Polecat schmolcat

I sit here preparing to write this in my fuzzy slippers, wondering if they will be my footwear for the next few days. This run would be several 1sts for me-longest distance, all night, all night/day, and birthday miles plus.
I started this run on Saturday, 7:30 am. I've spoken with several runners who have completed 100's and wasn't really sure how I would respond to staying up all night. I used to work night shift as an RN and always struggled from 3am-5am to keep warm so that was my primary concern.
The 1st lap was just trying to warm up. Some high school kids were out and for the 1st few miles, I found myself trying to stay ahead. Dork. I reined that pace in quickly and then just started taking it easy. Lap #2 was icky. Sluggish, slow, no synchrony, upset stomach. At this point, I remembered the adage I had heard several times-if you feel bad-wait as it will change in 15 minutes. It did and thankfully for the better. After lap #2, had a great talk with Ron Baughman at the "aide station". The timing was perfect and definitely elevated my spirits after this lap. Lap #3 was smooth and felt I was somewhat sailing. By this time, it had started to warm up. I came back to the aide station around noon and Jenny Stinson was there with refreshments. It was awesome. Normally I am not a big tea drinker but this spicy stuff was tasty. I headed out after a bit for 2 laps that would be really challenging. It was hot and the blisters started. I need to either learn to run with blisters-which I don't think I am that tough yet-or find a different sock. After lap #5, Katie Holda showed with ice, food, and drink. In the heat, she bravely paced along with me for a lap. It was great to talk with someone for a while. After our lap, she spent an hour doing "surgery" on the blisters to make them manageable. Tina Khara showed when we were finishing up and she also had food. Katie left and then my son and his friend showed up and went with me for another lap. The lap prior and thereafter were pretty much all walking with some downhill jogging. It was dark now and the going was slow. Cody, however told me I was making great time for having ran all day. What a great kid!! The next few rounds were pretty uneventful aside from passing numerous Boise trail runners and chatting at leisure. I couldn't stop for long though because not only did I want as many miles as I could but keeping moving is what kept the blisters kind of numb. At mile 48, instead of doing 2 of the 6 mile loops I opted instead for 3 of the 4 mile loops. I needed the change of trail and seemed to do better mentally with aide station at that distance. The 2nd of these loops, I saw white paper trees with Christmas decor all over; flashing red lights; a black cocker spaniel scooting sideways on the trail; a person in a white shirt and blue jeans standing at Christine Kollar's blue car; and many people and things moving across the hills. Oh, and the mountain lion. He was ghost like though and I struggled to track him but he disappeared. I knew these were a factor of fatigue and the flashlight shadows but I kept seeing them. I have always assumed that I could make hallucinations resolve if I knew they weren't there. Apparently not. They finally faded about 3 hours later, about as abruptly as they started.
Some things about this were harder then I thought and some easier. Being up all night and to just keep the relentless forward motion-easier. I only wanted to sleep when I went into the aide station. The heat, blisters, and driving home-worse than I thought. Also, being able to just gut out 60 miles with minimal to no training for 2 months-that was priceless. I was fearful, as Dennis Ahern had warned me about overuse injuries and to be wary. I made a few mistakes with fueling but hydration went really well. On the 2 hot laps, I drank a full bag of water each time. All in all, it was really a success. When I struggled, I found that if I focused on what my real reason for being out there was, I could press forward. I can't emphasize enough how rewarding this was.