MREAH - the Marathon Rematch of Endless, Asinine Hell - Sunday, November 8th, 2020

 I feared this was going to suck a lot.

It had all the earmarks of a terrible day, save for the weather.

You remember last year there was a ridiculous race called "meh - the Marathon of Endless Hell" that involved running around a ~420m paved path in a small park in Hamilton? Well, I gave it a whack, and it didn't go spectacularly - I ended up dropping halfway through due to ankle and knee issues.

Because I make terrible decisions, I decided to try it again. I was going to do it toward the end of November, but due to the 100 runs in 100 days starting early (November the effin' 15th!) and the predicted weekend of unseasonable warmth, the schedule was moved up considerably. I messaged a couple of friends to see if they'd like to come and laugh at me (or keep Tanker company, or actually join me for a few laps), and completely failed to do anything sensible like taper or even stay off my feet the day before - I ran down to the market and went paddleboarding instead, then got hecck-all for sleep Saturday night.

So, basically standard race prep for me. 

It was a gorgeous morning as we headed down to the Hammer (for the 2nd week in a row), and set ourselves up under the gazebo at Mount Hope Park. 

I left a little space in case I felt like over-achieving - only 18.5 additional laps to make 50k!

I honestly had no idea how well or poorly things were going to go - I only had two solid goals:

1) Finish 100 laps

2) Do so before dark if at all possible

What I saw when I started getting my watch set up to begin.
Oh, Garmin - you're adorable.

I'd hoped to start by 11am, in order to give myself a solid 6 hours before sunset - the day had other ideas, so we were a bit late getting on the road. I'm not very experienced with having to bring everything I'll need all day for myself PLUS a full aid station, so there was some last-minute racing around to grab some things, like plastic cups for friends to use if they wanted to have some water from the big 18L bottle (with pump) we were bringing, or split a beer with Tank. We had also packed along our single-burner camp stove so my darling husband could brew up as much coffee as his heart desired, and maybe I could get a cup along the way, too...which meant I needed to make sure we had coffee cups, as well! 

If you've ever been lucky enough to have Tank's coffee, you'll understand why I was so stoked about this.

By a little after 11:30am, I was finally ready to go, and set off with no ceremony whatsoever. Heck, I hadn't even done any ankle circles or anything as a warm-up; I just went.

Not that "warming up" was necessarily required, under the hot sun!

I knew I was going to be quite lazy (errh "conservative") right from the start of this thing, but hadn't actually determined what that would really look like. Run-walk strategy for sure, but what proportions? All I could foresee was that there would likely be a lot more walking in the latter half; perhaps almost all of the latter half, depending on how beat up I was feeling by the endless pavement.

At least there weren't any icy patches this time!

I ended up settling on running 3 laps, then walking one - mostly because it felt pretty achievable as a way to keep myself in check, with about 1.25km of run before a walk break to pass the mile mark, and also because it made the math easy. Do it 25 times, and I'd be finished. I also decided it worked out cleanly to change directions every 20 laps, so the plan was set. It's amazing how clearly some things can come into focus if you ponder on them while letting your legs do their thing.

Of course, I couldn't just let my mind wander: while not half as busy as I'd feared on the beautiful, summer-like day, my first few laps were a bit fraught by a couple out walking a triumvirate of dogs. The gentleman was quite good about keeping his two charges leashed in, but the lady was paying no attention whatsoever to where her pup was wandering, which was generally straight toward me on a 12'+ long leash. Since the path was only a dozen feet wide, I had to take action to evade being tripped by her doggo. I'm sure he or she was friendly - certainly not aggressive, just curious - but it's bloody inconsiderate not to be attentive when there are others using a public space.

I'd got about 9 laps in when I saw Sher and Dan arrive, not much after noon. I think it took all of about 3 laps in the midday sun before Sherry said screw it - it was #sportsbrasquad time. Having already heartily considered this option (even though I was wearing a sleeveless shirt), I was only too happy to oblige. 

Dan - being a bit on the pale side - declined to join Team Skins

Tank was good enough to remind me as I hit my walk lap that maybe I should eat something - I was past 30mins, so grabbed a stroopwafel and munched as I walked and chatted. I wasn't quite able to finish it during the walk break, so I ended up carrying it with me as I ran another 3 laps, polishing it off along the way. As I said - what kind of ultrarunner would I be if I couldn't chomp back a stroopwafel while running?

Fun times!

The run 3:walk 1 pattern remained in place as I hit 20 laps and turned from clockwise to counter-clockwise, noting with some dismay that somehow the new direction felt like there was more uphill. I know it's literally impossible, but there was maybe a 1-foot elevation difference over the hundred-or-so metre stretch directly opposite the gazebo that created a false-flat downhill one way and a very slight uphill in the other. Having already run for around 1h15m before switching directions, I could actually feel that, as well as the mounting wind blowing across the open field.

Coming into the "uphill" stretch

Sherry had 10 miles on her plan for the day, which of course would take significantly longer than usual due to my walking laps, as both she and Dan were kind enough to fall into my lazy run/walk scheme. I'm sure the building heat of the day might have contributed to their charitably not leaving me in their dust! 

Well, not by much, anyway.

I wasn't amazing at remembering to eat stuff, though I did make sure I took my water bottle with me on every walk lap to get good hydration in under the hot sun. 

It would often come along on the run laps, too.

It wasn't until 1h20m that I managed to get something else into me - a little "fun size" pack of Fuzzy Peaches. What's weird is that I swear this was the first time I'd ever had candy during a run; I don't really eat much candy to begin with (though I have a deep and abiding relationship with 73% cocoa chocolate covered almonds outside of running), and I've never really been inclined to try gummies during a race after some unfortunate lip-, cheek- and tongue-biting incidents a decade or so ago while trying Clif Shot Bloks. However, I'd had a tiny packet of Sour Patch Kids while out running amok with Dree on Halloween the weekend before - which had tasted incredible - and we'd been beseeched by the owner of the vegan ice cream shop we'd been to on Saturday afternoon for some post-paddling carbo loading to take some of the candy she'd put out for customers, so I found myself nomming away at the wee salty-sugary drops of gelatine and quite enjoying them.

Just one of the myriad treats I'd brought along to sustain me - we were well stocked!

Two hours had ticked past, and I was just about to 40 laps and my next turn-around. I was pleased to note that - with changing direction every 20 laps - I'd get to do 50% more running in the "downhill", clockwise direction than counter-clockwise.

Screw you, non-existent uphill!

It wasn't until 2h10m, though, that I finally managed to remember to get some more calories into me: a coconut date roll, and a handful of pretzel crisps. Once again, I failed to eat everything during my walk lap, and ended up carrying half a dozen little pretzels in my hand for the 3 laps I ran. 

I did make an effort, though, hence my pretzel-stuffed my face here.

It was shortly thereafter that I made it to 50 laps, and which Sher did 1 or 2 more with me to finish her 10 miles (and then some - she was a little late starting her watch, and it read more than 17km by the time she stopped), then bowed out.

Smart girl, that!

As you can see above, Andrea has also showed up, and was keeping Tank company. Dan decided he'd keep going, which actually helped keep me motivated to maintain the 3:1 run/walk pattern for another 10 laps to get me to 60% complete and him to just under 25k before he had had enough. I'd been rolling for a bit more than 3 hours by that point, and decided it was time for some real food. I still have no idea why I even brought gels; it was time to crack out the shoulder bacon and eat a full banana! I also requested that Tank brew me up a cup of coffee, as things definitely weren't getting any easier. I was pretty stoked about the progress I'd made with the help of my friends; if I was going to get this thing done before dark (which would give me about 6hrs total), having 60% of it in the bag in 3h5m was a great start!

Pulling out my coffee cup and chatting with Sherry and Dan before their departure

I was really starting to feel the effects of the pounding on pavement - this was my longest run by far since the end of May, and I usually stick to trails for multi-hour excursions. I was happy I'd been able to truck along decently well while Sherry and Dan were getting their own training in, but my left hamstrings, glutes, and hip (symptoms of an ongoing lower back injury) were starting to complain a lot. I really needed to honour my body by cutting it some slack, and figured I'd laze my way through the last 40 laps leisurely-like.

I'm so grateful these two came out to join in the madness with me, on just a few hours' notice too!
(Bananas for scale)

Feeling like I could afford to take things a bit easy since I was already more than 25km in, and knowing I was now going "uphill" again, I decided I'd just walk a lap and see how I felt. I also put my shirt back on, as the heat was starting to diminish now that it was approaching 3pm.

Andrea switched from crew support to pacer as soon as Sher & Dan left the course.

As it turned out, I spent most of the second half doing a run 1:walk 1 pattern, while checking out all the hot cars and motorcycles ripping it up on Upper James along the eastern border of the park. 

You can see the almost clockwork pattern of 3:1 through 60 laps, then things get a bit...sporadic.

When Tank got the coffee ready, though, I took the opportunity to just walk 3 laps and enjoy my delicious cup of joe.

Advantage of having brought a mug with a sipper lid - I could walk and drink!

I can't tell if the coffee perked me up, or I was just motivated to get things done. In any case my 3 walking laps took me to #69, then I managed to get my butt moving again and ran in #70.

Not half as easily as it looks here.

Around 4h15m and 75 laps in, I realised that my fingers had got all fat and sausage-y - I had brought S!caps, but hadn't taken a single one yet. I downed two of them, knowing I was into the last few laps of the "uphill" counter-clockwise direction. I had a hotspot on the ball of my left foot, another one coming up on the outside of my right foot, and my left TFL was starting to get really stiff, but overall I was actually still moving pretty well. 

Even if it was starting to feel like work.

While my body was responding ok to my demands, it was also making some of its own. I'm not sure if it was the coffee at work or something else, but I was starting to feel some...uhh...urges, for which there were no facilities available. Last year there had been a portajohn at the park; this year, no such thing was present. I had stopped at a fortunately-placed portajohn at a construction site about a mile away from the park on the way down, so things had been fine so far, but that after one rather high-risk fart I really started to wonder if the library in front of the park might be open so I could use their facilities. There weren't even any decently densely leafy bushes behind which I might relieve myself, particularly as most of the foliage was on the windward side. I wasn't going to be responsible for stinking up a park with a playground and fitness equipment!

Finally reaching 80 laps (about 33.75km) in ~4h25m, I had less than 10km to go and made my final direction change. It was literally all downhill from here!

For the sun as well as me - daylight was burning fast.

The wind began to fade with the daylight, and I was actually able to put in a couple of bursts of running. As I finished lap #85 around 4:30pm, I asked Dree if she'd mind going to see if the library was open, as if they were I expected it would only be for another half-hour or so, and on top of needing to "get down to race weight" I now needed to pee as well. She took off to check, and I took off to run lap #86...then, when she hadn't returned, I somehow just kept on running and finished lap 87 before dropping to a walk again.

Who knows why we suddenly get these surges of energy after so many hours?

Of course the library was completely closed on Sundays, so I figured I'd just have to hold it all in and finish the damn thing off - just over 5k to go. I walked lap #88, then took off running again and managed to run another 2 to complete #90 just before the 5-hour mark. At that point I finally grabbed some more calories: another stroopwafel down the hatch. I'm not sure if it was the heat, or the extended walk breaks from the start, but I just hadn't been hungry all day.

Nomming my sweet, delicious waffle.

I had planned to just walk in the last 10 laps while drinking a can of cider, but since things were still feeling pretty good I figured I'd just finish the damn thing off and have a drink afterward.

Especially as the day was fading significantly faster than I was.

The temperature was dropping, too, so I paused to throw on my sweater to keep me warm. When I thought that I'd be doing a lot more walking than ended up being the case, Tank and I had planned to walk a bunch of laps together. Since that didn't seem like it was going to happen, and Andrea needed a moment, I asked Tank if he'd like to join me for lap #93.

Of course he did - he's awesome like that.

I'd been hoping to grab my sunglasses for the last couple of laps because the sun near the horizon was getting a little tough on the eyes, but by the time I finally managed to mention it to Tank - while we were out walking - it was basically a non-issue.

The one and only photo I took from opposite the gazebo all day, with Upper James Street off to the right.

Andrea apparently got back to the gazebo aid station not long after we departed, and kindly sent me a few photos of my sunset stroll with my sweetheart.

"I don't know why I'm like this! I'm sorry! I swear, we'll try to have a nice, chill weekend next week.."

With the sun having set at 5:04pm, it was time to get it the heck done - I was able to coax myself to run laps 94 and 95. 

It's almost like more than a decade of running ultras has some lasting effects, even after a period of de-training.

..which still didn't make this any less stupid an idea.

I walked #96, ran #97, walked #98, then ran #99. If you think it's weird I'd decide to walk #100, you clearly haven't figured out how much of a true dork I am.

And I can't thank Dree enough for coming out to enable my idiocy - the time honestly flew while we chatted away!

I wasn't stopping at 100 laps. If each one was truly 422 metres as advertised, then 100 laps was exactly a marathon distance: 42.2km. That meant if I did even one more, I could call it an ultra - the only one I'd run all year due to the pandemic. I ditched my sweater after walking in lap #100, then beat feet with Dree to finish this ridiculous business off!

She peeled off at the last moment to leave me as the focus of my "finisher pic", but I'd have been more than happy to have my excellent friend by my side for it!

The final tally: 101 laps (43.15km per my Garmin) in 5h39m50s

Yep, still a stupid idea, even if it worked out.

Celebration time!
Who, me? Drinking in public? Nahh..
I definitely didn't befoul some bushes along Upper James under cover of darkness, either.

It wasn't until I took my hat off that I realised just how warm a day it had really been - the salt stains on it were epic, particularly when you consider I only had 2 S!caps the entire day.

I was almost tempted to let them grow, as it looked like they were forming a skull!
Tank insisted I put it in the wash, though.

I was super pleased with how well my body held up, considering my overall lack of training this year and utter failure to taper or properly care for myself before the race. As the cherry on top, this was probably the first time in maybe 3 years that I'd run more than 20km without a single stitch of kinesiology tape holding some ragged part or other of me together! 

Happy girl!

As day turned to night, we bade farewell to Dree with profuse thanks for her help. Without her, Sherry, Dan, and most of all the tireless patience and hard work of my sweet husband, there's no way I could have pulled this off in as fun a fashion as I did, if at all. I'm incredibly grateful to have such amazing people in my life, and that we can find safe ways to share adventures even in the midst of a global pandemic.

I'm also grateful to have put this silly business to bed, so I can wear my "meh" shirt without sensing an asterisk hanging in the air about it!

Funny enough, despite it being the #1 thing I exclaim when I'm having a rough time, I never even said MREAH once all day..

meh. - Marathon of Endless Hell - Sunday, December 8th, 2019

Marathons are stupid.

Scenic Upper James Street and the snow-covered ball field

The pre-race email said the path around the ball diamond at Mount Hope Park was free of snow, which eliminated my big fear about hours of splashing along through slush...if it could be trusted.

Do these shady f'ers look trustworthy to you?

It was supposed to be sunny and get up to 6c, so decisions were made.

Sun's out - guns out

The usual pre-race things happened: oatmeal, caffeination, absurd amounts of kinesiology tape, Tanker attempting to set land speed records for little blue hatchbacks, and trepidation. Loads of sun-warmed ice and icicles came crashing down off the gazebo and trees around the park as the wind came howling across an open field beside the actual park.

You can see broken shards of ice sitting to the left (leeward side) of the gazebo

I flailed my limbs, I said hello to friends (almost all of whom made some sort of remark about being cold just looking at me), and then we gathered around for the awards ceremony...which took place a few minutes before the race.

Bronze for the person with the longest name (and least vowels in case of a tie);
Silver to the oldest person in the race;
Gold to the shortest person in the race.

I was cold enough that I was considering running my first lap in my down jacket, and kept it on while we all gathered by the bleachers. I had just decided to ditch the jacket after all when the "shotgun start" went off.

By which I mean the instigators of this madness shotgunned a beverage - that may or may not have been legal to consume in a public park - each
(Photo by Stacy McMillan)

Trying to re-zip my jacket off the start

We started clockwise, and I actually felt pretty good for the first few laps: Heather was sweet enough to take my jacket after the first so I didn't have to stop, and I spent awhile just clicking off loops at what felt like quite an easy, sustainable pace. I'd run twice the day before (because, well...100 in 100), so I was surprised to see some relatively speedy bits happening in my GPS watch's display...and wondered if it would bite me in the arse later on.

The course was not just a basic ball diamond shape - there were some extra curves to it, though no particularly sharp turns to speak of. The pavement was free of snow (but not dog poo, because people suck), but had one icy stretch of about 4 metres as you approached the gazebo in the clockwise direction.

This began to melt under the sun and passage of runners' feet, but was solid ice for the first hour or so.
This allowed Byron to pull off the only flat-ground glissade I've ever witnessed

Our little slice of hell.

Jacket gone but sweater still zipped up tight.

The only other obstacles on the path were a tiny hump - maybe 6" high, more of a frost heave than anything else - on the side closest to Upper James Street. The pavement was ever so slightly side-sloped toward the inside, but other than that it was dead flat.

I'm probably on top of the little hump here

Heading toward the unnecessary chicane

The nutrition plan was going to be really simple for this, in the absence of any climbs or technical sections to walk - I took a slurp of EFS liquid shot every half hour, starting at 30mins, by pausing briefly at the gazebo where I had the UltraCooler™ set up. I also starting taking in one S!cap per hour at 30mins, though I didn't think I was going to lose that much sodium to sweat in the cold wind.

Open field on the windward side, with plenty of snow to add extra frostiness

Round and round and round we went, with my first 18 laps passing before a change of direction around 48mins in. We turned around via the expedient of a U-turn at the bleachers where the coolers full of water and apparently very strong Tang were set up, then tried the whole business counter-clockwise for awhile. The outside of my right knee twinged a bit at the change, but I was still rolling along pretty well. The sun had warmed things up a bit so I was able to zip down the collar of my sweater, and it seemed like the wind might be easing a little.

Sharing a lap with Patty, who ran a bandit 5k on the course

A few times while running through the treed section of the course I'd see a chunk of ice blow off a branch and shatter on the path ahead of me. It was not a particularly welcome realization that if it had happened a second or two later I'd have been hit by a hard projectile, so I tried not to think too much about it. Just keep running, idiot.

The treed section

The coating of ice on the trees was quite impressive

Emerging from the trees - the left fork would take you off course, but directly toward a fortunately-placed portajohn.
There was a shoe inexplicably floating sole-up in said portajohn when we arrived.
This inspired questions I wasn't sure I wanted answered.

Onward toward the gazebo
Just ignore that this is still going clockwise - I only took my phone/camera out for a couple of laps later in the day.

I was keeping track of laps via a manual counter stuck in my skirt pocket, but this had its limitations - it relied not only on me remembering to do so (and we all know I'm kind of a dip, especially while running), but also the danged thing registering the lap each time I tried to click it. Neither of these was terribly reliable. Fortunately I was also keeping track of laps in my head, and periodically checking to see if my counter was in agreement.

It was easy at first to have a visual cue of "when you reach this point click the thing", but then we changed direction.

Try to keep up, will you?

Some people took a lower-tech approach

By the time I reached 30 laps I was starting to feel a bit worn out and beat up, which was discouraging - my right ankle was getting a bit sore, and an issue I've been having with my left pes anserine (spot just under the inside of the knee where a few different tendons attach) was starting to get a bit talkative. I also felt like I'd been hydrating less than I should in the cold air, so resolved to focus more on drinking water from my hand bottle. I made myself run another 4 laps so I'd be more than a third of the way through - putting me at a little more than 14km - then walked a lap.

The start/finish area

SO SCENIC

That was when I noticed that something was wrong with my right knee - it hurt every time I'd extend my leg out behind me while walking. I'd had something similar happen before at Vulture Bait a few years ago, and it rapidly became excruciating then; I had to limp my way into the finish as it happened at the furthest place from the start area on my second lap of the course. The culprit was a tight gluteal muscle then, so I started trying to find something grouchy in the right side of my butt as I walked along. I was only about 3/4 of the way through the lap, though, when I got so chilled that I had to start running again.

Hilarious aspect of the race: the two ladies to the left of the path behind me (Shannon & Jen) were walking the course for most of the morning, booing and heckling as people would come past them. They also started moving to try to block runners from coming past, but I'm exactly the sort of idiot who would yell "I'M SPLITTING THE DEFENCE" and bowl on through between them.
(Photo credit to Heather - thanks for making me look good, sweetheart!)

When I reached the gazebo, I handed off my bottle to Tanker, having drained it - at least my focus on hydration was working, and I could run a lap without it while he filled it for me. I also tried stretching out my IT band and glutes, but nothing seemed to be helping. Welp, if it hurts to walk, I might as well run - I took another swig of gel and another S!cap, then set off once more to try to get some more laps under my belt.

As I ran lap #36, Jeff came past me and let me know we'd be turning around after the next lap. Hitting the bleachers and pulling a U-turn at 1h35m meant I didn't actually pass the gazebo, so I wasn't able to retrieve my refilled water bottle from Tanker until I had done lap #37 (in a row?)

Clockwise again

Having returned to our original direction of travel, I was able to confirm that the wind was getting worse again - it was a physical force shoving against me as I tried to make progress on the section along Upper James, only finally turning into a cross- and then tailwind as we came through the curves in the treed portion by the fitness stations. I hoped that I'd be able to walk more comfortably going clockwise, as I knew it wouldn't be long before I needed to walk another lap. 

I managed to run until I'd completed 45 loops, then dropped to a saunter...only to discover my knee was even more painful now. I tried massaging my glutes (yeah, rubbin' my butt while I wandered around; I'm super ladylike), but still couldn't really find anything wrong in there. As I walked and took photos - having grabbed my phone - it eased a tiny bit, but remained problematic. I ended up walking 2 full laps, though, and FREEZING in the process! I'd zipped my sweater back up, but by the end of the 1st lap I needed to stop and put on my wind vest. 

Which didn't help as much as I'd have liked.

Dropping my phone off again, I stirred myself into a run once more, but I stepped funny with my right foot as I set off and my ankle started to complain louder and louder. I ran laps 48, 49 and 50 - which put me at a half marathon, or 21.1km - and dropped to a walk once more.

My ankle was ok while I walked, but my knee was worse. I had to face the real possibility that I was going to do myself long-term damage if I tried to finish the 100 laps for a full marathon. There was also a half option (termed "half as bad" on the registration page, versus "fully awful"), so I wondered if Jeff would let me drop down in distance as I'd seen the medals on offer and WANTED ONE. I just didn't see how I'd make it the whole way through with everything that was going wrong; my knee was painful as I walked, and my ankle was agony if I ran.

The pes anserine problem had settled down a fair bit, but I didn't think it would let me hop the rest of the way.

Jeff came by as I was walking and chatting with Robin for my 51st lap, and asked if I could switch to the half, having already done a little more than required distance. He said it was no problem, which I greatly appreciated. Robin only had a few laps left to go in her half (she'd actually registered for the "half as bad" - smart girl!), so I thought I might try to close it out with her, especially as she was hurting a bit as well.

Heading out for my 52nd lap we both broke into a run to try to warm up, and it was immediately apparent that this was a terrible idea. My ankle screeched in pain and I was only able to produce the most awkward and shuffling of running strides. I wished Robin well and dropped back to a walk after a dozen or so steps, limped my way 'round to the gazebo (where Jeff and a couple of other people sat on the pavement trying to stretch and massage various painful body parts), and friggin' quit.

BOOOOOOOO 

Completely unofficial time: 2:29:30 for 52 laps / 21.94km

(There are no official results - nobody cares)

(Garmin workout data is here)

I was far from the only person to tap out before they'd finished their intended distance - I wasn't even the first. I'm still disappointed that my body wasn't able to hold together to go the whole way, but pavement SUCKS, especially when you do all of your long distance training on the softer, varied surface of the trails. The grind of a flat, unforgiving path - particularly with all those weird curves to put stress on hips and knees and it's innocuous little camber - was just too much for me on that day.

I would have stayed to cheer others on, but I was FREEZING TO DEATH in the bitterly cold wind.

Even Tanker was cold, and he's NEVER cold.

So, after going to grab my medal, we bailed.

Best. Medal. EVER.

An Epsom salt bath after we got home helped me shake off the chill that had worked it's way into my bones, and some massage and foam rolling on my right lateral quads and TFL (weird muscle on the outside of your hip) eased off some of the tension in my illiotibial band, giving my knee some relief. I was actually able to go for a short walk with Tank that evening, and have run every day since except today (my usual day off). There was a bit of sensation - not really pain, but something - in the knee on Monday and Tuesday, but it's disappeared completely since. My ankle has been cranky, but that's really nothing new; it's been causing me grief for almost 2 years now. Funny enough, my legs didn't even really hurt after the race; the shorter distance and totally flat profile weren't enough to cause any real soreness, so I've gratefully been able to return to training right away.

And have an awesome new shirt to wear post-run!

For all that Crappy Trails events are supposed to be poorly organized and miserable, it was really only the weather and my body issues that made for a less-than-stellar day: I don't mind doing dozens (if not hundreds) of short loops when I have the excellent company of fellow ultrarunners, and it was a great way to get a long run in on a chilly day...even if it wasn't as long as I'd expected.

Nobody cares about a stupid marathon anyway.