My first Pacing Experience

This past June I finished my 3rd 100 mile race at the Kettle Moraine 100 in Wisconsin.  I had two friends crew and pace me during that race and when I heard they were both taking on distance PRs at the same event I thought it would be perfect to pay back the pacing duties.  I have been running for over 4 years and I had never paced anyone.

Run Woodstock is an event that is very special to me, my first 100 mile finish the Hallucination 100.  I have ran a race at Woodstock each year for the last 4 years.  This year I would take a step back from racing and be a "pacer" for my friend Mark who ran the 100 miler and my other friend Matt who ran the 50 mile race.  The 100 mile race consists of 6 loops of 16.6 miles each and the 50 mile consists of 3 loops.  The plan was for me to run the 3rd loop with Mark and the 3rd and last loop with Matt.

Friday evening I met up with Matt at the Pinckney State Park campgrounds to set up his pop-up camper.  By the time we arrived at the start/finish for packet pick-up, Mark had already gone through the start/finish area and was on his 2nd loop.  We went back over to the campground and caught up on life.  Matt soon fell asleep and I found myself laughing as I was setting my alarm for 10:35 PM!  I attempted to sleep for about 40 mins before having to run with Mark but all I could do was toss and turn.  I took off to the start/finish area to wait for Mark.  

He finished his 2nd loop around 11:20 and didn't waste much time at the aid station and quickly left to start loop 3.  Everything was going well and we quickly started conversing.  For about the first hour or two the weather was almost perfect then of course it started raining.  It seems that every single year it rains at this event.  During my first attempt at the 100 mile distance four years ago, it rained the entire night and the trail was an absolute disaster.  This year it started out just sprinkling for about an hour and then became increasingly heavier.  Mark and I were carefully tip toeing around puddles at an attempt to keep our feet as dry as possible.  Eventually by the end of the loop my shoes were so soaked it didn't matter at all to avoid puddles/mud.  With about 30 minutes left in the last section we came upon a runner who's light was malfunctioning so without a thought we decided to have him basically run in the middle of us so he could somewhat see where he was stepping.  The same exact scenario happened when my wife was pacing me two years ago, same location on the trail, same conditions, same distance.  It was total deja vu.  We finished the loop in about 4 hrs and 10 mins.  Mark had another pacer, Tim, lined up and ready to go for the 4th loop.  After they took off I put my rain poncho on and walked to my car and slept for an hour until my buddy Matt arrived for his 50 mile race at 6 am.

A sign of time well spent

Slop Fest

When Matt arrived I went over to check and make sure he was all ready to go, this would be his longest distance race by 16 miles.  After I watched him start I went to my car and drove to the camper and slept for about 5 hours.  It was a strange feeling setting my alarm for 10 am because I haven't slept in past 8 am in probably about four years!  I woke up, got some coffee and a doughnut, and went over to get ready to run with him on his final loop.

Over the years I have been able to meet some absolutely amazing people through this close-knit trail running community.  It seems like every race I go to I am able to recognize multiple people and have great conversations with them.  

I was a little concerned since I haven't been running as much that I would be too sore and not able to run as well with Matt but I was pleasantly surprised that my body felt completely normal.  He soon came in from his 2nd loop and wasted no time heading out on the trail.  Luckily the rain had stopped basically once the sun came up so that meant the trails were starting to dry off somewhat.  Nothing too dramatic happened during Matt's race besides a whole bunch of mosquitoes.  He stayed fairly consistent and didn't reach very many low points which is always nice during any ultramarathon.  From my point of view, the loop went pretty quick and before I knew it we were on the last stretch of trail.  Matt powered up the last hill and literally took off on a sprint towards the finish line, so inspiring to see.


Mark ended up finishing the 100 miler in just over 24 hours and Matt finished in just over 11 hours, life-changing accomplishments!

Mark and I

Matt and I

My key takeaways from being a pacer

1.  The theory of relativity is directly connected with running.  I felt no fatigue and had no thoughts of injury or being tired during the entire time I was running (8+ hrs).  If I was the one running the race or if I was out by myself doing the exact same distance and time, I guarantee I would have had a more difficult time at least mentally completing the run.  But since I was essentially there for reassurance and company, my mind never went to a dark place.  Also, I knew that they were in greater pain than I was!

2.  When the rain really started to come down during the middle of the night and our shoes and socks were soaking wet, Mark's attitude and demeanor stayed EXACTLY the same.  We actually kind of just laughed and shrugged it off.  We cannot change what happens to us but we can change how we respond and choose to deal with it and that is what makes the difference whether good or bad.

3.  The running community is awesome.  I was more able to notice the people involved in the event from the volunteers to the runners.  People are so nice even when they are in excruciating pain!  Even when we passed other runners they gave us a thumbs up or said something positive.

Mandatory dip in the lake after 2 days of rain, mud, running, and bug spray

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!  

Kettle Moraine 100

Kettle Moraine 100 Mile Run - Saturday, June 4th, 2016

The Kettle Moraine 100 is a trail ultramarathon located near the "town" of LaGrange, WI.  It starts at the Nordic Ski Area which is basically out in the middle of nowhere.  The race is entirely on trails except some road crossings.  The course is 2 out-n-back sections, the first out-n-back is 31 miles one way then 31 miles back to the Start/Finish area.  You are then sent out on a 38 mile out-n-back in a different direction.  I chose this race because it is somewhat close to Michigan and it is also a Western States 100 qualifier.

The race starts at 6 am which is actually later than most other 100 mile races.  The later start time and the time zone change from Eastern to Central was extremely beneficial to me because I was able to go to bed earlier.  My wife and I have two beautiful girls.  Having a 3 year old and a 3 month old this was the first night in the past three months where I slept entirely through the night without waking up!  With that being said, I arrived to the start line refreshed and ready to go.

My "A" goal was to finish under 24 hours and if not then at least just finish so that I can qualify for my 4th consecutive year for the Western States 100 race.  I wanted to run with Peter and Lewis, two fellow Michigan ultra runners, for a little while just to have some company and I knew they would be close to my pace.  I had run with Peter on two previous occasions and felt comfortable sticking with him.  In these 100 mile races, you have to be conservative at the start and keep your heart rate at a reasonable level otherwise you will pay dearly for it in the last 20-30 miles.

Lewis and I cruising along

The most challenging part of this course are two sections of 6 miles each where there is no shade cover and the runners are completely exposed to the sun.  This section is from miles 18-24 and then 39-45.  The exposed conditions started to take a toll on Lewis especially and I also found myself getting light headed and dizzy.  We were following a "run 25 min and walk 5 min" schedule which worked out well but it seemed that our walk breaks were timing up very badly with the conditions of the course.  We would run for 25 minutes in the hot, exposed sun and then our walk break would be in the shade or on an uphill which we would be walking anyway...not ideal.  We were still able to make it to mile 50 in exactly 10 hours.  

Sometime after mile 50 Lewis was struggling and Peter decided to stay back with him.  They are attempting to complete the Midwest Grand Slam this year, which consists of five 100 mile races all within about 2 or 3 months.  Kudos to them!  After I took off I felt a little bit of loneliness because for the first time in 10+ hours, I was actually all by myself.  I was quickly able to focus on positive thoughts and put things into perspective.  I was only going to be running by myself for another hour or two before meeting up with my first pacer, Mark, at mile 62.  I started a follow a run 12 and walk 3 plan which was working out nicely.  I continued this plan when I picked up my first pacer for about the first hour or two until it started to get dark out.  Once it became dark around 8:30 it was difficult to anticipate the hills so we just started running everything we could besides the uphills.  I couldn't help but laugh to myself as our conversation was somewhat one-sided.  He was doing all of the talking and here and there I would mutter a couple words back.  He did a great job of keeping my mind off of the pain and negative thoughts during our time together.  Soon enough we made it to mile 81 where my other pacer/crew member Matt would switch duties with Mark.  I was so thankful to have these two buddies at my side crewing and pacing me...it makes an enormous difference being able to have support in these endeavors.

Matt and I took off wasting no time.  Matt was my pacer during the Burning River 100 (race report here) last summer, needless to say we were both on the struggle bus and literally walked the last 10 miles.  This year was redemption and time to turn things around in a positive way!  We were still running most of the time except the uphills which was very encouraging this late in the race.  There are two specific moments I remember from my time with Matt.  I have always wanted to see/hear an owl in the wild.  It may not seem like a big deal to others but for some reason it is interesting to me.  We were able to hear an owl calling out which was awesome.  It was very close but I looked around and could not see it.  As we continued running I could still hear it after 10+ minutes.

The other moment came after we passed somebody and a couple minutes later we came to what was called "confusion point".  This point of the course splits off in multiple directions and we followed what the sign said but after a couple minutes after the turn I was paranoid so I had Matt run back and check to see if the person we passed made the same turn we did.  He shut off his headlamp so the runner wouldn't be able to see him and booked it!  As I was waiting for him to return back I turned off my headlamp and just stood there.  It was a surreal moment in which I will never forget.  There I was in the middle of the woods in Wisconsin, running 100 miles, staring at the star-filled sky in the pitch dark.  I took that time to soak in the moment and simply just be.  So often times in the day to day life, we become so occupied that we lose track of ourselves and our surroundings.  These 100 mile races strip me down to the absolute core, like peeling an onion layer after layer until there is nothing left.  My concerns, worries, and existence becomes so simplified that it is difficult to put into words.  By experiencing this I am better able to appreciate the smaller things in life, the comforts, and my family.  It simply makes me a better person.

Matt and I continued to run and push ourselves to the finish line.  I started to do the math in my head and I was definitely going to be under 24 hours unless I somehow injured myself.  We made it to the last aid station and it was 4.8 miles to the finish.  I had an hour and a half to make it under 23 hours!  We did our best to run everything except the big hills and continued forward towards the finish.  It was still dark our so we had no idea where we were.  Suddenly we saw someone with a headlamp looking at us, not running so we knew the finish was close.  The clock and finish line came into view and I darted towards the finish for a personal best time of 22 hours and 26 mins!  Good for 19th overall out of 133 finishers.  My race was finally done and I had accomplished a personal best by 3 hours and I now have my Western States qualifier.

Overall this race went extremely well.  I was able to squash any negative thoughts that were trying to enter my mind.  My physical body was sore but nothing out of the ordinary for this distance.  I didn't experience very many low points which is rare.  The weather cooperated as it was mid 70s most of the day and only rained a couple of times but not very much.

Pumped up at the finish line

What did I eat/drink?

I used a product called Tailwind for the majority of my calories, which was absolutely amazing!  It is powder that you mix into water for liquid goodness.  Each Ziploc baggie that I carried had 400 calories.  So each bag was good for 2 hours as I tried to consume at least 200 calories an hour which included 75 g of carbohydrate (the body can process anywhere between 60-90 g of carbohydrate per hour).  I carried one handheld water bottle and one I tucked into my waistband.    

Other than Tailwind, I ate a couple slices of watermelon, 6-8 pieces of boiled potatoes, 5-6 pretzels, and 2 Powerbar gels.

I didn't have any caffeine the entire race.

What I did differently this time around...

• rolled using a tool called "the stick" after every run
• ran in race specific conditions - lots of trail miles
• incorporated higher intensity runs 1-2 times a week
• ran as many hills as possible during training
• longer runs on the weekends
• no alcohol entire month before race day
• started tapering 2-3 weeks out
• used Tailwind as my nutrition source

Gear list

• Nike Terra Kiger 3 shoes
• Buff Headwear
• SPI belt
• Under Armour shorts and shirt
• Body Glide
• North Face Hat - Flight Series
• Garmin Forerunner 220
• Nathan Handheld water bottle
• Amphipod water bottle
• Injinji toe socks
• Diamond headlamp 
• Oakley Split Jacket Sunglasses

Peter, Lewis, and I around mile 31

Copper Kettle Finisher's award

Matt and Mark - my professional crew and pacers
       

Run Woodstock Freak 50K

Run Woodstock is an extraordinary event in the beginning of September in Pinckney State Park.  This was my 4th year attending the event.  My memories from this place cover the entire spectrum of my emotional being.  The worst was when I attempted to run 100 miles in 2011, it was a total disaster.  I was completely unprepared and it rained the entire night non-stop.  The best emotion here was when I eventually completed my first 100 mile race last year in 2013.  

In July I completed the Burning River 100 mile endurance run so I decided to run the Freak 50K this year.  My buddy, Matt Shaver, who paced me at BR was also signed up to run in the 50K.  We decided to camp out the night before instead of having to wake up at 3 AM to drive to the race.  We camped out in style in his newly acquired pop up RV.      

This was not a competitive race, rather a race to complete and have some fun with.  The only interesting thing that happened was about 5 miles in it felt as if my nose was running so I wiped it with my shirt and I just so happened to have a bloody nose!  For the next 15 miles it was bleeding, not the best situation for an ultra marathon!  Matt and I ran together for the first 20 miles and then parted ways.  It was so nice to run a race with someone for the first half in a controlled and somewhat organized pace.  I felt absolutely amazing the last 11 miles of the race simply because I had left enough in the tank for the finish.  My goal was around 5 hours and I finished in 5 hours and 39 seconds for a 5th place finish overall and 2nd in age group.  

My Mom had been one of my biggest supporters throughout this entire running adventure, even though sometimes she rather I'd not run 100 miles!