Race Report: Fort2Base 10 Nautical Mile

(first off, I'M SO BEHIND! I've been reading, but not commenting - I hope to catch up with everyone this week...)

I heard about this race early in the Spring, and really wanted to do it, but couldn't afford it at the time. As time went on, of course the price went up. But! A few weeks back there was an online Schwaggle that discounted it 50%. So I registered, hoping to both honor the day in a meaningful way and also combine it somehow into my 22 miler - my last long run before TCM.

Kim was running it too, and I tried to talk her into making it 22 with me, but she wasn't comfortable with the idea, wanting her 22 to be it's own thing. So she did her 22 on Saturday, and ran this with me as a recovery run. (YES!! She ran 11.6 with me the day AFTER her 22! ROCK STAR!!)

SO. Since I was running more than 10 miles prior to the start, I didn't want to do race day packet pick up. I drug my kids with me Saturday and we picked up my bib and shirt, which by the way is probably the best race shirt I've gotten to date. Love it.

Race day morning I woke up at 3am. Yes. Way early. I was out my door before 4, hoping to get at least 10 done by 6. The miles ticked off, and I enjoyed the quiet of the dark. The moon was AMAZING. It was cool and humid, and the run was uneventful. I made it back to my house just before 6, having logged a 10.4 mile warm up. YES! Now I just needed to finish the race, with no extra miles to worry about.

I changed my clothes quick (I didn't want to START the race already gross), grabbed a banana and my handheld, and John dropped me off right at the start. In hindsight, I am so thankful, and the logistics of getting on the base turned out to be complicated for many runners. He kissed me and sent me on my way, and it was nice knowing I'd see him at the end.

I ended up waiting for a bit, even though I was worried about being late. The last bus full of runners didn't arrive until AFTER the projected start time, so there was a bit of a delay, but nothing too serious. I found Kim in the port-o-potty line, and waited with her, as the race started without us. No biggie - it's chip timed and I have no time expectations. Just putting in miles while honoring the day.

The first few miles ticked by. I was feeling pretty good, all things considered. I took walk breaks every mile or so. My legs felt surprisingly good. The majority of the race was along a shaded trail, and the weather was still fairly cool, with a nice breeze (I was actually COLD waiting for the start). It was still rather humid though. That kind of bit me in the ass later.

My fueling was going pretty well - I'd taken a gu at mile 6 that morning and had a salt packet and a banana between runs. I was drinking my powerade and water from every stop. I gu'd at mile 4 of the race, with more salt a couple miles later, when we stopped at a port-o-potty. I gu'd again at nearly 9. I was feeling decent. No tummy troubles.

The crowd support and course marshals were nearly all military, and they were amazing. At mile 8, we entered Great Lakes Naval Base and it really ramped up here. Just after mile 9, I started having trouble with my toes cramping up. For a bit, I could walk it off and stretch them out, and they'd be better again for a while. Just after 10, we went down a monster of a hill. Steep. Long. My toes smashed into the end of my shoes, and it hurt. Then we ran along the lake for a while, and Kim was playing music for me and dancing and distracting me. I ran as much as I could, knowing I was going to have to walk back up that monster of a hill. The good thing was that the military support at the hill was amazing. They were whooping and cheering - it was really a great boost. I walked it, the whole thing, next to a woman who ran up nearly the whole thing. We were going the same pace, so we were motivating each other.

The whole race, in my head, I kept telling myself that NOTHING I was doing today was as tough as what the people of our nation were going through 10 years ago. That was my mantra of the day. "This is NOTHING. This isn't pain. THAT was pain."

But the last mile. *sigh* I was hoping to finish much stronger than I was able to. But my toes were now excruciating. They brought tears to my eyes. I was WISHING I'd brought another salt packet. Kim was encouraging me, telling me to run it in. I had to tell her that I was walking now so I COULD run it in. We made the final turn, and I was able to run the last 100 yards. We saw our husbands, and John had brought Julia with him! So she ran it in with me! It meant everything to me that they were there...

The medals were awesome, although I'm a little bummed that we couldn't get the chain that so many people got (the chain was for the 3 mile medals). Still - very cool medallions!

Thanks so much to Kim! It was amazing doing this with you!! I'm so glad you were feeling good enough that you could use this as a pokey recovery run, and thanks for being patient and running back to me so many times. Running friends rock!