This past weekend my hubby and I ran in a 100 mile Ultra-Marathon!
We were asked to sign up and since we are avid runners, we decided to sign up for the cause. It was
definitely a crazy
challenge and nothing like we have ever done before.....but all worth it!
I was assigned the last leg of the race at MIDNIGHT.......which sounds crazy enough in itself! To make it all even more interested....the entire trail was in the woods.....on a dirt/sand/mud trail......and I would basically be alone! (I honestly didn't realize these details until I arrived at the race, which is probably a good thing!)
Chad ran first (he was the 8
th leg of the race) and I waited at the finish line as he finished his 8 mile run. The look on his face scared me a little bit as I asked him about the trail and if I would be okay out there running.
My leg began at midnight and I just ran off into the woods not exactly knowing what I was going to face. I blasted my music to hide the howling noises that I had heard as I waited at the start line.....and ran my heart out looking for these little glow sticks to guide me
thru the scary woods! It was
SOOOOO dark and I only saw a few other runners, going the opposite direction as me the whole time I was in the woods!
I was making great time, and felt so proud that I was
concurring such a serious fear of being in the woods alone........until I realized I had made a wrong turn and came across a drink station for the second time! I had added a mile to my distance at this point and just laughed it off and was thankful that I had trained so hard! I started to get SUPER annoyed with myself when I passed the SAME drink station for the 3rd time.......and realized that I would now be running 10+ miles in the woods that night! At this point I informed the guys at the water station that if I passed this station again they were going to have to call for someone to come and pick me up because I was done! :) OOPS!!!!!!
Once I found my way in the correct direction I ran my heart out and finished my now 10+ mile leg in 1 hour and 45 min! I normally wouldn't be so proud of this time....but seeing as how it was all on loose sand and dirt and I had to rely on the tiny lamp on my head to guide me...and had to walk thru the loose mud that had been made when a few wild boars had tried to nest on the path......I felt great!
My super sweet hubby was there to ride his bike with me on the last mile and was
soo proud of me! It wasn't until I crossed the finish line that he mentioned to me that he was
sooo shocked I even finished the race because he had been scared out of his mind out there! ha!
I absolutely love facing these awesome
challenges with my best friend, and have never been so excited to see his face as I did when I had come out of the woods that night! :)
xoxo
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