Rocky Raccoon 2013 Race Report

"It's an eating and drinking contest with a little running mixed in."
"Earn this."
"Git your $#!*!"

These were the mantras I used as I returned to Huntsville for round two with Rocky Raccoon. The second was my favorite. Just a reminder to me that it wouldn't be easy and to make good on the sacrifices others had made, namely my family, for me to toe the line that day. I ran it last year as my first 50 miler and was pretty happy with the results. Especially given the rain filled mud fest it turned into on race morning. In 2012 I finished in just over 10 hours and within two weeks was sidelined with a stress fracture in my foot. I wanted to return in 2013 and give an honest effort at a sub 9 hour finish. Despite my horrible race at Lookout Mountain 6 weeks before RR I was confident in my training and ability to get the job done. I was determined to eat and drink more than I had at any race before. I was determined to earn it, even if it meant suffering. I was determined to get mine.

In the words of Capt. Miller from Saving Private Ryan

As with last year Friday evening was spent with friends, both old and new, at Homestead on 19th for dinner. And same as last year both the food and service were top notch. The group was split evenly between a NW Arkansas contingent and some Taturs from Tulsa. Always enjoyable to break bread, share stories and laughs  with like minded folks. Of course the topic of race day concerns came up. My biggest concern was the expected high temperatures reaching the mid 70s. I hadn't run in anything even close to that in months.

Otherwise there were no pre-race jitters to note. I lined up with everyone else simply wanting to go out and do my thing. I quickly found it interesting just how different the course looked from last year when every step required attention due to the footing and mud. I settled into a comfortable pace and watched as several others passed me and noticed how hard each was breathing. I knew I would see most of them again down the trail. Within a few miles I came across Jon Wilson from Missouri. We had met the day before at the race briefing through mutual friends. This was his first 50 and he had the same time goal as I did so we latched on to each other. We kept one another honest, not too fast and not too slow.

Shannon, me and David on Sunday morning

My strategy was to stop at every other aid station and that's what I did. A gel every 30 minutes, Heed in the handheld bottle (not my preference but that is what they offered), regular nips from my flask of Liquid Shot and that's it. I had forgotten my fuel belt back at home and Edward, one of the Taturs, allowed me to use an extra he had. Better than showing up to a race without your shoes, right Tim Harrington? The first loop went off without a hitch and I came in to Dogwood feeling good at 2 hours and 45 minutes. A little faster than expected but no real worry. I knew I could ease off just a bit on the next one. The fuel belt I borrowed wasn't working quite right so I dropped it there, refilled my bottle, gobbled a couple of S! Caps, fresh gels and grabbed a fresh flask. I was out quickly for loop two.

John and I stayed together for much of the second loop too. And as I expected the further we went the more folks we reeled in that had passed us at the start. This loop was highly unremarkable. My splits stayed even and I continued to feel comfortable. About the only thing of note is witnessing a runner, female, operating a breast pump while running on the trail. Not sitting at an aid station but while moving on the trail. That was a first. And Jon Wilson is my witness. Sorry fellas, no pics of that for you. It did begin to get warm on the back half of the loop. I knew staying on top of hydration would be key. My Garmin died. No big deal, in fact I expected it. Everything would be done be feel from here on in. I continued to do my best to drain my bottle between stops as well as 2 gels every hour. I finished the second loop feeling OK at 2 hours and 55 minutes. I was beginning to feel a good hot spot under a toe that I expected so I decided to take a quick look. Not a blister yet so I just cleaned the dirt and grit off, applied some Slik by Skin Strong and changed into a pair of clean socks. One more to go and I had some time in the bank. A full bottle, a new flask and a couple of more S! Caps, fresh gels and I was off to finish this thing.

A little pre-race ritual that gives me good juju

I rolled through Nature Center as I had on the first two loops without stopping. Somewhere on the way to Damnation my stomach decided to throw a party. It began rolling and suddenly it felt that everything I had consumed was just sitting down there. I had the sensation that perhaps I should just puke to empty it out. In addition I began to feel a twinge in my hamstring. I more or less expected that as I had been feeling it in the weeks leading up to the race. What I didn't plan on was the cramp developing in my left butt cheek. That was another first for me. Two weeks before RR I rolled an ankle on a training run worse than I ever had in the past. In fact, I had rolled the same ankle 6 times in about 10 weeks. I assumed the hammy and butt cheek issues were related to compensating for the weak ankle.

The scene at Damnation went something like this...
"What do you need?"
"I think I need to puke."
Volunteers scatter
I didn't puke, just kinda wondered if I should.

That's when Fred Thompson stepped in. He quickly asked me some questions and assessed my condition. As he was doing this I realized that I was no longer sweating (except for my nose). The skin on my face, neck and arms was gritty and dry. I had a slight headache and those twinges of cramps. When in the Hell did this happen? He prescribed some Endurolytes, filled my bottle with ice and Heed and I downed a gel in front of him. The conclusion was that we would re-assess when I returned there in about 3 miles. I left Damnation at 2:04PM so I had 1 hour and 56 minutes to cover the last 10.5 miles and get my sub 9 hour finish. Given the way I was feeling I knew I couldn't waste any time. I left as best as I could.

The Damnation crew, that's Fred throwing the deuces. (photo by  Deborah Scharpff Sexton)

Shannon was leaving Damnation as I had rolled in and looked kinda worked over. By my foggy ultra math he was at mile 46 of the 100 miler. I caught up with him on the "hill" about a 1/2 mile out and walked with him for a minute or two. He was feeling a little rough and I tried to gather some mojo for him and from him. After we walked that first kicker at the bottom I ponied up and began moving again. It simply didn't feel good. I could tell my hot spot was now a raging blister. My abdomen was cramping. My butt cheek was barking at me and I didn't have any juju to move with a purpose. I knew I had to be tough mentally here. I knew what was wrong (dehydration) and I was doing all I could to fix it. I told Fred that I would try to drain my entire bottle before I returned to Damnation in about 3 miles. Since I left at 2:04 I felt if I could get back there by 2:40PM I could try my best to finish under 9 hours. I moved the best I could but it really began to feel like work. I took a number of short walk breaks (20-30 seconds) trying to muster something up. I finally made my way back to Fred and Damnation. The bottle was empty. My stomach still felt bad. So did everything else.

"What time is it?"
"It's 2:46."

Dammit, it was gone. Seriously, a long 46 minutes to cover the 2.7 miles on that little loop? The gig was up. I knew the sub 9 hour finish was not going to happen. But I could still PR. I told Fred I wanted to sit for 5 minutes and drink as much as I could and cool down. I just felt so hot. They counted down the time for me and at 4 minutes I got up and began to make my way to Park Road and the final 8.5 miles to the finish. The first couple of miles were rough but as I reached the top of the double track and turned back into the trees I felt better. By the time I reached Park Road things were coming around again. Not great but better. About two miles from Dogwood I got some energy back and started actually running and not jogging. It hurt but I had some mojo working for me. I made the final turn and could see 9:26:XX on the clock. I tried to finish strong and overheard a couple of comments as I cleared the chute that my pace was good. A mix of disappointment and satisfaction.

Heading out for second loop (photo by EnduranceBuzz.com)

I had missed my goal by hitting a rough patch for 8 miles on the final loop. The time I banked on the first two loops was given back and then some. But I still had a 40 minute PR and felt that I battled mentally pretty well. Much better than I did at Lookout Mountain in December. I really don't think I could have run any harder. I am happy with my effort. Now could I have run smarter? Yes. My fueling was spot on the first loop and damn near on the second. I got off track the last loop when the GI went south but by then it was hydrating that was the priority. I needed more electrolytes and missed the early signs that I was behind the curve there. But bagging a 37th overall in a big race like Rocky Raccoon is nothing I can complain about. I am still convinced that there is a sub 9 hour 50 miler in these legs.

Thanks to the entire Tejas Trails crew, the wonderful volunteers and HSP staff for another memorable weekend in Huntsville. Congrats to all the Goats and Taturs. My man, David Newman, cruised to a sub 24 hour finish in his first 100 miler. Shannon McFarland gutted out a gritty final loop to finish another 100 miler under duress. Stormy Phillips also battled demons out there and brought it home. Mark Riley was stellar and threw down a wicked race. Mark Den Herder proved yet again he knows what he is doing. Russell Bennett had a 2+ hour PR in the 50 miler. Congrats to Amelia and Jeff Elbert on a strong first 50 miler. Jon Wilson, cheers to you for keeping at it and thanks for all that good company.

Rocky Raccoon Pt II The Background

Ryan and Rocky

It's nice when things fall into place isn't it? I had been thinking for some time about taking a shot at completing a 50 mile trail run. Like many, I suppose, I was hesitant. The jump from 50k to 50 miles can seem like a rather large one. Especially when my last 50k resulted in my first DNF. Click here to read that story. I had some real doubts about attempting anything more until I mastered the 50k distance. My mind works like that. But after examining the DNF and chalk talking every imaginable angle of it with grizzled veteran trail trolls my thoughts began to change. A sample of race reports from last year at RR was all it took to hook me. I contacted Mike Rush (10th place RR50 2012) and put the idea out there that perhaps we could get a group together to throw it down Tejas style. Mike and I both hail from the Lone Star State. He was all over it. Apparently he had already decided he was all in before I mentioned it. So the feelers were put out. In the end there was just one other local runner that joined the fray, David Newman. However, as fate would have it, another local, Ryan Holler, was tapped at the last minute to pace a mutual friend for his first attempt at 100 miles so we had another sucker along for the ride. Upon further examination Ryan was planning on sleeping in a vehicle. That was unacceptable to me. I offered up a spot on the floor at my parents house in Corsicana for Thursday night and the same at our hotel in Huntsville Friday night. As for Saturday night while pacing Tim Harrington, he was on his own, because David and I were headed back to comfort in Corsicana as soon as we were done. So that's it, we were set. Shortly after picking up my son, Philip, from school on Thursday we headed south. I thought it only appropriate to include an invitation to the mini me and include him on the adventure. He was stoked because it meant one less day of school that week.

I posed for this one. 

As we rolled out of Ozark country we naturally talked about running and got to know each other a little better. Ryan and Philip drew Spartan warriors in the back. We learned all about shoe design from Ryan too. Interesting stuff. We reached Corsicana about 11 o'clock that night. It was, of course, great to see my folks. My dad was a dedicated runner for many years starting back when the movement was booming in the 1970s. He was a regular at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, ran a marathon PR of 3h26min and twice logged a monthly total of 450 miles. So he loves having runners around to swap war stories. And yes, he even broke out the old pictures of him running Dallas White Rock (with me tagging along near the finish). One of those photos made the front page of the Dallas newspaper. Nothing like running a marathon in a cotton t-shirt and a stylish sport watch with a metal band. But this trail running and ultra thing is all new to him. He thinks we are a little weird. And my mom simply loves to have company over. Trust me, you will not go hungry in her house. Friday morning found us eating up plates of sausage and egg casserole, bacon, fruit bowls, muffins and such. After that mom and dad worked my buddies over with questions. Soon it was time for lunch so we headed downtown to an Italian joint for pasta and pizza. And since we were in Corsicana we stopped off at the Collin Street Bakery before leaving for Huntsville. We picked up some cookies and a chocolate pie. After a round of well wishes and good byes we loaded up and split for Rocky country. 

Chocolate Meringue pie is a great post race snack.

We arrived shortly before the race briefing and met up with Mike and his son. Mike's better half was out testing the trails for us. Following the briefing I met a couple of folks that I had become familiar with from the Tejas Trails Facebook page. Before I forget, big shout out to Laz for grinding out his first 100 miler, cheers! As the crowd thinned out Ryan wanted to chat with Karl Meltzer. They had met a few months back at Pinhoti 100 where the Speedgoat had lowered his own course record to defend his crown and Ryan placed 9th in his first hundred. I mentioned this in my race report but I'll say it again. We all hear about the elite runners in the ultra community being approachable and I can now say that is certainly true. I was introduced and he couldn't have been much friendlier. He was amped for his race and wished us well on our endeavor at 50 miles. At my last big road race, and every other one,  the elites were quarantined from us regular folks.  That was nice to experience firsthand. We then got our packets and headed over to the hotel. David had found us a room at the La Quinta. But we couldn't get in because the key cards didn't unlock the door. David got to walk down to the lobby in the rain. Sucker. From there we made our way to The Homestead for dinner. There we met Mike and his family who came up from Houston along with Michael Mortensen from Denmark. Something like 24 hours of travel time from his house. That's serious folks. This rascal came all the way from Denmark to tear it up at Rocky 100. He and I met on the Tejas Trails FB page and I had invited him to join us for dinner. The wonders of social media. He mentioned it was his first trip stateside and the first time driving a car with an automatic transmission. He mentioned that he had figured out what the P, R and D were on the transmission but wanted to know what the other letters meant. I told him not to worry about that, he had all the important ones down. For the record, The Homestead was great. Attentive service, good turnaround on the orders and the food was hot, fresh and tasty. I opted for the 6 oz fillet, mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables with a garden salad. Make sure you leave room for dessert. They even had a jazzy quartet throwing down some good dinner tunes. 

The first selection looked sinfully good. (R. Holler)

After wrapping up the post dinner chatter it was out into the drizzle and back to the hotel. But not before stopping at the beer store for some post race hydration fluids (which, sadly, we ended up being too tired to partake of when the time came). At the hotel we couldn't get into our room again because the cards still wouldn't work. David got to go down to the lobby. In the rain. Again. Sucker. Or so we thought. It seemed to take a little extra time for him to come back. When he does arrive he tells us that while in the lobby he sees some guy at a laptop who looks like a runner. So he hits this dude up:

David: "So, are you here for the race?"
Mystery Man: "Yes."
David then inquires "So, what's your goal?"
The guy says "13 hours"
David realizes it's non other than Hal Koerner disguised in that awesome lumberjack beard. Meanwhile Ryan and I are standing on the balcony in the rain. Who's the sucker now?

In the room we quickly settle down, get our gear lined out and hit the sack. We had discussed getting out to the park to watch the 100 mile kick off at 0600 and decided if the weather was sketchy we'd just fore go that to stay dry. Well, at 5 AM it was raining rather hard so we took a little extra time getting some breakfast. For me it was a hard boiled egg, a waffle, some yogurt and orange juice. We piled in the van and braved the wet roads down to the park along with everyone else. We ended up parking east of the Nature Center so we got a 1 mile warm up jog to Dogwood. In the rain. Toting our gear. In the dark. Fun times. I thought 50, 51, what the hell is the difference? We found ourselves a little cover under a corner of the last tent and waited for the start. And then we ran. In the dark. Through the rain and mud. I won't recap the race because I already did that here.

Dogwood Crossing post race, directing traffic, texting and looking good. (R. Holler) 

After my finish I grubbed down a bit at Dogwood before I met Ryan who drove the van around to the finish area. He suggested hitting the shower but I didn't have a towel. He said just use some dirty clothes to dry off. It then dawned on me that there was a good use for that race sweatshirt after all. That shower was great as it fought the chill off and washed away most of the grime. I got dressed and drove the van back to the Dogwood crossing where Ryan had returned. He was now stopping traffic for runners. I joined in as best I could and tried to keep my legs from seizing up by shuffling my feet and lightly stretching here and there. It charged my tank to cheer on the runners whether they were finishing up 50 or heading back out for another 20 mile loop on the 100. Most were hitting loop 4, a few the final loop and a couple just loop 3. I had to think to myself how daunting a task it must have been to trudge on into those dark woods with all that muck and the chill settling in the park. From there I watched as Hal, then Karl and Oswaldo raced in to finish their races. David was calling with updates on his status. After he finished up I did for him what Ryan had done for me. That only seemed fair. Ryan had geared up and was down at Dogwood prepping to pace Tim for the final 40 miles of the 100. After I shoveled David into the van we began our return trip to Corsicana about 90 miles away. We stopped to fuel up and I thought to myself these people must be wondering what is wrong with these two guys getting gas. Why are they walking so funny? There definitely some looks. 

About half way home I really began to get tired. I couldn't tell you where but we gimped into a little gas station and I get myself a package of peanut butter crackers and a Starbucks coffee shake thing. I figured a little protein, some sugar and a dose of caffeine would do me good. I popped a cracker in my mouth and immediately felt the sting. On my last loop out at Park Road I opted for a cup of noodles. Without testing it I dumped half the cup in my mouth. I'm guessing the temperature at 300 degrees. The roof of my mouth and tongue was now burnt beyond hope and raw. The little bit of salt on that cracker just rubbed right in there. More good times. From then on I stuffed crackers in the sides of my cheeks, got a drink allowing them to soften up and then chewed with my molars. Back at my parents house we drug ourselves in and I collapsed on the sofa. It felt so good to take the weight off of my feet. Finally. I decided that the sofa would work fine. I could put my feet up on the back. I drifted off to sleep sometime after midnight. At 5 am dad woke me up accidentally not expecting me there. We chatted about the race and I ate a plate of eggs and a piece of that chocolate pie. Back to sleep this time in the bedroom. After sunrise we had a buffet of my farm fresh eggs I brought from Arkansas, more fruit, oatmeal, some sausage and potato casserole. And we told everyone of our adventures. David and I then headed out for a walk clocking about a mile around the block. It felt good to move. Along the way my sister drives by and stops. She had driven down from Dallas to get in on the action. Back at the house, dirty clothes into the wash and then more chatting. But this time it was about the adventure mom, dad and Philip had Saturday. They had gone to the safari park at Fossil Rim and baked a cake. The cake was actually a homework assignment and Philip got bonus points for actually making a cake.  Shortly after that Ryan sent a text that he and Tim were finished and he was headed this way. Congrats to Tim for grinding it out in his first hundred. We met up near the highway and headed back to the house. Mom was already fixing Ryan a plate of warm food. By now Ryan had been up for about 34 hours, most of it on his feet, through all that rain, crewed for me and David and Mike and paced and prodded Tim through the dark and mud all night. He deserved a plate of warm food. We even saved him a piece of pie. Well, half a piece.

Philip taking lessons from his Ninnie on the finer points of cake making. 

Before long it was time for us to push north. Ryan was asleep within minutes. We stopped in Dennison for Whataburger. These boys had never enjoyed a Whataburger before. Ryan woke up. He ate and then went back to sleep. David spilled my drink all over the floor. The old timers were giving us strange looks. I think it was Ryan's compression socks and leather shoes. Maybe it was my argyle hat. We made it to McAlester, OK before stopping again. I needed more caffeine and sugar. Philip and I found this cool machine that makes shakes. Next to it is a cooler full of different frozen shakes. You pick your flavor, pull the lid, put it in the machine, choose your setting (thin, regular or thick), push a button and there you have it. The machine mixes it all up. While paying for them we saw a guy buy a 4 foot long beef stick. No joke. It's called the Whippersnapper. Back in the van. Ryan is still sleeping. We check to make sure he is still breathing. Good to go. Back in Bentonville I kick David out at his house and then Ryan before Philip and I head out to our house in the sticks. Mission accomplished. 

It's great to be able to do something like run a 50 mile trail race. It's even better to share that with friends and family. My parents were so wonderful opening their home to me and my friends. It beats the hell out of a hotel any day of the week. Not to mention the home cooking. We even had a fresh sheet cake that mom and Philip made for us. Try getting that at La Quinta.

The Players

Mike Rush: Local running stud, owner of Rush Running and former member of the Razorback Track Team at the University of Arkansas. He got off course, logged some bonus mileage and still finished in the top ten with a time of 8:04:47. He says he's coming back for a shot at 7 hours flat. He wants some hardware.

Mike Rush celebrates with Miles after his Top 10 finish. (R. Holler)

David Newman: David committed early on and then was stricken with an ITB injury. I think over the last month his longest run was 10 miles? Yet he toed the line and gave it a shot. And damn if he didn't finish. All I know is that this dude must eat nails for breakfast.

David "Roll Tide" Newman (R. Holler)

Ryan Holler: Crew Cat Extraordinaire, Pacer, and all around Lead Cheer Person. Part Jedi, part wizard and all good. Ryan will downplay his role but he was a big part of our success. I know he had to cover at least 50 miles after standing on his feet all day.

Ryan "Gandolf" Holler, the Jedi takes a snooze after 34 hours.

Philip aka Felipe: This is the fourth time Philip has gone on a trip for a race with me and I always love having him around. He drew a Spartan, made us cake and sported that boss of a hat liked he owned it. And he finished all of his homework before we got home. How can you not love that?

My Parents: They rolled it out for our crew. It was a completely wonderful trip because of them opening their home to their half weird youngest child and his two crazy buddies. Good company, great food and more than comfortable accommodations. Next time, I want them down at the park. As nice as that hug was from Ms. Joyce at the finish, I want one from my momma and pops.

Mom & Pop, thanks for being a part of it all. Love you!

Rocky Raccoon Race Report

What do you get if you mix together miles of plush south Texas trails, a couple inches of rain and hundreds of trail nerds? The answer: Rocky Raccoon 2012. Part I of my report will be dedicated to the race itself. I'll reserve the road trip aspect of things to Part II. 

To start off it must be mentioned that course conditions were less than ideal. By no means am I complaining. After all, folks, this is trail running. However, for the uninitiated, what this means is that the conditions made this scamper exponentially more difficult to many a racer this weekend. I must also disclose that this was by far the largest trail race I have participated in to date. Rocky Raccoon was 20 years old this time around and for the first time registration was closed. In that regard I feel fortunate to have been a part of it. This was also the first time that I have been in a race that featured world class ultra runners. Like many, I have heard about how approachable these elite athletes can be. I can now attest that it's true. At the race briefing on Friday afternoon I had a chance, thanks to a running buddy, to meet Karl Meltzer. There was a line of folks that he worked his way through, taking time to shake hands and share words with each. At my last road marathon the elite runners were more or less quarantined from us regular folks, hauled around in private vehicles, had handlers and so forth. Later that night another in our group accidentally met Hal Koerner in our hotel lobby. He didn't recognize Hal due to that boss of a beard he was sporting. Thought he was just another runner and started chatting him up. When David asked the as yet unknown runner what his goal was for the 100 miles and the guy replied "about 13 hours" the gig was up. 

Dogwood, start of loop 2, photo by R. Holler

As we rolled into Huntsville State Park it had been raining for hours and there were no signs of it letting up. We arrived about 30 minutes prior to the start and ended up parking a mile from Dogwood. So we got to do a mile warm up jog down the park road. "Hey, we're going 50, what's one more?" Still raining we found refuge in a little corner of one of the tents. I saw runners decked out as if it were below 30 degrees and snowing. I saw some a guy in sandals ready to toe the line. And there were lots of trash bags being worn. Once it started we all scampered across the mat and headed out into the woods. Trying to keep pace among about 400 runners on a trail, in the rain, in low light conditions can be tricky. Especially when some folks found it necessary to keep their shoes dry by slowing down and tip toeing around puddles. It took a couple of miles before I could pick my way through and things got strung out enough to have some room. My strategy was to keep as even a pace as possible, that's what works for me. I had three goals for the race. Finish in under 12 hours, finish in under 10 hours and see how far I could push myself. I thought about having simply finishing as a goal at one point but decided, as Stuart Smalley would say, that is stinkin' thinkin'.

The "Bloody Nipple" shirt.

Once I found my happy place I quickly settled in got comfortable. The course is quite different from what I am used to up here in the Ozarks. It's wide single and double track stuff, mostly a sandy dirt mix, a few roots here and there, little elevation and only a handful of rocks. For us NWA GOATS this course is paradise. On the first loop I planned on being very chill and simply wanted to get a good look at the course, identify any potential obstacles and stay relaxed. And that's precisely what happened. I came back in at Dogwood in just over 3 hours for the roughly 16.5 mile loop. As promised, Ryan Holler was at Dogwood ready to pass out my goodies. My wish list was a Vespa, a Stinger waffle, 4 Gu gels and a few S! caps. After refilling my bottles I made the turn and headed back out for the second of three loops. Shortly into it I realized that I should have changed shoes. I started in Brooks Pure Grit and had the Saucony Peregrine as a back up. My feet were just starting to feel the miles but no way was I going to turn back. A change would have to wait. I told myself to focus on the task at hand and not to worry about the shoes or my feet. The second loop went much like the first and I came back to Dogwood at about 6 hours and 17 minutes. As I passed Ryan I asked him to get the shoes and a change of socks ready. Getting a pair of clean socks and dry shoes felt great. As I headed out for the final loop I knew breaking 10 hours would require some work. And I was headed into uncharted territory as my longest run to date had been 33 miles. I knew I would finish. The question was how quickly? By now my mantra was in high gear. I ended up reminding myself repeatedly to not be scared. That I wouldn't rig up and bonk. "Don't be scared to keep at it, do not slow down, yeah my feet kinda hurt but so what? Don't be a p*$$y." I condensed that down to simply, "Don't be scared." Despite sore feet and a hamstring getting sketchy all I needed to do to was pick 'em up and put 'em down. Through the next several miles everything continued to stay steady. Throughout the day I stayed on top of hydrating and fueling and had no GI issues. I did, however, suffer an injury. All the rain and miles had washed away my Slather by Skin Strong (which worked wonderfully on my feet). Like an idiot I forgot to pack any extra. I wouldn't have even noticed it except for a passing runner pointing and exclaiming "Bloody nipple!" I just flipped my shirt up over my head and behind my neck like we used to do while playing soccer as a kid and continued forward. At the first hint of a sour stomach about mile 40 I popped a ginger chew and knocked it out. The final pass through Park Road as I waited for one of the wonderful volunteers to fill my bottles my right leg seized up. I tried to jog it out but it refused. I looked at my Garmin and saw it was about .5 mile to reach 46 miles and decided to walk it out and reassess at that point. I used the extra time to take some deep breaths and get some fluids down. When the watch chimed in I started a jog up that incline and the leg responded as it should. My pace was slower than it had been those last few miles but that was OK. Admittedly, I was relieved to make that last left turn and see the finish up ahead. Ryan was ready and snapped some pics. But not before I slowed to put my shirt back down. Not only did I want my Rush Running shirt to show up in my finish line photo I wanted to spare my family the embarrassment of my shockingly pale belly in any said photo. A quick glance at the watch told me I could get 10h5min if I picked it up and I did. Of course, I met Joyce at the finish where she presented me with my finisher medal and gave me a warm hug. That was fantastic. 

Bringing it home, photo by R. Holler

Checking my Garmin data I am pleased with how steady I was able to keep my pace throughout the day on a sloppy course. I attribute that to a couple of different things. First, my training was pretty much spot on. I combined a schedule from Relentless Forward Progress and mixed it with some tidbits from fellow ultra runners to come up with my own. My focus was on long doubles over the weekend and of course plenty of elevation (compared to Huntsville) here in the Ozark foothills. I avoided hardtop and ran on trails as much as I could. There was no speed work (track stuff) but I did a "hot 6" or so every week. I did in training what I planned to do in the race. That meant two full bottles, one S! cap per hour and a Gu every 45 minutes for every run. I did ditch one aspect of my training and pre-race strategy. During most of my long runs (over 3 hours) I used regular walking breaks. I had set my Garmin to chime a time alert every 13 minutes and every mile. When I reached a mile I would walk until the time alert sounded and then kick off again. The reason I decided to forego that was personal preference. When I get tired I have found that getting back in gear after a walking break taxes my willpower. I didn't want to face the temptation of extending a break a little longer "just this time". So I would see how far I could run. Second, my hydration and fueling were spot on. I started early on the fluids and kept it going all day. Besides the gels (every 45 minutes), S! Caps (1 per hour) and waffles (1 per loop) I had something at every aid station. Chips or cookies, maybe some fruit, pretzels or noodles. I started off the race wearing a tech shirt and shorts, that's it. No jacket or gloves. Several miles into the race I saw people still sporting trash bags and thought how miserable I would have been doing that. One dude was even wearing a ski jacket. Seriously? For me, anything above 40 degrees I'm good with a shirt and shorts. I have to think that my attire helped to regulate my body temp and sweating better than wearing a big plastic bag around my core. 

Something that struck me during the race was how few runners actually ran uphill. And by uphill I mean slightly elevated inclines. Then I realized that if you live in Houston or other similar areas it's hard to find hills. Honestly, our guys would hesitate to even call them hills. I am fortunate in that on any given day I can go out and run Slaughter Pen, or Blowing Springs or Hobbs or Devils Den and easily get three, five, eight thousand feet of elevation change or more inside 24 miles on rocky, fairly technical terrain. It was a huge benefit that made the Rocky Raccoon hills and trail seem easy. Mike Rush was absolutely correct when he convinced me to run the Athens Big Fork Trail Marathon (9,000 ft of elevation change) a month before Rocky. He said that Rocky would seem like a piece of cake after that. Looking back I can see that ABF was a huge confidence booster. Read my race report for ABF here. The most difficult aspect of the hills was how slippery a couple got later in the day, traction was at a premium for sure. Perhaps doing hills regularly takes any hint of trepidation out of them too. 

In the end I am quite pleased with the result. Not only my time of 10:05:30 (especially on a sloppy course) but with how well my body did hold up and that my energy level never dipped low. Rocky Raccoon is full of great volunteers, is organized very well, is a fast course and a perfect first time event for a 50 or 100 miles. I give a huge shout out to everyone that was out there in any fashion or role. There were volunteers that spent up to 30 hours or more of their time making this happen. In the rain, mud and through the night. Complete strangers at road crossings that would cheer on the runners. Some of them I saw on every loop. 

Volunteering at Dogwood crossing, photo by R. Holler

After I finished and was cleaned up I found myself back at Ryan's spot on the road just up from Dogwood. As the sun set in the west and darkness fell upon Rocky, I took up his role crossing guard/cheer leader so he could prepare to pace Tim the final 40 miles of his adventure. I stayed there for about three hours until my buddy finished. As the runners passed by I was struck with how much grit it would require to make that turn into the woods, in the dark, on that water logged course to start another loop. And yet they kept coming. That's dedication. That kicks ass. That is why ultra trail running is simply epic.

The data: Garmin 305 showed 48.86 miles at 10:05:22 and about 6,500 ft of elevation change. Good enough for 53rd place out of 366 starters. I think I can do 9h15m on that course which might put me in the top 25 next year.

The gear: Brooks Pure Grit (33 miles) and Saucony Peregrine (17 miles). Balaga trail socks and Slather skin protectant from Skin Strong, I had zero blisters and one minimally bleeding nipple. Pearl Izumi shorts (love the zipper pockets), Pearl Izumi compression shorts (another zip pocket). Tech shirt (Rush Running) and tech hat (Inca Runners).

As a side note I performed a little test on my shoes. It seemed to me that my feet seemed to be less wet in the Peregrine compared to the Grit. This highly scientific examination consisted of putting my shoes in the bath tub and filling them with water (they needed to be cleaned anyway). Hands down the Peregrine emptied faster than the Grit. It wasn't even close. So there you go.

As always you can follow me on Twitter @RedDirtRunner

Cheers!

Update 02/07/2012
Got a post race massage today from Carlie at Excel Massage in Bentonville. This was a Thai Yoga style massage and I walked out feeling noticeably better. My left leg was rigged up tighter than a snare drum and my right calf/hamstring sore as hell. Carlie worked it out though.

Update 02/09/2012
I was talked into a run Wednesday morning by a couple of buddies. I felt I could do 5 or maybe 6 easy miles. The body was a little cranky getting started but it felt OK to be moving. At mile 6 the wheels flew off. Pain in my right foot. I was about 1.5 miles from my truck. I grinded out another mile before throwing in the towel. After getting back home I soaked my foot in an ice bath and then a hot epsom salt soak. The back of my right knee is also pretty sore.