The past 5 weeks have included 4 races, two of which were ultras. I had felt tired and run down for the past 2 months with the intensity of this feeling increasing over the past 2 weeks. My training wasn't going particularly well, my mileage was lower than usual, and my intensity had ben waning. I had chalked this up to allergies, stress, and maybe even overtraining. However, this Tuesday, I ran a section through my neighborhood that is hilly but isn't over the top. I simply could not run the hills. I had never felt so unable to muster even the slightest amount of energy to run these hills. I felt awful. Tired, worn out, and simply unable to go.
I finally decided to get a blood draw and found that I had a hemoglobin of 7.8. I had food poisoning and then C. Diff while in the hospital last October (just before Pinhoti 100) and this had evidently messed with my GI tracts ability to absorb nutrients, leading to my anemia. Most doctors will consider a transfusion once your hemoglobin dips below 8.0. On Thursday, I began taking a high dosage of iron supplementation to get my hemoglobin to normal levels. Considering this, why not run an ultra 48 hours after being told you could have a blood transfusion?
I had signed up for the Strolling Jim 40-Miler a few months ago and was planning on making it one of my last hard long runs prior to the Old Dominion 100-Miler. I considered not going but made a last second decision to pack up the car and continue to Wartrace, TN. I was not sure what to expect. Running had gotten progressively more difficult over the past few weeks, and a 41.2-mile race through the rolling roads of middle Tennessee was going to be a challenge. At first, I thought I was going to take it easy at an 8:00 minute per mile pace and just enjoy the day. On the drive down, I changed my mind and decided to go on and give it a good effort and try to get a gold T-shirt for a sub 5 hour finish. What is the worst thing that could happen? Slog the last 10 miles? Been there, done that already.
Once we arrived in middle TN, I finally decided to check the weather. I probably should have thought to do this on Thursday, but Friday night after a 4.5 hour drive seemed to be the appropriate time. It was the first Saturday in May, and I figured the weather couldn't be much worst than a high in the 60s. Well, Accuweather proved me wrong with highs in the upper 40s/low 50s and rain. Thankfully, I had brought nothing to wear other than shorts and a t-shirt!
We woke up at 4:15am on Saturday to ensure I had plenty of time to go through all my pre-race rituals and then proceeded to the race start at 5:30am. I slept horribly the night before. However, I hadn't slept well for a month, so another night of 5-6 hours of sleep seemed to be right on par. I woke up tired and was greeted to the sound of rain against the hotel window. The weather was a nice 40 degrees and a constant rain. I laughed at my lack of thought to check the weather before departing and prepared for a long day in a cool rain.
I was excited to have my wife once again crew for me. She has gotten me through every ultramarathon except one. She is the one who can pull me through any dark patch, put up with my crabbiness as the day proceeds, and improvise to pull an ultramarathon MacGyver at most any time.
When it comes to the Strolling Jim, it is a minimalist race. There is no pre-race dinner, no extravagant aid stations, and no one catering to your every whim. The race director makes this clear on the website. What is offered is a great t-shirt, fantastic runners, plenty of water jugs throughout the course, lots of crews from other runners offering help and encouragement, a well-marked course, and a great group of ultrarunners.
I huddled under the gazebo with the rest of the runners a few minutes before the race. I had the pleasure of talking to someone who had a Smoky Mountain Marathon race cap on and traded stories of running the race in 1998 and then learned she had run the IMTR 16-Miler two years previous. At this time, we were summoned to the start line, given our final instructions, and we were off.
Within the first seconds of the race, Owen Bradley took off. I wasn't overly concerned and just locked into a roughly 7:10 pace. After running for less than a mile, I was in no-man's land. I was all alone with 1st place being too far in front and 3rd being too far behind. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing on the road over the first 10 miles. The one's I remember are "Warning dangerous dogs the next 40 miles" and "This is not a hill" and at mile 8.5 "This is a hill" and "No more hills" followed shortly at the base of another hill by "Just kidding." My favorite might have been "Even females run this hill" or "Only wimps walk here."
All was sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows (with 40 degree temps and a constant rain) for the first 20 miles. I had the joy of having Gary Cantrell / Laz (of Barkley fame) yell split times and even get to see Big. I got chased by a German Shepard... twice. I enjoyed the scenery and loved the thoughts of running alone. Laz even passed and told me I was 5 minutes behind the leader. I didn't really care, I just wanted that gold shirt!
Just passed mile 20, I began to have some GI distress and my finger nail beds started to turn blue. At mile 22, my wife was there and I got to tell her to get some toilet paper ready, find a place to pull the car over and let me go to the bathroom behind it. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this was the beginning of the end. Come to find out, iron supplementation causes severe GI distress. I was beginning to experience this. Couple this with anemia and my day began to unravel.
I would attempt to drink or eat and this would immediately spur another "bathroom" break. At mile 24, I stopped even trying to eat or drink. Natalie helped me by pulling over and providing cover 4 times in total from mile 22 through mile 31. I apologize to those who I happened to defecate on your property. Ya know, shit happens. On this day, it just so happened on the back roads of middle TN. If you are ever in East TN, I have some woods behind my house.
Miles 24 thru 41.2 were an exercise in determination. Natalie would drive a mile or two ahead and make sure I was ok and repeat the process. My fingers had turned blue at this point, and I saw that a sub 5 hour day was gone. At this time, I slowed the pace both by choice and because I had no choice and was ready to death slog my way into the finish.
I was shocked with 5k to go that no one had caught me. I had slowed drastically and was just running at 8:45 per mile pace. When I hit highway 64, I finally took the time to look back. That is when I saw 3rd place. At the time, I thought there was another person with 3rd place and that I could easily drop to 4th. Come to find out, this was just her pacer on a bike. However, I was convinced I was about to drop to 4th place. I dug as deep as I could to throw down a sub-8 mile to push my way into Wartrace and the finish and ensure a top 3 finish. I'm sure I looked like Phoebe on Friends when running, but I was done and form was the last thing on my mind (though it should have been the first). I happily crossed the line in 5:14:56, 2nd overall, and called it a day. A little less than 5 minutes later, third place overall (1st place female), Jill Horst, came in. Congratulations to her for completing and winning her first ultra!
Strolling Jim 40-Miler was a fantastic race. I loved the atmosphere, the minimalist feel, and the friendliness of all the runners and crews. It is rare that I want to return to a race due to anything other than its convenience to my front door. Strolling Jim is one of the rare races where I will be back because I love the course, feel of the race, and fellow competitors. I hope to make it to this race with a Tri-Cities group next year!
Thanks to all the volunteers and race director, Mike Melton, for a fantastic race! Of course, I big thanks to my wife for crewing for me and putting up with all of my crap (pun intended).
No comments:
Post a Comment