Whispering Grace 100 #41

Never say you're going to run an easy 100! Got humbled by Whispering Grace this last weekend but grateful for the wonderful experience! After my Grand Slam of Ute, Tuscazoar, Grindstone, & No Business I thought doing a relatively flat no brainer course would be a nice break. 40 2.5-mile loops meant easy quick access to food, hydration, porta potties and great support, though 40 loops is definitely a mental challenge. The course was slight longer than last year with more slow lumpy grass, & runnable hills. Not training on roads to spare impact to my knee & hip, weather and sun made for a fun but painful run! I have an appt with the orthopedic surgeon after the race to take a look at my hip. I thought it was finally feeling okay, so of course the week before the race I fell off a ladder & landed weird, re-hurting hurting both my knee and hip, and then tripped on someone's scooter cheering a friend at the Marine Corps marathon so I was still limping 2 days before the race. Not fully healed, and weak. Worried, my plan was just to go steady & easy with 34 hrs. to complete. The past few weeks had also been emotionally rough, going through Dexter's birthday and into the holidays, could feel my heart on the brink of a grief tsunami, somewhat triggered by some insensitive comments someone made to me on Dexter's birthday... "Don't let this make you sad anymore"... I will always have sad as an undercurrent in my life. I miss my son, and I live with the memories of his death and am constantly reminded of the life and relationships he's missing with his family. Was also run down with a flu bug for 2 weeks so I didn't really even get much training in other than maintenance work and going slower than molasses favoring my hip. Easy race becomes hard.

I'd never pick a 40-loop course except that Whispering Grace Freedom Farm both rescues horses and gives free equine therapy to veterans, proceeds of the race would go to support that so I figured it's worth a little mental suffering to support an amazing cause. Had a lot of friends running this race so it was gonna be a great time. Loved meeting some of the beautiful horses before the race and seeing them as we ran.

Got lots of pictures because frankly there's not a ton of exciting things to write about when you're running 40 loops, a mile of which is out and back on a paved residential country road meaning you were going up or down that stretch 80 times!! Gah! Talk about an ordeal!

Peter drove out to Ohio with us to help support me and we had a great time pre-race visiting with our friends running & volunteering at the race, eating sausages and had fun playing several rounds of a game in the hotel before I crashed for a solid 8 hr. sleep, up at 5:45am for a 7:10 National Anthem, prayer and 7:30 start.

The day just started off weird with PMS symptoms I knew would make running in the sun more laborious, what looked like pink eye (but allergy drops helped) & still a little wiped out, realizing things I'd forgotten or left in the car that I needed to get ready, I was really stressing out with anxiety wondering if I was just gonna fall apart when I had a sweet peaceful feeling come over me like a warm blanket and reassured me everything was going to be okay. So, I put on a smile and took some deep breaths and headed for the start line.

My great LDS friend Susan, one of the few other Latter Day Saint ultrarunners I know, and our friend Adam at the start line. Susan was going for her 2nd hundred buckle, and I was super anxious to see her succeed! I had been planning on a more comfortable cool autumn race, but the weather ended up pushing up towards 80 with overnight temps still 70 degrees at 1:30 am! I had to repack at the last minute for this race for summer weather and forgot a few things like extra ChapStick and sunscreen.

Morning temps were glorious for running so I started off pretty easily with no hip or knee issues, keeping a comfortable 11–13 mile pace for the first 25 or so miles, and watching my heart rate. Loved seeing all the American flags along the course and watching the horses being turned out to their pastures. After the second loop there was a little rainbow sitting right above the timing mat/finish line, I took that as a good sign that I had my heroes with me, and just relaxed into an easy running rhythm for the day.

After the sun came out, I depleted pretty quickly. I made a hydration plan to drink a 16 oz bottle of liquid IV every loop, a Nesquik every 2 loops (5 miles) and nibble on whatever looked good at the aid station or candy in my drop bag. By mile 20 was already feeling the miles and heat and could see other runners were already starting to suffer. One friend of mine who just finished a graduate level race, Cloudsplitter 100, was having heart palpitations from the heat and had to drop at mile 25. Some other friends and runners on the course were having hydration and stomach issues early on. Made me feel better that I wasn't the only one having a rough day!

Sometime around mile 27 I got a knock in my knee, was super worried about it so Jason met me at 30 and helped me get on a gosleeve compression knee brace. That helped me reduce swelling, so the knock went away and fortunately didn't give me any serious trouble. The road was hard on the joints, so I used quite a bit of arthritis cream.

Running on this gravel sucked. fyi. Got some blisters from an untried pair of hoka bondis, so I popped them thru my sock and put on my good ol reliable hoka speedgoats. Feet hurt so much by the end, but no more blisters.

The rollercoaster weather played wonky havoc on a our bodies. I swear the sun was glaring on every hill, then the temp would plummet with cold high winds, some gusts pushing 50mph. Running uphill with a solid headwind was a continual struggle, and both the wind and sun were really dehydrating. I was troubleshooting hydration all day but managed a good balance so got lucky with no stomach issues.

My amazing, awesome fun & hilarious friend Carol who paced me at Tuscazoar planned to pace with me overnight, into the morning, & came out early and brought me a sonic hot dog and pretzel twist and ran with me for 3 loops. That hot dog was the bomb! :-D Wasn't sure I could do the pretzel, but I tried nibbling on it for a loop and it was actually perfect. It was the nicest thing she remembered I love hot dogs! I feel so lucky she's adopted me. <3 When we were out running one of the other runners on the course crossed the street on the out and back to introduce himself to me. John, who is a veteran and served multiple tours in Iraq (and Afghanistan?) a survivor of war and PTSD. He thanked me for what I was doing, running for veteran suicide awareness and shared a little bit about his personal struggle. It was a brief encounter on the course, but it stuck with me all day and through the night. A reminder of my why. I felt super emotional and grateful for the chance to talk to him. It reminded me why it's so important to be open and share our experiences, you never know when you'll meet that one person who might need to know that someone else "gets it." Thanks for making my race so special John! I also ran with another guy who was doing the 100k. He asked me about the men on my pack and about Dexter, we talked for a few miles. He had lost a brother in his teenage years to murder, and watched his parents struggle through the loss. It was a beautiful conversation, and I was so grateful he shared his personal and family story of grief and loss with me.

Quiet miles alone, thinking about Dexter, Jacob, Jake, Taylor, Nate. Took a pic of the beautiful sky and happened to catch a beam of light that felt more like a sign of love than a trick of the camera <3

Jason did one loop with us in the daylight then I was alone for a while, cranked the tunes and tried to get more miles under my belt. Was relieved when the sun went down, and the darkness covered the monotony of the beautiful but tedious scenery. 45 to 70 just seemed to take for-e-ver. Jason and Peter came out to meet me sometime after dark and brought me a heath blizzard (mine & Dexter's favorite) and Peter walked a loop with me. Glorious ice cream! Peter told me all about ideas in a book he wants to write so it was some great mom & son time. I never got tired of looking at the horses, but the grass, mailboxes and houses along the road out and back for 80 passes isn't exactly entertaining. What was interesting and neat to see was the progress of all the other runners. Some were too focused to be friendly or chatty but there were so many who were kind & fun & encouraging, it was cool to watch them all descend Into suffering and push through difficult hours of physical and emotional effort attempting to reach their goals.

Carols sister Rachel who I adore, came to meet me about mile 65 with hot fresh TACOS, wearing this glorious taco hat!! My stomach was mildly unsettled but I popped a couple ginger tabs and took the risk of throwing up for the joy of a taco lol. Was so delicious! Rachel stuck around for a few hours, and when I came through the aid station, she pulled out a hot taco from her fanny pack "taco heater warming box" thing. :-D It was so funny!! Made me laugh through pain. Amazingly I felt great for a few hrs. after the tacos. Chocolate milk got a little heavy so I switched to apple juice capri suns that I could quickly drink and flatten in my pocket. Felt like I got a little too much salt and my fingers were swelling a bit, so I just focused on drinking juice every lap and a couple quick shots of coke or ginger ale thru the aid stations to keep the stomach settled.

Abt mile 65, not having a good time.

Was cheering on my friends. Worried about Susan, she was falling asleep on her feet in the early evening and throwing up overnight. I was praying more for her than for myself, I really, really wanted her to push through and get her buckle. I knew she could do it! Our friend Adam had some hip trouble and dropped at 50k. It was great to cheer on our other friends out there and make new friends. Overnight was just a crucible, pain cave, death march. Middle of the night, still sweating from the warm temps. The wind had finally died down. At one point another guy out running the 100 went past and he was playing his music out loud too. It ook me a second trying to hear what was playing. "Thunder" Imagine Dragons. That just made my night, not the only one suffering thru the night to some awesome music. My language!

Carol came back out to run/walk with me from mile 70-90. Got me another hot dog and kept juice, Nesquik and hot soup going for me all night. She made sure it got salted and peppered just right! I tried to not worry about my finish time & we pushed a little to stay under 20 min miles (except for aid station/drop bag/portapotty stops) Carol was really fun and we talked most of the time, luckily, she talked more than me because the cold air from the day had my lungs swelling so I was coughing. Night was easier to just pee on the side of the road so that was a positive. Carol has a train theme planned for her next 100 miler so she brought out a train whistle and a cowbell, and every time we passed other runners on the out and back, she would toot the whistle and ring the bell. It was just so fun and mood lifting! We were slow but made forward progress and closed in on 90 by morning. I appreciated that she stayed up with me all night. My two favorite moments were seeing the low almost full moon on the horizon, and singing "Turn Around" by Bonnie Tyler at the top of our lungs at the turn around. It was silly haha but distracted from the pain!

With sunrise, hope for some additional energy. I was not excited to see the sun though!

Jason came out and met us for the 87.5-90 mile loop, they talked and I tried to keep my legs moving to the music. I was alone for 5 miles which was kinda nice, quiet and I cranked the music and tried to distract and just grind down the final miles. Felt like it took forever. Once the sun was up, it would come out intermittently, usually when I was climbing the two hills and I started getting overheated. Threw ice in my hat to cool off and that helped wake me up and quiet my stomach. It was starting to turn a little. I didnt want to stop and pee every mile so I just grabbed a capri sun instead of bottles of electrolytes and and drank one every loop.

Pulling together a smile, remembering why I'm out there, running for those veterans, who are lost to suicide and can no longer run. Including my Dexter. I am grateful to be his feet and I hope with every mile I can be his voice.

Mile 95 Jason and Peter met me and Peter came out to pace my last 2 loops, 5 miles! I was so happy he was there! We put on some imagine dragons and sang. Peter is a great little pacer. He has a long stride and a fast walk and doesn't mind telling me to "hurry up, you're so slow mom!" He kept pressing me to go faster, telling me to stop talking or wasting time. Turned around and walked backwards, making me stare into his eyes while saying 'go faster, go faster.'

Carol brought out her Hipp-Ho to cheer me on, haha. She didnt pace after mile 90 but so nicely stuck around to see me finish! I was so proud to see Susan grinding it out, she was a loop and a half in front of me and though she'd been sick and in pain all night, she was going to have a solid finish under 30 hrs! We gave each other a hug as she was going to the finish (I still had a lap and a half to go) and it was funny because we were all hunched over like a couple old witches or hags from the effort and pain.

It suddenly felt sooo hot and I was feeling pukish. I had my hat full of ice and the owner of the farm, out in his golf cart checking on runners, brought us some bottled water than I poured down my arms, and down my shirt to cool off. I felt so much better after that. Peter pushed me and we made it to 100 miles just squeaking in under 30 hrs. The course had an additional . 3/4 mile to go.

Encouraging me along the last stretch

Peter with me encouraging me through the finish! What a great son. :) <3

Awww Jeremey, my favorite race director. Hes just feels like my bro, Gave me a big hug and my medal. So so relieved to be finished!

In true Jeremey fashion, after he cooked me some fresh bacon and fried up some potatoes, he went out to run with the last female on the course and pace her to finish in time, she wasnt on track to make the cutoff. When we drove away to our hotel we passed them, he was holding her hand and getting her to run. Put tears in my eyes, he's such a good soul!! I dont think you can find a more caring race director than Jeremey.

Yay, my awesome awesome pacers! They both made this painful experience fun and memorable!

My friend Susan ran a fantastic race, pushed through so many struggles from blisters to drowsiness to back pain & vomiting, and finished almost an hour ahead of me. Her 2nd 100! Congratulations!!

Jeremey hooked me up. No throwing up and I felt pretty good after so ate this huge plate of potatoes, shared half the bacon with Jason. Carol made sure I had plenty of salt and pepper!

Hard to see in the pics but I had this bizarre heat rash covering my legs, when I got to the hotel realized it was covering my entire body. That was a first.

Tried to get a pic of all the knots in my hair from the wind. It took me 10-15 minutes and a ton of hair conditioner to finally work them all out.

Crashing in the hotel after a hot bath with my awesome WG100 hoodie and gorgeous buckle. Prettiest one I've seen. I may go back for a third next year, I don't know. The course is really kinda weirdly hard but I love supporting Race Brimstone and this farm & their horses.

Kinda fun to see where Peter came out and paced me, you can see how he really cracked that whip!

I figured I'd share pics of my own two therapy horses! I had a beautiful black horse, Rochambeau, before Dexter died. After he died my heart was so broken and I had no emotional energy for anyone or anything, so I found him a very good home. I couldn't both run and do horses. Recently Adams girlfriend moved in with us and I think she and we all needed some of our own horse therapy, so I sold off our cows and brought these two girls home. I haven't done much riding yet, I haven't wanted to risk getting hurt with my hip injury, but just having the horses around has been awesome. Arda is the bay and Valinor the paint.

I had lots of company this race so I had a lot of distractions, but I still took time to think of and try and feel and express my love for these boys and say prayers for their loved ones. SSgt Taylor L Wilson, Sgt Jacob M Gray, PFC James Dexter Morris, and LCpl Jacob Crewson, and my buddy Nate.