The Race
Elan did something she had not done in years, she signed up for race. She registered for the Croom Zoom 25K in the Withlacoochee State Forest. The race was only a month away and she was only covering two miles in her run/walk training program, but she did not care. She needed something to look forward to and train for. The last time Elan run Croom Zoom in the Withlacoochee State Forest was eleven years ago when she attempted to complete the 100k race around her thirtieth birthday. Although it had been years since she had thought about that race, she remembered it clearly. It was a crisp thirty degree morning in Tampa. Elan dressed in her three-quarter length black exercise pants and a white long sleeved dry fit shirt with a dark pink short sleeved shirt over it. As James promised to drive her to the race, he woke up crankily to drive the hour and a half to the forest for check-in and prior to the 6:00a.m. start time. The forest was pitch black with only the headlights of vehicles arriving and the light of lanterns leading runners to the sign-in tables. Elan was ready with a mixture of excitement, anticipation, and nerves. She had never run that far but was excited for the challenge.
As the race started, Elan turned on her headlamp to guide her in the dark and to hopefully stay on the running path. Elan followed other runners and they all quickly realized that they had all missed the marked trail. They turned around and found the correct path. Early in the race, Elan tripped and fell over a tree root bruising her right knee. She kept going. One foot in front of the other powered by the music in her headphones. Some of her friends promised to attend the race to cheer her on. Of course, Elan did not expect anyone did get there at the start of the race. As Elan ran through the wooded dirt path that was a 10.5-mile loop with raised tree roots, over logs, and up and down hills, Elan felt comfort, peace, and complete presence in the task at hand. As Elan had finished her second loop, she saw Zeina and Andy. They cheered and waived her on as she started her third loop. The refreshment tables that were marked on various parts of the path were filed with decarbonated mountain dew, pretzels, and M&Ms. Unlike 5k and even marathon races that had water tables at every mile, ultrarunning refreshment tables were miles apart and filled with items that would keep cramps at bay and keep you energized for the Herculean task of truly long distance running. Elan also loved the quirky mix of people attracted to running these inconceivable distances.
As Elan progressed in the 100k race, her right knee began to swell from the earlier fall that occurred at the start of the race, and she compensated by putting more emphasis on her left leg. As the miles continued to pass by, her left ankle started to swell. By the end of the third loop, her body felt like it was falling apart. James and her friends knowing how much this race meant to her decided to join her on the fourth loop. Elan’s run had slowed into a sluggish walk. Her legs and body were seizing and there were points when Elan wanted to just curl up on the trail and fall asleep. She even thought it might be best if James and her friends just left her in the woods. She would just forage and build shelter while her body recovered. She thought about just starting a new life in the state forest at this moment. This was of course nonsense. Her friends helped keep her moving and slowed down to her pace that at times felt like she was moving in reverse. She felt so loved and supported during this loop, and she was so grateful.
When Elan had finished the fourth loop, she was done. She was an official DNF, “Did Not Finish.” This pained Elan, but her throbbing body just wanted to stop moving. She took in water and the warm broth that the race officials had prepared for the runners to keep them warm. Elan turned to her husband and said, “I failed.” James replied without missing a beat, “What are you talking about? How in the world do you consider that a failure? You went 42 miles on foot!” Elan thought to herself, “yeah, that is pretty cool.” She had previously researched that only one percent of runners in the world ever try to complete an ultramarathon. She previously completed a 50K race and tried to up the ante with this 100K race. The 100k race proved to be too much that day. After this race, Elan felt like her body had been hit by a truck. She could barely walk up and down stairs and the pain in recovery made it difficult to sleep. But she never felt more alive in pushing her body to its limits. At recommendation of her doctor, Elan moved into the triathlon world for a short period. She hung up her long distance running shoes and started biking and swimming, which was less impact on her recovering body.
Over the past five years, Elan’s focus was on fertility and the obsession with trying to become pregnant. She somehow lost the will to train and complete races during this time. Now that Elan was looking for new purpose in her life, she returned to a familiar friend, the road. Even though she no longer had the speed or endurance she once had, the road comforted her. Somehow, the thought of returning to the Withlacoochee State Forest for the Croom Zoom run excited her even through she was woefully unprepared.