It is a Tuesday morning, a few hours before the sun comes up. I have tucked myself into a lobby couch a hotel in tiny town Tennessee. I drove out here Wednesday + Thursday to spend an undetermined amount of time at the Big Dog Backyard Ultra. My plan + Read more…
Not surprisingly, that last bit about the Big Dog Backyard Ultra ended with tears then somehow led “next time” talk. It’s crazy how quickly selective memories kicks in. After I called my race at 15 hours/62 miles I let my last caffeine pill’s affects soak out of my veins before heading back to Big Red to crash into my pillow for a few hours. My body was surprisingly awake [presumably thanks to caffeine we pumped into my body hoping it’d change my mood] but my legs were far less functional than I expected now that I’d let myself sit down. Crawling into the back of a pick up truck required far more effort than I care to admit…running was stupid. I hated running. I was never, ever going to run again + I was definitely never going to run a race as jacked up at Bigs. Never. Ever. Ever!
While dumping half a paycheck worth of diesel into Big Red, en route to Utah to volunteer at the Bear 100 [which was supposed to be my “A race” of the year], I impulsively tossed my name onto the waitlist for the Big Dog Backyard Ultra in Tennessee. Typing in my initials to sign away all liability + hitting “register” was weirdly exhilarating, even if it was only for the waitlist. For now.
Just after the Bear 100 racers took off from the start line I clicked through my inbox + hit “confirm” on my official Big Dog Backyard Ultra registration. *deep breath* Bigs is no “regular” ultra, it’s one of Laz’s races that was designed specifically to mess with your mind + force you to find your limits. I went out to Tennessee to crew the race two years ago when Jeremy + Johan battled it out to a tie at 49 hours. It was one helluva experience to crew — the atmosphere was awesome, Laz + his family were great hosts + it was incredible to witness the determination of runners hour after hour. Somehow that sounded fun enough to sign up for, with Jeremy jumping on board to crew because it gave him a chance to hang out with everyone he ran with a few years ago.