Day 3,781 —Reflections on the Shawnee 100 Part I: Finally made It—

 Today,

I felt amazing and decided to run by my daughter’s school. There was a massive line when I got there. I scanned the cars until I saw my wife’s black sedan and Vivian sitting in the back. I yelled her name, but I didn’t wait to see if she turned around. There were a lot of people, so I didn’t want to cause a scene by running over and saying “Hi,” when everyone is so focused on drop off. Still, it was good to see them and look at the playground that my daughter is now playing in. So far, she loves school so much, which makes me happy. I am still feeling happy after the race, but I know the feeling will eventually fade, but right now I am on top of the world. I still have a million things to do, but I am not so worried about how things will work out.

Day 3,779-3,780—the Shawnee 100 Part I: Finally made It—

I stayed up until after 10 p.m. yesterday and then went right to sleep and stayed in bed until 4 a.m. I am still dealing with blisters, chafing, and sore shoulders, but besides that, I feel remarkably well!

Before the Race

          We got there for the packet around 4 p.m. The earliest I have ever gotten there. We had just enough time to get there go to the hotel, go to a Mexican restaurant, and be back at the hotel by 7 p.m. I spent the rest of the evening getting ice from the ice machine to put in my two coolers. I also stretched and took a bath.

          I was asleep at 9 p.m. and I woke up at 1 a.m. and every hour after until I got up at 4 a.m. We left for the race at 5:06 a.m. I thought we had plenty of time, but it took longer than we thought and weren’t at Camp Ondessonk until 5:41 a.m.

          I rushed to finish my prep work. I still needed to put Vaseline on and use the bathroom. 

5:55 a.m.

          The guy talks for a minute before we start emphasizing that the flags are on the right, and then he makes a joke about finding pages out of a book. I recorded some, but I saw my dad was recording, and the place looked packed!

Only 20 runners started, so I thought there would be a lot fewer people, but I am guessing most runners just figured they would get there early.

 

Lap:   1

Miles: 0-34

Time: 8 hours

Average Pace: 14 minutes and 7 seconds

          I started in 2nd place and was going around an 8-minute pace. I figured that why not with the gravel trail? You start doing a 2-mile loop around the camp. This was one of the easiest parts of the race. I talked to the guy who was leading. He* was surprisingly shirtless and carrying a water bottle. He turned around and saw me and asked me to run with him, so I did, and we talked for the next half of a mile or so. He exchanged stats about our previous runs. He was on a huge winning streak. He won and got the course record for a race in Ohio and a 150-mile race in the spring. He was looking to do this race in under 20 hours. I was impressed, but also asked him how familiar he was with the route and told him how long the distance between some aid stations was.

          He was nice, but at the same time, he was focused on his run. I wished him the best, and he took off and I slowed down. I never saw him again. A couple of miles later, I ran with a guy who had run with him. It was good to talk with him because he was telling me about the next race that I am doing, the Farmdale 100. He said it was a 10-mile loop, which I kind of hated on. I just don’t like the loop format in general. I like to feel like I am going somewhere, but if there must be a loop, make it as long as possible. At first, I liked the idea of trying to do 200 in that format, and still think I might try next spring for this 10-mile loop race that offers up to 200. It sounds like the safest (and cheapest) to attempt a 200-mile run.

          I told him my plan was for 24 hours or just around that. He said he wanted to get there a little sooner, but was super nice and slowly went ahead of me. I was now in 3rd place. 

          I made it to the first aid station, Trigg Tower after about 8 miles and my drop bag wasn’t there yet, but they had the GU tabs but not in the coolers like I expected. I put one in one of my bottles and headed back out. It was fine, but I almost wanted to change socks even though I just had gotten started. It was going to be a long time until I saw my next drop bag (10 more miles at least), so I was hoping to get into my routine. I also wanted to drop my headlamp, but instead, I put my headlamp in my vest and kept moving.

          A 3rd guy passed me, who I greeted, but didn’t talk to. He was listening to music or something, but he was going at a steady pace. I passed him on the downhills, and he caught me going uphill. What I liked about him is he was just doing his own thing. I thought maybe I would catch him in a little bit because in my mind I am now in 4th place.

          I climb the rocks and make it to the next two aid stations. I change my socks, but still haven’t eaten anything. I am focused on hydration and staying at a pace where I am not overexerting myself, and the race continues.

          When I make it back to Trigg I change my socks and talk to a woman who was part of the rescue team from last year!

          “Were you cramped in the truck?!”

          “Yes! Are the other guys back?”

          “Yeah, I am crewing for them”

She was part of a crew that helped me until my dad showed up later. They were all so nice, I remember another younger woman was helping me and a kid who might have been 10 that was funny. He said something like, “Why isn’t he in 1st place?”

          I told him that’s what my daughter asks me whenever I get home from a race. They were all so kind and helped me in small ways, but it made me feel so much better having friendly faces asking me what they could do to help. I think in the future I want to record a video of everyone who helps, so I can do a supercut of all the people who make it possible for me to do a race like this. It was also just good seeing familiar faces, and they were all cheering me on.

          I felt good being in 4th place and I hoped nobody else was going to pass me, but if they did, more power to them. I was going to run my race today, which meant I would be doing most of it alone. I finished lap 1 in a little under 8 hours. I remember last year I had finished 2 laps in 18 hours, so I thought my pace was good. I ran into Karolina who did the medical study a couple of years ago, and I have since seen her at several races. She was doing the 50 K, and she crushed it, winning the overall 5:44:19. She was there after the first lap and helped me as I sat and drank coconut water. I talked with her and the woman who got second, Addison. We all talked about how we normally don’t drink soda, but during races, it is a must. Addison asked me why I prefer diet Coke over regular, which I thought was a good question because I didn't really care about the sugar content during a race. If anything it was a good thing, but I just like the way Diet Coke tastes better, so it is race day. I get what I want. I don’t know if she was vegan, but she said she didn’t eat any sugar. I want to get back to the place where I don’t eat sugar. They were both helpful and encouraging, and a great mental boost before I started my next lap.

Hydration: Peed once, and it was a dark shade of yellow 

Food: I ate some potato chips after the first lap

Health: My right foot feels like it is starting to blister

*I want to tell the story about this runner, but I don’t want to sound negative about a person. I don’t have anything negative to say about this runner personally. He didn’t make any mistakes that I haven’t made or any other runner, so great athlete. Nothing but respect.