The Arkansas Traveler Part 3 The Finish

         2011 Arkansas Traveler

         -The Real Race Begins 70-100-

         My first 100-mile race

            

         As we were leaving power line station, we started with a slow jog.  I figured we would step it up in a mile or so as I tried to stay optimistic.  My jog turned into more of a run as we moved on but the amount of time I could run at least a semi faster pace never lasted long.  Johnny(brother-in-law) had never ran a half marathon distance up to this point so the 32 mile commitment was a new taste of the unknown for him.

         The next crew/drop-bag aid station after Power Line is Lake Winona, which is a solid 16 miles away.  This 16-mile section was sickening as my body started to shut down entirely.  Johnny would try to talk to me and motivate me but most of the time it was hard to listen to what he was saying, let alone process information.  What shocked me is how my body was taking the beating, it overloaded my brain with so many signals and warnings that my brain was practically fried at this point.

         As the body shuts down, the mind has to rely on deep burning desire, reasons for finishing a race like this, which can be helpful by contemplating mantras.  A good mantra could be I am going to do this, I will prove myself wrong, I can do the impossible, or even I cant let myself down.  Some people run for charity events for others which can be great motivation for times like this when the body wants to quit, and the only thing keeping it moving is the endurance of the brain/mind.

         At this point in the race, I am trying to envision the distances ahead of me.  I would find myself calculating my remaining miles while envisioning the many training routes I ran on prior to this race.  If I had 6 miles to the next aid station, I may say ok that is two laps of my 3-mile course, or that is one lap to downtown and back.  It was a daunting thought as those distances seemed long when I trained, but It at least would help me visualize a practical distance in front of me.  75 miles in a 100-mile race seems as though you are close to your goal, but if you get caught up in the true distance and magnitude of 25 miles, the thought can shut you down for good.  Every time I told myself it was so far, I had to remind myself to think of closer goals, such as the next aid station.

         The amazing thing about these races is the race directors, the volunteers, and all other support.  Arriving at any aid station is an uplifting feeling as the volunteers are always there to adhere to your every need.  Sometimes you will reach a station flashing with Christmas lights, blaring old school music, or notice that everyone is dressed up in Halloween costumes, with the high hopes of uplifting the runner’s spirits.

         We had almost made it to Lake Winona and Johnny and I were both tired.  We had been reduced to a shuffle (we as in he just did what I did for the moral support), and we could finally see lights and hear a generator running.  I was so happy to have made it to my drop bag sight because I was freezing at this point.  I don’t even know if it was cold outside but my body was having trouble with its natural homeostatic operation, so I layered up!  I consumed anything and everything that I could.  I think I drank a five hour energy, a rockstar energy drink, and ensure, some candy, water, Gatorade, salt tablets, popped a few Excedrin, potatoes covered in salt, honestly this is probably just a little of what I ate.  I had to sit to change socks and put pants on; which I think that is what had me start shutting down, on top of the 84 miles of trauma to my body. 

         I remember walking out of Lake Winona, wanting to run, but I had to walk.  This is where Johnny challenged my spirit and told me that we had to shuffle.  We had to move on and finish this thing.  His optimism was so crucial at this point.  After a few miles, the Excedrin kicked in (which I thought was good, but turned out to be bad).  For 4 miles we ran at around an 8-minute pace, which for me at this point was flying.  What shut us down was a major hill somewhere in between Rocky Gap and Electric tower aid stations.  We sped up the hill and then I pleaded to sit down for a sec.  We sat at the top and turned out our headlamps.  We could hear coyotes all around us, and holy crap the stars where amazing!  We stared at them for a few minutes and then decided it was time to move on, and I could even possibly finish in 24 hours if we stayed strong to the end.

         Standing up was a challenge.  We started to shuffle but I couldn’t.  We walked, and walked, and walked.  That pain I felt in my left foot earlier around mile 35, remember how I started landed on it a little cockeyed, well that led a twinge in my knee to flare up.  I have never felt such pain in my knee in my entire life.  I could still move forward though so it was ok.  I realize now that the Excedrin I took at Lake Winona masked the pain in my legs and allowed me to run all out for a few miles.  It turns out that really taxed me of all my energy.  We walked and shuffled at such a slow pace until we reached electric tower.  We took probably 10-15 minutes there.  I had to sit and drink something warm.  Only two miles to the last aid station and then we would be heading to the finish.

         The track to pumpkin patch was slow and short.  They had pumpkin pies and candy and red bulls.  We were pumped to be at the last station, but I was ready to move on.  The last 6 miles was ruff, rocky, washed out/rutted out ATV trails that led to the final stretch on the road.  I had to walk the entire distance almost to the finish.  I was actually reduced to a limp once we left pumpkin patch, so slow that we were moving at a 45 minute/per mile pace.

         The one thing that helped halfway through the final stretch of trail was the sun coming up.  Something about seeing the sun can heighten your spirits when you are completely crashing.  We finally came out of the trail and onto the road.  Here you have a mile or two until the finish.  My family had been waiting for me thinking I would arrive at a 24 hour pace.  That didn’t happen for sure.  As we moved on the road, we saw my two brothers running toward us.  It was so good to see them, but they wanted to talk, and I didn’t.  Johnny was my translator and had to explain to them that encouragement wasn’t really helping.  They stopped shuffling and walked with me.  I have never felt such pain in my entire life.  If my knee would not have flared up I would have been able to jog many miles ago.  I actually had energy in the tank, but the grueling fact was I couldn’t run anymore.  So I did all I could do and limped onward. 

         I crossed the finish line in 27:33.  I actually wanted to stop at mile 99, saying that I was happy with that distance, and that the last mile didn’t matter.  Ha, I’m glad I had my brothers there telling me I was ridiculous and I was going to keep walking.  I didn't fight with them, I just said ok, considering that was the easiest way to avoid talking.

         I finished my first hundred, it wasn’t pretty, but I finished.  Im telling this story a year and a few months after I finished it, so it was hard to remember everything.  All I know, is I am actually going to train properly in 2013 and finish the Traveler strong this year.  Thats the plan at least.

-Cheers Everyone-