What they don't tell you: The Aftermath

Finish Line Bliss

Look at that face.  I was, and still am, so very happy.  I still can't believe how difficult it was.  I mean I knew going in it would be harder than anything else I had ever done but wow.  It was challenging both physically and mentally. 

The finish line was a fog of happiness and pain.  My legs were so stiff, my balance was gone and my brain was about three steps behind.  I kept staring at the buckle thinking, OMG I did it! 

The first post race challenge came when they brought the car around.  I was able to sit.  Ok, it was more of a flop into the seat but I got there.  They had to take my legs, as I had zero strength left in the tank, and pivot me into the car.  We propped my legs up on the dash because my legs below the knees were visibly swollen.  

Lisa and Michelle walked the path back to the other car at Crew City while Kirsten drove me back to the VRBO.  As we were driving out of the parking lot the most bizarre thing happened. (If you are also an ultra runner I would love to know if this has ever happened to you as I had zero warning.)  I remember sitting there sort of talking with Kirsten when I started this groan.  It was like in the movie, The Princess Bride, when they have Wesley in the Pit of Despair.  The torture device uses waves of water to bring the pain.  The sudden waves of pain started crashing below the knees.  I could do nothing to help it except this moan/groan sound.  It wasn't a matter of positioning it was a crushing torture.  Kirsten told me I could cry but there were no tears.  I was way past crying and waaaaay past tired.  

By the time we got to the VRBO, I had settled into the pain.  Little did we know the immense challenge that was before us.  The house had about 9 steps to get onto the living floor.  I kid you not, it took an hour.  Most of that time was in two places.  First simply standing up out of the car.  It was a very painful but simple pivot back to sitting in the correct position.  All I had to do was stand up.  That's it.  Sounds simple but it was not.  Kirsten ended up using her hospital lift skills to get me into the up right position.  Right before she said, We just have to go for it.  It is going to hurt a lot.  So we did and I might have dry cried a bit.  I was able to shuffle with the help of the car.  The steps up to the house were difficult.  Kirsten basically lifted me up each step.  The next true test came just inside.  There were five final steep steps and we would be set.  I decided to crawl up the steps which worked great until I was on the top step and realized I was stuck.  (Hold Up! Kirsten just reminded me that she basically had to shove me up each step so no. Crawling up the steps did not work great. Ok, continuing with the story...)  You might be thinking, why not just crawl the last step and down the hallway.  Well, I didn't have multiple things that are required for crawling- core and hip flexors nor the foot flex and toe capability.  (Yes, I was a real mess.)  With props we were able to get me into a chair and then once again, Kirsten did the body lift and I was back vertical.  

My first priority was a shower.  There are no words for how gross I was- I was super smelly, covered in mud and had been wet for over 30 hours at this point.  Kirsten and I moved our sister relationship to the next level.  She helped me get in the shower (Thank goodness for the shower seat!!!!).  While getting into the shower I mentioned that it was weird that hundreds of Corgis with Bunny Ears were watching me.  Kirsten kindly informed me that I was hallucinating.  Yep, on Sunday I was back in that bathroom looking at the wallpaper.  No corgis. 😂 I could kind of see where I got the idea of bunny ears but absolutely no sign of anything resembling corgis. HA!

French Toast with Strawberry Compote

The shower was rejuvenating.  It took a long time to get all the shower things done but once done it was so nice to be clean and in dry comfy clothes.  I hobbled to the living area and propped my legs up on the couch.   Kirsten gave me an IV bag while Michelle cooked up some amazing burgers and fries.  

I made it halfway through the burger.  I might have been in the middle of a conversation when, BAM- I passed out.  I slept for four hours and woke up human.  Apparently Lisa had woken me up during it for Ibuprofen but I have no memory of this.  After our naps, we had breakfast for dinner (my favorite).  The evening zipped by quickly.  I had the usual post-big run wacky night sleep. 

Kirsten left very early the next morning while Lisa, Michelle and I were all on a later flight together.  Thankfully Kirsten told me that no matter how painful, I needed to put on compression socks before I stepped out of bed the next morning.  

Even with the compression socks, my feet were too swollen to fit into any shoes.  So after I rode the couch
all morning completely useless, we stopped at Walmart for men's wide soccer style sandals.   They were perfect. 

Once to the airport, I happily accepted help from wheelchairs.  I was able to shuffle-walk in the bathrooms, down the boarding ramps and on the planes but through the airport terminals I got all the help I could get.  

We took a little jumper plane from Tri-Cities over to Charlotte where we had a three hour layover.  It was fun seeing other runners doing the Hundo-Shuffle proudly wearing their race gear.  We ended up hanging out in Charlotte with John, another runner, over a beer.  He had a SIX hour layover! We had such a great time that we almost missed our flights! This was another time the wheelchair came in handy- Lisa was basically running me through the airport to my gate and then she and Michelle made it to their flight for last call. I chose to shuffle down the ramp to get my legs moving before the three hour flight.  

The flight was miserable. I was way over tired but couldn't fall asleep.  Everything hurt and I just wanted to blink myself home. 

My parents picked me up at the airport.  It was so great seeing them.  After seeing the set up in the rental back in VA, they were able to set their car up the same way.  It was the first time my feet were elevated in about 10 hours! They drove me home.  The homecoming was amazing- they surprised me with balloons, flowers and a banner.  My mom was originally going to come and crew for the race but since she is high risk, stayed home.  She took her new job seriously.  She cooked and filled my fridge with food.  She made a minestrone soup from scratch that was incredible.  I ate it for three meals straight! Seriously, I had it for dinner that night, breakfast in the morning and again for lunch.  

From here on out, every day was better than the last in terms of recovery.  The first thing I noticed was I was SUPER emotional.  Monday morning at 8am I logged into my first meeting of the day.  It was for our curriculum committee in elementary school.  Yep. I cried when I learned we would be joined by others in the weeks to come.  I would miss our little group's safe intimate feel.  I am not normally a crier. I felt like a lunatic.  

Toes Out Compression Legs

Another unexpected side-effect of being rain soaked and sweaty damp for over 30 hours was my skin was very unhappy.  I got folliculitis (my hair follicles were angry) on my back and stomach.  So it basically looked like I had the chicken pox for a week! 

It took a couple days for the shuffle to turn into a walk.  By Wednesday I was even walking up the stairs with ease.  I was not really hungry with intense cravings until Thursday. Every few hours I would be suddenly and desperately hungry.  This only lasted for about two days.  Also, it took almost a week for me to get my normal sweet tooth back.  Madness! 

Now it's been about 10 days.  My coach has me doing an hour of mobility and walks daily.  The Achilles is a bit temperamental and as much as I hate mobility, I am finding I very much need it.  Today I am heading to my first PT appointment for some Achilles maintenance.  

Ice bath for very swollen feet

It's still strange to think the race happened.  It's so surreal.  I've been trying to process my experience.  I think the miles unfolded exactly as they were supposed to.  However, I do want to learn from them.  For example, I realize now that I was so so negative (I call it going dark.) during miles 40-80ish because I was too busy comparing myself to others and to cutoffs.  Never I can't do this but more like why is it so hard for me to do this.  I think I now understand that this is what others meant by "stay in the moment."  It was not until I focused on each step during that last out-and-back that I felt more grounded and purposeful.    

Yes, I have researched other 100s.  I am definitely looking at 2022 to give me a year of silly trail running,  running just for fun and the occasional sleep in on the weekend.  For now, I am living in my race sweatshirt.  I am never taking it off.