THE DAY THE HEAT WON

The UROC 100K

I like to think I'm tough. I'm an ultrarunner after all. As a group, we pride ourselves on completing these amazingly long and difficult races when most people would never even attempt such a thing. Yet, there I sat on a log at around mile 51 at the UROC 100K seriously contemplating dropping, and generally feeling very sorry for myself. I was dizzy and staggering all over the place. I could barely run 100 yards before having to walk. I'm pretty sure I wasn't running faster than a 15 minute mile on flat, non-technical trails by this point. The heat had done me in, and there was no coming back from it. My goal coming into the race had been top five. I was currently sitting in 5th place, but I was convinced someone would pass me at any moment. I decided that if I got passed by another woman, I would drop; which is not something I'm proud to admit. I kept turning around checking to see if anyone was coming. This was going to be an ugly death march to the finish. 

But let's back up a bit. I had intended to run the Bull Run 50-miler on April 7th, only to get a cold the week before the race. I can't tell you the last time I was sick, but that's life sometimes. It was pretty obvious the week before Bull Run that a 50-miler wasn't in the cards, so I began looking for another race. I had started to gain some fitness this spring, and was itching to get back to the trails. I was SLOWLY getting over a nagging hamstring/glute/sciatic thing that had been lingering since November of last year, and was ready for a challenge. After searching for something relatively close to home, I came upon UROC. I ran the idea by my coach, David Roche, to see what he thought about doing a trail 100K with 12,000 feet of climbing with about a month to cram😲. Always the supportive optimist, he was all for it as long as it was something I really wanted to do. I think he was a little concerned that I wouldn't be satisfied if I wasn't at the top of my game. He knows my personality too well. I'd like to think I had a realistic grasp of my fitness with only a month to do any specific training. Truthfully though, it's hard to separate your previous accomplishments from your current training. I always want to win, or to at least race to my potential. I absolutely love racing. I LOVE it.  I can't run just to finish. It's just not the way I'm wired. I really wish I could sometimes; It sure would make races a lot more enjoyable. I'm also very good at lying to myself. I could probably stop running for a year entirely, and still convince myself that I could run a 100-miler. No matter my current level of training, my mind still thinks it can run the way I have in the past. I think it's the same mentality that keeps us coming back for more, even when it hurts so much. We can lie to ourselves about all of it.

With a green light from my husband and my coach, it was a go! I could not wait to run my first real mountain ultra in two years. I was also terrified. My longest races last year were a flat, fast rails-to-trails 50K and a road marathon. Not exactly ideal training for a mountain ultra. That is exactly why I wanted to do this race. It's been a while since I really doubted my ability to finish a race. I've run over 100 ultras by now, so the question of whether or not I can finish has now shifted to how well can I run? How hard can I push myself, and just what are those limits? This race, however, would be an interesting experiment to see how my road training last year would translate to the trails. I didn't know how my quads would hold up, or if my hamstring issue would flare up after so many miles. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time.

I did what limited training I could in the month leading up to the race. I believe I topped out at around 80 miles and 7,000 feet of elevation gain (mostly on a treadmill). Taper week was the usual case of nerves, phantom pains, and irrational fears of crippling illnesses just waiting to derail my plans. Thankfully Friday finally came, and I drove down for the pre-race briefing at Skylark, a beautiful residence on the Blue Ridge Parkway with 360-degree views of the mountains.

View from Skylark

Russ Gill, the race director, had an entertaining race briefing followed by a photo op of some of the top runners and a short Q&A session. It was fun, but also slightly embarrassing. 

Pre-race briefing 📸: Greg Soutiea

Finish chute. Boy, would I be glad to see this on Saturday!

With all of the pre-race festivities done, I drove down to the start, and parked my van. I had decided to sleep in my van mainly because I'm cheap, and it was convenient. I'd set up a camping cot in the back of the van, which fit perfectly, and settled in for the night. I set my phone alarm for 4am before I forgot. After my awesome dinner consisting of a subway sandwich and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, I took a tylenol PM and tried to sleep. Amazingly, I actually slept pretty well that night, only waking up a few times. I did have a random dream where I was in a car dealership, and someone stole my van. I was running around in a panic trying to find it so I wouldn't miss the race start. 😄I guess there always has to be at least one weird race panic dream.

Race Morning! It was finally time. I quickly ate my overnight oatmeal with peanut butter, blueberries and almond milk, and drove my van up to the finish area at Skylark. They had arranged a shuttle to get us back to the race start, so our vehicles would be waiting for us at the finish. Very nice touch, in my opinion!

After several bathroom breaks, we all lined up at the start and were off.

Camp Blue Ridge

Camp Blue Ridge right next to the start

The first 6.8 miles gradually climb up to the parkway on paved and gravel roads to aid station 1. As expected, everyone took off like it was a 10K. My plan was to hang back and go slow. I am not the type of runner who goes out hard from the gun and tries to hang on. My best races are when I hold back until the second half or last third of the race, and then catch everyone who went out too fast. It's always more fun to be the hunter than the hunted, in my opinion. Anyway, the miles went by quickly, but I was already sweating A LOT. I am not a big sweater, but it was sooooooo humid. It was only in the 60's during the early morning hours, but it did not bode well for the day ahead if I was already soaked in sweat. I ran mostly by myself until I caught up to Leah Ling, fellow SWAP member several miles into the race. I immediately felt better as we chatted all the way through the first aid station and onto the next long 11.3 mile section on Whetstone Ridge. This was a long 22 mile out and back on with only one aid station in the middle. For many people, this would decide their entire day. Run out of water here and your race was over. We ran along a ridge with no chance of any water crossings, so you better have enough water for 1.5-2.5 hours. I was wearing the new VaporMag race vest with two bottles up front and a 20oz handheld for these sections. I planned to ditch the handheld at mile 30 after we finished these two very long sections. Everything was going well, except I didn't screw one of the lids to my bottles tightly enough, and water was running down the front of my shirt. I immediately drank the entire thing before I lost all of the liquid. I knew I would need every ounce or I would be in trouble. The miles flew by as I tried to find a sustainable rhythm. Before too long we came upon Brian Rusieki, who was having a rough day. He was fighting a cold and a lower back injury that would eventually cause him to drop at the turnaround. It was fun running with someone who is usually way ahead of me, even for a few miles. Brian, I hope you heal up quickly. We caught up to Amy Rusieki as well around mile 12ish. I was having a blast talking and watching for the front runners to make their way back soon from the aid station at mile 19. 

We made it to aid station 2 where I doused myself with the wonderful ice sponges they had at each aid station. It was absolutely worth the extra 30 seconds it took to get completely soaked and cool my body down just a little. I refilled my completely empty bottles, and began the long climb heading back the way we had just come. There were 6-8 women all pretty close together chasing Amanda Basham, who had the lead. I had her pegged for the win, and figured it would be a battle for 2nd-5th. Sure enough, everyone was within striking distance. I think I was maybe 6th at this point? I was felt fantastic, in a good flow and feeling like this might be a good day. Then I hit mile 25 and my first low. It was really starting to warm up by now. This direction was more uphill than the other direction with some grindy hills along the ridge, and it just started to wear on me. I took a  gel hoping to snap out of the slump. I came off the trail at mile 30, and saw David Horton waiting for me! I knew he might show up, having biked up from Lynchburg that morning. It was nice to see a familiar face, and he helped me find my drop bag. More ice sponges, a starbucks espresso, some salt and vinegar chips, and off I went. I still felt like I was struggling a bit, but I figured so was everyone else. We ran along the parkway for a bit, back down the gravel road we had come up that morning, then up a yucky climb to Skylark. We ran tantalizingly close to the finish line around mile 35ish? before being sent back out for the second half of the race. I was spending way more time at the aid stations than I normally do trying to cool down, drink, and get my heart rate under control. I was yoyo-ing with Sheila Vibert through here. I was struggling to run up the gradual climbs, while she was on cruise control on the hills. I would catch back up on the downhills, and we went back and forth like this for a while. The course eventually got back on trails as we ran through the Slacks Overlook and Torrey Ridge sections. Mile 35-45 kind of blurs together in my mind, but I remember that it was HOT with barely any breeze. I felt like a lobster being not-so-slowly boiled to death. I thought I was still running pretty well in spite of the heat, and was in 4th place. I knew Sheila was running well, and probably not to far behind me. I had no idea who else might be back there too, so I was running a little scared. 

Then it all came to a grinding halt around mile 45. I was running along Torry Ridge, which is super technical. Normally, I love, love, love technical running, but I was really dizzy and weak all of a sudden. I didn't trust my legs, so I began walking even on the downhills. Not surprisingly, Sheila came flying by me on a downhill looking like she was on a mission. Now, I was in 5th, crap! I was literally staggering and stumbling over the rocks just hoping to get off this section as quickly as possible.

Typical Torry Ridge trail

This all led to me sitting on a log about 13 miles from the finish contemplating my poor life choices. The problem was that I didn't have a legitimate reason to stop. Sure I felt bad, but so what?! I wasn't puking, I wasn't peeing blood (although I truthfully wasn't peeing much at all), I didn't have an injury and so on. I just felt completely spent, and was disappointed to be in 5th. It was a good lesson in humility, I guess. I'm sure the heat had a lot to do with it, but I can't remember the last time I felt this bad ( I probably think this during every race). I literally could not run unless it was obviously downhill. The one saving grace was the ten or more streams crossings we had in the last 10 miles. I unashamedly sat down in every single one, even if I had just crossed a stream a few minutes before. At this point, I had little hope of catching any of the women in front of me, and I just wanted to survive. There was one horrible 1,000 foot climb at mile 58. The ironic part was that I was still able to climb pretty well, even though I couldn't run to save my life. I'd been thinking about this climb all day, trying to prepare my mind for the discomfort. It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. I think I powered up that climb about as quickly as I had been "running" the previous flat trail miles. I made it to the last aid station around mile 59, and I was committed to finishing now. There was no way I was quitting with about 4 miles to go, most of them on roads. My legs came back as my brain sensed the finish was near. The course dumps back out on the Parkway for the final few miles to the finish. I ran as hard as I could as I kept peeking behind me to see if anyone was in sight. I was still terrified of being passed in the final few miles. I swear I saw a person about 3/4 of a mile behind me. I couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman, so I ran as hard as I possibly could to make sure they didn't catch me. I was running so hard I started dry-heaving right next to the port-o-potties about a half mile from the finish. The final insult was this short but steep climb up the hill at skylark to the finish chute. I walked the entire hill straight through the finish line in 12:53:43. There was no running left in me, and I had no desire to try to run simply for a good finishing picture. I was too tired to care. I think I was more relieved than anything, and just happy it was over! In case you were wondering, the next finisher was sixteen minutes behind me, and a guy, so who knows if I actually saw someone or just imagined it.

A few minutes after I finished when I was able to get off the ground 📸 Francesca Conte

Women's podium

Now, A few days later, I'm really happy about the whole thing. I was able to run a grueling 100K with zero mountain training, and was still able to be competitive. I'm grateful that my body is strong enough to run ultras. This wasn't my best race or my worst, but I got to spend a day in the mountains enjoying God's creation. What a great Mother's Day gift! I want to thank all of my sponsors for believing in me-Nathan Hydration, Drymax Socks, Rabbit apparel, and Huma gels. I also want to thank my amazing husband for holding down the fort while I was gone. I love you, honey!

Gear:

Shirt: Pearl Izumi tank

Shorts: Rabbit Hopper shorts

Sports Bra: Nike Pro

Socks: Drymax hyper thin crew

Shoes: Pearl Izumi trail N2 (I've been saving these)

Pack: VaporMag with 2 bottles (size SM, but would use XS next time)

Handhelds: Nathan speedshot plus flask, and the old 20oz. quick draw plus for the Whetstone Ridge sections

Food:

10-15 S caps/salt stick tabs ( I lost count)

15-20 gels-mostly Huma gels, but also some GUs from the aid stations

2 honey stinger chew packs

3 gin-gins

a few jolly ranchers

2 bottles of coke and some at the aid stations

tons of water

1 pack of Tailwind

some pickles

a few potato slices with salt

2 oranges

2 ibuprofen 

a little chicken broth

There are probably some things I've forgotten, but that is most of it.