Hallucination 100 Race Report

or

How I death marched the last 25 miles of Hallucination

Prelude

This is a race report.  However, it wouldn't be complete without a bit of back-story.  I had taken off the last five months of 2013 due to injury and illness.  When I started running again in January of this year, I was only able to run 1.5 miles that first run.

After I had gotten myself into some semblance of shape and had gotten my long run up to 15 miles, by the end of February, I started entertaining the notion of running the 50 mile distance at Run Woodstock.  I shared this idea with my wife and running husband, Kurt Adams.  Kurt said, "Why not do the 100 (mile)?"  Why not indeed.

So that idea eventually morphed into, "Why not attempt to sub 24 (hour) it?"

It is my belief that any solid, middle of the pack ultra runner is able to complete the 100 mile distance in less than 24 hours.  I consider myself to be such, so I said, "Why not?"

Background on Run Woodstock

In case you didn't click on the above link, or this link, here's some information on the Run Woodstock Festival of Running.  The races offered are as follows: 100 miles; 100 km, 50 miles; 50 km; marathon; half marathon; 10 km; 5 miles; 5 km.  Speaking only for the ultra distances, part of the course is within the Hell Creek Camp Grounds, in Hell, MI, and part of the course is on the Potowatami Trail, Pinkney State Park, Pinkney, MI.  

The course is a 16 2/3 mile loop, with the 100 km and 50 km distances running an abbreviated loop.  There are three aid stations (AS) per loop, and one at the start/finish.  They are at miles 4, 8 1/3, and 12 1/3.  There are long stretches of very runable road and tow-path.   Looking at my Garmin data for the first three loops, it's approximately 811 feet of elevation gain per loop.  This gives the 100 mile course an elevation gain of 4,870 ft.
The 100's start at 4 p.m., Friday.  According to the website, this allows the runner to experience the night loops while still relatively fresh.  That's a benefit.  One drawback to this are that, once the sun rises Saturday morning, you still have about two loops to go.  Another is that, unless you normally wake up in the afternoon, you've already been up for most of the day.  That was the case with me.  I woke up at 5 a.m., Friday morning.  So I had already been awake for 11 hours.  This would make itself evident starting in loop two.

Race Day

Shameless selfie.  Serious business is about to commence.

Kurt would be my crew and, starting with lap four, my pacer.  I would also be running the 100 with our good friend Tim.  Here we are, a couple of hours prior to the start:

L to R, Kurt, me, Tim.

Another potential drawback to the 4 p.m. start time is that, if it's unseasonably warm, the race would start at the warmest part of the day.  That was the case this year.  It was 93 degrees, felt like 97, and there was about 60% humidity.

Loop One

Given the conditions, I ran this loop way too fast.  But Kurt and I had boiled down the sub 24 hour goal into what each of the six loops should be completed in.  This loop's goal was 3:15.  It was the fastest of the six, and I felt a tremendous amount of pressure because of it.  I realized that I was running too fast, but justified it to myself by realizing that it would be dusk when I finished, so the heat of the day wouldn't be a factor anymore.

Stay on target.

My plan for fueling was to use two hand-held bottles.  One for water, the other filled with Go Juice.  This has protein powder, maltodextrin (a rapidly absorbed, complex carbohydrate), salt, no-salt (potassium chloride), sugar, and kool-aid.  Each 20 oz. bottle that I drank provided almost 400 calories.  I planned on drinking two per loop.  Considering that a runner can only absorb 200-300 calories per hour, I would still be fine.  I was going to use the Go Juice as long as I could; until I got sick of it.

The rule for ultras, especially in the heat, is to drink and fuel early and often.  You can't make up for it later.  You also can't drink or fuel to excess, because this will lead to problems as well.
The heat also exhibited itself to me by me needing a salt tablet.  I use these sparingly.  Throughout my summer training for this race, I had never taken one.  That's including weekly long runs of at least 26.2 miles.  My thoughts are, if you don't need it, don't take it.  This way, when you do need it, it will be more effective.  I also don't like to disturb the electrolyte balance.  Fueling and hydrating properly during 100 miles is a tricky enough situation as it is.
But I listen to my body, and it was telling me that I needed electrolytes.  I took one about one hour into the loop.  I took another one hour later.  I took a third one hour after that.  Those three salt tabs, coupled with the amount of salt and potassium in the go juice, caused my blood pressure to go sky high.

I drank one bottle of water between every AS on this loop, which was just fine.  I finished my first bottle of go juice by the second AS, the half way mark of the loop.

Another challenge for me at this race, with the sub 24 goal, was to minimize the time spent at AS.  If you spend just two minutes at each AS, that's 44 minutes for 100 miles.  So at the first and third AS, I pulled in, gave a volunteer my water bottle, grabbed it when full, and pulled out.  At the second AS, I gave a volunteer my water bottle, quickly put the go juice powder in the other, no empty bottle, had them fill that, and pulled out.

I did an excellent job at maintaining my goal to minimize time spent at the AS.

At about 7 p.m., just over one mile before I finished this loop, the tornado siren went off.  My first thought was, "Oh.  First Saturday of the month."  Then I realized that it was still Friday.  My thought then was, "I wonder if one would get disqualified if picked up by a tornado and dropped further along down the course."  I pulled into the start/finish two minutes under my goal time.  Kurt was there to fill up my water bottle.  I told him that I needed another bag of go juice powder, my head lamp, and asked his advice on whether or not I should change into my trail shoes, seeing as it was probably going to rain during this loop.  I had been running in street shoes, which was fine because the course was dry.  But if it was going to rain, it was sure to become muddy.  He said yes, change shoes.  So I did.  Quickly.

I gathered my bottles and headed back into the woods to start loop two.  The wind had really picked up and was howling loudly.  Before I entered the woods, I shouted, "IS THAT IT?!?!  IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!?!" at the top of my lungs.

Time: 3:13

Loop Two

As I mentioned earlier, my pace during loop one took it's toll.  That, coupled with the fact that I had now been awake for just over 14 hours, caused me a tremendous amount of fatigue.  My blood pressure was still through the roof.  It felt like the skin on my head was too tight.  I stopped drinking the go juice.  So now I have to start eating at the AS.  Funny thing about running though, the body shunts blood to the organs necessary for survival because it's in a "fight or flight" situation.  The stomach is not a necessary organ.  I couldn't eat.  I wasn't nauseous, I just couldn't force anything into my stomach.

It was eerily spectacular running this loop before darkness closed in.  The sky was that weird shade of yellow that it gets when the conditions are ripe for a tornado.  The wind was wreaking havoc among the trees.  There were constant, loud cracks signalling limbs breaking off of trees.  They sounded like gun shots going off at close range.  I diverted my attention from the trail in front of me briefly, to watch for falling limbs.  I only saw one fall.  It was as thick as my arm, and fell about 12 feet from me.  One runner got hit on the head with a falling limb.  She ended up being pulled from the course with a concussion.

For all of the hullabaloo, I don't fell as if it really rained that much.  If it did in actuality, I was under a canopy of trees, so what ended up falling on me was more refreshing than anything else.  

But oh, the fatigue.  I pulled into and out of the first AS as I had last loop, but it was now dark.  I was tired.  I started thinking that I would tell Kurt, at the end of this loop, that I'd be best served by a 20 minute nap.  That changed into me telling a volunteer at the half way AS to wake me up in 20 minutes, and I would just sleep on the ground.  It got as bad as me thinking that I would just step off of the trail and nap.

I carried on though.  That sub 24 goal was dangling elusively in front of me like the proverbial carrot, even though I knew it was probably unattainable.

The second and third AS stops went much the same as they did for the first loop, so that was good.

When I was a couple of miles out from the start/finish, or the end of this loop, I started planning on what I needed from Kurt.  This is key if you have a goal time that you're shooting for.  Start planning on what you need before you get there.

I pulled into the start/finish and told Kurt, "I need coffee, my flash light, fresh batteries, my blue mp3 player, and two bags (of go juice powder)."  I really hate wearing a head lamp for any extended period of time.  The never changing distance of the light plays havoc with my mind when it goes on for hours and hours.  I train almost exclusively with small flash lights.

Kurt, like the good crew chief that he is, ran to get the items I had requested as I filled up my bottles.  When he came back, he told me that I was 45 minutes over my goal time.  I had already realistically given up on the sub 24, so I wasn't too disappointed.  I still had my secondary goal to shoot for, which was sub 27, and that was still very much within reach.

Kurt said to me, "This is going to be your hardest loop."  We had discussed this previously, and determined that the third loop would probably be my toughest, psychologically.  It would be the first loop ran completely in the dark, and it would be my last loop by myself.  Kurt would be pacing me, starting with loop four.

I told him, "Dude, I'm straight.  I've got my music, I've got a second wind, and I'm good to go."  I had filled up my 8 gig mp3 with music that would keep me going.  I put it on "shuffle all" as I proceeded to the trail head, and it did not disappoint.
Time: 4:11

Loop Three

The first song up was 

As I do on all of my runs, I started singing along at the top of my lungs.  I proceeded to kill this loop.  I reeled in well over a dozen people, singing the whole time.  I talked to a couple of friends after the race, and they mentioned that they had greeted me, but I didn't hear them.  I was too focused.  Focused on picking up time, if possible, and the music.
All AS stops went as well as they had the first two loops.  I managed to force some food down at each one.  All the AS had little dixie cups of grapes.  I would slam about five of these per AS.  At a couple, I downed a few small cups of Coke or Mountain Dew, and perhaps a couple of cookies as well.  These items got me the fuel that I needed.
The amount of debris on the course from the winds earlier was incredible.  Large, fallen trees now crossed the trail periodically that were not there on the first loop.  The rain felt magnificent.  All was right with the world.  I pulled into the start/finish to pick up Kurt.
Time: 4:19

And Then, the Wheels Fell Off

Loop Four

The wheels didn't just fall off, they flew off of a speeding car and careened on down the road.  Picking up Kurt should have provided a boost.  It did not.

Any ultra runner will tell you that there comes a point during a race when you hit a psychological low.  My theory is that the low is proportional to the length of the race.  The low that I experienced during this loop was the darkest point of my life.  Those that truly know me know that that is saying a lot.  It was a profound sense of homesickness.  I knew that my beautiful wife and six month old daughter would be at the start/finish later this day.  All I wanted during this loop was to be with them.  I kept thinking that the this night was the first night since my daughter's birth that I had not checked on her before going to bed.  I missed them so much.

I honestly don't know how Kurt put up with me.  I was mentally exhausted, and more homesick than I have ever been.  I must have said to Kurt, "I honestly don't know how I can do two more loops after this" one million times.  To which he responded, "All you have to do is make it to the next AS" every time.

Woodstock offers a drop down option to 100 mile runners.  After the completion of four loops, or 66 2/3 miles, you can tell them at the start/finish that you're done, and they will record your time as 100 km finisher.  This option sounded so appealing to me.  The reasons that I didn't, in no particular order:

1. There's no buckle for 100 km finish
2. I didn't train this hard for 100 km finish
3. I didn't want to have had dragged Kurt out here to crew me for three laps and pace me for one
4. My wife and daughter still wouldn't be there until the late morning/early afternoon
5. You don't DNF (Did Not Finish) unless you're physically broken or bleeding out, and not completing the distance I signed up for would be a DNF in my book

So I trudged along.  The only redemptive thought being that, sometime during this loop, the sun would rise.  And it did.  With it, my spirits rose.  Slightly, but it was enough to dampen the negativity that had been consuming me.  We pulled into the start/finish.  Sub 24 no longer even a distant goal, but maybe I could pull off a sub 26.  That would be good enough.

Kurt called my wife before we left.  Talking to her was the best thing ever.  She stated that she was already on her way, and that she would see me soon.  I told her that I loved her, and looked forward to seeing her.  Truer words were never spoken.

Time: 5:08

Loop Five

All was going swimmingly through the first two AS.  I was able to pick up some time on the long stretches of runnable road.  I was still running when I could, which was the mantra/key that Kurt and I came up with after completing our first 100 miler (Indiana Trail 100, 2013).  Shortly after the half way AS, we ran down a hill that leveled out at a bridge.  About ten feet onto the bridge, my back seized up so bad, I stopped and cried out.  I immediately lay down on my back to stretch it out.  Other runners were passing me by, stopping and asking if I was ok.  I waved them on and told them that I was fine.  Kurt bent over me and asked me what was wrong.  I told him what had happened as I was getting up.

My back had been tight since loop one.  Starting at the completion of that loop, I would stop and stretch it out at every AS.  This time, no amount of stretching it out was helping.

Running was not an option.  Every time I started to run, my back would seize up again.  So we walked.  And walked.  And walked.

We walked the last 8 1/3 miles of loop five.  It was an immense mental drain.  But I did it.  I did it because DNF is not an option.  DNF is not an out.  DNF is the last resort of the physically unable to perform; of the broken.  If you can move, you move.  However slowly, you keep on making relentless forward progress.  That's what I did.

My wife and daughter were waiting for me at the completion of this loop.  Kurt went over to them to tell my wife what was happening, and that I would probably have to walk the entire last loop.  She came over to me.  I hugged her and kissed her.  Told her how sorry I was for taking so long.  She just told me that she loved me, and that she and my daughter would be waiting for me at the finish.

Best.  Wife.  Ever.

Time: 5:25

Loop Six

As we pulled out of the start/finish, and back onto the trail, Kurt asked if I was alright to run a bit.  My back was feeling better, so I gave it a shot.  That lasted about half of an hour, when it seized up again.  So we walked.  And walked some more.

All told, I walked the last 25 miles of the race, minus maybe 1 - 1.5 miles.  It was the most mentally exhausting thing I've ever done.  When you put it into perspective, that's walking almost a marathon distance.  After having already covered 75 miles.  I felt like crap, mentally, but knew that it would all be over sooner rather than later.

We were both hoping to finish before it got dark again.  After leaving the last AS, I put as much effort into the walk as I could.  I had ditched the Garmin after loop three, but Kurt had a watch and was telling me what time it was.  Sub 28 was the best that I could hope for.  I put every ounce of effort into achieving that goal.

I was familiar with what the trail looked like as it dumped itself onto the path that wound its way to the finish line.  As we approached the hill that led to that trail head, I said softly to Kurt, "There it is."  I trudged up that hill as fast as I could, and pert near sprinted down the chute and across the finish line.  The RD gave me my finisher's medal and commemorative hat, but more importantly, he gave me my buckle.

Time: 5:39

Total Time: 27:58:19

With my daughter and Kurt.  Everyone's happy that I finished!

Postlude

The body is a wonderful, tremendous machine.  It remembers.  As I sit here writing this, less than 48 hours after my finish,  I'm not very sore at all.  My feet are a bit beat up.  The entire ball of my left foot is a blister, and there's a blister where the big toe of my right foot meets the ball of the foot.  Other than that, I'm really not that bad.  If I've been sitting for an extended period, I'm a bit stiff.  But that's only until I start moving around.  I remember how sore I was after my first 100 km race, and how long it took me to recover from my first 100 miler last year.  My appetite still hasn't returned from running this race, but I'm going to go for a run tomorrow.  It won't be fast, and probably won't be very long, but it's a start.

I owe most everything in this finish to Kurt.  Without him, I would have dropped after four.  Thank you, Kurt.

And to my wonderful wife, thank you.  There has never been a purer love than that which you have for me.  Thank you Crystal.

Lessons Learned

I finish, as always, with what I've learned.  I learned that it doesn't matter what you feel like mentally.  You do what you came there to do.  You handle your business.  Unless you're broken, bleeding out, or risk causing permanent damage, you finish.  Not finishing is simply not an option.  You do the best that you can.  If you don't meet your goals, you can still look at yourself when it's all done and know that you gave it your all.  That's all that matters.

What I'll Do for a Sticker - Yankee Springs Double Marathon

Background

Yankee Springs Double Marathon was held on 1 June 2013, in Middleville, MI.  This race came five weeks after my 100 mile finish at Indiana Trail.  For the two weeks immediately following that race, I didn't run at all.  It took me a bit to feel ready to go back at it.  

At the beginning of this year, I had discussed doing this race with a couple of friends.  My sole interest in it was to be able to put the 52.4 mile sticker on my car.  I'm a sticker whore, I freely admit.

So I went into this race not having put in more than 36 miles in one week in the five previous weeks.

All was well though.  I would be running it with my constant ultra companion, Kurt, with whom I ran 97 miles of IT with, and Tim, who was my pacer at IT.  Tim would be running the Yankee Springs Challenge, which consists of the 10k on Friday night, the double on Saturday, and the half marathon on Sunday.  After finishing the double, his first question was, "What's the cutoff for the half tomorrow."  After being told it was 5 hours, he decided to walk most of it.
Max King would be there for the race, so that was pretty neat for us.  I'm a bit of a sucker for famous ultra runners

The Day

The three of us had been checking the weather the day before the race.  It was forecast to thunderstorm on and off throughout the day.  That was not the case.  The weather was perfect.  Absolutely perfect.  Temps in the mid 80's, low humidity, the occasional breeze.  Couldn't ask for much better.

The Course

This was run entirely on trails, of which I am not a fan.  It was not a technical trail at all, which was nice.  The soil was pretty sandy, which allowed the water from the previous days rain to drain nicely.  The trail itself was nice and soft. No mud to speak of.
It was a 13.1 mile loop, ran four times for the double.  Here is the Garmin data from the race.

Elevation profile

The Race

It turned out our friend that had run a large portion of Top of Michigan 100k, John Sands, would be running with us as well.  So the four of us started out at 6 a.m.  We were all feeling pretty good, and averaged just under 11:30 min/mile for the first loop.  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful course.  I regretted not having any pockets in my skirt for my phone in order to take some pictures.

Courtesy of Runnerpics

At the start of the second loop, Max King blew past us.  We figured that he had lapped us.  When discussing this amongst ourselves during this loop, we didn't see how that was possible.  That would have meant that he completed a marathon distance in 2:20.  We found out later that he was just running the marathon, not the double, which started an hour later.  He actually went on to set a course record for the 26.2 distance, in 3:03.  I just don't understand that kind of speed on a course which, for him, had almost 1,500 ft. of gain.  He also took first in the 10k and the half marathon.
The second loop we slowed down, stopping to graze at the aid stations occasionally.  We averaged just over 12:30 for that loop.

A brief note about the volunteers.  They were fantastic, as has always been my experience at ultras.  There were fresh grilled cheese sandwiches at the aid stations, which was nice.  Always an offer to fill a water bottle.  Real class act.

Back to the rest of the story.

Kurt and I really started to feel the weeks of relative inactivity at the start of the third loop.  John and Tim went on ahead, while the two of us slogged through our mini doldrum.  This lap we averaged 15 minutes per mile.

There was a 14 hour cutoff to this race.  Our collective goal was to run it sub 12.  We all thought that it would be no problem.  But after the third loop, Kurt and I realized that we probably wouldn't make sub 12.  We still wanted to get as close to possible to our original goal.  We had an epiphany.  Just run when we can.  This meant a few things to us.  First, it meant run every stretch of ground that we could; just walk the uphills.  Second, it meant just run when we felt we could, and when we didn't feel that we could, reference definition number one.  So we set off strong.  By the time we got to the first aid station however, some of the wind had been taken out of our sails.  Kurt laid down on the grass for a minute, while I yelled at him "What do you think you're doing?!  Let's go!" (Many people don't understand our friendship or how we kid around).

The tendon on the top of my right foot started to bother me, and was really clamoring for my attention during this loop.  It was quite sore and tender if I landed on my foot the wrong way.  The other issue that I faced was more base.  I had a "I might have to go to the restroom" feeling since the end of the second loop.  During this last loop, it was intensifying with every step.  About one mile from the finish, I realized that I would not make it that last mile without going.  I found a nice log, told Kurt to go ahead, and left with a lighter step.

We averaged just under 16 minutes for the last loop

The Finish

All in all, it was an awesome race.  We all had a great time, and the course was super beautiful.  I finished only a few minutes after Kurt, but over an hour after John, and 40 minutes after Tim.  Because there were a significant number of DNF, all three of us got second place Age Group awards, a $10 gift certificate to a local sports store.  The funny thing about that is that we're all in the same age group.

My biggest take away from this race:  Running an ultra on little preparation and can be done if one has a super strong base, which Kurt and I had from our IT training.  It can be done, but it sure isn't pretty.
One other thing I took away from this race:  Oreos still taste awesome late in a race

Finishing time 12:25:01

l to r, Kurt, Tim, me post race

Finisher's pint glass

Indiana Trail 100

Overview

On Saturday, 20 Apr 2013, at 6 am, I started what would be the most difficult, most rewarding experience of my life.  Indiana Trail 100 was held at Chain O' Lakes State Park, in Albion, Indiana.  It consisted of 6 laps, 16 2/3 miles per loop.  Three aid stations on the loop.  One at 4.25 miles, one at 8.8, one at 14.5, and the start/finish.

The week preceding this, Indiana, and my home state of Michigan, experienced a tremendous amount of rain.  Because of this, Much of the course was under water, forcing the RD to reroute some of the course.  There were still some sections that were under water, forcing us to wade through water that was up to mid thigh, three to four times per loop.

every crossing at least this long

The biggest problem that the rain caused was the mud.  Shoe sucking mud.  Quad burning mud.  The mud consisted of approximately 20km of the 100 mile course.  One of the worst aspects of it was that it would be 50 feet of mud, then some short runnable surface, then another 50 feet of mud, etc.  Forcing us to start, stop, start...

Here's a nice stretch of it.  Most stretches not as easily navigable.

It was pretty bad.  Here is a brief, 3 minute video of some of the mud and water.

My wife, Crystal, stayed awake with me the whole time.  She was invaluable through this process.

This race had a 62.5% DNF rate.  I was not among them.

Preview/Training

I won't get into much detail here, since this is a race report, not a training report.  All I will say is that I trained for 14 weeks.  Every weekend except 4, I ran greater than 26.2 miles with my friend Kurt.  He was also training for IT100.  We had decided to run as much of the race together as possible.  Turns out, we ran all but the last 2.1 miles together.  We had also discussed loop times for a sub 24 hour finish.

Loop 1 projected - 3:30   actual  3:37

Kurt and I before the start

My bib and the bib for Boston

We found out just how bad the course was on this loop.  We still made good time, only going 7 minutes over our projected time.  Did I mention the mud?  I had two 20 oz. bottles in a waist pack.  One filled with water, the other filled with Jonathan Savage's Go Juice.  This set up worked fine for the first four laps.  More on that later.

We were having fun, wading through the water, and not so much, slogging through the mud.  But we were doing it

Lap 2 projected 3:30    actual 4:02

It was a dirty business

Kurt and I decided to take the extra time it took to take care of our feet after every lap.  We changed socks, dried our feet, wiped all the mud from inside our shoes, and reapplied vaseline to our feet.  We figured that the time we took to do this would save us from major issues later in the race and a possible DNF (did not finish).

We were still in decent shape for our sub 24, but were thinking that just finishing was more in order.  We had fun still.  Picking up some running partners here and there, talking with them and each other about all manner of things.

At the completion of this lap, we met our friend Tim, who would be our pacer later in the race.  We were allowed pacers starting with lap 4, but Kurt and I wanted to wait until the start of loop 5, which we had dubbed the Loop of Doom in training.  We named it that because it would be the first lap done in complete darkness and it would be just the 5th lap.  We would still need to do 50 km at the beginning of this lap.  We wanted our pacer to not lose his efficacy.

Lap 3 projected 4:00   actual 4:38

This is where it started to fall apart

So yeah.  After lap 3, 50 miles, things started to go a bit south.  Half way through this lap, my stomach really stopped accepting anything, including the Go Juice.  I knew that would happen, that's why I made the Juice, to supply the calories needed.  But I just couldn't stomach that either.  I had some saltines and a couple of Tums at the last aid station before the finish, then we made it back to change our shoes.  Crystal (all pictures courtesy of her), and Tim were a great crew.  Crystal provided our clean socks, while Tim filled up our fluids.

It was at this point that we stopped thinking about the sub 24 hour finish.  We knew that we would still finish under the cutoff (30 hours) if we just kept on moving forward, so that's what we did.

Change of shoes, good to go.  Note how bright blue those shoes are.

Lap 4 actual 5:18

We started this lap in the light and finished it in the dark.  We knew that we wouldn't see the light again until after the Loop of Doom.  In the start/finish tent, Tim told us that people were coming in from lap 4 and not going back out.  They would sit down by the heater and drop, or drop and sit down by the heater.  But once they came in, they weren't leaving.  Dropping was not an option for us, so we topped off our fluids and took off.

The loop itself is kind of a blur.  My stomach wasn't getting any better, and I was quickly losing my energy.  At the 8.8 mile aid station, I donned an extra layer because it was getting colder.  I was now wearing a short sleeve tech, a long sleeve cotton, and two light weight coats.
We walked at least the last 5 miles of this lap.

One thing that we both looked forward to at the end of this lap was coffee.  We had cut our consumption significantly over the week leading up to the race.  Me, by two thirds of my normal.  At every aid station, we politely declined their offer of coffee.  Upon completion of this lap, we downed a couple of cups.  Mmmm.... delicious coffee...
At the start/finish, i donned another long sleeve cotton.  Now I had 5 layers on.

Loop of Doom actual 5:59

This is where I personally fell apart.  I hadn't been eating or hydrating for over 6 hours.  My back was a knot of flame from carrying 40 ounces around my waist for 17.5 hours.  I remember at one point stepping over a tree that was across the trail and just sitting down on it for a minute.  Then I got up and carried on.  We ended up walking a lot of this lap as well, despite Tim's efforts to get us moving.  Towards the end of the loop, Tim realized that I was dehydrated, and started making me drink Gatorade and take some salt tabs.

I'm gorked out

Tim putting fresh batteries in my head lamp.

When we got back in from this lap, I did my best to avoid the attention of the EMT's.  I didn't want them to start asking me questions, and me not being able to answer them.  So I just tried to mind my p's and q's, drank the Gu Brew that Tim gave me, and carried on for the last lap.
Tim had an extra hand held water bottle that he let me use for this lap, since there was no way I was wearing that waist pack anymore.  I wasn't too keen on putting a hydration pack on either.  So I popped an electrolyte tab in the bottle, topped it off with water, and we were good to go.

Final lap actual 5:12

At the start of this lap, Tim took the time to have a cup of coffee, so Kurt and I carried on.  As we passed over the timing mat, I broke into what passed for a run.  I told Kurt, "It doesn't matter how fast we're going, but we have to keep a running form to stay warm."

This lap was actually not too bad.  The ground had frozen (it got down to 28 degrees fahrenheit that night), so the mud wasn't that much of an issue.  That, and the fact that we just didn't care anymore, really helped out the slogging factor.  The water level of most of the course had dropped, so that by the time we finished, what had once been a 20 yard, mid thigh deep lake, had turned into something that got the bottom of our shoes wet.

We got to see the sun come up during this lap.  That was a highlight of the entire race.

At the 8.8 mile aid station, they had home made egg and bacon muffins.  The protein was the most delicious thing I had ever eaten.

At the aid station 2.1 miles from the finish, Kurt just checked in and carried on.  He said, "I just want to be done."  I told him that I just didn't have it in me to run anymore.  Tim had been a harsh task master throughout this loop, making us run often.  I found out later that my wife had told him, "Don't be nice to him."  Well, he wasn't.  I told Kurt to tell her that I would be 5 - 10 minutes behind him.  We walked for about .75 miles, then I found some reserve somewhere, and ran as much of the rest as I could.

Finish 28:48:30.35

This is where I left Tim

Coming up and around to the timing mat at the finish was one of the sweetest, most fulfilling moments ever.  I crossed the finish and told the small crowd, "I think I'll stop now."  That got a laugh out of them.  I traded my timing chip for a buckle.  Best trade ever. 152 people started the race.  57 finished.  I was 37th of the 57.

It seemed like a sprint to me

From l to r, me, Tim and Kurt

Lessons learned

I trained my arse off for this race.  DNF was not an option.  Not because of mud, not because of sub freezing temps, not because of huge water crossings.  Go into it with that state of mind, and that's a huge part of the battle already won.

Waist packs may be fine for 50M or less.  Anything more, not so much.  Hand helds being ordered this week.

Especially when your stomach goes south, pay attention to your hydration.  Keep drinking.  Keep electrolyte levels up.

Parting Photograph

Bright blue shoes on the right
Yes, it's a female shirt.  All my race shirts go to my wife

Top of Michigan 100k

REDEMPTION

or

Top Of Michigan 100k

or

How My Friend Pulled Me Through

History

If you've been reading my race reports, you know that on September 8, I completed my first ultra, the Woodstock 50M.  Then, two weeks later, I dropped at North Coast 24 hr after 6 hours.  Doing that hurt.  On Saturday, October 13, I had the opportunity to redeem myself at Top Of Michigan 100k.  The only problem that I foresaw was the fact that I had developed patellar tendinitis that manifested itself after my first ultra in September.  In the five weeks prior to this 100k, I had only put in about 80 miles, with 36 of them coming at NC 24 hr.  So the fact that I may not have been fit enough was a worry.
Also, I believe that ALL jinxes are valid in sports.  That being said, I had already purchased the 100k sticker.  It wasn't on display, but I was worried that I had jinxed myself.

Overview

Top Of Michigan 100k (TOM), is a small race that can be run as an individual or part of a relay.  There are six relay legs ranging in length from 7.9 miles to 16.7 miles.  Jeff Winegard, the RD, was super awesome.  He was very involved, being at every relay leg, asking us how we were doing.  The volunteers were also tremendous.  They acted as traffic stoppers and AS volunteers in the rain.  I remember one of the last AS she had everything covered in plastic because it was raining.  She got out of her car, offered some goodies to us...  Everyone was so awesome!!!

I, of course, ran the individual.  I was accompanied on my journey by my friend Kurt Adams.  This guy is awesome.  More on that later.

The Race

This was my first venture into the > 50M realm.  The overall elevation is -758 ft.  There were no hills, so no built in walk breaks.  

We started out as a group of three: Kurt, John Sands and myself. 

me, Kurt and John

Before you do a double take, yes, I'm wearing a running skirt.  Many (mostly male) volunteers asked me why.  My answer?  "Because I'm confident enough to." 

Crystal and I before the start

My super beautiful and awesome fiance, Crystal, provided support at every relay leg stop.  She was fantastic.  I would pull in, she would fill up what I needed filling up, give me some encouragement and send me on my way.  She also provided support for Kurt and John.

About 10 miles in, John had to take an in-the-woods break, and we didn't see him again until mile 28.  

It was right before this point that I really hit bottom.  Everything was hurting.  I was tired.  I wanted to stop.  Kurt kept reminding me how crappy I'd feel if I DNF (did not finish).  I pulled into the relay leg at 28 to stop at Crystal's car with Kurt yelling to her "Keep him going beautiful.  That way <motioning down the trail>."  She asked me how I was doing.  I told her "I hurt."  She asked what hurt.  I took stock and said, "My pride, mostly."  She said, "If you're tired, that's fine.  But if you're hurt, that's a different story."

I love this girl.  

I got what I needed and carried on.

Further on down the road

So we made it to the 50k point and started incorporating walk breaks.  After running that long, starting and stopping running is what hurts the most.  Once you're going, the pain is just background noise that you can tune out.  We ran as a group of three again for quite awhile, wrapped up in our own thoughts.  That can suck when you're trying to drown out that background noise of pain.
At mile 36, Kurt says, "The starting gun for the marathon just went off."  I told him to suck my nuts.  He gave me a 5 hr. energy to try.  I was hesitant to try one of these.  I had never had one period.  Much less trained with one.  I told him that if I got violently ill, I'd be blaming him.  His response?  "If it gets you to the finish, you can do whatever you want."  It did not make me ill, and it helped get me over the hump.
Our three person group goal was sub 12 hours.  In our lucid, able to do math moments, Kurt would inform us that we were still on point for that.  John had brought along a map of the course, with mileage distances from AS (aid station) to AS (there were AS in between the longer legs).  This comes into play later.

The Last Leg (Cheboygan to Mackinaw City)

After leaving Crystal for the last time until the finish, the three of us started back down the road.  It was 16.7 miles until the finish.  It was at this point that I looked closely at John's map.  I noticed that the last AS was 4.1 miles from the finish.
Around mile 50, another friend from our local ultra group (RUT), Andrew Harding, caught up with us.  After a mile or so, he and John took off on their own.  They went on to finish in 11:48:xx.  Great Job Guys!!!
Kurt and I were hurting.  We would run for one mile, walk for .2.  Then it was run .8, walk .2.  Even during the latter, we were still doing sub 12 minute miles, so we were on point.  Kurt's watch died, so I let him know when we reached the 10k left point.
I kept checking my watch, waiting for that last AS.  We passed 4 miles to go.  I started to realize that my watch mileage was higher than our actual mileage.  I saw the last AS in the distance, about a half mile up.  I didn't tell Kurt my suspicion's yet.  When we reached it, we had 3 miles to go by my watch.  We asked a volunteer how much longer.  When she said "4.1," all wind was taken out of our sails.  I told Kurt, "We're not going to make it."  Referring to our sub 12 goal.  A volunteer tried to pep us up.  I remember thinking, "Look lady, we're gonna' finish.  We just ran 58 miles.  Shut up."
We ended up walking more that last little bit.  We actually walked the last mile or so.  We came to the last road crossing and a volunteer got out of his car to warn traffic.  I shouted to him, "Don't worry about it.  We'll wait."  We asked him how much farther and he said a half mile.  I told Kurt, "My watch says .8 by the new math.  I'm not running until I see the finish."
And then there it was.  We just looked at each other and started running.

this hurt

100k in the books.  12:14:50.

phew!

Post Race

Sitting in the covered pavillion just past the finish, I saw another RUT member, Mark McCaslin.  He's a 100M veteran.  I told him, "Mark, I don't think that I can run 100 mile."  In fact, I never wanted to run again.

My perspective changed the next morning.  Yeah, I was pretty sore.  But I couldn't wait to start training for the next one.  Now I had no race obligations, so I could give my knees time to heal.
100 Miler, Here I Come!!!

Lessons Learned

• After running that long, starting and stopping running is what hurts the most.
• With a solid spring/summer base, it's possible to complete 100k.  Painful, but possible.
• Running with a friend is invaluable.
• When traveling from Gaylord, MI to Mackinaw City, MI, it's quicker and much less painful to drive.

Food consumed

• 80 oz. Go Juice
• 1.5 almond butter and jelly sandwiches
• 12 pringles
• handful of pretzels
• handful of dried fruit

How Bad Quitting Hurts

(or)

How I Ran 6 hrs in a 24 hr Race

(or)

DNMEGM

(Did Not Meet Expected Goal or Mileage)

I'm not really feeling writing this race report.  It involves me quitting, and I didn't think that word was in my vocabulary anymore.  Apparently it is though, so here it goes.  There will be only one picture.

Background

I ran my first ultra, Woodstock 50M, on September 5th.  That went swimmingly.  Had a great time.  Had a great race.  Fast forward two weeks to North Coast 24.  My goal was 100 miles.  This was so the distance was no longer intimidating.  Everybody ready?  Here we go.

Oh boy, I'm in... Cleveland

Rode down to Cleveland with my mother and her friend.  This was the first time that I had left the state in 14 years.  That wasn't really too exciting.  Took pictures in preparation for this blog.  

One thing about Ohio: they don't have "Rest Areas" like we do here in Michigan.  They have "Service Centers."  These are like mini malls.  They have the rest-rooms, a food court, all kinds of fun stuff.  

And Cleveland is WAY cleaner than Detroit.  WAY.

Pre-Race Dinner

This was held as an informal event at Player's restaurant in Lakewood, OH.  Very nice place.  Very nice dinner.  Only a handful of other runners attended.  The entire medical staff was there, and there were a bunch  of them.  That was cool.  Had a great meal.  But that's not why you're here either.

Race Time

It was chilly on the lake at the 9am start.  Between 50 - 60 degrees fahrenheit, so I had my running hat and gloves on, as well as a light windbreaker with tech long and short sleeved shirts.  The course is a .9 mile loop.  After one loop, took off the hat and jacket.  Another couple laps and I was down to just the tech short sleeved.  Then I ran in a circle for about four hours.

At this point, I started feeling sleepy and my mind started giving me the "This is too much too soon" line on a continuous loop.  I tried to reason with my mind, telling it all the training I had put in, but it didn't want to listen.  For all I know, it could have been too much too soon.  I put on some music and kept on trucking.

At about 50k, I turned into the med tent for a stretching session.  Those volunteers were amazing.  I came out of that tent feeling like I was ready to run another 50k.  Then the storm blew in.  

I was watching it approach as I finished a lap.  When I knew I wasn't going to make another one before it started, I grabbed my $3 rain poncho and did another lap.

This was taken during my last lap.  When I turned the corner, a 50+ mph wind hit me in the face.  I wasn't ready for this physically or mentally.  I finished the lap then retreated into the restrooms.  I watched it hail.  I watched tents and canopies get blown away.  I was done.  The wind had ripped the poncho right off of my arm.  That was the only rain gear I owned at the time.  (First stop upon getting home was REI.  I now own a VERY nice water PROOF [not resistant] jacket).

I called my fiance, Crystal, and told her what was going on.  I said, "I'm not having fun anymore."  Normally, I LOVE running in the rain.  Bring on a thunder storm!  This time, it was the proverbial straw that broke my back.

Then called my mother and told her I was quitting and to come pick me up.

Told the RD.  Stopped by the med tent for one more stretch out.  Gathered my stuff.  Went back to the hotel.

Aftermath

I knew, in my head, that I had done the right thing.  Crystal, my father and my mother all said that I had done the right thing.  But all I could think about were all the people that were still out there.  All the people that HADN'T pussed out.

Threw up a post on the Ultra List and my ultra goup's face book page.  I needed other ultra runners to tell me that it was ok.

I got an awesome response.  Thank you all for your encouragement.

In Conclusion

This report did help a bit.  A bit.  I have an 100k in less than three weeks that will restore me I think.  That one WILL be fun.  I'll be with a group of friends from my ultra group, and we're going to ROCK it!!!

36 miles in 6 hours.  40 loops.  I will be back.

Lessons Learned

• Spend some money on rain gear.  It's worth it.
• Sometimes your mind is right.  Not often, but sometimes.
• Ultra runners deal with pain.  But there's still a part that's fun.  If it stops being fun, why do it?  

So tune in three weeks from today for "How I ran across the top of Michigan, and all I got was this lousy shirt"

Woodstock 50M report

(or) A first timer's account of a 50 Miler

(or) If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball

Why?

The original plan, circa January 2012, was to run the Detroit Marathon at the end of this year, and start running ultras in 2013.  That ended when I was informed that Canada wasn't keen on letting me into their country.  So the ultra plan got moved up to this year.

Like everything in my life, my philosophy is "Go big or go home."  I ran the 50M last weekend, am running North Coast 24 hr. 22-23 September, and Top of Michigan 100k 13 Oct.  I also have personal reasons for trying to jam all that into this fall, but that's not why you're here.

Training

I'm the type of cat who has to have a schedule to follow.  Do this workout on this day.  Makes one less thing for me to think about.  It took awhile, but I was able to find a good one online.  Later meshed that with the one in "Relentless Forward Progress."  Mine can be viewed here.  The only hiccup was in the summer when I was running some races on the weekend.  Also tweaked my foot the Saturday before the race.  Took most of the week preceding the race off.  Turned out fine.  

If you don't want to view it, peak week was 77.13, total mileage in training was 942.41.

The Day Before

The Woodstock festival of races is cool in idea.  They have everything from a 5k to 100M.  100k and 100M start at 4 pm on Friday, which is a nice idea.  This way, you're doing your night portion while still relatively fresh.
Got to the campground the day before to scout out my camp site and see one of my friends off for his first 100M.  After meeting his family and giving him a rousing send off, I went back to pick up my fiance (crew chief extraordinaire) from work.  I can't give her enough props.  She's understood my new found love/obsession with running and indulged me.

We settled in that evening.  It rained the entire night.  Hard.  All I could think of was the brave 100 runners.  They did awesome.

Race Time

My preparations were simple.  First was my progress bar.  I'm a computer dork an Microsoft has made me a progress bar junkie.  If I can see that something's happening, then I'm cool.  The 50M consisted of a run around the campground (.2M) and 3, 16.6M loops.  This is my progress bar.  3 rubber bands.

Second was my fuel.  Mr. Jonathan Savage has it on his wiki.  I've found his go juice to be invaluable.  I have a hard time eating after running more than 3 hours, and at almost 300 calories/8 oz., his juice is awesome.  I did miscalculate how much I would need, bringing only 2 quarts when I needed 3, so I had to supplement with pb&j and pringles at the AS.  Everything else was just trust in my training.

And They're Off

6 am start.  In the chute, I found two friends from our local ultra group (RUT), Kurt and Darin.  More on them in a minute.  There were 205 people running the 50k and 50M and both races started at the same time.  After the loop around the camp ground, we entered the single track.  205 people...  It eventually cleared up, but it took us 20 minutes to cover the first 1.5 miles.  This is far slower than I wanted to go.  My primary goal was to finish sub 12, with a secondary to finish sub 10.  Too ambitious for a first?  Read on...

Running with my friends made the first 25 miles the funnest 25 miles I've ever run.  Talking, laughing, running, shouting... we had a blast.  Here we are after lap 1 (16.8M in).  From left to right, Darin, Kurt and myself.  The headlamp is still there because we started in the dark and we hadn't hit my base camp yet.

Loop one was completed in 3:21.

Loop # 2

The start of the second loop coincided with the start of the full and half marathon races.  That made for some crowded single track.There are three aid stations on the course, and one at the start/finish.  They're roughly four miles apart.  After the second AS of this loop, Darin and Kurt started to lag.  I told them adios and carried on by myself.  I had my Mp3 player at base camp with my fiance/crew chief Crystal, and had planned on picking it up for the last loop.  This made the last half of this loop fairly long and boring.  More so after having so much fun the first 25.  I did alot of praying/thanksgiving to God out loud, and that made it way better.  Finished this loop at 6:40.  Negative split!  Here I am, signifying I have just one more lap left.

Last Lap

Allright!  Got my music, and I started rocking!  My Garmin died around 7 hours, but that was cool with me.  I was enjoying rocking through the trails, having a good time.  I was keeping track of my time on my Mp3.  When I hit the AS that's half way through the loop at 3 pm, I knew I wouldn't be hitting sub 10.  I was still going to get it as close to that as I could though.  Did the ol' standing quad stretch then I started running faster.  Because this was my first ultra, I didn't let it all hang out, because I didn't know if I'd be able to make it.  I still turned it up a bit.  

Upon reaching the AS that was 4 miles from the finish, I let loose.  Up until that point, I was power walking the serious hills.  Now I was running everything.  Don't know my 4 mile splits for the last 8, but I did the last 8 in 70 minutes.  Not bad for the last eight of a 50.

Finishing time: 10:10:23.  No AG award, but I was happy.  Sore, but happy.  This is me shooting off the last rubber band, signifying that my progress is now complete.  The following is the profile for one loop:

4,121 ft. total gain for the 50 miles.

Did I mention that I was happy?

Lessons Learned

• It only hurts.  Ignore it and it won't bother you.
• Make sure your math is right when you're figuring out your fuel.
• It's possible to let it all hang out sooner than you might think.
• Pringles are the awesomest food ever invented.

That's all I've got.  You've been a great audience.  Tune in in two weeks for my next installment:  "How bad does 24 hours really hurt?"