I stayed at Coach Steve and Kat’s again for my second night race attempt. The funny thing is my stubborn ass did not buy a new headlamp. I honestly can’t tell you if I just forgot, didn’t have time, or what happened. Sometimes, I think I just didn’t want to buy anymore things at this point. So, I kept trying to convince myself that maybe, just maybe, with everything else right, it will be okay. I did, at least, bring the right visor to wear with the crappy headlamp. I had switched to unflavored Tailwind completely for my liquid nutrition by this race and Steve had to Prime order it for me hoping it would show up the next day before I had to leave for the race. Again, not sure if I was just brain dead at this point or what. It did show up. This race was soooo hot. I have never sweat so much in my life. It was 4 loops. I’m not a big fan of loops. I really
Me and my new friend, Brent!
don’t like crossing the finish line and not getting to stop. The race started off well. I started way slower than the last night run. I’m sure some of it was because I was coming off of Silver Rush. I saw a woman from the last night race and we chatted some. She was encouraging. By the second loop, I was questioning whether this race was going to happen. It got dark and I was reminded about my crappy headlamp. Then, I met Brent at the last aid station before we finished loop 2. At first, I must admit, I was annoyed at how bright his chest strap light was. It blinded me at the aid station. I realized very quickly that I was just jealous. I left the aid station and he wasn’t that far behind me. He caught up to me and I told him he should pass. We started chatting and I quickly realized 1) I needed to stay with him (for his light!) and 2) I need to buy one of those lights! Brent and I ran at least 19 miles together. We both had ups and downs through the night, but together we were able to accomplish his goal of getting first place Master’s. I was just happy to be finished! Everything went as good as it could, I suppose. No nutrition issues. No clothes mishaps. I finished and there was Jill Price! She was someone who’d been cheering me along since we’d talked on the phone about Leadwoman in March. She was so helpful and gave me some great tips as she had done it the previous year. It’s always nice to see familiar faces. It was 3 a.m. and I had an hour drive. This time I was smarter and stopped at a convenience store to get a recovery shake and a Gatorade. I ended up with a crappy recovery bar and a Gatorade, but that held me until the next day and it was better than I had done at the last night race.
