Dreadmill 100 #43

Seems a little funny to write a race report about running on the treadmill, but honestly this challenge is no joke! I really appreciated having the opportunity to run this in 2020, when Christmas was especially hard and heavy with grief, it was a much-needed distraction. 2 years later feelings aren't as painful, though sadness always accompanies the holidays. I did not run this in 2021 because of my knee surgery so I was excited to do the challenge again. In 2020 my finish time 0f 20:57 put me in 4th place in top women's performances. I really was feeling strong and faster after my last race so I was hoping to beat my time and possibly if everything went well, see if I could do a sub-20. We were lucky to have my daughter Hannah and son Isaac home for Christmas with their families and to have a full house. I was waiting until all the excitement of Christmas died down to start my Dreadmill 100 challenge. I still wanted to start on Christmas day, to honor Dexter, SGT Gray, LCpl Crewson, SSgt Taylor and Nate, and to raise awareness for veteran suicide, & those who struggle with suicidal thoughts through the holidays. I'd actually been in a couple conversations in the past 2 weeks with some friends who were struggling, I'm grateful they felt I was a safe person to talk to. Christmas can be so difficult for people. Was especially praying for the families of the fallen, for light and peace to be with them even in their loss. I found a little gold Christmas tree to decorate with US Marine Corps ornaments for my "aid station. " Stocked up with candy, electrolytes, juice & Nesquik, My plan was to only stop every 5-10 miles for fuel/hydration or bathroom stop but otherwise run straight through to 100 without going into the rest of the house. Feeling a little chub from eating lots of Christmas treats, started shortly after dinner Christmas night.

Hannah gave me this gorgeous Willow statue for Christmas. I definitely cried, hit my heart hard. Went very well with my motivation pictures.

3/5 of my sons hanging around Christmas night, coming in to cheer me on. <3 It's the first 'race' Isaac and Jacob have been to.

Last time I ran this, my treadmill shorted out a couple times, so my plan was to run this in 10-mile segments, take a picture, then unplug the treadmill while I refueled and used the bathroom, it worked really well. I didn't want to try and keep track of where I was so Jason labeled sticky notes for me, for the next milestone I was pushing. My body felt great the first 12 miles, stayed close to a 9:30 pace. I wouldn't be this fast on a flat road race because the treadmill is just a little easier and faster, but I did bump up to a 1 incline to at least somewhat simulate a flat road effort. I kept close to that pace for almost the first 15 miles. I managed to stay under a 10 min mile pace for the first 30. Sometime after half marathon I started getting motion sickness, so I had to run with all the lights on and keep salt and electrolytes going. My son Adam and his girlfriend Kaitlyn made me lasagna I was excited to eat through the night, but my heart rate was running high, so I managed to eat a small piece and some candy early on but ended up fueling 80% with Nesquik drinks and liquid IV. About 50k I ended up taking Zofran to settle my stomach and it worked pretty well, thankfully.

All my family pooped out mostly by 10pm so I was on my own for a lot of hours, though Jason stayed up most of the night off and on, setting his alarm for different milestones to take care of me. He and the boys moved our big screen to the front of the treadmill for me so I could watch videos all night. Put on some sabaton playlists for a while, then as it got late like 2:00 am we switched to concerts. Helped me stay upbeat and keeping a good pace.

No idea what mile this was, I was a hot mess. The weekend had been frigid here but once I started running I was overheating and needing a fan, so I kindof went back and forth from having cold chills to sweating. Kinda messed with me.

Finished 50 miles in something like 9 1/2 hours, pulled out my fasted 100k.

Gettin it done selfie. Alone time during the night I talked to Dexter and thought about all those I was running for, offering a prayer for their families, asking them to cheer me on and help me keep up my strength of will to push this to a 20 hr 100.

Imagine dragons, an awesome concert I watched twice. :-D

Pretty queasy through the night but my morning I managed to eat a bit of lasagna the kids made me.

Jason helped me so much, I had lots of little needs, filling bottles, needed clean towels, help with some salt pills, keeping track of the wild grandkids and bringing them into visit, I couldn't have finished so well without him handling all the extra technical details.

My one-man crew, all night long! I loved the disco lights though they probably contributed to my motion sickness haha, but the vibe was too cool to turn them off.

Little grandbaby Ellie riding on her "wonder horse" pacing grandma.

Kept a solid pace above 14-minute miles up to about 94 miles, then I started feeling really nauseous and motion sick again, so I finally slowed to a walk, but still stayed above 15 min miles. Got faint and had to finally hold the rails for a couple miles so I didn't tip over. Mile 98 got so sick I had to stop and run to the bathroom and vomit up several hours' worth of apple juice and Nesquik. :P Felt better after and was able to slow jog in the last 2 miles.

Hit 1-0-0 Rock on! :-D

All my helpers coming in to cheer me at 100 miles.

Despite some knee and hip quirks, battle with some nausea and sleepiness, heat and cold chills, I managed to beat my 20-hour goal. Sub 20 hr 100.

All my sweet mileage sticky notes, gonna save these with all my race bibs. I love that Jason made all these for me! Every 10-mile milestone when I pulled each one off the treadmill felt great!

After I finished, laid on the ground for like 10 minutes for the room to stop spinning. My legs didn't feel too bad so I was able to climb the stairs for a shower but ended up on the bathroom floor driving the porcelain bus again. Finally settled got snuggled under warm blankets and held my little Lucy grandbaby. I could only sip water for a few hrs. but rebounded enough to go out with the family for All you can eat buffet at Golden Corral, a fun finish to this Christmas Day 100!

Email acknowledgement from the RD. I'm hoping this time will put me in the top 3. We'll see what the other performances look like, this challenge runs through Dec 31. Buckle will come in the mail later. Still, I'm beyond pleased with my performance and am so grateful to be running this. Last year on Christmas day I "ran" and could only do a 16 minute mile pace for 4 miles before I had too much pain to run. I don't know how many years this prosthetic will hold up but I'm so so grateful to have proven to myself that I can perform as well or better than I could before. Being able to run is a gift and its saved me from sadness, darkness and grief so many times. It just feels right to make it part of my holiday.

Editing to include that somehow I managed to pull out a podium finish, first place overall! :-D

Professional pics from Beast of the East came back during this run, so it was fun during some of my walk breaks to check them out and remind myself I can do hard things. This was probably my favorite!

Well, this run closes out 2022. I'm very grateful that somehow, I managed to finish 15 100 mile distances this year. Not every one was perfect but they were solid on the distance. Wishing a Merry Christmas to Dexter, Taylor, Jacob, Jake, Nate, and all those loving and missing them. Christmas is a poignant and melancholy time when your child has died and it's hard going into a new year without them. I'm grateful my faith in Christ is a light that gives me hope that one day we will be reunited in the flesh.