Here's my
experience from Umstead, my first 100 finish, second
attempt (at a
100, not Umstead).
Background:
After my
experience last August at Vermont 100, I decided to pick the
the next 100
to be a bit more benign, or more specifically, without
mountains. It
wasn't the 90 degree heat that killed me at VT after
89 miles; it
was the long down hills that gnawed my quads into
oblivion.
It's hard to say that Umstead would be "easier" than VT,
but
considering that the cause of my demise was so clear,
eliminating
it could only help.
Leading up
(aka the anti-taper):
Most of you
who know me know that I like to do most everything
contrary to
popular wisdom and advice. This was no exception.
I started my
race year Feb 10 with the Holiday Lake 50k+ and
Umstead would
be my 6th marathon or ultra this year. Last weekend
I ran the HAT
run conservatively but still managed a 14 minute 50k PR in
some
quite muddy
conditions. In my final training session for the 100, I ran
an easy 21
mile run the following day, just to work the kinks out. I
actually
began my taper on Thursday, running 7 miles instead of my
usual 10,
then Friday I cut the usual 8 down to 5. Without speed work,
I can
tolerate a lot of easy mileage, all of which adds to endurance
and recovery
without beating me up. I did get in my usual 4 miles of
swimming and
some good cycling mileage this week.
My plan was
to leave early on Friday afternoon to make the 300
mile drive to
Raleigh, hopefully arriving at a reasonable hour. Instead
of getting
out by 2:30, it really was 3:30 when we hit the road, which
put us in
horrible traffic on the beltway and 95 south, with a 3 hour
drive just to
get south of DC. I really need all that pounding of the
clutch pedal
for hours! Because of the rush, dinner would
have to be
fast food, the only option being a burger king near where
I had to stop
for gas. Oh well - chicken sandwich with bacon and
cheese, fries
and a coke - true ultra fare! I had received a kind offer
from Rob
on the
ultralist for a ride to the race since he was staying at the same
hotel where I
was. However, I wanted to touch base with him before
too late.
Well, by the time we made it to the hotel, it was about 10:30,
and then it
was another two hours until I had everything ready to go
for the
morning after my 4 am wake-up. Ultimately, I ended up sleeping
one solid
hour before the alarm went off.
The race:
It was nice
and cool at the start, probably low 50s, with prospects for
a high of 72.
I decided to go with the twinkie bike shirt today because
it seems to
provide encouragement, or at least a laugh, to others
around,
and I can
store stuff in the pockets. This time, I decided to keep
everything
simple - one
drop bag with some miscellaneous stuff with a plan only
to get one
item - my headlamp, which I would grab at the nearest time
to 7 pm. I
carried one item - body glide, and it came in handy. (I
reapplied to
the nips and inner thighs about three times when I
started to
feel some warmth and it kept things in check. The only
think I ended
up with was a welt on the back of my legs from the
shorts liner
elastic.) I did
glide my feet
as well, because I did not want to deal with shoes after
the race
began. (only foot issue I ended up with was a bruise on
one of my
toenails.) I would go with my New Balance 906 shoes as they
are
trailworthy for mild trails, but are comfortable for long distances
and not too
heavy. No gels, no special nutrition items, or anything like
that -
I would live
on the food and drink provided. I didn't bother taking
supplemental
electrolytes, but I did make sure I got enough sodium
in with the
drinks and snacks that I ate. I also never take any drugs
in races (I'm
allergic to ibuprofen anyway). So, what are my objectives?
My first is always
to finish and finish feeling well. In this case, that
would
mean less
than 30 hours. Really I wanted less than 24 hours, sort of
the magic
number for 100 milers. Dream goal, 20-21 hours, which I
would say my
50 mile races should translate to, if I'm adequately
prepared.
Nonetheless,
I would live with whatever my body gives me for the
day. As
always, I don't go by pace, I go by heart rate (effort level)
and whatever
pace I end up with is what I go with. I would basically run
with my
typical training heart rate of about 140, with flexibility. My
plan,
as always,
would be to run most everything, and walk the steep hills
if my
"wog" would bring my heart rate up by more than about 10 beats.
As it gets
later in the race, I don't pay attention to heart rate as much
-
in the early
miles, this is important. As many would say, you don't want
to go out too
fast, but the actual pace is not really important - it's
the
effort (heart
rate).
If you use
such an approach (steady effort), you will run positive
splits,
at least for
a while, and throw in what you can at the end. In the 100,
there may be
very little left at the end, no matter how fast you started.
The course
consists of 8 12.5 mile loops on a very nice fine dirt
surface,
which can be
dusty when it's dry (as it was) and when cars, bikes, or
other runners
go by. (I could swear that the loops got a bit longer every
lap
after 4).
While I knew that this did not have mountainous
terrain, it
appeared that it would be somewhat hilly, with a bit over
8000 ft of elevation
gain, and 8000 ft of descent, about like my typical
training run
hills. There were 2 or 3 nasty hills, and a couple of long
uphill and
downhill stretches. Still, nothing like I encountered at
Vermont.
For many
hours, I paid no attention to my pace (didn't use the GPS
because
the battery
won't last for more than 10 hours). For the first loop, I
kept my
heart rate in
the high 130s into the 140s and finished in about 1:55,
faster
than I
expected. I allowed the HR to climb a bit in the second loop and
finished
about 1-2 minutes slower. Third loop - a bit more heart rate
climb, and
just under 2 hours again. At this point, I start thinking
about
pace - with
one more loop at similar pace, I will easily knock off a
best
50 mile time
(PR was set at JFK last year in 8:14). So, I kept the pace
and now
watched my HR climb more rapidly. I wasn't sure if this was
basic HR
drift, or if there were other factors involved. The sun had
come
out and it
was starting to heat up. I wasn't sure if it was just my
effort
level, or if
it was getting really hot. Then I was told at one of the
aid
stations that
the temp had hit 84 in spots. Just a bit higher than
predicted!
Given that I
hadn't run a warm run since January 5, my plan was to
finish
the 50 strong
with a best time, then cut way back with a lot of time in
bank, even
for my dream time. At around 11, it was lunch time at
one of the
aid stations and I had half a cheeseburger, which was
really the
perfect thing - I remember thinking this was the best
cheeseburger
I had ever had. Other than that, I had been eating
a combination
of potato chips, pretzels, dried fruit, and cheese,
and drinking
gatorade, sweet tea, pepsi, and water.
I finished
the 50 in 7:53 or so, quite surprised, about a 20 minute
PR, but
feeling good, and started cutting back. My next loop I
did in about
2:30 at a more comfortable pace, but the heat was eating
at me more
and more. I started to worry about dehydration, hyponatremia,
and other
problems, so I decided to reign things further under control.
Fortuitously,
my running buddy had just finished her fourth loop
just before I
finished my fifth, so I chased her down to try to run one
or
two loops
with her. This was perfect for me because it helped bring
my pace down
and subsequently my heart rate. I took at lot of extra
time at aid
stations to recover from the heat effects. In the first 5
loops,
I didn't walk
any of the hills - I only walked when leaving the aid
stations,
but now I
would walk the big hills, but at the same time, I pushed
Melissa into
puttering up the small hills, much to her chagrin. Even at
about 5 pm,
the heat was still a factor and there really wasn't any
cloud cover.
Now, we're just waiting for things to cool down a bit.
The next two
loops were at around 2:50 pace, much more comfortable.
I knew that
even 3 hour loops would get me a 20 hour time and I was
preparing for
what I thought would be an inevitable death march for
however many
miles. Mentally, the loop course eats away at you
in many ways.
It's far too easy to just quit after one of the loops
because
it's very
inviting just to go inside and get comfy. You also tell
yourself,
"I still
have 3, 4 or whatever number of these things to do and I
certainly
don't want
to." However, the loops have much elevation variation and
twists and
turns so that it does not feel like you're just running in
circles.
Toward the
end of the 7th loop, it became clear to me that I can beat 19
hours
if I can just
keep up a moderate effort (but more than just a fast walk).
With about
1.5 miles to go in the 7th loop, I told Melissa I would hurry
ahead and try
to arrange a pacer for her to help her through her last
two laps.
Fortunately, there were pacers waiting to help. I quickly
scurried
through the aid station at this point and scurried out, knowing
that I just
need to finish the last loop in just under 3 hours. My body
was very
fatigued at this point and I had to put in a major effort.
Nonetheless,
I felt much
worse at Vermont and I wasn't haunted by shot quads,
overstressed
hamstrings,
chafing or blisters. Also, thanks to those gaiters for
keeping the
rocks out of
my shoes! The last few miles were very much a struggle, but
I kept in
mind that I did not want to waste the opportunity for sub-19,
which
I may not
ever see again! It was enough to keep me going. Fortunately,
today
there would
be no death march, just a bit of a slow down due to fatigue.
I ended up
finishing the last lap slightly faster than the previous two,
average
heart rate of
about 130 and when I came I was told I was 10th overall in
18:53,
just before 1
am. This
absolutely
floored me as I never place that high in ultras. I guess
anything
can happen in
a 100! Later when I looked at the updated results, it
showed
me as #11, so
I guess they found another later! I went inside and tried
to
get some
sleep on the floor, but it wasn't meant to be. I just rested and
meditated
and caught
all of the hustle and bustle going on with the race docs
feverishly
working to
fix people's feet before they were about to start their 5th,
6th, and
7th laps. I
just couldn't imagine coming in, sitting down for a while,
covering
my feet with
gauze, duct tape, and whatnot, then heading out for 3 more
slow laps,
starting at 2 in the morning! Then I saw the misery of many
who
had dropped
and couldn't take anymore. I reassured many that I had been
there very
recently! After about 1.5 hours, I pulled myself up and
started to
walk around
to try to loosen up. I found that the more I walked around
the
better I
recovered, so I kept busy for a few hours. About 2 hours after
the
race, I
finally got the desire to eat (my stomach wasn't up to eating
much
after a few
hours of running in the heat). I think I ate about 5 meals
between
around 2:30
and 8 am, including burgers, hot dogs, pizza, and omelet,
soup, and
more stuff than I can even recall right now. It was a bit of a
blur!
FWIW, this
was my training regimen:
1. Last 50
mile race: JFK 50 last November
2. Longest
training run: 21 miles
3. Longest
run at all since JFK: 34 miles (Holiday Lake 50k++)
4. 3
marathons and 2 50k races in the 6 weeks prior, 90% effort
in all but
Holiday Lake,which was more like 80%effort.
5. Typical
training week- 70-80 mpw running, ~100 mpw cycling
(or
equivalent on exercise/spin bike), 4 mpw swimming, 1-1.5 hr/wk
weightlifting
6. All
training runs done at low heart rate,easy effort (about 60-65%
max heart
rate if you like that as a metric)
7.
Back-to-back 20 mile training runs every time I could work them
in on a
Saturday and Sunday,probably about 1/2 - 3/4 of weekends
between the
time I started running in January after a 3 week break
and race day.
I also did a 20 mile traning run the day before one of
my marathons
and 20 milers the day after another marathon and
the HAT Run.
I believe 6
and 7 were the keys to my endurance, 5 gave me the
quick
recovery (now and after the other marathons), and 4 gave
me more than
enough speed. Many ways to skin those cats for
sure!