Post by brucedenton on Aug 8, 2011 20:52:04 GMT -5
Mary Jane wrote up her first ever race report and I thought it deserved its own thread...enjoy.
Burning River 100 July 30-31, 2011
Are you crazy? I would never try to run 100 miles! That is certainly what I thought until July 2010 during a 12 hour run. I ran 52 miles and still felt like I had something left. That was when I thought, “Hum, I think I can run 100 miles!” I came home and researched 100 milers and settled on Burning River 100. It had plenty of aid stations, was close to home, and it had great reviews. The only negative was the time of year….it could be a little warm and I am not a good hot weather runner (just a minor issue, I thought at the time!).
Everything I did in the next 10 months was focused on Burning River 2011. I even convinced a friend, Joe, that is was a wonderful idea and he signed up in the spring. My husband, Jason, who is a super-fast and accomplished runner, took a little more convincing. After a great spring of running and high mileage, I convinced him it was a great idea to run 100 miles, too! So, now it was Joe, Jason and me!!!!
We have some amazing friends who volunteered (really, we didn’t even ask!) to come with us to help in any way we needed. John and Tina are accomplished runners who are wonderful friends and have supported us through hours of training. Dave and Vicki are awesome friends who aren’t really crazy runners, but thought it sounded like a great adventure and wanted to be a part. Shauna, a triathlete and runner, is married to Joe, so she was ready to make it successful for all of us. Todd, a rugged trail guy always ready for an adventure, jumped in at the last minute and decided to support us in any way that was needed!
We had a crew meeting the week before to go over details. Much of these details changed several times throughout the day/night of the race, but at least it made us feel better to have a “plan”.
I felt great in my mileage and training leading up to the race until about 3 weeks prior. I developed some gait altering left hip pain. I have had these issues before, but this time I couldn’t run without pain and an obvious limp. Oh crap! I was so upset. I ended up seeking intervention to help me “hurry up and get better” now with only a little over a week until race day. I could not believe that my yearlong goal may be hampered by this nagging injury. There is always such a fine line when training for a distance such as this. I needed to up my mileage, but not too much to risk injury! I really felt nauseous the entire week or more leading up to the race. I had to force myself to eat to stay nourished. I did not run a step for 10 days before lining up on the start line.
Three cars, three runners, and 5 crew members arrived in Ohio on Friday. Sleep was not great the entire week before the race and was not great the night before either! I had dreams that I forgot my running clothes and had to run the race in blue jeans and no socks. See, I wasn’t worried a bit! We arrived at the start of the race around 4:20 am and checked-in. It was very muggy and humid and I knew it was going to be a hot day. I anticipated how the first step would feel. Would my left hip react immediately or would my right shin speak to me (it had bothered me too!)?
We all wished each other luck and took the first steps through a dewy field and then onto pavement for the first 10 miles. My left hip was speaking to me during those first 10 miles, but not enough to alter my gait (or so I thought). I ran close to Joe initially, but tried to do my own thing and not go out too fast. I know I had lost some cardio fitness with my recent time off, so it was a little hard to judge my pace. During the first ten miles, I thought about the long day ahead and that I would be carrying a small heart with me the entire race that Jillian, my 7 year old, made for me the night before we left. I was also thinking about the Mother’s Day card that Alexandra, my 10 year old, had made me and that was in my suitcase. She drew a picture of me running and the card said “99 miles, only one mile to go”! Meghann, who is my 3 year old, doesn’t quite understand yet, but I was thinking about how she asked why I wasn’t sweaty every day the week before the race. If she could only see me now! I was already so sweaty that I could literally wring water out of my shorts! Yes, it was going to be a rough day!
We got on the trail around mile 10 and that was such a relief! Dirt is much more forgiving on the legs! About 4 feet onto the trail, I hit a sticker bush and had blood running down my arm! Really?!!! But, it was about that time that my hip felt fine. I felt like I was running pretty well and was going to be ok. Our crew was waiting for us at Station Bridge, mile 33. It could be a challenge for our crew. Jason is a lot faster than Joe and I and could be several hours ahead of us. A few miles before 33, we were in the open sun on a tow path and it was very hot. I really did not feel well coming into this aid station, but knowing that our crew was there helped me push a little. (Later, Joe would tell me that another runner said that I was not looking well and my gait was limpy!).
I changed into trail shoes and off I went. I will have to say that I could have used trail shoes from mile 10. We had a good bit of mud, streams crossings and climbing. I have to echo another race report that stated when you read the description of the course; you envision “metro parks” as running by soccer fields, playground, and green lush grass”. Well, no way!!! The course has some rugged trail with plenty of climbing, sliding, falling, tripping and resultant cursing!
I started to feel well again around mile 40 and that lasted until mile 70! I was taking my time and being careful to not fall, but really felt ok. Around mile 52 my cell phone rang. It was Jason. He said that he felt awful and was about to drop. He pulled his hip flexor and could barely walk. Our crew did not tell me this fearing it may affect my race. He was far ahead of Joe and me at that point. I convinced him to rest and walk to the next aid station and maybe he could finish with me. I really didn’t realize how bad his hip was at that point. John had gone out with him so at least he was not alone. Joe was several minutes ahead of me now and we were about to pick up our first pacer. Todd went with Joe and I picked up Dave. I started feeling a little nauseous at this point. It was still really hot. I managed a small piece of bland pizza and off we went.
I do want to mention that coming into the last aid station, I was out of water. A wonderful young lady recognized this and she took my bottle and ran it into the aid station to refill it. Jason said that a young man did the same for him. The volunteers were top notch. I never had to fill my own bottle and they quickly tried to direct you to what you requested. It made you feel like you were elite!!!!
So, now we are doing some major climbing up and down on slippery stuff. I had not anticipated quite a slow pace and my night gear was 10 miles away. I knew we were going to be close to dark before we reached it so Dave I pushed the pace and made it to 63 just as it was getting dark. Wow, that was close! This was where I saw Jason and knew he was really injured. He could barely walk due to his hip injury and was shivering. I felt horrible for him, but I realized that was the best decision to stop so that he did not risk permanent injury.
I changed my shirt and put on my vest with my night gear. I must have been a sight. I was more worried about finding Jillian’s heart to put in my vest than finding my flashlight! I grabbed some soup and Vicki and I were off for 7 more miles to the next aid station. Somehow, we got off the trail and ran into a runner going the “right” way. We fixed our mistake and were glad to be going in the correct direction. So, now we have lots of rocks and roots to navigate in the pitch darkness. So, what is that? A raccoon? It was challenging us! It would not move off of the trail. So we yelled and picked up a rock just in case it attacked us! It slowly walked off of the trail, so we won, I guess! A few miles later I told Vicki that I needed a potty break and hoped that I could wait until the next aid station. About a minute later, we discovered a nice bathroom in the middle of nowhere! The toilets were clean and flushed! Was I hallucinating?
?
Finally, we made it to the next aid station. I picked up Tina and we were off for a short 3.3 mile loop and then back to the aid station. Well, that was no quick loop! It was one of the roughest sections and seemed to take forever! Joe was making great time and was a good hour ahead. He was going great. Tina and I kept going to the next station with focus on getting to Covered Bridge. I felt like I was really trying and not making much headway and was getting frustrated that my effort was not getting me anywhere fast. I could tell the aid station was close but I was getting angry running around this crazy cornfield. Finally, COVERED BRIDGE! Other runners had warned us of the difficulty of the covered bridge 5 mile loop and I mentally had to get this over with soon! Tina was still plugging along with me and we finished this loop and actually passed a few runners. I still was not eating well, but I knew that I only had 15 miles to go!
As the sun came up, I felt more tired. The miles were taking forever. We knew we had time to walk it in from here, but walking was taking so much time and really wearing on me mentally. Tina would later tell me that she realized that I was in pretty bad shape when she finally saw me in the daylight. Tina was fighting through some significant knee and ankle pain from previous injuries and stayed with me until the last 5 miles.
At about mile 96, we saw a runner overcome with vomiting and then a car had to come and take him for help. At mile 96! That was horrible. I knew I felt like I could hurl several times and was so scared of this happening to me. Just when you think you are almost there, that could happen and it could be over. I started to get a little scared.
Joe was done at this point and I saw him at the last aid station. I could hear my crew talking about how bad I looked and I guess they figured that since Vicki is a nurse, she should go with me the last stretch. I know she felt pressure to get me to the end. We ran more that we walked until was got to about 400 steps that we had to ascend in the last 3 miles! That was not a hallucination! I climbed them pretty well, and then I realized I was going to finish! I began to get a little choked up at that point just knowing it was almost over and I was going to do this! (I think Vicki just thought I was in pain!). Shauna came out to help us in the last mile…wow! That was a long mile! I knew that I had depleted everything when I didn’t feel like I could encourage anyone else. I always say something encouraging if I pass someone or they pass me, but I just felt like I had tunnel vision and didn’t feel like I had anything left. I planned to just walk it in to the finish, when Jason said “come on, you can run it in!” And, I did!
I crossed the line, got my buckle, and said I wanted to go to the hotel right away. From the lobby to the room could be a story in itself, but basically I created a little scene in the lobby when I tried to check in and my head hit the counter and then, Dave carried me to my room and Vicki rescued me from the shower. Then, I ached and experienced hypotension for the rest of the evening! I did eat, though!
NEVER AGAIN is what I said that night. Now, a week later, maybe a 100 that is not as hot! Maybe in 2 years to celebrate my 40th! Who knows?
I could never thank enough our wonderful crew/pacers. They had to take time off from work and arrange babysitters to be with us during this adventure. We plan to repay them by crewing/pacing for them next year!!!! Everyone performed extra duties and was totally focused on getting us across the line in one piece. You can never know what will happen on a 100 mile race and I know that Jason will complete his next one. We learned so many lessons and now a 50 mile race seems like “not that big of a deal”.
Jason is the reason I started running in the first place and I owe the entire race to his encouragement and tolerance of my endless hours of training. He continued to crew and support us throughout the entire night when I know he was feeling terrible. He was also key in assuring everyone else that I was ok when I looked quite the contrary!
Congratulations to Joe who ran strong and didn’t even look like he had run the next day! He had an amazing race!
Thanks to my mother-in-law for keeping up with the kids’ busy schedules while were gone. Thanks to all our running friends/partners (QC Striders and Dance Class Running mom’s) for all of their support! And, of course, thanks to Joe, the race director who put on quite an amazing race.
So, there is my short (first ever) race report !!!!!
Burning River 100 July 30-31, 2011
Are you crazy? I would never try to run 100 miles! That is certainly what I thought until July 2010 during a 12 hour run. I ran 52 miles and still felt like I had something left. That was when I thought, “Hum, I think I can run 100 miles!” I came home and researched 100 milers and settled on Burning River 100. It had plenty of aid stations, was close to home, and it had great reviews. The only negative was the time of year….it could be a little warm and I am not a good hot weather runner (just a minor issue, I thought at the time!).
Everything I did in the next 10 months was focused on Burning River 2011. I even convinced a friend, Joe, that is was a wonderful idea and he signed up in the spring. My husband, Jason, who is a super-fast and accomplished runner, took a little more convincing. After a great spring of running and high mileage, I convinced him it was a great idea to run 100 miles, too! So, now it was Joe, Jason and me!!!!
We have some amazing friends who volunteered (really, we didn’t even ask!) to come with us to help in any way we needed. John and Tina are accomplished runners who are wonderful friends and have supported us through hours of training. Dave and Vicki are awesome friends who aren’t really crazy runners, but thought it sounded like a great adventure and wanted to be a part. Shauna, a triathlete and runner, is married to Joe, so she was ready to make it successful for all of us. Todd, a rugged trail guy always ready for an adventure, jumped in at the last minute and decided to support us in any way that was needed!
We had a crew meeting the week before to go over details. Much of these details changed several times throughout the day/night of the race, but at least it made us feel better to have a “plan”.
I felt great in my mileage and training leading up to the race until about 3 weeks prior. I developed some gait altering left hip pain. I have had these issues before, but this time I couldn’t run without pain and an obvious limp. Oh crap! I was so upset. I ended up seeking intervention to help me “hurry up and get better” now with only a little over a week until race day. I could not believe that my yearlong goal may be hampered by this nagging injury. There is always such a fine line when training for a distance such as this. I needed to up my mileage, but not too much to risk injury! I really felt nauseous the entire week or more leading up to the race. I had to force myself to eat to stay nourished. I did not run a step for 10 days before lining up on the start line.
Three cars, three runners, and 5 crew members arrived in Ohio on Friday. Sleep was not great the entire week before the race and was not great the night before either! I had dreams that I forgot my running clothes and had to run the race in blue jeans and no socks. See, I wasn’t worried a bit! We arrived at the start of the race around 4:20 am and checked-in. It was very muggy and humid and I knew it was going to be a hot day. I anticipated how the first step would feel. Would my left hip react immediately or would my right shin speak to me (it had bothered me too!)?
We all wished each other luck and took the first steps through a dewy field and then onto pavement for the first 10 miles. My left hip was speaking to me during those first 10 miles, but not enough to alter my gait (or so I thought). I ran close to Joe initially, but tried to do my own thing and not go out too fast. I know I had lost some cardio fitness with my recent time off, so it was a little hard to judge my pace. During the first ten miles, I thought about the long day ahead and that I would be carrying a small heart with me the entire race that Jillian, my 7 year old, made for me the night before we left. I was also thinking about the Mother’s Day card that Alexandra, my 10 year old, had made me and that was in my suitcase. She drew a picture of me running and the card said “99 miles, only one mile to go”! Meghann, who is my 3 year old, doesn’t quite understand yet, but I was thinking about how she asked why I wasn’t sweaty every day the week before the race. If she could only see me now! I was already so sweaty that I could literally wring water out of my shorts! Yes, it was going to be a rough day!
We got on the trail around mile 10 and that was such a relief! Dirt is much more forgiving on the legs! About 4 feet onto the trail, I hit a sticker bush and had blood running down my arm! Really?!!! But, it was about that time that my hip felt fine. I felt like I was running pretty well and was going to be ok. Our crew was waiting for us at Station Bridge, mile 33. It could be a challenge for our crew. Jason is a lot faster than Joe and I and could be several hours ahead of us. A few miles before 33, we were in the open sun on a tow path and it was very hot. I really did not feel well coming into this aid station, but knowing that our crew was there helped me push a little. (Later, Joe would tell me that another runner said that I was not looking well and my gait was limpy!).
I changed into trail shoes and off I went. I will have to say that I could have used trail shoes from mile 10. We had a good bit of mud, streams crossings and climbing. I have to echo another race report that stated when you read the description of the course; you envision “metro parks” as running by soccer fields, playground, and green lush grass”. Well, no way!!! The course has some rugged trail with plenty of climbing, sliding, falling, tripping and resultant cursing!
I started to feel well again around mile 40 and that lasted until mile 70! I was taking my time and being careful to not fall, but really felt ok. Around mile 52 my cell phone rang. It was Jason. He said that he felt awful and was about to drop. He pulled his hip flexor and could barely walk. Our crew did not tell me this fearing it may affect my race. He was far ahead of Joe and me at that point. I convinced him to rest and walk to the next aid station and maybe he could finish with me. I really didn’t realize how bad his hip was at that point. John had gone out with him so at least he was not alone. Joe was several minutes ahead of me now and we were about to pick up our first pacer. Todd went with Joe and I picked up Dave. I started feeling a little nauseous at this point. It was still really hot. I managed a small piece of bland pizza and off we went.
I do want to mention that coming into the last aid station, I was out of water. A wonderful young lady recognized this and she took my bottle and ran it into the aid station to refill it. Jason said that a young man did the same for him. The volunteers were top notch. I never had to fill my own bottle and they quickly tried to direct you to what you requested. It made you feel like you were elite!!!!
So, now we are doing some major climbing up and down on slippery stuff. I had not anticipated quite a slow pace and my night gear was 10 miles away. I knew we were going to be close to dark before we reached it so Dave I pushed the pace and made it to 63 just as it was getting dark. Wow, that was close! This was where I saw Jason and knew he was really injured. He could barely walk due to his hip injury and was shivering. I felt horrible for him, but I realized that was the best decision to stop so that he did not risk permanent injury.
I changed my shirt and put on my vest with my night gear. I must have been a sight. I was more worried about finding Jillian’s heart to put in my vest than finding my flashlight! I grabbed some soup and Vicki and I were off for 7 more miles to the next aid station. Somehow, we got off the trail and ran into a runner going the “right” way. We fixed our mistake and were glad to be going in the correct direction. So, now we have lots of rocks and roots to navigate in the pitch darkness. So, what is that? A raccoon? It was challenging us! It would not move off of the trail. So we yelled and picked up a rock just in case it attacked us! It slowly walked off of the trail, so we won, I guess! A few miles later I told Vicki that I needed a potty break and hoped that I could wait until the next aid station. About a minute later, we discovered a nice bathroom in the middle of nowhere! The toilets were clean and flushed! Was I hallucinating?
?Finally, we made it to the next aid station. I picked up Tina and we were off for a short 3.3 mile loop and then back to the aid station. Well, that was no quick loop! It was one of the roughest sections and seemed to take forever! Joe was making great time and was a good hour ahead. He was going great. Tina and I kept going to the next station with focus on getting to Covered Bridge. I felt like I was really trying and not making much headway and was getting frustrated that my effort was not getting me anywhere fast. I could tell the aid station was close but I was getting angry running around this crazy cornfield. Finally, COVERED BRIDGE! Other runners had warned us of the difficulty of the covered bridge 5 mile loop and I mentally had to get this over with soon! Tina was still plugging along with me and we finished this loop and actually passed a few runners. I still was not eating well, but I knew that I only had 15 miles to go!
As the sun came up, I felt more tired. The miles were taking forever. We knew we had time to walk it in from here, but walking was taking so much time and really wearing on me mentally. Tina would later tell me that she realized that I was in pretty bad shape when she finally saw me in the daylight. Tina was fighting through some significant knee and ankle pain from previous injuries and stayed with me until the last 5 miles.
At about mile 96, we saw a runner overcome with vomiting and then a car had to come and take him for help. At mile 96! That was horrible. I knew I felt like I could hurl several times and was so scared of this happening to me. Just when you think you are almost there, that could happen and it could be over. I started to get a little scared.
Joe was done at this point and I saw him at the last aid station. I could hear my crew talking about how bad I looked and I guess they figured that since Vicki is a nurse, she should go with me the last stretch. I know she felt pressure to get me to the end. We ran more that we walked until was got to about 400 steps that we had to ascend in the last 3 miles! That was not a hallucination! I climbed them pretty well, and then I realized I was going to finish! I began to get a little choked up at that point just knowing it was almost over and I was going to do this! (I think Vicki just thought I was in pain!). Shauna came out to help us in the last mile…wow! That was a long mile! I knew that I had depleted everything when I didn’t feel like I could encourage anyone else. I always say something encouraging if I pass someone or they pass me, but I just felt like I had tunnel vision and didn’t feel like I had anything left. I planned to just walk it in to the finish, when Jason said “come on, you can run it in!” And, I did!
I crossed the line, got my buckle, and said I wanted to go to the hotel right away. From the lobby to the room could be a story in itself, but basically I created a little scene in the lobby when I tried to check in and my head hit the counter and then, Dave carried me to my room and Vicki rescued me from the shower. Then, I ached and experienced hypotension for the rest of the evening! I did eat, though!
NEVER AGAIN is what I said that night. Now, a week later, maybe a 100 that is not as hot! Maybe in 2 years to celebrate my 40th! Who knows?
I could never thank enough our wonderful crew/pacers. They had to take time off from work and arrange babysitters to be with us during this adventure. We plan to repay them by crewing/pacing for them next year!!!! Everyone performed extra duties and was totally focused on getting us across the line in one piece. You can never know what will happen on a 100 mile race and I know that Jason will complete his next one. We learned so many lessons and now a 50 mile race seems like “not that big of a deal”.
Jason is the reason I started running in the first place and I owe the entire race to his encouragement and tolerance of my endless hours of training. He continued to crew and support us throughout the entire night when I know he was feeling terrible. He was also key in assuring everyone else that I was ok when I looked quite the contrary!
Congratulations to Joe who ran strong and didn’t even look like he had run the next day! He had an amazing race!
Thanks to my mother-in-law for keeping up with the kids’ busy schedules while were gone. Thanks to all our running friends/partners (QC Striders and Dance Class Running mom’s) for all of their support! And, of course, thanks to Joe, the race director who put on quite an amazing race.
So, there is my short (first ever) race report !!!!!