Back in January 2022, two of my running buddies ran the entire W&OD Trail on a cold January day. After seeing how much fun they had, I decided to add it to my 2022 running goals list, or my crazy list as my coach calls it. My coach approved it, and I put it on the back burner during my spring training cycle. Fast forward to my fall training cycle and it was time to pick a date for this run. As I looked at my calendar and all of my races and training runs, I decided that Saturday, October 1st (my birthday) was a great day to do this.
Who knew that a Hurricane would hit Florida the week of my run and we would be dealing with the remnants the weekend of my big run. Earlier in the week I asked my coach about switching it to another date if conditions were bad. She said that this was the best time for me to do this and have time to recover before JFK 50. Thanks again to my coach for helping out with some rain gear, as I gave all my jackets away after my weight loss. I guess it is time to do some shopping.
We parked in Purcellville and took an Uber to the start. It was raining on and off the whole way there but stopped once we got to the start. My coach had put a plan together for me, which included running and walking. The first 20 miles was 5 miles of running, then 2-3 minutes of walking. The next 15 miles was 3 miles of running, then 2-3 miles of walking. The last 10 miles was 2 miles of running, then 2 minutes of walking.
The first 10 miles we were under 10:00 min/mile, and I was feeling good. The pace dropped during the next 5 miles, and even more during the next 5 miles. This did include a bathroom stop at Caboose Brewing Coffee Shop, a gas station stop for water, as well as an extended walk break to finish fueling.
Somewhere around mile 20 or so, things got tough, and I had a bit of a meltdown. Steve Dobson tells the story better, but I was ready to quit. I started getting mad at myself for going so slow. I guess that first 10 miles had me pumped up, then reality set in and I realized I wouldn’t be able to maintain that pace for the whole run. I guess the pressure of the FKT got in my head. Later on, Steve pointed out that I was not behind my goal and had plenty of time to finish. I guess in the moment I wasn’t able to realize this, as math, running, and emotions don’t go together.
Shortly after this Steve tells me that we only have 21 miles to go. I responded by telling him to shut up. Steve was hurting as well, especially as he wasn’t fully recovered from his 100-miler last month. However, he kept me company for many miles and dealt with my meltdowns, until I finally decided that I was not giving up and got ahead of him.
I have done many solo long runs, but never after running so many miles and dealing with challenging weather conditions. We lucked out and the weather wasn’t that bad, but there was off and on chilly rain for parts of the run.
I texted my coach a few times during the run to keep her updated, as well as whine about how we were both hurting. With 9 miles to go, I texted her and said that I would text again when I finished. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that, as my phone died along the way.
Once I got through my meltdown, I got in a groove and the miles were just ticking away. I remember getting to mile 43.5 and realized that I had about a mile to go. I looked at my watch and saw that I was definitely going to be under 9:09:00. I thought that it would be cool to finish in 8:48:48, since I was turning 48. That didn’t happen, but I did finish in 8:49:19, which is an unofficial FKT until I submit my data.
I finished with 44.95 miles, which meant that I still needed to run 3.05 miles to get to 48 miles. Remind me again why I said I was going to do that? As Steve had the key to the truck and wasn’t done yet, I could stand there wet and cold, or get going. Of course, it starts raining just as I started my run to find him. I found him around 1.5 miles into my run, and we did a walk/run to the end.
While he wasn’t there with me for the whole run, I couldn’t have done this without him. I think he knew that I needed a little break after my meltdown and while he is a strong runner, not being fully recovered from his race could have possibly slowed me down.
My coach has been amazingly supportive during this whole process and pointed out that I was able to accomplish this without any tapering and a big mileage week the week before (60 miles). As she pointed out, this is a great indicator for what I can do when I have tapered properly.
So, what’s next you ask. Well, this week is a recovery week, with a few loops at Rick’s Run on Sunday. Freedom’s Run Marathon on October 22, which will be a training run, Fire on the Mountain 25k on November 6th (another training run) and the main event, JFK 50 on November 19th.