2024 Run Rabbit Run - Miles 44 to 71 (or the Bucky Miles)

 I don't think I took too long at Dry Lake. Long enough to get changed, refill the flasks, eat a couple of little pancakes and hot chocolate. Of course they said it was all down hill to Olympian. Just for the record, I don't think anything is all down hill, especially to someone running all the miles.

I don't much remember the miles from Dry Lake till we hit town. I told Bucky, even though I knew we were following the markings and we were with/around people going the same way, that this didn't seem like what we did last year. Turns out I was right. They were doing maintenance on the bike/walking path that we were now following. It was nice to have less city street miles. I definitely would have known if we went through the tunnel. We ran into Olympian with Rick cheering us on. He wasn't allowed in with us. The facility is filled with runners and pacers, no crew allowed. I went to the bathroom, then found a bench to sit on. Bucky got me one hot chocolate and then another. I was next to where a woman was doing blister/feet repair for runners. Noted. Bucky called over, "Tailwind is watermelon." My response was a forceful no, not sure of the exact phrasing. But I needed Tailwind. Bucky noticed other bags of it on the shelf. He asked for Mandarin. The volunteer said she didn't know if we had it. He pointed it out. She didn't know if she could make it. Bucky found someone to make it happen. Basically just scooped some into flasks for me and added water. Then, thinking ahead, Bucky secured some in a baggie in case we ran into a similar scenario later, but they didn't have Mandarin.

We noticed Rick out the window; he was pointing to his watch in a way that was saying, get the hell out of there! Were we here that long? It seemed much shorter than last year, but I was good to get going. Rick met us outside, "Did you have coffee?" "No, but I had two hot chocolates." I thought that was fine.

Bucky and I, well maybe Bucky, found the way to the climb out of Olympian with ease. Instead of being grumpy like I was for Mindy on this long, steep climb, I started to fall asleep. Bucky kept telling me to get away from the edge. He would say things but there would be gaps in my hearing because I was starting to be asleep on my feet. I don't think I can make it to the aid station, Bucky. We'll get you coffee and a nap when we get there. Then we were worried that they might not have coffee. It's billed as a potentially water only aid station. I don't think I'm going to be able to keep going.

But, we went up, up, and up. I stumbled and Bucky said, "Scout! Stay in the middle!" It would be so sad to not make it now because I couldn't stay awake on the trail. Is that a glow? Do we hear music? Holy Fuck!!! Lane of Pain aid station was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!! They were cooking everything and had fresh brewed coffee!!! Bucky plopped me in a chair and brought me coffee with cream. It was heavenly! I don't think I've had coffee that good since. He set an alarm and I was supposed to sleep for 20 minutes. I gave it a try, but the music was a little too loud and the smoke/grease coming off the cooking was somehow not conducive to sleep. He brought me a second cup of coffee, just as good as the first. I was ready to go. I never felt sleepy again!

From the aid station, the course goes down for a while. Bucky forewarned me that we had to go back up that long up a second time. He had checked this section out on Wednesday. I knew we hit the aid station again, but I didn't realize we had that bear of a climb to do so. UGH!!! At least this time I'd be awake. We were power walking/hiking, but fast enough we were passing people. Sure some people ran faster, but not too many. OH! Then we got to a turn and started up. Bucky realized we didn't go all the way back down. Our up would be shorter than the first long climb to the aid station!

SNORT!!!! "Bucky? Are we good?!" "Yes, just keep going." A bull moose, very close to us, let us know he didn't like us there. Fortunately, though close, he was down a steep section maybe 20' and there were lots of trees in between. Bucky said he'd loved to have gotten a pic, but knew that would be foolish. Continue on! Wow!!! Back to Lane of Pain aid station. I want more coffee, but decide a 1/2 cup might be a good decision. 

Oh, I totally didn't remember how long the descent back to Olympian was. While the up was straight up, the down, was long sweeping switchbacks where we could see where we were ultimately going. We never seemed to get closer.

Hmmm, I don't know where exactly, but somewhere between Lane of Pain visits, I took a hard fall (one of three in my race, but definitely the hardest even though I did do a bit of a roll out). My lower shin hit into a rock pretty hard. Bucky complemented me on my roll out, but knew I felt the ground. The impact seemed to grow as I ran.

Finally! We were almost down. The course was better marked than last year. We found our way back to Olympian without. Sorry, Squirrel, your duty was again harder than it should have been last year. Bucky had already planned to give his pacer bib to Rick so he could go into Olympian with me. I found my previous bench and planned to find the blister woman. I asked a dude where she was. He told me it was his shift now. I took off my left shoe and sock and left it to him to decide how to deal with the blisters. There was two different types of tape involved. I might have been skeptical, but figured I could tear it all of if it was worse. While the blister dude was working, Rick came back. They don't have the right Tailwind. Oh, they do, they just don't know it. He was able to get me refilled. I think I still had the scoops that Bucky had put aside just in case. Very good. I put my shoes back on. It felt weird, but not as painful. Ready to head back out!

See you at Dry Lake to Rick. And Bucky and I headed back out. I started to doubt where Bucky was leading me. This is just like how we came in. Yes, that's the course. No, it's like a link sausage; you hit the same aid stations but from a different way. Yes, for some of them, but this section is the same. I made him produce the map. It's a good thing we still had a signal! Ask Brian Emerson; he had to produce evidence that we were going the right way, too. 

We actually arrived at Dry Lake a few minutes after last year. I didn't take as long here. Rick brought me hot chocolate. It was horrible. It looked like brown water. There was no chocolate taste. He brought me another. It was no better. I'm good. Thank you, Bucky!!! Let's go, Tanya. See you all at the finish!