs is on fire, the baby needs a nap, but won’t nap because he wants to nurse but is shunning me based on sweat and now I know I need to add on at least .5 mile because my watch keeps adding mileage when I sit.
Well shit.
Ok, this just isn’t working out. Sigh. I bag it at 23.83 (23.49 per Strava). I had the option to let my watch keep running and finish it, but with my Fenix adding in mileage just sitting there, I felt like it would be cheating. Ideally, I’d try it again but the baby not nursing when I’m sweaty now, makes it a bit of a challenge. He’s teething and still nurses every 3-4 hours so….yeah. I asked the RD if I could drop to the 1/2. Technically the Path to the Yeti is DNF free and you don’t even have to run to get the mystery box, but I know and that’s what’s bugging me because it’s my first ever DNF, but on the plus side…it’s my first ever DNF so I have that checked off the list. LOL
Coffee, Run, Repeat 