Thursday, December 10, 2015

Third Time's a Charm - Ozark Trail 100 Mile Endurance Run

Data:
My 12th Ultramarathon, 3rd 100 mile race
27:01, 17th place overall, 2nd female
70 starters, 53 finishers, 76% finish rate
Lows in the mid 20s and a high of 60 degrees


The road leading up to this race was difficult. Sciatica issues from a herniated lumbar disk plagued my life for most of the summer. It even got to the point where I scheduled back surgery in case the cortisone injections didn't relieve the numbness, tingling, and pain in my left leg. I'm happy to say that I got to cancel that surgery and pick up running again. 

I chose Ozark Trail because it was the first 100 that I had ever been a part of 2 years ago when I paced my friend Danny for 25 miles of his first 100 miler. I only saw the trail in the dark, but it made a lasting impression on me. The small race feel and the awesome single track course as well as it being point-to-point were all big selling points. I was also ready for a 100 miler with cool weather. The Bear and Bighorn were both hotter than my body could handle which slowed my pace and made the days much longer than needed. I also lost most of the skin on my feet during Bighorn because of the constant sweating and swelling from the heat. Don't Google "trenchfoot" unless you want to lose your appetite.





1/2 of the Crew with me at the start - Brittany and Janeé
A cold dark start warmed to a crisp, clear fall day. The weather was great and the sun was shining, but I just couldn't get into a rhythm. I had to force myself to stay on my eating plan and wait for my body to cooperate. The leaves had fallen and most of the trail was covered in a fresh foot of uncrushed leaves. There were a few miles scattered near trailheads that some amazing person(s) had leaf-blown. The contrast of these areas and how quiet they were compared to the rest of the course made hitting the leaves again that much harder.


First Crew spot  Mile 14 - I felt dead



There were wonderful leaf-blown sections
In the areas were the leaves were deepest, the number of hidden rocks and roots were highest of course. That meant I was altering my stride and lifting my toes higher than normal to execute "the leaf shuffle" technique.




Mile 19.3 - Starting to feel a little more alive
Justin and Joell and their girls were working the mile 19 aid station and the greeting was uplifting. Since I was going to be a responsible foot-owner during this race, mile 19 was my first scheduled sock change. 

I was sitting somewhere near 10th place for most of the morning, but early foot maintenance was not something I was going to skip this time.







Mile 31.3 - Finally feeling warmed-up (FC: Adam)
I knew my coworkers from KC, Adam and Rebecca, would be running the aid station at mile 31 and I was excited to get there to see them. I was greeted with a hug so big that Adam picked me up and spun me 360 before putting me down and getting down to official aid station business. They had a beard and flannel theme at the aid station and they even had a photo booth with felt beards. I left there in a great mood and would stay in that mental place for the rest of the race. People never believe me when I say it takes me a marathon to get warmed-up, but it really did.




Mile 40 - PACER TIME!! Picking up Danny
 


I was in a really good groove coming into mile 40 with a good bit of daylight left and I had been picking off runners in the last section. Danny and I ran this 25 mile section together during his race. We relived the memories of that day when places seemed familiar. We also played the OT game. The trail blazes are the OT and we spent hours coming up with possible meanings for OT. "Oversized Tuba", "Occupational Therapy", "Obtuse Triangle."

"Ouch Tendons" topped the list because of the ankle tendon issues Danny still has from his race here. I didn't know at the time, but my tendons were going to be revolting very soon as well.



Mile 65.4 - My Crew had the stops down
to a science (FC: Adam)


At either mile 47 or 55 AS I was getting a bunch of food things and joking with the AS workers. I told them my trade secret about storing spare quesadillas in paper towels close to the skin for optimal temperature during cold nights. One of their daughters put a colorful woven rubberband bracelet on my wrist and a high 5.  

One guy asked me how I was feeling (not a question you typically want to ask runners at this time of night, but I guess I was lively enough that the answer wouldn't be too bad). I responded with "magical" and then every one working the AS got really excited like I had said the word of the day. And apparently "magical" WAS the word of the day. I asked what I had won and I was gifted my choice of Halloween candy for saying the word.

Terri joined me next for a 29 mile overnight stretch. 10:30pm until 7:30am. I think Terri was just as excited about this race as I was and it was great to share so many miles with her. At most aid stations I saw the women's leader on her way out as I was coming in. By "on her way out" I mean she yelled at her pacer that she had to leave now as soon as she saw me. She never replied to my "you're looking great" and "good job" comments. Oh well. My pace was steady and I didn't think bursts of faster running to chase her seemed like a good idea given my lack of training over the summer.





All the dry socks, please! (FC: Adam)
Mile 94.4 - Just after sunrise and moving well

Iced tea, ramen, quesadillas, dry socks. I could survive for a really long time on those things. I chose the smaller amount of caffeine that tea gave me because I wasn't having any trouble staying alert. Until about 3:45am. I had a zombie moment and an emergency caffeinated Huma gel to get me to wake up. 13 hours of dark was a big mental obstacle and it was nice having pacers through it all.

At mile 87 AS (I think) Deb Johnson served her most amazing homemade chicken noodle soup. It was rocket fuel.



At some point during the fuzzy-math hours of the early morning, I figured that every minute I ran the miles faster than 18min/mile, I'd be inching closer to a 28 hour finish. That was somewhat right until the last half marathon of the race where I ran way more than I walked  and was now inching closer to a 27 hour finish. The sunrise and the end of the nearly eternal darkness was a great boost. It was pretty cold in that part of the course and I had motivation to get moving and stay warm.

As I ran into the last aid station, Danny tells me that the leader just left 3 minutes ago, walking. I told him some choice words about really not wanting to race the last 10K of a 100 miler. I threw back a shot of noodles, didn't mess with anything else and took off. I didn't know if I could catch her, but I would keep running the pace that I was and see what it gets me. My real thought was maybe that 27-hour mark was a possibility. I picked up Janeé here and got going. The leaves were deafening and we didn't say much. I was pushing myself to the max of where my lungs and ankle could sustain.

I caught the leader in about 20 minutes. She was stopped behind a tree taking a bathroom break. She didn't see me until I was almost even with the part of the trail that she stepped off of and she quickly grabbed her poles, jumped back on the trail (cutting me off and without responding to my greeting) and took off. I didn't envy how scared she looked and I kept on with the pace I had been going. 



The sweet, sweet finish line
I never saw her again and can say that I ran my own race from start to finish.  I ran this race 4 hours faster than my first two 100 milers and that was my main goal. Danny's Video of the Finish The whole crew - Danny, Brittany, and Terri joined me and Janeé with 1/2 a mile to go and we ran it in together.


Look, Ma! No Trenchfoot!!!
I stuck to the plan of dry socks at miles 20, 40, 65 and dry socks and shoes at 78 after the water crossing were finished. There were a few blisters between toes and one on my heel, but nothing bigger than a nickel. I'm really pleased with the results after the disaster at Bighorn.





About 30 seconds of horizontal

I think my only complaint while running with was that I wanted to be horizontal for a little bit. I finally got some horizontal.


One very large and pretty buckle
The red and bruising from an angry tendon

That tired foot-lifting tendon? Yep, it was tired, red, and bruised after the run.

Ouch Tendons.