I have been thinking about the 200 mile distance ever since I started running hundreds in 2019. I knew that eventually I would run this distance, but first I had to do the work and learn the lessons. Five years and eight 100+ mile races later, I signed up for ATY 200. The race is run around a 1.4 mile dirt/paved course in Glendale, AZ. They offer multiple timed races and distances from the marathon all the way up to a 6 day race.

Training

Training started out very strong. I was consistent and was working my way up to a goal of 90 miles per week. My plan was derailed though. Five weeks before the race, I was out for an easy run and strained my calf. It was a freak accident, and I immediately worried that my race would be in jeopardy. I gave myself about an hour to panic, and then I reached out to my PT. We scheduled an appointment and he got me started on an aggressive strength program to get my calf strong enough to withstand 200 miles. I have never done so many variations and reps of calf raises in my life! Every day, I woke up and told myself to find a way to keep training. It was a real test of my dedication and mental strength to keep pushing forward when everything felt so uncertain. I focused on walking 8-10 miles a day and lifting 4-5 times per week. I had many sleepless nights wondering if my calf would be ready. Looking back, I think that this is the best thing that could have happened to me.

Pre-race

We arrived to check into the race and set up my tent on Wednesday, December 27th. There were rows of tents with cots that could be rented out for the duration of the race. This would be my home base for the next few days. The night before the race, I slept about as well as could be expected. We woke up at 7am, got ready and arrived 30 minutes before the start of the race. The 200 mile runners had the option of starting anytime from Thursday until Saturday with the cutoff being 9am on Wednesday, January 3rd. I chose to start on Thursday so I wouldn’t have to worry about the cutoff. As we walked up to the starting line, my Dad mentioned that he was thinking of signing up for one of the races. I encouraged him to do so, saying that it would be fun to be out there together.

Thursday, December 28th- Day 1 (76 miles, 1 hour of sleep)

The gun went off right at 9am and we started off slowly knowing it would be a long couple of days. The majority of the runners starting on Thursday were in the 6 day race. The sun was out, but it was still only about 50 degrees and fairly cool. I chatted with a few people throughout the loop. Once I got around to the start/finish line, I ran into my Dad who said that he had signed up for the 100 mile race(!). This would be his first hundred in 17 years. He didn’t have any gear other than a worn out pair of running shoes and a pair of hiking shoes with him, and hadn’t done any specific training for the distance! I took it one loop at a time, spent some time walking with my Dad and ate regularly. My Dad went back to his RV for a nap after a few hours and I started running with a seasoned 6 day runner, Mikey. He held a very steady run 1 minute/walk 1 minute pace. I stuck with him for several loops asking tons of questions about how to manage my race. He had so much helpful advice about starting easy on day one, getting enough sleep and managing foot care. I tried to take it all in!

Right around 35 miles, I started noticing that I had a hot spot forming on the inside heal of my foot. Soon after, I accidentally kicked the corner of the concrete which also pushed an already fragile big toenail back causing a blister to start forming underneath the nail. On the advice from several other runners, I stopped into the medical tent to see if they could fix my blisters. They had trouble getting the tape to stick to my feet though so I pulled off the tape. I knew that if it wasn’t taped correctly, it would just cause more problems.

Night 1

My sister arrived around 9pm and at around 50 miles in. We decided that it would be best if we tried to tape up my feet on our own. In the darkness of my tent, we used the foot kit that I had bought and did our best to tape it up. Not much could be done for my painful big toes though since there were already blisters forming underneath both toenails. I wrapped both big toes in tape, so I at least wouldn’t have to look at them and went back out. I learned quickly that even though the temperature was hot during the day, as soon as the sun goes down, it gets cold fast. I layered up, and kept moving forward. At midnight, I was able to pick up my sister to start pacing me. We alternated running and walking throughout the night. We stopped at the aid station after several loops, checking to see what kind of food they had put out. Every few hours they had a new meal which gave me something to look forward to! My Dad came back out to join us for a while and we kept a steady pace throughout the early morning. Around 4am, Heather went home to get some sleep. I continued on for another hour before deciding to take a hour nap on my tent at about 70 miles in.

Friday, December 29- Day 2 (60 miles, 2 hours of sleep)

When I woke up at 6am, I felt revived! I grabbed some pancakes with nutella at the aid station and eased into the loop as I watched the sun rise. After every break, it took about a loop to get my feet used to the pounding again. My blisters felt raw and my feet ached. After a loop or so though, the pain started to lessen and I could start to run again. By 9 am, and the end of day 1, I was at 76 miles. The next round of races was starting just as we were changing directions. Each day started to follow the same pattern. I found some comfort in this.

Around mid morning, my hip started to lock up. It was very painful to walk and run. I decided to take a short break to take care both my hip and my feet. I knew that I couldn’t keep going until I started to take care of myself. I stopped in the warming tent at 10am for a 15 minutes body work appointment with Andre, who was providing massage for the runners while also running the 100 himself! My next stop was to the medical tent again. They couldn’t drain my blisters because of liability issues so I did that myself and they cleaned it with alcohol and put some tape over it. I felt great for the next several loops! My hip had loosened up and my feet started to feel better. I was running again and taking advantage of this high while my body felt ok and I was in good spirits!

This wouldn’t last long though. Around mid day, I started to hit another low point. The middle of each day was when I struggled the most. The heat started getting to me and I started to question why I was out there. Why didn’t I just run the 100 mile race? My friends (Jess, Santina and Kristen) had started a group text chain to encourage me throughout the race and they sent me memes, quotes, encouraging messages to keep me going during the low. The soles of feet started to ache again. I could feel new blisters forming and my left hip was starting to lock up again. I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep going with my hip feeling this bad. I called Dave with tears in my eyes and told him how miserable I was feeling. He talked me through it and I just kept telling myself to find a way to keep moving forward.

100 miles into the race

A few hours later, Dave came back with a cheeseburger and 2 new larger pairs of shoes from the running store! I sat in my chair and ate while he went to work fixing my new blisters. He has had a lot of practice at this from my previous races so I knew that this tape job would stick. My two daughters, nieces and nephews all gathered around to watch him drain my blisters, declaring that they never wanted to do this sport because they didn’t want someone sticking needles in their feet! Haha! About 10 minutes later, I got up and continued on the loop.

We had decided that as soon as I hit 100 miles, I would lay down for another nap. The halfway mark and the promise of sleep kept me going! At about mile 98, my friend Aum and I started running together and he said that he wanted to run me into my 100 mile loop. We both picked up the pace to about 11 minute miles and the distraction and conversation lifted me up. I hit 100 miles in about 33 hours. Unfortunately, the timing mat didn’t pick up the loop so Dave had to show the timers the time stamped photo that he had taken of me crossing the mat and they were able to make the correction. I felt great so I ran 2 more loops with Aum before stopping in my tent for a nap. I was on a huge high filled with excitement when I tried to lay down so it took me probably 20 minutes to calm myself down and actually fall asleep.

Night 2

At 6:30pm, I was up again and ready to get going. I dressed in my warm clothes since the sun had set and it was chilly again. I eased into the loop, waiting for my feet to go numb. The goal was to get to 130 miles and then take another nap. There weren’t many people out on the course, so I put in my headphones and just enjoyed running in the darkness alone. Around 10pm though, my eyes started to get heavy again and the negative thoughts started to creep in. I texted back and forth with my friend Santina and she reminded me to drink some coke and keep eating candy to help me stay awake. I just had to get to midnight and then Dave could start pacing me. She challenged me to get in 4 more loops before midnight. It was the push that I needed. I put my head down and started willing myself forward again, counting my steps to distract my mind from the pain. 100 steps of running. 100 steps of walking. Repeat.

Finally, it was midnight. I got some more food and then Dave went out on a loop with me. He had been having some IT band pain, so we agreed that it would be best if he just did every other loop. We would run a loop together and then I would try to do another loop and get back as quickly as I could. I started to keep track of how long it would take me to get back and my pace picked up. Around 2am though, my eyelids started getting really heavy again. I was out running a loop on my own and another runner said my name. I jolted awake, realizing that I had fallen asleep while running! As soon as I got back to the start/finish, I told Dave that I needed to take a 5 minute nap. We went into the warming tent, I put my feet up on a chair and rested my head on the table. Dave set his alarm for 5 minutes and I was asleep immediately. This continued on. I would run a few loops, take a 5 minute nap and then head back out again. Finally at 3:30am and 125 miles, I told him that this wasn’t productive anymore. I needed to lay down to sleep. Dave got me tucked into my sleeping bag in my tent and set my alarm for 5:15am. I was out immediately.

Day 3 Saturday, December 30 (64 Miles)

It was tough to get myself up and moving again in the cold but I felt motivated and determined to reach my goal. By today, I was in a schedule. As soon as I was out on the course again at 5:30am, I headed to the aid station for my pancakes with nutella. I took them to go and walked the loop to get my feet warmed up. I watched the sun come up and was amazed at how good I felt after getting 2 hours of sleep! I felt full of gratitude to be out here with all of these like minded people. These were some of my fastest loops of the race. I kept pushing myself harder and harder. I was riding another high and wondered how fast I could go with this many miles on my legs. I felt limitless. My legs were tired and heavy but I felt like I could run forever. It’s this feeling that I wont forget. It’s also this feeling that has me convinced that I can run so much further. By the end of day 2 at 9am, I had covered 60 miles in the second 24 hours of the race.

The next milestone of the day would be 141 miles. This would be a mileage PR for me. Dave decided that I should get to 141 and then take a shower at the nearby shower facilities near the parking lot. I didn’t want to waste the time but he assured me that I would feel much better after a shower and make up the lost mileage. The sun came up quickly today and it was the warmest day yet, around 80 degrees. I was moving really well, continuously running loops while trying to stay up on my electrolytes and hydration. Finally at mile 141, I rang the bell for my new PR, a tradition at Across the Years! I walked the few extra steps off the course and Dave drove me 50 yards to the showers. (We were allowed to leave the course as long as we enter at the exact same place). The water cooled me down and was a welcome break. However, all of the bandages on my feet came off and I was forced to finish the next loop with exposed blisters which wasn’t a lot of fun.

After the loop, we once again drained my blisters and bandaged up my feet. I headed back into the warm afternoon sun. I tried to tell myself that this would be my last afternoon out here racing. By the next day at this time, I would be back at the hotel. Time is relative. While you’re out there, it’s almost as if time stands still. But before you know it, it’s over and life has moved on. I always keep this in the fore front of my mind. At 3:20 pm and 149 miles, I decided to get out of the heat for an hour to rest. It was loud and hot in my tent but my feet were very swollen and it was nice to put them up for a few minutes.

150 Miles into the race

Once back out on the course, I continued to run loops. It was starting to cool down a little. At this point in the race, it felt better on my sore feet and hips to run than it did to walk. I started to feel my calf cramping up around mile 150. This made me very nervous since I had just overcome a calf strain in the opposite calf. Luckily, I saw Andre out on the course and asked him if I could get in for another 15 minute massage. At around 5pm, just as the sun was starting to set, I stopped at the aid station for some dinner. They had pumpkin pie which tasted amazing and I ended up having 4 pieces while sitting in the warming tent. These little luxuries mean a lot more when you are running on a loop for 3 days straight!

Andre worked on my calves for 15 minutes which were extremely sore to the touch! He instructed me to walk the next loop to ease back into it. At around 6pm, mile 158, I stopped back at the start/finish line to see my Dad finish his first 100 miler in 17 years! We cheered and took pictures. It was such memorable moment for the whole family. After a few minutes though, I had to continue on to start making a dent in the last 50 miles of my race. After that loop, I felt amazing. I’m sure this had something to do with all the food I had eaten as well as the massage. I shuffled and ran some loops chatting with Aum and Andrew and was in a great mood. The highs seemed to get higher and the lows got lower as the race went on. But I was able to keep adjusting my strategy.

Night 3

The end was in sight. I watched the sun set as I ran, knowing that would be the last time. A weight lifted and I started to really push myself. Dave was there to crew me overnight and we developed a plan. Run 2 loops hard and then I could get warm food from the aid station and sit in the warming tent for 5 minutes. His IT band was still not feeling great so we decided that I would be on my own for the loops but he would be there to make sure that I was in and out in 5 minutes. Some loops, I elevated my feet and ate. Other loops, I laid my head down and slept for 5 minutes. These 5 minute breaks gave me something to look forward to and made the last 40 miles feel less overwhelming. Also, giving myself those few minutes to get warm was the small dose of comfort that I needed. I pushed hard on these loops and would usually find a 6 day runner to spend the time with. The people that were out on the course had amazing stories from all of the races they had run! While running with a 6 day runner who was telling me about his amazing adventures over the years, my nose started gushing blood out of nowhere! It freaked me out, and also let me know that maybe it was time for a rest. I got back into my sleeping bag at the end of the loop and set the alarm for an hour and a half. It took me a while to calm down, but I do think I eventually fell asleep. By 3:25am, I was back out on the course. We had allotted more time for rest, but an hour and a half was enough and I got up quickly knowing that I had promised my daughters that I would be done in time to spend NYE with them. The miles passed by slowly as I shuffled along. I went from very cold and shivering to hot and sweaty and back again. I was having trouble regulating my body temperature at this point.

Day 4

At 7:15am, at mile 186, I laid down for one last short nap. Dave went back to the hotel and I slept in my tent for about an hour and 15 minutes. When my alarm went off, I couldn’t believe that this experience was almost over. It wasn’t easy to pull myself out of the comfort of my sleeping bag. But I was ready to finish what I had started. I texted my friends that I was headed back out to finish the race and they sent me more encouraging messages. For the last time, I went to the aid station, grabbed my pancakes with nutella and eased into the loop. I watched the sun come up as I ran, marveling what I had endured to get to this point. The emotions started to come up as I hit 190 miles. I pushed them down because the job wasn’t finished yet. I repeated to myself over and over, “the further you go, the stronger you feel”. What we say to ourselves matters. If you tell the body it is strong, I promise, even after 190 miles, it will respond.

At 9am on day 4, the next set of races started and the course was filled with people again. I tried to soak in each lap, reflecting on what I had done here. I pushed myself as hard as I could in those last 10 miles. My quads burned and my feet ached but I knew that I could find more. I held back tears during that last loop, running as hard as I could. When I turned the corner into the start/finish that last time, I let the tears finally come out. I crossed the finish line and sobbed. I was overcome with the emotion of everything that I had battled through to get to this finish line. Five years of consistent work. Early mornings, long miles alone, and the unwavering belief that I could achieve this dream. I hugged my kids, my nieces and nephew, and my husband, completely overcome with the emotion that I had held in for more than 3 days. I had just run 200 miles and I had more than exceeded my own expectations. I never could have imagined that I would be running all the way up until the end of this race, or that I would end up placing 2nd female and 4th overall.

Post Race Thoughts

First, running 200 miles broke me down. And then it broke me open. It forced me to find a way to keep going when it was painful, when I was beyond exhausted, and in those dark moments when I wasn’t sure if I could. But on the other side of those dark hours were moments of clarity where I was fully present and felt limitless. The rollercoaster of these highs and lows were more extreme than anything that I have experienced during a race, and it taught me so much.

It’s been said that we are a culmination of the people that we spend the most time with. In my 73 hours at ATY, this running community made me believe that I am capable of more. There were runners of all ages (up to the age of 91!) coming together to push their boundaries. I know that I’ll be back next year for even more loops in the 6 day race. In the meantime though, I’ll be doing everything within my power to become the kind of person that can run 300 miles.

Breakdown of the Race

What we did right:

Nutrition. I ate constantly throughout the race. When they put out a meal, I grabbed food and took it with me as I walked a loop. In between meals, I ate the food that I had brought (Honey Stinger Oat bars, Powerbar PowerGels, Peanut Butter M&M’s and Cheeze- its).

Hydration. I tried to drink one 18 ounce bottle of water per hour during the day and alternated plain water with either Skratch Hydration or Naak Hydration. At night, I sipped on plain water as needed and took a few electrolyte pills.

What we could improve on:

Foot care. I didn’t address my hot spots and blisters early enough and had to deal with them for the entire race. Next time, I’ll practice how to bandage my blisters more effectively and tape my feet going into the race.

Sleep. Now I know that taking an extra hour pays off with faster miles. We sorted this out by day 3 and I felt amazing.