C & O Canal 100 Mile Endurance Run
April 30-May 1 2016
175 spots 167 registered 93 finished
Part 1 Training
Part 2 The RACE
Part 3 Post race
Part 4 Logistics
The Training
The goal
of doing a 100 miler.
The log!
The log marks the start and finish. Sean and I went up the weekend before the race to double check the gps directions before the big day.
Cupcake Run
My last long run before the race- 16 miles on the C&O Canal with a stop at Georgetown Cupcakes. I brought one home for me and one for Sean which involved carrying the pink box about 3 miles.
3rd place in my age group
at the Piney Point Marathon!
Derby sharing his toys with me
after I ran 30 miles by myself for the first time.
:)
George Washinton Birthday Marathon
I met Tammy Massie who gave the best advice on running 100 milers and also met Kristin Waters who became an amazing pacer (miles 70-90)
CHIPS!!!
Hawk Indoor Marathon
Sean and I met Michael Wardian and his dad. Super kind fun people. And it was amazing watching him run around that blue oval almost twice as fast as we did. I chose this race to prepare mentally for the C&O Canal. I have run the Canal in Freedom's Run and the JFK50 and while I don't feel the monotony that some talk about, I do get that there is not much change in scenery. Small world story- Liza Recto was the lap counter for us. I saw her again at the George Washington Birthday marathon and she encouraged me to run her marathon at Piney Point. I did and had a great time.
Piney Point Marathon
I ran into Kristin at the beginning of this marathon and had a great time running with her!
True!!
Carrying my sushi across the finish line. This marathon offers you the chance to put a special food that you would like at mile 13 for a donation. I got to mile 13 but didn't want my sushi. They had it for me at mile 23 so i carried it to the finish to enjoy after the race. Kristin enjoyed some too!
A friend posted this on facebook just before the race and I liked it.
Reston Marathon
Seneca Greenway 30K
I ran with Tish who is an amazing runner and so much fun!
Seneca Greenway 50K
Kept my feet dry here!
Bull Run Run Marina aid station
So much fun volunteering! Tammy Massie had the most awesome and delicious food for the runners and i borrowed her idea of chocolate covered espresso beans that worked magic in the 100 miler.
Tammy!
Training run on the canal.
Prerace dinners
Pizza for dinner
Thursday- Not Your Average Joe's Pistachio, Onion, and Olive pizza. No cheese since I'm vegan. I found that having pizza two nights before a big run is a bit magical.
Dinner the night before at the Boulevard Tavern in the Kentlands
-Beet salad for appy
house salad and fries for dinner :)
The Race!
The first 30 miles
The race starts!
and I took everyone's advice and walked the uphills lol.
OMG so true and so funny!! Around mile 4!!
Syrup shots!
Syrup shots are gold! I saw them at the Antietam the first time but didn't realize what it was. I thought it was concentrated Coke. The second time, Tammy said, "Cheryl, lets do a shot! It's maple syrup." And so I did and once again at Noland"s Landing at mile 80. Gold!
Dancing in to Dargan Bend aid station
Mile18.8
Flamingo!
Thanks to Harry for taking the pic. A connection through Paula Weaver who has run the JFK50 and has greyhounds. So exciting to know someone at the aid stations.
Random stranger shouting from the bridge- Not!
And i did hear my name! It was Tammy cheering Susan and me on! I started running with Susan almost as soon as I got on the canal to Brunswick at mile 30. So much fun to run with her. We have several mutual friends- how did we not know each other?!?
Keep Tryst Aid Station
A big thank you to Gil Gray for taking such good care of me and my pacers as we came through!! So many great volunteers there with you!
Brunswick Aid Station mile 30
First time I saw Sean since the start. I ran up to the aid station and he had my sushi and beer arranged on a table. It looked like a feast! and one of the aid station volunteers had on a coveted yellow Freedoms Run shirt and noticed I did too! So much fun! Then I noticed Catherine and Jim were there!!!!
Refreshing :)
You can see the coveted yellow freedoms run shirt and you can see the yellow jfk shirt from 2013 peeking out- channeling all the C&OCanal races for this one!!! And I had a small shot of beer at the OBX Marathon and at last year's Pittsburgh Marathon- so refreshing so I asked Sean to have one ready for me! I had about 4 sips. Perfection :)
Catherine and Jim!
A surprise visit from friends...so uplifiting!
Sean
The best crew!!!! He is amazing!
Lander's Road aid station
Vegan food!!!!! Homemade corn ginger soup and the sweet potato/almond butter/granola wraps were so delicious! The volunteers here were so much fun! Next year, I'll bring extra cupcakes for you all!
Nolands Landing mile 40
The binder
Each of my 1st graders made a page with motivational sayings and drawings full of the finish line, potato chips, and cupcakes! I promised I would take a pic of the binder at the race to show them.
Yes!
Also motivating lol and just what was needed again at mile 80 in the cold, dark, rain, and mud.
The cupcakes!
I was worried that if I put my cupcakes in my drop bag for Nolands Landing they might get accidentally smashed.I wanted cupcakes at mile 80 mostly for my friend who was going to pace me thru the dark of night so I picked them up from Sean at the mile 30 Brunswick aid station and ran them down to Nolands at mile 40 to enjoy with my pacer when we got back to Nolands at mile 80. I love the red velvet cake at mile 38 at JFK50 so this is my 100 miler version. So for those of you who saw me running with the pink box of cupcakes...this is the story. :)
Farah and Tammy
visiting with me as I arrive back at Brunswick at mile 50. Thanks so much for the surprise visit, delicious red velvet cupcake, Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups, and banana bread- all vegan.
Another stop at Brunswick. The loop from Brunswick to Nolands Landing and back is 20 miles but feels sooooooo long. It means so much to be able to see Sean again but just briefly- many many more miles to go.
Let's Go Crazy
Thank you Shaunte!
I asked Shaunte to play this song at Manidokan at mile 60 when i came in and she did! i had so much fun dancing before i changed out of my very wet and muddy shoes. So energizing and the best way to start the next 40 mile loop.
Mile 60-90
The rain! The mud! The dark! The rain! The rain!!
Tammy!
Thank you so much for pacing me from mile 60-70 when I still had a ton of miles to go and you had been up working the Antietam Aid station since early that morning. That animal sound I heard most likely was a fox not an hallucination. That's my story and I'm sticking to it lol!
Saw 3 salamanders
and countless frogs!
The longest I've ever run with a sign to prove it!
The last time I would pull out my phone in the rain...my friends were texting me all day. I would hear the message ding when I turned on the phone- it would ding ding ding ding ding and I could feel their love and support!!
The cupcakes
at Noland's Landing at mile 80. Double Chocolate for Kristin and Vegan Apple Cinnamon for me. :)
Embrace the suck
So my friends had been texting me all day and night which was so awesome!!! But also when Kristin posted some pix of this and tagged me she was like "OMG who are all these people posting?? They must be your friends! <3!!!" She read them and that was so amazing and helped me get through the muck and the night. Thank you again and again to Kristin and everyone who texted and responded- it meant the world to me!
Mile 80- Noland's Landing
Changing my shoes for the second time because of the rain and mud. It was very warm and dry in the tent and, with the rain pounding, so very tempting to sit a spell. But after a shot of Jack, Kristin and I were on our way.
Kristin!
I have to give a huge shout out to Kristin for running with me from mile 70 just after midnight through the night and rain and mud to mile 90. We heard noises and saw a lake and slogged through endless miles of puddles and rain and mud. I cannot thank her enough!
The mud!
And I cleaned my legs 10 miles ago!
The rain lol
Moving on towards mile 90!
That long long loop again from Brunswick to Nolands Landing and back. I did not see Sean at Brunswick earlier but had Tammy and Kristin for company. Farah surprised me with a visit and pacing to mile 100.
Coming into mile 90
Mile 90-100
Cold!
Kristin and I "embraced the suck" and made it!
Kristin's mad face- mad at the rain and the mud and the cold! I'm smiling because I know I have it!
Sean!
At Harper's Ferry- one last hurrah before the finish.
Hallucination!
Somewhere around mile 95. I truly thought I saw a guy with sandy blonde hair in an emerald green button down shirt crossing the canal and then start to saw wood on the side of the canal.I heard the saw!!! When I walked over to figure this out, there was just a pile of branches. I told Farah it was definitely time to be finished!
At last..
...done with that hill.
Sean took this pic- I can see that I was crying for the joy!
Thank you Lance and all the volunteers for an amazing race and experience for my first 100!!
Thank you so so much Farah
for running the last 10 miles with me and sharing the finish.
I'm at 9:48- about mile 99.75 just before my friend's video above. Thanks Paul for creating the video!
Thank you Fleet Feet
Post Race
Smoketown Brewing Station in Brunswick
First stop after the race! I still had so much excited energy!
Friends! <3
A special batch of backpocketprovisions.com bloody mary mix by Jen Gray Beckman with custom labels by Lisa Smith! YUM!
Read the label closely!!
Thank you Kim for a gift certificate to Dog Fish- perfect dinner Monday night. And I got fries and chips!!
Thank you to my nieghbor friends Syd, Marty, and Kellie and Mike for this awesome welocome home! And thanks Kellie and Mike for the champers!
Thank you to my brother and his family!
Because you run and finish your 1st 100 only once!
My 1st graders and my partner
made this awesome banner when i returned to work Wednesday!! There was a bag of chips taped to the left that didn't quite make the pic. Those first graders know how I roll!
Cupcakes!!
Thank you Rachel for the cupcakes for the class and me! And for the Baked and Wired cupcake too!!
THANK YOU...
to Sean- the best husband and crew in the world!!
to Sean's family for being supportive at this time.
to Tammy for all her 100 mile advice!
to Sean's family for being supportive at this time.
to Tammy for all her 100 mile advice!
To Coach Jenn for her running plans and advice!
to Kristin for being a great pacer and for doing it in epic weather conditions!
to Mary Jane for the chocolate, Rachel R for the beautiful believe bracelet, Susan for the compact mirror, and Rachel R for the beautiful flowers and support during my training.
Logistics
What I ate
For breakfast- two multigrain waffles with almond butter and blackberry jam
During the race-
a couple of potato chips at every aid station :)
maple syrup shots
2 nutter butter cookies
a few pretzels now and again
miso soup
sushi-4 pieces inari roll, 1 piece yellow pickle and 1 piece cucumber/avocado roll with soy sauce
half a Kyoto burrito by Sweet Earth- a Japanese style blend of adzuki beans, edamame, baby bok choy, spinach, and ginger
a sweet potato/almond butter/granola wrap
corn ginger soup- twice!
hummus avocado salt wrap
3 frito chips
cupcake
plus lots of water and occasional Tailwind
a really delicious stuffed red pepper at Manidokan after the race
beer and potato chips at Smoketown Brewery before heading home
delivery Thai for dinner that night
tofu, veggie spring rolls, and corn cakes
During the race-
a couple of potato chips at every aid station :)
maple syrup shots
2 nutter butter cookies
a few pretzels now and again
miso soup
sushi-4 pieces inari roll, 1 piece yellow pickle and 1 piece cucumber/avocado roll with soy sauce
half a Kyoto burrito by Sweet Earth- a Japanese style blend of adzuki beans, edamame, baby bok choy, spinach, and ginger
a sweet potato/almond butter/granola wrap
corn ginger soup- twice!
hummus avocado salt wrap
3 frito chips
cupcake
plus lots of water and occasional Tailwind
a really delicious stuffed red pepper at Manidokan after the race
beer and potato chips at Smoketown Brewery before heading home
delivery Thai for dinner that night
tofu, veggie spring rolls, and corn cakes
Planning
My journal
so much more logistics and things to keep straight and remember than any other race so I bought a pretty new journal to keep track of everything.
Food
because well food is the most important thing!
Crunching numbers
I really felt this was my "I don't know" race! What pace- I don't know! Where will I be when? I don't know! What food do I want when? I don't know!
The Plan
Read this but forget who wrote it... Ultra runners have discovered something very special: if you slow down just a bit from marathon pace, and keep stuffing your face, you can go on … and on … and on. And as the endorphin highs triggered by running make it ...., it’s an unspeakably amazing, even transcendental, experience. Many – myself included – get hopelessly addicted to seeing how far they can go.
and this from Brian Burk-a running friend .1. I’ve come to face I may not have the drive, genetics or time to be in a position to 1st place in my age group or win an event…..but I CAN DO EPIC. I will do epic and will live an EPIC LIFE.
and this pic from Jenn- a running and workout friend who has been a great cheerleader!!! She and Charisse keep me going with hydration and core challenges that have been so helpful. She said she would run Umstead with me <3