I’ve run one event or another at Pickled Feet for the last 3
years. First, I attempted the 24 hour
event and stopped at 25 or so miles and 6 hours in. I foolishly signed up after having raced a 50
miler the weekend prior and just wasn’t feeling it. Last year, I ran the 12 hour night event in
order to get some strong night training in.
This year, I chose to go after the 100 mile finish with hopes that I
could break 20 hours and really capitalize on some reasonable early season
fitness after some decent training and long efforts throughout the harsh
winter. I started off preparing for the
race like I would any other, by working backward from race day and just trying
to hit specific weekly mileage goals, but about 5 weeks ago, I began working
with a running coach – Jeremy Humphrey.
I’ve known Jeremy for the entire time I’ve been running ultras, but really
only in passing at different events. He
drove down from McCall to help me out at this race and it was awesome. He knows his shit, and I’m really looking
forward to learning more from him.
I had an excellent race.
Like, probably better than I deserved.
However, it was not without its challenges. I had to travel for work for the entire week
leading up to the race and I was convinced that I was fighting getting
sick. I wasn’t very confident that if my
immune system was already working hard that I would make it through all of the
different airports without getting nasty sick.
Somehow, I managed to stay healthy.
Could have used some more sleep though.
I also knew going in that the weather was going to be a huge
factor. Until 2 weeks ago, temps in
Michigan never got above the mid 20’s with many days where the wind chill could
drop temps to -20. I tried to prep by
overdressing on many of my runs and workouts, primarily those in 2 weeks prior
to the race. The plan was to survive the
day and go hunting at night. Jeremy had
thought that I could be in a position to compete at the front of the race, but
I tried not to think about that and instead focus on my time goal of sub 20
hours. Plus, I had not really developed
the confidence that I could run at the front of a race and hold it
together. I hate the idea of a DNF so
much that I hold myself back and minimize the chances that I will crack and
have to quit.
The start of the race was really mellow. I know that a few runners jumped out to a
quick start, but I focused on a slow and controlled start. I’ve been working with a heart rate monitor,
but I only managed to keep it on for the first few hours. My effort was super minimal but the monitor
believed otherwise. After working to
adjust it and get accurate readings failed, I ditched it and really ran by feel
– rarely looking at my watch. I’m glad
that I did. It was difficult to watch a
handful of runners moving so much quicker than me. But after looking back at my lap splits I
wasn’t exactly running slow. My first 5
laps were all 23 minutes and change – very consistent. The effort was really low, but I concentrated
on decreasing the pace slowly over the next few laps until I was getting 2.5
miles in in 30-34 minutes. As the temps
started to race, I began stopping at the aid to get ice in my pack and try and
get cooled off with ice water over my head.
That turned out to be critical to my survival of the day. I focused on minimizing my time in the aid –
with 2.5 miles between stops, there would be far too many opportunities for
wasted time. At some point, I began to
notice many runners slowing down, probably from the accumulated toll from the
heat of the day. I then started to stop
halfway through each loop and cool off in the river. Invigorating.
I certainly wasn’t impervious to struggles either. My hip flexors and hamstrings were starting
to cramp a lot. I stopped to stretch
frequently to try and keep the issues at bay, but they would be problematic
until basically mile 90. More on that
later.
This race had multiple firsts for me. For starters, I puked for the first time in a
race, and I puked bad. I’m going to
guess that it was somewhere between loops 20 and 22. I had just had a cup of vegetable and beef
soup and was trying to take in a salt pill when I just lost it. I found myself on all fours for 5 or so
minutes expelling all sorts of foulness from my stomach. It took me some time to feel settled
again. I remember retching so hard that
my stomach muscles felt torn. Sitting
here now 3 days post-race, I still have soreness in my abs. I do think that it happened at the perfect
time though. Night had fallen, the temps
had dropped, and I felt like I had a new lease on life. Once I got moving again, it was hunting
time. Another first was a shift in my
race mentality. Generally, I think of
myself as a friendly runner. I like to
chat with others and I don’t usually just fly past people on the trails. At this point, something was different. I knew that I was feeling pretty good for
being this far into the race and I assumed that I let several others build a
sizeable lead on me. I decided that I
was going to pass the other runners with purpose in hopes of not only building
my confidence, but compromising theirs. Even
now, I don’t know if I like this tactic.
As the miles clicked away, I focused on trying to stay
consistent and keep moving forward. I
tried to appear as strong as possible even when I was feeling like I was
starting to fall apart. I needed this to
keep going strong. There were too many
spots where I could have broken.
Fortunately, Jeremy kept me focused on maintaining my form and giving me
positive reinforcement. I do know that
at mile 90, something changed. I no
longer felt tired or scared that I wouldn’t make it. The pain in my legs felt insignificant. My legs stopped cramping and I became
intensely focused on the fact that I was going to finish strong and I was going
to finish in first place – my first outright win ever. I ran hard and gave all I had in those
remaining 10 miles. Especially the last
5. In fact, my final lap was my fastest
of the entire day. I crossed the finish
line in 20 hours and 40 minutes – and promptly collapsed on the ground.
I can’t find the words to express my appreciation for those
who helped support me in this endeavor.
To my sister Mara (and her “tribe”), and my Mom and Dad who came out to
sit in a park to watch me run past while only speaking maybe 20 words thank you
so much for taking the time to be there.
To my second set of parents Linda and Scott, thank you for giving me a
safe and comfortable place to rest prior to the race and recover afterward. To the entire Pickled Feet Crew, thank you
for once again putting on a stellar event.
You know how to do things right.
To my coach and new friend Jeremy, thanks for kicking my ass and helping
me figure out how to do this thing the right way. And finally, the biggest thank you to my wife
Christy for putting up with my grumpy attitudes, constant griping, and
excessive money spent on this crazy thing I have gotten myself into – and still
loving me through it all.
 |
| Wrecked. - Photo courtesy of Jeff Black |
If you have made it to the end of this report, here is some
data that I thought was cool. It’s
pretty easy to see where the sub 20 got away from me. Maybe next time!
Miles 1-10 – ~1:35
Miles 11-20 - ~1:44
Miles 21-30 - ~2:06
Miles 31-40 - ~2:09
Miles 41-50 - ~2:08
Miles 51-60 - ~2:20
Miles 61-70 - ~2:07
Miles 71-80 - ~2:06
Miles 81-90 - ~2:21
Miles 91-100 - ~2:04
