We all know Murphy’s Law:
That was me at Bear Bait in January of this year (2018).
I was registered for the 50M at Bear Bait and was excited about the race! A friend of mine and I had traveled down to Milton, Florida, where the race is held and ran a short trail race on the same trails as Bear Bait. I guess you could call it a scouting mission? Seeing as we both were registered to run longer distances in January and were bringing some #MScoffeerunners friends with us, we decided to check out the trails and give a report to our friends.
The trails were great! Not too technical. Relatively dry, as far as trails go. Not a ton of elevation, just pretty straight forward, mostly single track trails.
Easy Peasy!
Here’s a few pic from the trails last year. They really ARE fun!
So, what’s with the Murphy’s Law bit?
The day before the race this past January, I woke up not feeling so great AND knowing exactly what the problem was. My sister, who was traveling with me and my crew (she’s an amazing crew BTW!), got online and started frantically looking for a walk in clinic.
We finally found one and drove over. They had me pee in a cup and said the words I was expecting, Urinary Tract Infection.
UGH.
Nothing for it but to fill the meds and then head over to packet pickup! That’s exactly what we did.
The next morning, I toed the line for 50M feeling less than stellar. My bladder was killing me. I had a temp and most definitely did not feel like running 50M. Sometimes things don’t go as expected on race day but we go out there and do our best.
*You know how they say hind sight is 20/20? If I were in the same set of circumstances today, I’d still toe the line!
So, I attempted a 50M with a UTI and temp. That’s do~able, right? Sure, it is! Besides, I only had to run thirteen 4.15 mile loops. What could go wrong?
Apparently, lots.
The weather threw us a curve ball on race day. It was single digits wind chill the entire day. The National Weather Service had failed to mention that when we were weather stalking this race. I didn’t have appropriate clothing for those temps.
I took a fall on loop 11 and lost my protective glasses. I think my vision lasted a half hour after that and I went trail blind.
These trails are not marked with reflective doo~dads. It’s super easy to follow in daylight with the plastic tape, etc. but once that sun goes down it. is. dark. With the darkness and having lost my vision, that loop, loop 11, you know the one that’s only supposed to be 4.15 miles? Yea, that loop ended up being over 7 miles. I got hopeless lost out there. Once I finally saw the lights of the S/F, I just turned my body that direction and said to heck with the trail!
The discomfort from the UTI was affecting my posture. I was very uncomfortable…and cold. At the end of loop 11, with only two loops to go, I was forced to DNF. Gospel according to Garmin said I had run 47.50 miles. I was a very(!) sad panda but also knew I had absolutely no business heading back out for those last two loops.
All of that to say when registration opened for Bear Bait to be held next month, AND they were offering the 100k distance for the first time, I jumped on it! I have a score to settle with those trails!
First things, first, I’m praying to be healthy. No UTI’s this year!
I have multiple pair of protective glasses AND a strap to keep the goofy things on my head.
I have pacers! Friends from up in Corinth, Mississippi are driving down to pace me. It’s a birthday trip for them. They’re going to be lifesavers!!! The pacers are allowed this year for my last 3 loops OR when the sun goes down. YAY!!!
I bought running tights. I have TWO long sleeve XOSKIN shirts~those are amazing!!! I have TWO wind and water resistant jackets.
I have awesome XOSKIN socks, Altra Running LonePeak’s, my TailwindNutrition, ChafeX so I can run confident of no dancing in the shower post race! My SPIbelt can carry any little extra’s I need and my OOFOS will be waiting to make my feet happy post race. I’m sitting pretty and feeling prepared.
This is a new distance for me. I’ll be honest in that I’m a little apprehensive of the 19 hour time limit but my brain is in the game.
We’ve got this 100k. We’ve GOT this!!!
Bear Bait 100k~22 days!!!
Let’s run this thing!!!
#IRun4Aiden
