It is said there are three ways to learn wisdom. First is by reflection, which is the noblest. That is what I am doing when I write a race report. I look back upon what worked and what did not. Second, by imitation, which is the easiest. My biggest inspirations have been Anton Krupicka and the minimalist lifestyle. Minimalist running is not simply putting on light shoes, but it's an entire lifestyle. Socrates said, "the secret of happiness is not to seek more, but to develop the capacity to enjoy less." Finally the third way is experience, which is the bitterest. I would argue that running 100 miles is a bit more than bitter, but it was an excellent learning experience.
Long story short, I completed the 100 mile Lean Horse Hundred in 27:35:28.
Long story long, here goes:
This Summer
I was signed up for the Howl at the Moon 8 hour ultra on the second week of August but due to a lack of good training this summer I decided about a month or so in advance to DNS (do not start) the event.
For reasons I cannot fully explain, I thought it was a good idea to instead sign up for the very same 100 mile ultra marathon that I DNFed (did not finish) at last year at the 70 mile mark. Three weeks before the event was to take place, I told myself that if I could successfully do a 100 mile week to work on nutrition, pacing, and gear, then I would sign up for the Lean Horse Hundred.
During the summer I was having difficulty getting into the groove of running, and even questioned my motives and goals all together. I went from averaging over 55 to 60 miles a week while in school to averaging barely over 30 miles a week during the summer. I was going into the Lean Horse on very little and fairly sporadic training. I was banking on half the mileage but twice the experience would be enough to get me through 100 miles.
Desi and I giving her sister Sara a ride in our carhouse (Ford Explorer) that we live in when we drive to races, as she called it.
Pre-Race
There is a lot to think about before a race. Especially a 100 mile race, there are so many ways it can go wrong! One thing I was thinking about was my pacing strategy. Look at every distance record in the world, just about every single one is a negative split, or when you do the second half faster than the first half. During a short race like a marathon, if you take it easier during the first 13 miles you can probably get away with going faster for the second 13. However, what about a 100 miles? If I take it easy for the first 50 miles, will I still be able to speed up? Or will the continued fatigue from going for so long, albiet easy, still force me to slow down? That was the big question, and I had no idea what the answer was.
Coming into this race I knew the one issue that was most likely to come up and force a DNF was my right hip flexor. During about half of my runs in excess of 15 miles this summer, including for a great deal of my 100 mile week, this muscle group hurt. If this would have started to cause pain during the Lean Horse, it likely would have gotten to the point where I would not have been able to bring my right leg forward and certainly would have forced a DNF. I had Desi's father James perform a reiki session on the area. The session was very impressive, and I am confident he helped a great deal. When he laid his hands on me I was shocked at how quickly I could feel the strong warmth, even through my cloths. The healing really helped during the race! Next month Desi and I are going to a Reiki level 1 class being put on by Jame's master and I couldn't be more excited :)
That night Desi and I camped very near the start of the race. At 4am I woke and had a massively successful pre race poop, so the day was off to a good start. The sky was totally clear and the weather was good. We packed up camp and headed to the start.
6:30am the race was off. There were 125 people doing the hundred, and much less fifty and fifty k.
There's the sharp blue SKORA shoes I am wear testing for the company
Argyle Loop
This was the mile 9 aid station. By now I was through two bottles. Each bottle had 25 calories of Running Food Chia and 75 calories of Gatorade. Also around this time I consumed a Lara Bar. The sky was fairly clear and it started to warm up very fast. I was way ahead of schedule. It is hard to run slower than you feel like you should. What I noticed start to happen was not me running too fast, but I was not slowing down as much when I did run, compared to a training run. I'm sure this was due to having other runners around. If anything, a 100 mile race is a test of how much patience you are prepared to exercise so you do not expire later on in the race. Thus instead of walking for 1 minute I began walking for 3 minutes between 5 minute stretches of running. This eventually started to slow my pace down for the better, however I wish I would have started this sooner.
There was a guy about my age doing the hundred in Vibrams. Due to walk breaks, we would pass and get passed by eachother. I did it last year in VFF Classics and the first section of road (which we skipped on the way out this year) was brutal and full of rocks. Even with skipping the first section I eventually saw him switch to regular trainers and I am not even sure if he finished.
The benefit of walking is two fold. First, it puts off fatigue since it uses your muscles differently compared to running. Second, at such a low intensity your % of fuel coming from fat increases. You are sweating less and using less of the limited amount of stored glycogen in your body and more of the near limitless amount of fat at your disposal. So you have to eat less, and what you do consume will last longer for later.
Someone made a comment that we looked like a science experiment.
When I got to Harbach Park I was about a mile into my first low point in the race. This was mile 28 and the temperature was really creeping up. Desi had the carhouse along the trail and I leaned against the back as she got my bottles ready, made me eat a few small pieces of cold fruit, and got me ready to head out. As soon as I stopped moving I thought I was going to vomit and I was getting a bit light headed and dizzy. But I drank a full bottle of water and continued on.
I told myself it was too early to start feeling this way! Dehydration, hills, heat, sore quads, on the verge of vomiting, dizziness. These were not the problems. The problem is expecting to not have problems and thinking that having problems is a problem.
Here we had to do a 4 mile out and back to get the race to 100 miles. The bad part was that it was made of incredibly short and steep hills. The good part was it forced me to do more walking. Looking back I am sure this helped me recover from the nausea that I was experiencing.
Also here I thought I had to pee, so I gave it a go. All that came out were a few dribbles that were highlighter yellow came out. This woke me up a bit to the situation I was in. I eventually made it to the water station and drank some extra fluids.
My right ankle has been giving me issues all year. Two summers ago from doing so much training on the sloped road out of town injured that one side and it has never quite been the same. I was fortunate in that the ankle never really become an issue during the race. I could feel it there, but never was it effecting my stride.
Between Harbach at mile 28 and Mountain at mile 37 there was the fracking hilly out and back and I am certain the distance to Mountain was up hill for the most part as well. If I remember correctly I walked just about all of it. I remember hating it, but in the long run it likely helped me restore some of my energy.
At Mountain (Mile 37) Desi made me eat a can of pears, some grapes, and a bottle of agua. She later told me how worried she had been at Harbach when I came in feeling so bad. However Mountain was a complete turn around. Thanks to her getting some water and a bit more fuel in me along with the extra walking, I was feeling good again.
My back was also significantly hurting at this point. I believe after such a long time of breathing with a rising chest and shoulder area and expanding my back, my shoulders and upper back would hurt very bad with each exhale. During my walking breaks I would perform the breathing I learned from practicing QiGong. This greatly helped me relax, improved my posture, and would not utilize the muscle areas that were giving me problems.
From Oreville at mile 43 and Hill City at mile 47 the course was down hill so I ran that entire stretch into the turn around at mile 47. Desi's father James and my friend Johney were here. It was so good to see them :) Desi gave me a little bit of a smoothie and we refilled all 4 bottles so Johney and I could each carry two.
See that salt on my shorts. You know what that means? That means I was doin WORK, hard.
I ran. I ran until my muscles ached and my veins pumped battery acid. Then I turned around and ran home.
During this stretch it was all up hill. To cut out a bit of time and give the legs a change of pace every .4 mile we would run .1 of a mile. This was the perfect time to have Johney there so I did not walk this entire stretch by myself.
From the half way point onward I began running with other people. I knew that unless I broke a leg I could walk in to the finish under the cut off of 30 hours, it was just a matter of getting there. Since I am a bit shorter I tend to walk slower, but walking with other people keeps me at a faster pace. Plus it's a great opportunity to meet and talk with other runners.
Around mile 60 I noticed the strangest thing. My ankle, back, and shoulders, which have all been giving me significant discomfort, completely stopped hurting. I was not feeling any pain what so ever! Of course my quads were sore and stiff, but absolutely nothing in my body actually hurt!
At mile 64 I reached Harbach Park for the second time. I was THREE HOURS ahead of where I was last year at this distance in the race.
I felt like the hardest part of the event was not the running, walking, dealing with feeling like vomiting or being dizzy. The hardest part for me is realizing that you are at mile 70 and you still have 30 miles ahead of you, that will primarily be walked.
Sunset
During the night, my running group of Marc, Karla, James, and I would turn off all of our headlamps and lose our breath as we looked up at the most beautiful night sky you can possibly imagine. We are in the middle of no where South Dakota. There is zero light pollution or smog in the area, and I have never seen more stars in my life.
"It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other competitors. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit."
Sunrise
During an ultra, they say "if you feel good, don't worry, it will pass." And believe me, it usually does. My second low point came at mile 94. A couple runners and a couple cars all were telling me different distances to the last aid station. One car said it was two miles at the top of the big hill. I was like, "ok, I can run two miles." So I picked up the pace and ran...and ran...and ran...cresting about 12 big hills and never seeing the aid station. When I got to the top of each of those hills my hopes and motivation was completely ripped apart. My only solace was that maybe at the top of the next hill I would find aid. After climbing all those hills and never finding the aid station my body just shut down. Literally. I stopped running and had to have been doing 30 minute miles with my feet barely leaving the ground when I walked. I could not hold my head up and my shoulders were slumped over. It truly was a death march.
This even came to the point where I was on the verge of crying and when I finally saw my beautiful Desi my eyes started to water and it took all my control to stop myself from breaking down. I knew that if I continued on eventually I would get to the next aid station, so what can you do but keep going and persevere.
per-se-vere verb, -vered, -vering.
1. The hard work you do when you are tired from doing the hard work you have already done.
Finally I found the last aid station. From there it was a straight shot into town. It's nice that after 96 miles to eventually see your destination. The road leveled out and I entered town, running the last two miles along the creek and through buildings and streets. Eventually I came up to the back of the Mueller Center. they had a huge blow up arch with the timer counting, 27:35:00. Everyone cheered and I raised my hands in celebration as I crossed the line :)
People ask what I thought about during the event. Unlike a regular marathon where you run for about the entire duration, for much of the ultra I was not alone. Especially during the last half of the race when everyone is doing about the same pace. We talk about what we have done, plan to do, previous races, etc. I heard some amazing stories and have meet some amazing people at my two ultra marathons.
And here it is folks. All this hard work. I buckled at the Lean Horse 100 mile ultra marathon :)
After completing my first 100 mile event, something seems to have changed. I realized it during the 7 hour drive home. During those 27 hours of relentless forward motion, I learned more about myself than I had in my previous 23 years of existence. 9 years ago I was a 230 pound depressed and suicidal high school student. Someone finds out I run marathons or 140 mile triathlons and they say "oh I could never do that". Well I'm proof that whatever your origin is and whatever your goal may be, it's possible! 9 years ago you would never have even considered this size 42 waist would cross the finish line of a 100 mile ultra marathon.
I do not know the official Did Not Finish numbers of this race, but I believe 125 started and only 75 made the 30 hour cut off. That puts 40% of the starters not finishing. 67 people finished ahead of me, 7 people finished behind me within the cutoff, and 50 did not finish at all.
My first thanks goes to my fiancee, Desi. She not only helped me at ever aid station, but so many other runners as well. She told me that if she would not have made him get out of the chair and continue on, TWICE, one man I spent a great deal of the second half running with very possibly would have DNFed. She made sure I was eating and drinking a bit extra at each aid station when I needed to, and helped me check and double check everything. I am confident to say if it was not for her I probably would not have finished the run. There was also many runners who said things like, "she's a keeper!" or just about how great she was during the race, helping me and other runners at each stop.
James - Desi's father. He performed reiki on my right hip flexor and came out to the race for a few hours and helped support me. I was the most worried about that area and it never started to hurt during the run at all!
Johney - Thanks for keeping me company after the half way point for a few miles during that long up hill stretch Johney!
Cammy - Desi's mother who lets us crash at her place whenever we come out for these silly races and is always so supportive.
My mother and father - They may not understand it, but they support me none the less :p
SKORA - Thanks for allowing me to keep the wear test shoes for a bit longer so I could use them for the Lean Horse. The pair met all of my expectations for a shoe that I wanted to run 100 miles in. There was never a hot spot or a blister and they held up great. Not once did I even consider resting my feet or taking my shoes/socks off. I can't wait to see what comes next from you guys!
Running Food - For getting me the best nutrition I have ever had. Your little single serving packets of micro milled chia seeds had me going strong throughout the entire event. I believe I used about 20 of the packets during the run.
Lean Horse volunteers and management - Thanks to the directors Ryan Philips, Chris Stores, and Jerry Dunn to putting on a great event. Thanks to all the volunteers at the aid stations, many who are out there for the duration of the event. This of course, would not be possible without all of you!
I do not know the official Did Not Finish numbers of this race, but I believe 125 started and only 75 made the 30 hour cut off. That puts 40% of the starters not finishing. 67 people finished ahead of me, 7 people finished behind me within the cutoff, and 50 did not finish at all.
My first thanks goes to my fiancee, Desi. She not only helped me at ever aid station, but so many other runners as well. She told me that if she would not have made him get out of the chair and continue on, TWICE, one man I spent a great deal of the second half running with very possibly would have DNFed. She made sure I was eating and drinking a bit extra at each aid station when I needed to, and helped me check and double check everything. I am confident to say if it was not for her I probably would not have finished the run. There was also many runners who said things like, "she's a keeper!" or just about how great she was during the race, helping me and other runners at each stop.
I may not win. I may not even place. But I will finish. For what is the point in stopping what you have started? You cheat yourself. But worse than that, you have stolen from those that have supported you. Their sacrifice is greater than yours...to sacrifice for another is true sacrifice. Not the selfish of one for himself.Other thanks go out to:
James - Desi's father. He performed reiki on my right hip flexor and came out to the race for a few hours and helped support me. I was the most worried about that area and it never started to hurt during the run at all!
Johney - Thanks for keeping me company after the half way point for a few miles during that long up hill stretch Johney!
Cammy - Desi's mother who lets us crash at her place whenever we come out for these silly races and is always so supportive.
My mother and father - They may not understand it, but they support me none the less :p
SKORA - Thanks for allowing me to keep the wear test shoes for a bit longer so I could use them for the Lean Horse. The pair met all of my expectations for a shoe that I wanted to run 100 miles in. There was never a hot spot or a blister and they held up great. Not once did I even consider resting my feet or taking my shoes/socks off. I can't wait to see what comes next from you guys!
Running Food - For getting me the best nutrition I have ever had. Your little single serving packets of micro milled chia seeds had me going strong throughout the entire event. I believe I used about 20 of the packets during the run.
Lean Horse volunteers and management - Thanks to the directors Ryan Philips, Chris Stores, and Jerry Dunn to putting on a great event. Thanks to all the volunteers at the aid stations, many who are out there for the duration of the event. This of course, would not be possible without all of you!
And all my friends who sent support to Desi and myself through texting or facebook. Every little bit counts and it's really very appreciated :)
What I learned:
Pacing - I learned that after 10, 15, or 20 hours of forward motion, my running does not slow down. Granted I started walking more the farther into the race I got, but when I did run, it was still in that 10 to 11 minute per mile pace for the entire race. For my next ultra I will try to negative split and take the first half slower since I know that I can continue a good running speed no matter what point in the event I am at. With the extra walking, perhaps I would do 50 miles of 5 minutes running and 5 minutes walking and see where that puts me. From my experience at Lean Horse I'm confident that with more walking early on I could keep constant or even speed up for the second half.
I need to work on the endurance capacity of my quads. During the last 10 miles I could go faster up hill than I could down. When you run down a hill your quads have to contract and slow you down so you do not tumble. However at mile 95 I actually did the last very long down hill backwards. I could take longer and faster strides this way.
My nutrition worked. Each bottle I drank had chia seeds and gatorade in it. In the future I would like to do a bit more searching and find a more natural alternative to the gatorade, we'll see.
Minimalism worked. You go to some of these races and see people wearing shoes, compression socks, shorts, shirt, hat, MP3 player, GPS, sunglasses, and a camel bak with stuff clipped to it and they are eating a PB&J while on the road. Than there is me with shoes, shorts, sunglasses, GPS, and two bottles. Even if I did not have a crew with me I could still put all my extra gear in the four drop bag locations and not have to carry so much stuff. My main source of nutrition was gatorade and chia seeds. If I did not have a crew I could just have taken gatorade from the aid stations and I would have used some sort of GU packets. I found the simpler I make it, the better off. There is less to worry about.
Chaffing between my legs on my thighs was the biggest problem for me during the event, and it was my own doing. I knew the shorts I chose were the worst chaffers, but they are also the most comfortable. I did a great job keeping up with putting vaseline on, but it will still obviously not enough.
So there you have it, comments are welcome! Thanks for persevering and making it to the end :)
