Excitement had been building inside me for days. My January birthday run was looming . . . 61 miles on the trails of Lake Jacomo (Fleming Park)! Last year, I chose Landahl Mountain Bike Park for my birthday miles. At Landahl, it was simple to go out and run a loop the distance of my choosing and come back to the oasis of my heated crew tent in the parking lot. Jacomo would present all new challenges.
Even though Landahl will always be my “home trail,” I have come to love the wilder, more rugged trails at Jacomo. My Jacomo course would be basically an out-and-back course with a couple of lollipop loops at the end. My crew would have to provide a rolling aid station out of our van. To complicate things further, sections of the roads at Jacomo are gated and closed at sunset. This would mean some long stretches with no access to crew or a warm vehicle.
My daughter Elizabeth has been my principal conspirator in all sorts of running adventures. I cannot say how much I value her input, support, and encouragement! A few days before my run, she and I gathered around her table—armed with phones, a laptop, maps, mileage charts, and tentative crewing plans—to hammer out the final details of Freeze Fest 2021. It was difficult, as we could only estimate mileage between some points. We were very familiar with the trails at the northwest end of Jacomo where I would start, but the south and southwest trail distances were more ambiguous. We had run them before, but not in the configuration I was now planning.
We scoped out Strava data, especially studying the GPS track of my son Aaron’s 51.42-mile run at Jacomo last May on a similar course as I was planning. Only I needed to find an addition 9.6 or so miles. We estimated and added and studied and scratched our heads until my brain was boggled. We finally decided on a route as close as we could figure to my desired 61 miles with a backup plan of where I could pick up a few extra miles if needed toward the end of the route.
The other issue was timing. I had planned a noon start like last year. I wanted to finish in daylight. My 60 miles last year at Landahl had taken me had taken me almost 23 hours to complete (including some rather long stops to warm up and eat). This was much harder trail, but hopefully significantly better weather. I had no idea how long it was going to take me to complete 61 miles (or how long I might need to stop to warm up and/or deal with stomach issues). We also were unsure which gates at Jacomo might be closed and which crew points would or would not be accessible during the night. So many variables over which I had no control!
As we began estimating my arrival at certain crew points, a serious issue was revealed. Starting at noon would mean covering the longest, roughest section of the trail with no crew access during the coldest time of the wee morning hours. This seemed unwise. If we got dangerously cold, there was no safety net. Elizabeth suggested moving the start time. I was ultimately convinced she was right, and we decided I would start at 3:00 p.m. Friday instead of noon. I had qualms about only getting in roughly two hours of daylight running before heading into the darkness, but it seemed the best option we had. By starting at 3:00 p.m., we would not be running the section that would be closed to crew access during the night.
I wanted this run, as I do all my running, to be about something bigger than just me running 61 miles for my birthday. I always want to bring God glory through my running. I was unsure how to do that with this run. During last year’s birthday run, I had tried to pray for a certain person each mile I ran. Unfortunately, I was quickly forced to abandon this goal, as I discovered I could not mentally deal with monitoring my GPS watch for each mile to flip over during such a long run.
While praying about my desires for this year’s birthday run, an idea popped into my head. What if I asked other people to do the praying? What if I came up with 61 prayer prompts and recruited volunteers to pray for one of them each mile as I ran? I decided to try it! After thought and prayer, I wrote down 61 prompts such as, “Pray for a clerk at a store,” and “Pray for strong relationships in our families,” and numbered them by mile. Then I hit social media to ask for volunteers. The initial response was meager. I debated whether to press on or just let it go. Then a friend commented on social media, “This is such a wonderful thing! It almost made me cry. Thank you!” I would press on!
By the time I left home to start my run, most of the miles were covered. I printed out the rest of the prompts on a small card and committed to try to pray for these myself at some point during the run. (And I did! During times when I felt good, I pulled out the card and prayed for three or four or five of the prompts at a time and in this manner was able to complete the list.)
I slept fairly well the night before my run. In the morning, I finished some last minute packing and preparations, and checked my lists to make sure I had everything. I was very excited and slightly nervous. The extra time to prepare that came with my delayed start was actually great.
My husband Don helped me apply Rock Tape to places that I know are vulnerable to chafing and I lubed other vulnerable areas with Squirrel Nut Butter. Then he assisted with loading tons of gear and fuel (only a slight exaggeration!) into our van, and off I went. (He was going to get some sleep before coming out, since he was going to be up all night crewing me.) To cut down on the number of vehicles we had to park somewhere around during the run, I picked up Elizabeth. My blue van would be our official crew vehicle.
What to do with our other vehicles as family members drove out to join us had been a concern. None of us felt comfortable leaving vehicles at any of the trail head parking lots overnight. We had discussed how to handle this several times with no good resolution. Then I remembered that some friends lived very near the north trail head. We had recently visited their home for a church get together. It would be a perfect location to park our extra vehicles. Our friends graciously agreed and one more problem was solved.
By the time I got to Elizabeth’s house (later than intended) and we loaded her gear (almost as much as mine!) It became obvious that we were not going to make it to the trail head as early as I wanted to. In fact, we might not even get there by 3:00 p.m.! I allowed this to cause me stress. You are talking about the girl who likes nice, even, tidy numbers—the one who jogs around the parking lot at the end of a trail run until her watch flips over to one of those nice, tidy numbers.
We pulled into the parking lot minutes before 3:00. “You could still make it,” Elizabeth said. But I knew that would not be a good way to start. I wanted to feel more relaxed and ready to go. “So start at 3:05,” she said. It was not what I had planned, but okay.
I gave her the keys to the van and got ready to start. The plan was for Elizabeth to join me as a pacer about mile 20. In the meantime, she would follow along in the van, meeting me at several road crossing along the way. Later in the evening, Don and Elizabeth’s boyfriend Brian would come out to crew through the night. Don would stay for the rest of the run. Our son Aaron was coming out at some point to run with me, also.
I put on my hydration vest and checked to make sure it was properly loaded. I clicked my watch over to “Run” and waited to get GPS signal . . . and waited . . . and waited. Why wasn’t my watch picking up signal? I had started runs from this location plenty of times and never had an issue. And wait—my watch wasn’t even displaying the correct time of day! It was about 4 minutes slow! I turned my watch completely off and turned it back on. I synced it with my phone by blue tooth. The time did not change. And I still did not have GPS signal. So much for starting at 3:05.
A car turned into the entrance to the park across the road and then stopped and turned around. Elizabeth and I both stared. Finally she said, “Is that main gate closed?” We walked that direction and looked more closely. The gate was closed! I fought off a moment of panic. Now what? My mind was churning. Why in the world was the main gate closed? They only close it when the park roads are snowy or icy.
Well, there was a winter storm last weekend. And they do not scrape or treat the roads in the park in any way. They just close the gates until the sun melts all the snow and ice off the roads. I had not even factored in the possibility that the main gate could be closed. Could I even do my run here at Jacomo now? We had so much invested in this! What should we do now?
“Should I put extra fuel and water in my pack in case you can’t get to me for quite a while?” I asked Elizabeth.
“Just start,” Elizabeth said firmly. “Maybe I can access you from one of the other roads, or if I have to, I will run or hike in to meet and crew you. Just go.”
In my mind, I thought, “I hope this is not a foretaste of how my run is going to go. We are starting late, the gate is closed, my watch had the wrong time, and it won’t connect to GPS.”
Finally, my watch connected. My start time would be 3:10 p.m.. Elizabeth began the countdown, “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one . . . GO!” And I went.
I trotted a quarter mile down a wide sidewalk, then carefully crossed the busy road and headed south into the woods. Almost immediately, I felt myself start to relax. It was a nice day for early January—cloudy, mid to upper 30s, with a light breeze. The trails were in decent condition. I wore wool socks instead of my usual DryMax Trail Lites, because I thought the trail would be sloppy from the snow and ice the previous weekend and that my feet might be wet much of the run. Nope.
As I said in my previous post, this was a test run (literally) for some new gear and fuel. I was wearing my new Topo UltraVenture shoes for the very first time. Maybe not a great idea on a 61-mile run, but I had two other pairs of shoes available to change into if they caused issues. Or at least, I did if my crew could access me.
I’m going to geek out about trail shoes here for a few minutes, so skip this section if you are not into that! My usual shoe is the Altra Superior 3.0. It is an out-of-date model that hit a sweet spot for me, so I hoarded up as many pairs as I could find. My supply was dwindling, though, and I also wanted to try a shoe with a bit more underfoot for 100-mile races, especially over rocky terrain.
The Topo UltraVenture has a 5-mm heel-to-toe drop, compared to a zero drop in my Altras. They offered more support underfoot and were a bit more stack height than my Superiors, too. In my hunt for a great 100-mile shoe, I had ordered these UltraVentures, plus Topo TerraVentures, Altra Lone Peaks, and Altra Timps. The TerraVentures were an immediate no. They just didn’t feel right. I wanted to love the Timps so much . . . but the volume in the toe box was too low for me, especially with my enlarged arthritic right big toe. Everything else about them was sweet (including the color)!
The boxes with the Lone Peaks and UltraVentures sat in my living room for weeks as I could not seem to make a choice. I would put on one pair, walk around, run on my treadmill, take them off and then do the same with the other pair, trying to decide which shoes to keep…with no success.
I knew I had to make a decision and I had pretty much decided to send the UltraVentures back with the Timps. After all, I have always said I would not run in a shoe with more than a 4-mm drop. And they just felt different from what I was used to. I ran on my treadmill one more time in both the Lone Peaks and the UltraVentures. I really liked how the UltraVentures felt. But the Lone Peaks felt familiarly like my Superiors. They were the safe bet. The UltraVentures would be taking a chance. They might work for me or they might not. And I wouldn’t really know until I got some trail miles on them. Then I got some Christmas money. Hmmmm. I talked to my hubby and he agreed that if I donated my Christmas money to the cause, we could afford for me to keep both pairs. Decision made.
At Jacomo, the first mile and a half of the trail traverses three big hills and winds along some lovely bluffs, before descending to a large creek. I kept my effort level very easy with generous hiking breaks. As I jumped from rock to rock across the creek, I slipped enough to wet my right foot in the icy water. Good thing I had on the wool socks! The UltraVentures drained well and my foot felt dry again in no time. I know this section of trail well, and I made a point to focus on all the things I was thankful for in as I moved through the woods.
I hadn’t done my usual dynamic warm up before starting with all the unexpected glitches, and I thought that maybe I should stop and do a few of them. But just like in a race, with the clock ticking, I couldn’t stand to stop so soon. (I’ve got to work on overcoming this tendency!) I felt some tightness in my upper posterior chain that probably could have been alleviated if I had stopped to stretch.
Soon, I reached the first road crossing at 3.6 miles and there was Elizabeth hiking down the road to meet me. She assured me that not all the park roads were closed and that they would be able to crew me at reasonable intervals, though not as often as we had planned. It was shortly after 4:00 p.m., and would be getting dark in an hour, so I picked up my nighttime lighting, battery packs, and a wool shirt, as well as topping off fuel and water.
I was trying out a new fuel on this run, also. I struggle with spells of nausea during ultras longer than 50K and it gets so hard to eat, so hard to chew anything, even though I have learned that most of my stomach woes are from letting my stomach get too empty and ending up calorie deficient. I have fueled with all sorts of things during long ultras from pumpkin pie to mashed potatoes (which are both winners in my book during a race)! During training runs, I can eat about anything, and I usually fuel with cookies, because, well, I like cookies and don’t eat them as part of my daily healthy diet.
For this run, I used Liquid Shot from the First Endurance company. It is not a gel, since it does not have gelling agents, but is about the consistency of thick pudding (very thick when it’s cold). Liquid Shot is a whole package deal, containing electrolytes, amino acids, and carbohydrates. Just add water. It is also advertised as being easy to absorb and digest. And no chewing.
I like the idea of fueling with whole real foods during races, but in reality, it doesn’t seem to work out well for me. The Liquid Shot is calorie dense and easy to get down. I had only tried one bottle during one long run before my birthday run, and I wanted to test it thoroughly on this 61 miles before using it (or not) during Outlaw 100.
I had purchased four silicone soft flasks made for gels (UltrAspire Formula 250s). My crew put a serving of Liquid Shot in a soft flask and added a bit of water to thin it down. Voila! 400 calories! I also carried two 20-ounce bottles of water. The Liquid Shot was going down well, but neither flavor (vanilla and mountain huckleberry) impressed me. At the beginning, I also added a half serving of EFS powder to the mix to form a “slurry” as I had read other athletes did. This added an additional 100 calories and more electrolytes to the mix.
My crew could not access me at the next two road crossings. I had my phone with me, so I had contact with Elizabeth. (I was wearing the Spot Tracker, as well.) She told me that Aaron was coming out when he got off work and would run a section with me. I was glad to hear it and looked forward to some company in the dark. I crossed Selvey Road and started the section heading toward Sailboat Cove. It is a scenic, but rocky and hilly section, where the trail winds up and down along coves of the lake. Darkness fell and I turned on my own daylight machine—my Kogalla RA. It is an amazing lighting system for trail running. I wear it at my waist on a FlipBelt.
I was glad to see a headlamp bobbing across the cove. It was Aaron! I let out a whoop, and he yelled back in reply. It was another half mile or so before we actually met on the trail, but it was nice to know he was close by. When we met, he fell in behind me and we moved on toward the road crossing above Sailboat Cove. He had carried in supplies for me: My headlamp, water, a small charging brick, and tissues. By the time we got to the road, my watch said 10 miles, just slightly more than we had figured to that point.
Just past the road crossing, I stopped and put on my new headlamp, the BioLite 750—another new piece of equipment that I was testing on this run. I think I will stop right here to tell you how much I love this headlamp! It is very lightweight and comfortable, much lighter than my previous headlamp. And bright! I actually forgot a couple of times that I had not turned my Kogalla back on after an aid station stop because this headlamp was putting out so much light! I appreciated the way the lamp blinked three times when the battery was getting low. It did this maybe 4 or 5 times over a ten minute period and then dropped to a dim, reserve lighting level, which is supposed to last another 8 hours. It was not enough light to run by, but if you were caught in the woods, you could certainly hike out with the reserve light.
If this is not all great enough, the selling feature for me with this headlamp is the “run forever” pass-through charging. The initial charge on the headlamp lasted five hours on bright setting. (I used it right out of the box, forgetting to charge it before my run. I later discovered when fully charged, this headlamp lasts 12 hours!) When the light dimmed to reserve mode, I stopped and plugged the headlamp into a small $5.00 WalMart power bank (which tucked nicely into the front top pocket of my vest). The headlamp immediately resumed the bright setting and lasted another 5 hours on this cheap power bank. Instead of buying expensive batteries before every race, now I can just buy a few of these power banks and pick one up from my crew as needed through the night. Did I say that I am thrilled with this new headlamp? Oh and it also has a red light on the rear, in case I am ever running on the road at night—or decide to enter UTMB.
There is one flaw in the headlamp. The tilt feature of the lamp in front does not hold it’s position. I had read reviews about this problem, but I simply tipped the lamp forward to where I wanted it and stuffed a tissue behind it to hold it there. Problem solved.
My UltraVentures were still feeling good on my feet, too. I had been having some tightness in my right calf and wondered if it was from running in a 5-mm drop when I’m used to zero drop, but Aaron said he didn’t think so. So onward we went. I ended up wearing the UltraVentures for the entire run.
This section of trail follows some nice single track, then some grassy double track around the back of the elk and bison enclosures which dumps out onto the road. The gates on the road around the animal enclosures are closed at sunset, so we trotted about a tenth of a mile down the road to the gate where Elizabeth and Brian were waiting. Don pulled up just as I got there.
My stomach had already been feeling what I call “low level ick,” and I was only 12.5 miles in. I was doing some heavy mental attitude work in order to not stress over this. One of my big goals for this run was to stay calm when stomach problems struck—not to give in to anxiety and panic as I have at times in past races. I wondered if my stomach ick was from too much electrolytes in the cold conditions, and asked my crew to drop the EFS powder and just give me straight Liquid Shot. I hoped that would help my stomach settle down.
I plugged in my phone for the few minutes I was there and topped off my fuel and water. I picked up another power bank and used the Stick on my legs to hopefully loosen up the tight places. I had my crew take my traction devices (for my shoes) out of the back of my back, since I hadn’t encountered any ice and wanted to drop the weight.
Aaron wanted to continue through the next section with me, but we both knew it would be a long slow one. I encouraged him to go home, instead, and put his two little girls to bed, as they love their bedtime routine with their daddy. I assured everyone I would be fine solo and jogged up the road a short way to where the next section of trail began. This next section was long—we estimated 7.2 miles. And it contained the notorious “hills.” It was the roughest, steepest trail of the course and I knew it was going to take a while. I turned on an audio book I had downloaded and pressed forward. I tried to get into that audio book. I really did! But it was the most boring thing ever. After 15 or 20 minutes I stopped it and put on my Christian music play list. Much better!
The night was growing colder. The overnight low was supposed to hit 24 degrees. But I was still plenty warm, so did not add any extra layers at this point. (I had a wool shirt in my pack if I needed it.) I was taking in the Liquid Shot at regular intervals, about every 20 minutes, but it was hard to judge how many calories I was taking in each time. I just knew that the entire flask was 400 calories, and figured I should take in at least one flask every two hours.
I have learned in past situations that effort level and cold increase my calorie needs. I should have applied that knowledge in this section and increased my calorie intake a bit, but I didn’t. Consequently, my digestive system’s status continued to degrade. I took some slippery elm and a Pepto Bismal tablet at some point, but I don’t remember if it was this section. “Just keep moving forward,” I told myself.
I knew when I reached the next aid point, Elizabeth would join me. I set my focus on getting there. I felt like I was still moving well—not too hard of an effort level, but not lagging either. After the hill section, I hit a narrow bit of trail with a steep drop off into the lake on one side. A few sections were icy. “Don’t slip here,” I cautioned myself. I didn’t care to go for a polar plunge. I was not traveled this piece of trail very often and it looked unfamiliar in the dark. I was a bit unsure of my direction at one intersection, and after a few tenths of a mile, I actually turned back to double check that I took the correct turn at that trail junction. It seemed that I did, so I continued on. The last stretch of trail before I came to the Larry Mattonen trail head was chat. It was nice to move more freely on the smoother trail. There were a few icy sections here, too, but the trail was wide enough to avoid them for the most part. I was SO ready to reach my crew.
I began to feel chilled, but did not want to stop in the cold to take off my pack, strip out of my jacket, and add another shirt layer when I was so close to a warm van. My stomach felt worse, but I reminded myself that it was definitely not as bad as I have experienced during some races. I could tell I needed more calories, and I was anticipating hot soup at the van. And I was really looking forward to eating something besides Liquid Shot.
Finally (expect me to use this word a lot!) I reached the aid station stop. I had covered about 20 miles total at this point. As I came into the parking lot, what I felt like doing was breaking into tears and telling my husband (and the rest of my crew) just how terrible I felt. But I didn’t. I stayed (fairly) collected and calmly told them that I needed to warm up and get in some calories. My grandson Kolton was there and it cheered me immensely to get a warm hug from him! Sitting in the van on our heated seats and drinking hot soup was heavenly. I spent about 30 minutes at this stop, eating soup, regrouping, and taking off gear so I could add my wool shirt to my layers, and then putting my gear back on again. It was hard to get out of the warm van, but I knew it was time to get moving, and that now I would have Elizabeth’s company for the rest of my run. I felt a lot better after warming up and eating soup! And it was less than 3 miles to our next crew point.
Elizabeth and I moved along steadily. (I kept my Christian music playing the rest of the run. It really helped my attitude.) The next aid station stop was at Colburn Road. We soon reached the end of the single track trail on the east side of the lake and ran about a quarter mile along the sidewalk to reach the parking lot aid station. Once again, I climbed in the van and ate some soup. When I stopped, warmed up in the van, and ate soup, my stomach settled down and felt okay, but as I continued on my way, it would develop the “ick” again. We only stopped about 11 minutes here before heading off to conquer the west side trails.
We didn’t get far before discovering that trail conditions on this side of the lake were significantly more icy than the east side. Many sections of the trail were fine, but then we would hit long icy sections that were too slick to run or even walk. We ran along the edge of the trail in the leaves when we could, and bushwhacked along side the trail when we couldn’t. It was 5.65 miles to the next road crossing and about 7 miles to Shelter 14 where we planned our next aid station stop.
The trails on the west side are generally more flowing and less technical than the east side and we moved along steadily. After a while, in spite of steady fueling and feeling like I was getting in enough calories, my stomach troubles grew worse. Also, my legs felt more tired than I thought they should for the distance I had covered. I just didn’t feel good. I was fighting negative thoughts. “Why do I do these stupid things? Why did I sign up for a 100-mile race in 5 weeks? I can’t face 100 miles.” The thought of a 100-mile race in a few weeks began to terrify me in my current condition.
I made myself pay attention to how I felt and acknowledge it, while at the same time recognizing that it wasn’t horrible. I kept telling myself, “It’s not that bad. It really doesn’t hurt that bad.”
If reading about vomiting bothers you, skip this paragraph. Soon, I hit the stage where I felt like puking was imminent. I had slowed to a walk, with occasional pauses at the side of the trail when I thought I might puke. Eventually, I did. It was not my usual violent dry heaves with minor expulsion (caused by under fueling and an empty or nearly empty stomach). I vomited a copious amount.
Elizabeth, who is ever vigilant as a pacer, asked me how much water I had been drinking. I checked my water bottles. We did some calculating. It became clear that I had been drinking way too much water for the cold conditions. In my mind, I was classifying the Liquid Shot like a gel. While I had little experience with gels personally, I knew that one must drink lots of water with them to help them digest because they are so concentrated. So every time I took in some of the Liquid Shot, I had been drinking a lot of water with it. Evidently, over-hydrating was the cause of my stomach trouble from the beginning.
Somewhere in this section, we slipped past midnight and into Saturday. “Happy birthday!” Elizabeth told me.
After emptying my stomach, I felt fantastic! My legs felt good, my stomach felt perfect, and I was so happy! Suddenly the thought of a 100-mile race did not seem so crazy. It seemed possible again. I started blazing along the trail at a good clip and thanking God that I felt so much better. I surged down the hill to the road crossing and gleefully informed Don and Brian that I had just puked my guts out and now I felt amazing! Being experienced crew, they were not too shocked.
After a short stop, Elizabeth and I headed on to cover the 1.4 miles to Shelter 14. There we met Don in the parking lot. (Brian had needed to go home for a while.) Don had an entertaining story to relate. A police officer had come by and asked Don what he was doing sitting in the parking lot at 1:00 in the morning. Don told him that his wife was running 61 miles for her birthday and that he was waiting to assist her as she ran through that area. The officer still ran Don’s driver’s license through his system, but once convinced that Don was legit, he said it was fine for Don to park there and told him to tell his wife happy birthday.
I climbed into the car and ate some soup then headed out to tackle the Upper and Lower Ledges trails. We did a double loop, the first time around on Lower Ledges and the second time around on Upper Ledges, ending up back at Shelter 14 about 6.25 miles later. They don’t call these trails “ledges” for nothing. They traverse the bluffs along the lake, one trail along the tops of the bluffs and one trail along the bottom. These loops turned out to be slow and challenging because of ice . . . and more ice . . . and more ice. We spent a lot of time hanging onto trees and trying to not slip down steep drop offs along the trail. It got old pretty quickly. “Oh no, not ANOTHER long icy stretch of trail!” I was so glad to be done with that section of trail and thankful we did not have to do it a second time! Thankfully, neither of us took any hard falls in this section, though I did slip and land on my hands and knees once.
Back at Shelter 14, I ate soup again. I also brushed my teeth. I had read about others doing this during 100-mile races and decided to give it a try. It really did give me a mental boost to have a fresh mouth, plus it helped clear my palate, and was undoubtedly good for my teeth.
I felt like I had hit a rhythm. A couple sips of Liquid Shot every 15 minutes with a small amount of water. Soup at the aid station stops. Everything was good. It was also a mental boost to have made the turn around of our out-and-back course and now be headed inbound. Every step took us closer to the finish line. My watch said we had completed 35.67 miles. It was 3:13 a.m.
Something rather humorous happened on the west side trails. I saw my Kogalla light start blinking. “What’s going on? My Kogalla is not supposed to blink. Something is wrong,” I told Elizabeth.
“It heard you talking about how you wished it would blink for low battery like your headlamp, so it decided that was a good idea,” Elizabeth joked.
“No really, something is wrong with it,” I insisted. I kept trying to figure out why it was blinking at intervals . . . and then my headlight dimmed to reserve level. It had been my headlamp blinking all along. I could have sworn it was my Kogalla light blinking! Running all night can do funny things to your perception! At least I didn’t hallucinate and see puppies along the trail!
I was so thankful that my stomach felt good! We cruised along mile by mile. After a short stop at Colburn Road for soup, we headed north. As we neared Larry Mattonen trail head, we decided to change our route slightly and substituted a shorter section of trail for the route I had run outbound. My mileage was ahead of what we had figured, and I didn’t really want to end up running 63 or 64 miles.
Another quick stop to eat soup and on we went. It was nearing 6:00 a.m. and dawn was imminent. Temperatures dropped to a predawn low. I felt like I was staying warm enough as long as we were moving. After each stop at the van, I would be terribly chilled for a while until I warmed back up from running
Back we went over the big hills section. Between the increased exertion level and the dropping temperatures, I should have been thinking about increasing my calorie intake. But I wasn’t. Not long after we descended the last big hill, my stomach started feeling off again. I felt low on calories. I know the signs. I took a bigger swig of my Liquid Shot. It didn’t seem to help. If anything, I felt worse. My legs felt tired. I started yawning and feeling like I wanted to lie down beside the trail—a sure low blood sugar, calorie-deficit symptom for me. We were very close to the next aid station stop, and the thought of sitting down in the warm van and eating hot soup motivated me to move forward.
Looking back, I think I did the right thing by increasing my calorie intake (I should have done it sooner), but it was unrealistic to expect the results to be instant. I think if I had not been near the aid station stop, the right thing to do would have been to slow down, probably just walk for a while, and keep putting in more calories. I was so tired of Liquid Shot by this point. I felt like I needed some other source of calories. Elizabeth asked if I wanted to try eating a cookie, but my stomach said absolutely not! I would stick with the Liquid Shot, because it went down so easily. And involved no chewing. I also wonder if I was not taking in enough water through this section. I was almost afraid to drink after my over-hydration episode.
The gates usually opened at 8:00 a.m., and I was going to arrive slightly before then, so we figured we would have to run the short stretch down the road to the closed gate to meet our crew. But just as we neared the small parking area by the pond, we saw Don and Brian pull up. The park ranger had opened the gate a bit early and let them in. Gratefully, I climbed into the van. I wanted to fall apart, but I tried hard to stay calm. I was yawning and shivering and felt very calorie deficient. The cup of hot chicken noodle soup tasted so good.
I took nearly 30 minutes at this stop and wished I could stay longer, but the drive to finish got me out of the van. My low calorie symptoms were much better, but my stomach was still not 100%. I calculated later that the amount of soup I ate at aid station stops was only about 30 calories. Stopping, warming up, and taking in warm fluid were definitely part of the feel-better equation.
We were headed back into the section of the park that was still gated, so it would be nearly nine miles to the next crew access (and someone would need to hike in to even meet us at that one). It was a long section. At one point, my nose started bleeding. The cold air had this effect on me at times, so I wasn’t concerned, but this was the first time I had experienced a nose bleed while out running. I walked a good deal through this section. Elizabeth asked me, “Why are you walking so much?”
“Because my nose is still bleeding,” I replied, but honestly that was just a convenient excuse. I felt tired and just didn’t seem to be able to summon the energy to run through that hilly, more technical area of trail.
My mind was set on getting done, but I had no time goal to motivate me to move any faster. I didn’t even try to figure out how many hours had passed at that point and what kind of finishing time would be possible. I just kept moving forward, running the easier sections and hiking often. We were getting close.
With about 4 miles left, I saw my son Aaron running toward us. He had run in to meet us. Aaron was fresh, upbeat, and talkative—which was exactly what I needed. My stomach and legs started to feel better almost immediately. Was it just coincidence? Ultra running is so much of a mental game. My frame of mind definitely improved dramatically when Aaron arrived. Before I knew it, I felt good again. Actually, I felt great! My stomach was solid and my legs felt strong. I was smiling as I picked up the pace.
We reached the turn off where we planned for me to do a short out and back, if needed, to pick up an extra mile or two. We all tried to run calculations in our heads. Did I need more mileage and if so, how much? Why is it that running turns off one’s math brain? I don’t know if it’s just our family, but none of us can do math in our heads while running (even though we are all very math oriented people). I finally decided to do a very short out and back just to be safe, and then we moved on toward the finish.
Don had hiked in to meet us at the Liggett Cove road crossing. I took a few minutes to eat a cup of delicious soup and pick up some water and fuel, but I could barely stand to stop when the finish was so close and I felt so good. Only 3.6 miles to go!
I was smiling and laughing. I felt like I was flying over the trail! I was so occupied chatting with Aaron that I forgot to take in fueling several times, but my stomach did not seem to care.
About 1.5 miles out, we met someone hiking. It was our chiropractor and running friend, Nathan Uhl, and his two children. What a pleasant surprise! We soon moved on, but it meant a lot that he had come out to support me. Up and down the last few hills. These hills are a solid climb, but not too technical. Flying down one of the hills, my feet got tangled up with a stick and I fell hard in the mud on my right shoulder. Aaron and Elizabeth asked me multiple times if I was okay, and I was. I had hit the ground hard, but the mud was a soft landing.
Soon we were at the road, and after crossing carefully, we ran up the sidewalk to the finish. Just as I neared the parking lot, I heard honking and there was Brian with my two grandsons waving as they drove past and pulling into the parking lot. Brian, bless his heart, had raced home to pick up the boys and bring them back for my finish!
I heard the words come out of my mouth, “I’m so glad to be done. I’m so glad to be done,” but there was a part of me that didn’t feel the usual monumental relief to reach the finish. I actually felt like I could keep going! That was a first at the end of 60+ miles.
My 13-year-old grandson, Kolton, had a surprise for me. He had baked, on his own, cupcakes and lemon muffin cupcakes for me to have a little birthday party at the finish of my run. As a matter of fact, he had made them twice, as their naughty dog had managed to pull the first batch off the counter and ate them. And they were delicious! My family even stuck a candle in one of the cupcakes for me to blow out!
My official finish stats are as follows:
Total time– 21 hours, 3 minutes, 54 seconds.
Run time (minus stops) – 17:32:02
Overall average pace – 20:34 minutes per mile
Run time average pace – 17:08
To my surprise, I achieved my second fastest time on three Strava segments and my third fastest time on another.
What an experience! I felt grateful . . . and ready for some sleep.
Epilogue:
I thank God for health and strength, and for the beauty of His creation!
I was very pleased with the lack of soreness in my legs the next day and how quickly I recovered and was able to pick up some mileage again as I move toward Outlaw 100 on February 12-14. As usual, I learned so much during this run. I was very pleased with my new gear and fuel, but I decided that I need marks on my silicone flasks so I can better gauge how many calories I am taking in. (By the way, Sharpie rubs off of silicone. I will have to find an alternative way to make marks.) And I must remember that I need more calories when temperatures drop and effort level increases. One of my biggest successes on this run was keeping it together mentally when my stomach problems kicked in. I hope I can succeed at that challenge at Outlaw, also.
To those who are growing older, I would like to say this is what 61 can look like. I have struggled and worked hard to overcome health and injury issues, but I refuse to give up. Don’t accept age as an inevitable reason for pain or poor health. Sometimes it takes diligent research to unearth the knowledge and to discover the right team of professionals to keep you moving forward. May God bless you on your journey!
Hundred 4 Owl Hollow 
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