Yeti Ultra 24hr Challenge

Signed up for this challenge back in... idk, February? The deadline was end of July and I thought "I have months to do this, and I'm doing a marathon in March, this will be easy-peasy!"

Well, now it's July and I've gotta get this done! Kind of decided last-minute to do this mostly on Friday July 8th. I knew I had to do an 8am run and a noon run on Friday due to a training class at work from 9-11:30. Opted to start with a 4:00am run on Friday morning instead of leaving the 4am Saturday for the last run... definitely the right call.

Run 1 - 4:00am Friday

5.06 mi @ 9:15/mi

Ran from Roe Ford/SRT intersection and headed north to TR. It was SO HUMID like running through a pea soup cloud. Couldn't see any stars or anything! Super foggy but glad I chose to do this as my first run. 

Dark 'n' Sweaty

Run 2 - 8:00am Friday

5.22 mi @ 9:50/mi

Headed to Cleveland Park after dropping D off at camp in the morning. Followed a route that I thought was the "Friday Five" route but accidentally added some extra and ended up with a bit more mileage than I needed, so I walked the last little bit.

Run 3 - Noon Friday

5.35 mi @ 9:33/mi

Realized that The requirement was actually 5.2 miles per run, not 5.0 miles.... so I added some extra on this one to get caught up. The midday run was hot but manageable, though I chose a hard (hilly) route through Green Valley. Started off with good cloud cover but that only lasted about the first ~10 minutes. 

Run 4 - 4:00pm Friday

5.21 mi @ 9:55/mi

Took this one to the Swamp Rabbit Trail on my way to pick up D from camp in the afternoon. Tried to stick to shady sections as much as possible, but definitely had some parts that were sun-exposed. This one was even hotter than the noon run. Needed sustenance (aka choccy milk) afterwards.

Run 5 - 8:00pm Friday

5.21 mi @ 10:03/mi

Actually one of the most pleasant runs so far! Some storms and clouds rolled in during the early evening hours, which made things considerably more comfortable. Got to see the fireflies come out towards the end, and the katydids started singing their evening serenade. Quite lovely!

Run 6 - midnight Friday (i.e. Saturday morning)

5.21 mi @ 9:26/mi

Perfectly peaceful run at Furman in the middle of the night! VERY happy that I didn't have to plan on waking up again at 4am to run after this one. Whew. 

Purple belltower in the dark

Overall, I'm much happier with this event vs. 2 years ago! I physically felt much better even though it was quite hot during several of the runs. Only "injury" I would identify is a pretty gnarly blood blister on my right big toe... other than that, legs are tired but feel good! I also feel like I fueled and hydrated very well. Amazingly enough, I averaged just 2 seconds per mile faster than 2020 over the entire event (9:38/mi avg this time vs. 9:41/mi avg in 2020). Pretty good consistency!

Event Total:

31.26 miles

5hr 1min 40sec