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| Etoniah Creek State Forest Grass and Pine Grove |
Prerace (5 & 6 February):
I left Huntsville Thursday afternoon and spent the night with my parents in Anniston, AL. It’s great spending quality time with my parents especially as we all get older. They were very curious about the race but were also concerned parents. Especially when I mentioned my plan included driving back to Huntsville following the race on a few hours of sleep. I reassured them if I was too tired to drive, I would get a hotel for the evening or stop and sleep awhile at a rest area. From a safety concern, they didn't like my idea of sleeping at a rest area.
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| Start/Finish Line & Aid Station #1 |
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| Prerace Briefing by Race Director |
Prerace setup was ongoing and about 75 runners including friends, family, and pacers were present. The sun was beginning to go down and it was getting cold; cold for me is any temperature below 60 degrees. I’m always amazed at the people in shorts, short sleeve shirts, and flip flops when it’s cold….crazy! Race Director, Chris Rodatz, provided prerace briefing which included course overview, varying surface types, dos and don’ts, pacer information, aid station fuel, porta potty locations, safety, and what you might see on the trail after dark. He mentioned runners might see glowing eyes which could be a black bear, alligator, bobcat, or panther! Hello! That got the non-Floridian racer’s attention real fast!
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| Prerace Dinner |
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| Etoniah United Methodist Church |
Following the briefing, I walked a short distance to Etoniah United Methodist Church for dinner. The church was very picturesque and surrounded by numerous mature oaks trees covered in spooky low hanging Spanish moss. This first annual dinner was $5 and proceeds went to a local charity. The church was very small but had several dedicated church members graciously serving dinner to runners and their family and friends. Dinner consisted of homemade spaghetti and lasagna, garlic bread, salad, wonderful desserts, and drink. You can’t beat local southern hospitality and delicious cooking. There were about 30 runners including friends and family that participated. During dinner, believe it or not, this introvert (me) initiated several conversations with other runners. One young runner in his twenties was attempting his first 100 miler. He was very curious about my previous 100 mile experience. His mom and friends were planning to crew for him. His friends were planning to make the event a party and consume party beverages accordingly. I can’t blame them because you have to pass the long hours somehow. Minutes of excitement, followed by hours of boredom. Following the race, I found out he unfortunately didn't finish. Best of luck to him next time.
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| Race Essentials & Drop Containers |
Following dinner, I stopped by my favorite store Lowes for some non-race related shopping and then headed back to the hotel room to prepare for tomorrow’s challenge. Excitement was building but I wasn’t very nervous. After thoroughly going over all of my race essentials including items in my drop containers, and speaking with Stephanie, I decided to get in bed around 10:30pm. Unfortunately, it was difficult falling asleep because of my excitement.
Race Day (7 February):
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| Start/Finish Line (Rails-to-Trails) |
Race Course:
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| Course Map |
Race Plan:
My Iron Horse race plan
goal was to finish under 19 hours; first/previous 100 mile Pine Creek Challenge finish time = 19hrs:22mins:31secs (September 2014). Since this is my 2nd 100 mile race, I'm still learning and definitely an ultrarunning apprentice. My training preparation included running a total of 729 miles over 16 weeks with a large percentage completed on the treadmill (47% runs, 27% miles). I despise cold weather and will run in the warm indoors rather than the frigid outdoors any day! I had to modify my plan since I caught the flu Christmas Eve and wasn't able to run all of my planned mileage. As a result, I still didn’t feel like I had 100% lung capacity at race time. I broke the race into 25 mile increments; miles 1-25 run 9:30 min/mile pace, miles 25-50 run 9:45 pace, miles 50-75 run 10:00 pace, and miles 75-100 run 10:15 pace while only stopping at manned aid stations' #1 and #2. While at the aid stations, quickly consume race provided fuel (food and drink) followed by a short walking duration. Before the race, I developed a programmable spreadsheet reflecting every mile plus entry data for running and walking paces, and restroom and aid station breaks and durations. I know, I know......DATA NERD! I really enjoy the planning aspect. I had decided to attempt this race without the assistance of a crew. Stephanie and other family members have always done a wonderful job supporting me by crewing and/or cheering me on during races. But this time, I'm going solo with the only assistance coming from the aid station volunteers. During my previous 100 mile race, Stephanie crewed for me and rode a rented mountain bike beside me the last 80 miles! I'll never be able to repay her but will always remember that special bond that resulted spending numerous hours together in the mountains of Pennsylvania. I will surely miss her companionship during this race. Maintaining forward momentum and minimizing time at aid stations is very important. I planned to start my run/walk
strategy after mile 29; run 12
minutes, walk 3 minutes….repeat until I finish. My training included using the Maffetone
method; recommended by very experienced ultrarunners' Rob and Kathy Youngren.
This method focuses on burning fat as much as possible while running
aerobically. "Train slower to go faster". Method goes against “no pain, no gain” mantra. Based on this method, I ran to a heart rate
zone during training which was 138-143 beats/minute. As a result, this zone dedicated a training pace ~09:30–10:30 mins/mile.
Miles 1-50:
The morning sun began to softly illuminate the start/finish line area. 7:00am.....race gun fires! 150 runners enthusiastically start running while spectators cheer. It takes me about three miles to physically warm up from being cold and another few miles to comfortably get into a relaxed running rhythm. The first 50 miles went very smooth and fairly uneventful. The first 25 mile loop allows runners familiarization with the course. This is especially beneficially before night time falls. Runners are tired and wrong course turns can unintentionally be made. I made one porta potty stop ~mile 21 (typical). Aid stations had great volunteers and were extremely well supported. The fuel I typically consumed consisted of pretzels, M&Ms, Pringle potato chips, bite size peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, small precut boiled red potatoes dipped in salt, Heed sports drink, Coke, and water. As expected, the asphalt course portion was harder on the body; especially the last 25 mile loop.
Green Camp, a primitive campground had numerous mysterious looking oak trees with meandering long tree limbs that possessed a dense overhead leaf canopy. The tree limbs were invaded by Spanish moss which had the nightly appearance of ghostly images floating in the dark. It would be a great location for a murder scene in a spooky murder mystery book or movie (e.g., Jason returns to Etoniah). The camp had one pit toilet, several picnic tables, and the race's only unmanned aid station (table with water container). The East-V Road continued ~two miles to Red Camp, another primitive campground. This portion of the road consisted of large sections of loose sugar sand with deep uneven ruts made by large trucks. For ease, I just picked a rut and ran in it. It appeared this section had a fire within the last few years and large trucks had really messed up the roads. My running gators were great. It was my first time to use them and they kept sand and other debris out of my socks and shoes.
Unfortunately, Red Camp wasn't very pretty. I never saw any picnic tables and it mostly contained burned pine trees and grass. From Red Camp, the East-V Road returned to aid station #2, ~two miles away. From the aid station, the next course portion took you to the Etoniah Creek State Forest main entrance via West-V Road; a distance of seven miles. This course portion included a small wooden bridge over a gentle flowing creek. The bridge was tricky crossing at night since it contained narrow wooden tire planks and I tripped running across these one time. At the far end, was aid station #3 which I never stopped at as planned. Apparently aid station #3 was Iron Horse party central! Volunteers seemed to be having a great time and would loudly cheer runners as they stopped or ran by.
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| East V-Road to Green Camp |
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| Aid Station #2 to Green & Red Camps via East-V Road |
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| Aid Station #2 to State Forest Main Entrance via West-V Road |
Miles 50-75:
Reaching the midpoint of any race is an important milestone for me. For shorter distance races, I have a tendency to speed up; however, during 100 milers, you still need to pace yourself accordingly and realize you still have 50 miles to go! I had no physical body issues
until ~mile 50. My
left foot’s top was slightly sensitive and remained that way thru the entire race. Also, to my
surprise, my ribs were very sore from my Hydrapak softflasks (collapsible water bottles) rubbing
against them. I readjusted the hydration vest so the flasks were in a different location. That fixed the issue. Realizing I had banked approximately 20 minutes at the half way mark, I almost got slightly emotional thinking if I could maintain my planned pace and strategy, I could substantially beat my finish time goal. Just call me a sensitive guy.
In the late afternoon
it was mostly sunny and 72 degrees. Very
warm, even for me who is extremely cold natured.
To help dissipate my body heat by exposing my midriff, I placed the bottom of my shirt up and
over my two flasks which were in the same location as my breasts. This gave the appearance of large male breasts
and the flasks’ openings protruded like large, hard nipples. Yes, I got several funny stares and a few
giggles. Oh well, it worked! I noticed I hadn't urinated for a long time so I was a little concerned. I started hydrating more and later urinated a little which was fairly dark in color. Afterwards, I started hydrating even more which resulted in clearer urine. Good news! Two times during the race my stomach felt sour so I took a ginger capsule; potential issue addressed and eliminated. I was able to pass gas during the entire race without fear of sharting in my shorts.....life was good! I would occasionally and partially close my eyes for several minutes while running to mentally rest in preparation for the race's duration.
Pet peeve: runners loudly talking on their cell phones and listening to music using speakers! Around 5:30pm, I stopped and put on my headlamp but didn’t need to turn it on until around 6:30pm. Once the sun went down a few minutes after 6pm, the air temperature started to quickly cool. I decided to rinse my hands to remove annoying sticky fuel. As a result, this quickly cooled my body down; especially since I was tired. I was running, extremely cold, and my teeth were chattering uncontrollably. I started running faster in an attempt to warm my body. The teeth chattering continued for about 10 minutes but fortunately finally stopped. At the next aid station (~75 minutes later), I put on warmer clothes, ear warmers and gloves…it felt so good to be warm again! Certain runners dread the dark. I embrace it. The decreased depth and peripheral vision reduces the amount of stimuli. You just focus on what your light illuminates which is only a few feet in front of you. I'm easily able to relax during the nighttime. The night brought a gorgeous clear sky, filled with thousands of bright stars plus a faint yellowish orange moon, slowing rising above the pine trees. It was truly beautiful! This is one of the main reasons I enjoy running and being outside; enjoying peaceful tranquil moments like this. Since there was plenty of natural bright ambient light, I turned off my headlamp and just ran without it for awhile. Very calming and peaceful feeling. After turning my headlamp back on, I began to notice particles in the air directly in front of my light. I thought it was ash from the state forest wooded area that had recently burned. During the day, I noticed a log had smoke rising from it and the odor was very pleasing. As time went on, I realized it wasn't ash but very dense moisture forming in the air......FOG. It was very strange. The fog's bottom layer was exactly even with my eyes. As a result, my visibility was obscured and couldn't see farther than ~15 feet but when I slightly ducked my head down below the fog layer, visibility was normal. Neat! Only a few marshy course sections contained fog. From a distance, the fog was beautiful hanging over the trees, marshy grassland and saw palmetto plants. It appeared to be an illuminating, low energy source hanging over the forest. Very spooky for someone that may not like the dark while alone in a forest. Once night fell, the aid stations offered delicious hot soups including seafood gumbo, chicken noodle, and tomato basil. The soup was great later in the race since I started getting really tired and cool. I burned my tongue and mouth after quickly downing a cup of very hot seafood gumbo. The burn hurt for about 3 days after race. It's interesting how your body will slowly absorb the soup/fuel after about 10-15 minutes and then you gradually gain much needed energy to continue moving forward.
Miles 75-100:
Around mile 75, I developed a hot spot on my left upper heal; therefore, at the next aid station, I placed a band aid on the spot. No blister developed and the sensitivity quickly went away. About the same time, my right big toenail became a slightly sensitive. I started getting more tired so I attempted to conserve energy as much as possible. This included drinking from my water bottles without removing them from my hydration vest. Basically, it looked like I was drinking from my own nipples. It was practical and efficient but looked perverted….you do what you have to do! Unfortunately, I saw very little wildlife on the course; however, I did see a few squirrels, birds, rabbit, and dead snake....that's it. Darn it!
After nightfall, I didn't see many runners since most of the 50 mile and 100K runners had already finished and the remaining 100 mile runners were spread out with several having already dropped out. With this said, around mile 74, three runners were running together and we passed. Right as we passed each other, I tripped over a large root that I didn't see. Immediately I went down fast but luckily wasn't injured. More embarrassed than anything. They immediately asked if I was OK and I said yes and quickly got up and kept running. Soon after, I used the porta potty a 2nd/last time at aid station #2 to make myself as comfortable as possible thru the duration of the race.
During my last loop (~86 miles, ~11:15pm), I noticed my stride was shortening as expected because my leg muscles were getting tight; therefore, to maintain my planned pace, I increased my running cadence. Following the race and reviewing my downloaded GPS watch data, I noticed I was able to maintain a 9:08 pace at mile 87 (relatively fast for me and faster than planned). I soon passed a male runner who had been lost by taking a wrong turn. I could tell he was very tired and frustrated. I reassured him he was on the correct path and he continued walking. On the way to aid station #3 (~mile 88, ~11:45pm), I ran by three female runners walking, joyously talking, and having a great time. One loudly yelled at me, "yeah, there's no running in this race!" We all just laughed and continued on. A short distance later, I started hearing music. It's so strange hearing the rock-and-roll band AC/DC's music playing in the middle of a forest at night. I just started laughing out load. The volunteers had also placed numerous multi-colored glow sticks along the road leading into the aid station. It had the appearance of psychedelic airport runway lights.
Around mile 85, my GPS watch displayed a low battery message. I had recently purchased a new Garmin Fenix2 watch for the main reason of longer battery life. My previous Garmin 405 watch's battery life progressively got worst with age and would only last ~4.5 hours. When I set up the Fenix2 watch for this race, I configured it to receive satellite information every 15 seconds. The more often you receive signals, your data is more accurate; however, this requires more battery power, so there is a trade off. Based on the owner's manual, 15 seconds would equate to approximately 20 hours of battery life under ideal conditions with no external sensor data (e.g., heart rate monitoring). I always wear my heart rate sensor while training except during a race. I want to be as comfortable as possible and not have to deal with a possible aggravating heart rate monitor chest strap that keeps slipping down my chest. During the race, I would occasionally rotate my watch 180 degrees (i.e., inside wrist, watch facing the ground) so it wouldn't hurt my protruding wrist bone since the watch is fairly heavy and this 121 pound runner doesn't have much meat around his arms and wrists. As a result, it would lose satellite reception from time to time. Aggravating! Attempting to reacquire satellites required additional use of precious battery power. The watch's battery finally went dead at mile 95. I had my regular watch on my right wrist so I was still able to estimate times and paces. By the way, both right and left protruding wrist bones were very sore after the race because of the watches impacting them.
The last few hours of both of my 100 mile races, I have a tendency to urinate more frequently. More from the necessity of being as comfortable as possible. Once I made it to 90 miles (~12:15pm) and still feeling good, I began reducing walking times and time spent at aid stations. Arriving at the last aid station #2 which is four miles from the finish line, I quickly filled my flasks with HEED, ate a little food, and started running and didn't stop until I finished. I believe my last four miles were my fastest. Even though my GPS watch was dead and didn't have real time pace monitoring, I believe miles 96 & 97 were at a low 9 min/mile pace, mile 98 in the mid 8s, and the final mile in the high 7s. At mile 98, I spoke to myself out loud and said "this is what you trained for so lets go". My voice was reassuring and provided a needed burst of energy. Several minutes later, I began to notice the finish line lights in the distance. This portion of the course was asphalt rails-to-trails sneaking thru numerous low hanging oak tree limbs, all draped in Spanish moss. It gave the appearance of running thru a dark tunnel with gradual increasing soft glowing lights at the end. About 100 yards from the finish, I started running really fast and it felt like a sprint. Of course, "really fast" is a relative term. The spectators may have had a different opinion. Several spectators began to notice me about to finish and cheered me on thru the finish line. Great support at the finish! Iron Horse 100 Mile Endurance Race completed....18hrs:41mins:30secs (1:41am Sunday).
Post Race:
I asked the finish line volunteers my overall placement.......4th out of 67 starters. I was very pleased and excited! Since the temperature was in the 40s, I immediately put on warmer clothes from my drop container, ate a warm tasty hamburger, and warmed myself by a wonderful burn barrel that I had seen numerous times earlier at the aid stations. These burn barrels, providing inviting glowing light and warmth, are very enticing later in the race when runners are tired and cold. Avoid them during the race! They have a tendency to attract runners like a magnet. Once attracted, it's difficult to leave. Same goes for chairs; never sit down! After chatting for 15 minutes with a few other 100K finishers and volunteers, I went to my van to call Stephanie and give her the results. She was very excited for me. I always ask myself following a race if I could have run faster and/or further. This time if I slowed the pace, I believe I could have run considerably longer. This was very encouraging since a future goal involves a longer distance race.
On the way back to the hotel, I stopped by aid station #2 to retrieve my other drop container. I slowly shuffled thru the dark since my legs were very sore and muscles tight. While bending over to pick up my container, I softly grimaced and noticed an unfortunate runner laying in a chair. His shoes and socks were off and volunteers were providing first aid to his beaten and blistered feet. He was is pain and looked dejected. I guessed he still had 29 miles to go and it was 2:30am Sunday. After seeing this poor runner, I was so glad to be finished and practically injury free! Foot picture is from Runner X's facebook page. Ouch!!
I returned to the hotel for an awesome hot shower and thorough teeth brushing. Both felt wonderful! Other than my legs being very sore, no major injuries. No blisters occurred except my left rear upper heel was a little sensitive and red. My right big toenail was sore, slight swollen, and red. Fortunately, no immediate black toenail. Eventually, the toenail turned purple and after 3.5 weeks, it came off.....gross! My inside elbows were also slightly sore (typical). I never felt the need to take Tylenol and Ibuprofen. After getting in bed at 3:45am Sunday, I woke after four hours sleep, ate breakfast, and headed home. My legs, knees, ankles, and feet were swollen (typical) from edema. My legs were only slightly swollen compared to my last 100 mile race. I believe wearing Hoka Bondi 3 shoes and a softer course surface provided additional shock absorption and prevented some swelling. My family always finds humor in these body parts swelling, especially my cankles.
Summary:
Throughout the entire race, I felt really good physically and mentally. Although I was very tired towards the end, I never felt sleepy. I seemed to have an endless internal energy source……I'm a believer in the Maffetone Method! To reduce the course's length as much as possible, I continuously ran the tangents when practical. Next time, I would attempt to decrease my overall time by reducing aid station stop and post aid station walking durations; probably not attempt a faster running pace. As mentioned earlier, I really enjoy the planning aspect of training and the actual race; however, I realize I always OVER plan. As I gain additional race experience, I anticipate feeling more comfortable thus requiring less planning. Ironically, I never used any fuel from my drop containers.
Certain people ask how and why someone runs 100 miles. How - dedication, persistence, proper conditioning, training, and strong internal desire to successfully accomplish a personal goal. Why - personally, I could provide a list a mile long but some of the main reasons include setting personal goals including possible future goals for my children, health, the challenge, thrill of competition, loving the outdoors and nature, believing you only live once so take advantage of the time you have living (as the saying goes, "twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did"), getting to know your body by pushing it to its mental and physical limits, but most importantly, the experience and the enjoyment.......it's fun and blissful! And yes, endorphins are addicting. If someone would like a tough mental and physical challenge, I highly encourage them to attempt a 100 mile race. The emotional memories are very rewarding and everlasting. Based on my pleasant experiences so far, I signed up for Vermont 100 (July 2015) and Pinhoti 100 (November 2015).
Icing on the cake.....found out after times were officially posted that I finished 3rd out of 36 finishers; 46% of starters did not finish (very high).
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| Aid Station #2 to Start/Finish Line (AKA "Tripping Root Road") |
After nightfall, I didn't see many runners since most of the 50 mile and 100K runners had already finished and the remaining 100 mile runners were spread out with several having already dropped out. With this said, around mile 74, three runners were running together and we passed. Right as we passed each other, I tripped over a large root that I didn't see. Immediately I went down fast but luckily wasn't injured. More embarrassed than anything. They immediately asked if I was OK and I said yes and quickly got up and kept running. Soon after, I used the porta potty a 2nd/last time at aid station #2 to make myself as comfortable as possible thru the duration of the race.
During my last loop (~86 miles, ~11:15pm), I noticed my stride was shortening as expected because my leg muscles were getting tight; therefore, to maintain my planned pace, I increased my running cadence. Following the race and reviewing my downloaded GPS watch data, I noticed I was able to maintain a 9:08 pace at mile 87 (relatively fast for me and faster than planned). I soon passed a male runner who had been lost by taking a wrong turn. I could tell he was very tired and frustrated. I reassured him he was on the correct path and he continued walking. On the way to aid station #3 (~mile 88, ~11:45pm), I ran by three female runners walking, joyously talking, and having a great time. One loudly yelled at me, "yeah, there's no running in this race!" We all just laughed and continued on. A short distance later, I started hearing music. It's so strange hearing the rock-and-roll band AC/DC's music playing in the middle of a forest at night. I just started laughing out load. The volunteers had also placed numerous multi-colored glow sticks along the road leading into the aid station. It had the appearance of psychedelic airport runway lights.
Around mile 85, my GPS watch displayed a low battery message. I had recently purchased a new Garmin Fenix2 watch for the main reason of longer battery life. My previous Garmin 405 watch's battery life progressively got worst with age and would only last ~4.5 hours. When I set up the Fenix2 watch for this race, I configured it to receive satellite information every 15 seconds. The more often you receive signals, your data is more accurate; however, this requires more battery power, so there is a trade off. Based on the owner's manual, 15 seconds would equate to approximately 20 hours of battery life under ideal conditions with no external sensor data (e.g., heart rate monitoring). I always wear my heart rate sensor while training except during a race. I want to be as comfortable as possible and not have to deal with a possible aggravating heart rate monitor chest strap that keeps slipping down my chest. During the race, I would occasionally rotate my watch 180 degrees (i.e., inside wrist, watch facing the ground) so it wouldn't hurt my protruding wrist bone since the watch is fairly heavy and this 121 pound runner doesn't have much meat around his arms and wrists. As a result, it would lose satellite reception from time to time. Aggravating! Attempting to reacquire satellites required additional use of precious battery power. The watch's battery finally went dead at mile 95. I had my regular watch on my right wrist so I was still able to estimate times and paces. By the way, both right and left protruding wrist bones were very sore after the race because of the watches impacting them.
The last few hours of both of my 100 mile races, I have a tendency to urinate more frequently. More from the necessity of being as comfortable as possible. Once I made it to 90 miles (~12:15pm) and still feeling good, I began reducing walking times and time spent at aid stations. Arriving at the last aid station #2 which is four miles from the finish line, I quickly filled my flasks with HEED, ate a little food, and started running and didn't stop until I finished. I believe my last four miles were my fastest. Even though my GPS watch was dead and didn't have real time pace monitoring, I believe miles 96 & 97 were at a low 9 min/mile pace, mile 98 in the mid 8s, and the final mile in the high 7s. At mile 98, I spoke to myself out loud and said "this is what you trained for so lets go". My voice was reassuring and provided a needed burst of energy. Several minutes later, I began to notice the finish line lights in the distance. This portion of the course was asphalt rails-to-trails sneaking thru numerous low hanging oak tree limbs, all draped in Spanish moss. It gave the appearance of running thru a dark tunnel with gradual increasing soft glowing lights at the end. About 100 yards from the finish, I started running really fast and it felt like a sprint. Of course, "really fast" is a relative term. The spectators may have had a different opinion. Several spectators began to notice me about to finish and cheered me on thru the finish line. Great support at the finish! Iron Horse 100 Mile Endurance Race completed....18hrs:41mins:30secs (1:41am Sunday).
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| Finisher's Silver & Gold Belt Buckle (< 24 hours) |
I asked the finish line volunteers my overall placement.......4th out of 67 starters. I was very pleased and excited! Since the temperature was in the 40s, I immediately put on warmer clothes from my drop container, ate a warm tasty hamburger, and warmed myself by a wonderful burn barrel that I had seen numerous times earlier at the aid stations. These burn barrels, providing inviting glowing light and warmth, are very enticing later in the race when runners are tired and cold. Avoid them during the race! They have a tendency to attract runners like a magnet. Once attracted, it's difficult to leave. Same goes for chairs; never sit down! After chatting for 15 minutes with a few other 100K finishers and volunteers, I went to my van to call Stephanie and give her the results. She was very excited for me. I always ask myself following a race if I could have run faster and/or further. This time if I slowed the pace, I believe I could have run considerably longer. This was very encouraging since a future goal involves a longer distance race.
 |
| Runner X's Blistered Foot |
I returned to the hotel for an awesome hot shower and thorough teeth brushing. Both felt wonderful! Other than my legs being very sore, no major injuries. No blisters occurred except my left rear upper heel was a little sensitive and red. My right big toenail was sore, slight swollen, and red. Fortunately, no immediate black toenail. Eventually, the toenail turned purple and after 3.5 weeks, it came off.....gross! My inside elbows were also slightly sore (typical). I never felt the need to take Tylenol and Ibuprofen. After getting in bed at 3:45am Sunday, I woke after four hours sleep, ate breakfast, and headed home. My legs, knees, ankles, and feet were swollen (typical) from edema. My legs were only slightly swollen compared to my last 100 mile race. I believe wearing Hoka Bondi 3 shoes and a softer course surface provided additional shock absorption and prevented some swelling. My family always finds humor in these body parts swelling, especially my cankles.
Summary:
Throughout the entire race, I felt really good physically and mentally. Although I was very tired towards the end, I never felt sleepy. I seemed to have an endless internal energy source……I'm a believer in the Maffetone Method! To reduce the course's length as much as possible, I continuously ran the tangents when practical. Next time, I would attempt to decrease my overall time by reducing aid station stop and post aid station walking durations; probably not attempt a faster running pace. As mentioned earlier, I really enjoy the planning aspect of training and the actual race; however, I realize I always OVER plan. As I gain additional race experience, I anticipate feeling more comfortable thus requiring less planning. Ironically, I never used any fuel from my drop containers.
Certain people ask how and why someone runs 100 miles. How - dedication, persistence, proper conditioning, training, and strong internal desire to successfully accomplish a personal goal. Why - personally, I could provide a list a mile long but some of the main reasons include setting personal goals including possible future goals for my children, health, the challenge, thrill of competition, loving the outdoors and nature, believing you only live once so take advantage of the time you have living (as the saying goes, "twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did"), getting to know your body by pushing it to its mental and physical limits, but most importantly, the experience and the enjoyment.......it's fun and blissful! And yes, endorphins are addicting. If someone would like a tough mental and physical challenge, I highly encourage them to attempt a 100 mile race. The emotional memories are very rewarding and everlasting. Based on my pleasant experiences so far, I signed up for Vermont 100 (July 2015) and Pinhoti 100 (November 2015).
Icing on the cake.....found out after times were officially posted that I finished 3rd out of 36 finishers; 46% of starters did not finish (very high).
Awesome write up and thanks for thinking of me during the race! Love, your wife
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