I ran my very first ultra on Saturday. For those of you that don't know, an ultra run is a run that is longer than 26.2 miles. I've wanted to run long for years, but due to various issues (a year long bout with plantar fasciitis, kid's sports schedules, military training, etc.) the timing has never been right.
At the beginning of 2016, my left foot was pretty destroyed from PF and the recovery difficult. I was marathon training and planning to run the Carmel marathon in early spring. Due to some problems with my shoes, I developed PF and it became severe. I saw a couple of different podiatrists, tried several methods of treatment: Strassburg sock, months of physical therapy, ice, heat, rolling with golfballs, special tools, different shoes, different socks, $$$. I finally tried using Doterra oil blends in the fall of 2016, as a last ditch desperate attempt to grasp healing. The tissue in my foot was swollen to twice its normal size, and according to the X-ray the podiatrist took, my tissue was "shredded." Not good. I started using the oils and began to see improvement. Meanwhile, I continued to crosstrain at the gym. Low impact/no impact cardio was my friend. I pretty much lived on the stair climber, the cross country machine, the rowing machine, and the stationary bike. I also religiously did all the exercises prescribed by my physical therapist. It is of some value to note that PT treated me for about three months, at which point they said there was nothing more they could do for me. I just love it when people give up on me. *double thumbs up.* The day they cut me loose, I had an uncontrollable sobbing fit in my van. I was so discouraged. I was so afraid I would never be able to run again, or be able to stand or walk around without pain. Running was no longer my primary goal; I just wanted to be able to cook dinner without having to stand on one foot like a flamingo chef.
I kept up the stretching, cross training, and added the oils to my daily routine. Within a few months, I could walk around and stand without chronic pain. It wasn't long before I started adding short runs back to my week. By the spring of 2017, I was almost back up to my previous mileage. When summer rolled around and Molly started having morning swim practices, I considered the time a gift and that became my prescribed run time. I discovered that there were neighborhoods we could add to our route that extended my miles and kept Sam happy because we could plan our runs according to the city trash schedule. On Monday, we ran the Monday trash route, on Tuesday, we ran the Tuesday trash route, and on through the week. It worked beautifully because I automatically had two potential rest days built into the week- trash doesn't run on Saturday and Sunday. Sam loves riding in the stroller and he's never bored with it. He's an observer and enjoys seeing new things. He's also still obsessed with garbage and garbage trucks, so it was very easy to capitalize on his obsession. When morning practices ended due to school starting back, I was no longer limited to a two hour run. We extended our runs further and I was able to go as far as Sam wanted. Soon I found myself running 15 or more miles a day, five days a week. Some days we would run 17 or 18. My body was keeping up and my feet were still functioning. Suddenly I realized that an ultra was a very real possibility for me physically. It would have been easy for me to put it off, because I usually put off things that cost money and aren't completely necessary. But we have a big move coming up; we are on orders to move to Oahu, Hawaii in two months. If I wanted to complete an ultra in the continental United States, I had better get on it, otherwise I would have to wait three and a half years before having the opportunity.
So, I googled "ultra races near you," and found one called Run Woodstock. They offered a lot of distance choices- 5K, 5 mile, 10K, half marathon, full marathon, 50K, 50 mile, 100K and 100 mile. I figured with the mileage I've been logging lately, I could safely commit to running a 50K and actually dare to think of completing it without dying. I casually brought it up with Michael to see if he had an opinion on it:
"So, what would you think if I signed up for an ultra run in Michigan? It's about 2 weeks from now. It's about a 4 hour drive. I figured I could drive up the night before and maybe sleep in the van and run in the morning, then drive back in the afternoon. They have a camping area available so I think I'd be fine sleeping in the van."
-silence.-
Michael: "You want to drive by yourself to Michigan and sleep in the van."-spoken as a statement in a deadpan voice.
We went back and forth for a while over it. I didn't want Sam to miss his Saturday tee ball game and Michael helps with the team. Plus, Molly had swim practice on Saturday morning and I knew she wouldn't want to miss it. Basically what it came down to was deciding that we would make it a family weekend roadtrip to Michigan. Michael was the only one among us that had ever been to Michigan and his experience there was limited to Fort Greely. We made reservations at the only hotel that still had an available room for less than $300, and I signed up for the race.
So here I am, less than 2 weeks away from running a 50K. I have not been formally training for a 50K. I have run on zero trails. I do not have trail shoes. I do not have a functioning hydration pack. But I figured, this is my shot. It'll work out. Or it won't, and at least I will have tried.
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