2014 Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Run

The Umstead 100 is 8 laps of a 12.5 mile course. The course consists of mostly bridal trails, with some gravel areas. There is approximately 1k feet of elevation gain per lap (8k total). This was my first 100 mile race, and looking back, I could not have asked for a better 100 mile race to select as my first. Initially, I set a goal of just finishing within the 30 hour time limit, but I simply could not resist attempting to break the 24 hour mark. Prior to the race, I created a chart that had a 23:30 finish time and I made every attempt to follow that guideline during the race…. Pretty close finish time, huh?

I got out to a slightly faster start than I planned for, but this is to be expected – a ton of adrenaline and emotions were flowing through my body. The first two laps were uneventful; I was running the race just as planned, and had already built a little time cushion to successfully finish in under 24 hours. I will call Lap 3, the “lap from hell”. This name comes from temperature alone. The forecast called for a high of 70… I do not know the actual temperature, but I am certain it was greater than 70. At the end of lap 3, I realized I had become dehydrated; I knew the remainder of the race would be a challenge.  I spent lap 4 drinking as much as possible and taking several salt pills. I drank so much that my stomach felt bloated. I had completely lost my appetite for food and barely ate anything for the remainder of the race. 

Laps 5 and 6 went well – 6 better than 5. During these laps, I was paced by an old college friend, Charlie Gibson. Charlie, thanks and phi phi! It was great conversation and I truly appreciate the sacrifice all pacers make.  Charlie is a great runner and I hope he completes his first 100 soon!

During laps 7 and 8, I was paced by my close friend, Troy Murray. I was in pretty rough shape during these laps… my first thought is that I can’t imagine attempting to finish my first 100 without the aid of a pacer. Once I finished lap 7, I was confident that I would finish in under 24 hours. I basically coasted during lap 8… mainly because that all the “gas I had left in the tank”. I crossed the finish line in 23:16. Goal accomplished! Dream fulfilled! During the last 2 miles, I had no leg strength left. Note to self… more squats and lunges are in your future. I was going at such a slow pace during these miles, that I actually felt bad for Troy. For every time he asked me if I was ok, I think I apologized for running so slow. At some point I asked him to stop asking me if I was ok, because the answer was “no”.

The Murray family is very special to me and I could not have asked to finish this race with any one else. Thanks Troy! BTW, what was the name of that band?

THINGS TO REMEMBER –

·      Meeting and talking to Hal Koerner – It was a great experience to meet and chat with Hal; he is a much bigger man than I expected. My simple description of Hal would be: “Hal is a big dude”.

·      Family and Friends - Seeing my wife, son and friends cheering me on. The Murray and Mika families made the trip to Raleigh to support me.  I am truly blessed to have all of these people in my life. As I was coming up the hill to complete lap 3, I heard a lot of commotion… it was my “fan base”. Being able to hug Slater (my son) and Carsyn (Troy’s daughter) was great. I felt rejuvenated after seeing everyone.

·      Elevation – Everyone talks about the elevation gain… during the last portion of the race, it’s the down hills that cause so much pain.

WHAT WORKED WELL –

·      Shoes – Patagonia EVERlongs were great. My toes were taped with KT tape,; I wore Injini toe socks as a base layer sock and a pair Swiftwick socks over those. No blisters or hotspots.

·      Planning – I created and followed a plan. I also found that running the course prior to the race was helpful. About a month prior to the race, there is a marathon at Umstead. Once I found this, I immediately signed up so I would gain some familiarity with the course.

·      Pacers – Pacers make a world of difference. If you have not noticed, trail running at night can be lonely.

WHAT DID NOT WORK SO WELL –

·      Tapering – After running Weymouth Woods 100k in Jan, I realized a couple of things… I needed to train more on trails and I needed to run more at night. In short, I did both very well over the few months. I was consistently running 60+ miles per week and decided to taper down to around 35 weekly miles. I just could not do and ended up running 50+. I attempted to compensate the lack of significant mileage reduction with running a few days on the road. Bad idea! On the Sunday prior to the race – after getting a shot for Poison Ivy – I decided to go for a quick run. I had been feeling great and did not want to change anything. SC had also had quite a bit of rain, so I did not want to risk the chance of injury by slipping on the trail. About 8 miles into my road run, I felt a slight injury in my calf.  I was able to run home, but knew I had tweaked my calf. Frankly, I then began to panic. I took Monday off. On Tuesday, I could still feel the pain, but thought it was important to try to run and test the muscle. I put on my calf sleeves and took off for a 5 mile trail run. Although a little painful, I was ok. I did the same routine on Wed. On Thursday, I began rolling the calf with a wooden bat. I had already decided that I was going to run and as long as the muscle stayed attached, I would keep running.

Fast forward to the race. I felt some pain during the first 2 laps, but never felt anything after that. I do not know if this is because the calf lad healed or if everything began to hurt making me forget about the calf. Either way, it was fine.  

Simply put… my anxiety was off the charts during the week prior to the race. I am just not good at tapering.

·      Compression Calf Sleeves – Due to the tweaked calf muscle, I decided to wear my 2XU compression calf guards during the race. I rarely wear these… the last time I can recall wearing them was during my first marathon in 2011 due to a similar calf issue. The good news is that my calves felt great during the run, I felt some slight pain during the beginning of the race, but that soon faded, and no calf issues existed during the remainder of the race. After the race was over, I removed the sleeves to find an approx.1 inch ring around my ankles. This ring was very swollen and bruised. Apparently, my circulation below the sleeves was poor causing this issue. I will probably not wear these sleeves during future races.

·      Heat – Although the temperature never reached 80 degrees, I simply did not handle the heat well at all. Looking back, I should have slowed down a little and increased my fluid intake. Since I have lived in the south my entire life, this caught me a little off guard…Lesson learned. 

RESULUTS: Overall, I am very pleased with the results. I finished my first 100 mile race in under 24 hours.  I could have probably finished in under 23 hours, but that was not my goal. When I knew I would finish in under 24 hours, I lost some of my motivation for any improved time. I realize the importance of setting a goal and trying to achieve that expectation.

NEXT RACE –

San Diego 100 – June 7, 2014. The SD100 appears to be slightly more difficult than Umstead.  I am once again going to set a goal of finishing in under 24 hours. Wish me luck, I need all the help I can get!

Robert Prestininzi