Being halfway
through our one-year vacation living in a van, without a schedule, I
wanted to get my 2018 Western States qualifier out of the way without
a lot of fuss. I selected Rocky Raccoon 100-mile since we would be
visiting Texas anyhow, and figured I still had time to get in
adequate training after signing up early December. The race consists
of five 20-mile loops – about half is out and backs and there is a seven mile loop within there, with ~5,500’ of climbing for the full 100
miles. The course is known to be ‘runnable’ with the main
challenge being rootiness and bigger hills within the 7 mile loop. I
planned to run as much as possible and see what happened, figuring if
I had to walk a lot at the end, so be it, the main goal was to
finish.
Race Day was
Saturday, February 4. I woke at 4:00 for the 6:00 start and had my
standard pre-race breakfast of coffee, banana, and oats with chia,
peanut butter, and honey. We had a short drive to Hunstville State
Park, arriving just before 5, not too crowded yet. It was just cool
enough to hang out in the van and bundle up a little for venturing
out to make a final trip to the bathroom and deliver a drop bag to
the start/finish area. The weather was supposed to stay cloudy, about
45F at the start, getting into the low 60s – I opted to start with
long sleeves and gloves. We found Michael and got a quick picture
about 10 minutes before the start, then moved up until probably 100
of the 400 starters were in front of us. We had a mellow start at a
comfortable pace on wider trail
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| Michael and I excited to get started |
Loop 1
I spent the first
five miles running and visiting with Michael. The trail was already
rooty, but gently rolling and it felt like a good pace with 11-12
minutes/mile. This was a little speedier than Michael intended to
start and I kind of took off as daylight came on (he ended up winning his age group with a time under 24 hours!) I noted that the
trail was more interesting than expected with little ups and downs
and roots. Not terrible, but certainly not isolated to the seven mile
mini-loop in the middle of the big loops that I’d heard about. With
daylight, I hit the Dam road – a mostly packed gravel road that the
course follows for a little less than two miles until the ‘Damnation’
aid station, then the seven mile loop, another stop at the Damnation
aid station, then ~2.5 miles on the way back towards the start/finish
– where runners get to see the people 7-8 miles ahead of and behind
them. No stopping for me at the first two aid stations (the first had
been ~3 miles in).
For the Dam loop, I
ran with John from Nebraska, and occasionally other little groups. We
chatted a lot about my trip and a little about group and club running
(he is involved with ‘GOATZ’, a well known club in Omaha). Since
I’m normally terrible about being distracted and kicking trail
obstacles, I exaggerated high stepping the roots, which was fun, and
I didn’t trip like seemingly everyone else was, but maybe too much
of something I wasn’t use to doing for miles...After the loop, I
left John at the aid station and kept moving.
 |
| Finishing the first Dam Loop |
To ‘manage’ my
effort, I focused on comfortably breathing through my nose instead of
paying attention to what my legs were saying. I was already feeling
in my arches, calves, and knees little niggles that came and went, as
usual for me during long runs, but the top of my right IT band was
unexpectedly threatening to be a problem – something I haven’t
had issues with in years!
I downed my first
gel (lemonade Gu) on the road ~mile 13/2:20 in, and took advantage of
a portapotty at mile 15, not stopping at the aid station about half a
mile after. The last couple miles in and out of the start/finish are
out and back, a great stretch to see and cheer on so many people. I
ate a fig bar ~mile 18/3:10, thinking a snack every five miles would
be a good target for the current pace. At the aid station, I just
gave Rudy my spent gel packet, and headed back out, having covered
the first loop in 3:32.
Loop 2
I enjoyed seeing the
first few miles in the daylight – lots of green and swampy scenery.
I ate the other fig bar of the twin pack somewhere around mile 23.
Still didn’t stop at the first two aid stations of this loop. I
ended up running a lot of the Dam loop with a 100-mile first timer –
a little quieter than John but still some good company before he
pulled ahead – I found out later he is Travis from Montana. A pack
of Gu chomps around mile 28, then my first aid station stop at Dam
Road approximately mile 32. I picked up a Bearded Brothers bar (mango
coconut) and a V-Fuel gel (citrus) for later. I liked both, but
struggled with both wrappers! The bar I spaced out during miles
33-35. Towards the end of the loop, I still felt decent, but a little
fatigue coming on, and sore spots were mostly coming and going, but
the IT was being persistent, so I decided I would back off and walk
up hills for the third loop. I had the gel around mile 38. I was
surprised to see I was just under 7 hours at 40 miles – second
loop in 3:26! I hit up the portapotty while Rudy refilled my water
and opened up a packet of Bearded Brothers bar (chocolate something).
I ate a few orange slices and grabbed another V-Fuel (vanilla) before
heading back out.
 |
| Still feeling foolishly good |
Loop 3
With the out and
back I was able to see Michael, John, and Travis again. The runners
were more spread out, and I was spending more time alone. I ran with
‘Andy’ for a mile or so. He was concerned he was going the wrong
way, but we soon hit the Dam road and verified all was right. I
jogged up hills on the road, but even the shorter hills on the trail
I walked, and was trying to run gently on the flats and downs. I
consumed the bar around mile 45 and gel around mile 50. I got to see
Michael and Amanda starting the dam loop as I finished it – they
were looking great! After the mini loop I picked up a blueberry
vanilla Bearded Brother bar (opened by Rudy) and another citrus
V-Fuel, along with the headlamp out of my drop bag. With walking
the ups I really noticed how much downhill is in the final 7.5 miles
back to the start/finish, I think I only had two walking breaks and
took 90 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised by cheers from someone
that got to chat with Rudy while crewing for her boyfriend, who she
was now pacing. I was still feeling good and optimistic I could
maintain this pace of walking ups, and comfortably running everything
else. A quick pause at the start/finish, I think I looked at the aid
station food but didn’t get anything, maybe picked up another
V-Fuel – I was antsy to get as far as possible before dark. Happy
to have a loop of 4:15, even with the walking.
Loop 4
I hit the first aid
station at just over 100k in just under 12 hours – best 100k time
for me! I had Rudy take the headlamp out of my pack and stow my
gloves, which I had been carrying for a couple hours, and told him
I’d like a caffeinated gel at the next aid station before
continuing on. I was starting to feel the long day and shuffling back
up to a jog was getting a little harder with each stop. I probably
ate something around mile 65, I don’t remember what, maybe a final
chunk of bar, which was now too dry for what my mouth wanted to deal
with. I barely made it to the Dam Road before dark, so happily it was
fully dark before I really needed the headlamp. At the start of the
Dam loop I ate some mashed potatoes at the aid station, got a vanilla
Gu from Rudy, and went on my way. I went through a big slow down
during the mini loop, the IT band was getting pretty tight, my right
arch disconcertingly sore, and I was struggling to jog even the
downhills. I got down the Gu somewhere in there. Also a quick pit
stop – hydration still OK despite a dry mouth! I was rapidly
feeling defeated though.
Rudy refilled my
water while I had broth when I finally returned to the aid station. I
shuffled back out and made a few attempts at jogging on the road, but
that just felt dumb, and I resolved to walk the rest of the loop,
looking forward to having Rudy’s company and energy for the final
loop, and maybe some recovery would happen so I could resume
intermittent jogging. I was content with having to walk the rest of
the race, but still hopeful I could rebound. I was cooling off enough
that I dug the gloves back out instead of waiting for help at the
next aid station. I managed to get down a caramel macchiato Gu and a
couple of pieces of candy. I seemed to fall into a vicious cycle
of the right hip tightening and my pace slowing – was the slowing
causing more tightening? I didn’t know what to do and was maybe a
little unreasonably distressed. I just kept moving, but the decline
continued. I wasn’t able to lift my right leg the final two miles
of the loop, literally picking up my leg with my hands and lifting it
up every tiny root, and gasping down any little step. I tried to
appreciate that I could be out here at all, tuned into the croaking
frogs in February, and hooting owls, and whatever swamp creatures may
be out in the dark. But the self-pity kept creeping back in. My knees and
feet were pretty sore too, but I thought I could keep walking and
tolerate those pains, but this inching along, unable to pick up my
foot, was not something I could do another 20 miles. I realized I was
going to drop out and started little bouts of blubbering, trying to
quiet myself for all the passing runners I was now so envious of. One
older guy slowed to talk a few minutes and became offended at my
giving up – he made me promise to check in at the medical tent and
see what they could do, I had plenty of time to complete the last
loop. My mind was pretty set though – I’ve had plenty of crash
and burn during ultras and still finished, but this was barely moving
and was getting worse by the minute. I eventually hobbled in to the
start/finish, having taken 6:15 for the loop, a total of 17:30 for 80
miles. This was still just fine, but I was seriously inching, and
shivering hard despite the temperature in the mid 50s.
I was able to tell
Rudy I thought I was done and had to check in with the medical
volunteers without breaking down in tears. We hobbled to the tent and
after asking about hydration, nutrition, nausea, cramping, and if
this was my A-race, the volunteers didn’t offer anything to get me
back on the trail beside resting for a while, warming up, and taking
in some food. So I was fed mashed potatoes, ramen, and banana chunks
and spent over an hour under blankets and heaters with dry clothes
before the shivering (almost excruciating with my sore hips and
torso) subsided, and obviously nothing loosened up. Another bummer as
newbie Travis came in having sprained his ankle and being forced to
drop at mile 67 despite everything else going so well. Over two hours
after finishing the fourth loop, I officially threw in the towel and
limped to the van to shower and get some sleep.
Nutrition Summary:
<150 ounces water
~1800 calories
3 Gu gels
1 pack Gu chomps
3 V-Fuel gels (maybe
4)
3 Bearded Brothers
bars
2 fig bars
2 pieces hard candy
1 ginger chew
few orange slices
~1 cup mashed
potatoes
~1 cup broth
Some positives:
No cramping
Stomach pretty good
Energy OK
Fun
What went wrong???
My right arch, knee,
and hip especially did not hold up and I lost the ability to walk.
I’ll have to talk to more veterans, there are just so many
possibilities, a few I’ve thought of:
Too fast to start?
I’m pretty sure that was a big contributor – the pace was
relatively comfortable, but I didn’t respect the distance or the
course and ran hills that maybe should have been walked.
Not enough running
miles? Longest run since Wasatch was 26 miles/5 hours – likely a
significant factor. Also, I avoided technical trail due to the
relatively runnable course, but I think the excessive root-hopping
early in the race was detrimental.
Lack of supplemental
training – weak/tight hips? A pretty common issue for runners, and
root of many injuries – definitely would not hurt me to spend more
time on stretching and strengthening. I
also have depended on regular
massages the past few years and have not had one during the trip...
Inappropriate shoes?
I wore lighter zero drop shoes (Altra Superior 2.0), and have been good with this style
for several years, but maybe a need for more support has caught up to
me? Particularly for the arch pain.
Too soon after
Wasatch (five months)? Maybe, but I’m not convinced that was much
of an issue.
Too much walking –
did slowing down create tightening? I’m dubious, but maybe?
Should I have tried
ibuprofen? I think my problem was more tightness than
inflammation/pain, but maybe it would have helped me finish? Although
I don’t actually regret not taking it, I was more damaged than I
wanted to be anyhow, I do believe if I went another 20 miles serious
injury would have occurred.
For next time:
More consistent
running, more miles – and get in some training events! At least one
50-mile should happen
Cross Training –
I’ve been biking more, but surprisingly, I’ve slacked off on yoga
and strength training
Shoes – I’m
pretty sure I’ll buckle down and try out some more supportive shoes
when running starts up again
