For the first time since my stress fracture injuries in 2020 I was feeling healthy and strong. My runs for the past few months have been great and I feel like I am starting to get some of my trail speed back. I have been wanting to get back to the bigger ultra races and this year things have been progressing rather nicely. I raced my first marathon trail race early in the year and followed that up with a 50k a month and a half later. I also completed a solo 40-mile run and some long runs out in Washington state with a lot of vertical gain. Thinking I was ready to tackle a 50 miler, what better than to do it in my back yard so I registered for the Burning River Back 50 which starts at 6pm and runs through the night. I really do enjoy the night running.
Once Angie and I arrived at the start of the race we soon met my coach Sarah and her husband (I'm terrible at remembering names ... sorry Sarah!!). This is the first time I met them in person and what a pleasure. Such incredibly nice people!! I am so lucky to her her as my coach!!
Other familiar faces were Fred Bieke, Matt Polo, and Amanda Debevc. It was nice to get to chat with them all at the start. I knew full well that Amanda would lay down a solid time, she always does. We joked about it a bit at the start as I mentioned to her that this is more like a warm up run for her. Such an incredible talent. Fred and Matt are both extremely solid trail runners and I knew full well that they would be up front early on.
My plan from the start was to quickly get into a sub-nine minute pace and hold that until the first trail. In retrospect perhaps that was not the best plan. This is what I had done in 2019 and I have a hard time breaking free what I did in the past and meet myself with where I am now. As the RD announced GO, we all gain momentum, made our way up a short gravel road, made the hard couple of right turns over a short bride, and hit the bike and hike paved trail for the next 6.5 miles to the first trail. Quickly I got up to the speed that I wanted and looked at who was around me. Three guys ahead of me and one right next to me, Fred Beike. I have run with Fred a few times in our local run group and he is a great guy and a very strong runner. The two just ahead of us were younger and the guy that had taken off like he was shot out of a cannon was not necessarily young but I could not tell how old. I felt good humming along at an 8:30-8:40 / mile pace so I saw no reason to slow down or speed up. I was executing according to my plan, this was going to be a long day and night, and I did not need to go try and chase anyone down this early in the race.
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| Look at those clean shoes!!! |
What I had noticed while running the paved path is that my right ear began to block. Strange, because I have had this happen in the past, but it would usually happen much later in the race and I always blew it off and thought perhaps it has something to do with dehydration. Interestingly enough, after talking to my neighbor, post-race, this also happened to her early on in her race. Normally the blockage doesn't bother me but this time it messed with my ability to focus and think clearly. I noticed it more when we hit the first trail. I could tell right away that my focus and ability to have a clear head was just not there. It was like I drank a couple of espressos or a Redbull and my head got all jacked up, like it was spinning. No bueno, especially when running hard on a trail full of rocks and roots. I envisioned myself tripping and going down, which fortunately did not happen. Between my HR being high due to my effort to maintain position and my head feeling like it was spinning out of control, this made for a very uncomfortable situation. Additionally, the humidity was around 80% and while the temperatures were a cool 78* F, it felt like running in a rainforest. I did my best to make short work of the first few trails and keep my position to the other top couple of runners. Fred and I reeled in the first place runner but after cresting the first step pitch that all three of us hiked, I told Fred to go get him. I needed to try and back off. Again, it was just way to early in a race to blow up and then not be able to recover. There were no other runners breathing down our necks, at least none that I could see, so I backed off a bit just before the second aid station at Kendall Lake.
I came in hot into the AS 15-minutes under my projected time. Whoopsie! As I refilled my bottle with water and grabbed some rice that I have packed to eat, Fred and the lead runner left pronto. I quickly followed suite. We all hiked the steep section on the Cross Country trail, which was my plan anyway, but they both crested it before I did. They were off to the races but this is where I really backed off to try and get my head in order. My legs felt heavy, my breathing was high, and my head still spinning, I did not want to continue for another 40 miles in this state. I got into a comfortable pace through all of the Cross Country trail and leading into the Sound of Music, which nearly everyone hikes. They both crested the hill and I was approaching it another 50-mile runner caught me and passed me. I was not too terribly concerned about AG position as he was easily younger than I was and there was just no way I was going to give chase while not feeling good.
My head would would keep spinning through all of the Salt Run trail that lead us to the third aid station and the first crewing location where Angie and my daughter Jessica would meet me. My mind was all over the place. Do I keep going? Do I DNF? Can I pull this thing around? What the HE** is going on?!?! I reached this AS 15-minutes under my projected time, which actually means I lost those 15-minutes that I had gained to the second AS. I explained to Angie what was going on and that I needed to figure something out. At this point I was on track with my fueling and my stomach was just fine, so at least I had that going for me. I grabbed more rice balls, refilled my bottle with Superfuel Skratch and another UCan gel. Changed my shirt (it was soaked), and grabbed my good headlamp (Petzel Swift RL) and spare battery. As I was getting ready to go Amanda passed through, gives me some encouragement and joked at how we are only 16 miles in and it has not even begun to get hard. She was right. I needed to keep moving forward. Chatted with Angie and Jess about likely needed to slow my pace to figure this whole head issue out, especially since I was heading into the dark soon which would only compound the issue of trying to focus on the trail. And off I went ... into the dwindling light to tackle the Wetmore trail.
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| Downed trees on Salt Run due to the morning storms. |
At this point one of the runners that I had passed on the paved path caught and passed me. He and I would yo-yo at the next few aid stations, but for the most part he would stay ahead of me. I knew full well that the three other runners ahead of me were long gone and honestly I did not care at this point. I needed to get my head straight and just run my own race. Those guys could be laying down a sub-9 hour race and I knew I did not that have in me but that's ok ... I just needed to run my own race. I made my way to the AS at Robinson field were I saw Bob Smaltz, a local run group badass and friend, helping run the AS. I was going to say hello but he was looking super busy and I didn't want to disturb him. Plus, I needed to get in and get out to keep moving forward. The next 3.5 miles would be flat which is a nice break from the last 10 miles of rolling terrain. It was also the time that my stomach started to bother me and I needed to figure out what was going on. As we approached the Szalays Famers Market and the Towpath section that leads us to the next trail system, the second place female runner passed me. Meh, there goes another position. It was also at this time, fortunately for me, that I realized the stomach issue was really a bathroom issue. This very rarely ever happens to me but I was lucky to be next to an indoor bathroom. The downside is that this was also used by apparently MANY other runners. Lets just say that I felt so bad for the state of that toilet even before I got there, let alone that I quite literally piled on to the problem that would need to be cleaned up by someone. When nature calls, nature calls man. Felt so much better as I left the bathroom and made my way to the Valley Picnic AS. The just under two mile Towpath section was nice and quiet. I could hear the tree frogs and the river flowing nearby. The temperatures were starting to drop and I noticed that my ear would pop now and again. My head would clear right away after my ears would pop, but it never lasted long. Meh.
I was going through fluids rather quickly at this point even though my hand-bottle was a 20oz bottle. I reached the Valley Picnic AS and refilled with water, grabbed a few cokes, and began to head up the trail. Quickly remembering that I needed to switch out my headlamp battery, I stopped and one of the volunteers held out his flashlight so I could more easily see what I was doing. After a quick battery swap, I headed up the Plateau trail climb for the 4 miles to the next AS where Angie and Jessica would be waiting for me. It was at the start of this climb that a guy passed me and I noticed he was wearing a back 50 mile bib. Crap. I chatted with him for a few minutes, asking if he knew of a way to pop one's ears and he was a bit confused until I explained to him what was going on. He offered some friendly advice and he continued on up the trail. He never got too far from me and when I finally reached the AS I noticed he was will there. Later I would find out that this is the guy that earned the first place in my AG. I met Angie and Jess whom had all the stuff that I would need for the next leg f the race. Jess refilled my bottle with water because my stomach distress was a bit distressed and while it was minor the Skratch Superfuel did not sound like what I wanted. I walked over to the AS to see if there was anything that sounded good and they had Ramen!! While I did pack my own ramen the stuff I made I had never had before, big mistake ... I know, and it just didn't taste all that good. The ramen that the AS offered was perfect! I had a couple cups of it which is just what I needed. Grabbed another spare battery, some more UCan gels (These seemed to me working for me), more coke, and then headed out into the night but not before thanking the best crew a person could possibly have!!
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| Buckeye Trail got fairly sloppy. |
As I left the Oak Hill AS, we come to a short road section and for some reason my legs felt good. Maybe because I sat for a few minutes while I ate and drank?? I opened up my pace for a bit before we quickly turned right onto the next trail. As soon as I started the descent I noticed my right IT Band started to complain. Crap. It was not bad yet but I took my time on the descent so as to not make things worse. The next few miles are flat trail through a corn field and then along the road onto a paved trail that eventually heads back to another mile of road before hitting the Buckeye Trail, only one mile from my home. I was around this time that I noticed my ears were no longer blocked and my head felt pretty good. I'm wondering if the drop in the temperature had anything to do with it. The IT Band also seemed fine on the flat sections so I held a good pace before heading up the next climb. I made my way past a couple hundred miler runners, deep into the pain cave, and as I reached the top of the climb my headlamp began to flash indicating the the battery was about out of juice. Frustrating to say the least because I should have had another 40-minutes on it. Not wanting to stop yet and knowing that at the top of the climb there are lights that I could use to see what I was doing, I dimmed my headlamp to squeak out every bit of time I had but unfortunately it stopped just as I was passing another 50-mile runner that was taking a break. I asked if I could stand near him to use his headlamp light while I switch my battery and he had no problem with it. After a quick switch I thanked him and I was back to running with the full 900 lumens. Nice!
Along the way to the next AS I passed a familiar face, Tony Jackman, who was taking on the hundie. He's a total beast of a runner but you could tell he was ready to be done. I briefly chatted him and kept moving because on this flat road section I knew I could run it and move a bit quicker. I arrived at the next AS feeling about as good as one can when 37 miles into an Ultra. Refilled my bottle, grabbed some coke, some ginger ale, and two cups of that wonderful ramen that they were offering. Yum!!!! I also continued to put down salt tabs because this was really helping me keep my electrolytes in check during the entire race. Once I finished refueling, I was moving forward again to the next AS which was a short 1.7 miles following a flat section of the Towpath. After reaching the next AS at Mingo, I really did not need anything at all so I continued onto the next few sections of the trail that would be the last of the rolling hills but also the most challenging because both IT Bands were giving me grief. The next 8 miles of trails consisted of me running, hiking, and gingerly traversing the steeper descents. At times I felt like my right leg was going to give out from underneath me due to the pain in the IT Band, which really manifested on the outside of my knee. There are a few sections along the 8 miles that are flat (ish) and a few climbs that my body was mostly fine to run, but even some of those sections were a challenge that slowed me to a crawl. No doubt it was frustrating, but I was still moving forward and that was all I could hope for.
When I reached the final AS where I could meet Angie and Jess, it was just Angie. Jess had been a trooper through most of the night, but the lack of sleep got to her and she fell asleep at our house. I was surprised at just how awake Angie was throughout the night, but I suspect it is because the temperatures had dropped and she was really cold. I never noticed the coldness because I felt like my body was on fire the entire race. I grabbed my last spare battery, refilled my bottle with more Skratch now that my stomach distress has subsided thanks to all of the Salt Stick tabs I was consuming, and I told Angie to just go home and I will call her when I finish. I wanted her to go home and get some rest but she insisted that she wanted to be at the finish line when I get this thing done. I grabbed a couple more cokes along with more of that tasty ramen, chatted with Angie while I ate my food, and then it was off to get to that finish line. There are a few short rollers along with a couple of good climbs remaining before we reached the next AS, about 3.5 miles away. The descents continued to be very challenging as my IT Bands on both legs were not doing me any favors. I considered taking IBP, but honestly that could have easily distressed my stomach so I didn't want to take that chance. I would rather deal with a painful IT Band then get into a situation that prevented me from eating or drinking anything. Man ... the decisions we have to make to survive ultras.
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| Flag marking the course and why it was re-routed. |
As we approached that last big climb of the race, which was a re-route of the course due to flooded river, a couple of relay runners passed me. I let them go up the trail just before the climb started, however, they were not running the climb. Once it started to flatten out after the first steep section, I picked up my pace and began to catch them. I have run this trail many times and the race course was heading up the left step climb, so I decided to pass the relay runners and run the entire climb. That felt really good to be able to do that 45 miles into the race. At the top was the last AS before the finish line which was four miles away, all road. Yuck. I refueled on more ramen, did not need any more fluid in my bottle, downed another coke or two and headed onto the road. I got it into my head at this point that maybe I could beat 11 hours but there were some significant climbs on the way and I just did not have it in me to run all of the climbs. I did what I could, passed a few hundred milers, cheering them on as I had been all night and kept pushing for that finish line. Two miles out I was at 10-hours and 39 minutes. Dang. I picked up my pace and tried to hang onto a 10-minute mile but my body was just not having it. I think that last couple of miles I pulled off 11-11:30 minute mile pace which was not enough to come in under eleven hours. I crossed the finish line in 11:02 and change. It was now 5am. What a day!
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| The finisher medal is black for the night run. Cool!! |
Good enough to earn a 10th overall position out of the 55 that started the race and second place in my age group. My beloved Angie as at the finish line and took some short videos of my finish. What a sweetheart!! She was there for me all night with a smile on her face. An absolutely amazing women that I love with all my heart. That said, she told me outright that I stunk worse than porta johns. Well ... she wasn't wrong. We passed a dead skunk on the way home and we had the windows open in the car We both agreed that it was a toss up as to which smelled worse. Pretty sure the skunk smelled better than I did and that skunk was dead.
Perhaps my goals were a bit too lofty heading into this race. You never know who is going to be on the start line. Maybe a guy wearing Endorphin race road shoes that surprises the heck out of everyone as he goes on to win the race (yes that happened). Maybe you will have a bad day, maybe they will have a bad day, or maybe everyone has a great day and you are just not able to push your body or have the skills as the rest of the field. I spend a lot of time living in my own head before races (just ask my awesome coach Sarah), as many of us do I am sure. But why? You know your own abilities and limitations. You know how to plan for a race and execute that plan to the best of you ability. Stressing about who might show up or who is going to show up and how fast others may or may not run is wasted energy. It can also be a difficult thing to control. The mind tends to wander, a lot!
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| What happened to my clean shoes!! |
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