[I was originally planning to attempt this challenge on the final Saturday of March (hence the first couple paragraphs about my March 45 Minute Challenge). The hubby was out of town for work and when I went to head out on my first (midnight) run, there were neighborhood dogs barking and it got in my head a bit. As female runners, we need to be extra cautious and vigilant. I had first framed it as I might have “wussed” out, but, ya know what, if something feels off we need to listen to our intuition, so I will not apologize for waiting for my husband to get back home. I very well may be a 40+ year old who can be easily sketched out in the dark, but I deserve to run when I feel comfortable and won’t feel bad about that.]
If you followed me on Instagram this month in March, you probably noticed that I was doing a #RunStreak. When I heard a statistic that said every 45 seconds an LGBTQ+ youth attempts to take their life, I knew I wanted to do something. I decided that for the month of March I would run {at least} 45 minutes a day and do my darndest to raise funds and awareness for The Trevor Project. [The Trevor Project is a nonprofit that provides free suicide prevention services for LGBTQ+ youth 24/7/365 - but obviously they need money to fund such lifesaving aid, hence why I was fundraising.]
While I was starting to plan my #March45Min Challenge, Jason of the Yeti Trail Runners mentioned that the Yeti Ultra 24 Hour Challenge was making a comeback. I had done this challenge in the past and thought it would be a great way to wrap up my month of 45 minute runs. The challenge is to run 5.2 miles every four hours for 24 hours. After the six runs you will have gotten in 31 miles (which is the distance of a 50K or also known as an ultramarathon [anything longer than 26.2 miles]). I knew that 5.2 miles would be a little over my 45 minute range, so thought I'd be perfect. Jason wants everyone to be able to finish the challenge, so the only deadline was December 31st. This is a virtual "race", all done on the honor code and you can attempt it as many times as you need to so that no one has to report a DNF {did not finish}. The beginning of April was as good of a time as any for me to tackle the 31 miles. SO LET'S DO THIS THANG!
Originally I was going to tackle this challenge on the last Saturday of March and thought I'd start at midnight Saturday morning so I could go to bed as early as possible once I finished - running at 12am, 4am, 8am, 12pm, 4pm and 8pm.
I knew working at the store all week and then starting a running challenge at midnight on Saturday morning might not have been the smartest idea I had ever had... The body would be fatigued (not just from being on my feet for 40 hours but also because of my #RunStreak), but I told myself that I would do my best to keep my "WHY" in the forefront of my mind (raising funds and awareness for the Trevor Project) and do it for the kiddos! Even though my fundraising had officially finished, didn't mean I couldn't use the strength of the LGBTQ+ youth to keep me going if and when the runs got hard.
After my change in plans I actually decided to switch up WHEN I would do my runs. Originally I was thinking it needed to be run all in one calendar day, but there isn't anything that officially says that - just a 24 hour chunk of time. Instead of starting at midnight, I thought I would do my first run on my lunch break on Friday (so around 2:30pm) and go from there. My idea was that if I was planning on running on my lunch, I might as well count that towards the challenge and then I could even get it started earlier. So instead of the original 12am, 4am, 8am, 12pm, 4pm and 8pm, it became 2:30pm (on my lunch), 6:30pm (shortly after I got off for the day), 10:30pm (it didn't feel so 'in the middle of the night' and I thought people might still be out and about), 2:30am (I was hoping to get someone to run with me because #SafetyInNumbers), 6:30am (with the sun rising I was hoping it would re-energize me if my get-up-and-go was starting to wane) and 10:30am.
Run #1
I have been loving my lunchtime runs. They are a great way to break up my day and the weather is normally fantastic. I work near a mall and, as I'm sure you can imagine, normally the parking lot is pretty empty. (I mean, honestly, when was the last time you've been to a mall?!) My first run of the challenge was weaving up and down the empty parking lot lanes to get in the 5.2 miles. I wanted to take it nice and easy (remembering that I had FIVE more of these runs after this), but not too easy since I still had to get back for the rest of my shift. All-in-all I was able to get the run done in 48:55.
Run #2
The store closes at 6pm, so once I was ready to check out for the weekend I drove over to the beach for my second run of the challenge. I knew I would be spending a decent amount of energy weaving in and out of sunset watchers, but that was okay with me. I haven't run along the Carlsbad beaches in awhile, so it was a great place for a sunset run. The twinge in my knee that I had started feeling at the end of my March 45 Minute Challenge was back, so I took it nice and easy and just enjoyed the views. My second run took me 50:10 [75 seconds slower than my first (not that I cared about my pace)].
Run #3
Saturday morning was the Oceanside Ironman, so I thought I would head down to the harbor for one of my Friday evening runs. I feel more comfortable running where there is activity going on and I figured that even though I was eight hours before the start of the race that there would still be a decent amount of hubbub happening. I left the house around 10:15pm to get me down to The Strand by 10:30pm to start round three. There was actually much more traffic than I was expecting, but apparently "normal" people don't usually go to bed by 9:30pm on a Friday night ;) I was excited to see the finish line and athlete village crawling with people. The run went well (although I was a bit overdressed and probably ate a bit too much for dinner which hadn't digested fully), but I stuck with the 'getting slower' theme and finished in 50:49.
Run #4
Running in the middle of the night is never easy, so I decided I'd try and enlist the help of a friend (hoping that A. there was safety in numbers while being out at 2:30am and B. I'd be more likely to complete the challenge/ run if I had someone relying on me to show up). My sweet friend Gina said she'd be willing to help me tackle my late night/ early morning run so I made the drive down to her. We met at a surf spot and took to Highway 101 to cruise the coast. It was great getting to catch up, even at the less than ideal time of day ;) We kept the pace conversational (we were chatty cathys, but still finished in 50:40) and even got in an extra tenth of a mile (5.3 miles instead of the 'standard' 5.2 for the challenge).
Run #5
After my 2:30am run I knew I needed to try to get a little rest. Between runs three and four I showered and laid down for about an hour, but didn't really doze off. Between runs four and five I left myself a little less than two hours of down time, but still don't think I got a wink of sleep. Let's just say I knew the overall fatigue (not just from the running and the lack of sleep, but working all week and going right into this challenge) was gonna come back to bite me in the booty. I planned to do my fifth run of the challenge leaving from our house. The official sunrise was 6:31am, which was perfect because I was hoping that the morning light would help invigorate me with a little extra energy. Unfortunately the extra spring in my step because of the sun making its appearance did not translate into the legs wanting to run. In fact, it felt like I hit "the wall". My body just felt 'over it' and didn't want to cooperate. This was definitely the most difficult run of the challenge. "Forward" was the only pace I cared about, so jogged when I felt like it and walked when I didn't, finishing with a 1:05:08 for the split.
Run #6
Between runs five and six I did a little fueling (tortillas with strawberry jam) and relaxing in the sun with the pup. I knew I had to have a short term memory when it came to the previous run and toss it out the window. I took run six to our local bike trail and nearby park. I definitely took more walks than I would've liked, but it was nothing like run number five. I was taking mini breaks to re-energize myself for the next spurt of running, which felt more productive than the previous leg where I just didn't feel like I wanted to run at all. Even though it was only 10:30am, it was actually already toasty warm out (in the low 70s and full sunshine), so I was glad I had my handheld with me to keep me hydrated. Even with the warmer temps, lack of sleep, subpar fueling and walk breaks my pace wasn't too shabby, finishing the 5.2 miles in 52:09.
Overall it took me 5 hours, 17 minutes and 52 seconds to finish the 31.3 miles. For not being "ultra" trained, I am incredibly pleased at how my body held up. Remember, I did a run streak of 45 minutes a day for the entire month of March, then took three rest days and jumped into this challenge after a full week of work. I CALL THAT A HUGE WIN!
Instead of a t-shirt and medal, participants were sent a sticker and hoodie, which I'd MUCH prefer (the tees normally don't fit and I donate my medals, so at least this swag is something I will use!). Can't wait to start wearing my hoodie with pride!
For me, I found the hardest part of this challenge the inbetween. Say it took me about an hour to do the run and then another 20-30 minutes to get home afterwards. I'd then have about two and a half hours until the next run, but I'd need 20ish minutes to get ready beforehand and if I was driving to where I was running then you'd have to factor in another 15-20 minutes. You definitely aren't left with as much down time as you might think between runs (four hours sounds like plenty of time until you realize you are running during that time), which makes resting and fueling the most difficult part.
Would you rather run a long run all at once or break it into smaller segments?
