Moab 100 (Race Recap)

Moab, UT

Saturday, March 24 to Sunday, March 25

Ultra Marathon #3

Weather - HOT during the day, breezy early afternoon, chilly and moon-less at night

Almost immediately after finishing the Bear Chase in September, I was on the mission for more. I couldn't talk anyone else into joining me for a distance past 50 miles, but November came and I located a 100 mile training plan and decided to go for it. I picked the Moab 100 (24 Hours of Utah) race, put on by Gemini Adventures for a few reasons. I liked it because it was close(ish), a loop (I could drop out if I needed to AND could access my stuff every 5.37 miles).

Up until the week of the race, I was pretty sure I was 100% alone. Luckily, my dad realized I was a). Crazy and b). Would not be able to drive back alone after running. So on Friday afternoon around 1:30, my dad picked me up and we headed west to Moab. The drive was pretty uneventful, and we stopped in Grand Junction for my favorite pre-race dinner, Applebee's. This time I got pretty much the same thing, but blackened chicken (and spinach) instead of just the three cheese/chicken. It was tasty.

I was super glad my dad was with me and that he is familiar with the Moab area. I am pretty sure I would NOT have seen the turnoff for the base camp. We arrived around 8:15, and while he was setting up the tent, I wandered over to the party I was invited to on Facebook. A guy running the 24 hour segment was throwing a party for his wife's birthday - and he had brought his whole family with him. What a friendly/supportive family he has! After harassing him for a few minutes for course details and devouring a piece of cake, I headed over to help my dad. He had forgotten tent spikes, so we had to wander around finding rocks to hold the tent in place. I decided to lie down around 9:15, hoping I would be able to sleep. Being in Moab and the nerves were setting in!

Race Day

I woke up about an hour before my alarm went off. I stayed in my sleeping bag for about a half hour, then decided I might as well get ready. Good thing I was up early, everything took longer than expected. It felt chilly early on, but I knew it was going to heat up later - forecasts for low 80s!

Even though I had pre-packed my drop bag, I found myself digging around making sure I had everything ready to go. At 6:30 I headed over to get my packet and use the bathroom.

Base camp/Aid station

Mandatory race meeting at 6:45, where we got detailed course instructions. The most complicated was going to be remembering to alternate loops. First loop (odd loops) were clockwise, even loops counterclockwise. This would be nice later because even though I was getting lapped, it took a while before people were ACTUALLY running right past me.

I lined up toward the back, and at 7:01, we were off. I took most of  my pictures in the first lap. With the sun coming up, the rocks were beautiful, and I knew I would not appreciate the scenery as much in the later laps, and I wanted some cool shots.

This is sand, not dirt

One of the only sections of just "trail"

East side of the slick rock

Fellow runner offered to take my picture!

Probably my favorite course picture

Oh look... more sand!

Multiple creek crossings. Not deep, but sometimes I misstepped and got my feet damp and socks muddy

Oh, look! I'm still smiling!

West side of slick rock - see that white line? That's how course was marked during the day on the rock

MORE slick rock

Balancing rock

Another sandy trail (cars could drive on this section)

I had every intention of "jogging" this race. Start out in the back, not overexert myself, saving energy for later when I was REALLY tired. So I ran the flats, downhills, and slight inclines. Walked the sections that seemed "hard." This worked really well for me the first three or so laps. Then the heat kicked in.

Wow, with the winter in the recent past, I had forgotten what it was like to run in the heat. I quickly had to fill the bladder in my hydration vest - probably before we were even 16 miles in. There was only one aid station ON the course, about halfway in, an unmanned water station. At the base camp, there was the bathrooms, sunscreen, medical, drinking water, and snacks. I had brought some of my own fuel, and never needed it. There was plenty of stuff provided.

I started to slow down by about the fourth loop. The hills were feeling steeper and steeper. The heat was making me tired. I lost the running buddies I was chasing. I started to get lapped. On this course, there were not just the 100 milers, there was a 24 hour division (both solo, team, and relay), and a 12 hour relay. The 12 hour runners SMOKED me. I must have gotten passed 3-4 times by the faster runners.

Sometime in the early afternoon, the breeze picked up and it wasn't nearly as hot. SO nice. And by mid afternoon, the clouds came out, which made the temperature a LOT more bearable. When I headed out for my last lap before dark, I put on my long sleeve shirt since I knew it would get cold real fast when the sun dropped.

Razzy Roo headband, YMX top - Somewhere around 45 miles in

The sand hill. Hard to tell, but this felt like a 15% grade. Ooof.

Sunset

Course marked with glow sticks for night (with reflective tape on rocks)

Sunset - heading North towards base camp

I was allowed to have a pacer after 8:00. My dad had said he would be back by then and would do a loop with me.  I had an AWESOME loop miles 42ish to 47ish. I told my dad to save the loop until morning because I felt like I would still be able to get some running in and wanted to bank as much time as possible. By the halfway point I was a). Doing a dance only Liz Lemon could rival and dance/running and b). Was feeling so good I wasn't even considering I would not finish, unless I broke a bone or a limb fell off.

How quick things change. The sun went down, and the headlamp went on. Did you know that in the middle of the dessert with no moon it is RIDICULOUSLY dark?? Especially since my light wasn't very bright, I was running by myself, and the 12 hour runners were done. Very few people were on the course, and the glowsticks marking the course were few and far between. This is seriously what my light put out.

What it looked like at night with my headlamp

When people DID come up on me, they zoomed past me. My light was dim and I kept having to stop and adjust my light to look for the reflective tape/course markers. At this point, I began to feel concerned. I was texting with Heather and telling her how dark it was and how much I was starting to struggle. I suffered through a partial loop, that took about a half hour longer than any other loop I had done. I kept going, and the next one wasn't much better. I just didn't feel like I could safely run with it being so dark. On the slick rock I was never quite sure that I was headed in the right direction, and the trail sections were hard to run with the sand, and the only dirt sections had lots of loose rocks and drop offs. I considered dropping at the end of loop 11, but Heather convinced me to change my socks/shoes, eat more, then head back out.

I had the most awesome grilled cheese sandwich in the world at base camp, put on my capris and a fleece jacket and headed out for loop 12. It was the most awful experience. Ever. By now it was after midnight, and there was pretty much NO ONE out there. I was starting to hallucinate (they really WERE just twigs, NOT snakes), and I was feeling sorta lightheaded and couldn't seem to walk straight. My socks were hurting and the bottom of my feet ached. My shoes were NOT comfortable. My legs, however, felt great. I kept plugging along, and my inevitable drop of the race occurred when I missed a turn because the glow sticks leading up to it had died. After wandering around in pitch black for a good 10 minutes while I looked for the course, I knew I needed to stop before I got hurt. Or lost. The last two or so miles literally went on FOREVER. I was moving SO slow and that made the cold night air even colder. If I hadn't put on the extra clothes, I'm pretty sure I would have gotten hypothermia (or just been REALLY REALLY cold).

I knew the course pretty well by now, but I didn't seem to be making any progress. I was on the verge of hysterics when I thankfully saw the gate entrance to the road. I made it back to base camp and officially called it when I checked in at the end of my loop. I was informed that all the other 100 mile women had already dropped, and there was only one female left out on the course.

It's hard to explain how I was feeling. I probably could have suffered through more miles. However, with the last 16.11 miles taking me just over 6 hours, that meant I would have had to have resumed my earlier pace of roughly 1:15 per loop just to make the cutoff. With another 4 hours of darkness, I knew I didn't have it in me. I trained for this race for four months, and believe me, I really never considered "what if" I didn't make it. I sat down by the heater next to the snack table, almost in shock. There were some relay runners waiting to head out, and they all tried to convince me that I was amazing for doing what I had done. However, I felt like a failure and a quitter.

What did I actually complete? 12 loops, for a total of 64.44 miles. This course had approximately 110 feet of elevation gain PER MILE. The challenging terrain of sand dunes, slick rock, dirt trails, and creek crossing made for proably the hardest course I have ever encountered. I believe my time was about 19:45, but I didn't wear a watch and official results aren't up yet.

Edit: Results added

Loop 1 (5.37 miles) - 8:17 am
Loop 2 (10.74 miles) - 9:32 am
Loop 3 (16.11 miles) - 10:48 am
Loop 4 (21.48 miles) - 12:13 pm
Loop 5 (26.85 miles) - 1:38 pm
Loop 6 (32.22 miles) - 3:16 pm
Loop 7 (37.59 miles) - 4:50 pm
Loop 8 (42.96 miles) - 6:28 pm
Loop 9 (48.33 miles) - 8:12 pm
Loop 10 (53.70 miles) - 10:03 pm
Loop 11 (59.07 miles) - 12:06 pm
Loop 12 (64.44 miles) - 2:43 am
Total Time - 19 hours, 43 minutes

After eating a bit more and chatting with the other runners, it was all of a sudden almost 4:00 am. I decided to put more clothes on and sit in the car until the sun came up. I made it about 10 minutes, then decided a few hours of sleep was better than none at all. I was obviously exhausted and fell asleep in minutes.

In the morning, I headed over to base camp to see how the other runners had fared while I had been sleeping. The other woman runner had only done one more lap before also dropping - so no female finishers at all. She had been a loop ahead of me during the day, so she finished overall 10.78 miles more than me. She also had a boyfriend/friend that she was running with, which I'm sure helped. With 5 hours until the course was closed, I was informed that only one person had finished, and only a total of three runners were likely to finish the full distance.

The friend from Facebook had run 75ish miles and stopped at 1:00 am. His loops awarded him a second place finish in the 24 hour division. The winner of the 24 hours was a female, who finished 91ish miles (WOW!!).

After learning all this, I can feel a teeny tiny bit better about my failure, but not much. First time I have ever not finished something I started. I felt especially crappy because I wasn't injured, I just got tired and discouraged and gave up. I even kept all toenails and didn't get any blisters!

So. Overall? What worked and what didn't?

Worked:

• YMX tops. Long enough that they didn't ride up. Comfortable, and they BREATHE.
• Zensah sports bra - NO CHAFING. 'Nuff said.
• Lululemon "shorty shorts" under my skirt. I had actually NEVER run in these before, but all compression shorts tend to ride up on me. These never BUDGED. I ran in them all laps until the last one. BEST PURCHASE OF MY LIFE.
• Running Skirts triathlon skirt. Cute, and functional. Liked having the pockets for my trash until I got back to base camp.
• Extra clothes for when it got cold. Instead of just a straight running skirt, going with the shorts & triathlon skirt made it easy to change into capris when it got cold without mooning the volunteers.
• Nathan hydration vest. It was ridiculously hot out, and I am pretty sure that one 10 oz bottle off my belt would not have been enough fluid for me. I did, however, see lots of people with just a handheld, and some people (must have been relayers), didn't carry anything at all!
• I am proud to say I remembered to drink early and often. Might not have done that if I was "rationing" water.
• Related - I made sure to take one gel (Hammer gel on all loops after the first one) every single loop. Of note, this was one of the first times I haven't had a bathroom emergency/stomach ache during a race. Wonder if it is the switch from GU to Hammer gel?
• Made sure to eat a handful of snacks after EVERY SINGLE LOOP. M&M's, chips, little PB&J on tortillas. I think I fueled well.
• Coke or heed sports drink (or both) every loop.
• Electrolyte capsules - took one every other loop
• My hat. I typically don't wear one, but wow, I was glad to have it. Bright, and hot, it was nice to have the extra shade - plus now I don't have a sunburned scalp.
• iPod shuffle - battery life is 17 hours. Awesome.
• Chapstick. SO GLAD I REMEMBERED THIS. I must have used it a BILLION times.

Didn't work:

• My deoderant. I smelled SO awful after about 4 hours I could hardly stand it. Next time, I'll put some in my drop bag, just for my own comfort. Blech.
• Newton trail shoes. SO UNCOMFORTABLE after the first 16.11 miles. Felt like no cushioning whatsoever. Bottoms of my feet were angry. For last loop, changed into my other Newtons. Those were even worse because since they weren't trail shoes I must've gotten half the dunes in my shoes. Brought gaiters, but (I will admit this) couldn't figure out how to use them and was too embarrassed to ask. Note to self - FIGURE IT OUT NEXT TIME.
• CEP compression socks. Fine for my calves, but since I have small feet, the padding around the toes kept bunching up around the ball of my foot. SO UNCOMFORTABLE.
• Headlamp. I didn't really realize there were different levels of headlamps. Mine had two angles and two levels of brightness, and neither one seemed to work well. Next time around, a brighter headlamp, and also a handheld lamp.
• Forgetting my gum on THREE loops made me crazy. It did, however, give me something to think about for 5.37 miles.
• Forgetting to put Body Glide in my drop bag. About halfway through, I could have used some for around the straps of my vest. No major chafing, not a big deal.
• Forgetting to take off my capris before bed. They bunched around the back of my knee - closest thing to chafing of the day. Ouch.

Thoughts on the race/distance:

• Volunteers literally there before the race started, and still there until everyone is done. That was awesome.
• However, there were some loops where I could have used some help, and they weren't all that eager to actually HELP (filling bladder, cup of coke, etc).
• 8 potties at the start - plenty for a race this size (and their families).
• AWESOME shirt (but I don't feel I can wear it, since I didn't earn it)
• The course was not marked well enough for night. Bigger/more reflective tape markings for night.
• A bit more information about the race/course on their website might have changed my mind about picking this one. I was NOT the only runner surprised with how tough the course was.
• With that in mind. Before I even got back to Denver, I was already considering how "next time, I might just sign up for the 24 hour division"
• This does NOT have a high completion rate.  What that means, is it is a significantly challenging course. It is well organized, and honestly, I will probably do it again.
• 100 miles. I believe I had the mental capacity to do it. On an "easier" course. However, I don't think I'll attempt the distance again without someone to join me. It did get lonely out there in the middle of the night.
• 100 miles is FREAKING FAR. I was surprised at how 50 miles didn't seem "that bad" - but pretty much as soon as I passed it, it was all downhill from there.
• Ultra runners are the BEST. They are encouraging and friendly. I wish I knew more local runners, they made me feel right at home even though I was obviously WAY out of my league. They say hi, they wave, they tell you that you look great. Awesome. Just awesome.

It was a really good thing my dad was there. I would NOT have been able to drive back, I slept almost the entire way. I can barely walk, but I actually think I am in less pain than after my 50 mile race. Helping with that are my magic compression pants - Aspaeris Pivot shorts! And lookie what J got for me:

I would just like to thank all my virtual friends (Twitter, Facebook, Dailymile, Blogger) for all the support. It really meant/means a lot to me. Especially in those hard hours, the texts and encouragement (especially from Heather, Lesley, L and J), really made a BIG difference to me. Not to be sappy, but I love you guys :)

Until next time... what an adventure.