The real story behind my run began quite a few days before the Philly
100 began. I had offered to pace a woman at the MMT 100 (Massanutten
Mountain Trails 100) so i thought it would be a good idea to get familiar
with the terrain i would be running on. I did this by running the MMT
training run #3 put on by the VHTRC (Virginia Happy Trails Running Club).
The #3 run covers the last 38 or so miles of the MMT and has around 7500 FT of climb and descent. The run is spectacularly beautiful with narrow ridges
and fun climbs all littered with the notorious Massanutten rocks. I was
having a great time not falling and hardly even tripping on the technical
trails. We left a technical section on Bird Mountain and started running
down a mossy jeep trail and i mentioned what a nice road it was. Just a few
moments after that i went down VERY hard on both knees. The left knee in
particular got quite painful when we went faster on the few road downhill
sections. We finished the run but by the end my left knee had a big knot
on it and it hurt while running fast or running downhill. Because the knee
hurt for quite a few days and because it was "crunchy" my partner prodded me to see the Orthopedist. The Dr took a lot of X-rays and did some tests hes
said i have Chondromalacia "We all get it" but that my knee was basically
healthy. He diagnosed several flexibility and strength issues i have and
gave me a script for physical therapy and a lift for my short leg. He suggested
that inserts of any kind would help. He likes Superfeet (NFI). The most
important part of the visit is that he told me that i could run the
Philadelphia 100 miler as long as i paid attention to the symptoms of my knees.YEAH We are set to go ! I went into the Dr's office worried and left encouraged.
As the day of the run came closer i gathered my supplies for the run. I got
lithium batteries for my USB charger so i could recharge my Garmin 305 GPS.
I made sure i had my headlamps ready to go. My partner bought lots of medjool dates and unsalted almonds. All of this except for the food was packed into the nice bags provided by Reston Runners for the JFK 50. My partner tried to get someone to cover for her on Sunday. She teaches Sunday school at the local Unitarian Church but everyone who might have covered for her was out of town. I would do this run on my own. I did have a lot of help with supplies from my partner, though ;-)
Friday came along and i went to work as usual i did my usual non-cigarette
breaks where i go out for a short walk where in the past i would have smoked. When work was done i walked home and had a nice dinner with Laura and waited for the DC/Megalopolis traffic to die down. I did, however, eat too much fresh papaya. That would come back later to haunt me. Dinner was leisurly and we watched a couple of videos.
After dinner i quickly went through my checklist and reluctantly headed out. It was just a little after 9pm by the time i got in the car and en-route. The
traffic going up the Northeast Corridor was very light. I got to the Motel 6
in Mount Laurel NJ a bit before Midnight. The motel was very sparsely furnished there was not even a coffee machine. I did not mind. All i needed was a few hours of rest. I woke up at 3:30 and finished my race day checklist by 4:00 am. I was out of the motel already sleep deprived a bit after 4 am.
I had wanted to stop at a genuine New Jersey diner for breakfast on the way to the race but there was not enough time. I parked the car at the Burger King across Rt 73 from the motel and walked up to the ordering window. They would not serve me if i was not in a car. I don't get how being in a car makes someone safe. I just don't get it but i got in my car and ordered a breakfast sandwith and some coffee.
I called my partner Laura on the way to the race and we chatted briefly. I would turn the cell phone on and off for the next 36 hours to keep it from running out of charge.
I got to Sedgely and Kelly Drive at around 5 am and talked to a couple of
runners who were already there including a runner from Canada who started early on Friday and had already done about 50 miles. He was quite chilled by the early morning weather.
People began rolling in pretty quickly after 5:30 and i got to see Lauri again.
It is always nice to see Lauri. I put my aid bag on the grass next to some of
the other people stuff who had crews. This little patch of grass would become
our oasis at the end of lovely Boathouse Row in Philadelphia.
The race started informally with Lauri saying it was time to go. The only rule
she seemed to care about is that you kept your watch running if you stopped and record your distance accurately. I had watch that went to 99:99.99 and i had a battery pack and cables to keep my Garmin 305 charged for the whole time.
The first lap went quickly with me chatting with other runners for a couple
miles. We were even going a bit faster than 10 minutes per mile which is a
REALLY nice pace for the start of a 100 mile run. I would only stay with them
for 2 miles as i was doing a pattern of running 20 minutes easilly then walking 10 minutes fast - or at least i did that for the first 72 miles or so. I was
pleased that even at around 9 minutes/mile my heart rate was well under
100 beats/minute. I thought i boded well for the day. I was a little confused
about the turnoff at the Falls bridge but it was a bit more than 4 miles out
on the 8.4 mile loop so i took what would be the first of 12 right turns onto
the Falls Bridge. Even in the darkness of the start we could see people out on
the Schuylkill River in their rowing sculls. The rowing sculls on the river
would be a constant source of entertainment for the next 28+ hours.
As far as logistics we had our cars to store things in and the runners staked
out an area where they put down bags and portable chairs for a kind of 36 hour picnic while the run was going on. From 7am til 9pm the bathrooms at Lloyd Hall just across from the 'picnic aid stop' were open. There were Porta-potties scattered about the course. Most of them were locked but there were open ones here and there and of course you could always find a bush to hide behind if absolutely necessary. At the other end of the 8.4 mile loop there are 2 gas stations one with a quick mart and one with a Dunkin Donuts. There also was a pizza shop too. With all the food , water and coconut water i brought and these stores i would not lack for nutrition.
My strategy for the race was very low key. I was out to get a night run. After
i had run through the whole night after starting at 6:00am i would see where i was. If i wanted to finish the entire 100.8 miles there was a 36 hour time
limit so it would be quite doable. My attitude, as usual was to have fun and
enjoy the run as much as possible. This run was in many ways a training run for the much harder mountain 100 milers i have on my schedule in the summer and possibly a very hard mountain 100 in October.
The run went easilly for the first 3 laps with me passing the Marathon somewhere around 5:35 according to my GPS and the 50K at about 7:15. I wore my water pack loaded with 3 litres of water til about 50k but i dropped the water pack at lap 4 and just drank a lot every time i got back to the picnic area. At the aid stop i would drink a coconut water and a large coffee cup filled with a mixture of kosher grape juice and water. I started slowing at this point but i felt good. The run was fun and carefree til around the 7th lap and 58.8 miles. I had a bad patch there. A turkey sandwich and a V-8 at the quickie mart helped turn that around. The dates and nuts i had been eating every hour supplemented with salt pretzels started to be insufficient nutrition towards the second half of the run. I had hoped to be at 50 miles at under 12 hours but 16 minutes was no big deal.
After about the 6th lap i started playing tag with James Lampman. We would walk or run together and talk. He is a REALLY good walker. Sometimes he was keeping a 14 minute mile pace after all that distance. He has run a lot of ultras and a lot of 100's. It was good to hear him talk. He is in school for
kinesthesiology. He will use this training to help other athletes. Being an
athlete himself he will bring a special perspective to his practice.
lap Dist time Lap time
---------------------------------
1 - 8.4 - 1:42:08 1:42:08
2 - 16.8 - 3:32:33 1:50:25 Stopped to change shoes
3 - 25.2 - 5:25:54 1:53:22
4 - 33.6 - 7:42:06 2:16:12 lots of logistics , bathroom to ch clothes
5 - 42 - 9:55:48 2:13:42
6 - 50.4 - 12:16:52 2:21:04
7 - 58.8 - 14:31:45 2:14:53
8 - 67.2 - 16:54:45 2:23:00
9 - 75.6 - 19:30:45 2:36:00
10 - 84.0 - 22:32:36 3:01:51
11 - 92.4 - 25:15:56 2:43:20
12 - 100.8 - 28:12:47.17 2:56:51
I was to call Laura, my partner about every 12 hours. The next call was due at
about twilight when she feeds the cats. At that point. The sky was starting to
get light and a beautiful dark blue color was reflected in the River from the
sky. This was one of the most beautiful moments of the race. After than i had
my first sleep deprivation hallucination. There are a bunch of bushes planted
across from boathouse row. My mind insisted on seeing the bushes as a herd of llamas grooming each other. I though they were really neat but as i looked at them more closely they morphed back into bushes. During the night and early morning i ended up getting a couple of the Red Bull shots to keep me awake. They really helped.
During the first 9-10 laps of the race i really really enjoyed myself. The low
spot around 55-58 miles was easy to handle with a little food. The last 2-3
laps i still enjoyed but they were a lot harder than the rest of the race. I
found it very hard to run and when i did run it was not much faster than walking so i walked. The end of the race was literally a walk in the park. It hurt a little but it was a walk in the park. The highlights of the end of the run were the regatta with rowing teams from all the local schools in the water competing. Lots of excitement and getting a couple of morning snacks. When i started my end march i got an egg and turkey sausage sandwich at the market and it tasted oh So good. On my last lap i stopped at the Dunkin Donuts for a bagel with Salmon spread and a cup of coffee. It might not seem ambitious but there were things about this race i would not want to give up. One of them was sitting and chatting with the people who were volunteering and helping their runners finish. Another thing was that last snack. It was so nice walking that last bit with my bagel and cup of coffee. I also had the best tasting pizza i have eaten in years. Yes it was cold and stiff by the time it was offered to me but it was the BEST tasting pizza i have had in years and it sure kept me going when the food i had brought was starting to not work so well. Thanks James ! You and your dad sure helped a lot. Thanks for lending me gloves when my hands were freezing.
Sorry the story is so disjointed. I'm still a bit sleep deprived from the trip.
I'm going to go to bed early tonight and try to catch up on sleep.
Enjoy your running !
---- Marina Brown
No comments:
Post a Comment