Indiana Trail 100
October 9, 2021
Indiana Trail 100 (real title)
10/9/21
28:20
Bronze medal trio from Washington avoided getting pelted by walnut attack (my title)
(Sue, Matt and I all took 3rd in our respective age groups)
The Course was a 25 mile loop you completed 4 times. It was a smooth trail with little rollers and a few short steep hills that got steeper on the 4th loop. Smooth trail but many walnuts that were about the size of tennis balls. So you had to be careful about not stepping on them and rolling an ankle. Of course, direct from Seattle, we brought the professional ankle roller himself, Matt. He managed to roll his ankle twice on those darn walnuts and still finished. It rained a little, was very warm and humid, there was some slick mud but not too bad, however having wet feet at 8 miles and 21 miles each lap reeked havoc on foot skin. The “puddles” were ankle deep and about 10-20 feet wide. When feet are constantly wet they can get macerated and cause all sorts of blisters. I remember issues at Brazos Bend in the wet so I changed socks and relubed my feet at 50 miles. I also encouraged a newby to do the same and she finished so that is good. Taking care of the feet is a must and I have been a bit cavalier about it lately. I paid for it today.
Mushrooms, 10-12 different varieties along the course that seemed to grow overnight. I remember seeing some cool globe mushrooms about the size of a head or soccer ball. Then on the next loop someone had poked them or kicked them to destroy the shape. During the night I noticed that on each loop there seemed to be more and more mushrooms and all sorts of different varieties.
Several places along the 25 mile loop were quite stinky, rotten fish smell stinky. I gagged a few times but managed to keep my food down. And I thought horse poop smelled bad. Rotten fish is much worse. PeeeeeU!
So in the middle of the night another gal and I ran together for a while. The wind would pick up and we both were a little worried as all day long walnuts fell from the trees. Most of the walnuts fell hard and thunked in the woods or along the trail. It seemed that there were quite a few near misses. Well it was the middle of the night and so I made up a story to tell this runner. We were in the forest of the wizard of Oz. The bad forest where strange things happen. There were monkeys in those trees who were trying to pelt the runners as they ran along the trails. But you see these monkeys had poor eyesight so they kept missing the targets. I did get hit once from a bounce of a walnut coming downhill. It hit my shin but all was okay.
Over 200 runners started and about half finished. I suspect the large number of DNFs were from foot issues or just from newbies trying their first 100. It is always fun to travel with Sue and Matt. Sue came and picked me up at the end. We scored pizza and oatmeal to take back to the air bnb. All is good as Sue likes to care for others and she spoiled us. Thanks for the miles, giggles, and everything.
Experiment of one
We always talk about this being an experiment of one, meaning trying new things and it may work for you and not me, or it may work one day and not another. Anyways I like experiments and so this was kind of a test. How close together can I actually do 100 mile races and what about the weekend before a 100, how far is too far for an appropriate taper.
3 weeks between hundreds, not recommended. My legs were tired and I was overly emotional at night. I listened to some music and the songs made me cry.
50k, specifically Baker lake 50k one week before a hundo, nope, not a good idea. My legs were tired and my arthritis in my foot acted up several times during the race. There were a lot of motivational signs along the course which seemed to help but pain is pain and you need to push through most of it and I would rather be rested to be able to do that. Always a learning lesson these hundos.
The other thing I practiced was eating often. I have experimented with a variety of liquid calories in the form of drinks. They have stopped working for me. So this race after the first 90 minutes I started eating every 30 minutes. Just little snacks, a couple of cookies, a handful of peanut m&ms. Later I ate more savory things like rice or soup. This seemed to work, although it was almost harder than running the thing, eating eating eating, yuck, tired of eating, but gotta do it. I did slow the eating the last 8 hours and switched to eating every 45 minutes to an hour. But then my stomach would growl and my energy waned and the burps and gags would happen. Learning, eat often even if you don’t want to.
43rd hundred
One guy came up and ran along side me for a bit. We chatted and he asked me if this was my first hundred because it was his first. I said no, it was my 43rd. His face was priceless.
People at this race both volunteers and runners were very nice and supportive. I guess I can say I had a nice time for my first time in Indiana. 40th state with a marathon or longer run.
