Week in Review (October 15 - October 21)

Tuesday (11,305 steps) - Walk with Olive before going to work. Went to the gym at lunch - which was oddly crowded (although I did go closer to a "normal" lunch hour) and did my strength training and a short Peloton ride. After work I took Olive for a walk before driving for about an hour. Pizza for dinner and "Only Murders." We finished early, so we started "Friday the 13th - The Final Chapter" - which is funny because I swear there is a later movie in the series called the same thing.

Wednesday (18,009 steps) - Worked from home in the morning because I had to be home for our sprinkler blow out. I went for my shake out run, opting to make it a bit shorter instead of the hour I had on schedule. For the first time I wore a long sleeve race pace tee from rabbit (currently the short sleeve are among my favorites) and it was a bit tight. Ugh, I gotta get my weight under control.

The sprinkler guy was on time (early, even) and it didn't take him too long to finish. I took Olive for a walk before going to work in the office.

We finally went to a "new to us" restaurant for dinner - the Aspen Lodge. It was a bit... eclectic. I had a gyro sandwich that was pretty tasty.

Finished up watching the Friday the 13th movie.

Thursday (16,180 steps) - Up VERY early. I took Olive for a walk before showering and getting ready. Ben drove me to the airport at horrible hour of 5 am. There was virtually no wait at security and I was near the gate in no time. I walked around a bit, but before I knew it, time to board the plane. I initially thought I was going to watch a movie, but nothing really sparked my interest, so I mostly just read my book. Layover was in Baltimore, and I had a decent amount of time between flights. I picked up a salad and a giant cookie before boarding my flight to Manchester. No recollection of this flight, other than it was too turbulent for them to do any food/beverage service. Landed on time (I think?) and thanks to it being a small airport, I was on my way pretty fast to get my rental. 

I was upgraded to an SUV again, and had already mapped to a place to go for a walk before going to my hotel room. Falls Loop was outside Merrimack, and I thought it said it was a 1.4 mile loop. It was beautiful, and there were not that many people there.

After a while I was starting to wonder if I had gotten off track somewhere, so I pulled up Strava (thankfully I had enough coverage to use it) and realized that I had somehow gotten off the main loop. Found my way back without too much trouble once I had the map.

It was quite chilly when I got done with the walk and I was relieved I had found my way back before dark. I found the hotel without any issues, but was a bit annoyed with the sketchy parking garage. The AC didn't feel particularly cold in the room. I had plans to go to the gym and get my workout in when I realized... I booked a hotel without a gym?? That's a thing?? Ugh. So by this time I figure I'll just skip the workout. It's about dinner time and I realized I was pretty close to a highly rated brewery - The Lost Cowboy.

The food was delicious, but the portions were way too big for just one person. I had to toss about half of it. I stopped at Target after leaving there to get a few essentials. Watched TV in the hotel but was seriously annoyed with there not being a TV guide and the remote was very slow. (I know, first world problems).

Friday (14,090 steps) - Really glad that I gave myself an extra day. I stayed in bed ridiculously late. About the time I woke up I had a text from Tyler asking if I wanted to do anything for the day. I had looked the night before and had found a 4ish mile loop that I wanted to walk. I realized that the hotel I was staying ALSO didn't have free breakfast. I took a quick shower and ended up going down the street to get a smoothie because there was ALSO NO (FREE) COFFEE IN THE LOBBY, WTF. I met up with Tyler and Terri and we went on a quite lovely walk in the woods - the Horse Hill loop. We saw only two people riding horses and a few bikes. Otherwise, in over an hour, no other people. It was nice.

By now we were hungry, so we stopped at the Thirsty Moose for food and beer. 

It was a good time to sit around and chat for a bit. Tyler ended up having to go back to his hotel for a work call, but I was tired anyway, with a headache, so I was fine going to my hotel as well. I ended up taking a nap and woke up not feeling any better. By then it was already 5 and I had missed the start of the pasta dinner the race was hosting. I was not especially hungry, but figured I needed to pick up something for dinner. I went down the street to Aldi's and got a calzone and a burrito for morning. More TV and a beer before going to bed relatively early.

Saturday (128,157 steps) - Ghost Train 30 hour - recap to follow.

Sunday (96,065 steps) - Ghost Train ending. Initially I had planned to go back to my hotel (I had switched to the Hampton a half mile away), but when we were mapping places to go, it seemed that Lost Cowboy would be on the way, so I just met everyone there for a celebratory beer and snack.

Kristin and her brother and his wife had to head out to Boston, so festivities were cut short. I was exhausted, so didn't care. Checked into my hotel and took a shower. I called Ben but was so exhausted, I had to take a nap. I set my alarm for an hour and passed out. I woke up, knowing I would need to get food for dinner. Ben had Uber Eats deliver food for me (buffalo dip and fried pickles). Fun surprise! He was NOT able to get beer delivered though. I decided to walk across the street to Applebees, since it was the closest. I had two marginal beers, then decided I needed to be relaxing.

I went to sleep almost immediately after getting back to the room.

Monday (11,997 steps) - Didn't set an alarm and still woke up around 8. I decided I was hungry and figured I should go to the breakfast buffet. There wasn't anything too exciting, but it was free, so I was happy. 

I went back to my room and was suddenly very tired and decided to take a nap even though I hadn't packed yet. By the time I showered and got all my things packed it was time to check out. I had found another new place to go for a walk before my flight. When I parked at Mine Falls Park I was not optimistic at all as it appeared I was in the middle of the city. BUT - it ended up being a really beautiful trail - and I could have added a decent amount of distance and variation if I had wanted to.

Headed back into Merrimack and went to the Thirsty Moose for lunch and a beer before going to the airport. Both were delicious.

Stopped to get gas and returned the car without any issues. There were maybe a half dozen people in front of me at security, so I was there LONG before I actually needed to be. I decided I would watch "Modern Family" on these flights since I had never seen it - these are pretty good! I had a two hour layover, so even though I wasn't "starving," I got dinner. It was delicious!

I continued watching Modern Family, but turns out they only had six episodes and I went through them all. Nothing sparked my interest in movies, but I put on "A Cinderella Story" to pass the time. We ended up landing about 15 minutes early. Unfortunately we were at the farthest gate in C, so I had to walk to the train, which was packed. By the time Ben picked me up with was after 10. Got home just before 11 but then I still had to eat something before bed. LONG DAY.

Stats:

• 295,803 steps
• 103.03 miles run
• 17.52 miles walked
• 15 minutes of cardio
• 30 minutes of strength

Hennepin Hundred (Race Recap)

Sterling, IL

Saturday, October 5

100 Mile attempt #22

Weather - HOT, sunny

This was a later signup for me. After I didn't finish the 100 at Kettle Moraine, I decided to sign up for this one so I still would have a Western States qualifier. Pretty crazy that I had at least 4 qualifiers last year, and struggled to get just one this year.

Race Morning:

I had set my alarm for 4:10, with the goal of leaving between 4:30 and 4:35. I actually slept REALLY well - I think the combination of an early dinner, no beer and FREEZING air conditioning really helped. I woke up at 3:54 and decided to just get up. Immediately I heated up my breakfast so that I could take bites here and there. Took a quick shower, braided my hair and got dressed. I had pre-packed the rest of my stuff and pack, yet somehow, all of that took much longer than expected, and once again, I barely got out when I wanted to. It was only about a 15 minute drive to the start area, and I was parked with about 15 minutes before the shuttles were supposed to arrive.

There were no bathrooms that I saw nearby, but maybe there were some closer to where the finish line was (I was on the road). The buses were not on time and showed up at 5:20. Thankfully, they were not full, and I was able to have my own seat on the drive. It took about an hour to get to the start line and the first thing I did was get in the bathroom line. I headed over to the start to leave my drop bag with the hoodie and pants I had been wearing on the bus. With about 10 minutes to go, I opted to use the bathroom one  more time.

It was supposed to be a very hot and sunny day, so I planned to carry sunscreen the whole time so I didn't get sunburned. Quick selfie at the start:

The plan was to start right away with my 3 run/1 walk. I think I ran through the first walk just because it was a slight downhill and I didn't want to be in the way. This picture was taken very early in town:

We had a little bit of pavement through parks and along the water - the sunrise was absolutely gorgeous!

All those pictures were taken in the first two miles, and were probably about half of the pictures I took the entire race. After a few miles, we all began to spread out a bit. I was staying on the right side of the trail since I was doing walk breaks. The 100 and the 50 miler started at the same time, so there were a decent number of people.

Just over three miles in - I felt a sting/bit on my right earlobe. I screamed and started to swat at it and the hornet (or wasp?) didn't seem to want to get off, or maybe there was a second one, because I got stung again. I was stunned and also noticed that in the drama I had knocked the earbud out of my right ear. I turned back to see if I could find it, but of course it was a light grey bud on the ground with downed leaves and rocks. In the excitement and backtracking, I got bit/stung AGAIN - this time in my stomach the back of my arm. A few people offered to keep an eye out for the earbud, but I had no idea where exactly it had happened, and at this point, I decide I have to just keep going. One, because I'm still getting attacked, and two, I'm wasting time. So annoying, these were my favorite headphones that I have had for years.

I immediately called Ben because I was so upset. I did wake him up so it was me repeating things a bit. I didn't talk to him long, and ironically as soon as we hung up I moved my head to get a drink of water out of my flask and saw the bud in the front pocket of my vest. Crisis averted.

The bites definitely hurt and I felt my ear swelling. The bite on my stomach happened to be right where the bottom of my pack was. Annoying. At the first aid station I asked if they had anything I could use to put on them and they offered Squirrel's Nut Butter. I don't know if that helped or not, but I did apply it on my ear and had to have the volunteer put it on my stomach because I couldn't actually see it.

Ugh.

I topped off my one bottle and grabbed food (who knows what) and continued on. 

This is going to be a short recap because... nothing really happened after mile 3. It got warmer and warmer. It got windier and the clouds left. The trail didn't change much.

I did my 3/1 intervals for a long time. I got topped off my bottles with water and added LMNT when needed. Drank soda at most of the aid stations. This race had the most variety I have ever seen - including Mountain Dew Code Red and Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper! It was fun to have options other than coke. I ate something at every aid station. Most of them just had snacky type foods, but I will never make the mistake of under fueling and not taking food with me. The third aid station was fun and had little toys to take with you - I grabbed this cute little yellow guy that stayed in my vest pocket the rest of the race.

The weather was definitely heating up and I just kept at it with my run/walk. Once again I am writing this too long after running and I really don't remember anything that happened in the middle of the race. I remember calling Ben and being mad (not really angry) that there was this sign:

For the record, I did not see a Dairy Queen :(

I definitely remember it getting hotter. I had one drop bag that I would be accessing around mile 32. Unfortunately I hadn't really done the math very well when I decided where I would be picking up my warmer gear and light, but with it being so warm I wasn't going to be getting that much anyway.

At this point, we had a the long out/back that Megan mentioned was probably about 40 miles round trip. It was really hot at this point, and I was just glad that every aid station had ice. I just couldn't stay cool at all.

I talked with Ben for a decent amount of time before I lost service and got to the 50 mile finish line/aid station. My socks were feeling "slippery" and I decided it would be a good time to change my shirt and socks.  Somehow, in the 10 minutes or so I was at this aid station it became dark enough that I was glad I had my headlamp already out and ready to go. We still had to go a few miles out before we would turn around and head back. This section seemed REALLY long on the way back. We did have to pass the last aid station to get to the official turn around though.

This was by FAR the best aid station. Mexican fiesta themed, upbeat volunteers, music blasting and some good, filling food. I had a chicken taco and some potatoes before heading out. Halfway done, feeling pretty good. I knew I was in a dead zone for a bit, so I moved quickly so that I would be able to talk to Ben again before it got too late. I opted not to stay on the phone for very long, but I did express  concerns that I was feeling a hot spot on my heel. Ben reminded me that I always "feel" something and it usually isn't anything to worry about. 

It did not get cold overnight, but I did of course, get tired. Some of these sections that had felt so long during the day actually weren't too bad at night. It was fun looking around at headlamps and seeing how long it would take to catch people. I wasn't feeling great at this point, but I was still doing some run/walk. Due to the heat and ice bandana, I was having some nasty chafing. I really wanted to change my shorts and reapply lube, but I couldn't find anywhere to do it. When I got back to my drop bag (now at mile 68.9. My friend Colleen was working the aid station and thankfully let me use her camper to change my shorts. So appreciated!! I dropped off some gear in my one drop bag, grabbed food and headed out, feeling a bit better.

At some point a woman approached me and asked if she could stay with me for a bit. She had just handed off her pacer and and was running her first 100 mile. We walked (very fast) together for maybe 6-7 miles. It was nice having someone to talk to, and Beth was the only person I spent any time with at all on the whole course! 

At the mile 88 aid station we separated so she could find her crew. First, I used the bathroom, then I had to figure out what was going on with the hot spot on my foot. Turns out it was a huge blood blister. I thought I had rock tape in my little medical bag, but it turned out to be leuko tape. Even after cleaning the area with alcohol, part of the tape wouldn't stick. There weren't any real medical supplies at this aid station, but I was able to use a Band-Aid to hold the tape down. They were serving breakfast, and I had some pancakes and meat (sausage, I think?) and then took an Aleve and the rest of my Advil and headed out of the aid station. I am not sure my feet have EVER been in that bad of shape. I think the problem was that my left shoe was too loose and my heel kept slipping, which cause the blister. Toped off my bottles and one of the elastic loops that holds the bottles in broke, which proved to be irritating as the full bottle kept trying to pop out.

The sun was now up but I had a slight chill from sitting around, so I put on my Patagonia Air Shed and headed out. The first mile out of the aid station was grueling and painful. Then, the drugs finally kicked in. I was pretty tired even though the sun was up. I caught up to a guy and his pacer by doing some run/walks and it actually didn't feel that bad!

Somehow, over the course of the next few hours I passed probably 20 people, maybe more. At this point in the race no one was really running anymore and everyone looked like they just wanted to be done. The drugs started to wear off when I got within a few miles of the finish line, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I ran as much as I could and (in my opinion) did a full on "sprint" when I finally saw that finish line. Not close to a PR, but pretty happy with a really hot day, LOTS of uncomfortable chafing, nasty blisters AND HORNET STINGS in just over 27 hours.

Official time - 27:06:43

Official pace - 16:15

Overall place - 117/173

Gender place - 32/54

Garmin time - 27:07:27

Garmin distance - 100.96 miles

Miles 1-10 - 12:31, 12:26, 14:16, 12:52, 12:16, 13:48, 12:26, 12:26, 12:30, 12:26

Miles 11-20 - 14:47, 12:29, 12:28, 12:41, 14:44, 13:06, 13:28, 13:38, 13:38, 18:55

Miles 21-30 - 13:33, 14:06, 14:24, 17:54, 14:13, 14:42, 14:42, 19:20, 14:17, 15:24

Miles 31-40 - 14:18, 14:34, 21:10, 14:44, 14:05, 14:28, 14:52, 14:30, 21:04, 15:05

Miles 41-50 - 16:16, 15:59, 14:56, 16:59, 17:24, 15:46, 15:32, 28:06, 14:49, 14:39

Miles 51-60 - 23:28, 15:13, 15:17, 16:45, 18:44, 15:28, 14:59, 18:44, 16:22, 16:58

Miles 61-70 - 16:12, 16:45, 16:34, 21:21, 16:10, 16:12, 15:24, 15:05, 15:00, 28:07

Miles 71-80 - 15:33, 15:27, 15:31, 14:47, 15:25, 18:41, 15:26, 17:19, 15:40, 15:51

Miles 81-90 - 22:52, 16:13, 17:20, 17:15, 22:15, 17:24, 17:35, 17:14, 36:12, 17:45

Miles 91-100ish - 18:18, 14:54, 15:12, 14:52, 15:30, 17:44, 15:02, 14:23, 14:22, 14:49, 13:07

(PS - I looked at my final pace and it was a 7:50!!)

Thoughts:

• I did not use any sort of pace chart this time and it seems like that may have worked out better for me. I always just asked when I left the aid station how far it was to the next one. The aid stations were spaced out very well, I think the longest we ever went was about 6 miles, most were in the 4.5 to 5ish mile range. Every single aid station had ice. Towards the end, there were some that were out of things like potatoes, but there was always food.
• This is all run on a canal trail that is wide enough for multiple people. Because of that, I think I listened to music for 80% or more of the race. After the first 10 or so miles, I was often alone.
• I love the Rabbit finisher flannel and it is also a really nice buckle.
• Good post race party with burritos and TONS of deserts baked by the locals.
• Showers and cots were available at the fire station across the street.
• This was a good race to run once, but I would not run again since I had to travel.
• Of note - I wore my normal 5" CVG shorts and wondering if these may not be the best to wear if it's humid or hot, I got really bad chafing again - even WITH using anti-chafe multiple times. Not fun.