"Sustain me, my God, according to your purpose, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed." Psalm 119:116
I was watching the weather like a hawk the week before Thumbcoast Ultra in Caseville. Every day the good weather began to fade and race day was appearing to be a typical windy, cloudy Michigan day.
We had rented a Airbnb that was right at the finish line and just a 2-minute walk to Lake Huron.
Christina, Joe and I would be escorted with Andy to the starting line in Harbor beach about 50 miles away. Even though we all had shuttle bus tickets we took advantage of have our own chauffer.
It was a blistering 39' out, I made a last-minute wardrobe change from my favorite Rabbit running skirt to my 10-year-old track pants. I could hear the wind and it made me tremble. I was having PTSD from Blackbeards Revenge 4 weeks prior.
"What were the odds?' I heard myself repeating. "WIND AGAIN?!" I felt like I had barely recovered, and I was about to run 50 miles in 20-mile headwinds all over again.
I finished my coffee, grabbed a banana, my egg bites, all my gear and we all piled into the car. It would be about a 45-minute drive to the starting like.
GOAL:
I get asked a lot "Anita, do you race with a plan..." Truth is, I DO. I always have a plan.
THE PLAN:
1. NOT TO DIE!
2. Keep Smiling!
3. No matter how bad you feel, ENCOURAGE others!
4. Maintain a 10-10:15min/mi.
"Remember, that of all the elements that compromise a human being, the most important, the most essential, the one that will sustain, transcend, overcome and vanquish obstacles is-Spirit." Buddy Ebsen
Starting LINE: The first 20-ish
I had asked Joe to help pace me. Andy would be chasing me on the course, and I knew this would encourage me.
Andy, Joe, Christina and I took a quick sunrise photo together with enough time to pray and make it to the starting line.
Andy had already warned me that we would basically be running into the wind the whole time. What made the winds worse was the flat farmland, we were vulnerable to the elements.
I was breaking the race up into 5's and 10's. We were maintaining our pace, and I was so excited when I got to see Andy every 5 miles.
We shared some miles with Steve H and Robert the race director for Bear Lake. We all kept smiling even though we were all getting pummeled with the wind.
I had my Race Joy app running so I could hear my splits and hear my cheers that some of my friends were giving me.
SPECIAL thanks to those who sent me encouragement, it meant so much to me especially as the weather conditions was tormenting my head space.
Around mile 7 Andy was calling me and I accidentally hit the brightness on my phone and couldn't see anything. I knew it was still working, I was hearing my alerts but all I could see was a a black screen. Messing with my phone I heard a guy's voice, then a women's voice, "ANITA, ARE you LOST? RUN FASTER!!" I had somehow dialed Mark and Erica and they answered knowing I was racing and that I normally get lost! This very brief conversation had me laughing. Thankfully Andy happened to check on us and I was able to throw him my phone while we kept running. Andy discovered I had turned my brightness all the way down and tossed it back to me less than a mile later.
The first 20 we maintained our pace, but I began to feel myself slipping forward, I hoped I was not making a bad choice.
20ish to FINISH: SUSTAIN.
"Sustain me, my God, according to your purpose, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed." Psalm 119:116
The course is very flat, we ran on backroads, paved roads and sandy two-tracks. Going into mile 25 the winds felt like they had picked up. We had wind gusts reaching over 25mph. Runners looked miserable.
To make my goal happen I found myself praying ALOT. I would have been on my knees in prayer but I was trying to maintain my pace! The wind was humbling.
SUSTAIN, sustain...sustain. I kept praying that.
As I passed other runners I would encourage them with those words. We were going into an intersection uphill when I saw a runner friend of mine, Sean.
"You got this Sean" I yelled. He is always smiling.
"You know I have been praying for the Lord to SUSTAIN us, well, to be totally honest, I have been praying mostly for myself!"
We laughed and as I moved forward I committed to praying harder for him and all the runners.
My competition is not with ANYBODY but MYSELF. It is me trying to push myself, push my goals and be humble in the process.
I saw Andy at mile 42. "Nita, are you doing OK? You look tired?' I quickly replied not wanting to stop, "I am Andy, I am..."
I would speed up when I saw Andy at the aid station because I knew I would take a few second to hug him, grab some nutrition and go. At mile 42, Andy took my hydration pack and gave me another water bottle with Ucan in it. This was the second bottle of sustained energy and was working really good. I had been able to avoid stopping at the aid station, this saved me a lot of time.
I would see Andy briefly at mile 45, I was trying to NOT fall apart on the 2-track. This portion of the race with full of sand and moguls, making it hard to run. My pace was falling behind when Andy called me. It was just a couple minutes after I had seen him. I thought I had forgot something when I answered the phone.
"Nita, there is a female about 15 seconds behind you, just maintain your pace..."
I was so confused, I was hurting, tired, and I wasn't competing, or was I?
I looked behind me and there she was. I didn't want to go faster, the two track as messing me up, I had already passed so many runners on this stretch all wrecked. I wanted to WALK, run a little maybe but surely not run faster.
I came into a aid station full of guys. I passed through saying "HI GUYS" with a little smirk as they all looked at me. I knew they were coming after me. I decided I better pick it up now.
One of the guys caught me at mile 47 and I felt the others in my shadows. I anxiously looked behind me, and saw the gal.
GO TIME.
SUSTAIN me LORD.
All the way in, deep breath, heavy prayer, and sustained pain. It was more than sustaining my pace, it was persevering in pain and fatigue.
I looked at my watch, at my pace and I counted down how long I had to maintain.
Mile 49: 9:06min/mi.
Mile 50: 9:07min/mi.
I looked for Andy as I came into the park. My heart was ready to explode when saw him, I was SOO happy to see him.
Excellence endure and sustains. It goes beyond motivation into the realms of inspiration." Azim Preji
The Lord did sustain me. I met my goals by the Grace of God. My goals were personal, but the biproduct was I discovered that I was SECOND overall FEMALE.
All Glory to God.
A BIG SHOUT out to Andy, THIS GUY!! Andy chased me all over, exchanged my nutrition, made sure I was eating, drinking and helped me with great encouragement. THANK YOU for all the encouragement, cheers and calls.
CONGRATS to all those who conquered the blistering winds and frigid temps.
RUNDOWN:
THUMBCOAST 50
SUSTAIN, wherever it is you are running in this thing called LIFE, when obstacles are thrown at you, when the conditions are less than desirable, Don't give up, Don't give in, Keep going, just tuck in and KEEP Moving.
In Peace, NOT Pieces,
Anita
