Yeti 100
July 15, 2022 Hyak, WA
Yeti icky 100
27:26:18
Number 51
There are days when I am in the groove and feeling great and loving running a hundred miles. I have been grateful to have had many of these days lately, it’s my thing, smile, run and walk and you will get to the finish. This was not one of those days.
Yeti events happen in Virginia and these are the same people who come all the way to Washington to host the event on the Palouse to Cascades trail (Iron Horse). Trail is an old railroad grade so flat gravel or only up to 2% grade up or down.
Maybe I trained too much lately or maybe it was just an off day. This was a tough event for me. Felt good for the first 30-35 miles, then didn’t have access to enough water so had to conserve in the heat of the afternoon. I even asked some cyclist for some of their water and they were excited to help me out with a few sips. Aid station was 13 miles apart and on the way down to Rattle snake lake that was okay. But on the way back up it was a bit far to go in the heat of the afternoon without more water. I was drinking UCAN and eating gels as I know my stomach does better in the heat with liquid calories. Got back to Hyak at 42 miles and had avocado tortilla and pickle juice, changed socks and relubed toes. Go. On my way to Cle Elum.
I felt icky. Considered dropping to 100K. My stomach was bad, my legs were tired and cramping bad, and my head was bad. I was too low on fluids and I felt it. I walk and jog a bit and find my friend Jess. She has been out on the Cascade Crest course getting things ready for next week and agrees to run with me a bit. Thank gosh.
I tell Jess I’m a mess. Not sure I wanna do this. She met me at my low point. We talked and jogged a little and walked a lot and by the end of our time together my attitude was better, my stomach felt okay and I must have drank enough to get back on top of my fluids. Gosh golly. It was just what I needed, time with Jess. Thanks my friend. Great to run some with Van, Mikey and Nicole as most of the race I was on my own. Saw beautiful views but no pictures.
So off I go 58 to 71 miles, nothing but flat straight trails. More green than when I ran this section two years ago during pandemic Virtual Betty Yeti 100 with Amy. Thank you Chris B for the ramen at the turn around aid station. Just what I needed. Lots of stars out at night, lots of music, lots of walk breaks, but got er done. Hitting the turnaround felt good because I knew all I had to do was get back to Hyak, 29 miles, and my wonderful husband would be there to pick me up. That was probably the best part of the day.
I’m grateful to all the volunteers who were out there, many of them all night long. We couldn’t do these things without volunteers. I’ll be volunteering next week for Cascade Crest 100 and I’m looking forward to it. I’m also humbled by the fact that you can screw up or make mistakes even when you have run many of these hundos. Attitude is everything, smile, put the water filter in your backpack and use the bigger backpack for 100s. Always keep learning and respect the distance, it’s a doozy.