Day 1
14 miles
Time: 4:08
Elevation Gain: 3,112 ft
Started at noon and had a lot of climbing. The climbing and difficulty of the trails I expected, but the complete lack of runnable sections I did not. There was climbing straight up rock cliffs and lots of miles on sand. I wasn't really prepared for even the flatter portions to be unrunnable, either from sand or skirting boulders, or downhills so steep it was too dangerous. So many never ending staircases! But I felt good. It was Beautiful, sunny and hot. I drank every drop of water I had with me and ate according to my fueling plan.
I carried my elevation map with the cut offs and my conversions from km to miles. I didn't have to worry about cut off times, I was comfortable but not fast. I knew I wanted to take it easy and have energy for the following days.
Right before the final stretch it was grueling and then we came through a wall into a castle in picturesque setting and a gentle incline and suddenly everything was fantastic again.
I finished happy and energetic and pumped about the day, looking forward to the next.
Day 2
30.33 miles
Time 9:33
Elevation Gain: 5,463ft
After almost no sleep this day would be rough, there was no way about it. Dinner had slim gluten free food, I had one cup of gluten free pasta for dinner. That is all the hotel had for me. That is not enough carbs to recover from what I had run yesterday, let alone fill up my glycogen stores for today. My stomach was growling hungry by 1hr of running. I The only way to survive was to chunk it. I was racing 1 aid station to the next. No talk of 30 miles. Just 6 miles, then 11… and on for the rest of the day.
So much sand. So many stairs. I took it slow to warm up but things didn't improve. I barely made the 1st 2 cut offs. I Wasn’t handling food well. By mile 10 it was full blown nausea. I tried to eat what I could, it wasn't enough. Around mile 12 on a mountain trail I leaned against a tree, dizzy with puffy fingers, I had been nauseous most of the day. I was wondering “Will I faint?” Breathing and thinking hard I realized I was pushing into hyper hydration on top of exhaustion. I ate some electrolytes & slowly moved on. On another climb around mile 16 were other runners sitting on rocks. I would eat and then get up, I thought it might work better if I'm not moving. So I took down a gel, the others asked "onwards?" inviting me to run off with them. When I opened my mouth to talk I lurched between my knees heaving hard. I waved them on and said I would catch up. I did, would you believe it?
I SPRINTED to make the next cut off. At that aid station I ate oranges, some Coke and off I went, there was no time to waste. I had Coke at each station, the fizz, sugar, and fast calories were enough to keep me alive. I switched to Spring gels early when I couldn't eat. I could sip them slow to keep the nausea low. I would feel sick, slow down, then eventually be ok again and run and the others would cheer that I was back in the pack!
There was a lot of self pep talks this day. I told myself I did not come all the way to Spain to DNF. I replayed a talk I had with my 5yo when she asked why run a race I wouldn’t win "because it is fun to do hard things & see what you are capable of. Doing easy things all the time is boring".
The last 4 miles were on sand, with strong wind. Wind surfers were calling off the day because the wind was too strong. Lovely. A water crossing then 2 miles in sand with wet shoes. I dipped my head to block the sand/wind facial and kept marching through the headwind. That posture made my shoulders ache. I repeated out loud "you can do this, you have done harder things. You have done harder things TODAY".
When I crossed the finish line I sobbed. I was just so happy it was over. I called my husband and cried about how hard it was. I thought about dropping to the 80k distance & he told me no, I can do what I came here to do. That's all I needed to hear, any doubt was gone. This day was 100% mental and completing it will give me strength I can carry with me for many future challenges.
Day 3
30.74 miles
Time: 8:49
Elevation Gain: 5,215ft
My calves were sore, my toes hurt. My body ached just getting out of bed. Strangely I was comforted watching all the other runners also hobble to the bus to the starting line. We were all in the same boat, but how on earth would we finish this last day with 30 more miles?
I had electrolyte issues during day 2 but a plan to overcome it today: ¼ Nuun tabs to drink at each aid station, prepped and brought with me. This change was a reminder to problem solve and adapt along the way. And I was coming from winter in Virginia to Spring in Spain. I hadn’t worn shorts and a T shirt to run in for months, of course I was going to need to adjust to the big weather shift. The wind was strong.
There was a smaller crowd at the start line. More than 50 runners had dropped day 3. Starting out felt ok, if slow. Took a bit to warm up and I got to the 1st aid station with 10 min to spare. Not great but strong enough to know I would make the day ok. Then everything got better. Got easier. We took off on some gentle inclines, running them. Having inclines that were not only runnable but that I COULD run was like a party, and me and my pack of other runners celebrated that.
With a nice downhill into a town for station #2 it was amazing. I cruised into town, singing (yes, singing out loud and getting odd looks from bystanders) with a big smile! I saw my dad, went to the station for my recipe for success: fill my water, make Nuun in a cup, 2 banana pieces & 2 orange slices. 3 runners were dropping while I was there, not me. Onwards and up. The hill went so far inland we couldn't see ocean anymore but it was easy to keep a fast hike. The terrain was rarely technical which was a big difference from the first two days. I broke the day in chunks, knew I was making up lots of time. I was so ahead of cut offs I didn't worry about them at all. I kept my routine: Nuun, 2 banana & 2 oranges. Eating was going well. I was sweating & drinking a lot but electrolyte plan was on point.
I was with Suzanne from aid station 1 through to the end. We would ping with a few other runners and whoop & holler every time. It mostly felt easy. There was a 10mile stretch of rolling hills: walk the inclines, run the rest. Running felt good. I could stretch out longer/ faster strides so sometimes would pull ahead and she would catch me on an incline.
The last 5mi things started happening and got spicy:
• There was a wildfire, now the sky was full of smoke. It was raining ashes. My throat burned.
• My toes hurt. They hurt all day but was getting really bad. I needed a new mantra "I can feel no pain. I can feel pain in 5 miles, but not right now. Right now I feel no pain". And repeat until I convinced the pain that this was not time. It worked. Another toe stub... repeat mantra
• More pain: rocks in my shoes. My shoulder/neck hurt from my pack and from dipping my head in the wind. Sweat salt dried on my face. Scrapes from branches/ thorns. But I could tell the pain “not now” and it vanished. This was a super power
We flew the final decent to town and suddenly I was flying for the finish line but not begging for it to be over, not desperate for it. I didn't NEED to stop running which was the BEST feeling of all. It felt like a celebration for surviving day 2. That months of work had put me where I needed to be. I was strong and I could RUN