The Aftermath of Running 100 Miles

So what is life like post-100? It's odd. I'm tired, I have no appetitie, and I don't feel positive that it wasn't all a dream. I also can not stop dreaming about running and get frequent calf cramps in the middle of the night despite feeling fine all day. I am covered in weird rashes and bug bites. I suffer intense guilt in surges when I remember being rude to a volunteer or abusing my crew and pacers in some manner (which I'm sure was well expected and understood but I feel it nonetheless). Everything seems a little brighter, a little more optimistic. I really don't care if someone cuts me off or gives me a dirty look. I ran a hundred feckin' miles and they can't take that away. Or at least I'm pretty sure I ran a hundred miles? The whole thing just keeps getting more surreal the further removed from it I become. I guess this is why people become repeat offenders runners. Something like that is just hard to convince your brain actually happened! But here's some follow up evidence.

Someone got this video of me running somewhere before mile 55 (I think around 40-45 maybe)! I go by from about 15-21 seconds. :)




Someone also took pictures of the mud! So I can finally show what it was really like!

Photo credit: Cyrus Taylor

 

And some new photos of me from Limoco Photography.

 

 

And my pacer, Ed, sent me this crying at the finish line shot.

 

 

 

And last but not least the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because I always tell it like it is....

 

I got my first mention in Ultra Running Magazine (and probably my last but let's pretend to be optimistic) for my third place finish at North Coast 24 Hour.

 

 

 

 

My feet survived just great. Heart my Altra Zero Drops! 

 

 

But I came back with a love bite from every creature in Northeastern Ohio, including some kind of nasty spider bite. I will spare you the pictures of the poison ivy from squatting in bushes over the course of almost 30 hours.

 

 

So there you have it! I'm happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way... Oh wait, that's Taylor Swift. I'm just me but a little more itchy and little less tightly wound.

 

What weird experiences or reactions have you encountered after a long race?