| 13:18:32.29 | 15:58/M | 50.000 | ||||||
| 41 | Loop 1 | 2:12:45.38 | 2:12:45.38 | 13:17/M | 10.000 | |||
| 41 | Loop 2 | 2:27:20.73 | 4:40:06.11 | 14:44/M | 20.000 | |||
| 41 | Loop 3 | 2:54:52.49 | 7:34:58.60 | 17:29/M | 30.000 | |||
| 41 | Loop 4 | 3:03:17.32 | 10:38:15.92 | 18:20/M | 40.000 | |||
| 41 | Loop 5 | 2:40:16.37 | 13:18:32.29 | 16:02/M | 50.000 |
Usually my races of this duration are iron distance triathlons. The race report is easier to write because it breaks up into the disciplines--swim report, bike, etc. This will be a little tougher, and I'll try to break it up again somehow.
I was asked many times--how did I pick this race? Honestly, it was ignorance. I really had no clue it was so DAMNED HILLY. OK I knew it had hills, but I didn't know that the race had a reputation for extremes. The month leading into the race had multiple warnings from other runners. But by then it was too late, and what was I going to do...chicken out? Yeah. Right.
Race morning began at 3:30am with coffee, banana, two poached eggs, blister bandages (2 for left foot), tape, and gear: BRR hat, BRR t-shirt, Marathon Pro compression socks, capris, 2 long sleeve tech shirts, beanie hat, the PI gloves, garmin, Camelbak, and the new Cascadias. That's a lot of stuff for a run, but there's a lot of miles!
The drop bag had the old Cascadias (just in case), un-orthotic'd insoles, 2 pairs of socks, a first aid kit (more bandaids, tape, Body Glide), a bag of Powerbars, a bag of uncaffeinated gels, a bag of caffeinated gels, and a bag of chips (sweet potato, plantain, and apple). A cooler at the drop site had 3 flasks with 14 servings of EFS, my main nutrition for the day.
Nutrition Plan: Flasks of EFS, powerbars, and a few gels. Also a few treats like sport beans, raisins and nuts from aid stations, and a bag of mixed chips--sweet potato, plantain, and apple-- at the drop bag. The plan hammered out in training and at LBL was eat about 100 calories every 45 mins (marked by an alarm on the Garmin). If I wanted to eat more in between, fine, but only under dire circumstanced would I not eat at the 45 min alarm. Eat no matter what. Eat. And have water as much as I can remember and tolerate.
At the start, it was still dark and chilly. But not cold. It was just enough that you wanted to huddle. Other racers talked about how "hot" it was going to be today. I can handle that. But the best part about the weather was that it was dry. Previous years of the race were famously muddy, to the point the race was called "Mud-o-watomi". Today was dry! There were about 245 runners spread out between the 4 races, until the results come out I don't know the ratios, but many of those runners started their races yesterday or will start this night for the 30 miler. When the verbal count-down and "go" sounded to start the race, it was just like everything else with it so far--quiet, chill, and laid back.
Lap 1: 2:15 One thing we learned at the Land Between The Lakes 60K just one month ago was that if you get caught in a train of runners, you'll be pushed/pulled at their pace. This didn't happen here. The field was so much smaller (about a quarter of the size total, and not all of them starting at 6am) and we immediately spread out. The first lap was the "scouting" lap to get the lay of the land. Here's how it looked, using the yellow pie-plate marked names for the areas and hills, and referring to the website's course description for some help in getting it right.
Down a rutted hill to a meadow, then a clockwise loop around it. Then at mile 1.0 the first hill when topped at Mustang Meadow, from which we could see that start/finish. Then back in to the trees, a few small creek crossings, a few really steep hills, then up to the Totem AS around 2.5 miles. Out of Totem along some horse trails and through Bluebird Meadow, a sandy "Beach" segment, then the only major creek crossing at Lick Creek (marked by a sign "That's What She Said"). Out of the creek, up a little, then down Leafy Gulch. Flat a little while, then up Dog Walk Hill. Flat a bit, then I think Golf Hill which was so damned steep there was a rope to help you up!! Then a steep down we called "waterfall hill" for stories we heard of water flowing down in last year's race. Then more flat, then an un-named hill, weave, weave, Heartbreak Hill, Brick Corner, then down to the Sheridan trail (later learned it was named for the road we could see).
The Sheridan led up up up to Hairpin Turn (lotsa photographers here) then up a slow climb to the bridge and Stairway to Heaven's Gate, short meadow, then the Heaven's Gate AS around 5.4 miles. They had bacon and lots of cheering! Past the Meyer's Cemetary then into the Heaven's Gate loop, described as about a mile. Then back into the other side of the meadow, past an unmanned AS at 7.3 miles.
This last section was said to be 2.8 miles out, but it seemed so much longer! Hooter Hill (at which we fell into a group of loud, show-offy type guys), to Wobbly Rock creek crossing, to Picnic in the Park Hill (all down!), to Foundation loop, to the frisbee golf park, then past the tents to the start/finish and drop bags. My garmin was already 1 mile behind at this point and stayed behind for the rest of the day.
The first lap was exploratory, now that we knew what we had in store it was easy to see where the day could go wrong. Or right. Either way after 5 mins in the drop bag area (refill Camelbak, drop bag, bathroom break, and send out a text update to folks) we were out and back down the rutted hill.
Lap 2: 2:15 The second lap was surprisingly much like the first. We kept an even pace, walked up all the hills, and just be-bopped along steady. The only hitch was that TH ate something that didn't agree with her stomach, worrisome for how early it happened in the day (this might have happened in lap 3...I'm losing track...). But you never know how it will go, and I think the hills might have required us to change our nutrition strategy. Mine was mostly fluid-based and seemed to get absorbed easier. We kept trucking along, setting some patterns. We made sure to go all the way around the pole at the Totem AS, as we almost missed it the first time. Even though we knew we couldn't get across Lick Creek dry I pussy-footed anyway at the shoreline. Every time we hit Leafy Gulch I said "LEAFY". I took a picture of Golf Hill to share at the next update, but it looked small and flat in the picture. We kept seeing what seemed to be the same spectators moving around the course. We met Karen who was doing the 100 with a friend. I yelled at Caroline in the cemetary. I kept wrongly referring to Heaven's Gate as Hell's Gate. The last 3 miles were waaaay longer than 3 miles. Then back to the finish, and the same routine of refill, drop bag, empty, and update. After a 9-10 min break we were off again.
Lap 3: This lap was in honor of TB, who couldn't join us today but was cheering us from back home. With a virtual PITCHFORK in the ass, we were off down the rutted hill again. It might have been in this lap that TH ate the bar that upset her stomach? Anyway, while I had a rough idea of our time per lap before I quit counting in this one. There was no time limit, so why worry? All we had to do was finish. TH had slowed to let her stomach settle, and I happily walked or waited for her. I wanted to run with her because her steady pace was better than mine and I wanted the company. Running alone gets me in that "trail stare" mode in which I don't think, or eat and drink as needed. But halfway through the lap my fast walk kept getting me ahead of her. I was getting mad at myself. Why was I powering up hills and hurrying if I was only going to wait for her? Why not just slow the f down and walk with her?? I don't know, but I was driving myself nuts with my inability to pace myself even at a fast walk. When we hit the start/finish area we took longer in the drop bag tent, actually sitting down for a few minutes. I told her that if we separated my light would be waiting for her in my drop bag. She didn't seem to want it, or was being sarcastic and I missed it. Refill, bathroom, update, out.
Lap 4: The race took it's toll on us in this lap. I kept creeping ahead of TH, then would worriedly wait for her. She had encouraged me to run my own race, but I wanted to stay with her. It was a long trail to run alone, for either of us. After the first hill, she remarked about quitting and I stopped her, grabbed her shoulder, and said NO. (She later called it I think a death glare! Yikes!). But I couldn't hear her say that, I didn't want the thought or temptation to become reality. Before the totem AS I passed a young woman who was struggling through her 5th lap. She was a 100'er who dropped to 50, and didn't look good. I helped her down a steep hill, talked a bit, encouraged her, then left. (I found out more about her later--see below). TH caught up to me at totem, but soon after that tried emptying her stomach. She again encouraged me to leave, but I couldn't. Crossed Lick Creek, down Leafy Gulch, up Dog Walk, and ever so slowly I pulled away. I kept an eye on her, but came to a harsh realization soon enough. I was spending a lot of energy worrying about her. Telling stupid stories about horses, and shoes, and cheerleading. None of it seemed to help. The more she didn't respond the worse I felt. Guilty. Like I was dragging her. But I was forgetting about my own race to look after her. She didn't need me to loop after her, she's experienced and knows what to do. And if anyone is stubbornly strong enough to keep going, it's her. What do I do?!? Leave her behind?!? In the end, that's what I did, and I spent the next 5 miles (rest of the lap) wondering if I did the right thing. After walking nearly a full loop my batteries had recharged, my stomach pains had gone away, and I had mostly rehydrated. In other words, my race was nearly back on-line. I went from a fast walk to a jog, kept looking back every time I heard a voice, hoping it was her. I waited to see her a few more times, then lost sight of her. As I approached the Hairpin Turn before the climb to Heaven's Gate, I heard 4 guys coming up behind me, one recognized my BRR hat--turns out they are from STL! Two were moving fast, and the other two I walked up the long hill with. Turns out they are SLUG's and RD's of their local ultras!! I moved quickly through the HG AS and kept jogging, after nearly a loop of fast walking I felt refreshed. And I knew the good feeling wouldn't last long! But while I had the energy and drive, I ran, feeling like it was my first lap. Well, almost. As I left the HG loop, I caught site of TH walking in (she didn't see me). I was looking forward to the unmanned AS at 7.3 (they LIE!), as in my head I'd marked that spot to be equi-distant to the 37 miles of LBL. After that point, every step was the furthest I'd ever run in my life. The quiet coolers and table didn't cheer me past this benchmark, but I did. Off once more through the gotta-be-longer-than-3-miles segment to the start/finish. Same process, only this time without TH. I double checked that my light was easy to find in my drop bag (but not so easy someone could steal it!), and took off.
Lap 5: During the text updates, I found that DH had send a funny picture of our doggie in the famous rainbow jester's hat. This had me laughing for the first mile, and I wished TH was there to see it! How was I doing at 40 miles? Judging by my bathroom break, still dehydrated. I was on my last flask of EFS, the stomach/GI pain from earlier had faded, my outer left knee was hurting during flexion, the injury in the sole of my right foot was acting up, my quads were getting weak, and oddly a tendon or ligament in my left arm was sore from bending all morning. I had minor hand swelling, no obvious blisters or hot spots forming, minor if any chafing, a not unexpectedly elevated HR, an unquenchable thirst, boredom with water...that's about it! In other words, I'm doing good! This was it, the LAST LOOP! I still had the energy to run, nothing fast though. I was either powerwalking or jogging, unless I was climbing a hill at which time I was trying but failing to control my effort. I kept pushing hills too hard, leaving me breathless at the top. Did I mis-manage those? Hard to say, because I recovered quickly and kept going. I ran through most of this loop with a focus on the HG AS, at which I would only have 4.5 miles to go! I was passing people through these miles, many of them people that'd passed me earlier in the day. I cheered everyone on, and kept moving. As I came into the meadow at HG, my right foot finally gave in. With a painful TWANG the injury came front and center, slowing me to a limpy walk. I'd brought the blank un-orthotic'd insole with me in the Camelbak. At the AS I sat in a chair, swapped it out, and hoped for the best. I knew that without orthotics, I had only 40 or so minutes of running before the nerves would start complaining. I didn't expect to be running much more than 40 mins, it would be mostly walking.
As I worked through the next 2 or so miles to the unmanned AS, time and my concentration started to slip. It didn't help that the 12hr mark had come and gone, it was noted as the time at which my stomach started to finally rebel and threaten to empty. It also didn't help that it was getting darker each minute. I was watching for the sun to set and knew it would be around 6:30 or 7, after that I just had twilight. I felt better after I remembered that I did have the iPhone's camera light, and for the millionth time that loop I gave a mental shout-out to TH and swore that if she didn't take my lamp I was was going to scream. And if she was waiting for me at the finish after having dropped out, I was going to scream until she went back out to finish. All of these thoughts started adding up, and I started losing track of time and place. Where was I on the course? Why couldn't I add the 2.8 miles left to the 45.76 miles shown on the garmin? Why couldn't I just add simple 3 miles to that? I kept moving, kept pushing on, mostly a fast and very determined walk at this point. And I started to wonder, did I pass Picnic in the Park Hill yet? OH NO! I was worried the whole time about going off trail, did I? No, there's yellow and pink markers here. Did I do the hill and forget it? Really?! No way it was still ahead of me, I had to have done it, but I forgot?! This is where my mind went the last few miles. I came to Wobbly Rock creek crossing and realized I completely forgot about it. As I came up a hill that looked like Picnic I sadly told myself that it didn't matter whether or not I wanted to do it, I just had to do it. It just didn't seem like there was enough mileage left in the course to accommodate that hill...how could my favorite downhill (Picnic) suddenly become a dreaded least favorite? What was happening?!
I chanted myself through the last 3 miles, never really knowing for sure where I was in mileage. I tried to go back to Wednesday's 2 mile run. That's all I had to do. But was it 2.5 to go? 2 to go? 1.5 to go? All a guess. I was losing track of not only distance, but also time. Twilight seemed to hang around forever. The sunset that seemed to happen hours ago still hadn't happened, making me realize that I was acutely aware of every tenth of a mile, instead of letting it go and "forgetting that I was running". I couldn't stop moving, couldn't even pause, I just kept going forward. Relentless Forward Progress. I was passing by many 150'ers in this lap as they shuffled along, many with pacers and all with a dazed look. As I was coming into the last turns, I came up to 2 150's with red shirts. They were about to hit 110 miles. I walked with them and talked about their race. It helped me to forget mine. But suddenly, there was the tents! The FINISH!! The 150's encouraged me to run, I didn't think I could but with a push from them I did. Smiling, happy, tired, and pained I crossed the quiet finish line just as it was getting dark.
Post race: I did it! But my excitement was tempered by concern for TH. The volunteers took my timing chip, snapped a few photos, handed me a belt buckle, then I bee-lined for the drop bag tent. I needed to know if TH had my headlamp...she did!! Finally I was able to sit down and take stock of me. I was thirsty, but didn't want water. I didn't have to pee. I wasn't hungry. I checked my phone to let everyone know I was done and found that TH did have her phone on this lap, and she was sending updates! I had entertained the thought of backtracking the trail to find her and pace her in, but I realized I was in no condition to help her out. (In the end it's good I didn't go, she was running the last 4 miles! She bounced back!). I set in the tent briefly, talked to DH, then needed to stand. I waited by the finish line and watched the 30 mile fun run start. I talked to a new friend from STL I met in lap 4. When it started to rain I went back to the tent but watched the finish. Soon enough, and sooner than even she expected, there she was!! We were DONE!!
I was amazingly functional, but babbly. The bottoms of my feet hurt and my legs were weak. I knew I needed to eat and drink, but I wasn't there yet. And I was anxious to take off the wet compression socks and shoes I'd been wearing for the last 13 hours. I was scared to see what damage would be there! At the hotel, I found wet, white, skin-swollen feet but only one blister. No chafing. No injuries. No acute pains. HOLY SHIT. It was DONE. Shower. Dinner. Bed. Damn I slept good, even with pained feet and restlessly tired legs. Damn, it was DONE.
But that's not all. There's a million stories from the day, all of them I'd like to remember but probably won't. But here's a try at it. TH and I had a stupid stick joke going, that stemmed from the idea of doing an iron tri later this summer. Every time we saw a stick, we joked that she should pick it up and beat me with it. ~~ The woman I saw struggling in the 4th loop had started her race about 26 hours before I saw her--42 miles into her race! I found out later she was pulled from the course after they realized she didn't even know her name anymore. ~~ Friday at packet pickup we watched the race for an hour. There was an older, heavyset woman who had just finished her first lap--in 4.5 hours! She was a 100'er, and looked to be in pain. When we left for the hotel after an hour, she was still milling around the drop tents. We don't know if she went back out. ~~ One guy had a race car-like pit stop in front of us at Friday. His parents handed him wet then dry towels for a wipe-down before he sorted though a tote of sandwich bag-sorted foods. ~~ Other people were eating spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread after having finished 30 miles, then went back out for more. ~~ At various times through the weekend, especially at night, TH and I would think "they're still out there running". ~~ I met a woman who had lived in South Africa, she had run Comrades, she thought this was harder. ~~ The two 150'ers I met near my finish had run 150 last year, and joked that they didn't learn their lesson the first time. ~~ One guy we passed in loop 4 was talking about how he felt a burst of energy at mile 25, ran the next 10 miles too fast, blew up, and ended up walking loop 5. ~~ TH saw a guy sleeping on a log in her 5th loop. ~~ I could go on forever.
It was wonderful. It was DONE.
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