Wow so Susitna 100M! I have not been successful in getting past mile 62 (Eagle Quest) in my last two attempts at this race (2017 and 2020). The location of Eagle Quest makes it easy to drop. This year, EQ was not available and an alternate check point at the Willow Community Center (mile 68) would be the point to get past mentally. I didn't feel trained as well as I was hoping for coming into winter racing. There were a few planned training runs that didn't happen for various reasons. The last one coming in the form of a COVID interruption 3 weeks out.
COVID Note/Healthy Practices
I care very much about my physical health; maybe too much. I have worked most of my life to keep in shape, running my first marathon at age 15 and continuing to run and workout since then. I quit drinking alcohol 30 years ago and have been blessed to not have gotten hooked on tobacco or any drugs. In the last 10 years I've worked a lot on improving my diet; especially in the past 4 years where I have given up diet sodas, sugar substitutes and now sugar as much as possible. I am now on a low carb, high protein and good fat diet. Lastly, at the beginning of COVID I started doing intermittent fasting in the form of Time Restricted Eating daily (first meal at 2pm, last meal at 7pm for a 19 hour fast). I feel like I am as healthy as I can be and have enjoyed great results racing using this technique. See this link if you are interested in autophagy: Autophagy
I'm taking a digression here to note that I have not gotten a shot for COVID. I'm not judging anyone who has nor giving an opinion on whether anyone should or should not get the shot. Nor am I asking for advice on the same. I'm noting this to keep the record straight as most of us like to use anecdotes. I want people to know that I made a very educated and heavily researched decision not to take the shot at this time. My health risk to an adverse reaction to COVID is extremely low in my estimation so I am taking the wait and see approach for now.
Continuing...I had planned to run a 40 miler with B. Wood that Saturday (Jan 29th, his 40th birthday) but spent most of Friday night coughing and not sleeping much. It felt like I had allergies with tons of drainage. I ended up sleeping-in and then running a slow 15 miler later in the day followed by 10 miles on Sunday. I continued to run daily while monitoring my oxygen level and temperature multiple times a day. Oxygen because I have asthma and then my temperature as another check to ensure that it was ok for me to run. They both were pretty steady at 98 (98% and 98F) so I treated it like I would if I had the flu. That is, if I don't have a fever, ok to run. The following Thursday while working (I sit in front of a computer screen all day), I started getting progressively more nauseous. It finally got so bad that I couldn't look at the screen without feeling like I was going to vomit. I did vomit profusely three times that afternoon and evening. In retrospect, I had something that felt like vertigo. I rested that evening, no run, and tried to work again Friday morning. That failed after a couple of hours, so I took the rest of the day off from work; and no running again. Saturday I was slightly nauseous but able to run a slow 15 miler after eating a few saltines before I started. I took Sunday off for more rest then got back to my normal running by Monday. I'll also not that I did need more sleep to recover than normal this week. The next weekend was the last Saturday before race weekend. I ran 18.5 miles in 4-6" of snow, pulling sled, at Knik. That went well so I ran a 10 miler on Sunday. I ran every day until Friday when I opted for Quinn's Massage instead of a run. My hips were tight which affect my quads. That was a good decision as I had no troubles on race day.
The last week before the race the weather went to heck. It got warm and with so much snow that we had in January and February so far, the slush that was left behind and overflow on the course prompted the SU100 race directors to revise the course. On Thursday night, the course was set to be a double out and back on flat and packed trails. Then late on Friday, it was determined that the course needed to change again due to the overflow. It was changed to a double out and back (40 miles each out and back) plus another 20 mile out and back for 100 miles.
The Race
Since we now were going to do two out-n-back 40 milers and one out-n-back 20 miler, on a purported "flat hard packed course," I was very hopeful. Note that in retrospect, the race course was short so 20 miles, 40 miles and 10 miles were the given mileages and I'll use those to make the reporting easier. I'm estimating that the 20 miles was actually 18.5 miles, so the 40 mile loops were actually 37, 10 was actually 9, so the 20 mile loop was actually 18. So with 2 out and back 40s (74 miles), and 1 out and back 20 (18 miles), the race was like 92 miles in total.
My original plan was to wait in the back of the pack for the race to start and go out easy. I would either stay there or slowly move up depending on the trail conditions and my actual fitness. I went into the race fasted and had no intention of eating before I got hungry; likely some time in the afternoon. For shoes, I ended up putting on my Icebugs for the race since it was warm and the part of the course I could see was hard packed; even ice in places. So by the time I changed my shoes the race had started. I slowly caught folks and talked with some as I eased into the race. I tried to slow and talk with other racers because I really needed to catch up with a lot of people, having not seen some in 2 years. That also kept me at a reasonable pace. I continued on passing people until I was alone in front of a group and could see more runners way off in the distance. That of course caused me to want to catch up to the next group. I still was not running too hard and took quite a while to gain on others. Eventually I could see Marty Lindeke who has a tremendous walking pace; he has such long legs. He said he thought we were just beyond the old Hunter CP which was normally the last CP in the course; so maybe 9-10 miles out. We continued on together for a while and chatted though it was difficult to keep up with him at his walking pace. I had to run, which was faster than his walk; so we eventually separated. I'd estimate that I was at about mile 12 by this point. I mostly ran solo from here until the 20 mile turn around. Heading towards the first CP I saw Allen Spangler leading. He was followed by Joe Davis then Jacob Berra and another guy I did not recognize. I also never saw this guy again so I think he dropped at 40. About a mile ahead of me were Laura and Teri Buck. There was another woman ahead of me but I didn't see her on the turn. I knew Brandon was ahead of me and sure enough he was in the CP when I got there. I gave the volunteers my number and left with Brandon. We ran together for about 8-9 miles from there.
With Brandon @ mile 29
wearing Icebugs
The heat caught up to him and he began to slow. I figured he would catch up to me later as it cooled off. At this point I was in 6th place. The aforementioned woman caught me before mile 30 and we went back and forth for a couple of miles. Heading from 35 to 40 miles, I went by many 50K runners (mostly they were passing me) and lost track of the lady behind me. I saw Joe first then Laura coming back towards me and I'd estimate I was 3 miles back. At the 40 CP (HTK) I took time to change out of my Icebugs and into my Mountrail trail shoes. I also changed my wet socks (not normal for me but it was convenient so why not). I left and saw Brandon coming in as I was leaving.
@ Mile 45
wearing Montrails
At about mile 45 I ate my first solid food; 3 sausages. Yum! They tasted great but soon I was regretting the greasy choice while pushing so hard. I had anticipated running slower, or more likely walking by this point, and didn't figure the sausages would be an issue. It wasn't too bad so I just pushed through it the best I could. I moved fast from here and caught Teri before mile 50. We left the 50 mile CP called YOLO together and I ran in front, then behind Teri all the way to Sue's CP, mile 60. We saw Laura then Joe come around a bend towards us at about 2 miles ahead of us. At the CP I saw that they had Mountain Dew. YES! I drank a couple half cups then Sue fill up a full cup for me. I saw a skier come out of the tent and while he was exiting, I saw Jacob Berra sitting in a chair; an opportunity for me to get ahead of him. I quickly filled my small water bottle and took off out of there, leaving Teri behind. Now in 4TH place, I worked to catch up to Joe and Laura. I was moving fast and felt strong. Stopped at the 70 YOLO CP but didn't see anything that looked good; settled for a chunk of dark chocolate. I continued on as best I could. At maybe 75 miles, I felt a bit hungry so I ate a GU and some salami discs, not wanting to have stomach issues from the sausages. I walked a bit so that I could eat more. Feeling good I started running again. I kept expecting to see either Laura and/or Joe coming back to me but never did. As I started up the hill before the HTK CP (mile 80) I saw a yellow headlamp. That was Laura coming down; I had almost caught up to her. I headed into the CP, grabbed water and headed out immediately. I assumed that Joe was inside. I was now in 3rd place and was going after Laura. This lasted maybe a mile where I started a slow crash and burn. I wasn't bonking nor were my legs giving out. And my back was still good (I was worried about having back issues late in the race as with my last 2, 100 milers). Instead, my neck was getting sore. The pain from my neck made it difficult to run. I tried to run then when I couldn't handle it anymore, I would walk as fast as possible. I would continued this to the YOLO CP, and final turn around. Laura had put some distance on me but not a whole lot. As she passed by she said, "Pick it up Tony." I was confused for a second until I turned and saw a headlamp behind me. "That's got to be Brandon!" It was. He passed by quickly. He was working on a sled malfunction at the CP when I got there. We both left but there was no keeping up with him. Now back in 4th, I was determined to walk as fast as I could to stay ahead of Jacob as well as to try to stay under 24 hours. As I passed Jacob heading out, Joe was right behind him. So now, I need to stay even more focused, maybe try to run some, to stay ahead of them both. Teri followed soon after and I tried not to let that get to me mentally. I tried to run but could not. My neck was so sore from craning (shining my headlamp and looking down at my feet so I wouldn't fall) and my neck muscles just gave out. This was a first for me. Even so, I wasn't going to let it get the best of me. I had plenty of energy; my legs were still strong; and could walk fast as the trail was hard packed. The pain was hard to ignore so I tried different things. First I put my fist under my chin to prop up my head. That felt really good but I couldn't walk as fast and definitely could not run. So those "head lifts" were short lived. I continued to throw some in to give me relief which helped a lot. Next I thought I could pull my head up from the back using my pony tail. That felt even better but slowed me even more. I switched between head lifts, pony pulls and just letting my head hang, the rest of the way back. I couldn't believe how long it took for Jacob to catch me but catch me he did, about 4 miles out from the finish. Now, just keep doing what I'm doing. I can't really react to anyone passing me so I would have to do the best I could. FINALLY heading up the last hill into the finish, I tried to put in a jog on the last stretch but it was futile. Then in a moment I was done! And in 23:15. I did it. Granted, it was probably 92 miles at most but I think I could have done 8-10 miles more and finished under 26 hours. I'll call that a PR as my old Susitna PR was about 32 hours. I'm super happy with my performance and willingness not to give up. I am also glad that COVID didn't get the best of me. I have heard differing experiences from other healthy runners (good and bad) and wasn't sure how my body would react. The only thing I noticed during the race was some coughing from drainage that I sometimes get from my asthma, so I'm not sure that was left over from COVID or not.
It was fun doing the out and backs. I enjoy these kinds of races where I can not only see my competition but everyone on the course. I never see the bikes outside the start as the are just gone in a flash. This time I saw most of them 5 times. While we got in each others' way a bit, I loved it and was happy to slow, stop and even step off the trail if I had to. The skiers were great too. Everyone was so encouraging, shouting "Good job," or "Nice work," all day. I'm likely in the minority here but I would love to have the course be multiple out an backs. The experience for me is much, much better. Barring that, I would love to return to running on the SU and Yentna rivers rather than on snow machine trails. Those are too difficult for me.
A day of rest and back at it today (2/22/22) running, albeit slowly, a 4 miler at lunch. Next up: 100 miles over 4 days next weekend as I travel from Deshka Landing on the SU to the Yentna. I will be joining the "Men' Fellowship Ride" to Northwoods Lodge. This is a group of men from Church who will be snow machining out to Northwoods. I'll leave mid-day Friday and head to Yentna Station for the night; then continue on Saturday morning to Northwoods lodge. I'm really looking forward to the trip to both fellowship with other men but also as I have never been to Northwoods.
1 comment:
Very cool brother !!!
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