run willow run

never apologize, never explain proclaimed gertrude stein according to my father; chat gpt says stein never said this. that said, i think i had a stomach bug before and during the race, which slowed me down tremendously. my whole system felt better 2 days after the race, and my legs, which had taken a slower pace during the race to coddle my stomach, were springy and ready to train hard right away. it is true that 100 mile races wreak havoc on gi systems, but mine was a mess at race start and the 2 days before. it is true nerves can upset the stomach, and people can be nervous before a big race, but i’ve had plenty of races with a calm system to start. true, i do stress about not eating enough or eating too much the days before a race, and on race day i was cursing myself for overeating leading up to the race, and i do intend to err on the side of too little rather than too much food the days before the next race, but really the misery was more than an extra bagel would warrant.

4th place overall, 2 hours slower than my june race

my time was 18:50:57; i had sort of recovered for the last 30 miles and was perhaps catching up to people who had passed me during my roughest patches mid race. i was 7 minutes behind 3rd place and 16 minutes behind 2nd place; had i known this i might have been able to ignite some fire to run faster; as it was, i was an hour and 26 minutes behind the winner; had i been on point like my june race, perhaps i could have won; but this was was hot not cool and drizzly, so this winner might have run an hour or two faster in june.

even before it got hot, my stomach was gurgling; i kept up a pretty good pace for the early cool hours despite feeling like i was the wolf in the grimms’ tale in whose belly mother goat had sewn a bunch of rocks.

it was sunny and warm the days before the race; although race day was cool to start (but warm enough not to need a jacket right away), it was pleasant in the morning. this photo spot is by the lake approaching hyak trailhead on the palouse to cascades trail.

for the first 17-18 miles into hyak, i was on my target pace to run a sub 16 hour 100, even with a few needed stops at facilities.

indeed, the first out and back to hyak went pretty well. my pace was on target. my stomach woes were probably making me drink less than i would need to. i was running with a handheld water bottle and another bottle in my waist light pack; i never used both. i decided to dispense with the annoying (because i had so many pit stops) waist pack when passing home base at mile 34; this was a mistake. it was to be a hot and slow afternoon.

there are no more photos (the paces varied dramatically, and the 50 mile 50k racers started at 7 and 8am, so the photographer had to stay put for a long time). it would be interesting to see how bedraggled i would have looked. while it was not arizona weather, high 70s or low 80s in the sun felt pretty hot to a dilapidated stomach in the 34-66 miles out and back past cle elum. and now i was thirsty, going slowly because my stomach did not want to be jiggled, and felt how far apart aid stations feel when you are going slowly.

in my misery i did have 2 experiences of enlightenment. when speaking about the june western states 100 in the very hot california canyons, veteran ultra runner andy jones wilkins says it is always worth your time to wade into the streams and drench yourself in water; that this cooling pause will pay for itself with a faster pace. while i was hardly applauding a fast pace during this hot section, i did enjoy thoroughly 3 dips in streams feeding into the yakima river; and praise be to my shamma maximus sandals; they got soaked 3 times and gave me no blisters; they also have 913 miles on them, are the only sandals ever that i have worn for 2 100 mile races, and they will likely be my sandals for the salt creek 24 hour races in 16 days.

while taking one of these dips, i decided to risk giardia and filled my empty water bottle in the rushing and ostensibly clear water; it was my first time drinking water without electrolytes during the race, and it was heavenly; even i though i used official aid station parasite free water the rest of the race, i no longer added my salty mix to the water.

and i haven’t added salt to my water since. i test low on sodium (hence my zeal in adding more and more salt to my water); but i wonder if my body likes running low on sodium and does what it can to get back to my normal set point; maybe dealing with all this salt was another stress on my gi system.

in any event, i got back to home base at mile 66 clearly not going to make a pr or even my time of june; i knew the sun would go down and felt i could start running more; and i did. though i was still running with what felt like water balloons in my belly.

so i didn’t give up. my time is respectable to many. very disappointing to me. if i had felt great and gotten this time, i would feel distressed, wondering if somehow my fitness had vanished. but i felt so much better 2 days after the race, i am optimistic i will feel strong for future races, and this was an unfortunate illness. the restaurant had been riddled with ill coworkers and patrons in the weeks leading up to the race (i did test for covid and was negative—though the first time i had covid, it really only manifested as an upset stomach, so i wonder if i just tested too late this time?); i sometimes wonder if i should leave the restaurant business to protect my health, but i also realize that if i never expose myself to germs, i will be laid low when i do encounter them. so on it goes.

training has gone well for my next race, the salt creek 24, on october 25. there will be frequent tracking. expect a pre race missive some time that week.