Endurance sports tests the mind as well as the body. These tests are what makes the sport
appealing to me and drives my willingness to continue to push the bounds of
what I feel is possible and the real threat of failure. The vast majority of the time I am successful
and the needle moves to the right. With
the Umstead 100 Endurance Run I was unsuccessful in completing the entire
event, but in the end the needle still moved to the right.
For all of 2016 the Umstead 100 was my "A" race and what I
was training for. I started the year
hurt and spent a lot of time working through plantar fasciitis (the devil) and
severe lower back pain. It took months
of slow work, physical therapy, chiropractic care and dry needling to get to a
point where I could run relatively pain free to start legitimate training. With the help of my coach I was able to
string together a good amount of training and a solid race plan.
My awesome wife, Penny, volunteered to crew my event. The night leading up to the event we talked over
and over again about the key particulars of the race and what and when I would need certain food and gear. We also discussed when I would transition from my
handheld water bottle to my race vest and when and what I would eat at each HQ aid
station turn around. She had the plan down and did
everything perfectly.
The race started out at 0600 and I felt pretty good despite
not sleeping well the night before. We
had a cabin and I figured since we were in the woods it would be quiet. Nope…Umstead is right next to Raleigh Durham
airport and it sounded like I was on the flight line. Engine runs… Max power take offs…. Short field landings. Yes, I heard them all. Okay, now back to the story.
My goal from the start was to come out slow and
methodically check off the 8 laps until the finish. The first three laps went really well with
each of them under 3 hours. On the
fourth lap is when the fatigue started to set in and I began slowing down. The great thing about finishing this lap was
that it was now 6:00 PM and I could now have my pacer. Greg was to be my only pacer and the goal was
for him to run the remaining 50 miles with me.
He is a gifted runner (don’t tell him I said that…he already has a big
head. Shhhhh) and this would not be a
problem. He set a good pace and pushed
me through lap 5. When I got into the HQ
aid station I was not feeling well and ditched my nutrition plan because it was
not working. Greg grabbed a bag of
grapes, chocolate, PB& J sandwiches, and bananas and doled them out to me
like an Egyptian slave from the old movies.
I started to perk up and felt decent through the rest of the lap. It was during lap 6 that things really
started to get wobbly.
I was nauseous again coming out of the HQ aid station but
with constant feeding I again felt much better.
My blisters were starting to hurt and my legs were stiffening up. On the back half of the lap are where the
hills are and it was becoming more and more challenging to get up and down
them. At the turn to head into the aid
station I felt okay and was moving forward.
During the half-mile jaunt to the check-in and where Penny was with the
gear I slowed down and then my legs started to buckle. I stopped and then got really cold. With the cold came really bad shaking and
in my brain I could not figure out how to get moving. Penny and Greg carried me into the big
meeting hall where the med folks put me on a cot in front of the fire, shoved a
warm water bottle into my jacket and placed a blanket on me. My night was over.
Over the past couple of days I have spent a ton of time
talking to different folks as well as second-guessing every decision I
made. I could have been fitter,
skinnier, drank less beer, been nicer to cats, not have gotten the flu,
etc… In the end, my race just didn’t
come together for me. I learned a ton of
very valuable lessons and now looking forward to the next one.
I am extremely thankful to Penny and Greg for supporting my
event. When you crew athletes for
significant challenges you often get to see a lot of highs…but you also get to
see a lot of lows. I am also thankful
for Josh who has joined in for every big challenge up to this point and was
successful in his 100-mile journey. Also,
a sincere thank you to Kat, Chuck, Jay, and
Ron for their support as well. It truly
takes a team to run one of these races.
Umstead and I have a date for 2018.
