POT 100 Race Report

It’s a long one, and I’m not speaking of 100 miles.  Hope you enjoy the read.

Is there a training plan for running 100 miles?  How can I be consistent with my running and still maintain a good amount of base mileage each week?  How do I work in my training runs when I’m travelling 3 weeks out of every month?  Tons of shit go through my mind as I try to wrap my head around my training. 

I decided at the end of December 2013 to sign up for the Potawatomi 100 in Pekin, Illinois (near Peoria).  After I signed up for POT, Scott Kummer recommends I should run the inaugural Sean O’Brien 50m in SoCal.  I met Scott only 2 months prior at TBunk Challenge for my 2^nd 50 mile race.    Those that are close to me know that if they suggest a race to me, I will probably run it.  I’m the most gullible person and I’m a glutton for punishment, but more importantly I get a high off of running with other ultra runners.  Turns out we had a total of 5 people from Illinois run Sean O’Brien.  Scott Kummer, Melissa Pizarro, Kevin Kwilinski, Cory Feign, and myself.  Long story short, met some amazing ultra runners, Timmy Olson, Chris Vargo, Jessie Haynes (met him in the parking lot at the hotel loading my car, very cool guy), and Michael Aish.  Mike is one funny guy and enjoyed his story about him getting nailed in the leg by some kid with a large rock and hell bent on doing some damage.  Laughed my ass off!  Anyways long story short, I dnf’d after rolling my ankle going up “Mt. Fuck” on Zuma Ridge Trailhead.  I was at the lowest low after this race.  I’ve never dnf’d before and now I have a taste of what it’s like.  After the race and weeks after, my persona was cheerful and outgoing.  Internally I was battling the “shoulda, coulda, woulda demons”.  A week went by and after I was done having my own invitation for one pity party, I realize I can’t do anything about it now as it’s in the past.  Learn from that and move on.

2 months away from POT. I will be brief about my training.  It sucked!

6:30am, April 4^th.  I planned on driving down to POT with a friend, Carl Galdine.  Carl was running the 150 mile distance which started at noon that day.  I’ve done many training runs with Carl over the last several months.  Your stomach will hurt at the end as he is one of the funniest guys I know and a badass runner.  We arrive at the start/finish and the wind that morning knocked down the aid station tent and the RD’s were scrambling to get things under control before runners began picking up their bibs.  By the way, the RD’s Rich and Eric Skocaj are amazing.   These two guys spent many sleepless days making sure every single runner was taken care of.  Best part is they knew everyone by name.  Thank you both for putting on such a great event.

12pm April 4th – 150 milers are off and running.  Over the next several hours I would crew and help out where needed, but cognizant I should stay off my feet as much as possible.  As night fall came I waited for a few friends running 150 to make sure they have what they needed before I get some rest for the next day. 

5:30am April 5^th –  100 mile start.  My chassis and feet are lubed up, nip guards are on, gear is ready, and it’s go time.  As we gather around the start/finish, pics are being taken, hugs are being exchanged, runners are jumping up and down trying to stay warm. 

6am, we are off (Loop 1).  Keep in mind, each 10 mile loop is 1.6k of vert.  This is pretty impressive for being in the Midwest.   I know I need to keep a slow pace the first loop.  Look up on flats and find landmarks, get to know the course as much as possible during the day, so at night you don’t get lost (fail).  As I approach the first of several stream crossings the single track line is backed up as runners gingerly make their way across fallen trees to cross the stream.  I decide not to wait and select a different tree to cross.  FAIL..I slip and fall into the water.  Fuck it, I’m walking right through the stream and onto the trail.  Everything is going well on my first loop.  I’m feeling very strong during the climbs and descents are steep, but manageable.  I know this will change and become quad busters as I build on my mileage.  As I get close to the start/finish, I’m curious as to what my time is.  I’m not wearing a watch or keeping tracking of min p/mile.  Honestly, I really don’t care about this in the first few loops as I can gauge my times during each loop I complete.  As I come through the grassy area, I can see the clock in the distance but cannot see the time really well.  As I get closer, I see I finished the first loop in 1 hour 52 minutes.  I knew then the yelling will begin.  I first see Shelley Cook, “Slow the fuck down!!”  “Are you crazy!” 

Real quick about Shelley, I met Shelley and her boyfriend Alec in January when I did the Frozen Gnome 50k.  Shelley was the 1^st place woman.  Shelley’s ultra running credentials speak for herself (http://ultrasignup.com/results_participant.aspx?fname=Shelley&lname=Cook).  Recently Shelley was awarded the 2013 Chicago Athlete Magazine’s Clif Bar Female Athlete of the Year. 

Shelley encourages me to run the next loop (loop 2) with her as she was pacing Chuck Schultz, whom was attempting to run 200 miles. 

A bit about Chuck.  Last year he was invited to compete in the Triple Deca Ironman in Verona, Italy.  The goal was to run an ironman every day for 30 days.  Chuck was able to complete 13 ironman’s.  Previous to this, and still fucking impressive, Chuck decided to run the length of Illinois from Paducah, Kentucky to Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Yes, he completed this. 

Loop 2 - Needless to say I’m running with some great athletes on loop 2.  My goal is to soak up as much information as I could from these two especially how I mentally prep myself past mile 50 as that is when shit gets real.  Our loop goal is 2 hours 30 minutes.  Note Chuck is on mile 80 and he’s running like he just started.  I pretty much follow Chuck as we come to the first stream crossing.  Runners are still struggling across the fallen trees to cross over the stream.  In my mind I’m saying out loud to these runners, you are on loop fucking 2, you are already wet and muddy, embrace it.  We make our way through loop 2 with no issues and learn a ton from Shelley and Chuck.

Loop 3 - Shelley decides to take a break and Chuck and I are on our own.  Conversation is flowing and we are doing well through the Heavens Gate aid station.  As we make our way through the lollipop loop, Chuck begins to bonk hard.  We stop as he tries to collect his thoughts.  The pain is starting to get to him as well as sleep deprivation.  Keep in mind its 11am Saturday, Chuck started at 4am on Friday and had only 30 minutes of sleep.  Chuck self-diagnoses what his issues he’s having and at one point thinks he’s being poisoned by his own bowels, or a autointoxication which is a poisoning of the intestines.  I thought he was hallucinating.  He decides to drink a 5 hour energy take some ibuprofen and in 15 minutes he comes around and starts to run again.  We finish loop 3 with no further problems.

Loop 4 – I don’t remember much about this loop, so must have been uneventful.  Ran with Chuck and all was good.

Loop 5 – I went out again with Chuck and this time he was being paced by Shan Riggs.  Shan ran with Chuck when they ran the length of Illinois.  Again, I’m with some badass runners.  Goal is to finish this loop in 2:45 as we don’t have headlamps and sunset will be upon us in another 3+ hours.  The first few miles go well, not great, but well.  I notice Chuck is about to be “chicked” by his girlfriend, Melissa Pizarro, who is on mile 110 out of 150. She doesn’t stop and we lose sight of her over a ridge.  Then I heard Chuck scream in pain.  I look back and he’s rubbing his ankle.  He pulls down his sock and the back of his ankle is swollen.  He tries to continue, but decides the pain is too much and he begins a slow walk.  I’ve been running with this guy for almost 40 miles and feel horrible he goes down with an ankle injury.  Now what do I do?? I still have some 58 miles to run and I can’t hang around long.  I know Shan is with him and I let them know I have to keep rolling.  As I leave Chuck and Shan behind, my legs are still feeling strong, I’m not lethargic.  I pick up my pace a bit to try and make it back to the start/finish by sunset.   I catch up to Melissa Pizarro and we both help each other keep a good pace to get back to the s/f by sunset.

Loop 6 – Enter my night pacer Cory Feign.  I met Cory only 2 months prior at Sean O’Brien in SoCal.  Thankfully he agreed to pace me all night as he needs the miles as he’s training for Leadville.  At the start of this loop, Cory is asking me a series of questions to see where I’m at physically and mentally.  All systems are a go and we move through this loop.  It’s more of a run/walk, but I’m still feeling good.  I get to the Heavens Gate aid station and then the wheels begin to come off.    I don’t remember everything.  My mind begins to enter a different dimension and I’m not coherent 100% of the time.  The next comments are written by Cory Feign as posted on his FB wall.

Pacing someone at their first 100 is real neat, to see it all unfold. I was with Jeff for 3 loops from miles 50-80 before we switched pacers.  Loops 6: 3:30 or so
Loop 7: 3:00 or so
Loop 8: 4:30 or so
This doesn't factor in the 10-20 minutes between loops for gear change/eating/etc. Loop 8 was by far the slowest, and he came in at 8am w just 8 hours before the cutoff. This means, despite being exhausted, he has no choice but to rally and do the loops at the same pace as loop 6, which was a lot earlier in the journey w much fresher legs (it can get rather hurty beyond mile 70 or 80). He can't go out and do two more loops at the same pace he just did. 
I watched him go from chatty, determined, and running the downhills on our first loop, to completely incommunicado, seemingly irretrievably lost, and just stumbling around asking where he was by the last lap. Like just zero response to questions, or answering a question 10 minutes after I asked it. 
Fortunately upon arrival after loop 8 there were many experienced runners ready to help come up with a plan to get him going. Does he take a nap and then we assume the 2 loops can go faster , does he spend some time in the chair by the fire, or do we just push him outta there? The physical and emotional investment by the runner are so great at that point, yet he says "I'm just not in it, I don't even care."
Many of us have been there and know what this means. 
At first it was his back. Then quads. Then Achilles. Then nauseated. Then just simply everything was bad. We decided to get him going as quickly was we could. 
Brandi took him out for the first 2 miles while we awaited the arrival of Shelley and Alec , the next pacers. 

Last time I saw him, at mile 82, he had resumed the late in the game jog-shuffle thing, much better than the crawling zombie death march that rounded out loop 8. 
It's maybe like watching a playoff or final 4 game on TV, except that it's your friend out there, and you are directly a part of the action, of helping them succeed or fail. You see them suffer. You feel their pain. And you celebrate with them even a short one minute burst of solid running.

Loop 9 – As I sit in the chair, I’m surrounded by many “you got this”, “we’ve got 8 hours to run 20

miles.” All I can think of is I want to fucking quit.  The pain in my quads, ankles, and back is excruciating.  How can I run/walk 20 miles in 80 hours?  My mental spirit is gone.  I have nothing left in the tank and at the time, I’m satisfied.  I gave it my all and I’m content with DNF’ing at 80 miles.  I’ve been preached to by Cory that once the sun came up, you will have a renewed energy.   I quickly learned that after running 80 miles, your mental capacity and coherency is absolutely gone.  This is why you should have a pacer and crew when running 100 miles, especially those who have completed similar distances and know the mental battle.   As I sit in a chair, Tom Lieber continues to encourage me onward.  I don’t know Tom to well, but like all of the other people I’ve met in the past 6 months since I started doing ultras, you know them and they know you.

As I get up out of the chair, I’m continued to be encourage by Tom Lieber and Brandi Henry as I make my way down the hill and begin loop 9.  Brandi walks me down as my pacers, Alec and Shelley, will meet me a few miles in.  Brandi is relentless (this is a good thing) as she gives me a great “pep talk” while we walk down the hill and into the prairie.   I have to be honest, Brandi wasn’t being nice at all and that’s

exactly what I needed.   As we walked into the prairie, Brandi convinces me to do a slow paced jog.  Surprisingly I had a bit of giddy up in my legs.  I actually felt good and in my mind was thanking Cory for sticking with me through the night and encouraging me to get to the sunrise.  As I meet up with Shelley and Alec, the encourage me to continue my job as long as I can.  There are parts of this I still don’t remember, but I believe I ran on and off until Golf Hill.  I was proud I lasted that long and know I must get back to the start/finish within 3.5 hours.  As I vaguely recall, I believe Alec and Shelley were very supportive as we made our way back to the start/finish within 3.5 hours as planned.  I’m pleased we had a great loop, but I was done.  I was satisfied at 80 and I’m certainly content with 90 miles.  At this point the pain is intolerable.

Loop 10 – As I make my way into the start/finish shoot, I’m met by several people.  The first person in my ear is Brandi.  She’s happy and smiling that we had a strong loop and she’s ready to run loop 10 with me.  I just now realized that she was carrying a Redds Apple Ale.  No wonder she was happy and smiling and probably not feeling too much pain.  I sternly looked at Brandi and tell her, I’m done, I’m done.  I can’t do this any longer.  I’ve never felt this type of pain in my life and I can’t believe I’ve run this far. 

Once again I make it to the chair as they pump me with fluids and food.  Once again, Tom is there to encourage me to move forward.  In my mind I wanted Tom to go away, but I also didn’t want him to stop talking to me.  As I think about this, I think everyone has had that “I just did a long run stare”.  Just staring at the ground and you feel content and wonderful of your accomplishment.  This is how I felt in the chair, yet Tom is encouraging to move forward.  As I enjoy the sun beating on my face, I hear Scott Kummer to the left of me saying something.  Again, I’m not too coherent and at this point, I don’t need any of Scott’s shit talk.  I look over at him and he tells me that he did his last loop in 4 hours and 45 minutes.  I quickly realized if I don’t get up out of this chair, I will never stop hearing Scott Kummer shit talk about those last 10 miles.  As quickly as he said it, I asked Brandi and Tom to help me out of my chair, and off we went.  Again, the pain is incredible, but it almost feels like the pain is subsiding.  I attributed this to knowing I was almost finished.  Just get through these last 10 miles, and I will have a buckle and a beer.  The last loop was the party loop, or at least that’s how Brandi referred to it.  I really wasn’t in the party mood.  I had the party pacers as Brandi, Tom, Alec, and Shelley all supported me in my last loop.  We laughed and I cried as we made our way through the last 10 miles.  I could probably write an entire blog about what transpired within

the last 10 miles.  A reflection of your life goes through your mind.  I think of all the things I’ve accomplished in life.  I think a ton about my late father and the pain he must of endured while battling cancer.  The thought of how Zoe has grown up into a beautiful young woman.  The thought about how I’m surrounded by my close, crazy, unselfish, supportive, amazing, ultra friends and the fact I finished 100 miles.

Thank you Brandi Henry, Shelley Cook, Alec Bath, Tom Lieber, and Cory Feign for pacing, and never letting me quick.  Scott Kummer, Chuck Shultz, Carl Galdine, Melissa Pizarro, Tony Silvestri, Katerina Claiborne, Tony Weyers (because he’s a great guy).  RD’s Rich and Eric Skocaj.  All of the aid station volunteers.  You are all amazing!!!

 Potawatomi 100!