Burning River 100 Race
Report
I will do my
best to summarize my experience at the Burning River 100 mile Endurance Run,
but my memory seems to be a bit blurry.
Leading
up to the Race:
My training
went extremely well. Even though I have 4 kids and work full-time I was able to
get some great training weeks averaging 70 miles per week. I even got 2 100 mile weeks in. I ran the Mohican 50
miler 6 weeks prior to the race as a training run and felt great. To be honest
I think I was a bit over-confident going into the race.
My husband
and kids were planning on crewing for me and this would be a first of any race.
I was very excited about this! But things got turned upside down about a week
before the race when my husband found out he was accepted into pharmacy school
(he was on the waiting list and we pretty much blew it off like he wasn’t going
to get in this year). So plans changed. He would not be able to drive me to the
race as he had a ceremony he had to attend Friday evening. So he planned on
driving there with the kids Saturday morning. He would still crew me later in
the afternoon and night- at least that was the plan.
Friday
around 9:45am my running buddy, Mark, picked me up in his truck. We then picked
up another runner, Jeff, who neither of us had met previously, at a McDonalds
to give him a ride too. Jeff was a 21 year old first time 100 miler who signed
up the day before for the race! Wow does that take guts!
We arrived
at packet pickup, didn’t stay long as we wanted to get to our hotel early. I
was hoping to hit the sack by 7 since I needed to wake up by 2am. I was NOT
looking forward to the 2am wake up call. Yikes.
Well, I did
get to my hotel room by 7 but fall asleep early I did not. The numbers kept
turning and turning on the alarm clock as I lied there unable to turn off my
mind. I eventually dozed off around 10 to wake up again at 11. I stayed awake
until around 1 and woke up on my own at 1:50. I lied in bed staring up at the
ceiling until the alarm sounded thinking, “What the hell did I sign up for this
race for?” For my first hundred, Woodstock, I was so excited for the race to
get started I could hardly stand the wait. This one was much different for some
reason. Maybe it was the early morning start. I’ve never been a morning person.
I met Mark
at the elevator at 2:30 and we headed to downtown Cuyahoga Falls to catch the
bus to take us to the start in Willoughby Hills. Well this bus ride nearly did
me in. Windows were open, including an emergency exit sun roof right above me
and the cool wind blew on me for the entire 40 minute ride. I was shivering
wearing only a sleeveless top. I should have brought a jacket but I didn’t
realize there was a drop bag area at the starting line. So I froze.
We arrived
at the start line around 4:20. 40 minutes of waiting around in the cool air (it
really wasn’t that cool but when I’m nervous I tend to get chilly.) But I found
a spot light near some steps and sat my butt down right next to it as it gave
off a bit of heat. That felt awesome! I was still feeling very nervous for some
reason, but I knew I’d feel much better once I started running.
Miles
0-25:
Sure enough,
about a minute into the run I was loosening up and feeling much more confident.
I started out running with Mark and Jeff. The first 13ish miles were completely
on road. Mark and I were feeling good and had the tendency to run a little
fast. We would look at our Garmins and see an 8 minute pace and have to force
ourselves to slow down. We tried our best to keep the pace at least 9 minute
pace, but let me tell you, that is really hard on the road and when you’re
feeling fresh after a 2 week taper! I dreaded the road section before the race
but was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful scenery and I actually enjoyed
it. However, where the heck did all the hills come from? I thought it was
supposed to be flat? The hills tended to be long, gradual up hills and short
steep down hills. We took the down hills too fast. Looked at my Garmin a few
times and we were running a 6 minute pace flying down the hills!
By the end
of the long road section I was dying to get off the pavement. FINALLY we
arrived at Polo Fields and would get on the softer surface of the trails. The
next 10-12 miles were peaceful and I really enjoyed it. These miles seemed to
fly by. Mark was getting a bit hot though. And around mile 22 is where trouble
started for me. My left IT band on the outside of my knee began to flare up. It
seemed to come on relatively suddenly and this baffled me. During a couple of
my long training runs I did feel a slight twinge in the same spot but it never
really hurt. This HURT. And being so early in the race I got scared.
Miles
25-50:
If I
remember correctly these miles were mainly bridle trail and some single track
with a few sections of paved bike trail. The course I found to be pretty. I
loved seeing and hearing the river so frequently. But things were going from
bad to worse rapidly with my left knee. I began having great difficulty on the
down hills. I was having to take it very slow, sometimes walking down them.
This was the most frustrating part because I normally like to stretch out down
the hills. This was slowing me down big time. I was way ahead of a 20 hour pace
at this point and feeling totally fresh other than my stupid knee.
Mark and I
had separated at this point so these were some lonely miles. I thought about
him many times and as I slowed down I prayed that he would catch up to me again
so I’d have his company. Unfortunately Mark was having problems of his own and
sadly was forced to drop around mile 60.
I have to
say the aide stations were fabulous. As soon as I arrived I was met by someone
eager to get me whatever I wanted. The volunteer would run to get my drop bag
and a chair and any food or drink I wanted.
Mile 40 is
always the beginning of my nausea whether a 50 mile race or 100 mile race
(well, with this only being my 2nd 100 I can only say it has
happened in 1 other 100. But you get the point). And sure enough it hit. I just
could not eat much and constantly felt like hurling. I never did actually throw
up- I rarely do- but just that feeling like I’m going to throw up is no fun at
all. So I drank ginger-ale at every aide station.
I was
beginning to feel a major low as I neared 50 miles. I was in so much pain on
every single step that I truly wanted to drop… but my brother was driving all
the way here to pace me. I absolutely could not let him down and quit now. It
was an awful feeling. As I arrived at every aide station I expected to see my
husband and kids and I knew that would give me an emotional boost. But I was
disappointed every time as they were never there. So then all these worries
crossed my mind – did they get in an accident? Did something happen to one of
the kids and they can’t get a hold of me? Why weren’t they here?
Miles
50-75:
Crossing the
halfway point is usually an energizing and positive experience for me in any
race. But not this time. I was in excruciating pain and it was so hard to force
myself to run. I absolutely could not run the down hills anymore at all. In
fact, I had to keep my knee straight as I hobbled down the hill as putting any
weight on it bent was unbearable. I told myself I just had to get to the ledges
aid station at mile 64 where my brother would start pacing me the rest of the
way. It was a long, long time getting there.
At the
Snowville Aide station I had another severe bought of nausea. I had to lean
over for a couple minutes trying to keep my stomach contents from escaping. I
took a little gingerale and a peppermint. In a few minutes I was settled enough
to hobble off onto the trail.
Sometime
soon after I had my one and only fall. I snagged a root and went down hard on
my left elbow. I cursed the trail, got up, wiped off some dirt, and got going
again with some blood pooling on my elbow. It was a nice reminder to pick up my
feet in these more technical areas
I finally
hobbled into Pine Lane aide station. As usual I was met by an excited volunteer
begging to help in any way he could. I told him I was having horrible ITB
issues and wasn’t sure how I was going to finish this thing. He had some kind
of gloves on with thick knuckles and started working my ITB hard. He rubbed it
for several minutes and another volunteer fed me a spoon full of sea salt. They were amazing and I
wish I had gotten their names so I could thank them again.
I knew I
would soon be seeing my brother and that should give me a bit of an emotional
lift. Maybe conversation with him would help keep my mind off the pain of my
knee. I was taking forever now having to walk so frequently. Injury to the IT
Band is strange- not like other injuries I’ve had. Other injuries I’ve had
would be very painful when I first start running, but the more I run the more
the pain dulls and I can tolerate it and eventually not even think about it
anymore. But this was different. Every subsequent step seemed to cause a
cumulative effect of pain. Each step more painful than the previous one until
eventually I’d have to cry “uncle” and take a walk break. However, anytime I
stopped it was extremely difficult to start up again as the knee would stiffen
up. I was in a no win situation.
My first 100
mile race was filled with some lows, but each low was always eventually
followed by a high. It was so much different this time. I was becoming mentally
drained trying to deal with the knee pain and the low just got lower and I
don’t remember ever coming out of it the last thirty-some miles. My goal of sub
21 hours was disappearing fast.
I reached
the ledges aide station, looked all over for my husband and kids to no avail.
But my brother, Tom, was there and seemed surprised to see me (I’m not sure why
he was so surprised as I was an hour behind my projected arrival time). He
wasn’t even wearing his running clothes yet! I didn’t mind though. Had I been
feeling great and on track for my goal time I would have run off without him
and told him to catch me. But I took the time to load up on some nutrition,
drink more gingerale, and massage the heck out of my ITB.
When Tom
approached me he told me what happened to my husband. They had just left home-
about 30 minutes away- when the van broke down! Tom had to pick them up and
bring them home as they had the van towed. Tom went ahead then and began the
drive toward Cuyahoga Falls while my husband and kids took our smaller car. With
6 of us in the family and a car that only holds 5 we had a bit of a dilemma for
the ride home. One of the kids would have to ride home with my brother. At any
rate, Tom told me my family was on their way and should be arriving anytime.
I explained
to Tom that he had his work cut out for him as I was having major issues with
my ITB. We had to start off walking
quite a while since I had stopped so long at the aide station my knee totally
stiffened up. So we walked for a few minutes then started jogging and I think I
groaned and complained constantly (I needed someone to vent to… thanks Tom!).
We still had
over an hour of daylight left- and good thing as the section after ledges was
quite technical and hazardous. I’d hate to run that thing in the dark. It was
very rocky and I remember these steps that seemed to move/wiggle every time I
landed on one… or was that just another hallucination? Yes, the hallucinations
started around mile 80ish. The first one was a scary little bunny rabbit that
was running right toward me. I yelled and jumped over it to my brother’s
amusement as nothing was there. And the second hallucination came a little
later and was just auditory. I heard a voice whispering, “Hey, hey, hey.” After
a few seconds of this I realized it was my shoe squishing from the mud.
My mind was
definitely going. I even got lost one time when I stepped off the trail to go
to the bathroom. I thought I was heading back to the trail that I just left but
the thick brush kept getting thicker. After a few minutes trying to find my way
out I yelled out to my brother, “Where the hell am I?” I heard his voice
telling me to come that way. Soon I could see his headlight. I went down a
steep ravine and ended up in the river at a place that wasn’t an easy place to
cross. But I went through the water and crossed there anyways, then climbed
back up the ravine, through some more brush and finally got on the trail again.
Tom must have thought I was the biggest ditz in the universe!
Miles 75-103
These miles
were the slowest miles of my life. I was able to keep a job going for about 10
minutes a few times before needing to give in to the pain and walk again. Then
it was just so difficult to force myself to start up again. Tom was obviously getting
impatient with me and tried to at least get me to walk faster. When I was
walking now I was falling asleep. I just wanted to be done. This was not fun
and hadn’t been fun since about 50 miles ago. I told Tom I was never doing
another hundred and told him, “Don’t ever let me sign up for another one of
these!”
At Covered
Bridge aide station I had my biggest low of the race. I sat in the dreaded
chair and began shivering uncontrollably. A wonderful volunteer gave me a
blanket and hot soup. I just didn’t know if it was worth it anymore. Was I
doing permanent damage to my knee, which was now getting noticeably swollen.
But I remember my brother having this injury before and a physical therapist he
was running with told him he couldn’t do permanent damage… it just hurts like
hell. So I knew there was no backing out now with 17 miles to go. There was a
4-5 mile loop back to covered bridge again. I would run the loop and
re-evaluate. Another awesome volunteer walked Tom and I off to the trail head
with a map and explained the loop section in detail. He was very helpful!
After making
it back to covered bridge I knew I had to keep moving and not tempt myself to
stop again, so I grabbed a couple things to eat and kept walking. I knew
getting to the next aide station would be huge as then I’d only have 10 miles
to go- mostly on paved surface which might be much easier on the knee at this
point.
Every mile
took an eternity. I would jog when my brother pressured me to run a little-
pacers are good for that. But I couldn’t sustain anything more than 5-8 minutes
without my leg giving out. But I was getting ever so closer.
We hit the
next aide station and again I tried not to stop long. Filled up my water and
grabbed a couple things to eat (I don’t even remember what I was eating at this
point in the race). And we kept on going, jogging and walking (mostly walking I
think).
Then we got
to the final aide station and there I saw my husband for the first time!
Apparently he tried to see me at an early crew area but missed me. At any rate
I was happy to see him and it gave me a little lift. 5 miles to go! But the first
mile seemed completely up a long ass hill! Oh well. We ran into another runner
and walked with him for a little company. When we reached the top we started
jogging again and left the other runner behind. One little single track trail
section, a couple of sets of stairs (which were no fun), and finally reached
the home stretch. With a mile left my husband dropped off my oldest son, James
so he could run in with me. James is 14 and a very fast runner, yet he
complained about how tired he was (having to get up at 4am to run). He laughed
at himself after realizing how ridiculous it was for him to complain about
being tired when his old mom just ran over 100 miles with no sleep. I was so
happy when the clock tower finally came into view. I had made it. 24 hours and
48 minutes. Far from 21 hours, but I didn’t care anymore. I persevered through
some very difficult obstacles and walked away with my second buckle. 2 for 2 in
hundreds. I walked over to a volunteer, asked for a big bag of ice, sat down
and iced my knee. Then it started to rain.
What did I
learn from this experience?
·
I
may never use a pacer again so I don’t feel the pressure of HAVING to finish
even when I have a significant injury. I just couldn’t have my brother drive 4
hours just to pace me and then quit on him. But I’m paying for it now as a week
after the race I still am not able to walk without a significant limp. I may
not be running for a few weeks and that is killing me!
·
I
need to strengthen my hips and butt to help prevent more ITB issues.
·
Bring
a roller.
·
Don’t
sprint the down hills early in a race.
·
Pay
closer attention to where I am when I step off the trail to go to the bathroom.
·
I
like using a handheld light better than the headlamp.
Oh, and as
far as me “never running another hundred?”
I think I said the same thing in the middle of my first hundred. I’m
already planning on running the Indiana Trail 100 next spring J.
