I had the best time at Mackyard Ultra. I’m frequently recommending the format to other runners. You get to spend the day outside and chat because of the rule to start every hour, on the hour, together. My day was full of catching up with friends, talking books, talking gardening, joking with my partner and watching him crush it (he won!) all while soaking in the fall light change on the vibrant trees. Baltimore Road Runners Club helped take an already goofy, fun local event in its fifth year to another level with additional support, and I’m excited for how it’s going to grow! Keep reading for a breakdown of how I tackled nutrition, mental & physical state, a bonus state, and gear.
Nutrition
I think I was able to take in 200-300 calories a yard. I didn’t do the math, but I would have some sort of combination of 1/4 of a PBJ sandwich, Gatorade, Coca Cola, Nerds gummies, Peanut M&Ms, nuun. Earlier that week, I told my partner I thought 100 calories a yard would be enough. No. It is a four mile run every hour! I bumped up my goal and I think it’s part of why I did not cry during this ultra. I wasn’t ever depleted.
I brought a ton of Science in Sport but didn’t touch a gel. They were backup for if my stomach turned on solid food. Because you’re pacing slower in a backyard, your body can often metabolize the solids. To contrast, in a half marathon, I only bring 200 calories of Tailwind, and even that makes me want to hurl my guts everywhere because of the max effort required on the road.
Mental & Physical State
I am most proud of how I handled my mental state. We were all asking each other early on what’s your goal. Of course I had mileage in mind, but the goal I shared was that I wanted to literally keep going until I couldn’t go any longer. I did that!! I had some real highs and lows along the way, but again, didn’t have to wipe away tears.
Upon finishing yard 9, a friend yelled, are you still feeling good? I responded, I haven’t felt good for three hours! We all laughed, but that’s the for-real answer. Does anyone feel good after running for over 6 hours? No matter the ultra distance I do, I have my first low around mile 16. Everything already hurts and you’ve barely started! Fuck! But I know that if I keep going, I am usually feeling much better around mile 24. I like to ask myself, are you hurt or are you hurting? There is a difference. Plus, you should always scream in your heart some Mary Oliver, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE GOOD.
Around mile 30, while running with two friends, we were checking in. I was honest and said I felt like I was going to throw up everywhere. I was so nauseous. The sun was at its highest point. I kept moving (I was definitely QUIET) and had about 7 minutes to reset before the next lap. I filled one of my water bottles with Coca Cola and told myself to get back out there.
By the next lap, I was a new woman. They might still be putting drugs in the soda – I had such a positive mental shift. In reality, I probably just needed more sugar and got it with 20 oz of soda. I cannot stress enough that if you can get to the starting box, you can probably go at least one more yard. A friend offered Pepto, not knowing that I was terrorized by the bubblegum fluoride at the dentist as a child until they started letting me know I could choose mint. Rather than sharing my childhood trauma, I politely declined the offer. Luckily, the soda and the sun shifting did some magic.
My last two official yards were in the dark. I was so thrilled to finally make it to this portion of format. I also completed 12 yards in Iceland, but it wasn’t dark until 9pm. Running in the dark was a new challenge. Running slows. You can’t see the end. You just keep plodding, unable to see much except the deer standing by the fence.
I lined up for yard 13. I was hoping to run with a woman I hadn’t had a chance to talk with yet – she was so strong and smart about her pacing, I thought maybe she’d done many of these before. This was her first backyard, but she was a seasoned ultrarunner. She ended up the top woman, clocking 100k miles. I was trying to trot during the brief chat. I started walking, said I’d catch her and another friend in a bit. Every time I tried to trot, my legs would not pick up the pace. After about 10 minutes of walking with extremely painful attempts to pick up my legs, I accepted that I would not make the cut-off. The hurting was a real hurt. I turned around and collected my sticker and DNF picture, still thrilled with what I accomplished on half marathon training with back-to-back long runs to try and have the strength of time-on-feet.
💩 State
Bowels need a separate section. We were all farting so much on the course (and laughing about it). Please come to a backyard ready to joke about bodily functions. You just…it’s not safe to hold it in. If there is anyone you have a crush on that was running, just kidding, they were the only person not farting. A real perfect specimen.
One of the RDs brought extra toilet paper for the porta-potties. He’s the MVP of the day. When you’ve been outside for 24+ hours, fresh toilet paper is top-tier luxury.
Gear Review
With so much happening in your mind and body during a backyard, I was thrilled with how wonderful my shoe and shorts choices worked out. The shorts were Terignota Sendero Short. I saw pictures of Rachel Entrekin at Cocadona 250 and one of my first thoughts after SHE IS INCREDIBLE was those shorts look so breezy and the perfect length are they a reasonable price. Lucky for all of us, The Sweat Lookbook almost immediately recapped her gear, pointing to Terignota. The shorts are lightweight, dry quickly, only cost $29, and I have yet to chafe in them. The Terignota team is lovely – I had a seamless experience when I had to return their vest (which I am anxiously awaiting a size restock).
I ran the first 30 miles in Mount to Coast BITR H1 and finished the last 20 in Topo Vista. Both kept my feet relatively happy considering my chosen activity for the day. Topo has the bigger toe box, but other than that, I love the level of cushion while still having some ground feel in both shoes.
So as always, stay sweaty and glittery. None of us are free until all of us are free.
Books I’m thinking about / recently read:
- Kin by Tayari Jones
- Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
