Keys 100 Relay Race Recap

If you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen me rave about this race experience. If not, good Lordy am I about to ramble about the awesomeness.

Last fall, my family learned about Ragnar Relays and all the different races they offer throughout the year. We swore we would do something like that in the coming years, namely the one that runs through wine country (yes please!). When Christmas rolled around, I was around 10 weeks pregnant. My mom's last gift to my four sisters and me was a piece a paper in an envelope... it was a race registration confirmation for the Keys 100 Relay, and in five months, we were going! I was already signed up for a handful of races throughout my pregnancy, but this would be the latest and likely the toughest. I had no doubt in my mind that it would be awesome and totally do-able, as long as the docs were okay with it and I stayed low-risk.

Fast forward five months to a few days before the race: I'd completed a marathon at 7 weeks, a half marathon at 21 weeks, and plenty of running in between, but I wondered if I'd done enough multiple run days to really be ready for this. I didn't find subsequent runs on the same day to be that bad, it was more the mental aspect of feeling like all you could do all day was eat, drink water, run a little, and repeat. I decided to go with the confident approach, because honestly my runs were all still feeling pretty good. My pace had barely dipped, and I wasn't even relying on intervals yet, so they would be my back-up plan.

Two days before race day, we set off in a twelve passenger van with at least 5 coolers, one giant and very necessary pregnancy pillow, 3 of our 6 teammates, and my stepdad-- our gracious driver-- headed south down the Florida coast. That day's journey brought us to my mother-in-law's house, but not without first losing my mom's purse somewhere along the way. Luckily after calling a few gas stations and a restaurant, we located it, and the employees said it would be locked in the safe until we could make it back after the race to get it (blessing #1!). We carb-loaded on a huge pasta dinner courtesy of my MIL and met for breakfast again before hitting the road. That's when my sister, who we were supposed to be picking up along the way at the Fort Myers Airport, called and said her flight was delayed a couple hours, putting a huge dent in our plan of making it to the expo in Key Largo by 4 PM. Then of course it got worse, and they cancelled the flight! Silver Airways, y'all. Beware. You get what you pay for, and those small planes can't handle much weather, apparently. My mom sent my sister at the airport to get in line and see what her options were for other flights, while we simultaneously panicked a little on the inside at the prospect of our team trying to make up her mileage and searched every upcoming flight we could for one that would work. Have you ever seen how expensive flights are the day of?! I had no idea! Blessing #2: they booked her a flight into Miami that arrived much later in the day, but hey, at least we weren't gonna end up being a 5 person team.

Hallelujah, we finally made it to the expo. Two days of driving to cover over 600 miles-- thank goodness that part was over! We got our bibs and bags, all our timing devices, our 5th teammate, and it was all becoming real. I got to go to the meeting where they detail the most important information for the teams to know while my mom, stepdad, and oldest sister headed back to Miami to pick up our stranded 6th member. I was excited to see people of varying body types and ages, although as a runner, I know that's usually no indication of speed or endurance. After all, I got passed by an 80-year-old speed walker in my first half marathon.

Fast forward a few hours, and we finally made it to our adorable little motel just at the edge of the water in Marathon, about the halfway point between Key Largo and Key West. It was much later than we would have liked to have gotten to settle down, and I was already counting the hours of sleep we weren't going to get. By the time I got to crawl into bed and set the alarm on my TomTom watch for 3:30 AM, it was close to 11:30 PM, and that made me a little anxious. Have you ever met anyone who can sleep well the night before a big race or anything exciting for that matter? Yeah, me either. It was a fitful night, even with my freaking phenomenal pillow, and by 2 AM, I was pretty much just laying there waiting for the alarm to go off. I could still feel the late dinner on my stomach, and I just prayed that wasn't going to come back and bite me.

3:30 AM and I have never been so happy for an alarm to go off! Not because of pre-race excitement, but really because I could give up on trying to sleep. Slowly, we all began to stir, and do our morning running routines. This race was a weird one for that though, because everyone had a different and very tentative start time. My mom was running first, so she knew she would begin at 5:55 AM, but everyone after that was based on an estimation of how long it would take each person to complete their first leg. I estimated I'd start around 6:20, being the second leg, and planned my caffeine, breakfast, and water intake around that. One problem: the severe nausea and stomach pain. This persisted right up until the race start, where I lost it and wept at the start line. My mom was off for her 2.1 miles and into the van we got to meet her at the first checkpoint. I needed to be out there running in the next 25-30 minutes! For the second time that trip, we began to freak out a little over the extra mileage that each person may need to pick up. My sister and I traded our first legs of the race so that she would get the baton from my mom next and do the 2.5 miles my stomach just wasn't ready for. We decided I was faring better moving around than sitting in the van, which really wasn't helping the nausea, and I would get out there for the third leg of the race and 2.1 miles regardless of how I felt, even if I just had to walk it. There was really no way to tell if I was going to be able to handle any running at all unless I gave it a shot, so when my sister came running in with the baton (slap bracelet), I took off for what I hoped would be a miraculous recovery 2.1 miles. Blessing #3: the moment I took that first step, I was fine. My nausea subsided and the pain in my stomach melted away as my legs warmed up. I don't think I've ever been more thankful for the way a 2 mile run was feeling. Granted, it was extremely humid and those miles actually seemed to drag a little, but I chalked that up to my total lack of fueling before the race since I'd felt so crappy.

As the day went on, we all hit a nice rhythm of fueling and resting and running, and the heat was the biggest concern. We used a small cooler with ice, water, and witch hazel to help us cool off quickly as we got back in the van, and I swear that was a lifesaver. We used to use the same technique for super hot softball tournaments in the summer. The heat and humidity were so high, I think the heat index neared 100 degrees. Post-race, they told us it had been the hottest Keys 100 on record, and boy was that easy to believe. Being pregnant running, the biggest concern is over-heating and dehydration. Luckily, we didn't have a problem with it at all, and I was so thankful for that. Dehydration for me at 31 weeks pregnant could have meant preterm labor, and no race is worth bringing this baby into the world too soon. We played it very cautious, and my longest run at 5 miles had a checkpoint in the middle that I was prepared to tag out of if I felt the least bit weary, but I was pleasantly surprised to find I was faring well. I ended up completing all 6 legs of the race, at 2.1, 5, 3.1, 3.1, 2.3, and 2.1 miles for a total of 17.6 miles in under 3 hours total time. My last leg of the race, the anchor of the entire thing, was my fastest at 9:00 miles, mostly because I wanted so badly to pass a team we'd been chasing all day. And because I was running down the dark streets of Key West totally alone and it was scary. In that last 2 miles, I was able to pass 2 teams and bring home a small victory for my weary team. We all crossed the finish line together at 1:56 AM, a total time of 20 hours and 1 minute. We were sweaty and exhausted and still had to drive back to Marathon 50 miles away, but we had done it.

When we planned this trip, it was to be my mom, me, and my four sisters, but life got in the way and my 2 stepsisters weren't able to join us. My mother-in-law, who didn't even consider herself a runner (although I'm all for the "if you ever run, you're a runner" mentality) had already told us she'd love to join us if someone wasn't able to make the race, so she stepped up and tagged in enthusiastically. She spent a good 6 weeks taking her walking/jogging to shorter distances and faster paces, and she came in so clutch. She actually got faster as the day went on, and I think now she isn't afraid to classify herself as a runner. My mom's former co-worker and badass also joined us, thank God, because I'm pretty sure she's the only one who would have been able to tackle the 7 mile bridge. That thing is hell and people were passing out at the end of it. She handled it like a champ, and we were so thankful to have her.

A race like this is truly like no other. To complete a distance so huge that you pretty much have to rely on other teammates to help you tackle it is an incredible experience, and there's no one I wouldn't recommend it to. I love road racing. I'm mostly a solo runner, and I thrive knowing I'm the only one I have to let down, but the feeling of running with a team is even better. It was so amazing to have people ready to tag in and take your leg of the race if for some reason you couldn't complete it, and it was eye-opening to see how ready we all were to do as much as we possibly could to accomplish our singular goal of finishing. This is not the last 6 person relay I'll do, mostly because I have such a solid team in place now, and I know I can count on them to get me to the finish line.

#relay #pregnancy #keys100 #thirdtrimester