Yeti Ultra 24 hr Challenge

With all races cancelled, the Yeti Ultra 24 hr Challenge originally flew under the radar, but when I realized it was a chance to run a Yeti race and get some of my favourite swag, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Run 5 miles (8.05K) every 4 hours, for 24 hours. My friend Alissa did the challenge last week, and she explained her choice to start at 5 am, which made sense, but I knew I couldn't motivate myself to get up that early, so I settled on 6 am for a start time.

I had a rough idea of where I wanted to do each run, and I also knew I wanted to run 2K extra somewhere to make it an even 50K for the day. I also was open to a road or dreadmill run if necessary, but only as a last resort.

The first run started promptly at 6 am in the pre-dawn. I had brought my headlamp, but realized I didn't need it 5 minutes in. The only other people I saw were dog walkers and thought it was a bad omen when an off leash German Shepherd lunged, barked and snarled at me. I finished unscathed and took a shower when I got home, because I was freezing, and ate Second Breakfast.

I picked mostly easy trails for the runs, but I knew this section wasn't quite 4K out and back so I went in the other direction for a bit, which is very steep and technical. I started out wearing fleece tights under my skirt and I stopped off at the car to lose my pants before completing the run in the other easier direction. Got lunch after this run and lay down with the heated blanket a bit..because I was again freezing.

2 pm on a sunny Saturday meant that it would be busy, closed trails be damned. I was going to do a secret 8K loop, but because parking lots are all closed in that area, the loop would be a lot longer, and since the secret loop is very hilly, I didn't want to add on distance. This was the muddiest run. I was thinking about wearing 6 different outfits and the sheer amount of laundry intimidated me to the point where I gritted my teeth and put a damp shirt and bra back in. Ewwww. I showered my bottom half to rinse off the mud, then back to bed and the heated blanket, where I warmed up but couldn't sleep.

6 pm meant there were still quite a few people on the trails. I added a fresh tank under the shirt but the wind was insane and I was cold. This was the most technical run and I'm glad I did it before sunset. Then dinner...I wanted a beer but I was too damn cold to drink a beer so Lori's suggestion of hot tea was a great one. Ran my first of the 2 9K runs here.

First of two night runs at 10 pm. I was debating going back and doing the 6 am route again, but I wanted something absolutely 100% non technical because this klutzy lady really does suck at night running. This was the first time I really put my headlamp through the paces since I got it for Christmas and it did not disappoint!

Since it is my goal to run a 100 miler in 2021, I really need to get more experience with night running. I saw a pair of glowing eyes in the dark and nearly shit myself, but it turned out to be just Mr. Raccoon wondering what I was doing in his forest.

It was around 8-10 degrees, according to the thermometer, but I wore a fleece and leggings and was still pretty cold when the wind gusted.

I saved the easiest trail for last. I can't believe that originally I was going to do 10K here instead of 9K twice. I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed, I was really groggy and drank some Coke before heading out. Walking felt really good still. Actually my legs and body felt really good throughout, except on the first 1-2K of each run. But my brain was SOOO tired, so I forced myself to run and not think about it too much. The temperature was still around 8C, but I dressed like I would have for a -15C run in the daytime (merino l/s base layer, fleece, tights, earwarmer) and felt just right when the wind blew.

Then I was DONE, woohoo!



Thoughts:

• My cumulative 50K time was one of my faster 50K times, if it had been done in one chunk. I know this is comparing apples and oranges with the 6 different routes I ran, but there was only a 10 minute difference between my fastest and slowest loops. 

• Was this an ultra? You could call it one if you want, but to me personally, an ultra should be done at one venue, without stopping, except for chäir breaks.

• Apparently I get REALLY cold post-run. I mean, I knew I did, but normally I have a hot shower and hot food afterwards to mitigate the damage.

• I really wasn't prepared for the amount of laundry this would generate.

If I was to do a similar challenge again, I'd start at night to get that part over with first. And if I wanted to add extra distance to any run, I'd definitely get those over with earlier too!