VT100 - Getting It Done

OK, where are we?  After dawn.  That still leaves about 5 hours.  Incredible!  As much time as we were out there, it didn't feel long.  Time seems irrelevant in ultras.  Normally, I think in mileage.  The time spent always surprises me.  Though this time we were focused on time because of the deadline, I still had no sense of it in real terms.  I can't even explain it.  Go run a long, long way and see if you can explain it to me, please.

Oh!  I forgot to say that, even in the dark, I recognized so many places because of all the places Xar and I drove trying to get to the B&B.  At one point, seeing the police lights (around 2 or 3 am?), I knew just how close we were to the start/finish.  Wow, that's cruel.  Dumb me told George, but I think it had no meaning other I think he took in I knew where we were.  Also, just for follow up, I was instantly too hot even walking with my hoodie.  I tied it on my waist not 1/4 mile in.  I unloaded it into George's first drop bag.  I can't emphasize enough how much I love the sleeves.  I didn't take them out till late at night when a breeze made this sweaty body chilly.  They were perfect. From then on, I'd pull them up/push them down.  It was the perfect temp control.  Later, towards the end of it all, they would become my fly swatters.  I <3 p="p" them.="them.">
Lets see, somewhere after dawn, Scott and his energetic pacer passed us again.  What the hell?  I thought they were long ahead.  Again, I was made to take note of how effective not stopping at aid stations was.  They put some distance on us as Scott seemed to be running well again.  A few long hills later, we'd be passing them again.  George.  He just keeps keepin' on.  Pain?  Fuck it.  Maybe with 5 miles left we'd see them pass us for the last time.  Yay Scott!!!  No DNFIT this year :D

So, Mary Lou and her pacer....Turns out (damn, damn, damn!  I should remember his name.  I mispronounced it twice so it should be stuck in my head.  so much for my good memory) her pacer was a high school cross country kid.  His longest run ever was 16 miles.  No wonder he looked sore.  She and George exchanged thoughts about 100s and this one in particular.  They'd both done much harder races earlier this year.  I think they both had the same  number under their belts.  They agreed this one was deceptive and cruel.  The non-technical nature of about 80% it made it much more runnable than most.  People ran too hard, too early. for too many miles.  She was struggling with blown quads.  Yet she was, similar to George, pretty upbeat and non-complaining.  She was a little worried that her husband had been at the finish line for so long.  He would be tired and grouchy.  I felt a little sorry for him till I learned he was just crewing for her; he had NOT run it himself.  I'd talk to him if I ever saw him.  Mary Lou, she is defended (for fans of the new Dr. Who).

We'd see them again later.  For now they went ahead.  Did George have another spasm?  I think maybe.  Hmmm.  As the sun got higher, it got warmer.  It was getting hot.  We were joined by a clan.  Yay!  It was a runner that George had known for a long, long time.  He was being paced by 3 of his boys!  They were big boys.  I think one was 6' 6".  They traded snippets of their stories.  I think they'd been together earlier.  George asked the dad if he had any ibuprofen.  I thought he might be feeling things more.  Luckily, dad produced a couple of pills.  It's a good thing George doesn't have much trouble taking pills; he couldn't tip his head pack at all.  We stayed together for a bit, but the boys were pulling their dad along.  We let him go, but not the good vibes that he brought to George.  They lasted a while.

We came came up on Mary Lou and pacer again.  George asked if she was having trouble with her right calf.  How did he know???  From how she was walking.  He offered Biofreeze.  You'd think he had stock in the goo.  She was thankful.  We stayed together for quite some time.  A woman in a jeep(?) yelled at us.  Did we want Gatorade?  Hell, yes!  Pacer and I made sure the runners kept going as we hung back.  The woman rooted through tons of stuff in the back (maybe it was a truck with a cap).  We let her know how appreciative we were.  She said she knew how we felt; she'd been crewing for a horse.  Finally she produced a quart.  She kept looking but then shooed us off.  As we were running the fluid to our runners, I said to him, "Doesn't this feel wonderful?!"  He commented that he never thought walking would be hard.  Yes, running was just what was needed.  Just as we delivered the payload, we heard the woman cheer; she'd found more.  Instead of waiting for her to come to us, we ran back to the truck/jeep just to run more.  She gave us two more quarts!  We all drank our fill.  The pacers carried what wasn't finished.

We separated again.  I'm not sure who was ahead this time.  George was feeling the need for speed.  He felt us getting nearer?  Or was it the heat building in.  I could see him try to run on the start of the downs.  I decided to point out we should walk until that mailbox, where it was less steep.  He accepted that.  Walk fast then some running.  OK, that would be my tactic; judge if it was OK for him to run.  If not, suggest a good place to start.  He really was faster power walking, but I think running was important to the spirit.

We were coming into an aid station.  Was it the last one?  I'm not sure.  Wherever it was, there was Ryan, the Snowman, Triffitt!!!  I wish everyone could have seen George's face.  I love how simple support can mean so much.  As Ryan came towards us, I went into protector mode.  All I could picture was Ryan slapping George on the back or hugging him.  Don't you dare!  Do. Not. Touch. The. Runner.  On. Penalty. Of. Me.  Seriiously.  Of course, everything was fine.  The boost Ryan gave George probably could have counter-acted any slap on the back he might have given (if the body guard screwed up).  Much happiness.  Finally, we were leaving them behind.  Ryan asked if there was anything else.  Oh!  Fill my Nathan pack?  He ran back, filled up, and ran it out to me.  Our buoyed spirits let George put on a spurt.

Hey George!  You've got this.  Damn straight!  We knew it, but still there was no letting up.  We were moving faster.  OK, somehow we were with Mary Lou and Pacer again.  I mentioned "time to shine" girl.  Mary Lou was excited.  Did you see her, too?  She was so sweet.  :D :D :D  I let them in on our calculations.  They didn't have a garmin.  I said 97 miles.  Can you announce every mile?  I'll try.  I wasn't looking that often, but then it became my job.  Pretty soon, we'd put too much distance between us and ML.  Still, I think we knew they'd finish on time.

We were close.  A young girl came running toward us.  I asked her where the finish was.  She said, " you follow the signs."  Kids.  Still we were close.  George kept a run going.  Soon we heard finish-line type cheering.  GEORGE!!!  You have this.  As we approached the finish, George told me I was finishing with him.  He grabbed my hand.  I gasped.  That's your sore side!  I am tearing up now, because I know what it cost him to take my hand.  We saw his Annie!  We saw TMs.  We heard TMs.  As we crossed the line, so many emotions.  I wanted everyone to know what he had done.  I caught Xar's eyes.

The next minutes are probably the most blurry.  I think the first comment I remember most was Emma saying doesn't it make me want to do it.  HELL. NO.  Not this one.  Pineland is to the 50 what this one is to the 100.  Nope.  Never.  100.  Maybe.  Probably?

So then there was finding out the great times of our fellow Monsters, Jeremy, Ian, and Joe.  The devastating, though guessed at, news that Zak had dropped.  His knee had blown up.  Still not sure what that means, but we'll know soon.  Xar's runner could not go on passed the 95.5 mile aid station.  After seeing the distorted shape she'd become, I'm amazed she made it that far.

There was to be a BBQ and awards.  Xar and I were riding back to my car, still at Ten Bear, with Ann and George.  We hoped they wanted to leave, but, it was their event and their call.  Phew.  Leave.  We gave Ryan our BBQ ticket and words like, "You are awesome", because, well, he's awesome.  And that was before I'd heard the entire story of his day.

Um, when George got behind the wheel, I offered to drive.  But you know what, George had been in the driver seat since he came into Ten Bear.  OK.  I just hoped his legs wouldn't spasm when trying to apply brakes on the curvy, steep dirt roads.  No problem.  They dropped us at my car.  We drove back to the B&B to shower.  I had the first; Xar napped.  Then she showered, we said our good-byes, and headed out.  I knew I needed food.  Back to the general store from the night before.  I took the first driving shift.  I ate my wrap and got us onto the highway.  After an hour or so, I knew I was too tired to drive much further and planned to get off at the next exit.  Not sure how much longer I drove, but I woke up to find me doing about 40mph.  I was still in my own lane at least. Xar!  Wake up.  I need you to make sure I don't fall asleep till we get off the highway.

We got off just after crossing back into NH.  There was a shopping mall.  We tried parking in the lot to sleep.  It was just too hot and noisy.  I spied an industrial park type drive.  We went down it looking for some shade.  Finally, we found a large, if scarily-stacked, pile of pallets.  It cast a nice shadow.  We parked in the welcome shade with our windows down.  A quick, "Please don't fall on us" to the pallets, and we were both out.  I startled awake maybe a 45 minutes later.  It was enough to wake Xar, too.  She took over at the wheel.  About 1/2 hour in she said she was going to try to last another xx minutes, but needed to stop soon.  We wondered how long it would take us to get home, with these little stints.  Where she pulled off, there was a McDs.  I bought a large ice coffee and pounded it.  That was all I needed to get us the rest of the way home.  Wow.

Xar drove off in her pretty red car.  I was sad the event was done.  By the time I got to sleep, I'd been awake almost 41 hours (just the 45 minute cat nap).  I slept 9 hours straight that night.  Since then, I've only had two bad nights of sleep.  Mostly, I have been falling asleep before Rick.  Who knew all it took was 30 miles of pacing and 41 hours of awake time?

So many amazing, inspiring people in those hours.