#becomingultra

[alohacyclist]

Last #marathon of the year. Rain, mud and lots of fun 🙌🏼🎉🏆 #becomingultra #goinglong #running (at Wuppertal, Germany)

[sightandfire]

Before I start the write up for my event I would like to send out a HUGE thank you to my sponsors who supported me and donated towards my event:

Wynwood Brewing, Lincolns Beard Brewery, Relentless Roasters, Pumphouse Coffee Roasters, Nuun Hydration, Munk Pack, GoGo Squeez, Quinoa Corner, Krave Jerky, Fit Joy Nutrition, Red Boost, IMT Crossfit, SFL Rehab, ALO Pain Cream, SHE Fit Studios, YHCE, Becoming Ultra, Leap South FL, Moreheartthanscars, Run2Heal, IRun4, Liveforaliving, Green Lotus Fitness, The Cookie Runner, Eat It MIA, Eat Palm Beach & Fuego Y Agua.

And a special thanks to:

-St Judes Childrens Hospital for letting me run a fundraiser for them through my non-profit 501c3 charity “Samurai Piggy & Friends, Inc”.

-GoRun Running Store for hosting my event and staying open/taking care of me the full 24 hours.

-@Littlemariii (Marilyn Orozco) my love, my partner in crime and the person who stood by me before, during and after the event, the person who supported me when I thought that things wouldn’t work out and the person who encouraged me to push through the pain when I thought I was done. Thank you

On to the event!

I honestly didn’t know how the event would turn out; would I make my 100 mile goal? Would I run less? Would I run more? Would I get hurt? Would I prevail? These were the questions that were rushing through my head leading up to the event; but just like any other event, you won’t know till you’re out there.

As Marilyn can attest, because she was with me leading up to and the day of the event, I. Was. ANXIOUS. So much time and effort had been put into the event, I just wanted to get out there and run.  And then, finally Aug. 19 8am came… and went; We actually started at 8:10am in typical Miami fashion; fashionably late. lmao.

I was finally off, well kinda sorta. The first lap was a puppy lap. I ran with my son Sergeant Slaughter and with a crew of about 10 or so (and there was later another puppy lap with Lulu). It was a fun first lap AND when we got back, I realized that the distance set up was a bit more than a mile (1.25 miles) which made me happy, because then I figured I’d be running out and back a lot less.

The way I had set up my 24 hour event was an up and back. My start and stop point was the Brickell GoRun store, we ran down the M-Path, crossed two streets along the way and had cones set up at the halfway/turnaround point. I set up the run this way for two reasons. 1) If anyone came throughout the day/night and wanted to run with me, they could; all they would have to do is wait at the store and go out with me on the next run. 2) So I wouldn’t have to carry a 10lb bag on my back filled with snacks, my diabetes supplies and water.

There were a couple of things I was worried about leading up to the event. One of them being that I didn’t know how I was going to wake up that morning. Not having a thyroid can effect you severely; I could have woken up tired, drained and just not feeling up to running all day and night; but that wasn’t the case, I’m extremely happy to say I woke up energized, excited and ready to crush some miles. The other thing I was worried about was the Miami weather. It could have been hot, cold, it could have rained or poured; you never know what you’re going to get. The great thing was that while it was a HOT day, the loop we set up down the M-path was almost completely covered; which meant a nice shaded run; which also meant that we wouldn’t be drained when the sun finally set and we went into the night run.

Before I knew it, I was CRUISINGGGG! Everything was amazing. I had a great pace (5 miles per hour) and I had an amazing support crew. Every time I went out and came back I had 1-2 cups of water. Every other run I had some Nuun hydrated water & Generation UCan poweder mixes just to keep my electrolytes up and to not deal with the repercussions of becoming dehydrated. Every 5 miles I checked my blood sugars and every 10 miles I took a 5-10 minute break. I would roll my legs out stretch a bit, eat a little something (list at bottom) and then get back out there.

Everything was going AMAZING. Throughout the day I had PLENTY of people join me which kept my spirits high and my focus on point. My family even came ouy and ran a couple miles with me. I had Omar Nelson (of Trublmaica) join me, I had Doug Nicaragua (of GoRun) join me, I had a BUNCH of GoRunners join me, I had my long time friend Allan Ajoy come out and join me for a good long time, I had the love of my life by my side all day and night, I had one of best friends Michael Hernandez who also stayed with me about 20 hours of the event, I had my long time friend Erik Vidal come out (who isn’t really a runner, but he definitely was that day), I had my friend John Macatangay come down FROM WEST PALM and I can honestly say of the 75 miles I probably ran only 5 or so by myself. I PRd my 50k distance at 6 hours (where I previously ran 6.5 hours) and then before I knew it, I PRd my 50 mile distance at 11 hours [where I previously ran 13.75 hours (which was also the longest distance I’ve ever ran before as well)].

That’s when things changed; after my 50 mile completion, I took an elongated break. I think I rested for about half an hour to forty five minutes. I changed my shorts and compression shorts, I changed my socks, kept the shoes I had on, ate and rolled my feet and calves out. I rubbed some Alo Pain Cream to relieve some of the stress on my muscles as well and that helped tremendously. Then I went out again and it was ROUGH getting started. I noticed I had slowed a bit. From miles 50-60, my pace dropped to about a 12-14 min mile and then it hit; at around mile 62 I got a sharp pain on my anterior tibialis. It had become inflamed the first time during my ultra in Washington for the Ragnar Relay I did 4 weeks prior and I thought I had taken care of it enough to where it wouldn’t bother me anymore, which I apparently had not. So from miles 63-71.5 I. Was. Hobbling. But I wasn’t going to stop. Those 8 miles took me about four hours because I was walking up and back; it was awful. At mile 71.5, I got back to the store and my foot was THROBBING. I stretched and rolled and iced and nothing helped. So for the first time I had to take a super long break and it killed me. I was so close. I was on track to finish the 100, but it wasn’t worth the injury or not being able to run or train for an even longer period because of said injury; so I just rested and took a short nap.

At about 6:30 in the morning, the Sunday GoRunners came through and they were ready to run; I splashed some water on my face and I was ready to go. I wasn’t going to give up just yet. Doug provided me with a CEP ankle compression sleeve and I was ready to go. And guess what?! It started raining. Lmao. The last 3.5 miles or so was all rain and some loud thunder claps, but we didn’t care, we were out there for a purpose.

And the last time I went out and back I hobbled and managed an extremely slow jog. And right when we came in to GoRun it was exactly 8:08am; 2 minutes short of 24 hours and ankle pain and all, I came in with 75 miles!!! The longest distance I’ve run to date and I was able to raise more than $1000 which was the original goal that I had to raise for St Judes Childrens Hospital!!! All in all I have to say that my event went amazing and I was extremely happy with how everything turned out.

Special mentions to: Marilyn Orozco (for sticking by me through thick and thin & running her distance PR of 20+ miles), Michael Hernandez (for coming out to do a 5k, but ending up staying for 20+ hours and doing a distance PR of 26 miles), Allan Ajoy (for coming out and doing a distance PR of 51 miles!), & for Erik Vidal (for coming and running 17 miles in Nike Metcons with a previous distance PR of 10 miles), & my dude Charlie for manning the store and hanging with us most of the day and all night long.

Gear Used: Hylete Shorts, Compression Shorts, CEP compression socks, Saucony WaveRiders (miles 0-62) , Hoka oneone Mafate speeds (miles 63-75), Garmin Fenix 2

Nutrition/Hydration: Water, Nuun Hydration Tablets, Generation UCan powder mixes, Quinoa Corner meals, Fitjoy Nutrition Bars, Krave Jerky, Huma Gels, GoGo Squeez Yogurts, Munk Pack Maple Squeezes, Red Boost Palleta smoothie popsicles, Pumphouse Roasters coffee, Relentless Roasters Coffee & Wynwood Brewing La Rubia. That is the stuff that honestly kept me going all day and night. And I am extremely grateful that these guys took a chance on me and sponsored me during the event!!!

Now to take a breather, relax and plan the next adventure/ultra fundraising event.

Hope to see you all out there.

Happy Trails!

  24 Hour Run For St Judes Children’s Hospital!!! Before I start the write up for my event I would like to send out a HUGE thank you to my sponsors who supported me and donated towards my event:

[sightandfire]

What's that you say? Gorgeous rooms with the backdrop of the Colorado Rockies that we get to run & hike for three days straight?! Sign me up! Check link in the bio! #colorado #travel #runcation #run #runner #running #runnersworld #runnerscommunity #ultra #ultrarunner #training #hiking #outdoors #activity #getlost #adventure #wanderlust #becomingultra #tumblingriverranch (at Tumbling River Ranch)

[sightandfire]

Follow Friday boys and girls!!! This week we have our friend @des_does_tri trail runner, entrepreneur and all around great guy! #ultrarunner #ultra #tri #triathlon #entrepreneur #run #runner #running #becomingultraproject #becomingultra #bu #followfriday #getit #getoutthere

[sightandfire]

Where are you running today?!?! #run #runner #running #ultra #ultrarunner #bu #becomingultra #pushyourself #workoutwednesday #trailrun #live #life #joy #happy #befree #outdoors #colorado

[j100826]

Made it up to Red Lake for the first time with @osito_malo1. 9500 foot elevation and I feel every step of it. #takingitback #stopsurvivingstartliving #beultra #becomingultra

[j100826]

Great way to start the morning with some trail therapy out on Wellbarn with some friends. #takingitback #stopsurvivingstartliving #losososlocosmultisport #everymilechangesyou #havefunkickass #running #run #sufferbetter #trailrunning #trailtherapy #altrarunning #altra #sjrt #nathan #cep #becomingultra (at Wellbarn Road Trail)

[j100826]

My playground this morning. Time for me to CTFO! #havefunkickass #losososlocosmultisport #everymilechangesyou #run #running #sufferbetter #unstoppable #trailrunning #trailtherapy #altrarunning #altra #trailrunning #htfu #becomingultra (at Sky Harbor/millerton Lake Hiking Trail)