2014 PINHOTI 100

2014 PINHOTI 100 RACE REPORT

 

WHY THE PINHOTI 100?

During 2014, my race schedule progressed as my love of running has continued to grow. I have met several runners who have previously run this race and had positive comments. As I was looking for a late Fall race, the Pinhoti 100 quickly went to the top of my list.

TRAINING FOR THE PINHOTI 100

Simply put… my legs are tired. I have now run over 3,000 miles in 2014. This is not a lot by some standards, but it was a significant increase in mileage for me. I will almost double my total annual miles in 2014 from 2013. Two weeks prior to the Pinhoti 100, I ran a 50k at the US Whitewater Center in Charlotte. Around mile 2, I felt a pain in my left hamstring.  I was running in the top 10 runners, so I decided to quickly pull off the trail and try to stretch the hamstring. As soon as I tried to stretch tit out, I knew I was in trouble. The sharp pain was significant, but I decided to keep running. My wife, son, and close friends were coming to see me finish, and I simply was not going to quit at this point in the race. I slowed down a little and knew to keep running and not stop. I felt that if I stopped running, I would be done for the day. By slowing down, I was able to finish and felt relatively ok. In hind sight, this was a blessing, because I learned that I could continue to run after experiencing a minor injury.  

 

Mileage leading up to the Pinhoti 100:

Week 3 – 81

Week 2 – 26

 Week of – 12

GETTING THERE:

 I decided to fly into BHM, and make the hour drive to Sylacauga for packet pick-up. This would be a fairly easy drive from Charlotte, but the flight was really cheap, so I decided to fly instead of drive. Packet pick-up was painless and well organized. I also stayed for the pasta dinner. I would recommend this… the pasta was good and it was nice to eat with new friends. The RD also provided a brief presentation and gave out some gifts for the participants. As typical, I did not win anything.

RACE DAY:

 Since this is a point-to-point race, I rode the bus that was offered to the start line and left my car at the finish line. The first part of the bus ride is nice and smooth on paved roads. If you wanted to get some extra sleep, this will be the last chance. The last 20 minutes or so of the bus ride is along a gravel road that is fairly bumpy. I mention this because you should not expect to get any sleep during this part of the ride. The total time of the ride was probably a little over an hour – maybe an hour and a half.  Upon arriving at the start, we had about 30 minutes before the race began. The bus dropped us off very close to the starting line, so I stayed on the heated bus as long as possible. About 5 minutes before the start, I got off the bus and walked to the start line.

From reading race reports, I planned to get out to a fast start to avoid significant delays at the water crossings. Looking back, I’m not sure a fast start is necessary, but it was nice not to experience any major delays.  I ran in the top 25 or so for the first part of the race and never ran into any major delays. The first 35 miles of the race is absolutely beautiful single track trails. There were quite a bit of leaves on the trail, but I did not see anyone get off course; although getting off course would have been easy to do in a few places.  While there were leaves, a few rocks and a few roots, I would not consider this portion of the trail to be overly technical. To me, it was about perfect. The leaves may have made this portion of the trail slightly more challenging; but overall, this was just a great single track trail.

I felt absolutely great during the first part of the race.  After the first aid station, I decided to turn on my iPod and enjoy some music. After I selected the shuffle option, the song that began to play was the My Morning Jacket version of “This Land Is Your Land”. I had just downloaded this song and could not think of a more fitting tune to be listing to while running through this beautiful Alabama trail. Somewhere in this section of the race is when the fun ended. While jumping over one of the small creeks, my hamstring issue reared its evil head.

My strategy for the race took a drastic turn. Instead of feeling great, looking to finish with a good time, I was now trying to figure out a way to simply finish. I had a bad hamstring and over 80 miles to go until the finish line. I immediately slowed down and began trying to convince myself that I could make it to the finish. I found that uphill climbs were proving to be the most difficult challenge. I seemed to be able to manage the flats, but simply had no leg strength for the climbs. From mile 20 -40, I was passed by MANY runners. While this was a little dis-heartening,  I tried to stay positive and focused on the goal – finishing.  

Around mile 35, one of the bigger climbs of the race began. The course became a little rockier during this section; however, I do not think the climb was as difficult as the elevation chart would indicate. Once arriving at the peak of the climb – Bald Rock, which is the highest point in AL at 2,408 ft - the view was simply stunning. I took a few minutes to view the beauty of the view and then got back to running. At the top of the mountain, runners were directed to the long wooded bridge that led to the next aid station.

Leaving Bald Rock, the course led runners through a mile or so of paved roads and then to an extremely technical downhill. Once off the pavement, runners were required to scale down a large rock formation. After approx. ½ mile of going down, I noticed 2 runners in front of me that were clearly lost. I began looking around and noticed there were no course markings, so I then realized that I was clearly lost. I looked up and saw 2 other runners headed my way and told them to go back that we were off course. After about 30 minutes of climbing back up the rocks, I found my way back on the course. For future reference, stay to right, those of us that were lost had veered to left. This is a very difficult area to mark with flags, so imagine we were not the only runners to get off course.  Thankfully it was not yet dark.  I would highly recommend all runners trying to get through this section during daylight. Darkness would make this section extremely difficult.

I had a drop bag at Adams Gap (mile 55.3) that contained all my “cold gear”. I arrived shortly after nightfall, and just in time for the cold temperatures that were ahead of me.  The clothing I selected worked for me, and I stayed warm through the cold temperatures and high winds. Unfortunately, many runners did not prepare properly for the cold weather and were forced to drop. My guess is that the cold temperature caused more runners to drop than anything else.

My memory is foggy on specifics, but all the aid stations from mile 55 to 85 were incredible.  Some of these aid stations were in very remote areas, and the volunteers were just fantastic. Whoever made the bacon, egg and cheese burritos… THANKS! I ate two of them! There were a couple of aid stations that were more like running into a concert hall than an aid station. On a couple of occasions, I recall hearing music in the distance and thinking I was really close to the next aid station. After another mile of running, I would finally arrive. Much of this part of the course is on “jeep roads”. I can better describe these roads as rocky, rutty, dirt roads. By far, the most difficult climb of this course was from mile 72 to 74. This part of the course was uphill with too many switchbacks to count. My hamstring was completely shot, and I had also developed a burning right knee. I imagine this was caused by trying to compensate for the bad hamstring, but I am not sure. Regardless, my left hamstring was barely functional and my right knee was on fire.

For the entire race, I was under the impression that if I made it to mile 85, I was “home free”. The course looks very easy from this point on the elevation chart, and every other runner seemed to think the same thing. Just prior to the aid station at mile 85, runners leave the jeep roads and run a mile or so on a single track trail full of pine needles. My feet were so thankful for these pine needles. I had developed a “hot spot “on the bottom of my left foot, and I was just  sick of running on the jeep roads. I was lucky enough to find a great volunteer, who taped my foot up and had me back on the trail on around 5 minutes. Now that I was “home free”, I was mentally in a good place. The next 10 miles of the course are on a gravel road and at best should be considered “rolling hills”. In other words, this is not as easy as I had previously thought. More so than the hills, the gravel absolutely beat my feet to pieces. And some of the hills were significant. Regardless, we were close to the end and I knew that I was going to finish this race when my body had thrown me more challenges than I have ever previously encountered during a 100 mile race.

The final couple of miles of this race are on paved roads that lead into town and finally into a stadium finish. About a mile from the finish line, the roadway parallels a railroad track. I looked to the left and saw a fellow exiting the wood line of the railroad with an “oh crap” look on his face and immediately froze. Now, I can only speculate that his young man was up to no good; however, my previous law enforcement experience tells me that my thoughts are probably accurate. Luckily, this young man determined I was not a threat to him and went on his way.

After a left turn from a long straightaway, runners make a quick right turn into the stadium and after a short jog around the track is the finish line. After finishing, I went into a tent and had some pancakes and relaxed for a few minutes. The tent was a little too warm for me due to the heaters so I then went outside and sprawled out on the football field, periodically cheering on finishers.

Those of you that know me well know that I am a huge believer in the power of the human spirit. This belief has grown even further after this race. Our bodies are capable of doing so much more than our minds sometimes believe. During 100 mile races, I often describe the internal struggle occurring in my minds as a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. The devil is trying to convince me to do the one thing that will make all the pain stop… immediately. To quit. The angel is speaking much softer trying to encourage me to think about the reward at the finish line. As in most parts of life, the devil seems to provide the easy way out and sometimes the most logical solution. On the other hand, the angel sometimes seemingly offers us a much more difficult path, but the road leads to a much happier and rewarding ending. I have repeatedly found first-hand that if we stay mentally positive, our minds have incredible power. Though the final miles of this race, I held back tears of both pain and joy. Some of the joy was probably caused by the pain, because this race was a complete struggle for me. In the end, it was worth every ounce of pain! After just over 28 hours, I finished the Pinhoti 100.

CONCLUSION:

Parts of this race are on some of the best trails in the US. The finishers buckle is one of favorites. The race is well organized and challenging. I would highly recommend this race to anyone wanting to challenge themselves and enjoy some beautiful trails. Be prepared for cold weather and high winds.

BEST CONVERSATION:

I had many great conversations with other runners during the race, but my favorite was when I returned my rental car to AVIS at BHM. Trying to exit the car, I was struggling to get out of the car seat. As I moaned and groaned and slowly got out of the car, the elderly female AVIS employee and I had the following conversation:

Avis: Sir, are you ok?

Me: Yes Ma’am.

Avis : Well, what’s wrong with you?

Me: Ma’am, I am ok, I just ran 100 miles.

Avis: 100 miles?

Me: Yes Ma’am.

Avis: Don’t you think that’s a little obsessive?

Me: Yes, Ma’am, probably so.

Avis: she then went on for five minutes of how I should use various bath salts to relieve my pain L

 

ANOTHER MEMORABLE CONVERSATION (at an Aid Station during the night):

Me: Does anyone know the final score of the MS State game? (I had previously heard they were losing)

Aid Station Worker: MS State won

Me: Woo Hoo!

Aid Station Worker: And Ole Mille lost!

Me: Woo Hoo!

Aid Station Worker: Go DAWGS!

Me: (Silently Thinking):  But he was wearing an Auburn hat; oh well, I guess everyone hates Ole Miss

 

WHAT WENT WRONG?

After the SD100, I pushed myself too much and was over-trained. I had many weeks in which I was running at least 10 miles per day, 7 days a week. This felt great for about three weeks, and then my body began to start showing some wear and tear. I suffered a torn ear drum that refused to heal … This was on top of the hamstring injury and the rest of my body feeling worn down. Looking back, I think 100 mile weeks are probably too much for me. In the future, I am going to try to listen to my body and reduce mileage when necessary. I can probably accomplish my race goals if I top out at around 70-80 per week.

 

WHAT WENT RIGHT?

Clothing. I stayed warm during the entire race. The Patagonia Capilene worked wonderfully.

Mentality. While this would have been a very easy race to quit, I feel really good about forcing myself to finish.  

WHAT’s NEXT?

Once again, I was not selected in the Western States lottery. I’ll keep trying. If the stats remain the same for next year, I will go from this year 9% chance to selection to around 17%. Depending on lotteries, luck, etc.,  I hope to run the following 100 mile races in 2015:

June: San Diego 100

July: Tahoe Rim Trail 100 or Vermont 100 – both really interest me

Sept: Run Rabbit Run (Steamboat Springs)

Nov: Pinhoti, I want to come back for “Round 2”

GEAR

Shirts –                 Day -      Patagonia Long-Sleeved Outpacer

                Night – Patagonia Capilene 3

                                Patagonia All-Weather Pullover

                                Patagonia Houdini Jacket

Shorts – Patagonia Strider Pro

Shoes – Patagonia EVERlong – I have heard that Patagonia will stop producing shoes in late 2014, so buy   them now if you want a supply of their shoes.

                Pearl Izumi N1 – I switched to these when I put on my night layers around mile 55

Socks – Smartwool Toes socks, AND  Smartwool PhD  Ultra Light

Gloves – REI Thermo Pro (w/hand warmers)