Man is it amazing how fast time goes by. Of course being the slacker/wierdo I am, I wrote my first post weeks ago but didn't post it until just yesterday. Anyone who is visiting for the first time (everyone) may want to go back and read it first as it introduces you to where I'm at these days. Even though I just posted I'm going to go ahead a post again for fear on not posting at all and getting behind and then just giving up.
SO- here 's the April report:
The big news in my life in April was the McNaughton Ultra Trail Run. The second race in a series put on by Peak Races in Pittsfield VT ( www.peakraces.com) the race actually took place in Pekin, IL. Peak Races is offering prize purse for either;
a) the person who wins all 6 races ($25,000) or
b) a lesser prize for the person who can finish all the races with the highest point total ($10,000)
Long story short (so as not to bore everyone who has heard me talking about it a billion times before) I decided it would be a cool thing to do, and a good racing/personal goal to set for the summer. I also thought I might stand a good shot of winning as it was the first year this prize was being offered and all the races were in Vermont except for this one in Illinois. The odds that someone from Vermont would actually want to travel all the way to Illinois, was a long one, and a commitment that only someone really interested in winning the series would go to. After doing the first race (the snowshoe marathon) and seeing that no one who had finished the first race was signed up for the second I decided I probably ought to try for the series. So totally unprepared I signed up to fly half way across the country to run 100 miles. Did I mention the race was 100 miles?
Luckily for me my current girlfriend Leslie is from Indianapolis, is a runner herself, and was kind enough to actually come with me to act as a crew and pacer. So we decided that the best option would be to fly into Indy, borrow a car from her family and drive the remaining miles to Pekin, IL for the race. Things went off without a hitch and it was interesting and pleasant to meet her father and see where she's from. The drive wasn't that bad and we ended up in Pekin at 6:30 or so. We headed to the race start to pick up the race packet and bid number and check things out. It was much colder than we expected so while we had planned on spending the night camping we instead set up our tent near the start to serve as an aid station, and went into town to get dinner and a hotel.
Up at 3am (which I'll never get use to) and at the start by 4:30. 5am the gun went off, and off we went. Around and around and around. The 100 miles was run by completing 10 laps of a 10 mile course. The course was nice, surprisingly hilly for Illinois, and I was doing pretty good; hitting my goals (2 hr loops) until about mile 60.
In between each lap my routine was to come in plop down in a folding chair, grab some food and change my shoes, and head back out. It was cold and drizzly the whole day and the dirt trails had turned into muddy wallows by mile 40.I finished the 6th loop in the rain and dark, and it was quite apparent that I was suffering from a mild case of hypothermia. My joints were aching from all the running but also from all the slipping and sliding in the mud. It was obvious I needed to take a break and while I hated to do it, I got in the tent and after a significant effort managed to get out of my wet clothes and into my sleeping bag.
After 3 hours or so of hitting the snooze and putting off going back out Leslie finally managed to convince me that if I was going to finish I needed to leave. At 2:30am I was up and by 3am I was back out on the course. Leslie paced me for this loop, and thankfully by the time we were done the sun was up again. By this point each lap seemed to take forever and my times were increasing. There was a 34 hour cut off though, and
I used it as motivation to keep running. Miles 80-90 sucked, and Leslie came back out with me for my final lap, which was very generous considering she was tapering for the Boston Marathon in a week (which she finished with an outstanding time 3:10:09) . In a total effort of 33 hours and 26 minutes I finished my first 100 mile ultra and the second race of the Peak Series. Our flights were the next day, and after being wheelchaired through 3 airports it was back to work on Monday stiff but successful.If you're still interested in even more detail, I've written a detailed if poorly written (and long) account of the race, the course and the poor conditions that I'll post at the end of the blog.
So I'm sore and having been having some slight knee issues. But I'm still racing short races and am 1/3rd of the way to $10,000. I have all of May to prepare for the next races in the Peak Series, and finish the semester at work.
Bring on summer!
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McNaughton Ultra 100 Miles- April 11-13th
After a 6 am flight and a 3 hr drive from Indianapolis Leslie and I arrived in
The start was at 6 am Saturday morning and I'm not sure I'll ever get use to mornings that early. Waking up before 5 am for two nights in a row was rough. Despite this we managed to get to the line in plenty of time and avoid the last minute action I am normally known for (thanks Leslie). It was nice to have a less than frantic pace at the start. It was still cold, windy and sporadically rainy and would remain so during the whole race. It was difficult to decide on the proper layers, but I managed to get into some warmer clothes, eat a tiny bit and take care of most other business before the start. The 150 miler had already started but there were 130 people toeing the line for the 100 and 50 miler. The yell went off at six and in a huge anticlimax everyone started walking.
The course starts out down a slight hill then flattens out for a mile loop around a large field. It was always windy here. You proceed up the first significant hill and again pass by the start finish area. On the first lap there was a bagpiper piping here; quite a nice touch. After two more miles of wooded ups and downs, you arrive at the "Totem Pole" aid station. I would try and hit this 3.5 mile mark in approximately 30 minutes. Normally I just passed by but later in the run I would stop to quickly refill.
After the aid station it was a short run through fields and woods, and under some power lines to the first river crossing. Luckily there was a large tree downed across the river. It looked as if the bank had eroded away until the tree had tilted and finally fallen the twenty feet across the banks. I remember that it wasn’t too hard to cross along its trunk on the first lap, but by the last lap I could barely keep from pitching into the deepest part of the stream that lay under it. This tree crossing meant that as long as I was careful in the muddy sections and some smaller stream crossings I could keep my socks dry for at least 8 miles of the loop.
After the first stream you moved into the river basin and the course proceeded to jump up and down the bank for the next 3 miles. The hills were at times quite steep and seemed only to get steeper. The mud started getting bad just as the legs were starting to get cooked. One hill (Golf Hill) was so steep as to necessitate a rope for assistance. This section ended with the second stream crossing, thankfully it had a large secure bridge. I tried to reach this approximate half way mark in right around an hour.
Then it was just a short but annoyingly slick and difficult section before the Heavens Gate Aid Station, at mile 7.5. This aid station was my salvation and almost a constant stop for me. They offered hot food like chicken noodle soup, mash potatoes and broth as well as the normal Fig Newtons, chips and the like. A quick and fun (though less fun at mile 90) mile and a half loop back down into the valley ended by spitting you back out by Heaven’s Gate again and then into one last 5k before the finish.
The first two miles of the last three were fairly runnable and again passed up and down through the wooded river banks. After what seemed an eternity the trail opened into a field and then crossed the river. This crossing was ankle deep and impossible to do without wetting your feet. I did find out later that some people had the smarts to cover their feet with trash bags which apparently worked until you busted a hole in them.
The final mile or so between the river and the start/finish seemed almost impossibly long almost every lap. In part because of the river water in peoples shoes and in part due to poor drainage this section was madingly muddy at points. I’m sure the frustration was exacerbated by the distance from the start line in both directions but some loops it felt like it went on forever. When you finally busted out onto the Frisbee Golf course that meant the beginning of the end the relief was palpable. Of course there was one final hill (Kick in the Tooth Hill) between you and the next lap, but despite being steep it was always in good condition.
Coming into the start/finish area was always a relief. As you came running in some one would call your name out over the PA system and people would come up asking what they could get you. I always appreciated their offer, but Leslie was there to help me and we had a system pretty well worked out. We had a folding chair right next to the line where I would plop down. She would bring me fresh socks, a towel to dry my feet and the next pair of shoes which had been partially dried over the fire during the last loop. While I was prepping my feet she would refill my bladder or bottle, and grab me some aspirin and whatever nutrients I needed. While I definitely had some down time in the transition the difference that I felt when I was leaving for the next lap was worth the time. I would say that our transition times averaged 15 minutes or so. One thing to note is that when you look at the individual loop times my transition is included in it.
The whole course is very scenic and winds its way in a large loop through a river valley and a tributary creating a constant up and down as it moves to and from the valley floor. You pass through a surprising number of open areas and fields but the flats are never long. The race directors list each 10 mile loop as having 1,600 feet of elevation gain, and on this course every time you go up its just to come back down again. Being from the northeast I forgot that trails in most other areas are made of dirt and not littered with soft pine needles and hard rocks. The trails at McNaughton are all dirt and clay and the current weather along with continuous rain the previous week had saturated them. Up hills turned into muddy slogs, down hills turned into slick quad killing death slides, and the constant light rain combined with hundreds of feet managed to turn most of the flat normally runnable areas into a surface akin to greased linoleum. Even the grassy fields turned slick, wet, and hard to run. The course was at its worst Saturday afternoon/night and gradually got better on Sunday as people finished or dropped. It was actually kind of interesting in a race this long to see how the trails changed over the course of the race.
Most of the time while I was actually running/moving (you walk the up hills) I felt good. Actually starting the race, miles 1-10 I felt a little sore and was worried about my joints. My knees, hips and ankles ached. I’m sure they were still a little sore from the Great Bay Half Marathon the weekend before; that and from Ultimate Frisbee on Monday. (I always tell myself I’m gonna take it easy, but can’t quite seem to.) I was convinced on the first lap that I was destine for failure and my joints were going to be my downfall.
The second loop felt great. I had had a loop to judge the course and I had hit my 2 hour time right on the mark with the first lap. Flying high, by mile 15 I was convinced that I could finish with a sub 24hr time.
By 2:40 am Leslie and I were out of the start. Leslie came not only to crew me but to pace me as well. She was running the Boston Marathon in a weeks time so we had agreed on one lap and this is when I thought I would need it most. I wanted company through the last of the night for mental and physical security. She was great and while we didn’t even talk very much it was just encouraging to know that someone was there with you. I was a bit hesitant to let her come with me because the course was so bad. I could just see her twisting her ankle and unable to run
Every time I would start back out I would hobble out onto the course but by a half a mile I would start to feel OK. One of my game plans going in was to run when I was suppose to and walk when I was suppose to. Lap 7 with Leslie was the only time I walked a majority of the time. Even laps 8 and 9 I would force myself to run when it was flat. At this point I was competing against the clock. The course closed at 4pm whether I was done or not. I didn’t want to cut it any closer than I had to. Miles 70 to 90 actually went really well. By then I was on autopilot. I had the course dialed and knew the exact path I would take through every obstacle. I found myself running on the flats without even having to force myself the way I had the previous 40 miles. My goal was to begin the last lap as close to noon as possible. That would give me four hours to complete the final ten miles. I arrived back at the finish at 12:10 and was back out for lap 10 by 12:20. Leslie was kind enough to pace me for this last lap too and it made me so happy to have company. By this time I was pretty seriously hurting. My actual loop times were still under 3 hrs but it was taking a lot of effort and while I was still running the flats the ups and downs were considerably slower.
The last 10 miles were pretty weird. It was notable in part for its lack of emotion. I realized multiple times that I should be happy and sentimentally taking note of the course because this was the last time I would be seeing it, but all I could think of was the next section in front of me. The slick trails had been getting to me and half way through I began to notice a considerable pain coming from my left ankle. All the flat footed running combined with the constant twisting and sliding due to the mud had worked the stability muscles in my ankle. The Pain mainly emanated from the muscle that ran from front of the shin to the top of the foot. Every step hurt, but every step was one more done, one more close to the finish. I suffered at my normal pace until after the Heaven’s Gate Aid Station. I knew that if I could just make it through the next 2 miles I would be at the river, and if I could make it to the river I knew I could make it to the end. I started really running the flats. My goal was to make Leslie work to keep up. I knew it was a joke, but I could hear her breathing increasing and I knew that I just wanted to get it done. I ran up and down hills I had walked every time before. I bombed it to the river and slowed just long enough to let the cold water relax my feet. When I hit the other side I was back to full gear. I’ve always prided myself on leaving it all on the course, and this time I really did. I pushed hard until I hit the Frisbee Golf course and I knew then that it was done. I looked at my watch and saw the time at 3:20 and knew I was there. I kept running and jogged it into the line almost before people knew I was coming as they were busy taking down the tents.
So after a whirlwind trip back to
I should probably feel a greater sense of accomplishment, and when I think about how far 100 miles really is (from Dover, NH to Portland ME and back is almost exactly 100 miles, Dover to Boston is only 70) I do feel quite a bit. but I also feel a bit disappointed that I cut it so close. I don’t want to consider just finishing as a good job, I want to feel liked I crushed it. I’ll take what I can get though and already I’m thinking about ways to improve my next attempt.
As I mentioned this is the second in a six race series put on by Peak Racing in
I got a lot of support from a lot of people and I appreciate it all. Most notably Sarah Silverberg woke up at 3am to drive me to the airport and took some time off work to pick me up. Of course I couldn’t have done this race at all with out Leslie Dillon. She and her family provided a room, a ride from the airport and even loaned us a car. I could barely function after the race, it took me literally an hour to change my clothes. I don’t see how it would have been at all possible for me to take down the tent and pack up the gear, and this doesn’t even touch on all aid she gave me throughout the course of the race. Thanks guys! And seriously everyone who e-mailed, called or texted me through out the race, I can guarantee I thought about you while I was out there. Even though I may not be in touch with some of you as often as I should be its great to have friends and family that are as quality as all of you are. Thanks!
Sorry this ran so long, I tried to keep it brief but a lot happens in a hundred miles. If you’re still reading this I think you may have what it takes to run one yourself. Did I mention my longest training run was only 15 miles? You can go to Peakraces.com right now and sign yourself up for New England Ultra in November. J
See ya there!
