The day after

I received this text from a friend who knows me (and the process) so well:

It was in response to this text I sent with a narrative of:

                                     Oops, this just happened!

Registering for Ghost Train 100 miler in December is the easy and exciting part.  It’s easy to jump aboard as friends post their news of race registration on social media.  But a lot can and does happen during the ten months between now and race weekend. 

I’m excited to ride the Ghost Train again.  My first and only 100 miler was at Ghost Train in 2014.  I haven’t had the desire to train for this distance since then. Until now. 

Like most “first” races, I had no goals for Ghost Train 2014, but to finish (and finish healthy).  I knew I had 30 hours to complete, so if I finished in 29:59, I’d be thrilled.  I finished in 29:06, so not really that much time to waste!  Also being my first go at 100, I was ill prepared for things like sleep deprivation.  I’m still not sure if I can fully train for that, but at least now I know what it looks like, feels like, etc.

I hope to train for Ghost Train 2017 in a way that will find me stronger during the race.  This includes better management of the night running (I’m pretty sure I walked more than I ran during those night miles), keeping a cool head during the sleep deprived hours, and of course, tackling that dreaded mile 75 moment.

As excited as I am to name my A race for 2017, there’s always that “day after” moment that follows.  Sometimes it’s not the literal day after, but days or even weeks later.  It’s that moment that hits, “Holy crap, I just registered for what?”  And that’s often followed by, “OMG, I have to get serious about my training!”.  And then after the first bad run occurs, “What the $#@& was I thinking?!?”.  And so on.

Fortunately, I’m accustomed to this “day after” syndrome.  And apparently, so are my friends.  We get through it.  We support each other.  We enable each other.  Best of all, we remind each other that we are strong enough to get through the training and make it to the start lines.  Then we wrap ourselves in Christmas lights or sing songs to get each other to the finish lines.  

Meaghan during Ghost Train 2014

So here I go, onto the day after the day after....let the training begin!

I did not know you had curly hair!

This was an exclamation made at a fun “Cookie Swap” I attended today.  Granted, I am still getting to know everyone, but the person who said it was my running partner from this morning! 

After a group of us finished the 12.5 mile run this morning, we were talking about the Cookie Swap where many of us would be meeting at later in the day.  I joked that I wasn’t sure we would all recognize each other without our running gear on.  Turns out I was right!

Not only did I hear “I did not know you had curly hair!”, but I also heard, “OMG, I had no idea that was you!”.   We all joked about how different we all look when we’re dressed in street clothes and don’t have our hair tightly pulled back or hidden under a winter hat.

Back to the Cookie Swap…So.Much.Fun!  In all my years of baking cookies, I had never attended one before today.  I met more new people, enjoyed some appetizers, shared in some cookie swapping (haven’t tasted them all yet), and had some good laughs.

I’m glad to have spent a few hours running and then sharing cookies with this group.  I’m also glad they have now met the “non-running Lisa” as well as the “running Lisa”.  After all, I haven’t even broken out my winter running face mask yet.  I’d hate to have to start wearing a name tag!

Nothing good happens after 2am….

I would normally agree, and not being a morning person, I think any time before 6am is too early.  For anything.  Never mind for running.  But today, that changed.

Today, I finally joined the 5:30 am crew who meets at a local trail for a 6 mile run in the woods.  I’ve heard of these die hard runners; they roll out of bed and onto the trail and complete their run at about the time I would normally get out of bed.  Today, I was one of them!  And today wasn’t the easiest day for my first time.

Tap…tap…tap drummed the rain on the window sill.  Waking to that sound always presents a risk to a planned run.  The early hour along with the darkness provided a true test for this non-morning runner.  Luckily, I had laid everything out I needed for the run.  We took the short drive to the trail head and waited a couple minutes while the others emerged from the darkness.

Hitting the trail, two things immediately happened.  First, my headlamp decided it was still asleep and wouldn’t stay lit.  Second, some major puddles ensured no one would finish this run with dry shoes.  A third miraculous thing happened within the first mile; I WOKE UP!  I actually enjoy running in the dark and even more so with friends.  There are usually a number of dogs who come along for the run for the treats everyone brings.  Today, I got to meet Bacon, the golden retriever.  Baconnnn!!!!

By the end of 6 miles, I was soaked, refreshed, energized, and extremely proud of myself for getting out there.  Having both my running gear and my work clothes ready was a huge time saver and I even got to work before 8:00…win!  Mentally preparing myself the night before was also key to following through with the plan. 

So go figure, some good things DO happen after 2 am…a good run, good friends, and a good lookin’ sunrise.