My First 100k (I guess a girl can live on shot blocks alone... maybe)

I did it! 62 fucking miles. Not bad considering my farthest run was 40 miles and I'd only been building up the mileage in the three weeks prior. At the start of the race, I stayed close behind Kami Semick and Anita Oritz, fellow La Sportiva teammate. I just got a thrill out of watching them and seeing what they did in the beginning of the race. They are two amazing runners. I hung with them until we approached Muir Beach and then it seemed their pace picked up, so I just settled in and focused on running my own race.

At almost every aid station my friends, Will and Jordan, were there to support me. It was coming up to Pan Toll that I struggled the most. My hip has been giving me all kinds of problems (an issue I've been having for a few weeks) and I also just felt super nauseous. I told Will and Jordan to get me an ibuprofen at the Bolinis aid station. It was windy along Bolinis Ridge, but I felt kind of bad ass because at this point I was sporting a sports bra. I didn't feel cold, but it may just have added to the nausea. Either way I got my ibuprofen and they offered me some PB & honey, but there was no way I was going to eat anything. I was hurting bad and wanted to quit, but I just don't give up that easily. I continued to take shot bloks just cause I knew I needed calories (I don't want to see those things for a long time, eating them for 9 hours... blah). Anyway after I stopped to pee I felt a little better and I just continued to put one foot in front of the other. Coming back up to Bolinis aid station, it was super helpful hearing other runners cheering for me as they made their way out to Randall. My apologies for not saying good job back to all of you, I was hurting. When I hit Bolinis aid station again, Will and Jordan made me put a shirt and jacket on. Will started pacing me at this point and told me that at every aid station I had hit spits for a 9:10 exactly, keeping a consistent 9 minute mile pace the whole way.

I kept that consistency until we hit Tennessee Valley. Then I had to walk all the hills. At this point I was feeling really sick, but at one point I turned to Will and said, "I am really proud of myself." I was amazed that I was almost to the finish. I could hear people at the end. Once I got down the stairs, I gave a final kick and smiled the whole way in. I finished in 9:18. Kami won in 9:07 and Anita 9:10. I must of been high on finishing because I felt good for about 10 minutes, but then sick to my stomach until this morning. I am still not feeling 100% and I've been struggling to take down food. In fact it was a pretty restless night of sleep. It remains hard for me to take deep breaths and of course my body aches. But what did I expect to happen after 62 miles? Still feeling proud of mysel



(Photos courtesy of Brett Rivers)