First 18 miler in 12 years!

I had a monumental task ahead of me, drive about 2.5 hours north of home in the early hours of the more, complete a 6 hour endurance run and then drive about 3 hours home (traffic picked up by then).  I left home bright and early before the sun was even up and nerves were building up as I hadn't run more than 13.1 miles in the past 12 years!  Those little whispers of doubt were setting in but I needed to do this. I needed to prove to myself that I was strong enough to do it.

When I arrived, I was thankful to see that the course was around this beautiful lake, Lake Padden in Bellingham, Washington.  I had never been there but the views on the entire course were very pretty.  I'm not typically a fan of loop courses and this one is a 2.6 mile around the lake for each loop.  Doing this for nearly 6 hours sounds boring, but somehow the trail was enough to keep you distracted and taking in the beautiful nature around you that it didn't seem annoying. 

I tried to find something new with each loop and on loop #2, I found this beautiful bird just relaxing in the water.  Although it is the only one I saw during the whole time I was out there, for a moment I was excited to focus on finding something different each time around the lake. That is when the mental part of running is very helpful.

I had 6 hours and my goal was to complete at least 18 miles.  I ended up walking the last several loops, but did finish 18.2 miles!  I thought about going around one more time and then I reminded myself I had a 3 hour drive home ahead, so I stopped after reaching that milestone.  I was so excited that I completed my goal and honestly didn't even know if I could do it.  In fact, I probably wouldn't have if it wasn't for my Skirt Sister Pam and her husband who caught up to me and we ended up doing those final two loops together.  There is something about a supportive running community that can help you go just a little bit further.

So, just like that I proved to myself that I can do more than I think.  I won't lie, I was pretty sore, but it is a miracle I made it home without falling asleep on that long drive through tons of Seattle traffic.  Our reward for finishing the Hamster Endurance Run was a handmade trophy that I absolutely love!  As I was heading back to my car, the director also chased me down to tell me I also won a pair of compression socks too. 

My overall impression of this event was great.  They had PLENTY of refueling food for those out there for the 12 hour, 24 hour and 32 hour events.  It was kind of nice to have the loop course because I got a little warm and instead of taking off my bolero and carrying it with me, I had a place to drop it off at the pavilion.  The other thing I learned is how much I love pickles during a race!  They had a jar of pickles and that was my reward the last few loops.  I would stop at the water stop, grab two baby pickles, and then head back out on the next loop.  Salt is good!  It did rain on us the whole race but because of the trees I barely noticed we were getting rained on.  I will do this race again.  I'm learning that as I get older, I love these laid back races where you are your only competition.  It is just about challenging yourself and not stressing over what time you finished. I am enjoying that type of running atmosphere.