The MMT is a challenging 100 mile trail ultra over a demanding, rocky course in the Massanutten Mountains of Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. The course includes short but rugged mountain climbs that total over 18,000 feet. While the May date usually avoids Virginia's brutal summer weather, we have had rain and violent storms in prior years. The event is noted for its well-stocked, friendly aid stations and good course marking.This course adds another element of difficulty: lots of rocks. Rocks of all sizes. Loose rocks, gravel, moss-covered rocks, muddy rocks, sharp rocks, smooth rocks, wet rocks, and even invisible rocks. Thus it is very technical in comparison to other 100-mile races. In addition, Mother Nature decided to dump 3 inches of water in the area just the day prior. The rain and overflowing streams further added to the difficulty. Even the start and finish lines had to be adjusted to account for all the extra water in the area. Mud and water was everywhere. Streams were overflowing. The trail was often a new stream. I used 4 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of shoes, and probably should have used more. And for the record, it's actually 103.7 miles.
In the past, I've just gone out for a run without food and often without breakfast. I could run 20-30 miles with relative ease. The longer I went though, especially on the hot summer days in Arizona, the more tired my legs got at the end. I think it was my second time running more than the marathon distance, I started out late in the morning. Even with my water belt that holds 32 ounces of fluid and with refills, I was exhausted. I had enough fluid but no energy. I remember laying on the floor for about 20 minutes. So as I've trained for the longer distances, I knew my weakness was not being able to sustain the same pace because I wasn't fueling. Now I often take a piece of bread, dried fruit, or some granola with me for the longer runs.
The club that hosts MMT (VHTRC), also hosts training runs specifically for MMT. I went to two of the four training runs. Each run covers about one third of the course (the fourth run recovers portions that are likely to be run in the dark and is also run in the dark). So in March, I got my first doses of the Massanutten trails. My quads took a beating going down the hills and were sore for at least the following week for both training runs. I learned to run on the rocks keeping my feet loose and agile. I started to get a hang of the downhills, just letting gravity take me down while also keeping on my feet.
We got there Friday night around 7 PM. We had missed the pre-race dinner and the informational meeting. That's when I would have found out the star and finish had been slightly adjusted because of the rain. Some very helpful volunteers checked me in and even let us have some of their dinner, the dinner for the volunteers. The cook outdid himself. The veggie burgers were delicious. The pork sweet and juicy. And the cookies soft and chewy. I ate as much as I could, knowing I'd need all the energy I could get. (Since I stopped the hormones a few months ago, I've lost a few pounds and have very little body fat. Usually a little body fat helps on the longer runs.)
We found the camping area and pitched our tent. Since the race started at 4 AM on Saturday, we tried getting as much sleep as possible and woke up at about 3:30. That wasn't enough sleep. It also wasn't enough time to get ready and arrive at the start line in time. My wife braided my hair real quick while I put everything together. With all my gear on, we headed towards the start line. But I saw headlights coming at us. So I started running towards the start line and passed all of the runners, going in the opposite direction. The race director stopped me and told me to turn around, that it was all right. He had my number and would make sure I got credit for starting. I figure I ran the same distance, if not more than everyone else.
I had grabbed one of those big rolls from costco and munched on it the first few miles. I had lemon-flavored Tailwind in my Nathan hydration vest. I don't remember details of the race, so here's a general description of how it went down.
Support
My wife, aka my crew, was at every aid station where crews were allowed. She filled my hydration vest with more tailwind, made sure I had enough food and cheered louder than anyone else for any other runner. She also gave me lots of kisses and even hugged my sweaty body. Even in the middle of the night, she was there waiting for me with a smile. My original pacer dropped a couple weeks before the race, and I didn't bother finding another one. I felt confident enough that I could push myself to finish. But at the Camp Roosevelt aid station, mile 64, a volunteer asked if I needed a pacer. Sure, why not! So he paced me the last 40 miles. He helped me keep going, to keep taking another step until we finally finished. I don't think I could have finished in such a good time without his help.
Timing
My pace was great, at about 12 minutes per mile, until Camp Roosevelt. My absolute goal was to finish within the time limit of 36 hours. My realistic goal was to finish under 30 hours. My dream goal that I thought I could do but knew it would be very difficult was to finish under 24 hours. To finish under 24 hours, I needed to maintain a pace under 14 minutes per mile. At the halfway point, I was only 10.5 hours in and felt I could finish the second half under 13 hours. Boy was I wrong! My knees were hurting at the mid point. At about 80 miles, the bottoms of my shins were sore and really hurting. I estimate I walked about 25 of the last 40 miles. Some of the mile-splits were above 25 minutes per mile. That was real slow.
Nutrition
As I mentioned earlier, I used tailwind to stay hydrated and for additional calories. At the aid stations where my wife wasn't allowed, I filled my hydration bladder with Gatorade, Hammer drink mix or whatever they had. It made for an interesting cocktail of flavors! I tried to remember everything I ate and drank and list them below. The aid stations were amazing and provided most of my food.
Solids:
About 15 strawberries, 3 bananas, 4 oranges, 2 avocado egg bacon sandwiches, about 1/2 cup peanut butter honey mix, 2 cups chilli, 1 cup chicken broth, 1 cup chicken noodle soup, 1 cup chowder, 2 power bars, a sandwich roll (220 calories), 1 tums, about 3 servings of costco whey protein powder with water, 2-3 pb and jam sandwiches, 4 slices of bacon (in addition to sandwiches), a bean and cheese burrito, 3 power gel chew things, 2-3 chocolate cookies, a few pickles, 2 small potatoes dipped in salt.
Fluids:
I started with 70 ounces of water with one small bag of tailwind mixed in (4 servings). At the aid stations not accessible by crew, I topped off with gatorade or hammer mix - whatever they had. At the crew aid stations, I topped off with mango tailwind. During the night I added the caffein raspberry tailwind. I usually drank a cup of coke or ginger ale. The protein mixed with water was about 35 ounces. I had a few cups of vegetable v8 type juice. I estimate I drank about 400 ounces total.
I know I had enough fluids since I had to "water the trees" at least 10 times through the night. I also had a couple BMs. I think I ate too many strawberries and not enough non-fibrous solids. My fainting incident (see below in Recovery), makes me think I didn't get enough salts. I felt nauseous after fainting and just lay on the ground for a while before I got up. That's usually an indication of having a low level of electrolytes. I don't know how many calories I consumed. My watch tells me that I burned 8484 calories. I know for certain that I didn't eat that much.
Equipment and clothing
For the first 60-70 miles, I used compression calf sleeves. (Someone had given them to me at the start line at Boston a month ago). Until about mile 80, I wore my Montrail Fairbourn shoes. They performed great and, sadly, are ready to be retired. They've seen a lot of miles in their day on the trails. (I won them at a 50 k race almost 2 years ago but didn't start using them until a year ago). Then I donned my overused Asics Nimbus shoes that I thought I would retire after crossing the finish line at Boston, but I needed them for this race and for training during the past month. I used four pairs of socks and changed only because they were so sandy I couldn't take them anymore. Using wool and nylon-blend socks really helped with blisters - I only had one blister the whole time.
In the morning and at night, I used a simple Petzl head lamp. It takes 3 AAA batteries and only started to dim the last hour. I had extra batteries in my vest but never felt like I needed them. If my pacer hadn't been behind me the whole time with his super-bright lamp, I probably would have switched for fresh batteries. My neck got tired from looking around, moving my head so I could see the ground and avoid rocks and deep mud holes.
For GPS, I used my Garmin 310XT. The battery on it is rated for 20 hours. At 13 hours, it still had 30% left, but I had my wife get my portable charger and adapter so I could charge it over the next section which was six miles. It charged to 99% which was good enough for me and lasted through the finish line. Before the race, I had downloaded the course onto my watch. This was a tremendous help. Not as familiar with the trails as I ought to have been, this feature of the 310XT saved me from getting lost. There were a couple sections that it repeatedly told me I was off course. This had happened in the same spots during the training runs, so I knew to ignore it's alerts. Either the course I downloaded from the MMT site was slightly off, or my GPS was having trouble with accuracy in those areas; I don't know.
Shirt and shorts and underwear were pretty standard. A pair of panties with some shorts, a short-sleeved shirt, and a champion sports bra. When it first started cooling down, I donned a pair of stretchy gloves. At the next aid station, I put on my jacket - a cheap Starters jacket from Wal Mart. If we had been running instead of mostly walking, I probably wouldn't have needed the jacket. I had packed an extra pair of clothes but didn't feel like I needed them. I also felt nervous/embarassed if I were to change in front of everyone.
For the last 20-ish miles, I used a walking stick to get me down the hills, through muddy sections, over and through streams and over/around the plethora of rocks. My pacer used a pair of trekking poles that seemed to really help him. Maybe in the future I'll get myself some poles.
Mental
This course takes a huge toll on ones mental stamina. There were times during the night, during the last 20 miles when I'd come to a bunch of rocks, a patch of mud or yet another stream crossing and I'd get very anxious. I stopped and sometimes complained to my pacer. The anxiety was sometimes so strong. I bet I could have finished under 24 hours if I had better prepared for the anxiety. At about 50 miles, I ran with another runner for a few miles. She didn't talk much, just listened to her music. She was doing some breathing exercises, I think so anyway. As she was taking deliberate breaths and slowly exhaling, I found myself doing the same. I really concentrated on my breathing and fould myself very relaxed.
GID
Officially, I ran as male but pretty much presented as female. At one of the earlier aid stations, a volunteer told me I was runner-up. I think he thought I was the second female through the aid station. Even if I were, he had missed two other women. A few of the runners and some other volunteers also thought I was female. I just smiled and said nothing. At the finish line, some lady thanked my pacer for "getting her" to the finish line.
Since my body has been male most of it's mortal life, I don't feel it fair to the women if I were to join their category for the purpose of awards. I'm not the fastest as a male but still rank in the top 10% or higher. As a female, I would often be on the podium. Not wanting to draw much more attention to myself, I'm content with not running as female - at least not according to the official times. I'll definitely present as female and get the female-sized race shirts.
Recovery
After crossing the finish line, the race director congratulated me and shook my hand. My wife was there ready for a hug. I thanked my pacer. I walked around, got some food, and tried staying warm in the sleeping bag my wife had brought. After a couple hours, we headed back to the tent. There were showers there, and I really wanted a shower. I was shivering and hoping for a nice warm shower. I stripped off my clothes, turned on the water and waited for the water to get warm. It never did get warm. So instead of showering, I put on a fresh pair of clothes and went to the tent with my wife. We both conked out pretty quick. I woke up about an hour later with super sore legs and knees. I felt gross and just wanted to get home for a nice shower and for our own bed. My wife just wanted to sleep before packing up and going. So I pulled myself up, climbed out of the tent and stood up. I remember telling her that I felt light-headed, very light-headed. She said something, but the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground crumpled in a sorry-looking heap. I had fainted. My wife carried me to the bathroom so I could accomplish my original quest of relieving my bladder. In falling to the ground, I didn't hurt anything except maybe my nose as it hit one of the tent poles during the descent. Then she set me in the car. While I sat there eating and drinking to regain my energy, she packed up the sleeping bags, air mattress, tent and clothes. My dad was somewhere at the finish line having locked his keys in his rental car again.
On the way home, I propped my feet on the dash and tried getting some sleep. My wife was getting sleepy, so I talked with her to keep her awake. Since then, my feet continue to swell up when they are down too long. My left knee continues to hurt and has woken me up every night. For the first few days, I took a couple ibuprofen to help with the swelling and a tylenol to help with the pain.
Interestingly enough, my quads, calves, and hamstrings don't hurt at all. Just my knee and bottom of my front shins.
I took Monday off to get some rest and to recover. When I walked in the door on Tuesday, I hobbled to my desk giving a good laugh to my boss. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I used another chair to keep my feet propped up. Today (Thursday), my feet haven't swollen up (yet maybe).
The Next Race
I'm on the waitlist for the Vermont 100 and am pretty sure that I'll get in. I'm also pretty sure I could run it and do much better than I did at MMT. But it's a long drive to get there from here. And we'd have to find a babysitter for my nonverbal autistic son again. And it (the race, travel, food, etc) costs a lot. So I'm going to drop from the waitlist for the Vermont 100. I do plan to run The Ring, which is a "fat ass" event hosted by the VHTRC at the end of August. It's on the same trails as MMT but is only 71 miles. Then in November, I am signed up for the Mountain Masochist 50- miler in southern Virginia, not far from the southern sections of MMT. Now that I have another qualifier for Western States, maybe I'll get in for it next year since I didn't this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment