Trail Running 2020 - Update

What a year this has been so far. Almost all races (like everything else) cancelled this year due to COVID.

But one of the three 100+ mile Ultras I signed up for this year is still on. They lost all the sponsors, aid stations likely to be unmanned. They are taking all the precautions possible. Start line released in small waves, food served in packaged portions, hand sanitizer, distancing, etc.

With only One race for the whole year, I'm really happy its this one. 200km (125mi) will be a new distance PR and I'm going for it. I've had some lower back pain issues in recent months, who knows how that will play out after 30-40 hours on my feet in sand. But it'll have to be brutal for me to drop out.

Trail running 2020

I stopped updating this last year. Partly because I procrastinated on making post-race writeups until I'd forgotten the details. Partly because #noonecaresyourunultras. I lost interest really.

This year I'm changing things up. In the past I've run 10-12 races per year, from 5k to 100 miles. I can't afford and don't have time for all that, so...

I'm dropping everything but the three hardest races I know of in Central IL.

Potawatomi 100 mile
Cry Me a River (CMAR) 100 mile
Temptation 200km (125 mile)

They're each a couple months apart, fortunately. And different goals for each.

For Pot100 I want to significantly beat my previous time. CMAR I just want to finish that 100 before the cutoff and not die. Temptation I want to finish the full 200km this time.

Potawatomi 50 Mile Ultra Finished!

Finished 22 of 98. 16 DNS and 16 DNF. Was really hoping for sub 12 hour but it was a great time.
Ultrasignup Results and Strava track.

I actually forgot to write anything about this race in the days afterwards, which is unusual because I enjoy writing the highlights so I don't forget them. And now its 66 days since the race, and I literally don't remember much at all about it.

How screwy do you have to be to run a double marathon and not really remember that. It's also a good indicator of the fact that I've become comfortable with a typical 50 miler... I don't really need to train or prepare for it beyond making sure I run a few 20-25mi training runs in the month prior.

And that brings me to the next race on the calendar. I've tried to continually increase the overall difficulty over the years, incremental steps of ever longer and more difficult races.

July 6th is Cry Me A River (CMAR), which has a Half Marathon, 50k, 100k, and 100 miler. I ran the 50k (which was actually 35 miles) in 2017, and I had never been there until race day. I was a bit stunned by the beauty of the three parks through which the 20 mile loop runs. But even moreso, how much more vertical climb it has than any other course in this region. So this year, I've committed to the 100 mile race, five loops with a total 23,500ft of climb! For comparison, the Pot100 race had only 16kft of climb, and was in freezing cold temps.

I don't run well in the heat, and July typically has both heat and humidity. Heat plus a brutal amount of climb and a reasonably tight time limit (34 hours) will certainly make the hardest challenge yet.

Clinton 30 Mile Ultra Finished!

Ultrasignup Results 26 DNS, 22 DNF.  I fell to 57th of 81 finishers this year.

The course was in ideal condition and the weather was great. I, however, didn't do much endurance training or even run much the last 4 months. And in the year since I was last on the Clinton trails, I forgot how hilly the course is. So yeah, underestimating the place doesn't help anything. The Strava track shows the story.

I really had it in my head that I wanted to finish around 6h or less, which would be a major PR for me by at least half an hour.  I started out on track, finished the first loop in under 2 hours. The second loop was harder and I wasn't feeling so well because I'm not accustomed to that pace on that terrain. So it was about 2h 15min for the second loop, still not bad. I actually had a severe calf cramp at mile 15... not something I usually experience until mile 45 or so when not managing salt intake well enough.

But heading out for the final loop, I could tell my legs had very little power left. Uphills were at times a slow shuffle with lots of burning muscle, downhills aren't much of a reprieve because you're still spending effort to control descent.

The last five miles, I finally got enough sugars and salt in me, things picked up. I just wanted to be done. And I really wanted to finish under 7 hours. And according to my Garmin, I did finish in 6:59:18... just barely! Somehow, the chip timing in the race had been having some issues all day, and it registered the finish as 7:00:29. But I have GPS proof otherwise :P

So... despite ideal course conditions, this year was far slower than last year. Of course, I had been heavily training last year for the Potawatomi 100 miler, so I was in far better shape.

I'm only running 50 at Pot this year... and its currently 9days out. I've been last min training up and I'm fairly confident I can pull off a decent run, if the weather is favorable!

Done for 2018

I ran the McNotAgain in October, and it went as well as ever... and that's the last Ultra for this year.

I've already committed to some stupidity next year.  I registered for the Clinton Lake 30 milers, as always. I may skip some of the usual Central IL Series races this year to do something different. I'll probably run 50mi at Potawatomi, I loved that race this year.

I did register for the CMAR 100 Mile. I hate heat and humidity, and this will surely be both... with far more climb than the Pot 100. I look forward to getting my ass kicked here... I need a challenge.

Other than that... I'm hunting for a good destination race or two for next year... some place with some mountains or serious scenery, not IL corn fields and flat lands!

Farmdale 50 Mile Ultra FINISHED!

Start/Finish line at 4:30am

I finished 8th of 23 and 4 DNF. And I got 1st place for my AG again... making it exactly the same outcome as last year.

I really cut my running down this summer, typically just walking/jogging 4-5 miles at lunch. I only had a couple 10-15 mile runs and the Painful Elimination (25.5 miles) and Evergreen 50k. So this race was interesting, I can still run 50mi even without adequate training. It just hurts more and for longer afterwards.

The race started out with 100% humidity and even though the air was cool, running like this is hard. The high humidity makes it really hard to not overheat. Just like last year, it rained pretty substantially in the middle of the race, leaving lots of standing water. The thunderstorm that came with it was new for me... I was out on the far part of the 5 mile loop when lightning started erupting all around me, powerful chest rattling booms. There's really nowhere to hide, so I just kept on running.

Once the storm passed, it warmed up again and the trail got mucky. Its like running in glue, trying to rip your shoes off your feet, and draining your legs. It never gets hard to keep moving, but it does get hard to maintain pace as fatigue increases quickly.

Pretty muddy day! These shoes are actually Black.

I didn't take a whole lot of pics, left my phone in the car the whole time... it would've gotten soaked.

The first 30 miles went by pretty easy. As is becoming the norm, I start having strange thoughts at this point... like how I "only" have 20 miles left to go. All a matter of perspective I suppose. Once upon a time, 20 miles was an epic long run to me. Now its just "a couple 5K's"... or an easy training run.

My 3rd Farmdale 50 Miler brick. What should I build with these things?

Strangest of all.. I've gotten rather acclimated to 50 milers...  I don't stress out the week before. I didn't even pack until the night before the race... and just threw the "typical kit" of stuff in the car, without any plan.  I'd like to think some day I'll view 100 milers the same way... but I doubt it. The "hundo" still feels a little intimidating. Even so, I'm contemplating registering for the CMAR 100 miler, which features twice the climb as the Potawatomi 100  (total of 23,500ft gain). And it's in July, sure to have absurd heat and humidity instead of freezing winds.

Potawatomi 100 Mile Ultra FINISHED!

Start/Finish line and Aid Station

The official RESULTS and they will also be on UltraSignup eventually. I finished 11th of 17 finishers in the 100 mile race. There were 26 DNF and 5 DNS. The weather was a big factor, it was 20F overnight and many runners dropped.

I merged my 3 gps recordings into one track on Strava

And the pics/vids I managed to take with my phone are shared via Google Photos

I owe a huge thanks to my pacer Trudi Schoening during loops 8 and 9, keeping me motivated and (in)sane! And lots of random bits of advice from RD Mike Kelsey, and veteran ultrarunners Shawn Brandon, Magdalena Casper-Shipp, and Garrick Arends.

If you don't care about preparations... skip this section and read about the actual race!

Pre-race training and prep

I'd already run many Ultras in the 30-35 mile range, and two 50 milers... so I felt confident about running 50 on trail. But jumping right to double that was concerning. For the last three months, I've done a good bit of bodyweight exercise, core strengthening, and heavy lifting. Many weeks I doubled my usual walking/running volume... almost entirely at MAF heart rate, to maximize aerobic (fat burning) performance. It is exceedingly flat where I live, but I went out of my way to find what hills I can and repeated them ridiculously. A race with 14k feet of climb requires some hill training. I aimed for 500-700 ft of climb for most of my lunch walks/jogs and much more for my weekend long runs. And the Clinton 30M Ultra was just 2 weeks prior to this race, which was a good tune-up and workout for the big deal.

I'm pretty well known as a minimalist at this point. I don't carry a pack, or water bottles, or much of anything. If it's over 30 and not too windy,  I'm probably wearing fivefingers/shoes, shorts, my Garmin... and nothing else.  I knew this race would be vastly different. Expecting to spend 25-40 hours in all sorts of really uncomfortable Spring weather conditions, I packed far more gear than ever before.

This is about half of the stuff I brought.

Packing list:

Desitin 16oz tub
2.5 mil trash compactor bags
2 pairs of Altras
2 pairs of Asics
2 pairs fivefingers
All the injinji and other running socks I own (10+ pairs)
Gloves, Hat, headbands, beard ties
Contact lenses

5 pairs of shorts
2 pairs of tights
Running pants
Several short and long sleeve shirts
Extra Adidas undershorts and a couple reebok to be safe
Emergency poncho
Windbreaker
Several fleece and pullovers
USB Battery
Garmin charger cradle
New Headlamp, LiOn batteries, charger
2 Old headlamps and AAA batteries
Flashlight and 18650 batteries

MP3 player and headphones
Handwarmers
Waterproof bandages for nipples
Baggies for phone or who knows what
Baby Wipes
5 SPF sunblock Chapstick
Pocket knife, in car
Roll of Toilet paper
Garbage bag for muddy shit items
Towels
Water bottles, may freeze solid
Dozen Honeystinger chews
Dozen GU gels with caffeine
Himalayan and LoSalt mix baggie
Coffee in 64oz contigo and 20oz contigo
Boiled eggs and salt
10 strips thick bacon
A dozen Epic bars, half Bison, half Bacon
Baggie of Mixed nuts
Baggie with 4 ibuprofen and 2 tylenol

Fortunately, I did not need all of the clothes I brought... but I had to err on the safe side. Some stuff turned out to be critical. Let me list a few things I would NOT want to have run this race without.

Hot Hands Handwarmers, if its really cold, these are fantastic and last up to 10 hours, putting out steady heat that you're going to need to thaw your fingers, heat your phone battery to keep it alive, thaw your gels/chews (they're almost solid at 20 degrees). Use rubber bands to keep them pressed against your phone.

UA Cold Gear gloves are thin, allow you to use your touchscreen phone, somehow keep your hands very warm as long as you're moving, and protect your skin in the event you have to grab a tree or protect yourself from faceplanting the ground. They're worth the money.

Adidas Climalite Boxers Not all running undershorts are the same. I like Reebok and others I have just fine... but for 50+ milers many of them don't protect as well. I had over 220,000 steps in this 100 miler. If there's any chafing going on, 220k steps is going to leave you bleeding. So far nothing's worked better for me than these.

NexCare waterproof bandages (from Walgreens). One pair remained stuck to me perfectly throughout the event. If you don't cover your nipples (or cheapy tape falls off) you're in trouble. Bleeding painful nipples. :O :O :O

Altras trail shoes. I have 2 pair of Superior 3's and love them... have used them for my 50+ races. They're light, strong, great traction, drain water well after being submerged, and occasionally on sale for under $100.

The Actual Race

I did an early start, to give myself more time to complete the race if needed. The normal cutoff is 34 hours, from 6am Saturday to 4pm Sunday. I started with the 150 mile runners at Noon on Friday. I had no intention of running fast, just finish the thing intact and on time.

I fast for 12-14 hours for all my Ultras, except this one. Being so long, I wanted to have some food in me. I had about 4 scrambled eggs and 6 strips thick bacon 3 hours before Start. Then I drove out, got my bib and started preparing. In a normal loop race I only return to the car to change shoes if necessary and/or pick up a GU or Honeystinger chews. With so much crap, I spent half an hour laying things out in various parts of the car so I knew right wear to go for clothes, shoes, headlamps/batteries, etc.

I've run this trail quite a few times, but never in this direction. Unlike a 5k, nobody's shooting off the starting line at high speed, everybody sorta jogs out into the course. The first stretch is wide enough to let the faster people get ahead and within a mile things were pretty well settled. I chatted with a few guys going my speed for most of the first loop and it seemed to pass quickly.

There's really only about 1 mile of flat prairie in the loop, after that you're in and out of ravines. There's a few hills to climb...

The most iconic hill. The rope is for when it rains, it is a mudslide.

At the end of each loop I returned to my car as briefly as possible, in the initial loops i chugged a coconut water or protein shake, checked my shoes, and snagged a GU or Honeystinger chews to have later in the next loop. I didn't intake anything but water until 3 hours in. From there I tried to alternate between chews and GU's every 60-90 minutes until about the 4th loop. At that point my gut had seen enough sugars, even though the hill climbs demand a significant amount of glucose.

My Aid Station

I intentionally didn't take my headlamp (or any lights) on the 3rd loop, but that pushed it really close. I had to run fairly fast on the last 5 miles to make it back before total dark around 8:40pm. Then I used the new headlamp powered by lithium ion 18650 batteries. It is really bright and not too heavy, stayed put... really cannot complain. It lasted one loop on the batteries it came with, and still wasn't dead... just dim. So I swapped those batteries for some name brand EBL's with more mAH (total power).

New headlamp with fresh batteries is like a truck high-beam

The 4th loop ended around midnight and I was really enjoying the night running... the course wasn't crowded, I kept seeing deer everywhere. I heard an actual pair of Great Horned owls calling to each other for over a minute... which was a first (never heard the female answer before... and the insane conversation they had after that). Then I finally cranked up the mp3 player and got in the zone.

About every other loop I had to check on my feet. For a 50miler I can usually plow through in a single set of Injinji toe socks and Altras shoes. But for such a long race and so many opportunities to get your feet wet, I wanted to check every 20 miles. That wasn't so bad when it was over 30 degrees. But the 5th loop ended around 3:30am. The temp was 20f and still quite windy at times. Taking my shoes and socks off left my damp feet exposed to the wind and I my toes were numb cold in seconds. I did my best to clean them with baby wipes, towel dry, apply another protective layer of Desitin (which is the consistency of playdoh at this temp) and force new socks on. This likely took 3x longer than previous changes, due to the cold. By the time I finished, I was bone cold. Everything electronic had died or nearly so during that loop. I sat in the driver seat of the car and cranked everything up to warm myself and gadgets. I noticed more than a dozen running cars on the way to mine... so I wasn't the only one. After a few minutes of just sitting and trying to get feeling back, I took my jackets and shirts off. There was ice inside the first layer... my sweat wicked out and froze like frost in the windshield. There was more ice inside the second layer. Everything inside that was soaked. I wrestled fresh dry shirts from the bag in the back seat and warmed them on the vent before putting them on. My Garmin watch had died during mile 45 and I had to record the rest of the loop on my phone. Lithium batteries suck in the cold, the phone went from 95% charge to dead in no time. So I sat in the car for over an hour, with everything on chargers and handwarmers on all the batteries. I knew I was getting far behind my intended schedule, but I also knew a lot of people had already dropped out of the race... because this was pretty harsh.

Getting out of the car was terrible. As expected, my leg and hip muscles had contracted and did not want to extend. The wind stripped all the heat I'd accumulated in just 30 seconds. I had to run uncomfortably fast for 20 minutes to get my internal heat production up enough to keep me going. And then I settled into a groove and got rolling.

But things never really stabilize in a race like this. After the initial flat prairie, you're either climbing or descending. You're either face into the wind and cold, back to the wind and sweating, pulling up sleeves and unzipping all your layers, or reversing all that.

As the first hints of dawn began to show on the horizon (hours before the sun is due to actually show) I started feeling hopeful that I had made it through the worst. I started going through the checklist of things I was officially intending to worry about:  falling asleep on my feet - nope, too cold for sleep. Muscle cramps - nope. Dehydration - nope, had been religiously taking in coconut water, water, then alternating tailwind and water. Headlamps not making it thru the long cold night - nope, did ok and never had to revert to the spare lamp in my pocket. Shoes freezing solid after the river crossing - nope.

I brought a pair of 3mil trash compactor bags on every loop. Slip one over each foot and hang on to the top, run through the stream, shake them off and carefully fold them up pressing the air and water out. Then just rubber band it tightly so it doesn't unfold, and you have a little package the size of a pb&j sandwich you can easily carry in a pocket. Each set lasted 4 loops before they had enough small holes that they leaked much, yet I still never got more than slightly damp on the uppers of the shoes. Many people ran the creek normally, as would I in a usual 30-50 mile ultra. But I was seriously glad to be dry in the freezing air, I can't imagine how I would've made it with frozen shoes, numb cold feet, etc. Totally worth the $5 for the bags, and I'm pretty sure I spend less time hassling with folding them up than I would've spent having to change socks/shoes every loop.

Two compactor bags bound by fashionable pink rubber band

I finally reached mile 60 about 7:40am. The rising sun was comforting. And I started taking the utterly fantastic Aid Station volunteers (who had braved that cold all night, just sitting around) up on their offers of warm food. My gut did not want any more gels or chews, and some real food tasted amazing. Even so, as I headed out again, I started thinking too much. I'd already run 10 miles farther than I ever have before, in pretty bad conditions. The only upside to the cold was that it froze the course solid and it was very predictable and safe to run even with tired muscles. But I knew the rising temps and direct sun would soon melt everything, just as the next batch of runners joined the course. My body felt beat up, and all these looming negative thoughts felt pretty depressing. Especially that I still had an entire Ultra (about 35 miles at that point) left to run.

A short while later I reached the Heaven's Gate AS, where Trudi had been working. She could see how happy and enthusiastic I was feeling (not at all). Seeing her and knowing she was pacing me the next two loops cheered me up. With more delicious food in my gut, I made my way back to the Start pretty quickly and met up with her. Having a very upbeat and encouraging pacer makes one hell of a difference. The course melted, as predicted. The paths I'd run exactly the same way all night long were now slick and destroyed by hundreds of runners zooming through, so everything had to be negotiated like it was the first loop again. But we kept moving, spending less time at aid stations and more time moving. I managed a few bursts of really strong running, surprising both myself and my pacer! I pushed it a little because I wanted to see if I could actually still hit sub 10:00 pace after 80 some miles, and I did. I flew down the sandy path and across the field at 9:00 pace or so, it feels really wonderful to open your stride and fly now and then.

I had really hoped to finish the race before dark, and not have to drag out the headlamp again. But it was clear by the middle of the 9th loop that that was not possible. Trudi had to head home after that loop, and so I geared up one more time at my car and she saw me off as I headed out solo for the final loop. I actually made it about an 1/8th of a mile before I finally remembered what I had been trying for 2 hours to not forget.... the damned headlamp. Sunset was only an hour off, there was no way to finish this loop without a light! I hung my head, marveling at the power of fatigue and sleep deprivation, and ran back to my car (an extra 1/8th mile past the Start line) and headed out again without anyone seeming to notice my mistake. Maybe they were just kind enough to not rub it in.

Almost sundown... for the 2nd time this race :O

No fear for the setting sun

At this point I didn't want any gear at all, no mp3 player or anything. I just wanted to run and finish. But it was getting cold again and I was more than dressed for it. Even though the aches and pains had subsided, fatigue was making it hard to keep moving at a reasonable pace. For 20+ miles at this point, every time I ran very fast my bronchia started burning and I worried whether it was just the cold or if I was getting bronchitis. The aid stations started to seem hours apart. I pushed myself ever harder, recalling that I have never gotten a DNF and I'm absolutely not going to start now. Finally I found myself heading out from the last aid station for the Finish line. That was the first time I allowed myself to consider that I really was going to complete the 100, and possibly finish inside the 34 hour official cutoff time. The last few miles flew by while I pondered how exceptionally nice the aid station folks had been, how much I appreciated their banter and nonstop attempts to force me to eat warm food. From chicken noodle soup to meatballs in red sauce to sausage/egg/cheese muffins to quesadillas and so much more, everything was fantastic. And I literally wouldn't have made it through without the food and kind words.

As I reached the last half mile, I checked on my phone, which I had buried in my pocket with all four of my active but fading handwarmers. I'd planned to try to take video as I ran through the Finish the last time. Just on the edge of camp, I unlocked the phone and as I tried to check the battery level, it said Shutting Down, and went black. I laughed out loud, perfect! Oh well, no finish line video or final pics of the leaderboard. Some folks at their tent saw me run by and didn't say anything... they had no idea what loop I was on. So when the next group of people noticed me, I quietly said... "this is it, 100 miles, I'm done!". They erupted in cheers, which set off the next few groups of people cheering too. I jogged through the finish line, and deliriously stood there wondering what exactly to do next. Greg Dekeyser handed me my Finishers belt buckle and helped me get the final time on the board. I milled around and got some sincere kudos from both people I knew and people I didn't... felt really cool either way.

The most expensive belt buckle I've ever owned.

After the Race...

But I was damp from running and starting to get really cold fast, I knew I couldn't hang out long. I thanked the RD for a really great race and again mentioned how great the volunteers had been. By the time I got to my car, I was freezing. And I had really hoped to get home in time to see my little girl before bed, but she was already out. I cranked the heat and the seat heaters and was feeling warm before I even hit the interstate. And then I noticed I was feeling really really warm. I really was out of sorts, having spent so much time exposed to the cold I couldn't tell if I was just adjusting to the warm or if I was sick.

Shortly after I got home, I got in the tub with really hot water to relax my very sore leg muscles. After that I felt decent, considering what I'd been through. Very tired and sleepy, I got in bed and passed out almost immediately. I never expected it to go well though, and I was right. I woke up maybe 25min later because I had moved in my sleep and it hurt enough to wake me in my sleep. And I found that I had sweat through the sheets, running a fever around 101-102. I really didn't want to take any ibuprofen or nsaids, they can delay recovery. So I opted to not take anything. Then I realized I was wheezing pretty well in my bronchia, and my suspicions about getting an infection weren't too far off. I spent 20 minutes coughing and hacking up that familiar green goo from my lungs. And then I went back to bed, managing a pretty solid 5-6 hours of sleep.

By morning the fever was down to within a degree of normal most of the time. And thankfully, the fever seemed to burn off the looming bronchial infection... no sign of it since. The immune system takes a big hit during a long ultra, perhaps the rest was enough to let it resume operations and fix me up.

We went to the Pancake House, I had planned long ago to let myself have whatever I wanted the couple days after the race. So I had a Western Omelet with chocolate pancakes, plus a side of bacon, side of sausage links, OJ, coffee and cream. And most of an order of Cherry Crepes. That was enough for a while, until my sister and brother in law came to visit. We got both a $45 Taco Bell order and a Giordano's large Meat Meat & More Meat Pizza plus extras for $65. Everyone present was a bit shocked at how much I consumed. Even so, the several thousand calories from those two "meals" is only a fraction of the 20k ore more calories spent during the race.

Five days after the race, I don't think I have any lasting injuries. Early in the race, around mile 25, my right toe caught on a root and yanked my foot downward... injuring the tendons/muscles that raise that foot. I had to baby it throughout the race but still had three more minor insults to it. That's by far the most painful thing left, going to take a week or so yet until that is healed. Both of my feet suffered a little nerve damage, from the thousands of compressions that occur running that far, leaving all of my small toes with a tingly feeling. I'm told it isn't uncommon, perhaps unavoidable, and usually subsides after 1-2 weeks. Even so, I can walk ok now and could run if I had to. But I'm willing to give it time to recover properly.

This was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done, and I'm absolutely glad I did it. I am not sure I'm keep to run a bunch more 100 milers. I think 30 and 50 mile races are about perfect, and the 100 wasn't simply twice as hard as a 50. It was exponentially harder... at least in the weather conditions this one had.

33h 19m isn't a great finish time, but its an official FINISH!

As with most all trail runs, I met so many great people and had a really good time, with memories for a lifetime. I wish I could've taken far more pics/vids, but I had to be realistic and focus more on the running and logistics.

Thanks for reading, feel free to ask questions in the comments or by email. Hopefully this gives some idea what its like to run really far.