So last summer after some extensive research, I decided to register for the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile as my first crack at the distance. Before this training, my only run over a marathon was the DWD Gnaw Bone 50mi. There were three primary reasons for choosing this event. First, it was flatter (as in, not a mountain 100). Second, it was in February, so ample time to recover and still have a good running year. Third was the withdrawal rule. I had until one month out to withdrawal from the event and only lose $15... and with all of the bumps in the road of training for an event like this, I felt that was a nice insurance policy.
So, I laid out my plan and subsequently found reasons to stray from it. Between opening a second store, icy-cold weather, and a surprise knee problem, I had found my bumps, but still decided to toe the line. After all, I did have a pleasant 30 mile run with my wife and a fast 47 mile run with Scott Breeden... what's another 53 miles, right?
The race itself and my memories during it are fairly uneventful, so I'll start with a "brief" summary and lean on a Pros and Cons chart to fill in my thoughts...
6am start, 7am EST... I started mid-pack and almost immediately realized my mistake. I would say about half of the first mile was walking in a long line of people on the trail. I didn't maneuver around the bulk of them until the first aid station at about 3 miles. At about 6 miles I met up with Paul and Hannon, also first-timers, and we chatted away and let time slip by for the next 9 or so miles. This was exactly what I'd hoped for, but instead more like a group of 5 for about 15-20 miles... oh well. From then on, I would say I was on my own. Not that I didn't see people, there was plenty of doubling-back and looping on the course to cut the feeling of complete solitude, but no real opportunities to take the mind off the task. Luckily, I had planned for such things and picked up my mp3 player after the first lap (Garmin says 19.5mi, supposed to be 20mi - in 3:00:43, plus 5 minutes at the drop bag for Vespa, Perpetuem, sunglasses, tweet, and my mp3 player).
Honestly, in reflection, I can't remember a single detail from lap 2. I listened to chapters 5-13 of Mockingjay and let time slide by. By this time it was getting pretty warm (about 70 degrees and sunny), luckily there was low humidity so I didn't feel overly affected by it. I know that I tripped on a root at some point, but I'm not sure if it was this lap or another. I'll take this opportunity to rant a little about the footing of the course. Rocky Raccoon... rocky? no. raccoons? no. roots? YES. sand? some. any animals? not that I saw. Back to the roots... I would guesstimate that about half of the loop included large outcrops of roots that required more than a little concentration. I would liken it to the Upper Griffey loop, if you know what I mean. Consolation prize? most everywhere there wasn't a root, there were pine needles... so, when you fell it was soft as long as you didn't fall on another root. Entertaining side note: it was dark at the start and everybody was bunched together, so there was quite a few people biting it. (Garmin says 39.1mi, supposed to be 40mi - in 6:10ish, plus 5 minutes at the drop bag for another Vespa, Perpetuem, tweet, and change of mp3 player to music).
The start of lap 3 I really found a nice groove (maybe my switch to music?) I started clicking off high 8, low 9 minute miles for about 6-10mi... I would describe this section as "comfortably numb." If the usual dull muscle aches that accompany endurance running were to remain like this the rest of the run, I would have rocked this race! Perhaps my fateful choice because by mile 50 I would describe it as "uncomfortably numb." I referenced a knee issue in the opening and this is where I'll come back to it. About 2 weeks prior to race on a 10 mile easy run, my knee began tightening up just above the kneecap to underneath and rendered me nearly immobile for about 24 hours. Obviously a concern, I worked on it with a foam roller for the days leading up and tested it through a few runs and even basketball. It had passed those tests, but I hadn't really had the opportunity to forecast what 100 miles would be like on it... ultimately I knew it probably wasn't good, but I had hope.
I first noticed it twinge once in a while when I was chatting with Paul and Hannon back on lap one and really felt it at about 15 miles. But by 20 (the end of lap 1), it wasn't bad enough to stop, so I forged on. I had started the race with kenesio tape and a knee band and opted to keep it on and forego the full knee sleeve. Up until about 50 miles I knew it was there, but it had become only somewhat noticeable... why? Turns out I was compensating more than I thought... by 50 miles my right quad was on the verge of cramping and as soon as I shifted some stress off of it my left knee got worse. I ran/walked from 50-57 miles still keeping up a 10-12min/mi pace (which I felt I could manage for the rest of the race), but it kept getting worse. I walked the final 2-3 miles to the end of the lap and spent about 15 minutes stretching assessing my options. Steph had just finished her 50 miles (and ROCKED IT!), so she was there to talk it through with me, which was comforting. I decided to switch shoes, start the next lap, and at least walk to 100k (62.1 miles) and see if anything loosened up or felt better. It didn't.
I could have walked the remaining 38 miles in about 11 hours for a ~22 hour finish, but I felt finishing wasn't as important as the potential further harm to my knee. Thus begins the debate (in my head)... am I just wimping out? It's easily admitted that the hardest part of a 100 mile race would be that final 40 miles, which I didn't experience... so who am I to say I could have finished in 22 hours walking? Will the lack of "experience" during that stretch impact my ability to prepare for / execute at Western States? Maybe everyone running 100 miles feels as bad or worse than I did and that is just part of it. As much of an excuse and cop-out as it sounds every time I talk through it, I want to think I made the right choice. There's always tomorrow (or June 29th), right? Let's let the pros/cons decide...
CONS:
- Didn't finish
- Didn't "experience" the last 40 miles
- Pretty intense knee pain later that night / next day; trouble sleeping
PROS:
- Ideal pre-race (nutrition, sleep, and timing)
- Another 50+ mile effort (mileage PR)
- "Felt" the atmosphere of a 100 mile race
- Ample supplies in drop-bags
- Really liked the ability to easily tuck my collapsible handheld
- Nutrition "schedule" seemed adequate for the circumstances
- Never in a mental "dark" spot
- Don't hate running (actually quite motivated)
- Got to see friends in Houston
- IU beat Michigan
- Coaxed Steph into her first 50 miler!
Looks like the pros outweigh the cons... so there you have it! I'll save the extensively long detailed race report for when I actually finish this next one... thanks for reading!
For my run stats, visit: My GarminConnect
Steph will have more pics in her report (and a video!)
So, I laid out my plan and subsequently found reasons to stray from it. Between opening a second store, icy-cold weather, and a surprise knee problem, I had found my bumps, but still decided to toe the line. After all, I did have a pleasant 30 mile run with my wife and a fast 47 mile run with Scott Breeden... what's another 53 miles, right?
The race itself and my memories during it are fairly uneventful, so I'll start with a "brief" summary and lean on a Pros and Cons chart to fill in my thoughts...
6am start, 7am EST... I started mid-pack and almost immediately realized my mistake. I would say about half of the first mile was walking in a long line of people on the trail. I didn't maneuver around the bulk of them until the first aid station at about 3 miles. At about 6 miles I met up with Paul and Hannon, also first-timers, and we chatted away and let time slip by for the next 9 or so miles. This was exactly what I'd hoped for, but instead more like a group of 5 for about 15-20 miles... oh well. From then on, I would say I was on my own. Not that I didn't see people, there was plenty of doubling-back and looping on the course to cut the feeling of complete solitude, but no real opportunities to take the mind off the task. Luckily, I had planned for such things and picked up my mp3 player after the first lap (Garmin says 19.5mi, supposed to be 20mi - in 3:00:43, plus 5 minutes at the drop bag for Vespa, Perpetuem, sunglasses, tweet, and my mp3 player).
Honestly, in reflection, I can't remember a single detail from lap 2. I listened to chapters 5-13 of Mockingjay and let time slide by. By this time it was getting pretty warm (about 70 degrees and sunny), luckily there was low humidity so I didn't feel overly affected by it. I know that I tripped on a root at some point, but I'm not sure if it was this lap or another. I'll take this opportunity to rant a little about the footing of the course. Rocky Raccoon... rocky? no. raccoons? no. roots? YES. sand? some. any animals? not that I saw. Back to the roots... I would guesstimate that about half of the loop included large outcrops of roots that required more than a little concentration. I would liken it to the Upper Griffey loop, if you know what I mean. Consolation prize? most everywhere there wasn't a root, there were pine needles... so, when you fell it was soft as long as you didn't fall on another root. Entertaining side note: it was dark at the start and everybody was bunched together, so there was quite a few people biting it. (Garmin says 39.1mi, supposed to be 40mi - in 6:10ish, plus 5 minutes at the drop bag for another Vespa, Perpetuem, tweet, and change of mp3 player to music).
The start of lap 3 I really found a nice groove (maybe my switch to music?) I started clicking off high 8, low 9 minute miles for about 6-10mi... I would describe this section as "comfortably numb." If the usual dull muscle aches that accompany endurance running were to remain like this the rest of the run, I would have rocked this race! Perhaps my fateful choice because by mile 50 I would describe it as "uncomfortably numb." I referenced a knee issue in the opening and this is where I'll come back to it. About 2 weeks prior to race on a 10 mile easy run, my knee began tightening up just above the kneecap to underneath and rendered me nearly immobile for about 24 hours. Obviously a concern, I worked on it with a foam roller for the days leading up and tested it through a few runs and even basketball. It had passed those tests, but I hadn't really had the opportunity to forecast what 100 miles would be like on it... ultimately I knew it probably wasn't good, but I had hope.
I first noticed it twinge once in a while when I was chatting with Paul and Hannon back on lap one and really felt it at about 15 miles. But by 20 (the end of lap 1), it wasn't bad enough to stop, so I forged on. I had started the race with kenesio tape and a knee band and opted to keep it on and forego the full knee sleeve. Up until about 50 miles I knew it was there, but it had become only somewhat noticeable... why? Turns out I was compensating more than I thought... by 50 miles my right quad was on the verge of cramping and as soon as I shifted some stress off of it my left knee got worse. I ran/walked from 50-57 miles still keeping up a 10-12min/mi pace (which I felt I could manage for the rest of the race), but it kept getting worse. I walked the final 2-3 miles to the end of the lap and spent about 15 minutes stretching assessing my options. Steph had just finished her 50 miles (and ROCKED IT!), so she was there to talk it through with me, which was comforting. I decided to switch shoes, start the next lap, and at least walk to 100k (62.1 miles) and see if anything loosened up or felt better. It didn't.
I could have walked the remaining 38 miles in about 11 hours for a ~22 hour finish, but I felt finishing wasn't as important as the potential further harm to my knee. Thus begins the debate (in my head)... am I just wimping out? It's easily admitted that the hardest part of a 100 mile race would be that final 40 miles, which I didn't experience... so who am I to say I could have finished in 22 hours walking? Will the lack of "experience" during that stretch impact my ability to prepare for / execute at Western States? Maybe everyone running 100 miles feels as bad or worse than I did and that is just part of it. As much of an excuse and cop-out as it sounds every time I talk through it, I want to think I made the right choice. There's always tomorrow (or June 29th), right? Let's let the pros/cons decide...
CONS:
- Didn't finish
- Didn't "experience" the last 40 miles
- Pretty intense knee pain later that night / next day; trouble sleeping
PROS:
- Ideal pre-race (nutrition, sleep, and timing)
- Another 50+ mile effort (mileage PR)
- "Felt" the atmosphere of a 100 mile race
- Ample supplies in drop-bags
- Really liked the ability to easily tuck my collapsible handheld
- Nutrition "schedule" seemed adequate for the circumstances
- Never in a mental "dark" spot
- Don't hate running (actually quite motivated)
- Got to see friends in Houston
- IU beat Michigan
- Coaxed Steph into her first 50 miler!
Looks like the pros outweigh the cons... so there you have it! I'll save the extensively long detailed race report for when I actually finish this next one... thanks for reading!
For my run stats, visit: My GarminConnect
Steph will have more pics in her report (and a video!)
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