Free State 100K

Freestate 100k - April 21, 2012

I went into this race with the attitude that it was going to be a training run. I took this attitude for a few reasons. The main reason was because my training had been mediocre and I knew trying to pull off a Race performance would be miserable, and secondly I did not want to put that kind of pressure on myself.

Since RR100, I have been guilty of cutting runs short or opting to cross train, or simply  skipping a run to spend the afternoon with my son who is heading off to college this fall.   If you’ve read my blog you know I ran Rocky Raccoon this February and had a fabulous race for my first 100. I still grin from ear to ear whenever someone mentions Rocky.  I know I will never forget that day it holds a very special place in my Ultra heart.  I say all of this because I’ve kind of been on cruise control and just maintaining base miles, and enjoying running without the pressure of a rigorous training schedule.  I’ve enjoyed the down time and it’s given me time to re-boot and just “BE.”  And also avoid the burn out that many Ultra runners experience. I’ve also taken the extra time to spend with my son Zach who recently graduated from High School.  I’m fortunate that he has decided to go to college at KU and I’m hoping I can get him to meet me on the trails for some miles this fall.

Anyway, back to race day. This is the first race I have run without a crew. My husband, Henry had conflicts for most of the day and was only able to check on me at the 40 mile mark. I had a drop bag at the main aide station with change of shirts, headlamp, handheld, Nuun and a few Lara bars and honey stingers. My plan was to eat from the aide stations and use the Lara bars and honey stingers in between stations as additional fuel.

Once the race started at 6am the first 7 miles were congested running on the single track trails; runners would pass me and then slow down and it was impossible to get into a comfortable groove. I had a group of friends ahead of me that I wanted to run with but I could never get around the group to catch them.  I felt my stride was pretty tight and was itching to break away from the group and open up a little. When we pulled into the first aide station, Lands End, I quickly ducked behind a bush and peed and then hit the aide station. The station was very meager on the food and I kind of barked out, “where is the peanut butter?”  After a little searching they pulled out a tray and I grabbed a few wraps and took off.  I felt bad that I was short with the volunteers and made sure I apologized for being cranky on the next loop. I also made a point to thank all the volunteers for taking care of us all day on my last 20 mile  loop.
After leaving the aide station it felt great to stretch open my stride on this very runnable section. I knew this part of the trail very well, so I just tried to set into a comfortable pace and get rid of my cranky attitude.   Mentally I was really struggling, I had some nasty mental gremlins in my head trying to convince me to quit after the first 20 mile loop. There was no reason for me to quit, I was just being lazy. Thank goodness at the 18 mile mark I finally kicked the gremlins out and started to find my trail mojo.

At 20 miles, I came into the main aide station and found my drop bag and changed my shirt. I wandered over to the main aide station and Mel helped me fill my hydration pack and I looked for some food. I took a nutella wrap and headed out for my second loop.

My second loop, I ran with Debbie, Will and a few other people but tripped several times and took a bad fall. I ended up loosing the group since I was the caboose and  no one knew I had taken a fall. If they had known, I know they would of stopped to help me up and make sure I was alright. That is the wonderful thing about Trail Running...we are a family and intertwined like a spider web. If someone goes down we make sure they are alright before we proceed and often will help the other runner walk it off.
 I was pissed at myself by this point and by mile 30 my toes where starting to feel the like hamburger. I made a rookie mistake and wore my ASR8’s that provided zero rock protection on the front of the shoe. I knew I was just going to have to grind through the next 30+ miles since I didn’t bring a change of shoes. I also was falling behind on my fueling, the aide stations peanut butter and jelly was not setting well with me since it had been sitting out in the sun all day.  I forget to grab another Lara bar from my drop bag so I only had honey stingers with me. The stingers are great for electrolytes but did not provide any protein which I felt I desperately needed.  I was getting close to  40 miles and again contemplated dropping, but told myself I was being a wuss and to suck it up. Nothing was hurting I was just under trained and behind on my fueling it was not as much fun as RR100.
 I also wanted another buckle and I really think that is the main reason I kept running!

About this time Darin backtracked and found me and asked me how I was doing. I cussed like a sailor and told him I was behind on fueling and felt that I needed some protein to get me back on track. Darin ran the 40 miler and got first place and was hanging at the aide station for the rest of the day.  Henry and Zach were waiting for me and helped me find my drop back and get a new shirt, and pack my jacket, headlamp and handheld for the night. I also packed more honey stingers and a Lara bar and re-filled my hydration pack with nuun/water.  Darin and Henry checked out the aide station for some protein and my choices were a hotdog or lentil salad. A hotdog was not an option, I can’t remember the last time I ate one, so I scarfed two plates of lentil salad and got my butt moving for the final 20 mile loop. I told the boys I’d call them when I finished and I anticipated I’d be done about 9pm. I started this loop with Debbie and her pacer, Jim.  I stayed with them for a couple miles and then pushed ahead; Debbie was having some tummy issues and was trying to walk it off.

By this time my left foot was feeling every rock and I just wanted to be done, I kept plugging away and walk the rocky sections to avoid  more toe trauma. I hit the red section and just walked the Bitch! The red section is so beautiful since its right next to the lake, but damn it’s rocky!! I was very happy to be off the rocky section and coming up the hill to Lands End, but I was dragging and cussing about the rocks. As soon as I got to the aide station Darin was waiting for me, even though his glute was tight he was going to jump in and run 10 miles with me…Yippee! The aide station helped me with my hydration pack and I asked how far I had left. When they said only 13 miles, I was so excited to only have a ½ marathon left and to have Bad ASS Darin running with me for 10 of the miles. I grabbed a cheese quesadilla and off we went.

Darin did a great job of keeping me moving and talking my ear off.  It’s just what I needed a good friend and  a little kick in the butt to keep me from going into walk mode. We talked about my training and he agreed it was pretty mediocre and told me I was just running on muscle memory. It’s kind of cool I can run a 100K on muscle memory, but like I said before it’s not FUN! We kept plugging away and Darin told me all of his race plans for the rest of the year; he’s such a Bad Ass!

Before I knew it we were back at Lands End and I only had 3 miles left. I gave Darin a big nasty smelly hug and off I went. I didn’t get very far before the darkness set in; Wowza how the trail changed in the dark. I turned on my headlamp and knuckle light and I could hear rustling off of the trail and see things scurry across the trail.   I realized at this point how vital a pacer was going to be at The Hawk 100. Not only would I need a pacer, but my pacer needed to be trail savvy and a stronger runner than me.  I took a pretty bad fall about 2 miles later and screamed “that was a 10 point fall! I laughed and brushed myself off  and kept on running. Before I knew it, I was climbing up the hill to the finish line. It was very dark, so for a moment I thought I was heading into a campground, but then I heard the cowbell…lol! Bad Ben was there to give me my shiny 100K buckle and Darin was there to congratulate me. I quickly changed clothes, checked in with my husband to let him know I was off the trail and then I ate 2 bowls of veggie black bean chili…yummy!!

100K Time: 14:04

 

Looking back on this race it was not my best performance, but I sure learned a lot.

It was great experience to run without a crew; I realized how much I truly depend on them. If they would have been crewing for me, my fueling and shoe issues would have been a NON issue. However, what I gained most from this experience was the realization of how vital the mental preparation is on race day. Mentally I would of rather of been at home drinking coffee on my deck, I was not vested in the race and the mental gremlins fought me all day! I won’t make this mistake again.

I’m looking forward to my next race The Hawk 100.  Luckily it’s on the same trail and I have all summer to get ready for this baby!!! I already have a pacer lined up…Mr Larry Long. He’s a strong bad ass runner like Darin and will take good care of me and keep me moving once it gets dark and scary on the trails.