I am far from a writer and just a novice runner, but I have
recently completed the Old Dominion 100-mile trail run and wanted to document
my experiences. I want to cover the start of my running, why I run, the
preparation that led to successfully completing my first 100-mile race in my
goal time, and post-race reflections and observations.
The start of the running
I
started running around July 2021. By started running I mean I started getting
more serious about distance running. I am an active-duty Marine and have always
had a level of cardiovascular health required for my job. To maintain this health,
I would literally sprint a single mile on the treadmill before doing strength
training in the gym. This was my daily routine for over a year. And when I say
sprint a mile, I typically just set the treadmill to 11mph and sprinted the
entire mile in 5:28. In my mind that was enough cardio training to be able to
successfully preform my required 3-mile run doing the Marine Corps fitness
test. I would tend to run my 3-mile run in a fairly competitive 18 minutes and
some change, always shooting for sub 18 minutes 3 mile (which I had only
achieved once early in my Marine Corps career). This baseline level of
cardiovascular health gave me a decent foundation to build upon once I started
running distance.
First Ultra
My first ultra-marathon race was August 8th, 2021. It was the Martha Moats Baker Memorial 50k. This race is 33ish miles and covers 7,850 feet of elevation. I will cut this section a bit short as it is not the intended story but rather just giving some background on my experiences and lessons learned on my way to the Old Dominion 100. I should have captured my immediate afterthoughts then but will recall as I currently remember the event. There were 2 big climbs in the event. Essentially the first 12-13 miles of the race is uphill and well beyond a 10% grade. I remember it being technical, steep, and horrendous. I started the race very strongly, powering up the mountain with strong hiking. This in the end left me completely destroyed. I am a flat lander in Virginia Beach and have no elevation to train on. 100% of my training had been flat land. I was vastly under prepared to tackle that sort of elevation, not to mention the miles. At this point I believe my longest run has been around 14-15 miles of nice, flat, paved, Virginia Beach roadways.
I noticed most of the runners during this race had trekking poles and I knew as soon as we started the event, they were more prepared for the climbs than I was. I did not even own a pair of trekking poles and though they were used for hiking and was unaware how useful they could be in a steep, technical, trail run. After peaking the first big climb of the race I was already cramping up. I had taken my electrolytes and stayed hydrated but proper hydration management cannot makeup for lack of training and experience climbing mountains. There is a smaller but just as steep climb near the end of the race that took any energy, I had left right out of me. I remember I had to stop moving and take a seat on the side of the trail in despair as other runners passed me asking if I was okay. After finally peaking the last big climb, I was relieved to start headed down the backside of the mountain towards the finish line thinking the worst is behind me.
Little did I know my lack of mountain training had left me so unprepared that the downhills were even worse. I was cramping and hurting to the point it was painful to take a single step. I tried walking sideways, crawling, backwards, slowly, fast all to no avail. Every step my knee was in pain and I though I would be unable to make it down the hill. I had an older gentleman (in his 60’s) pass me and offer me his trekking poles I was in such bad shape. My pride would not allow me to ask for help and would never allow me to take poles from a man 2-3 times my age. I eventually decided I had to get down the mountain one way or another so might as well start moving through the pain. When I finally finished it had taken me over 9 hours to cover around 33 miles. I felt destroyed mentally and physically. My body had not held up as well as I had hoped, and I learned a great deal. I was in pain for many days as I slowly started getting back to stretching, running, and getting everything to loosen back up for me. Naturally after experiencing near defeat, I had to sign up for my next race. It was mainly to redeem myself from a traumatic experience and to prove that I had learned from my experiences and would come back stronger.
Qualifying 50 Miler
From here I ran a few other 50ks and a trail marathon getting more experience under my belt. As I ran more, I began eyeing 100-mile races. To me this would be the ultimate challenge, the pinnacle of running. I had convinced my brother he should do it with me. I could not think of anything more bad ass and something to be proud of than running farther than most people though possible with my brother. It would be a bonding experience we would never live down. As we started looking at 100 Mile races, we noticed most of them required the completion of a 50-mile race within established time limits to be officially completed. My brother lives in Arkansas so we found a 50 Mile race called the Ouachita trail 50. This would serve both as meeting the requirements for a 100-mile race and a checkpoint for us to verify our fitness was headed in the right direction to be able to accomplish a 100 mile race a few months later.
Quick backstory on my brother. He is six years older than me and always been very physically in shape. He has always lifted weights, enjoyed physical manual labor, and eaten healthy. He is not in the military though, so fitness is not required for his job. He also is not a runner. He never had been, and never ran (at all that I know of) and would have to put in some work to be able to accomplish this. After looking at time limit cut offs it was clear we could maintain a 14-15 min/mile pace and finish within the allotted time. To novice runners we though that means we could just walk the entire race. How hard could it be? In my brother’s preparation for the race, he ran much less than I did because he did not have the baseline cardio already programmed into his lifestyle and because he hated it. I received messages every day about how much he hated running and was ready to get this over with. He was only doing it because I had cornered him and was forcing him into it. He did not really want to do it but did not want to seem weak and back out.
This leads us to the Ouachita trail 50. I will again be brief on this race recap as it is not the primary purpose but rather just a qualifying 50-mile race to make entry into a 100-mile race. The weeks prior to the Ouachita Trail 50 I was in the state of Utah for work. I was running about 10-12 miles every morning before work and on the weekends getting some more technical and climbing work on the surrounding mountains. It was refreshing to have an alternative environment to train in and working the power hiking and running combo that would be used in any event with elevation was key. I did taper a bit prior to the Ouachita 50 but not much and I was not really concerned. I knew I could physically accomplish it within the required times. I had run a few races with similar elevation and most races of around 33 miles or so. 50 miles is not that much farther (although it would be the farthest, I had ever run). Additionally, my brother had put in a ton of work to be able to complete the race, but I knew he was not as prepared as I was, and I was only going to go his speed through the event. I would not be pushing myself, rather pushing him to ensure we make time cut offs.
We started the event pretty strongly, running up several steeper hills (paved roads) on the way to the trail sections of the course. Once on the trails pace slowed a bit but I was more than satisfied with how we had been cruising along. In this specific race there is a huge climb up Pinnacle Mountain. This is a literal climb and not runnable at all. We were on all fours scrambling from rock to rock as we ascended the mountain, and the downhill side was no better. In the race there was both a 50k and a 50-miler occurring on the same trails simultaneously. As we approached the 50k turnaround mark we had a serious discussion about continuing forward and possibly failing to meet cutoff times or turning around at 50k (which would have been a failure in itself). I knew I was capable of keeping our paces up but was unsure how hard I could push my brother. In the end we went for what we had come there to accomplish, we were going after a 50-mile completion. I had to keep pushing him to jog the runnable sections and walk what we could not but in the end we did it. We came in a little over 12 hours and the cutoff was 13 hours. I was very proud of how hard my nonrunner brother had pushed during the run to make sure we got the 50-mile qualifier knocked off our list.
Old Dominion 100
From here plans began to change. My brother had given it his all to complete a 50 miler and had zero desire to continue running. I would have to tackle the 100-mile race on my own. Originally, I had planned on running a 100-mile race in Arkansas both for the convenience of that’s where my brother lives and the support of my parents but now I was running it solo. I started looking at viable options for 100 milers. I began looking at 100-mile races in Virginia and stumbled upon the Old Dominion 100. I was late to the registration, so I was added to the standby list. I sat somewhere around the 26th name on the standby list and the race only allows 101 entrants. I did not think a quarter of the registered runners would pull out so I did not think I would make the cut. Regardless of a guaranteed entry I began building up my weekly mileage. Many weeks I would hit 50-70 miles as an average with a few weeks peaking above that. I had decided I wanted to hit my first 100+ mile week (this was around May 7th, 2022). I decided to just split it up into a daily 14.55 mile run and see how it felt. Overall, I averaged about an 8:30 minute/mile pace over the 102 miles I ran that week. The mileage was hard on my body but nothing crazy hard. The only real impact I felt besides tired legs was a little tenderness in my feet, specifically when I first woke up and put some weight on them in the mornings.
This same week as my 100+ mile training week I received a notification that I had been pulled from the wait list and would make entry into the race if I clicked a simple confirmation email. I immediately submitted my registration, and the nerves began to set in. The race was to be held June 4th, 2022, and I did not officially make my entry until May 8th, 2022. This is not a lot of preparation time to ensure my fitness was at the level it needed to be to successfully accomplish the race, especially if you include some downtime for a deload week or so to allow muscles to repair and recover prior to the race. I finished my big base building weeks of long slower milage (all paved, flat lands) and began to reduce firstly the intensity of my runs and also slowly reducing milage. This left me feeling very refreshed and ready to race come race day.
June 2nd, I took the day off work to pack and prepare my things at home prior to driving to Woodstock, Va. I had packed 3 pairs of shoes, 2 sets of trekking poles, tons of supplies for my drop bags including energy Gu’s, LMNT electrolytes, salt capsules, Stinger Energy chews and waffles, UCan energy mix, headlamps, batteries, socks, running vest, and probably some miscellaneous little items I have forgotten. The morning of June 3rd I began the 4.5-hour drive to Woodstock, VA to check into my hotel room and check into the race staff prior to the mandatory 5pm run briefing. I brought with me a huge egg, potatoes, sausage, pepper, onion, spinach scramble that I would be eating race morning before leaving the hotel room and a huge pasta dinner meal I also planned on eating in my room right after the race briefing.
I dropped my personal stuff in the hotel room and took my drop bags to the race check in. There I was greeted by several nice ladies who welcomed me, showed me where to drop my bags, checked my weight, gave me the race shirt, and told me to be back a few hours later for the race briefing. I went back to my room hoping to sneak in a nap as I wanted as much sleep as possible prior to running for 24+ hours for my first time ever. I was unfortunately unable to sleep even a single minute. I decided I would just eat my pasta dinner early and go straight from the race briefing at 5pm to bed to maximize the amount of sleep I could get before our early start.
(Pre-Race Briefing)
At the race briefing I began to size up my competition. This is not because I thought I would be competitive by any means but more a habit because of my competitive nature. The room was full of very unassuming men and woman and most of the time you could not tell who the runner was and who was there to support runners. The briefing began and everything from start time, locations, checkpoints, weather, wildlife, etc. were covered. There was an interesting section of the briefing when the founder of the race, an older woman by the name of Pat Botts gave a brief history of the race. She had started the race over 40 years ago and was still the figure head in charge of the event many years later. It was interesting knowing I was going to be taking part in one of the historic races of America. The only real bit of information I got at the race briefing that I thought was an exaggeration turned out to be painfully true (more on this below during race breakdown). Upon completion of the briefing, I went directly to the hotel and straight to bed. I believe I laid down around 7pm with my alarm set at 2am the following morning.
The following morning at 2am my alarm went off and I was immediately up. I warmed up my big egg scramble, some coffee and began final preparations. I drank a packet of LMNT electrolytes, ate my food, dressed, and checked out of the hotel room by 3:20 AM. The race start is directly across from the hotel at the Woodstock Fair Grounds, so it only took a minute or two to make the drive and park. I checked in with Henry, the official timer for the event and then began putting last minute touches on my gear. I had less than 30 minutes until I was to begin the longest run of my life. I was nervous but trying to not let it get to me as I needed to remain calm with a long day ahead of me. I originally was going to run with my hydration vest and a waist belt. The waist belt was to carry my phone, headphones, emergency salt tabs, and batteries for headlamps. About 10 minutes before the race start, I ditched the belt and transferred what I needed into my hydration vest. Less is better in this case so cut the extra weight. We all began getting corralled at the start line as time ticked down and at exactly 4 AM we began. We were starting what was going to be a very very long journey through the George Washington Natural Forest region.
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| Race Start Line |
The race begins with a lap around what appears to be a horse track at the fairgrounds in Woodstock before hitting some city streets on the way out of town. As soon as the race began there were plenty of rabbits taking off. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement and after coming off a deload week the legs are fresh and ready to go but I held back. I knew I did not want to blow up early so I paced myself somewhere in the middle of the 101ish runners. I could see the flashing lights of the police car that was leading the lead runner out of town, but it was quite a bit off. There is always the initial shuffling of people in a race. Everyone is trying to settle down into their own comfortable paces and I pass a few people and get passed by a few people. Placement in the race is of no concern right now, all I needed to do was get into a comfortable pace that I could maintain…..forever. Looking back on actual pace data from my watch it looks as if I was running around an 8:30 min/mile pace for the first four miles. This is spot on for what I was expecting to run it in. At mile four we began to climb to the peak of Woodstock Gap. It was not real steep but steep enough to walk it even though it was paved. I kept my pace to around an 11min/mile pace through here. I started working on nutrition at this point as well. If I was not running, I may as well start putting in some nutrition and get ahead of it although I was only 6-7miles into the race. I had a packet of the stinger energy chews and a salt tab to keep up on my electrolytes. I knew once I peaked the hill I would be back to running and it would not be as easy to eat at that point, so I wanted to start on the climbs. After peaking Woodstock Gap there is a long gradual downhill slope that is incredibly easy to run really fast. My next 3 miles (mile 8-10) were all around 8:00 min/ mile or faster as it was downhill. At this point I was feeling really good, first climb over with, legs are still fresh. Many runners had continued to jostle around for position, so I wasn’t sure where I was in the pack, but I knew I wasn’t doing bad.
Around mile 10 the course turns from gravel roads to the first real bit of trail section. There was an aid station here (the back of someone’s pickup truck with supplies along the tailgate). I just ran through the aide station as I was running with 2L of water and had enough nutrition on me. From the pickup truck aide station there was a short stretch of gravel road before turning off onto the trails. It is only about 2.5 miles long and was welcoming after spending the last 10 miles on roads. It began a bit steeply but upon peaking it was all downhill from there. It was mostly runnable, nothing to rugged yet. The trail section then connected back to the gravel roads and looped back to the pickup truck aide station. On my way back to the pickup truck I caught up to another runner and chatted for a bit. I did not catch the man’s name, but he was different looking than all the other runners. He had a decent amount of muscle mass to him and said he had been an Army Officer and a Ranger and ran races to raise money for veteran nonprofits. He told me this was his 5 or 6th 100 mile run in the past 12 months. We chatted a while about lifting weights and running and how to offset the two ends of the spectrum. When we arrived at the pickup truck aide station, he stopped to grab some food and I waited for about 5 seconds and realized he was not in a hurry, so I kept jogging along. I never caught up with him again during or post-race. Not sure how things went for him but since he was not at the awards banquet the following day, I assume he dropped out at some point.
(Mile 15 through rolling hills)
From here the course takes gravel roads that roll through the countryside. I saw horses, pigs, and a lot of pretty farm lands. In the pre-race brief I had heard mention of pancakes being available at one of the aide stations and somewhere in here I started smelling pancakes but was severely disappointed in never finding them. I ran by several other runners (I was slowly working my way up in position). I distinctly remember catching up with a younger man, probably around 25-30 years old and running with him for a bit. He said he had done the race before and it was hard, and we needed to run as hard and fast as we could in the morning hours. I also told him of my plans to pick up my trekking poles at mile 33 and he advised against it. I am not sure if he was intentionally trying to sabotage my run or if he did not have a firm grasp on what is required (which surprises me as he said he had completed the run before). I did not take his advice but rather just kept running my pace and before I knew it I was passing him then he was long gone. A few miles later I caught up to another runner. This man was younger, early 20s at oldest. I tried to chat but he did not seem interested in it so I just kept running. We leap frogged each other several times going back and forth until I also passed him and never saw him again. At the awards ceremony the next morning I did see this man again and found out that he too was a Marine and worked in Quantico. This was his first 100 mile run and a little after 60 miles or so he had dropped.
(Mile 29, still going strong)
All of this brings me to around mile 33 or the aide stations called four points 1. Here I had pre-positioned my trail running shoes, extra socks, trekking poles, and nutrition resupply. I did not change my shoes, I continued in my road running shoes even though I knew the next section would have some climbs and trails, but I did grab the trekking poles. There was a rather steep climb in which I was grateful I had brought my poles along and not listened to the bad advice. I am not sure exactly where but between four points 1 and four points 2 (you hit the same aide station twice) I crossed some unexpected water, and my feet were soaked. When I got back to Four Points for the second time I changed into clean, dry socks and shoes. This was a huge morale boost knowing I didn’t have to run in wet shoes for the next 60 plus miles. Also, somewhere between Four Points 1 and Four Points 2 was an interesting aide station that and older couple packed in the supplies via horse back. They were a life saver and sacrificed their day to make it out there to support the runners, so it was greatly appreciated.
From Four Points 2 there is another climb to an aide station named Mountain Top. At the aide station I asked if this was legitimately the mountain top and unfortunately it was not. I was told it was only another 1.5 miles or so till the actual top, but I recall it was close to 3+ miles. It was in this section of the course I saw my first bit of wildlife. I ran across a fairly big copper head snake. It was on the same side of the trail as I was, and I only saw it after I heard it (thankfully I was not wearing headphones). I looked behind me to see if I could see anyone so I could warn them of the snake but there was no one in sight so I just kept going. As I continued down the gravel road, I saw a bobcat dart across the trail in front of me. He wasn’t too big and didn’t seem interested in me, he didn’t even look my way, rather he just ran across the road and into the woods. Once again, I looked around to see if anyone else had seen it and I was alone.
(Mile 51, I used these trekking poles for the rest of the race)
From here (around mile 55) things went to hell and back. I hit the Edinburg Gap aide station, pulled supplies from my drop bag, mixed up some LMNT and took off again. But in my haste, I had mixed the LMNT electrolytes with the Gatorade at the aide station instead of water and almost threw it up as I drank it. The sweet of the Gatorade plus the salty of the LMNT was horrendous but I knew I needed it in my system, so I tried to keep it down. I hadn’t made it half a mile out of aid station, and I started falling apart. I went off the side of the trail to take my first stop (that wasn’t an aide station) and had to find an out of sight area to use the bathroom. I had taken off my trekking poles and hydration vest and laid them on the ground. I was about to use the bathroom where I was when about 10 jeeps came out of the ATV trails right next to me and I realized I was in plain sight. So, I stepped a bit further into the woods before going to the bathroom. When I finished up, I headed back to grab my hydration vest and poles and realized I did not see them laying on the ground. It took me a solid 2-4 minutes of looking back and forth in that region before I finally saw them. I put it all back on and started back up the trail. Again, less than half a mile away my energy stores were zapped, and the Gatorade LMNT combo was trying to come up. I slowed to a crawl, started stuff calories in and drinking water to push everything down. I think I had done a fairly good job of keeping calories coming in and maintaining energy levels up until this point. After forcing water and calories in I continued the climb ever so slowly. This was a definite low point in the race for me. Having to use the bathroom, combined with terrible Gatorade LMNT combo, it was also the hottest part of the day, and I was starting a fairly steep climb, and I was probably a bit low on calories at the time. All factors combined to make me seriously think if I would finish the race. Up until here I had been going strong and was confident in my abilities, but this made me question everything. After eating and hydrating I continued (albeit a bit slower) up the trail till I bounced back from this low point.
The trail at this section is exposed, rocky, hilly, uphill climb that ATV’s and off road vehicles climb through. It was not a fun section to run, and I kept getting passed by both ATV and Dirt bikes that kicked up dust in my eyes and mouth as they ran by continuing to demoralize me. In this section I saw another snake. This one was a long slender black snake, easily 6 feet long that was working his way across the trail. He was stretched over about half the trail and was working on crossing. I had to run right in front of him and as I got close, I just held my trekking pole out towards its head to keep it at a distance as I ran by. He lucky had no interest in moving fast and just stayed still as I went by. In this section I came to an aide station that the supplies were hauled in by jeep. The options were limited but I did not need much, just some water. As I was filling up a runner came into the aide station. He said we were on pace to finish the race in 23 hours. The runner said he had finished this race 6 or 7 times prior, so I took his word for it. He seemed knowledgeable and I tried to keep up with him. For the next 4-5 miles I tailed him till he eventually worked his way out of sight.
The 23-hour finish time came as a surprise to me. I had reach 50 miles in just under 10 hours (9:56). I knew I would slow pace a bit on the back side of the race and once it got dark pace would slow again but I though that may add 1-2 hours to the back 50 miles having me complete the race in an estimated 22 hours or so. I though I had a bigger buffer for slowing down and when he told me we were in fact on pace for 23 hours and then ran out of there faster than me I knew I was going to have to push harder to get the sub-24-hour finish. This man lit the needed fire under me to get me pushing faster.
The next few miles of the course were downhill as I approached what is called Mudhole Gap. This is the section of the race I had read and heard via other podcast I would be crossing water at least 5 times and it was true. The water was not that bad, but the mud was rough. It was very thick mud that tired to suck off your shoes as you ran through it. Then I would cross a stream and wash away the mud. After crossing water several times and getting completely soaked there was a slight climb away from the lowlands with the streams before making my way to Elizabeth furnace aide station at mile 75. I had my other large drop bag at this aide station. It contained another pair of trekking poles, another pair of shoes, socks, nutrition, and headlamps. I knew I would want dry shoes and socks for the next section, and it would start getting dark on me quickly.
At mile 75 the race allows a “safety runner” to run with you from there till around mile 86ish. This is due to it being the most difficult part of the race, likely in the dark, and after you are already mentally and physically exhausted. I did not have a safety runner; I would be talking this section on my own. There was an extremely helpful aide station volunteer working at this station that took care of everything for me. She grabbed my drop bag and emptied it out for me so I could grab what I needed, offered me food, filled me bladder, cleaned up my trash, and packed everything back into my drop bag when I was done. She was by far the best aide station volunteer I could have ever asked for. When I headed out of the aide station, I still had a bit of daylight left so I would make it as far as I could without my headlamp. I started out pretty strong powering up the hills. In the pre-race briefing they had said that after Elizabeth Furnace things would get difficult peaking the first big climbed called Sherman Gap. It was said that you would look up the trail and see a chem light hanging quite a distance away from you that was high up the mountain from you. This was exactly true. I would see a chem light way up the mountain side that seemed forever far ahead of me and way higher than my current elevation that I had to get to. I stayed on track for much of the climb but near the top everything fell apart again. I had gotten low on calories and hot again climbing the mountain. My trekking pole wrist strap had also broken, and I was feeling demoralized. I felt the sub-24-hour finish slipping away from me but knew I could essentially crawl to the finish and still make it in the 28-hour cut off. I stuffed some food in, electrolytes, and water and set a 10-minute alarm on my phone. I intended on just sitting a feeling sorry for myself and hopefully taking a 10-minute nap while the calories get into my system. I clicked off my headlamp and just laid back. I was not there for one minute when I realized I would not be able to sleep, and I could hear a runner climbing the mountain behind me that would be on me in just a second. I got up and just kept moving. Not even a quarter mile ahead of where I had laid down was the top of the mountain. I started kicking myself for giving up on myself so close to the peak of the mountain. If I had just carried on a bit more, I would have peaked it and found motivation to continue the backside of it, instead I had lost time eating and feeling sorry for myself.
I thought I still had a chance at a sub-24-hour finish, but I was going to have to push it. From here things began to blur a bit due to a multitude of factors like exhaustion, it being dark, and just not caring anymore about the names of aide stations or distances because it all became irrelevant as my only job was to put one foot in front of the other. I do remember coming to the unmanned aide station that supposedly had water at it just to find an empty water jug and a package of cookies. From here I kept running till I came to an aide station that had more food and lights than the rest. I believe this was Veach East. All I remember at this aide station is I passed off my bladder for a volunteer to fill it and they could not get it to open. We wasted a solid 5+ minutes with 3+ people trying to get the slide on top of the Nathan bladder to slide off. I eventually took it from the aide workers and got it off myself (they were being gentle, fearing they would rip the bladder. It was my bladder and would assume the responsibility of ripping it if that occurred). I asked at the aide station what the next section looked like, and they said trails and generally uphill. This was a little demoralizing as I was looking forward to some gravel roads for some more sure-footed running at this point.
I peaked whatever the hill is called around mile 84 and started downhill into the Aide station Veach West. There was more solid food at this aide station and my drop bags, so I ate a bit more, filled up water, grabbed supplies and continued. I thought I was still doing decent on time but would have to push hard the last bit to make the 24-hour cut off. From here on out it was either gravel roads or paved roads all the way to the finish line. I had a gradual climb to the 770/758 aide station where there was another excellent volunteer. He helped me get what I needed and to get back on the trail as soon as possible. He had told me there would be a gradual climb out of the aide station that I would need to power up then downhill on my way to the finish and I would need to run the downhills. I thanked him and took off yet again. There was a decent climb, although paved it was difficult past 90 miles. I was trying to keep sub-15-minute miles even while climbing to ensure I made the sub-24-hour cutoffs.
When I peaked the hill, I was relieved to know it was essentially downhill from here. That is till I tried to run and realized my legs were done for. I tried to run, as it was both paved and downhill, but it was impossible to maintain a run. I would run from landmark to landmark (like this tree to that tree) then walk a bit and repeat. Then I tried counting to like 30 in my head as I ran then walk for 15. While doing this I realized my mental capacity was slipping as I was having a hard time focusing enough to count to 30. It turned to a run walk run combo that I just kept doing until I made it down the hill. The descent destroyed my quads and I was barley running. My “run” pace was around a 10 min/ mile and my “walk” pace was around 16 min/mile. I was afraid I would come in so close but fail my 24-hour goal. I did not want to run 100 miles to come in at 24 hours and 10 minutes and fail my goals. I came for sub-24, so I was going to push to get sub-24. I remember closing my eyes while I ran and opening them and there no being a difference at this point. I was truly exhausted. Some where in here between me closing my eyes and running and exhaustion a thought came to me. I can’t see anything…..maybe I should try my other headlamp and see if its brighter. I put it on my head and clicked on my backup headlamp and even on the low light setting it was like the light of the sun. It was so bright compared to my dying headlamp. It had died over time, so I didn’t notice the dimming and I didn’t think twice about the darkness slowly swallowing me, I though this was expected with exhaustion.
Once I finished the switch backs the road leveled out a bit with just rolling hills along a paved road to the finish line. I was around mile 95 at this point. There were some rather small climbs in this section that were pretty frustrating. Even the slightest climb I was having to power hike them. I saw a runner or 2 in front of me, but I had no desire to try and run to catch them, I was doing what I could to keep myself moving forward. Near the end of the race there was an aide station called Water Street around mile 97. I was crunched for time and just wanted to finish the run. I did not stop at the aide station but rather just yelled my number to them as I ran by. I was in a hurry and did not want to miss my goal time. As the final few miles ticked by, I was around 23 hours into the race. I had less than an hour to finish and was going to be cutting it close. As I closed in the fairgrounds the 2 runners ahead of me met up with a third runner. I thought it was likely and family member or maybe even some unauthorized support crew member running along with their runner. I did not care either way, I just wanted to finish the damn run. As the fairgrounds came into sight, I knew I would make my time hacks. I had heard that at the end of the race the horse track you have to run a lap on seems forever long. This is true. You would think at the end of a race you would be so motivated to finish that you could just run a single loop around a track without stopping but I could not. I ran a bit then walked, ran a bit then walked. But I did not care at this point. I was going to make my times and was almost done. As I rounded the last bend in the track onto the straight stretch ahead of I could see a few other runners at the finish line. There was no epic sprint or grand finish at the end. Rather just a few other beat up runners and the official time keeper for the race on a horse track in the Woodstock fairgrounds at 3:30AM. I crossed the finish line, was congratulated by a few of the runners hanging around the finish line and found a chair to sit it. I sat there for the next 10 minutes listening to the other runners and watching a few runners work their way into the finish line in sub 24 hour. I had completed it in 23 hour 34 minutes and 5 seconds.
(watch data from Coros Apex Pro)
Post-Race Destruction
From the track I was helped up out of the chair I had found and hobbled over to my truck. I drove across the street to a hotel room that runners had access to to shower after the race. Once I got the room key and to the room, I tried to take a quick shower as there were people waiting behind me to use the shower as well. I got undressed, tenderly stepped into the hot shower and it was anything but a relief. The last 4+ hours of the race had been 50 degrees or cooler. I had been breathing in cooler air, my body had acclimated to the cooler air and stepping into a hot shower, breathing the steamed air put my body into shock. I thought I was going to vomit at first then nausea and dizziness set in. I was so afraid I would pass out that I laid out in the bathroom floor so when I did pass out, I wouldn’t fall and hit my head. A few minutes later the feeling passed, and I was able to continue washing up and get out of the room. I had shaved, brushed my teeth, taken a quick shower, and put on clean clothes. I was almost human again. I had nowhere to go till the awards banquet at 0900 and it was probably around 4:20 AM at this point. I came to the hotel lobby and handed the key off to the next guy waiting to use the shower and found a couch to sit on.
I quickly became drowsy and nodded back and forth between sleep and awake. I did not want to get kicked out of the hotel because I did look like a homeless guy sleeping on their couches. I tried to retain my dignity as I slept intermittently till around 630 or 7AM when the hotel woke up. People started coming to the lobby for breakfast, more runners were finishing and hanging out in the lobby waiting for the showers. I had slept intermittently for about 2 hours on a hotel couch and that would have to suffice. I chatted with the other runners as they waited to use the showers. The guys coming in now and completed the race right at 28 hours. Some of them were even participating in the Grand Slam of Ultra’s and this was just the first of their 100-mile races. Three weeks from now they would have to run Western States 100. The hotel breakfast smelled amazing. I could smell coffee, cinnamon rolls, eggs but I was not a guest and did not feel right eating their breakfast even though I could definitely use some calories at this point. They had let me sleep on their couch without kicking me out of the hotel so I would not push it and take free food.
I left the hotel and hit McDonalds at around 8:15 AM. Yes, it was on my way to the awards ceremony were there would be breakfast, but I need food. I got 2 chicken biscuits and tried to stuff them down. Usually, these taste pretty good, but the biscuit was a bit dry (no more than usual) and my mouth was extremely dry. I had to choke each bite down with water just to get it down. I then made my way into the awards ceremony and make a plate of breakfast. I had a sausage burrito, 2 biscuits and gravy, fruit, cinnamon rolls, some pound cake and a cup of coffee. I was in dire need of calories and knew I was soon to be on the road, so I better pack it in. I looked around the room at the other runners looking for some of the guys I had crossed paths with during the run. I found myself a seat at the end of a table next to the young Marine that I had leapfrogged with during the race. We all talked for a bit then the ceremony started.
They started with the last place finisher. The cutoff was 28 hours, so they started with whoever came in closest to 28 hours without going over it. They then worked their way up to first place. After each finishers name was called and they received their award they were handed the microphone to say a few words. Most spoke highly of the race director, volunteers, and talked of returning to the race in the future. When it was my turn, I told the crowd this was the stupidest thing I had ever done, and I would not be returning. The crowd had a good laugh and many people told me that is the same thing they said when they finished their first race and here they are still racing 100 milers.
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| Receiving my Belt Buckle |
The ceremony concluded and I had to begin the 4.5 hour drive back to Virginia Beach. I was only able to drive for an hour or so till I got dangerously tired and had to pull to the side of the road and attempt to take a nap. I was only there for about 30 minutes or so before I was up and decided to just keep driving. I eventually made it home all battered up and exhausted. I cleaned up all my drop bags, threw all my clothes in the laundry, ate some more food and went to bed.
I was sore but nothing unexpected
and I was not injured. My pinky toes were both blistered and my heel was
blistered but I went to work Monday morning. I went straight to the gym to
stretch, foam roll, and work on getting some mobility back. I was able to walk
but not normally and had to hobble along. The next day was pretty much the
same, still hobbling. But by day 3 post race I was able to run 1 mile in the
morning and the soreness was subsiding. I was starting to walk a bit more
normally and even started doing some lightweight workouts in the gym trying to
get back to my normal routine. On day 4 I was able to run 2 miles, day 5 I ran 3
miles, day 4 I ran 4 miles. On all the runs I feel my quads still. The soreness
is still there but slowly working its way out. I’m running farther and faster
every day. I am already back to around 8 minute/mile paces on 4+ mile runs.
During this recovery phase what really struck me was the mental side of the recovery. I seemed to be recovering physically but my cognitive function was still suffering. I was trying to take naps when able and getting as much sleep as I could trying to return to my normal self. I was not as sharp mentally as usual and felt tired but not physically but mentally for at least 3 days after the race. It took several days to feel normal again both mentally and physically.
(Post race awards ceremony and breakfast)
Gear/ Nutrition Details
I ran the race in 3 pairs of shoes (Saucony Cohesion and Saucony TR x 2)
Trekking poles saved my race
If you are using a headlamp have an extra on you
Solid Foods I ate: 2 Nutella sandwiches, salted potatoes, perogies, nan, 3 cheese and bacon quesadillas, 2 big pancakes, and watermelon.
Sports nutrition/foods: 4 Stinger waffles and energy chews, a lot of salt tabs, 5 LMNT, 6 servings of UCan Energy, 1 UCan energy bar (melted in heat),3 UCan Edge gels, 1 GU gel
Conclusion
I set out as a rookie runner to the 100 milers and accomplished my first race in my personal sub-24-hour goals. It was hard but knowing what I know now I know I could do it even faster. I would be able to cut off at least 30 minutes of wasted time in my two real low points and would have planned nutrition a bit better to avoid the lows. I was surprised that the lack of sleep and physical and mentally exhaustion did not have more of an impact. Don’t get me wrong, I was tired, and my legs could not maintain a run even on paved downhills, but I thought it would be harder. I never got tired in the normal sense of the word. I was tired of running but not sleep tired at any point. Or maybe it was the tired mixed with exhaustion that led to the last 10+ miles blurring together a bit. Either way, I was able to work through it, kept checking paces, making sure I was on track and pushing hard enough to get the sub-24 finish even in that state which surprised me.
I have also listened to more podcast than I would care to admit about running and the majority of them talk about the multitude of highs and lows you go through during a race, both physically and mentally. I can’t say I had many highs, but I only had 2 lows and I think the majority of those were because of nutrition. Yes, they resulted in a mental low as well, but I believe it started because of physical reasons. I did not have big changes in highs and lows, rather I just stayed pretty neutral and kept cruising through. I think this might be due to the nature of my job and life where almost everything is crucially important and learning to balance under stress enabled me to not have prolonged lows or highs, rather things went as planned. I believe that is the mental side of running that intrigues me. If there is an issue you have to think it through and put into place a plan of action to correct the issues. It is not just putting you head down low and pushing through because you will eventually grind to a halt with that mentality.
As a flat lander from Virginia Beach, I do not train on any elevation. This is not an excuse rather a fact of life due to where I live. Because of this I used trekking poles and they saved my race. I would not have come in under 24 hours and may not have even finished the race without my poles. My legs did not have the strength built up from years of training on the mountains, so I compensated by incorporating my arm strength with the poles. I noticed that none of the runners around me used poles. Maybe they have stronger legs, maybe I was smarter. I used the poles from mile 33 to the end. I had them extended and being used for 67 miles.
Will I run another 100-mile race? I would say it is highly likely. When? I have no plans for one at this moment. I will instead transition to some speed work. I miss getting to run fast and want to get back to speed training and lifting heavy to get some strength and size back. I have a 50 miler and 50k race both scheduled for later in they year but those seem so small and insignificant after running 100 miles that I will just work speed and cruise through them without too much high mileage training before them. I am not sure where this running passion will take me if anywhere but I know I will continue to run forever.
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