Two weeks ago I was working towards my base plan for Ironman Chattanooga, trying to get in any form of swim training that I could, but obviously our current global situation does not lend well to following plans. Then, a few days after, a friend suggests that a group of us all sign up for a virtual ultra marathon. I haven’t run more than a half marathon straight since my first ultra in January, was just getting over some food poisoning, and to whine a bit more my big toe was super swollen. Needless to say, I signed up. So here was our plan:
At 5 am we were all to meet at the Ravenel Bridge. It has the most elevation in all of Charleston. We, of course, would be well over six feet apart, but at least we start at the same time to get things off on a positive note. Then, every four hours, you run five miles. We did this until we hit 30+ miles. Throughout the day we had a bunch of pep talks through a group chat, shared some of our pain and pumped each other up, but everyone made it through. I decided to make the thing a bit more interesting by choosing a different course for each of the runs, so here is a little breakdown:
5 am: Social distancing group run up the Ravenel. This was a super chill pace and I immediately came home, showered, and passed back out. When I woke up I hardly remembered running, so that seemed safe.
9 am: I did a big loop around the area I live, but realized I was about .75 miles short and took a detour through a trail that I had been eyeing for some time. Turns out it was a pretty decent cut through with some nice river views, and popped out not too far from my house.
1 pm: My girlfriend and I made our way over to the Battery, which was overflowing with people. She took the dog down a few side roads for a long walk, and I took advantage of the lack of traffic and just ran in the road away from people. I followed the battery down East Bay, past the historic market, right past Rainbow Row, and ended right by the aquarium for an out and back.
5 pm: The sun was cooking, the wind was blowing, but it was time to hit the road. I went for the second-largest elevation, another bridge not far from my house. I parked in front of my favorite taco joint, headed up the bridge, took some debris out of the road along the way, and headed on back. The sun roasted me on the way back, and I have the terrible tan lines to prove it.
9 pm: It was dark, and running around my neighborhood that late during the pandemic would have resulted in a visit from the cops. Instead, I decided to hit my favorite trail, with a headlamp and bright yellow shirt, for a very creepy five miler. Along the way I got smacked by someone doing a bonfire, which doesn’t mix well with asthma, stopped to figure out what a pair of eyes were staring at me (cat), and was definitely feeling the effects of a lack of sleep and a weird diet for the day. Mile 25 was done.
1 am: This was it, the final leg. Not wanting to hit the greenway again, I decided to end it where I started. I got to the Ravenel, and not a single soul was on it. In fact, the entire run, maybe five or so cars passed by me, including an officer. I was very tempted to jump over the pedestrian part fo take a photo, but it was incredibly humid and… I completely bonked at mile 2.5/5. My legs were mostly ok, but I was completely exhausted. I walked back up the incline, and let gravity do the rest. The deed was done, and for the first time in many months, I took more than a single day off from training.
In all, this still didn’t feel as bad as the Vegas marathon, which is at night, and a three-hour difference for me. But then again, I did have a great group of folks to help push me through it.