Mohican 100 Report

Spoiler alert - I finished.  Thanks to my awesome crew

Well its over, its done.  Another 100 in the books.  Mohican was everything advertised; challenging and scenic terrain, with a great sense of community.  And lots of beer. 

Following Gnawbone, my preparation for Mohican was going fantastically, logging weeks of 120 miles, 150 miles and 115 miles.  But it was at the end of this cycle, that I believe I made a mistake that put my race in jeopardy.  Coming down with a sinus cold, I raced the dexter-ann arbor half marathon, in the middle of a heavy training week, at about an all out effort.  I had hoped this would be a good speed workout, but in retrospect, it took too much out of my legs.  Maybe it sounds strange to say that, considering I feel like I am recovered from racing 50 miles after 2 weeks, but I guess my body just isn’t adapted to recover from a high intensity effort like a half marathon.  Anyways, every run after the half marathon, my quads would begin to ache after about 40-50 minutes.  To me, this was a classic sign of being overtrained, although maybe not severely.  I figured this would go away after a few runs, but it persisted all the way up to my last run on Wednesday before Mohican. 

Well, two more days rest and I figured I would be good to go, but in the back of my mind, I felt not 100% confident, very dangerous when approaching a 100 mile race. 

My crew and I arrived with plenty of daylight to spare on Friday, packet pick up went smoothly, and I had plenty of time to say hi to everyone I knew before dropping off the drop bags and hitting the hay.  

I woke up at 2:45, well ahead of my 3:30 alarm, but decided to go with it, and ate my two bagels with peanut butter and a banana.  I thought that would give me plenty of time to digest my breakfast as well as focus my brain.  The start came sooner than I expected, and before I knew it, I was saying adios to my crew, and trying to figure out where to stand in the masses. 

We took off into the darkness, headlamps slowly becoming helpful as we headed into the woods.  I chatted with Jason for a while, passed some people on a road section before heading into the tight single track, and settled in for the day.  In my short pockets I was carrying 4 gels, a ziplock baggy of salts, a ziplock with pretzel M&Ms, and I carried two waterbottles, one 26oz and one 20oz.  The 20oz contained my coke/sports drink mixture with about 300 calories while the other bottle contained water.  My crew was going to meet me at aid stations with fresh bottles, one containing water and one with sports drink mix.  

Shortly before the firetower aid, I found a couple guys to chat with and time moved rather quickly.  Past firetower, we began the 1st of our 2 long loops.  This section of trail had some nice descents, as well as a section of two gravel two track that allowed for the field to spread out a little more. 

Thanks Wikipedia

I made sure to keep eating, gels, and M&Ms on the first loop, along with a couple bottles of mix.  With the group I was with, we moved though some of the more interesting sections on the long loop, came into the Covered Bridge aid station, where I was happy to see familiar faces in Jay and Seth.  In and out, quickly onto what I thought was the best section of trail all day.  Lots of uphill, and smooth winding downhills to compliment.  Hickory ridge aid station was next, and I was in and out as quick as possible, and headed towards the start/finish.  On this section I was moving well, but started to notice some tightness or soreness in the vastus medialis of my quadriceps muscles.

At the start/finish aid I complained briefly to anyone around me that my quads were hurting too early, and was reworded with encouragement and a reminder from Farra that there is more to a leg than the quads.  Use the rest of your muscles dummy.  So I ran on, and tried to settle back onto my haunches a little to utilize my glutes and hamstrings more.

It is hard to express the sort of mental state I was in.  I was worried, disappointed, and unhappy that my quads were going so early, somewhat angry with myself for pushing too hard too close to such a big race, and soon thoughts of dropping and saving myself for another day were creeping into my brain.  I mean, at about 30 miles, if you're not feeling good, its easy to get overwhelmed with the thought of 70 more miles of torture.  Here, my crew saved my day.  They never let the thoughts of quitting become more than thoughts, anytime I saw them, they were cheery and genuinely encouraging.  That, and I am a proud S.O.B. who didn't want to let his friends see him quit. 

So I ran, and ran some more.  Then I ate some gels, drank some pop, and ran some more.  As it heated up, I popped S!caps every 45-60 minutes, and drank lots of water.  I caught some 50 mile guys and ran with them for a while.  It helped pass the time.  Soon I was at Covered Bridge again, always gaining some momentum from seeing familiar faces.  Here I grabbed my hydration pack, and dropped the faithful bottles that had served me well so far that day.

By mile 50, I had caught several more people and was told I was 3rd male, with Connie Gardner, David Lister, and someone from the West coast, out in front.  Surprised, as I was being somewhat negative still, I slipped past a couple more 50 mile or marathon runners, and headed for the start/finish aid station.

54  miles down, only a few more to go

I think it was here that my day started to turn around.  I saw a lot of friendly faces.  Ryan Case was there, reporting he had crushed the 50 mile in under 8 hours, which got me a little fired up and motivated to get my own race crushing done.  Hydration pack filled, Mountain Dew in my shoulder bottle, I was out the door, and finally starting to accept that my legs were going to fight me all the way to the finish line.

I power hiked anything remotely technical or steep.  It seemed to be helping me save  my quads for runnable terrain.  I grabbed a turkey sandwich and it somehow lifted my spirits.  This was my que that I needed more real food, and began searching aid stations for ramen, chips, and the occasional sandwich bite.  By the time I came into firetower aid, grabbed pizza and Ensure from Jenny and Ryan, and I was running like a mad man, and went tearing into the woods, finally finding a mental high and determined to ride it for as long as I could.  This next section was a technical series of short ups and downs, with an overall cumulative decent, which finally pushed my quads over the limit.  Soon after Covered Bridge, I tripped and did what I called turtle-ing where I landed on my full hydration pack and was stunned/stuck on my back with my arms and legs sticking out at angles.  Laughing a little bit at myself and glad I didn't sustain any serious injuries, I moved as fast as I could.  I was now 2nd male, and only had Connie Gardner and West Coast ahead of me.

Alas, I was not meant to keep moving up in the standings.  A runner who must have also been struggling early on, came flying by me on a downhill near mile 75, as I gingerly gimped my way down the steep decline.  He looked great, gave me some friendly words and I wished him well.  By this point in the race I was rooting for everyone else, and I hope the feeling was mutual.  

The plan had been, that at mile 76 I would pick up my pacer, Ryan, for a 10 mile stint until I reached firetower.  Most of it was hiking, and I didn't have a lot to say, but Ryan did exactly what a pacer should do;  remain positive, give your runner small goals to run towards, and help motivate them by finding other runners to catch.  Now on my fourth and final loop, I managed to reel in Connie Gardner, with what was destined to be some of my last real running of the day. 

 I also ran into my Mom, who had picked up more pizza for me.  I dunno what it is, but a slice of pizza on the run just works so good for me. Everything else after mile 90 was a shuffle/jog/power hike.  My Fenix headlamp worked great, but because I was not lifting my toes well, I stumbled quite frequently when attempting to jog.  In retrospect, my power hike might have been just as fast as the shuffle/jog.  I was power hiking past many runners on their 3rd loops without having to run.

The last downhills to the finish were brutal.  Painful on the feet, painful on the legs, painful on my brain.  But I knew I was going to be done soon, and was so close to the finish.  And then it was over.  I sank into a folding chair, exhausted, legs so tight I couldn't even manage to pull on my sweat pants.  After a good 6 hours of sleep, we headed back to the race start and cheered in the other runners and sat around making small talk. 

The next morning I hung around, had a beer, 2 quarter pounders with cheese and a large fry.  So good, something that I hadn't eaten since Kettle Moraine, over a year ago.  

Jason looking good after running 100 miles

Now looking back on what was Mohican, I can honestly say I gave my best effort that I was capable of that day.  I still am not sure if I ran the best race I could have, and definitely feel like I made a few mistakes leading up to the race.  Racing the Half was fun, but stupid, so I will learn from that.  Otherwise I was pleased with my race prep.  After Oil Creek going so well and experiencing few lows, I was slightly afraid to run another 100, as Kettle was such a learning experience.  Mohican, similar to Kettle, beat me down hard, but I survived, and maybe learned that just because I have some mental (and physical) lows, I can still perform.

3rd place!

Maybe a little more scouting would have helped.  I underestimated the terrain at Mohican.  It was quite a bit rockier in parts than I expected.  It seemed to have very runnable sections, and then sections that were incredibly steep and/or rocky and/or stupid. 

Things that went right:  stomach only annoyed when I took a couple bites of a krispy kreme pie, hydration was spot on, salt intake adequate, headlamps worked nice, 2toms anti-chaffing worked amazing.

Things that went wrong:  quads went too early, feet weren't prepared for rocky terrain (shoes mostly), had some GI issues early on, mentally was not excited about racing for the first 30-40 miles.

Food:  mostly gels and clif bloks, 2 ensures, 2 slices of pizza, 3 cups of ramen, 1/2 a turkey sandwich, 2 bags of pretzel M&Ms, 15 Scaps, 3-4 bottles of Mtn Dew, 3-4 bottles Gu Brew.

I really like to think I can run under 20 hours on the course, and next year, I am going to find out.

January 2012

With the start of the new year, I have decided to make an effort to record my training in a little more detail.  To motivate myself I think I will wrap up each month by posting here.

Coffee and ice cream fueled my high mileage January

January has been...  very strange by Michigan standards.  Last year I remember logging (or slogging) miles through shin deep snow and loving the burn and challenge of new terrain.  This year, its been warm, relatively snow-free, and more icy than I remember.  That being said, conditions have been supported of higher mileage, albeit lower intensity running.  One of my absolutely favorite things about the winter is that I can run for 2-3 hours without having to carry water, although this usually results in me not taking a gel and having to fight through those low spots.

nice view at Bear Mtn.

I haven't raced since the HUFF 50k (I should probably publish my race recap sometime), which has left me feeling fresh enough to continue to put in solid mileage.  I started the new year off with a bang, and really decided to build upon the great start to 2012.  Also with advent of the new year comes NEW SHOES!  spring shoe season is upon us.  The shoe I was most excited for was the MT110, and it has not disappointed.  most of the miles I have logged in January have been in the MT110, Asics Gel Hyperspeed 4, or Montrail Rogue Racers.

January	1	14
January	2	16
January	3	19
January	4	18
January	5	14
January	6	18
January	7	20
January	8	18
January	9	10
January	10	17.5
January	11	15
January	12	0
January	13	20
January	14	11
January	15	9
January	16	11.5
January	17	13.5
January	18	13
January	19	11
January	20	0
January	21	35
January	22	18.5
January	23	16
January	24	15
January	25	11
January	26	15.5
January	27	16.5
January	28	21
January	29	26
January	30	0
January	31	19

Total miles for the month was 462, which was 98 miles more than I ran in Jan 2011, this is a good thing I think.  Long runs were not too evident as I only had one day with over 30 miles, but B2B weekend efforts have me hoping my endurance remains constant.  Slightly deceiving is that I have no idea how much vert I put in, at one point I was making an honest effort to practicing climbing on the deadmill, as well as hitting up the Poto, and my new trail system in Ann Arbor, linking some pretty steep trails together.  Also with Bear Mountain, I felt like I was working my climbing.  Alas, I have no idea if I am a stronger climber, but at least I have more confidence on the climbs.  I think I will be put to the test at the Louisville Lovin the Hills 50k (7000 feet of climbing???), which is rapidly approaching.

To C or not to C? That is my question

(Vitamin C)

I will be the first to admit, inflammation is not always something I look forward to feeling when I step out of bed in the morning.  Whether it is an inflamed toe from cutting a nail too short, an inflamed and swollen ligament from training to hard, or something as simple as sore muscles, it can be uncomfortable.  In the case of muscle soreness, inflammation is often attributed to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can damage cellular structures, impairing muscle function and result in fatigue.  ROS are generated during exercise through oxidative metabolism within the mitochondria, as well as in response to changes in oxygen availability and pH in the local microenvironment.   Importantly, ROS can be quenched by antioxidants such as Resveratrol, Quercitin, Vitamin E, and Vitamin C, and in the 90s antioxidants were heavily promoted to reduce muscle fatigue and enhance exercise performance.

                That being said, antioxidants supplementation is very common in exercise supplements, take a look at your favorite brand of gel or sports drink, does it contain Vitamin C or E?  I know several of my favorite products such as Gu, Succeed! Ultra and Amino, Cytomax, and Powerbars contain one or both.  Not surprisingly, studies suggest approximately 50% of elite and 40% of non-elite athletes take a daily vitamin supplement, usually in quantities well above the recommended levels (1).  Antioxidants work almost entirely independent of NSAIDs (Ibuprofen, Aspirin, Tylenol) to alleviate inflammation, quenching ROS produced during exercise by donating an electron to the ROS, preventing the generation of inflammatory signals.  In turn, this causes the anti-oxidant to become a pro-oxidant itself; however, anti-oxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E are rapidly converted back into stable forms by natural enzymatic pathways (2).  While there is strong evidence suggesting much of the cardioprotective effects of certain foods such as tea, chocolate and wine are due to high levels of antioxidants, there is also a substantial body of evidence suggesting antioxidant use during exercise may also impair the critical training adaptations resulting from exercise.

                  The first step to understanding this hypothesis begins with understanding that ROS can be both beneficial and harmful for an endurance athlete.  There is significant data supporting the concept that the generation of ROS during exercise is an important step in initiating the adaptations that result from periods of training (3, 4).   ROS production during exercise has been found to be important for the upregulation of several genes important for the increasing generation of mitochondria, the mini power plants within muscle cells.  One of the defining features of elite or highly trained athletes is mitochondrial density.  Muscle biopsies from these athletes show a much greater number of mitochondria per cell, theoretically indicating a greater capacity to produce ATP, the fuel source for exercising muscles.  To clarify, both carbohydrate and fat can be used as fuel for muscle, but these fuel sources must first be converted to ATP within the mitochondria before they are available for use by muscle. 

                Skeletal muscle adaptations from training have been linked to the increase in the activity of several regulatory pathways within the muscle cell, including a protein central to the biogenesis or formation of new mitochondria within the muscle cell. (4)  This protein, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PCG-1α) promotes formation of new mitochondria through activating other proteins that bind to DNA and regulate gene expression (3).  Furthermore, this protein is found at much higher levels in slow-twitch oxidative muscle fibers (4), understandable as these fibers have a relatively high number of mitochondria and are responsible for sustaining endurance exercise (see my blog of fat oxidation in Type I muscle fibers).   Most importantly, the activation of PCG-1α is redox sensitive; ROS activate PCG-1α (3)!  Thus, this has lead to a hypothesis proposing that antioxidant consumption during training periods, results in the quenching of ROS, in turn impairing the activation of PCG-1α, and blunting mitochondrial biogenesis. 

                Because mitochondrial biogenesis is critical for the increase in aerobic capacity following training, there have been several studies attempting to address whether chronic antioxidant supplementation can reduce training induced gains in aerobic capacity.  While fairly consistent data exists in animal models (5, 6), there are mixed results in human studies as to whether this phenomenon holds true.  In one study, 4 week supplementation with a combination of vitamin C and vitamin E resulted in decreased expression of several markers of mitochondrial biogenesis following endurance training (7).  Furthermore, this study, and at least one other that I am aware of, have noted that other health benefits such as the upregulation of endogenous antioxidant enzymes as well as increased insulin sensitivity resulting from exercise training may also be subverted by antioxidant supplementation (7, 8).  However, scientists in another study supplemented 11 males with vitamin C and E while 10 received placebo.  The subjects were instructed to consume vitamin supplements with breakfast afterw hich they had the study participants undergo an intense exercise regime for 12 weeks.  Overall, the scientists that conducted this study observed marked increases in Vo2 max, maximum power, and power at lactic threshold following the 12 week training protocol, but found no differences between the group receiving antioxidant supplementation and the group receiving placebo leading them to conclude that in their study antioxidant supplementation did not impair training-induced gains (1).  However, the authors did not measure mitochondrial biogenesis, only examining factors influenced by mitochondrial density.   

                There definitely appears to be conflicting reports as to whether antioxidant supplementation impairs exercise-induced muscle adaptations.  I am of the opinion that the paucity of the data suggests that this concept is influenced heavily by one’s fitness status before beginning a training regime.  That is to say, less trained individuals taking an antioxidant supplement may observe fewer adaptations to training than someone of their same fitness level not taking supplements.  In highly trained individuals, the body has already considerably upregulated natural pathways to abolish ROS once they are produced, perchance making it more difficult to observe an effect of antioxidant supplementation.  While the data I have highlighted here is focused mainly on vitamin C and E, there have been reports that other antioxidants such as CoQ10 have the similar effect in dampening training induced gains (9).  After speaking with another Human Nutrition grad student, we both agreed that the take home message from this piece of word vomit is not that you should avoid your anti-oxidant rich blueberries, strawberries, glass of wine or piece of dark chocolate, but rather, think twice about taking pharmacological doses found in supplements (1000% Daily Value).  Interestingly, while Gu contains antioxidants, I noticed that Hammer Gel, Clif Shots, Powerbar Gel, and Honeystinger Gels do not.  Maybe my application of this principal will be to rely on Gu gels only when racing.  On a personal note, I enjoy basking in some good old soreness and encourage you to not shy away from feeling sore, because it is your body’s own way of telling itself to adapt.  Maybe there still is a place for antioxidants during exercise in order to increase performance and ward-off fatigue during racing when the goal is to just finish the damn thing or if it is your #1 A race of the year and its PR or fail – but that is a different blog all together!

Works Cited

1.            Yfanti C, Akerstrom T, Nielsen S, Nielsen AR, Mounier R, Mortensen OH, Lykkesfeldt J, Rose AJ, Fischer CP, Pedersen BK. Antioxidant supplementation does not alter endurance training adaptation. Med Sci Sports Exerc.  Jul;42:1388-95.

2.            Linster CL, Van Schaftingen E. Vitamin C. Biosynthesis, recycling and degradation in mammals. FEBS J. 2007 Jan;274:1-22.

3.            Kang C, O'Moore KM, Dickman JR, Ji LL. Exercise activation of muscle peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1alpha signaling is redox sensitive. Free Radic Biol Med. 2009 Nov 15;47:1394-400.

4.            Suwa M, Nakano H, Radak Z, Kumagai S. Endurance exercise increases the SIRT1 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1alpha protein expressions in rat skeletal muscle. Metabolism. 2008 Jul;57:986-98.

5.            Strobel NA, Peake JM, Matsumoto A, Marsh SA, Coombes JS, Wadley GD. Antioxidant supplementation reduces skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis. Med Sci Sports Exerc.  Jun;43:1017-24.

6.            Gomez-Cabrera MC, Domenech E, Romagnoli M, Arduini A, Borras C, Pallardo FV, Sastre J, Vina J. Oral administration of vitamin C decreases muscle mitochondrial biogenesis and hampers training-induced adaptations in endurance performance. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Jan;87:142-9.

7.            Ristow M, Zarse K, Oberbach A, Kloting N, Birringer M, Kiehntopf M, Stumvoll M, Kahn CR, Bluher M. Antioxidants prevent health-promoting effects of physical exercise in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 May 26;106:8665-70.

8.            Yfanti C, Nielsen AR, Akerstrom T, Nielsen S, Rose AJ, Richter EA, Lykkesfeldt J, Fischer CP, Pedersen BK. Effect of antioxidant supplementation on insulin sensitivity in response to endurance exercise training. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab.  May;300:E761-70.

9.            Malm C, Svensson M, Ekblom B, Sjodin B. Effects of ubiquinone-10 supplementation and high intensity training on physical performance in humans. Acta Physiol Scand. 1997 Nov;161:379-84.

Kettle Moraine Race Report

Kettle Elevation chart

Training-wise I would say I was prepared for the distance. Managing 300+ miles a month for all of 2011 was a new experience for me. Even before in the fall of 2010 I had run two fifties and ended up taking November mostly off due to a bad IT band issue. This was probably a good thing as good solid rest always does an ultrarunner good.  Otherwise I ran through what I suspect was a metatarsal stress fracture that occurred following one day of really hammering on the treadmill (stupid and will never do again.  Treadmills are for incline work only).

Besides base mileage I had several runs that I considered "key". This included a 36 mile slog through deep snow that took 7 hours but built some character. The Mississippi 50 race, a 37/34 friday night/saturday morning run, a back/back trail marathon sat/sun, and the ice age 50 mile with a 28 mile trail run the next weekend after which i began taper.  Im not a person to do 20 mile road runs every Saturday, but instead aim for 1-2 long runs every 10-14 days.

I made Jason nervous with all my nervous comments

I was just about as anxious for the race as Ive ever been. got super sick with a sore throat that made me not want to talk or swallow about three days before the race. While I felt a little better by race day i was still a nasty mess. Luckily running in the winter has helped me master the snot rocket. Anyways.

Race started off and a lot of people took off passing me and my friend. This was both of our first 100s so we were going to feed off each other and force slowness during the early part of the race. We were accused of sandbagging by other…  less fit looking individuals… who were running with us for the first 10-15 miles. Our strategy was to run 7 walk 3 minutes and attempt to stay on sub 24 pace.  I am curious what peoples pacing strategies are for 100 mile races.  Men in particular always seem to go out too hard.  I see this in 50 mile races as well.  What are people thinking…  Its 100 miles, there is ABSOLUTELY no reason to tire yourself out in the first hour.  Anyways…

And we're off

It was hot.  Midwest humid hot, 80 degrees at 6am and apparently over 90 during the day. I think this made a huge difference in the overall standings. Last year when it was cooler they had 90 of 110 people finish. This year they had 46 of 120...

Despite what felt like copious amounts of walking that my friend and I were doing, we were slowly reeling people in all morning.  We both have 5 hour 50k speed so we just maintained a casual pace during our run sections.  After hitting the Emma Carlin aid we hit the moraines:  16 miles of exposed rolling meadows, we went through this section at 9am and again at 2pm. The only way I survived this was by putting tons of ice down my back to be trapped by my nathan hydration pack. I even put ice in my hat. Probably wont have this problem at any November 100’s.  At some point I notified Jason our short walk break was over and it was time to run again.  He didn’t seem too happy about the idea.  We got moving again, but as we rolled into a major aid station Jason decided he needed to cool down in the shade and I was urged to push on. We had agreed if this was to happen we would separate and run our own races. Its almost inevitable in a 100 mile. Just too many variables. 

Maybe shouldve had some more solid food early on

In past the 50 mile point I was still feeling pretty good but starting to get sick of gels, I had also developed a blister on one of my pickey toes. Nothing serious tho. Miles 55-62 were really tough. Nasty super steep short inclines and declines that my quads did not like. Maybe it was heat, maybe it was a mental error but up to this point (mile 47) I had been only eating gels and my stomach was getting a little finicky.  Running on an all gel diet for this long made me really sick of them before 60+ miles when I needed fast energy. On an impulse I had put ensure drinks into drop bags and these were very helpful getting through the mid 50-80 miles. I wish I had brought 12 with me instead of 6. I had never used clif blocks or gummys before the race but brought some on impulse. These were awesome when I was sick of slurping down gels. Again I wish I had brought more. I only had three packs of them, next time I would like 10. I probably brought 80 gels with me to the race and put them in various drop bags and etc. This was overkill. Should mix up my nutrition between gels, blocks, and bars a little better next time. I averaged an Scap every 40-50 minutes during the day.

At mile 62 you have the option to stop at 100k or go back out for more miles. The thought crossed my mind. I had some excuses, hey im sick, hey it’s a super hot day.  However, my pride got the best of me and I told myself to shut up and get moving. My friends wife was waiting and helped me change shoes socks and get my headlamp on. I changed out my Mt101s for the Salomon Speedcross 2 a more cushioned protective shoe.

At this point the race director asked if I was going back out – I assume a lot of people had said no, so he looked slightly surprised when I smiled and said “of course.”   Time to get moving again, grabbed my headlamp, another Ensure and decided to put on a long sleeve shirt (I thought it might get cold – it did not).  I made some  deals with myself. Run till it gets dark then take a walk break, run until the next aid station, run till you catch those people.  I had given up on 7/3 and was just running as much as I could take before needing to walk. This and a big cup of ramen soup at an aid station got me all the way to mile 77. 

Mr. Salty shorts - leaving mile 77 aid station

Having run  this next section at the ice age 50 mile and knew it was technical with lots of climbing (relatively speaking) plus I was exhausted and it was dark. I was going to take it real slow and just get it done. Somewhere along the first climb I found a huge burst of energy and really flew through this part, one of my faster splits all day. At the turn around I got some more soup (soup rocks, nothing tasted so good) and some chips and decided to take a walk break. It’s a good thing I was walking because my headlamp was getting progressively dimmer, even with new batteries. I still don’t know why, but I had stashed an extra headlamp in my next aid station bag. It breathed new life back into me, and along with some more soup + mashed potatoes I was off again. As I approached the aid station I expected to be mile 88 it turned out to be mile 91! 9 more miles, I realized I would finish. Hung tough with some older dude (Steve Crane) for a while and even ran up a big climb with him. He was more experienced and told me to keep eating till the very end no matter what.  Great advice. I stopped at the mile 93 aid to get more soup and he kept going. It was ok id let him go. The last 7 miles were back through the quad crushing up and down. It was the longest 7 miles of my life. Not that I was “hurting” just that I knew it was so close but I had to go down all these short steep slopes combined with the darkness was just defeating. At mile 96 I sucked down 3 gels and decided to just run. I did this and passed two more people. I ate another gel at mile 99. I finished just as the sun was coming up.

Hardware

In the end it was a great adventure. There were some not so fun parts, but overall im super excited and now feeling super strong in my running. The idea of pain in legs has changed a little bit. If anything I was overprepared. Not overtrained, just super adequately prepared. A lot of the battle is in the stomach, and the head. Legs can keep going. Im glad I practiced night running 2 long times, but with a good lamp its not that hard. Running smart races seems to be my strength since I don’t have blazing speed. It was interesting to see Zach Gingerich ran a 19:30 this year compared to his 15:17 in 2009, I wonder what I would have managed had it been a cooler day. I managed to hold sub 20 pace until about mile 62. But I guess that’s the way it works. First 50 miles is 40% of your time, second 50 miles is 60% of your time.  Mad props to everyone who finished despite such a hot day.  Also the race directors rocked!  I cant believe how perfect everything was organized, including food, drop bags, ice and water.  This is a great race and I suspect I will be back some day to give it another go.  Many thanks to Jason and Arden Robertson for physical and mental support, and a huge congrats to Jason who pulled it together and was running about 30 minutes behind me for the rest of the race.  It’s a good thing I didn’t know this, because I may have just slowed down and waited in order to get some company. It gets lonely out there.  I can finally see the reason people like to use pacers later in the hundo.

Ice Age 50 Race Report

Finally getting around to posting old race reports that I had saved on my computer.   lets see, this one is only 4 months after the fact...  Headed to ice age, I got lost trying to get to Jasons house.  Luckily he had packed his cell phone in his bag already so he didnt hear it ring when I called 1000x.  Finally figured it out, packed my stuff in Jasons car and proceded to get us lost/stuck in chicago traffic.  I have no idea why Jason let me navigate after my earlier fiasco, but we managed to get to the brewery where we had a couple beers and picked up our race packets and timing chips and checked in friday night.  We slept the night in his minivan at the start line (take out all the seats and its like a room on wheels) and I must say my 10$ sleeping bag from walmart rocks.

Race starts at 6am on sharp.  I saw Scott Breeden who has run some impressive times at Ice Age and OPSF,  he was crewing for his girlfriend Emily who was running the 50 mile.  We encouraged her to run with us since we were gonna be going to be taking this slowly as a training run.  It was fun to take a younger runner under our wing and help pass the time with our jibber jabber.  I think I launched into a long spiel about how NSAIDs not only can give you rhabdo but also impede training gains (I should write a blog entry about this).

Me looking lost, Emily laughing at me.  Jason...  MIA

Every time we thought we had lost Emily, she would just pop back up behind.  Despite looking like she was 18 and lots of pink clothes she is tough as nails. Around 15 miles to go, and I was in the company of my friend Jason, and a new guy Ryan Krol.  I noticed he had some Ironman tats on his legs so i had to ask which was harder.  He exclaimed definitely running 50 miles!  maybe its true, maybe its because we had been running for 5 hours and still had 20 miles to go.  The last 20 miles went by pretty fast, besides the fact that Ryan had some trouble so Jason and I took off.  I dunno if it was because we knew we only had 10 miles left or because we are in 100 mile shape, but we really started running fast the last 10 miles.  Jason started his run walk on a long wooded section and never saw him again either.

Mile 49 almost home

Finished strong, feeling the best I have during a 50 miler ever.  Ran it in 8:58 which is about an hour slower than the Mississippi 50, but I wanted more time on feet anyways :)  It was still good for my 2nd fastest 50 mile time and I felt great.  Did my usual stuff of drinking lots of mtn dew and putting flat pepsi into my water bottles to mix with sports drink.  I ended up taking 1 too many salt tablets and my hands were a little swollen tho.  Anyways the trail race was on 50 miles of the course that the 100 miler im running in June is on so it was great to get a feel for the trails.  Jason ended up finishing in 9:01, Ryan in 9:18, and Emily in 9:45.  All in all it was a great day for team New Balance.

Hung around the finish for a couple hours because they had kegs tapped, had some beers and felt absolutely nothing.  Usually 2-3 beers buzzes me.  It was interesting.  During the drive home Jason and I stopped 3 times for McDonalds, Chipolte and Tbell.  Thats what happens when you have a 8000-10000 calorie deficit driving around in a car.