Desert Solstice

When I joined Stoke Athletic Club as an 11 year old back in the 1980's, I quickly became an enthusiastic, competitive track and cross country runner and spent the next 3 or 4 years competing in 800m and 1500m track races during the summer months. I never really had flat speed - my PB for 800m was only 2.22 whilst in the 1500m, I just about scraped under 5 minutes when I ran a 4.57 in the County Championships at the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. 

When I rejoined an athletics club several years later, I avoided the track like the plague - there was something about stepping onto a track that put the fear of god into me, and I used to find my stomach doing somersaults even when it was just a weekly training session. I did a few track races for Newcastle AC when I was in my 30's and remember doing a 3000m race where I was wondering how on earth I was going to cope with 7 and a half laps of a track - thankfully it wasn't as bad as expected and I found that the time passed quickly - but then it was only 3km which amounted to around 10 minutes of running.

I successfully avoided the track for some time after that although I did end up running the Barry 40 mile to prove fitness for selection to the GB team that particular year. It was a great event but I had absolutely no intentions of doing another track race - the short ones hurt and the longer ones felt tedious.

So what possessed me to sign up for a 24 hour track race? Not just any old 24 hour race, but the Desert Solstice Invitational 24 hour/ 100 mile Track Event.....

• Aravaipa Running puts on so many amazing races throughout the year and this was another one of those races.

• I had done Across the Years 24 hour race last year and finished with 117 miles and a 100 mile split of 16 hours 53 mins - I wanted to go over 200km and being on the track rather than a gravel pathway, I would have a better chance of hitting my goal.

• The World 24 hour Championships take place in Belfast in 2017 and I was wanted to try for the GB qualifying standard of 215km in the hope of being selected for the team.

• I don't get invited to many races and I wasn't about to give up on the opportunity to run with the elite elite of American distance runners!

2 months prior to the race, I emailed Hayley to say that I'd decided not to do the Desert Solstice after all. I'd had a dip in training during the summer and was lacking confidence in myself - I didn't want to set myself up for failure and I felt like my place should go to a more deserving athlete that wanted to make the USA team instead. It was also only 6 weeks after Javelina Jundred and I wasn't sure how quickly I would recover, and yet I still found myself on the starting line on Saturday feeling far more positive and honestly believing that I could hit that 215km minimum and maybe, just maybe, make the GB team.

Pre-Race Pondering....

Reading a track race review isn't exactly riviting, and for anybody that is still with me, I aren't about to do a lap by lap, or indeed an hour by hour account of how things went.

To keep it short and sweet, I ran in circles - lots of circles. We changed direction every 4 hours - how exciting was that?! And yes, I got to witness some OUTSTANDING performances by others that I shared that track with - national age group records (GO KRISTINA!), 25 year old  ladies' 100 mile records being broken (seriously, 13.45 for a hundred miles!!!), 24 hours running bare foot, national records for the ladies with the leading lady covering something like 1ike 147 miles!

From a personal perspective, there were no records but I did have fun, and whilst I won't even be considered for Belfast next year, I'm happy with my run, and happy to share a few things about how it went.

• Starting a track race at 9 minute miling just didn't seem right - track means speed, but then I guess it's all relative. 

• I was surprised at how consistent my pacing was up until around 50 miles, and even after that, although I slowed, I was still knocking out a consistently slower pace (10 min miles) for quite some time

Just over 4 hours in and still keeping a consistent pace

• I went though 100km in 10.30 ish, and by 12 hours, I had done 115km - I still believed that I would hit that GB standard - 100k in the remaining 12 hours seemed achievable.

• I passed 100 miles in an official time of 17 hours 44 minutes - another sub 18 hours which I was extremely happy about :-)

• Track running is tough both physically and mentally. I NEVER run with an ipod in races and rarely use it in training, and yet I got through 6 hours of music during the race - put the shades on, pull the cap beck down, turn up the tunes, and just focus on the 2 feet of track you see ahead of you, whilst putting one foot in
  front of the other.

• Never underestimate the value of a support crew! Andy couldn't stay all day because we have dogs to care for and leaving them for 24 hours is not fair. I missed Andy being there, but I was so grateful for Marisa for the first 8 hours, and coach Adam from 4pm until well past midnight. Marisa made sure I was ok and getting fluids, salt and foods into me and was extremely attentive when my feet started to blister and the ankle timing chip started to cut in to my leg. Adam was there to make sure I didn't slack and just kept moving forward. NOTE: I sometimes have a habit of dilly dallying at aid stations and I remember Adam asking something along the lines of why am I standing at the aid station drinking and eating when there are garbage cans all around the track? I can eat and drink whilst I'm walking, get moving - I felt like a naughty child, but it worked!

• For the first time in a while in a race over 50km, I didn't throw up! I tried to eat and drink every 45 minutes and condumed energy gels (yum!), bananas, cheese butties, mashed potatoes, flapjacks, gummy bears, water, gatorade, choc milk and coke. Hoeever, I do not recommend this diet on a regular basis.

• It was so good to see Mr Wilson from work along with his wife Carrie and their little girl. Their support and encouragement during the heat of the day was greatly appreciated, and the grunting Piggy made me smile at the end of each lap.

• I tried to keep going after passing the 100 mile mark, but my feet were extremely sore and groin was tightening up which meant I couldn't run. I powerwalked for over an hour after breaking the 100, trying to tell myself that the magical 215km was still within reach if I could just alternate jogging/walking for the next 5 hours. But the thought of walking for another 5 hours on a track just wasn't appealing. I sat down for 10 minutes debating whether to stop, checked my phone only to see all the wonderful, encouraging comments from friends before getting up to shuffle around a few more laps because I didn't want to let those folks down. It was painful, I could barely lift my right leg and after another mile or so, I finally admitted I'd had enough. 

• When I decided to stop, at that point I was actually 2nd lady as some of the faster ladies had already dropped after they'd done 100 miles, pushing me up the leader board. The others continued for the full 24 hours which meant I eventually finished 6th lady.

• Seeing Andy and the dogs at 3.30am and snuggling up with a blanket on the drive home with a hot cup of tea was the best feeling of the day and I'm so grateful for my little family :-)

It's now Monday evening and whilst my legs are much better now, there is still some stiffness. I have a couple of nasty blisters that I hadn't realised I had until taking my shoes off back home on Sunday. But tightness and blisters will go, and I know that given a few days rest, I will have recovered enough to get out for  some short, easy runs, and then in the new year, be ready to get back training and working hard for another year of racing under the guidance of Adam.

Looking back on 2016, I really have had an amazing year of racing which is why I can't be - and I aren't  - disappointed with my run over the weekend. I don't think I've had a bad race as such - ok, Phoenix Marathon was a mistake and I dnf'd at Bryce Canyon, but every other race has been superb and far exceeded my expectations.

I have some amazing races planned for next year and I'm excited to see what 2017 brings.

For now though, thank you to everybody for all your support throughout the year and here's to lots of fun, health, happiness and success in 2017.

Have a great Christmas everybody - happy holidays! - and have a wonderful new year!