Jonathan Savage's Umstead 100 Race Report

Rather than thinking about I should be eating, I just went with what looked appealing. It seems my desire matched my needs, as the food I ate varied a lot, but always went down well.

I ate PB&H (see below), pizza, doughnuts, ice cream, Oreos, a few gel packs, turkey broth. The ice cream in the heat of the day worked remarkably well, going down easily, providing lots of calories and cooling things down nicely.

I estimate that I took in 5,000-8,000 of the 11,500 calories burned.

I drank a pint from each stop through the day and from most stops at night. That gave me an intake of about 2-3 gallons of Gatorade and another 1-2 gallons of water + electrolyte.

Most of my calorie intake was from a mixture of 1/3 peanut butter, 1/3 almond butter and 1/3 honey. I mixed up several pounds and put into Coghan’s squeeze tube – the tubes are a little large, but worked well (http://www.ocscoutshop.org/cg7605a.html). I consumed about 1.5 pounds of the mixture, giving me over 3000 calories. It was as easy to eat as Gel, but vastly more calories and seemed to settle on the stomach well. I was able to eat far more than if I’d been using PB&J sandwiches. This was a stonking success that I will use on all my future races.

I used both Nuun and Zym tablets; you put the tablet in your water bottle for a pint of electrolyte drink that tastes quite good, encouraging you to drink more. The only down side is the tablets shake in the tube and start to disintegrate into powder. Well worth it.

I took two 15 minute catnaps and did not feel sleepy at all, and I’m someone who needs my 8 hours sleep. I also used the time to dry and air my feet, though with hindsight I should have also elevated them.

I did a lot of hill training and as a result, I have no muscular soreness after the race at all. At least once a week I would find the steepest bit of hill and run up and down it for 60-90 minutes. Boring, but it gives the legs the pounding they need.

Walking is different from running and my 100 was always going to involve walking. I did one day a week of race walking at 12:00-14:00 pace and one day a week of walking with a 40 pound backpack at 14:00 – 16:00. The ability to walk at high speed was very valuable in the race, especially as my running pace starts to drop off to a 13:00 shuffle that looks like a spastic penguin.

I love to run through the sunrise, feeling reborn with the new day. Running through two dawns on the same run was a new experience for me, and the second dawn was even more beautiful than the last. I realize that to truly appreciate the dawn, you have to be in the dark for a long time.

The aid stations were incredibly well stocked – the race web site has the full list, which is huge. But the staff at the aid station were even more impressive. They were very helpful, knowledgeable and cheerful.

When the sun goes down, you are exhausted and alone in the woods, far from anywhere, possibly hours away from seeing another human, you start to feel vulnerable. When the already battered mind start to see things in the shadows, the vulnerability can turn into fear. A friend of mine with outstanding outdoor survival skills recommended intentionally developing a ‘predator mindset’. Instead of picturing yourself as a victim, cast yourself in the role of the valiant hero, the baddest of the bad. No matter that a field mouse can wrestle you to the ground and take your Gu; you have to believe that you can and will fight back and make the mouse pay dearly.

The heat of the day was tough. At aid station #2, a thermometer in the sun read 94.8, though the official temperature was ‘only’ 79. I was on the trail in the sun, just like the thermometer, and it felt like the 90s in places. It was hot, but it could have been a lot worse. I slowed up and drank lots, took in electrolytes and did okay.

The night was clear and the moon was bright, so I did not need a light through the night, which was wonderful. Traveling through the woods by moonlight is a magical experience.

I took a cell phone and Bluetooth headset. This worked very well, as I was able to call my crew (wife and sons) before I arrived back at the base aid station and chat about how I was doing and what I needed to do. Beyond the practical, it was great to be able to be in contact with them.

I also called a friend and work colleague Jeff late Saturday evening. Jeff is an athlete himself and was happy to chat about how the race was going and this helped keep my spirits up.

Talking to a psychiatrist who was running the race, I mentioned that ultrarunning requires just the right mix of personality disorders. This mix produces people how are driven, self reliant, tough, and strong willed. Ultrarunners are incredibly friendly, cheerful, positive folk. Even at the face of great suffering, they will joke, smile and encourage. I have never met an ultrarunner who was not pleasant to run with.

Pre-taping my toes has served me well in the past, but I did not allow for the swelling of the feet that occurs after such a protracted time. This meant that the taping started to constrict the toes causing discomfort. When the blisters formed under the tape, things got really ugly. I also learned the lesson that you have to tape all the toes on a long run, otherwise the untapped toes blister where they rub. (Read “Fixing Your Feet” by John Vonhof for other top tips - http://www.zombierunner.com/store/product36.html)

I thought after lap 7 that things could not get worse for the feet. If I am honest, I was scared of what I would find if I took the shoes off, so I did not stop to deal with things after lap 7. I’m not sure how much I could have done at that point, but lancing to reduce pressure probably would not have made things worse. Of course, the likelihood of infection would be very high, but that’s a post race problem – who cares?

I hope to be walking normally in a few days and back to training within a week or so. Other than the blisters, everything seems pretty good, which just the odd bit of muscular ache and foot soreness.

Ultrarunning now is where marathon running was in the early 70s. There are a few people doing it, but there is little understanding of the right training. Running a marathon today is much easier because of the huge wealth of training plans, each backed up by a long record of success. Ultrarunning has a few anecdotal tips for 100 mile races, but nothing solid. I really wish I had some idea what my training program should look like.

I will continue to run up to 50 mile races without a doubt, as I love them. I’m not sure about another 100 though; I need to understand the blisters and how to deal with them better before I try again. I will do a 24 hour race in the fall, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll hit the 100 mark before the time runs out ;}