How Do We Eat a Whale? The Badger 100 Part II
“How do we eat a whale? One bite at a time” is something I often say to my wife when work gets stressful and the list of tasks she needs to complete seems insurmountable.
I didn’t realize how annoying my go-to piece of advice actually sounded until I had to apply it to myself -on repeat- this past weekend during my second attempt at completing the virtual Badger 100.
The training cycle leading up to race day was strange. My first attempt – which ended up becoming an 80 mile fun run – occurred only 6 weeks ago. After factoring in recovery and a taper week into that block of time, I only had about 2 weeks of training runs with a long run that maxed out at 4 hours under my belt. I definitely went into race weekend feeling a little unprepared and unenthused. The buzz and excitement I usually feel leading up to an event was subdued. I think a large part of this had to do with the fact that – all things considered – the first attempt had gone so well. It’s hard not to feel the pressure of replicating it especially when so many factors are going to be exactly the same (ie. route, aid station locations, nutrition). But in ultrarunning, you must expect the unexpected and accept that nothing is guaranteed. So, I went into race weekend with no expectations other than to finish the damn thing no matter what.
Just like it had been a month before, the sky was overcast and the weather was cool when I started running. The first 10 miles were pleasant and I was moving well. But then the running gods decided to throw me a curveball. The aches and pains I had been chasing around for weeks came to a head and my right IT band blew up around mile 11 or 12. The luck I experienced during the first attempt had run out and I had to figure out how to best manage this turn of events. One mile at a time. I called Ericka to let her know what was going on and told her to be ready to help me work on the IT band at the next aid station. The relief was only temporary and it continued to flare up every few miles.
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| Foam Rolling on the Trail. No Shame |
I was now in full troubleshoot mode and did everything I could to make sure I could keep going: I shortened my stride, started my walk/run intervals early, and used a combination of foam rolling and manual methods to treat my leg at every aid station. The latter caused a little heartburn because I like to make my aid station stops quick. But I knew that if I wanted to give myself the best chance of finishing, I’d have to swallow my pride and take the extra time to treat my legs even if it impacted my overall time. I managed to quell ensuing self-sabotaging thoughts by flipping between alternating mantras of “run-walk-roll” and “one more mile” as well as breaking my route into digestible segments that I could cross of my mental check list. One mile at a time.
Similar to last time, the point-to-point section of my route ended around mile 55. By this point, it was dark and raining. Thankfully, the rain was light…but it still made me a little nervous that we’d have a repeat of the first attempt. When I made it home (aka Race HQ) around 8:30pm I was greeted by Ericka, Kennedy, and Ren. Kennedy was ready to go and patiently waited while I ate ramen and worked on my IT band with her massage gun. Once I was loaded up with more fuel, fresh water, and fresh socks, we headed out into the night to tackle the last 45 miles.
From mile 55 on, the strategy was simple: tackle 5 mile increments at a time, run anything flat or downhill, power hike the ups, and change socks frequently. It kept the whale manageable, our pacing consistent, and helped the next 30 miles pass relatively quickly.
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| Working with the Massage Gun aka Lifesaver |
Despite the rain and nagging pain in my leg, morale was pretty stable. We experienced a big breakthrough during this stretch once I passed the 80 mile mark. I know I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders at that moment and it felt good to mentally round the corner into the final 20 mile stretch…
…where we hit a wall…
Just after mile 85, I felt the wheels starting to come off. It was a weird experience because unlike Rocky Raccoon where I was undernourished and deliriously running through a fog of fatigue, I was fully present and my mind still felt sharp. I knew exactly where I was, how far I had to go, and very in tune with how much pain I was in. The feeling of just wanting it to be over, but knowing there was still so much left to go brought on some stress and mania that was hard to keep under control. As the night wore on, the demons were getting progressively harder to fight off. Frequent conversations eventually petered out into long stretches of silence. Occasionally, I’d break that silence and complain out loud about this or that. I also asked Kennedy if she had seen some cars that apparently were not there at all (gotta love mid-race hallucinations). Kennedy was a total pro and patiently listened to all of my nonsense. She also kept reminding me not to worry too much about having to take extra walking breaks because my body had reached a limit and was doing the best it could. But we were still doing well and moving forward.
At mile 91, we returned to Race HQ. In my desperation to get the race over with, I tried to do more than my goal of 5 miles at a time. But my feet were pretty beat up and weren’t having it. During the night, I found that using the massage gun on the bottom of my feet was a pretty effective quick fix. I spent a few minutes working on my feet while Ren made sure we were stocked up on fluids and fuel before we set out to tackle a few more miles.
By this point, the sun was up. This always provides a good morale boost, no matter how tired you are. There’s something about daylight that gives you a second wind. Maybe it’s because you can finally see your surroundings again…or maybe it’s because it serves as a big mental cue that you are close to the end. We encountered neighbors taking their dogs out for morning walks. Many smiled, waved, and said good morning to us. It took everything in me to smile back and try and match their enthusiasm. At some point, I gave up and let Kennedy do all the talking. My feet were on fire and all I could think of was “One mile at a time. Just one mile at a time…”
At mile 95, I decided that we were going to push through and not do one last aid station stop. I was done. Stick a fork in me. At that point, one last round with the massage gun would have been nice, but I knew it would only be a matter of minutes before the pain returned. It just didn’t seem worth it to me so said “Fuck it” and told Kennedy that we were going to push through till the end.
And finally, we were down to the last mile. It felt long and I was completely over it. After the last climb and turn towards the house, I was no longer running. I was going to walk it in. When we got close, we saw Ericka and Ren waiting for us. They asked us if we could do a trot for the finish line video.
Me: No…*laugh* I can’t…I have no energy
Ericka: No energy left? 100 miles, c’mon! You got this!
Me: I have to walk past you and come back down the hill… maybe I will trot down the hill because there is downhill momentum *laugh*
I did end up trotting down the hill and finished The Badger 100 in 27hrs 46 min and 43 seconds (PR baby!)
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| With the most amazing crew ever! |
Overall, I am STOKED with how this race went. I wish my IT band hadn't flared up, but it is what it is. I did what I could to manage it and I think the fact that I was able to keep moving and stay consistent nearly the entire time was a huge win. I also nailed my fueling strategy and am glad it was not a fluke. I stuck with the same plan I used during my first attempt and I experienced the same positive results: the high calorie intake allowed me to stay focused and "with it" for the long haul with no GI issues to speak of. It is also worth mentioning that even though my feet were crushed at the end, I managed to make it through without a single blister 👀
All that being said, my 2020 season is over. It's time to rest and recover for a little while before 2021 adventures begin.
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