MMT week:
Monday early evening, I started to feel like I was getting sick. By 11pm, I had a full blown sore throat. Fever and chills. Negative 20 degree sleeping bag and two comforters with pants, sweatshirt and stocking hat and I was still shaking. I slept all day Tuesday and Tuesday night, only getting out of bed two or three times.
Wednesday morning, my fever broke and I can tell that I am getting better. Still haven't eaten anything since Monday night but gatorade, oj and hot tea with honey.
Not the most optimal few days before a 100 miler.
The RUN
MMT 100 2012
Back to the drawing board.
Flew into Reagan international airport and rented the
cheapest car we could find. Got an quadruple
upgrade for free to a mini van. Lowered
the seats in the back and slept in the back of the van the day before the run,
This was nice since I now didn’t have to worry about setting up my tent. The
run started at 4am and I overslept, hoping to get up at 3am but woke up at
3:23am. Felt a little rushed to make the
start but arrived in time with a few minutes to spare. The
first part of the run went very well. I
was climbing strong and flowing the down hills.
The second part of the run was completely different and I knew that is
was going to be a long, long night.
Climbing up Habron, about mile 53, my stomach took a turn for the worse
and from that point on, my little red wagon wheels began falling off. Projectile vomit one, on Top of Habron. Ran into camp Roosevelt and tried to
regroup. Nothing sat well, I tried
vegetable soup but it didn’t hold and my energy levels were beginning to
plummet. Coming into Gap 1(69.1 miles) I
tried hot tea, which seemed to go down nicely.
I began climbing to the top of Kerns Mountain, Projectile vomit number
two. On top of kerns in the middle of
the night, my headlamp caught movement on the trail and startled me. After inspection of the source of rustling
leaves, score….. A small baby copperhead.
Very pretty snake. Arriving at the unmanned aid station,
consisting of water and some cookies, I filled up my bottle with water, drank
one full bottle and within twenty steps,
heave number three. With my energy as
low as it has been, it was a nice long walk towards the visitor center. My mental state began to change; I went from
being pissed, disappointed, frustrated and began to rationalize a slower
time. I was pissed I couldn’t keep any
food in my stomach. I didn’t understand
why this keeps happening. The
disappointment of setting up a training plan, following that plan, putting in
the miles and coming into this run more fit and more ready to run a good time
than any of my previous 5 MMT 100’s, subsided and turned to quitters math. I was calculating justification math like I
should be teaching mathematics at MIT. My legs felt strong, my feet were feeling
good and I wanted to run but with no energy, I was handcuffed.
It is always wonderful to arrive at the visitors center (77.5
miles)to see great friends. I drank some
lemonade, brushed my teeth and had a few sips of coffee. Fifty or so steps out of Visitors, projectile
vomiting number four which made the climb up Bird knob very slow.
It was almost light enough when I arrived at the bird knob
aid station (87.3 miles) This stop is
famous for its Massanutten mountain Corn Chowder. I had one cup and assessed, seemed like it
was going to stay down so cup number two and I was feeling optimistic until
about 100 yards out of the aid station, projectile vomiting number five. This one was violent enough that 1. I got
corn stuck in my nose and 2. I thought I
pulled a stomach muscle, which later subsided so I guess I was just feeling the
muscle convulsions around my abdomen area.
Every inhale or swallow for the next few hours I got to taste throw
up. Oh yeah, I’m having fun now.
Back to being frustrated as I think of the cushion and good
pace to finally run a respectable time at MMT, disappear right before my eyes.
Grains of sands through my poor little pathetic hour glass. Runners continue to pass me as I had to lay
down and stretch my back. Muscle spasms
in my upper back from the Imbalance of electrolytes and peeing red, just
keeping adding to my joy and positive attitude I was feeling during these
moments. EFFF this, I’m never running
another 100. EVER(subject to change of
course)
Coming into the picnic area(87.3 miles) I drank two cups of
yoohoo figuring this was going to take the taste of corn chowder throw up from
mouth and would rather throw up watered down chocolate milk. I left Picnic area with one water bottle for
the next section. Big mistake. The
Yoohoo stayed down. After about a mile
into the this section I took a sip of water and it was the by far the best
water I have ever tasted in my
life. I pounded the bottle within two
miles of leaving the aid station and was now out of water, during a very hot
part of the run. I looked at the stream
of icy, cold, flowing water and debated on filling up my bottle but chose to
wait to get to the top or near the source of the flowing life saver. At the source, it didn’t look very appealing,
only three or four more miles to go. Using a 5 hour energy to rinse my mouth out
and keep it moist was my only solution to try and trick my body that it was not
dehydrated and this continued to the end of this section. Swirl it around, spit it back in the bottle,
repeat many times as the dryness of mouth felt like cardboard. Turning left on top of Scothorn gap, I stepped off the side to allow a herd of
horses pass me by. The rest of the trail
was covered in horseshit and thousands upon thousands of flies that swarmed my
face every time I stirred them away from their delicious new entrees.
Side note: Dog owners
are expected to clean up after his/her pets.
It is considered rude to leave canine defecations on the trail. Why is this different for horse owners? I really wanted to take a shit in the back of
the horse guys truck. An eye for an
eye.
Drank four bottles of water at gap 2 and left with a full
bottle. Then I walked to the uneventful
finish. Gary Knipling ran by me on the
road at 5k pace and as fast as he came up from behind me, he was gone, out of
sight in front of me.
High hopes, smashed by nutrition and the inability to intake
calories and hydration. That was the
negative.
On a more positive note, finish number 6. My climbing legs felt better than any other
100 and I am optimistic about HRH. The
VHTRC is an awesome running group and it always feels like a home coming when
spending time with friends. The
volunteers are superb, they understand runners needs and I am grateful and
thankful that they are stationed throughout the course. I got to spend a ton of time on great trails,
with wonderful views, surrounded by some of the best people in the world.
Right Nows
During this run, I
would look at my watch and wonder what the people of the “real” world were
doing. Right now, what is going on in Cincinnati? I wonder what they are eating? Right now people are dancing and giving
toasts, laughing and celebrating the weekend. What if that was me? Did their day turn out to be perfect? Will
they remember this day as I do? How
would my life be different if I was not experiencing what I was experiencing right
now. Right now, I am trudging myself up a climb and in the grand scheme of
things, with tons of people out living their lives, I was here, trying to put
one step in front of the other, moving on. Right now, contemplating life, the wins and missed opportunities. Right now, I was surviving.
Life is still great,
the run will be there next year and so will I.
Wore LaSportiva wildcats
and injini toe socks. No shoe or sock
change the entire 100. Zero blisters
Dirty girl gators.
Patagonia black short shorts. No chafing.
Mountain hardware zip t
Two waste water bottle packs. Golite and ultimate direction.
Endurolites every other hour
Gel every odd hour.
