2019 OC100k

Well looks like 4th time was the charm. For some reason this event out of the 3 at Oil Creek 100 trail runs has given me the most trouble. This was the 7th year I have run OC completing the 50k twice, and the 100 miler once..... but the 100k.... 0-3 coming into this year.

My drops have ranged from IT band issues and drop at mile 37, lack of training drop at 50k distance, and 50k drop after a fall and injury last year.

This year I had taken part in many triathlons and didnt train on trails enough until Sept. I felt strong and ready for a month of miles and miles of trail running. By my taper I felt I had done enough to finish the race.

Race morning has come, gear is ready, fuel is ready.... I am ready. As the race director counted down and the horn went off I started very slow, as we had about 1.3 miles of bike path before the trail head. I was running alone with my thoughts and before long into the trails we went. About 2 miles in I started to get a dizzy feeling ( I have had it a lot over the last few years, something with a nerve in my neck) but it is worse when I dont wear my contacts while on the trails, which I had forgot to put in.

I ran for a while dizzy then took a hard fall, got up and realized I just needed to hike for a while... and that is what I did, for over 3 miles till the aid station. When I got there the aid station I still didnt feel right so I went to the back of the tent and laid down to try and calm my spinning head. After about 20 minutes it started to clear up, but I was really thinking man am I about to drop for this race again!!!????   I filled my water bottle and decided I had to push on.

On my way out of the aid station a friend of mine noticed me and was curious what happened to me. I hiked for a bit and talked to her about what I had experienced. We hiked up some switchbacks then down switchbacks by then I felt I was able to start running again. I moved the rest of the way through section 2 and into aid station 2 pretty well. I was able to curse through the aid station and move into the longest section, I was starting to make up the hour and a half I had lost and catching folks that had passed me in section 1. Towards the end of section 3 I ran by a friend, Rod, how was having noticeable trouble with his back. I asked him what was wrong and figured my friend Dan, at aid station 3 could help him out. I told him to ask for Dan at the aid station. I descended down the last hill in section 3 and ran the 3/4 mile on a dirt road into aid station 3.

I didnt need much at the aid station, but I did tell Dan to expect Rod and I was on my way. While running in section 4 my back started getting sore. I was able to keep a decent pace and before I knew it I only had about a mile or so of trial left in this section. I ran into a guy that looked like he was in pain, I asked what was going on and he said his quads were cramping. I gave him the old you almost got this section beat statement and started to run but stopped, gave him my last 3 Endurolytes knowing I had more at the aid station. I said take 2 now and 1 at the aid station then started to run again, turned around and said oh by the way they are Hammer Endurolytes.... I laughed to myself thinking that this guy blindly took 2 pills that I gave him with no questions asked ( he finished the 100K).

I came into aid station 4 and sat down, it felt good to get off my feet, my back was getting really sore at this point. As luck would have it a Chiropractor, Dr. Krauza (who has finished all 3 events at OC) was there and he actually had a portable chiropractor table with him, he offered to adjust my back. As he looked me over my back and pelvis need a bit of work, he says likely due to the fall early on. I changed socks and shoes, filled bottles and went to grab my trekking poles but I didnt have them, I put them in the aid station 2 bag not the aid station 4 bag. Krauza asked me what I was looking for and I explained my issue..... he had a pair his in his car, he grabbed them and off I went. I knew it would be dark by 7 and I wanted to get to aid station 2 by 7 or 730. As I got into aid station 1, they remembered me and said I looked like a whole different person, said last time they saw me I was pure white and were sure I was going to drop. I got what I needed and was off and up the switchbacks in section 2.

Through section 2 I kept a steady pace but was starting to feel the miles. I passed a few more people then all of a sudden a guy came up behind me fast and passed with his pacer, it was the 100 mile leader and he was flying. Section 2 is the shortest section in miles but has one of the longest climbs, once I made it to the top of it I knew for sure I had this race but I just had to let it come to me. with about 1 mile to go in section 2 it got dark and I put my headlamp on. As I got into aid station 2 Dr Krauza had made his way there to see a bunch of us he knew. I gave him back his poles and grabbed mine, gloves, hat some water and fruit. I picked up my pacer here, we only had 17 miles lift and I was feeling decent. She asked if I wanted a heavier coat from my drop back, knowing it was going to drop into the 30's.... I said nope we will be done in 4 hours or so.

We climbed the hill into section 3 and were running a decent enough pace for the first 3 or 4 miles then my legs really started to give, my quads were shot and we started to do a lot of hiking, running where I could be man oh man was I hurting. Most of the rest of section 3 was uneventful but way long and it got very cold. What should have been 2-2.5 hours took 4. As we got into aid station 3 I sat by the fire for a few minutes to try and warm up. Shortly after I sat down someone else came in and dropped from the race, stating its too cold and he didnt have enough clothing for it. I stood up and told Laurie that I was still freezing so we may as well get on our way. Just then a truck pulled up to take the guy that was dropping to the start/finish line. The driver looked at me thinking I was one dropping and said ready??/ Just then the other guy jumped up and got in the truck.

As we started to leave I remembered I had a solar blanket in my pack!!!! Laurie said lets put it on like a cape then put your pack on.... this would not have been great to try and run in, so I said lets fold it in 1/3 and wrap it around my torso, then we had some hand warmers and we packed them inside... turns out it was perfect! I had 8.8 miles to go to finally finish this race and complete this damn 100k. Most of this section was a shuffle and hike but as the miles clicked by I knew I finally had this thing beat... not pretty but done!!!

I crossed the finish line to the embrace of Tom Jennings, the race director, he handed me the buckle and I announced I can now retire from Oil Creek Trail Races!!!!!!

Words can not explain the happiness, and a proud feeling that I cant compare to anything except a 100 mile race or my half ironman. I know hold the trifecta of belt buckles from OC and can move on after 7 years!

#howihammer #suunto

Gear:

Hammer race kit

Columbia Colorado's
Swifwick wool socks
Columbia Titan Ultra shorts
Ultimate Direction hydration vest
Sunnto 9

Fuel:
Hammer Gel
Hammer Sustained Energy
Hammer Raw Energy Bar
Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator - Recovery
Hammer Endurance Amino
Hammer Race Day Boost
Hammer Anti-Fatigue Caps
Hammer Recoverite - Recovery
Hammer CBD - Recovery

2019 Race for Recovery

The 2019 Race for Recovery was held 9/21/2019 at Presque Isle State Park. This was the 7th time I had raced this event with finishes at 7th, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

In the last 6 years I tapered for the this race since was in training for the OC100 races. This year I am also training for the OC100 trail race BUT since I caught the Tri bug I had not focused running long or trails. Unfortunately I would have to work this race into the training schedule and see what happens.

Going into the race i had run 60 miles the week before and had 35 miles in the week leading up to the race, so I did not feel fresh at all but did feel good and strong. Leading up to the race I made sure to take all of my doses of Hammer Nutrition Race Day Boost and Hammer Nutrition Tissue Rejuvenator to ensure I had the best possible chance to do well. 

I got to the race an hour early and got my bib etc and started to jog around to get loose and get the blood flowing. I was feeling great and energy was high but definitely could feel the training load in my legs. As the race time neared I turned on my MP3 player and started to get my mind ready for the race. With about 10 till the start I made my way to the starting line and the timer asked me if I thought I would win today, I paused looked around and said..... Sure why not....we both laughed a bit and I said, I am going to try. As the race director started giving instructions I started looking around to see who all showed up, I did see a lot of familiar faces, exchanged a few nods etc. I also noticed a large handful of new faces most younger than me. With about a 2 minutes to go a friend of mine walked up to me and said good luck and I think you are going to with this again. I just said thanks, now I was starting to feel some pressure that I had not had all morning.

As the timer counted down 3....2...Horn blows! about 8-10 people really pushed the pace from the start, I figured it would be a fast race but holy cow it had only just started. After the first turn ( about 200 yards) it was down to about 5 of us and the pace started to settle in but then this guy got out front and took off. I didnt go with him because I was sure he could not hold that pace. After 1 mile I had moved to 2nd and a decent gap back to 3rd but 1st was a ways out. Not long after I hit the 1 mile mark I could see the leader turn and see where I was, I assumed he was getting tired so I planned to keep my pace till the 2 mile mark and see what happens.

At 2 miles I closed the gap to about 50 ft or so his foot turn over was slowing and I could tell he was tired, but the down side was so was I. As we hit about the 2.5 mile point I was less than 10 feet behind him. I noticed he was messing with his MP3 player and all of a sudden he picked up his pace just a bit I did not have any more to give at that point though. He slowly pulled away from me and as I hit the final turn I could see him crossing the finish line. In the end I lost by 20 seconds.

I got some water and found the guy who won, we exchanged high fives and I asked him what the heck song he put on his MP3 player. He laughed, told me the song ( I cant remember now) and said I know you were going to catch me so i turned that song on which was 4 min long... he said he told himself that he could out run me for the 4 minutes or blow up trying. lol

Sadly I likely had enough to push a bit harder and maybe could have blown him up and won but hind sight is 20/20. But hey I took 2nd and was nearly 2 minutes faster than 3rd place. This is far from a fast 5k but it was warm and lots of wind, it seems everyone was slow on this day. After awards I went out and ran 6 more miles and did 22 miles on the trails the next day! Hammer on!

#howihammer

Gear:
Suunto 9 GPS watch
Hammer Running Kit
Hoka One One Gaviota

Fuel:
Hammer Whey Protein Bar for breakfast
Hammer Tissue rejuvenator - post race
Hammer Recoverite - Post race
Hammer CBD Balm later in the day. 
Hammer Race PR Kit - 4 days prior and up the night before the race.

Catch up blog

Well I had not realized its been so long since I had updated to this blog so I will just give a quick catch up to where we are today.

7/10 STTC Tri series race 2 - I PR'ed the course just days after my first half ironman and came in 1st in AG and 7th overall.

8/3 Findley Lake Olympic Tri - This was my 1st Olympic distance and I made the top 10 and won my age group.

8/7 STTC Tri series Race 3 - PR'ed the course again, took 7th overall and won my age group

8/10 Presque Isle Sprint Tri - 12th over all and 2nd in age group

9/1 Tour De Tamarack Bike Race - 9th over all and 2nd in age group

9/4 STTC Tri Series Race 4 - DNF after PRing on the 400 swim I got 5 miles into the 13 mile bike route and broke my chain.

What a year so far.... My first Sprint, Olympic and half ironman distance races, 1st bike race.... I have huge plans for 2020. But first I had the Race for recovery (blog coming) and OC100k