I Don’t Know Why
He Swallowed That Fly. Perhaps He’ll Die.
I didn't swallow a fly. And I didn't die (though my wife wasn't too happy about my post-race shenanigans). But for some reason, I decided to run both the 100-miler
and the 50-miler (which were on consecutive weekends). Some people call it
crazy. Well, most people call it crazy. But I knew that come this fall, Big
Cedar 100 got pushed forward a few weeks and will end up being literally six
days after Cactus Rose 100. This “crazy” weekend was to be a mental booster to
help me know that I could do back-to-back 100-mile races.
The 100-miler
I walked over to the start/finish line with Amy. We once
again didn’t get pizza (my favorite pre-race breakfast), but I did have a
couple EPIC bars and some Hammer Gels. They definitely get some quick fuel into
me for the long haul in front of me. My mom was in town and she stayed at our
house with our crazies. That left Amy and me for another one of our fun
weekend-long dates.
I found Melinda Coen at the drop bag area and we all
talked for a bit until we had to walk over to the start. We were a ways back
when the race started and got caught in some slower traffic, but it never
really bothers me. I figure that unless you’re trying to break a course record,
an extra ten minutes of getting around other runners (and walking in the narrow
parts) for the first couple miles isn’t going to hurt your race at all. I don’t
remember much of what we talked about, but it doesn’t matter. Just having
someone to talk to and run with you makes the miles fly by. And running with my
teammate Mel for the first 10-15 miles of a race is something that I really
look forward to every race. But then she makes me go run by myself, and the
mental part of the race begins.
I don’t have much experience running ultras that aren’t
multiple loops. There was a 100k that I did last summer (River of no Return) in
Idaho that was just a single loop. But my experience lies in running the same
loop 3-5 times. Rocky Raccoon is five laps. And it takes some special mental
preparation to get going after you complete a lap. The first lap is always a
breeze, and leaving on the second lap is usually not a big deal. But after
that, leaving for the start of your next lap gets harder every time you come
in. Last year was no exception. The start of my fifth lap was miserable. ‘Why
can’t this just be an 80-mile race?’ I asked myself over and over as I trod on
towards Nature Center (aid station; mile 83) and DamNation (aid station; mile
86). However, this year I wanted to
be more prepared for this. As I was finishing each lap, I told myself that I
was going to get in, be happy to see Amy and anyone else, and then I was going
to have to leave them and start another long journey before I could see them
again. Nature Center (aid station) was only a few miles away and happiness was
just around the corner. It helped me immensely as I constantly made little
goals: Just get to __ aid station; just get out of the wooded area; just get to
this bridge and then the dam. Every time I got to that spot, I was happier. And
it worked for almost the entire race. There were only a few miles during the
start of my third lap when I felt like I wasn’t mentally into the race.
Otherwise, I felt great mentally and that helped out with how I felt
physically.
Besides the mental aspect of the race, there were a few
physical things that I did differently. First, I tried to run more of the
hills. My advice to inexperienced 100-milers will always be to go slow and walk
every uphill (no matter how small).
But this was my fifth time running this course and my eleventh 100-mile race. I
felt like if I wanted a faster time, I needed to do something different. I was
a little hesitant about running up some of the hills I had walked in past
years, worrying about how I’d handle this hill in a couple more laps. The ‘bigger’
hills I still walked. But as I approached the top, I tried running as soon as
possible. The short walk gave my legs a well deserved break and the quick
return to running helped keep my overall pace where I wanted it.
Second, I tried to make sure I ate more solid food.
Peanut butter and jelly quarters were great. And although I don’t really like
them because they seem to just sit in my mouth forever, I really think they’re
a great fuel. I also did take various Hammer Gels along the course. My favorite
is the espresso flavor, though I don’t know why. Maybe I like it because it’s a
really strong flavor (and I don’t drink coffee). Third, I’ve started to carry a
water bottle with me more often. For the longest time, unless it was hot during
one of our Texas winter races, I never carried anything with me (including
water). There were aid stations every five miles or so and I felt fairly
accustomed to running without water (it’s how I run all summer in Houston).
When I got to an aid station, I’d chug a bunch of water, HEED, Gatorade, Coke,
ginger ale, more water, various food/snacks, and then head out again with nothing
in hand. And it worked fine for me. I don’t know if I’d recommend it to anyone
else, but it worked for me through numerous 100-mile races. But as I have
wanted my times to get faster, I felt that perhaps a more constant water and
fuel source would help me achieve that; that I couldn’t just go hard for five
miles with nothing, then chow down, and go again. I believed that taking in the
same food, but doing it little by little, my body would better be able to use
it.
 |
| Awards for finishing four 100-milers and a 100k |
And this is how the rest of my race went by. It was very
uneventful (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). But at the same time, I kept
myself mentally happy by setting small goals and I kept my muscles happy by
giving them enough fuel along the way (and by carrying a water bottle). As I came
in to finish my fourth lap, I was happy to see the timer at 13 hours. I was
definitely going to have my best race for this course today. My fifth lap had
no mentally challenging parts. I took a few extra breaks that I hadn’t on
previous laps, but I quickly got my legs back in action. I continued to make
small happy goals throughout that last loop (as if the 15 miles to the finish
wasn’t enough). As I came around the last turn, I saw my ultimate happy spot. I
forgot to call out to Amy so she could record my finish. But I came through and
was elated (though not enough to want to run another lap). I had now finished
my third Tejas 300,
and along with that I had finished four 100-milers and one 100k in just over
three months. My finishing time was 16:44:16. Although it was about ten minutes
slower than my time a month and a half earlier at Brazos Bend, I felt so much
better during this entire race.
 |
|
I might have received strong recommendations to go to the
hospital and get an IV for dehydration after passing out a couple times a few
hours after I finished. But that’s not the important part of the day.
|
The 50-miler
I didn’t do this race last year, and this would only be
my second 50-miler ever. In addition to that, I had just run the 100-miler the previous
weekend. But here I was to complete my fun little adventure which included a whole
bunch of races in three and a half months.
 |
| Lorenzo and I. Photo Courtesy of Jeff Ball. |
At the start/finish, I was alone. Amy was still in bed
with the kids. I wandered around trying to kill time before the race started. I
felt pretty good, considering what I had been through. I was hoping for a
7-hour finish time. With that, I would complete 150 miles over two races on
consecutive weekends in just under 24 hours. I didn’t know if that was good,
but it sounded good to me, and it was what I was shooting for.
There weren’t many people that I knew who were going to
be running this race. But I found one of my favorite running buddies, Lorenzo
Sanchez. We’d missed each other at Cactus Rose and then again at Bandera and he
didn’t run the 100-miler here at Rocky Raccoon the previous week. We got
talking and then the race started. We were closer to the front and didn’t have
much traffic like I had had last week. The course was nice and the weather was cool.
One of my favorite parts of this course is the loop from DamNation (aid
station) back to DamNation. For the 100-miler the loop is six miles, but for
the 50-miler has a cut-off that makes the loop just under three miles. We ran
everything the first lap and finished in 2:22, which was right where I was hoping
to be. A couple miles into the second lap and I was changed. I told Lorenzo, “If
you have any dreams of a good finishing time, you’re gonna have to go ahead, ‘cause
this is gonna be my pace. I can’t keep up that first lap pace.” But he stayed
with me. He wanted to run this with me and see me finish. I thanked him a bunch
and told him that I wished to think that I could be so selfless to have paid
for a race, having had certain time/place goals in mind, only to end up running
a slower race with a friend just to help them through it. I don’t know if I could
do it, though I like to think that I would. But then Lorenzo told me, “You can
think of it as selfless if you want. But it’s me who gets to see you in your
last race as you accomplish this amazing feat. I’m getting a front row seat.”
As we ran the rest of the race, I was nearly in tears many times as I thought
about him running with me and finally being done with this.
The second and third laps had their moments; bad moments
that is. I recently became an ambassador for Altra and received a pair of shoes, the
Superior 2.0. Altra is big about their zero drop shoes (the heel is at the same
height as the toes, in contrast with pretty much all other running shoes that
have the heel higher). They even include a little note that mentions something
to the effect of ‘If you’re just trying out your first pair of zero drop shoes,
it may take your body a little bit of time to adjust to them.’ I wore the shoes
the day I got them for the Brazos Bend 100. After 50 miles, my Achilles tendon
was hurting and I had to switch to my normal shoes. But I loved the shoes; they
felt great. Tons of room for my toes and no blisters. They run a bit small, and
my normal size 12 was a 14 with these shoes. But as we all know, size doesn’t
matter. I ran in them around town as much as I could, trying to get my legs used
to them. I wore them for my Bandera 100k race and then again a few weeks later
for Rocky Raccoon 100. I think I should’ve eased into them a bit more, because
my Achilles tendon (especially my right leg) was hurting more than I thought it
should. But Lorenzo and I kept going and kept talking, getting ever closer to
that finish line.
Amy and the kids were at a couple spots along the course.
I greatly enjoyed the high fives and just seeing them. They help lift my
spirits so much. One time as I came up to where I knew they’d be, the kids
jumped out from behind some bushes to scare me (it’s one of the new things they
like to do). I had to act scared and
told them how much they scared me as I got back to running.
A few people passed me, which was hard for me mentally.
It’s a very rare occasion that other runners will pass me after the first lap.
And now a handful or two had passed me. But I had my own race to run and my own
adventure to finish. As we came in to various aid stations, Lorenzo would
announce to his friends and other volunteers that at the completion of this
race, I would have run 512 miles in 3 ½ months (and then list off the races I
did). After the somethingth time of him doing that I said, “You’re gonna just
tell everyone, aren’t you?” “Well, if you’re not, I will. It’s a great
accomplishment, and people should hear about it.”
We finally got to Park Road (aid station; mile 46) and
left amidst cheers (because Lorenzo had told them too). I was getting really
excited. Still making all the little happy goals I made the week before, we
finally made it to the two-direction section that led to the finish. About a
mile and a half from the finish, we came up on a walking/slightly hobbling Pompilio
Romero. He had also run the 100 the previous week and a 50k a week or two
earlier. He was just as beat up as I was. Lorenzo told him to come along, that
we were almost finished, and was able to convince Pompilio to join us. We
jogged in the rest of the way together. Pompilio had the idea that we should
all cross the finish together. I had no problem with that. I also wanted my
kids to finish the last few meters with me, but I had no way to communicate
that to Amy before I got there. We made it to the happy corner where once you
turn, you see the finish and a spot to finally relax. All three of us crossed
at 8:07:35. It was an hour slower than I had hoped for, but I was plenty happy
to be finished. The ‘crazy’ journey was finally over and my vacation could now
begin.
No comments:
Post a Comment