My first 100 mile RR - fairly short and very sweet!

The weather gods relented for the LH in Hot Springs, SD. Friday, August 27 was 105*, race day the 28th, topped out at only 95*, and it was partly cloudy at times to give some relief. Nighttime temperatures cooled to maybe the 50*'s. After the rain and lightning storms passed, maybe 2 or 3AM, the waning moon, stars and planets slowly appeared, then it cooled substantially and we could see our breath rising up past the headlamp. I adore running at night - this was only my 2nd all night run (and the first one using my cheap headlamp which was perfect).

The course is mostly a gravel road of rolling hills for the first 16.6 miles, then it meets the Mickelson Trail, a railroad bed converted to trail. The course then winds and climbs through the Black Hills 43.4 miles north to the turn-around. The area has had more rain than usual and is still fairly green with quite a few wildflowers blooming. No mountain lions or rattlesnakes this year (that I heard about) but many frogs, newts and salamanders were warming up on the trail during the night hours. A few bats were out and about.

I basically ran by feel, walked the uphills on the road and just ran/walked on the trail, sometimes it probably was a couple miles running at a time, other times in the hottest part of the day it might only have been 1/2 mile and then a short walk.

As far as my physical and mental experience I was very surprised to find both quite even the whole way. I was excited to start, happy to come through and leave each AS, I didn't feel down at any time. I have actually had some dark miles during training runs, and didn't have anything close to that! Yes I had varying discomforts and pain - like the half-dollar size blister that came up on the ball of my foot around mile 60 and "took care of itself" around mile 80 (I had a put a blister band-aid and callus cushion around it when I discovered it wasn't just a

rock in my sock) That was pretty intense but relief came after -- I didn't look and let the medic treat it post race....

The high point of the whole run had to be the energy surge that came with the arrival of that pre-dawn glow. Better than Starbucks in your rearview mirror! The 16ish miles of rolling road went by 15 minutes faster while the (2nd) sunrise was coming, than on the way out the previous morning. I even cruised up the less steep hills and didn't seem to feel fatigued, well more than the persistent fatigue of the culmination of 24 hours of RFM - relentless forward movement!

For fueling I followed mostly Hammer Nutrition's long distance fueling strategy (NFI). Perpetuem and hammer gel with a bit of banana and potato at each A.S. up to 50 miles. During the night I added hot tomato soup, hot oatmeal and 1 A.S. had hot grilled cheese sandwiches - yum!! My stomach was fine the whole time. Not ever hungry but not fussy if that makes sense. I was able to keep a rough tally of calories per 1-2 hours and I only felt a little dizzy once during the night -- an apple cinnamon Gel fixed it in 5-10 minutes.

I'm getting a bit better at in and out of A.S., I was solo so at the drop bag sites, changing sox or clothes, searching for the band-aids, body glide or bags of perpetuem and endurolytes takes that little bit of time, on top of getting bottles filled or mixed (Thank You to all the volunteers who Waited on us disheveled participants!) I carried two handhelds, 1 water and one for perpetuem, fairly easy for me to keep track of how much I'm drinking.

So, I have my first 100 mile buckle! My time was 26 hr 44 min. I'm running the Le Grizz 50 mile in October. And planning the 2011 season...

Thanks so much to RD Jerry Dunn, all the volunteers and every other runner at the Lean Horse, this ultra community is such a positive and encouraging family!

Elise

"Thinking and planning are great as long as they never get in the way of doing"