| My Splits | Results | Splits |
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If you so desire, you can read last year's utter failure to get a sense of the race. I'm gonna assume that you didn't tho. That being said, let's start with a course description.
The loop is a 7.25 mile loop that meanders around a little airport. You start on a dirt road. Last year this road was wet and muddy. This year, it was dry and for the most part was firm but at some places it was loose sand. You take that road and meander around. Some turns here and there until you make a left and hit the 1st timing mat. You continue from there while "the canal" is on your right. You take that all the way to route 27. At that point, you make a left turn onto the crabgrass. I estimate the dirt path to be about 1.5 mile long. This crabgrass is parallel to route 27 with another canal there. Last year, while getting onto that crabgrass, I saw an alligator at night in the water. I was 3 feet away from an 8 footer. Like an idiot, I did NOT take a picture. I desperatly wanted to rectify that. Anyway, last year I did not love that crabgrass area. It's slightly uphill but the realy sucky thing about it, is that the grass is so uneven, causing your foot to constantly try to find a balance. This was not trail running. It sucked. This year it was a little better. Anyway, you continue on the crabgrass for another 1.5ish miles to the one and only road crossing. This road takes you to the race site. That road crossing is the mini-aid station and also is your 2nd timing mat. At this point, you have managed a mere 3 mile of the course. The aid station is unsupported and had water and Tailwind. You continue on the crabgrass for another endless mile or so. You make a left turn and now you are on always wet grass. Last year to your left was a field of sugarcanes. This year, it was cut down. Not sure which I liked more. Last year, that field was creepy! Imagine any horror film with sugarcanes and you know what I mean. But, that field gave you port-a-bush opportunities. With it being cut, there weren't too many opportunities but at least at night, it wasn't that creepy. Anyway, your feet at this point are drenched! Yay... Eventually, you make a left onto your 3rd timing mat and the WORST section which was the very loose beach sand without the beach. Every step was misery. From there you (again) meander through always wet wet grass, turning and twisting until you finally reach the (driving) road which meant you are at mile 7. Now all you have is a concrete 0.25 mile section to cross the 4th and last timing mat at the Start/Finish.
Couple of more things to note: Timing mats 1 and 3, only notified the timer your location while 2 and 4 updated the website. Only problem is that it doesn't also tell you when you crossed those mats but just that you did. For people tracking you, that sucked but whatever. Also, while the port-a-trees and port-a-bushes were available, in terms of port-a-potties, there was 1 at mile 3 and 4 at the start/finish. The start/finish also boasted a bigger aid station. Since the RD, Erik "the Bacon" Friedman, loves Bacon, you were assured you had plenty of that available. Sucks of course for those of you who don't like bacon like me.
Ok, that was a pretty good description of the course in my opinion, so it's time to get to the actual race.
I was very very apprehensive about this race. I had the DNF hanging over me at 175 last year. I knew the course was hard. I didn't feel like I was in optimal shape. I had (still do actually) a lot of stress. Besides the usual health issues we are facing with Jessie, one of the dogs was going through something and just to make things more interesting, my mom had a stroke. So, why add this race and it's stress to my life? As usual, my answer is that the insanity that goes with Ultras is what keeps me sane. Well, at least what I consider sane. Maybe functional is a better word than sane? I don't know. Point is, I needed this. Elizabeth understood. She doen't like me doing hundos but she understood.
She actually kept pressuring me to buy airline tickets already. She went to Florida in the beginning of January, as it was the first anniversary of her fathers death. Those airline tickets were $ 500+ because some kids were still on vacation. I finally bought my tickets for $ 330. She was shocked. She realized that Jessie also had off and suggested that perhaps she go with me. Jessie finally checked prices the day after I bought them and tickets to my flight were already over $ 500. This is important for a different part of the story so bear with me. Anyway, bottom line is that Jessie did NOT go with me.
Anyway, I flew out Thursday January 23rd. Wednesday, the night before, I did NOT swim. I also did not Lifeguard that night. Stayed home with the family and went to sleep early. Oh and I finally organized my stuff too. By that, I do NOT mean I packed. I mean that I just created a pile with everything I thought I may need. Woke up 2am Thursday, ate and ran, started a wash, showered and actually packed.
There's a saying that "knowledge is power" and experiencing last year, I decided to pack extra stuff. I mean I took most of my NYC winter clothes which I thought was ridiculous but who cares... The plane carries all.
Anyway, Jamey picked me up and took me to JFK. TSA was a snap. I went to the gate and asked if there was an aisle seat available by any chance. SUCCESS!!! Got an aisle seat which was closer to the front. How freaking awesome?!? The flight was uneventful.
Got there earlier too...
My mother in law had a doctors appointment and wasn't sure if she would be able to pick me up and I told her that I can just take a taxi but then it hit me. I was going to rent a car anyway. Let me rent the car one day early and not cause her any stress. Also, I would see where to return the car to. This time, I learned tho. Last year, I rented from a cheap place and they demanded I take insurance even if I did not want to unless I could present my car insurance policy. Also, I rented a midsize car and they gave me a compact. This time, things were different. I called my Allstate agent. He did the research for me and I ordered a compact car from Budget and he also emailed me the documents I needed. That being said, Budget did NOT demand that stuff. Anyway, landed at Fort Lauderdale and took the bus to the car rental area. I got there and was told that they have a compact car for me but it's getting cleaned and may take up to 30 minutes and if I wanted to upgrade to an SUV, they would charge me $ 10 a day instead of $ 20. I considered it but then realized with taxes etc, that it just wasn't worth it considering how much driving I intended to do. The agent said ok and that a compact car was actually NOT available and that they would upgrade me for FREE to a full size car. I may need to wait 10 minutes tho. Cool. I went to the car and I did NOT have to wait at all. So I paid for a compact car but got a Chevy Malibu without waiting at all! NICE!!!
Drove to my mother in laws house. Changed clothes and had lunch. Walked with her a little and basically just chilled! Easy day.
Friday was a 7 mile run and relaxing and food shopping.
From last year, I remembered the food was lacking. I had a plan...
So, last year, a friend hooked me up with Van and Howard. Total strangers who took care of me. They crewed me and paced me and really took care of me. Both are ultra-runners so they "get it". Van actually made me guacamole during the race and I found out that my stomach could handle it. By the way, she also cut me a whole pineapple last year too... Anyway, my food plan was this: If I can find food on the course, then great otherwise bring my own.
I set up an assembly line. I made 6 huge burritos for myself. It was a tortilla (carbs) with a layer of hummus (protein) then an omelet from 2 eggs (protein) and some avocados (healthy fats) with some salt (electrolytes) on top. Each sandwich was HUGE. I made 6. Plan was to down one every 2 laps or so. I didn't do that from the start but once the hunger set in, I did. The avocados also played a huge role in the feeding process. At an ultra, you get to a point where you are hungry AND you know you need to eat AND you cannot swallow the food in your mouth. The avocados made each bite slippery so that you didn't have to chew that much. It kinda just slipped down your throat and into the furnace so that energy can be produced. I will include pictures of them in the gallery section. I also bought some sweets.
Went to sleep early Friday knowing Saturday was the day...
Drive was all good. Went over my plan in my head. Singing with the radio. All good. I was 5.5 miles away from race site when everything came crashing down. Traffic on route 27. We stop. We are not moving. Flashing lights ahead of us. I speak to the car on my right. The driver was driving her passenger to the race too. He was doing the 100K and needed to get there by 8 am. She told me that there were plenty of other runners behind us. Great. Not really helpful. I tried to call Erik but could not reach him.
We sat there for 20 minutes!!! The police made a way for us to go through (on the grass...). The problem was a collision between an SUV and a big fuel truck. SUV did not fare well. This was on railroad tracks to boot. As soon as I cleared the accident, I floored the accelator and got there at 6:35. Not good! Stomach bursting. Needed a sit down badly...
I come back and Mike Melton is there now. I was initially talking to his son. Cool. He tells me that they straightened it out and I am 83. They reassigned 84. Cool. I get my chip and I move on with life. Next, I'm not dressed to Rock And Roll. Normally, I would already have but I wanted to make sure to apply a lot of Aquafor right before the race, so I wasn't. I wanted my feet really lubed well. Hopefully no blisters. Other areas were under the armpits and of course the "boys down south". I do what I can. Got my feet nice and lubed. Pulled on socks. Tie one shoe - cool. Tie the other - not cool. It gets tangled. Badly. Real badly. It's almost race start and I am having serious issues.
When I initially saw Erik, I told him about the traffic issue. I was hoping he would start things a little later. His answer to me was "good. They listened as I am running late." Erik is a wiseass and I like that. Cool. Now, I'm having this calamity and looks like we are going to start on time. Erik and Mike are giving last minute instructions. Everybody is ready. I'm sitting on the freaking ground dealing with my shoes. In the Facebook live video, you can just see some idiot on the ground. Oh yeah... This IDIOT!
Talking about idiots... Michael Ortiz in typical Michael Ortiz fashion shows up at 6:50 for a 7am start. Love the guy but seriously dude...
By the way, Erik tells me that I look like I lost weight and look good. Seriously? He said that to me later too. Personally, I feel heavier but whatever.
We start. Ortiz and I are together. I am apprehensive but strangely calm. I did not know what the night would hold. Jamey kept saying that if I do this race again, then he would come to support. When he found out that the longest distance was the hundo, he told me that he isn't coming. If it was longer than he would. Van/Howard were aware of what I was doing and where. I just wasn't sure if between those 3, I would get visitors. Still, I was prepared to do my "thang".
We talk. We joke around. We are moving. The dirt path is dry as opposed to last years mud fest. Route 27 crabgrass still sucks. Once we get off there, the wet grass is wet. My feet are drenched. The soft sand area still sucks but actualy seems longer. The concrete section is there too. Boom. One lap is done. Two laps are done. It was then that Ortiz said he needs to stop to rest. Seriously? This early? Ok... I continue.
Once again, me being me, everytime I finish a loop, I check in with the timer. It's either Mike or his son. I want to make sure that we are on the same page. I learned from the Pistol Run. I don't want a situation like other people had that you get home only to find out that you are missing a loop. I need to do 14 loops and I don't want to do less or more. Just 14... Every loop (religiously), I check with him. No surprises for me baby...
I have a lot of memories from the race and will include as many as I can but I cannot tell exactly which loop they happened on so things may be a little out of order. Oh well.
I think it was on my 3rd loop that I meet Danielle. She is from North Carolina and we run together for a little while. She's pretty cool and I do love Southern accents. I tell her about my wish to see an alligator and that from what I hear, some guy was here yesterday and saw 7 alligators and 1 bobcat trail. We run and she sees one! I'm usually good about spotting things but she saw it first. Cool. We see more later by the way. Anyway, I do have to let her go at one point. She was doing the 50K and this was her last big loop. Once finished, she only would need a small half loop. Nice. Great meeting you...
It's getting hot. Last year, I got yelled at by Van/Howard that I wasn't drinking enough and that eventually I was drinking enough as evidenced by me constantly needing to pee but that I was not absorbing the electrolytes as my hands were really swollen. This time, like a good boy, I carried 2 bottles. I should mention that that is 2 bottles more than I usually take. I had a small bottle for water which I constantly refilled at both aid stations and a bigger bottle with Gatorade. Working it...
By the way, I listened to Elizabeth and did apply and re-apply sun screen spray but I should mention that it was very windy.
I met Trevor who was doing the hundred with the skydive. We both understood from the website that their race would start after they started after landing. The reality is that they started 3 hours behind everyone due to clouds and because the instruction and waivers took a whilw. Man that sucks... We had 32 hours. They had 29. By the way, just to jump ahead for a minute, those 3 hours were cut out from their time so if they finished in 29 hours, their time would actually say 26 hours. That being said, they really did have 32 hours from race start which was 7am. If it took you longer than 29 hours, you would be DNFed. If you did it in 29 hours or less, then your time would be 3 hours less. Think about that for a while and you will get it... Anyway, Trevor was a nice guy and we chatted before I let him go. This was his first hundred.
My usual strategy for a hundred is to get the first 50 miles in approx 12 hours and then have 18ish hours for the next 50. Since we had 32 hours here, I wasn't too worried. On the other hand, since it was a brutal course, so I was a little worried. Hm...14 loops for the hundo. Only 7 laps for the 50. That means 3.5 loops for 25 miles. I was doing just fine... I should mention that my PR for a 50 mile, which was a trail race, is 10:30. The 12 hours in a hundo is for comfort. Anyway, lots and lots of math going on as well as assessing the situation and the body constantly.
Sometime after finishing 30 miles, I felt a hot spot in my foot on the heal but decided not to worry about it. Smart? Not sure...
I met this young kid who was the 10K (really 7.25 miler) who was coughing up a lung while doing it. People you see here are nuts. That's all I'm gonna say about that.
Night came. I thought it was gonna drop to 55. People there told me that it was gonna drop into the 40s. Nah... With the real feel, I'm gonna say that it was probably in the 30s. So just to remind, I had a cap, singlet, compression shorts with basketball shorts on top of that and my gorrila socks and shoes. I was getting cold. I knew what was coming. I took the shorts off and put running tights on top of that and back to the shorts. I put my thorlo socks on top of the guerilla socks. I grabbed my light gloves and chemical handwarmers and my skullcap. On top, I pulled a long sleeve top on top of the singlet. I had already started carrying my headlamp. Went off for another loop.
One more loop done and the wind picked up and it really felt like the 30s. This time, I added my warm winter pants to the mix. Unfortunatly, I forgot to take the basketball shorts off. Another top on top of that and I grabbed my ski gloves on top of the light gloves. Luckily, I also brought a long see through recycling bag so I had Eric make me 3 holes and I wore that.
So, in case I got you confused... From the top down:
I felt good. At times, I wished I had my extra warm top too but that's the one thing that I didn't bring... That's ok. Still, I kept thinking back to when I was packing and thinking how stupid I am for carrying all that... Except for the warm top, I had my entire NYC winter gear on. Crazy.
At one point, I met Sam and his pacer Jimbo. Sam was a Navy guy. He came with his wife with an RV. His BFF Jimbo, also came with a RV with his girlfriend. Wife paced him at time. At other times, Jimbo paced him on a mountain bike. Let me tell you that biking on that soft sand could NOT have been easy. I was very impressed with Sam and of course Jimbo.
Out of order warning: I met this guy named Jake during the day. It was weird. I came up on him and asked him how he was doing. He was doing the 50K, I believe. He started telling me about a crazy thing that just happened. Apparently, an alligator had come out of the underbrush only 30 yards in front of him and crossed the road and into the canal. He was shocked. To make it worse, he thought he got a video of it but didn't. He did snap some pictures. He was shocked it happened and upset that he screwed up. He was then shocked when the idiot near him started screaming "why the hell doesn't that happen to me?!?"... Anyway, I asked him for the pics and he texted me right then. Awesome. We finished the loop together. Nice guy...
Sometime after Sam left me, I met Graham. Very nice British dude and we had a great old conversation about people and kids and such. He was doing the 50K I believe. He skydived in costume. Again, let me refer you to the gallery...
Out of order warning again: So, as stated above, me being me, I constantly checked in with the timer. Either Mike or his son constantly heard from me. That's how I roll. We were completly in sync. All until we weren't... I had finished my 7th loop (50 miles) slightly behind my self-imposed schedule but I was constantly doing the calculus in my head and so I knew where I was in life. All systems are a go except for the hotspot in my heal. I went to do another loop. I finished loop 8 and checked in with Mike who told me that I had just finished loop 7. WHOA Nelly!!! I stopped. I explained to Mike that it was loop 8. He told me that I just finished 7. I told him that it was wrong. He calmed me down by saying, "Look, I just got here. Let me take a look at your splits. Go do another loop and let me see what's what.". I left with Ortiz. I was still freaking out. Ortiz was trying to reassure me. Here I was convinced I had just finished 8 with Ortiz who was one loop behind me and the timer has me with Ortiz... I was freaking out. Ortiz told me that he sees Mike probably once a month and that he's a good guy and that it will be all taken care off. I "knew" he was right but I was still freaking out. Finally Ortiz took his phone out and got the results out and it was fixed. OK... Thank God... After that, we may have run another lap but he said that he has to leave me to eat and hydrate and rest and got the rest to do by himself. I thought ir was silly on his part as I know he gets very tired at night but that was his choice. We could have worked together. I have helped him enough times that I thought he would jump at it but oh well.
Regarding food: At one point, every 2 loops, I took one of my sandwiches and ate it on the fly. The aid stations I use primarily to fill my water bottle and my own Gatorade for my other bottle. I also grabbed a small PB&J sandwich here and there or some other goody. I usually don't drink enough but if I learned anything from last year, it was going to be to hydrate. So, constantly nursing on water. Constantly nursing on Gatorade. As usual, I was on top of how I feeling. Every so often I ran the spit test. If you can't spit, then you're dehydrated. You should be able to spit easily. Also, I constantly examined my hands. Didn't want them to sausage up. So far all good.
Day came in it's all glory. I took of the recycling bag. One more loop. Erik told me at one point to lose a long sleeve top. Took it off. I didn't want to change pants because taking the shoes off and putting them on realy hurt. Remember that spot on my heel? Didn't want to deal with it so I didn't. The bottom stayed the same. The top was a singlet and 1 long sleeve on. I also took the skullcap off. I'm ok...
I met Peter. Nice older guy. He was a loop ahead so I ran with him for most of a loop. Why only most of a loop? I had to use the port-a-bush. Sucks but you gotta do what you gotta do. Never thought I'd be in this position. There I am squatting in a sugarcane field with planes full of skydivers taking off over my head and all I could think about (besides the wonderful feeling of all that extra weight leaving) was "can they see me from above? And if so, they sharing a good laugh? Will they be able to recognize me later?".
Peter finished and I went on my last lap. I had spoken to Elizabeth on the course a few times and also Jessie and at this point, I called Jessie again trying to figure out where Ortiz was. Problem is that the website only tells you that someone passed a timing mat but not the time that it happened. I wanted to make sure that he would finish... We did talk about it before during some of our loops and apparently, when he finally sat down to book the airline tickets, the price jumped up about $200 (just like with Jessie) and he decided to "save" money. Sometimes that makes sense and sometimes it doesn't in my opinion. Basically, as soon as he finishes with this race, he would have very little time to rest and shower and then drive straight for 3 hours assuming no traffic to get on a plane back to NYC. If he would have spent the extra dollars, he only would have had a drive of an hour and 20 minutes. His choice. I was worried about him.
My last loop was agonizing with my heel. I knew what that hotspot was. I figured it was either a bad blister or a real bad chafe. When I took my sneakers off to put pants on, a LOT of sand came out of my shoe, so either theory worked. It hurt... I spoke to Jamey and Raina. Told them a little about the race. Every distracted step forward was one less I needed to do. I got to the 3 mile marker. Filled up my bottles. Peed again on the grass - I never went into a port-a-potty during the race. Too hot in there and who knows if there were any guests in there of the 4 legged or more kind. Finally the soft sand. Hated it. The wet grass... Still wet. On and on. Onto the road. Around the bend. The rotating light that was on at night (which creaked badly) was off. I continueed on. I finished.
Finishing never felt so good. I sat down and got some bandaids from Mike since I knew what I had to do badly.
By the way, remember I said that I applied spray sunscreen but that it was windy? I didn't apply any to the back of my arms. When I started taking layers off with 2 or 3 laps to go, it was apparent that I was burned. Eric actually put stuff on me. Don't know what he put on but thank you dude...
I was going to start on my foot but Eric told me to come sit under the tent so as not to be under the sun.
Took my shoe off painfully and there it was in all it's beauty... Since the foot was constantly wet, the bottom had turned white and pasty like being in the tub for too long. Soldiers know it as trench foot. Serious stuff. The soft sand got in there and did a job on me.
I had a HUGE blood blister on the back of my heel Take a look at the gallery. I put a bandaid near it for scale. I called Eric and Mike to admire it. Mike admired it. Eric, before he came, used a baby voice and said "baby got a little baby blister?" but then when he saw it, he just exclaimed "WHOA!!! I BOW TO THAT...". Yes - it was magnificent. Before I could start my hack job, William Hunter, Erik's BFF and Ex-Ranger who helped me last year with my blisters arrived from clearing the course. I told him to come see my blister. He also started with, "oh yeah, you had some blisters last year" and quickly finished with "I BOW DOWN TO THAT!!!". And then I started hacking. Soon, I had a puddle of blood and juice and brain matter I'm sure underneath my foot. Had to use several band-aids and then got socks on. Eric brought my car closer (thank you) and I loaded it up and moved into a shady area and took a small nap. I then congratulated Ortiz who had finished DFL and was resting. Wished him an easy drive and made my way back to my in-laws. The drive itself was fine. Spent it talking on the phone to various people while drinking a Dunkin Donuts hot Chocolate.
I called my mother in law and gave her an ETA and asked if she can meet me outside with a garbage bag. I did not feel like making a few trips back and forth to unload the car. Thankfully, she was there to help.
I should mention somthing here... Overall I was feeling good BUT after a hundred miler a few things were off. I guess I am so desensitized to it and so is my family as they don't over-react to it. Let me explain what was going on.
I should have realized all that and either warned her or better yet, had Elizabeth warn her. I didn't do any of that. Yes - I am an Idiot.
Quite predictably, she freaked out. She didn't want me carrying anything. I refused that she carry everything when I could carry a lot. Didn't want her to get injured. Little standoff here but I carried a lot of stuff and she wasn't happy but we moved on.
Went upstairs to shower and realized the extent of things. Popped 2 more blisters. Very little 1 inch chafe on lower back/top of butt that didn't even hurt. Sunburn was interesting... Back of both arms burned. Around where my watch sits (left hand) burned. A very weird swath on my right forearm. Guess it was very windy...
Showered and told Eva when we need to leave by. She was shocked that we were still going. She said that there was no way that I was going. I replied (respectfully) that I am definitly going, she could stay if she wants but I would like her to come with. I got it - she was worried and she never saw this before. I kept assuring her that I was ok and that I was already walking better now that I showered and got the kinks out and now that I popped 2 more blisters. She didn't really believe me but it was obvious I was walking better. She wasn't happy that we had to drive 30 minutes to Boca Raton but she got ready. She also felt bad that as tired as I was, I would need to drive more. She does not like to drive at night. I assured it was ok and I was excited to see these people and that I really wanted to treat them for dinner for everything last year and her for everything too. She still grumbled a little but the drive was uneventful. We got there and had a great dinner. Van and Howard clicked with my mother in law and it was a good dinner. One last thing, I think she finally gave up when she realized the company we were in... She tried to get Van and Howard to her corner but as they were smiling I explained to her who they were and she gave up. It's cool. I truly appreciate that she was worried about me...
Dinner was great and the cheesecake was out of this world. Van almost took a picture of my eyes as I had a mini-orgasm eating this thing... They brought her a piece too which I enjoyed once we got back.
Got home, decompressed, did the laundry and packed and went to sleep. Again woke up at 2am and got out the door on time and to the airport.
My slowest Hundo to date...
By the way, first overall runner was Addie Green. She was awesome and not only was she first female but first overall with a time of 18:32:25. The next runner, also female, came in at 22:13:26. Addie was awesome and scored a course record as well. At one point, during the night, Erik yelled to her that they have night dives too to which she yelled back "F*$% You!". Love it... When I saw her later during the course, I confirmed this with her. She had no problem recounting her answer. She was Awesome.
I think I got everything but will re-read tomorrow and see...
