100 Miles, Baby! Woodstock Hallucination Race Report

Woohoo, I finally finished 100 miles; did it in 24:30.

The course was 6 loops of 16.6 miles and I think I liked it that way for a 100 miler. You could put one drop bag at the start/finish area and one at the 8 miler aid station. The majority of the course was flat with just a handful of hills that you could walk up without too much pain. I was surprised at how much of the race we actually ran. We probably ran 46 or 47 out of the first 50 miles and then a good bit of the last half, too.

Also, the course was surprisingly easier than all of the other races I was used to- nothing too technical or hilly like Mohican, the DWD races, or the Buckeye/Run for Regis run, and no water crossings. It was weird not seeing deep scratches and wounds on my thighs with thorns sticking out of them after the race.

I ran the whole race with Bill. He was so nice to have stayed with me the whole time, especially the last 2 loops when I was struggling and not talking much- just grunting. He somehow still had this super fast energy in him at the end and would run up ahead and then wait for me to catch up.

We ran a few loops with a fast runner and fellow Hoosier, Bernie, who was sneaky and stopped after 4 loops without telling us he was even struggling. It was actually smart of him because then he didn't have to listen to us trying to guilt him into finishing it out. Too bad, though. Next time! I also met Melissa from OH and James from IL.

So my feet...they started to hurt a little bit with just 8 miles into it. I did not want to get screwed again by dang blisters so I ended up switching out my socks 1-2 times each loop and then I switched my shoes about 4 different times. Only on loop 5 did I start to feel some blisters form but I kept on truckin, taped the toes at the end of the loop, took meds, and finished out fine. I think I'll actually keep my toenails this time. Awesome!

The ultimate problem has to be that my feet aren't used to running on trails, moving in different angles and stuff all the time. A couple weeks ago I ran 31 miles on flat pavement in the same pair of socks/shoes and had no problems...but when I go to trail, I have problems after just 8 miles. Hmm.

Let's see....I made it the whole way with just my handheld water bottle and Nathan vest- no heavy CamelBak. Thankfully the food situation was fine. I never had to force myself to suck down another turkey sandwich or anything. I ate and ate and felt fine. But uhhh, how did I burn around 10,000 calories but the scale now says a couple pounds more? Something's wrong. I wasn't eating donuts and drinking sugar water out there. And no, it's not a swollen body or water weight that's making the scale say what it does. I'd like to be like Mikey and get sick and lose 12 pounds after a 100 miler. Joke.

Overall it was a good experience and I never thought of quitting. I knew I came to run 100 miles and I was gonna do it. Right when I finished the race I said that I probably wouldn't do another one- anything over 12 hours is a lonnng time to be running and it gets kind of old. But---yesterday and today I'm reconsidering. Who knows what's next- maybe Burning River.

Enjoy the choppy video below and the bloopers at the end while my husband videotapes.

50k run and Taper Time

I slacked on Friday and didn't run so I bet Anna that I had to do 24 miles last Saturday. I was feeling good at 18 miles so I hurried and texted her saying I had to do 30 miles. My course was a 6 mile loop that I repeated; I figured it was good practice for Woodstock since that's 6 loops of a 16+ mile path. I ended up throwing in an extra mile so I could call it a 50k and I felt pretty good. The last time I had run a 50k on pavement was back in 2007 at the Lakeshore 50/50 race. My legs felt like noodles at the end of that one.

I finished off the week with 6 miles last Sunday and took today off....now I'm ready to slow down these last 2 weeks. Yes! I'll probably run 45-50 this week and maybe 30 next week. Vamos a ver!

Week Recap and Upcoming Race

I was originally going to be running at Hell this weekend but somehow my registration got messed up and so I'm not going to do it now. I've been trying to prepare for Woodstock and get the miles in so some extra rest will help. I'm not looking forward to that drive home alone after the race. I don't know how I'll make it, all jacked up.

I had my first bike accident last week and it wasn't even anything to brag about, dangit. I was going slow and I must not have been paying attention because my huge mountain bike tire wheel got caught in the grass and when I tried to bring it back over the sidewalk I got all tangled up and fell. I hit my head but I was wearing a helmet so I was happy that looking like a nerd paid off finally. The weirdest thing was having my hearing go out for a minute after the accident. I got on my bike and heard nothing...not my chain and not the cars going by. It was kinda scary but finally it came back. Now I'm too scared to invest in that road bike I was going to get. I don't mind dying (or going deaf) in a big running race or something but during a stupid 6 mile bike ride? Nah. It sucks though..every time I go running my stupid knee scrape breaks open again. It'll never heal.