Cowboy 200 (Race Recap)

Norfolk, NE to Valentine, NE

Saturday, November 5

200 mile attempt #5

Weather - COLD and windy

I registered for the inaugural Cowboy 200 so long ago, it was months before the DNF at Cocodona. Initially, Ben and I planned on running this one together, which obviously wasn't going to happen. I waited a bit before trying to establish pacers and crews, and after running Lean Horse in August, I had lined up Lisa, Jandy and Steph. I lost Steph a few weeks out, and Jandy a week out, which left just Lisa to both crew AND pace.

Race Morning

Thankfully, I had been looking at the weather the night before when I realized that the sun wasn't going to be up when we started. Why is the sun not up until after 8 am?! At least I knew to start wearing my headlamp and not to have it in my pack.

I woke up with plenty of time to get ready and since I had braided my hair the night before all I had to do was eat and get dressed. Like most days, I struggled to choke down breakfast. I absolutely HATE eating first thing in the morning. I got dressed in my tee and shorts and as we headed down to the lobby I quickly realized that "Nebraska 20's" and "Colorado 20's" are maybe not the same thing. After seeing a half dozen people dressed like they were doing the Iditarod, I reluctantly put my pants on over my shorts.

The start line was less than 10 minutes from our hotel, which was nice. We arrived with maybe 20 minutes to the start, which considering there were less than 60 of us, was plenty of time. We did a few pictures at the start and then I used the bathroom. It was MUCH colder than I thought it would be (okkkk everyone, you were right, pants were a good idea).

This made me laugh

Briefly ran into Carleen at the start line. Before I knew it, time to go! Glad that I had my light, as the first few miles were on bike path and there were multiple locations where it was actually icy. Why did it never occur to me that it would be quite this cold??

Start to Battle Creek (Miles 0 to 10)

I had set up intervals to use right from the start, beginning with running for 4 minutes and walking 1. I could NOT believe how cold it was. I was glad I was running "a lot" because I was having a hard time getting warm. While we had a mass start, we quickly spread out. I ended up mostly by myself, although there was a guy named Aaron that was also doing intervals, but they never matched up with mine. Steph had "challenged" me to make the course more interesting by taking a selfie at each of the bridges on the trail (supposedly there were close to 200 of them!) I in fact DID do this, and I'll share the video of it at the end of the race recap. 

Did I mention it was cold? Because if I didn't, it was cold. Cold enough for my bottles to freeze before I even got to Battle Creek. Guh.

It was a surprise to me that the aid station at Battle Creek was staffed and they were checking bib numbers and had some snacks. A pleasant surprise, however, and I grabbed some chips to shove in my pocket as I wasn't ready yet for something else.

Battle Creek - Meadow Grove - Tilden (Miles 10 to 17.1 to 22.4)

It did eventually warm up, but not until after I left the unmanned water station at Meadow Grove around 10:45 am. I actually took off my jacket, but decided I would keep the pants until I got to the first full aid at Tilden.

Lisa had a chair set up near the course, but I still had to go in the building to use the bathroom, get food and find my drop bag. I had wanted this to be a pretty fast aid station, but the set up made things take a bit longer. I was REALLY happy to be able to wash my hands though!

Tilden - Oakdale - Neligh (Miles 22.4 to 29.7 to 38.2)

Nothing too exciting happened after leaving the aid station. I hit the 50k mark in just over 7 hours, which was a bit faster than I think I was expecting. By now my intervals had shortened to running 3 minutes and walking 1. We had some detouring here, and this was honestly probably some of the most interesting parts of the course, at least in terms of elevation gain. Even just moving a bit off course and suddenly we had a decent amount of climbing. This is also when the WIND started. Uphill into a headwind, which would be the name of the game for the next few days. 

Somewhere in here is also when I started getting weird pain on the side of my right foot. It felt like my shoe was rubbing/hitting the bottom of the ankle bone (hard to describe). I kept thinking there was no way it could be my shoes?? I was wearing the same shoes that I had worn for both Lean Horse and Heartland with no problems. Either way, I planned on a shoe change at Neligh.

Coming into the aid station was one of the "fancier" bridges, and got a collection of pictures from Brooke:

It would become the routine at every aid station to use the bathroom and then peruse food options. This aid station was one of the few that wasn't indoors, but the weather was actually nice enough that it wasn't a problem. I changed shoes, put my pants back on and added a Rabbit EZ long sleeve since I knew it was going to start cooling down. There weren't a ton of food options, but I grabbed a tortilla with hummus and some Dot's pretzels from Lisa. 

Neligh - Clearwater - Ewing (Miles 38.2 to 54.5 to 64.3)

Lisa had told me a funny story that there was another runner named Rebecca and her crew's name was ALSO Lisa. She said that I should try to catch up to her and that we would all need to get pictures together. We were still on the detour that wasn't on the Cowboy trail, and sadly, the shoe change hadn't seemed to fix anything. I was now wearing one of my pairs of Topo Phantoms. This section was on some dirt backroads and I eventually ended up running with a small group of people until the sun set, at which point I somehow left all of them. 

We were treated to a really pretty sunset, and I finally had to put my Kogalla on. I was glad I had brought it, even though for a flat and non-technical course it initially seemed unnecessary, but with this road section, it seemed safer. Especially since the speed limit on the road was often 55!

I was still running well and hit the 50 mile mark in under 12 hours. 

The section from Neligh to the unmanned aid station at Clearwater went on FOREVER. It was our second longest stretch without aid and I had run out of water, even with using my extra third bottle. I was also running low on calories, so I had planned to use the race's electrolyte drink, Proxima, that had calories, but they were sadly out! There were a few volunteers at the water jugs though and they were both very nice and took trash from me. Kept on keeping on. Excited to hit the 100k mark under 15 hours (for the second time, almost exactly the same time I hit it at Heartland), although I was still moving quicker than I should have been. 

Ewing - Inman - O'Neill (Miles 64.3 to to 77.6 to 85.4)

Zero recollection of the aid station at Ewing. I assume I got food, but really all I remember is that Lisa had plans to pace me for 10 miles!! I'll be honest, I was really happy that Lisa joined me here. It made me feel a lot better that she was out there in the wind and knew I wasn't exaggerating when I talked about how windy it was! I remember not being "that" cold in this section, but not much else.

In trying to give Lisa the ETA, all I kept saying is that I seemed close and I was near what looked like a lit up refinery or something. Sadly, I had to go much further into "town" to get to the aid station. There was some bike path here, and the aid station itself was indoors, although the bathroom was not. The volunteers, like all the others, were amazing. Here, I had a few soft tacos! So good! 

O'Neill - Emmett - Atkinson (Miles 85.4 to to 93.6 to 103.9)

SOMEHOW, I got confused when leaving this aid station. I was definitely a bit tired, and somehow, I "turned" toward the right instead of going straight onto the trail. Still not sure how I did this, I'll blame being somewhat tired and it being dark. Luckily, since I had the route on my watch it beeped at me and I headed back. I did, however, end up on the wrong side of the train tracks and I had to climb over a fence to get back on the trail. That was exciting.

I think it was about this point when I really stopped feeling good or enjoying myself in any way. My right ankle bone thing was still bothering me, I was tired and I was HUNGRY. It was not warming up, and the forecast of sun was a giant lie. I hit the 100 mile still faster than my official PR and just a bit slower than I'd been in Kansas.

Photo: Brook Kaczor

Photo: Brooke Kaczor

I was SO happy to be at an aid station with a sleep station! I was sure I wouldn't be able to sleep, but I still wanted to try. First, I ate. This was my favorite aid station yet - breakfast foods! I had some delicious bread, potato soup, hash browns, I think meats, but it's now been a few weeks and I don't remember. I went to lie down in the "rest" room and there were cots set up but I just couldn't get comfortable. I still was pleased to have my eyes closed and feet up for a bit. Ready to go out again, opted to change shoes for a third time to see if that would help with the weird ankle pain.

Atkinson - Stuart - Newport (Miles 103.9 to 113.9 to 123.7)

On my own again, I headed out. I did end up with a guy named Matt for a bit, we started walking/running together after he missed the turn to get onto the trail. I should have enjoyed this bench more, as it was basically the only one I really saw on this whole trail.

Matt and I spent a lot of miles chatting and discussing the random pains we were both having. He was having some mobility issues and even called his PT to get some ideas on alleviating the pain. The A-B-C ankle movements would end up helping me out A LOT in the remainder of the race. I believe I ended up going on without him after he made some other phone calls.

There was some brief sun, but only warm enough for me to take off one of my many layers. With the sun setting so early I put it back on before long anyway. What even happened in this section?

Newport - Bassett - Long Pine (Miles 123.7 to 124.8 to 144.7)

Arrived in Newport at the pool hall aid station. It was chilly and thankfully it was nice and warm inside. I can't remember much about the food, but I think there was bacon wrapped chicken? And ramen? I was disappointed when I thought there was "pasta" and there wasn't. I believe I also sat in Lisa's car for a bit here just to have the heat blasting. Still wasn't able to sleep. For the bathroom, we had to go to some other building down the way, but at least it was inside. Off I went for the Longest.Night.Ever.

So shortly after leaving this aid station, it got cold. REALLY cold. I got passed by 4-5 people right out of the gate, including Matt, who I had hoped to run with for a bit again. I did end up passing him a short time later after he stopped to pee on the side of the trail. I would later find out that he ended up in a near emergent situation with the cold. It was seriously no joke.

So any way, it got REALLY cold. I bet my bottles both froze within an hour or two of leaving the aid station. Temperatures were in the mid twenties, but even colder when factoring in the wind chill. I did my best to keep the water flowing so they wouldn't freeze, but to no avail. I ended up getting on the phone with Ben, who kept me calm and occupied for HOURS when I seriously contemplated leaving the course because I was SO COLD. I also dropped my headphone case and ONE earbud on the trail when I was digging around in my pockets, which required me to go back and look for them. Between that and the cold, I was a mess and nearly hysterical. I even had to pull out and put on my emergency poncho. I was wearing FIVE tops, PLUS the poncho and was still cold. I was also wearing shorts and TWO pairs of pants. I'm not sure I've ever worn this many articles of clothing for any activity ever.

As I approached Bassett, I asked Ben to pull up Google Earth to see if there was ANYWHERE that I could go that would be an escape from the elements. I seriously filled up at the frozen jugs and contemplated just dropping there. It was THAT bad. But... I added the Proxima (and was grateful for any calories, because especially in this cold I was not fueling well) and lumbered on. This section was the most miserable for a LONG time. 

I was texting with Lisa and letting her know that things were getting pretty dire. While I was irritated by the suggestion to run to warm up, she was right. UGH. I felt like complete shit, but doing intervals here and there and I definitely started to feel better. I was not "warm" by any stretch of the imagination, but I finally decided I was NOT going to die of hypothermia. All I could think about was arriving at Long Pine and getting to be inside and sleeping. It's all that kept me going.

We detoured off the trail and onto some back roads, and it was sadly a lot further to the aid station than I thought, but I arrived - VERY COLD - just after 3:15 am. I had to sit and eat first, had a giant plate of pasta, but then I got to sleep. This was the best sleep station EVER. Runners actually got their own private sleeping quarters - complete with a BED and SHEETS and BLANKETS and a PILLOW. And heat. There was HEAT. I told Lisa I was going to set my alarm for a few hours, and planned on getting up around 6 am. I managed to sleep through my alarm, but thankfully I had my ringer on and awoke when Lisa texted around 6:30. I got up and started functioning, SO PLEASED AND HAPPY that 1). I actually got sleep 2). The sun was coming up!!! and 3). Lisa would be pacing me the next 7.8 miles. Whoop!!!

I ate a bit more before heading out. This ended up being my longest aid station stop of the race, right at 4 hours, but I definitely needed it, and more importantly, I had the time.

Long Pine - Ainsworth (Miles 144.7 to 152.5)

The miles with Lisa were quite pleasant. My intervals were much shorter now (I can't quite remember, but I think they were maybe 30 seconds of running and 45 of walking? Or maybe it was the other way around). I still had a timer set up for them and I am pretty sure I ran most of them. These miles went very quickly.

By the time we arrived in Ainsworth, the wind had picked up a bit and the sun was starting to go away. Sigh. I did NOT spend a lot of time at this aid station. I don't remember what the warm food was, but I took some gummies to go. This was the last long stretch without a pacer. I was still pretty cold BUT, at least it was daytime.

Ainsworth - Johnstown - Wood Lake (Miles 152.5 to 164.3 to 174.9)

I don't remember much about this section either. I spent some time leaving town trying to catch up to John . I finally passed him a few miles outside of town. This section sucked. A lot. I just wanted to be OFF my feet. There was nowhere to sit and stretch out. The right ankle pain had diminished, but now my left shin was really in pain and I had a lot of limited mobility. Finally I decided to just lie down on the side of the trail and put my feet up. Literally. 

Upon standing up I realized that I'd managed to lie down in a patch of really prickly goat head type things. I was picking them out of all my layers for at least a mile. I think I actually ditched one of my layers, so I only had 4 tops on for a bit. John caught up to me and we walked/ran together for a bit. Shortly after passing the unmanned water station at Johnstown he said he was going to try to run for a bit because he just wanted to be done with this. (Judging by his final time, he kicked major ass, beating me by almost 3.5 hours! Go, John!!)

Desperate to try to catch up I was doing some intervals, although I never caught back up. I added my 5th layer back on and then I was on to the LAST fully manned aid station before the finish! I was grateful to see Lisa there, and really excited that Doug was going to drive her car to the finish line so that she could pace the whole last section with me!

I was STARVING at this aid station, so even though it was cold and windy (aid station was sadly outside), I stayed long enough to eat a bratwurst AND hot dog. I also took two brats to go, since I knew I was still not eating enough. 

Wood Lake - Arabia - Bolo Beer/Finish (Miles 174.9 to 184.6 to 200.2)

Lisa is a sport, she was going to have to pace the longest section, ANOTHER night section, and of course me still being slow. 

I was still trying to do intervals, although I was skipping them more often. She humored me with my "stretchy sticks" - the trail markers that I would grab onto and then do my ankle A-B-C's. 

We had another crazy sunset, and then off into the darkness. I was telling her I really wanted to try to finish under 68 hours, or before 2 am, and she was happy to help me do that. Somewhere before Arabia, my brain kind of broke. It was SO disheartening to know that once we got to that last unmanned aid station we still had FIFTEEN MILES to go. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Lisa let me lie down near the aid station just so I could be off my feet for a bit. I set my alarm for 4 minutes but ended up getting up after just 2.5.

Of we went for the Longest.Fifteen.Miles.Ever. It seriously was so bad. Like 15 miles doesn't really SEEM that far, yet I never felt more isolated than in THIS section. There were NO lights, there were NO houses. There was NOTHING. We weren't even close to the road here. This was where The Doors song "The End" came into my head and I kept singing "This is the trail, the trail that never ends." It was funny, but not.

I would stop occasionally and do some downward dog stretches. Desperately wanting to lie down in the middle of the trail but also NOT wanting to because I didn't want to have to try to get up again. I hated this part.

Lisa, bless her heart, kept saying "if you're done running, can you at least speed up your walking pace?" I hated that, but I knew she was right. At some point, maybe 5-6 miles from the finish, I threw in some music and heard a bunch of really upbeat songs and RAN. Like really ran. I was feeling good. Maybe I had finally hit that small section of "downhill" of the course. And then:

OMG.  Three miles is soooo doable. We kept running. We ran and ran. We hit the big bridge outside Valentine (it's only about 1/4 mile long, but seemed longer in the dark). Based on my pace, I was totally going to hit my time goal.

Shortly after crossing the bridge we saw someone standing there, turned out to be another runner, Addison. He looked like he was in some pain, but ok, so we kept going. FINALLY it seemed like we were in town. Lisa ran ahead so that she could hopefully get a video/picture of me coming across the line. Garmin has me at an 11 minute pace at the finish. Felt faster. Haha.

The photographer and Casey were the only people there - to be fair it was 1:30 in the morning. BUT, I also had my first beer in 38 days. 

No better time to celebrate than at the end of another successful 200 miler?? Lisa and I both got massages before heading across the street to our hotel. 

Official Time - 67:31:00 (A nearly 30 hour PR in the distance, haha)

Garmin Time - 67:30:51

Moving Time - 54:21:26

Run Time - 16:38:48

Walk Time - 38:39:40

Idle Time - 12:12:23 (most of that, honestly, was eating)

Garmin Distance - 203.42

As promised - here is a video compilation of all my "bridge selfies" during the race. 

Thoughts:

• I am so so so so glad that I trained slow and flat. There were quite a few people who DNF'd because they hadn't trained those muscles enough. And even WITH doing that, it still was way different and harder than I imagined.
• For an inaugural race, this went very well. Everything was as advertised. Knowing what I know now, I would have packed more food and more variety of food in my drop bags. While the aid stations had plenty to eat while there, there wasn't much to take and go. 
• The Long Pine aid station was a life saver. I don't think I could have finished if I hadn't arrived there when I did. Every sleep station I encounter at every race going forward will have to try to compare to that one. Holy crap it was an oasis in the middle of nowhere. I cannot speak more highly about this. It was amazing.
• The swag was NUTS. I am so pleased with my super sweet puffy jacket. I'm writing this two weeks later, and I'm still wearing it daily. It's awesome. The buckle is also amazing. Seriously, for the price point of this race, the swag is A++++.
• OF NOTE: For people that thought this was just 100 miles with some extra mandatory gear... I believe that I would NOT have finished if I would have been less experienced. The required gear only said that you needed an insulating jacket with a hood. For ME, that would not have been sufficient. As I mentioned above, I was wearing FIVE tops for at least half of the race - I seriously was like Ralphie in "A Christmas Story." And this is only the second time I've ever used an emergency blanket/poncho/bivvy. A REALLY good lesson of why these are mandatory gear. Looking at the forecast it didn't necessarily seem warranted, but I tell you what, I used mine for probably 6-7 hours and it was DEFINITELY needed.
• Would I do this again? No. I'm good. Nothing against the race, but I think I've seen enough of Nebraska for a while. Supposedly next year the race is happening in September. Those lucky dogs have noooo idea what we suffered through on night two of this race. (Insert skull and crossbones here).