Mud and Glory at Black Hills 100

On the 25th of June I started my trek to the Black Hills of South Dakota for what would be my first 100 mile finish, and while the travel there was easy (only a few hitches) the race itself, well, not so much...   The first night really just involved a short trip to the Target, and then off to eat stakes, we were in the land of cattle...Of course since I had never been to South Dakota before, I made Sophia trek out to Mount Rushmore the next day- we did scout out pieces and parts of the course to get there... which we did in true Mud babe fashion, complete with awesome gas station souvenir trucker caps...

We bested all the trucker caps at Mt. Rushmore...

  Emily met up with us later that day- we found the Bay Leaf Cafe, which may be the only restaurant in the Spearfish/Sturgis area that has real vegetables and healthy vegetarian options on the menu- and absolutely the best apple pie in the world... We had to move inside to finish our dinner as a rainstorm rolled in, rain and thunderstorms were rolling in every afternoon and evening...

The day before the race we headed over to Sturgis for lunch followed by packet pickup and drop bag dropoff- then a jaunt over to Deadwood for a trip to a famous chocolate place- the Chubby Chipmunk- they even have truffle vending machines outside that are available 24/7- I mean this is some serious truffle shuffle business... and then it was off to Wally World for some last minute items... meanwhile it had started raining just after packet pickup... there was little to no debate about whether to go to the pre-race brief- and it was a  resounding no.  I wanted less and not more anxiety- I had studied the elevation profile, and well it was raining, really raining, so the course was going to be muddy- just how muddy would depend on the over night storms... so  We returned to the Bay Leaf Cafe for a pre-race meal- and annihilated another piece of pie with vanilla ice cream... there were no words when it came to the table-it was that good... this would inspire Cinnamon powered running the next day...

Chubby Chipmunk

Testing out some rain gear teletubby style

The morning of the race it was raining pretty heavily, in fact it had not stopped from the night before, but we got it together and headed to the start. We checked in, found flushable toilets, and waited for the start.  We discussed strategery a little. Mine was to start slow, warm-up and try and hit the 50 mile turnaround at about 13:30 or so, depending on the course conditions... and that was a huge variable...

staying dry pre-race (Sophia's got Cowbell)

 

and we are off...

Course Profile-one way

The first mile of the course is on a sidewalk, flat, and really hard to start slow, but I was able to maintain about a 12 min pace, which put me somewhere in the last three people to enter the trail head. I was sure to take it easy as we headed in to some decent climbs before the first aid station.  I was feeling very relaxed as I moved into the first aid station, only to freak out a little at the fact there was only grapes and pretzels there- so I dug into my emergency Kind Bar stash in my pack.  This made me a little uneasy, I was really hoping it was just the first and that to keep an open mind- and keep steady.  Keeping steady was the goal, and I was moving right along, starting to pick up folks that had gone out a little too fast...  I spent a lot of time alone- mostly because I had started so far back, but I was maintaining the same pace and effort level..

Somewhere in the first 17 miles

Heading into the Bulldog A/S (mile 10) I was thrilled to see a complete ultra spread- complete with my go to menu of bananas, watermelon and PB&J.  There were potatoes- baked not boiled so they were way to hard to get down... I moved through the next 7 miles pretty easily meeting all sorts of folks from Tejas Trail members to two young ladies in the South Dakota Army National Guard...I rolled into the Elk Creek A/S (17 miles) just about right on time 4:17.  Met up with Sophia and Brandon (Mindy Coolman's crewman) they were awesome getting me stuff... and I rolled out- unfortunately without the Ultragen that we both thought was already in my handheld... that would be the least of my worries for the next 9 plus miles... I headed down the trail, only to see the trail conditions: mud, mud, and more mud. Not just any kind of mud, the sole sucking mud that pulls at your heels hoping to steal your shoes, the only respite on this stretch were the five water crossings... thigh deep cold water...

Getting in...

Getting out...

After the five water crossings there was about 4-5 miles until the Crooked Tree A/S, we passed two mountain bikers from the 100 mile MTB race- one turned around at the first water crossing, and the other was talking to himself as he carried his mud encrusted bike up to Crooked Tree. The only other thing more depressing to see was all the runners in HOKAs slipping and sliding all over the place- they are not the shoes for muddy conditions...  Finally coming into the A/S I got what I needed and figured the best I could do was to keep moving. Plus I really had to pee, and there was a guy that I was bouncing back and forth with- and the trails closer to the creek were covered in poison ivy... but I figured if I got enough space I could pop a squat... but nope he was right on my heels out of the A/S.  I stopped to hike, hoping he would pass, but no... I had to just pop a squat and tell him to cover his eyes... I saw Emily heading back from the 50 mile turn-around she was the third woman and looking strong.  I was running with a nice woman from Canada, and we caught up to a 100K runner... we came out of the single track and on to a ATV trail where we made a slight detour, luckily the 100K runner yelled, we heard, and made the left turn back on to the single track to Dalton Lake... I saw Mindy Coolman headed back from Dalton Lake, looking strong as the first woman. 

Getting photo bombed by Brandon

It was a nice long downhill into Dalton Lake- I was happy to see Brandon and Sophia- and to actually get some Ultragen in my bottle... coke, banana, watermelon, turkey and cheese, and some ice in the pack as the temperature as the sun came out... Sophia said do you want to know what is coming up, I think my response was something like: let me guess- I am going to go up for awhile and then down for a bit into an aid station... yep- that was about it- other than it was up twice- then down... and I headed out almost leaving the Ultragen at the A/S, but luckily I heard Sophia and we got it right... The climb out of Dalton, was really no joke.  My hiking was still strong, and my legs were feeling pretty good even after 30 miles. Once we climbed out of the single track, we turned onto an ATV trail, muddy, rocky, pot holey trail... note this race has ingrained in me a deep hatred of ATV trails...The descent down was a bit treacherous- but it spit us out on the road to the Nemo A/S.  We had driven this part on the way to Rushmore- so I knew where to go- where to cross the road etc- the signs were a little vague...

Showing off my mud at Nemo

I rolled into Nemo feeling really good, having picked up a little steam, and a couple of runners.  I refueled, coke, watermelon, banana, pb&j; I kept off of the turkey as it didn't really settle in my stomach as well as I had hoped.  I headed out smiling- little did I know it was going to be 8ish miles on ATV trails, with ATVs and dirt bikes zooming along.  I saw the leaders of the 100 as I got closer to the A/S, and just before a thunderstorm rolled in, and thunderstorms can be deadly in Florida, so needless to say I kept my distance from the guys in front of me and stayed clear of the trees... and I was kicking myself for ditching my light packable jacket at mile 17... but I eased into the Pilot Knob A/S (mile 43)- with a renewed sense of purpose. Sophia was there to meet me- and quickly send me off on the most beautiful part of the course... once the trail crossed the highway it was the most beautiful, and it parts rugged, brutally hilly, single track into the 50 mile turn around. I felt pretty good that I was moving well, and I was passing experienced veterans on their way back, and I was only 3-4 miles from the turnaround at Silver City.

I made it in to 50 just under 14 hours.  Slower than I wanted, but I was not going to stress over it.  The course would be a little drier, and my legs were still feeling good at 50 because I didn't burn them out in the mud.  I got some warmer clothes, and my Mountain Hardware Ghost Whisper shell. I told Sophia that I had blisters- but I didn't want to look at them, nor did I want to change socks or shoes, for fear that it would be more detrimental to my outlook, the pain would be there no matter what-and you know what it's an ultra, and the one thing you can count on... your feet are going to hurt- just deal with it.

We headed out before it got dark, which really makes a difference in your mental outlook on a race.  The climb out of the turn around was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and by the top it started to get dark, but I was moving, and moving up with strong hiking... and we would be doing a fair bit of it as we made our way back... Emily met us at Pilot Knob, we got some soup and headed out, catching a guy named Jim as we headed into Nemo, where we met up with Emily again- there was no hot water for tea, but I got a change of top and we headed up and then down to Dalton Lake, my outlook for the rest of the course was better as a lot of the mud was drying up... and Sophia and I were having a lot of good chit chat...

Midnight Selfie- try 3- on the way to Dalton Lake

We passed Jim again on the way into Dalton Lake, but not before Sophia had a yard sale fall, after making sure our selfie posted to facebook.  The photo documentation really broke up the monotony of the night. Heading into Dalton I took a seat, Emily gave my legs a rub, I got some much needed warmth caffeine in the Yerba Mate, and we put in an order for breakfast sandwiches at Elk Creek.

Heading out of Dalton Lake was a unrelenting climb, and it was the wee hours of the morning, where bad things can happen, and the demons come in... but Sophia and I had a plan... jokes-one liners- humorous references to silly you tube clips I shared with her in the days leading up to the race... so one or two words could snap you out of it.. like Sophia signing Hot-Pocket... or calling me dearest human as I have to lean against a tree to poop in the woods looking for men with beards and hats... silly-of course-effective-hell yes.  I had a bit of sour moment apologizing for the pace and her pacing experience- she quickly let me know all was good- and I kept going, running when I could- little did Sophia know it was about the time we hit 26 miles to go that I got this aching dull pain in my lower right leg... The sun came up, and we were headed to Crooked Tree A/S and then to Elk Creek.

Beautiful Trail

Throwing some attitude... just wanting to keep moving...

We finally made it through the five water crossings, which were significantly lower, I was getting a little nervous about the cut off time at this point, almost obsessively.  We climbed up to Elk Creek  A/S, only 17 miles to go, and Emily had breakfast sandwiches... I got a t-shirt on, which would have been much better at mile 22-should have moved quicker i guess, grabbed my trekking poles and my visor (returning to Sophia a sweaty visor she let me borrow) and with a giant mouthful of sandwich I was on a mission to hike up and catch the two guys that left out just minutes before me... Sophia figured out my gadget watch and we were on a mission to finish this thing... we past the two guys about 1.5 miles out of the aid station and we made  our way to the Bulldog A/S. At some point on the way there I decided to spill the beans about my lower right leg/ankle- She says: On a scale of Zero to Afghanistan, how bad? no mines, bombs, well minus the horse shit... I offered no response and starting moving faster... what was I thinking: I should stop feeling sorry for myself- I have two feet and two legs and I saw guys go home without... at the A/S Sophia gave up her tights while I inhaled  some food and handed over my bottle for some more Ultragen...  I headed out of the A/S before Sophia, making the climb- hiking as fast I a could possibly move... still thinking about my fellow Spartan and Dagger Soldiers that came home without legs or arms... I kept moving- also with the idea that I was actually going to finish this beast of a race...

Trekking pole model... why yes I am

Sophia's view point...

By the time I hit about 8 miles to go, I was really working on a pick a point and run to it. I was happy to still be running. We hit the last A/S and made our way to the bitch of a climb, I figured as long as I got up- there was no way I wasn't going to finish.  On our way up three veteran ladies hauled ass by us... they were very supportive- understanding that it was my first 100, and well I also live and train in Florida- so hills aren't exactly my forte right now. I passed one of the ladies on the down hill, she was having serious knee/leg issues and toughed out a solid finish.

Flowers from the meadow- the hill in the distance- we were going straight up that in a couple miles

not even close to the top

With two miles to go, there was Emily, cheering us to the top of the last real climb, and we headed to the park and the last mile of side walk...

Excited running down to the park

At this point it became all to real that this finish was going to happen, and I got little teary-eyed with joy, and Sophia did a little- but we agreed not to get emotional until the finish... The sidewalk was not kind to my leg, so it was mostly a speed walk with some sprinkled in running to the finish. but a run across the lovely grassy finish.

Starting the run on the sidewalk

No race is complete without the port-a-potty photo

Running into the finish

Relief... 30:58:08 (under 31hrs and the 32 hr cutoff)

Showing off the hardware

Sophia was there to photo-document the adventure and cheer me in... and neither of us got emotional or cried like babies- just joy and happiness. Kind of an awkward encounter with the RD, and I just had the urge to take my shoes off and walk in that beautifully manicured grass- I just hoped I could get back up... mostly to get out of the stinky clothes...

Blisters were there...

Post 100 miler feet

All in all a smart race, never bonked, never hit a super low, and finished strong.  Huge thanks to Sophia  for crewing me all day and pacing me through the night, with little to no sleep! Feeding me ibuprofen and discussing breakfast plans at 3am...  Thanks to Emily, who ran a strong solid 50 miler, and then crewed me and Sophia to the finish, and the next morning for the biscuits- cause damn I was hungry...

Next up:  Pacing duties for Sophia at Leadville 100 and then The Masters of all Terrain 50 miler in Mt. Dora, FL

Gear that was AWESOME:

Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer Hooded Jacket

Patagonia Houdini Jacket

Black Diamond Polar Icon Headlamp
Black Diamond Women's Flick Lock Trekking Poles (Z-Pole style)

Apparel and Shoes (Wave Ascends) by Mizuno
2XU Performance visor and  Run Cap

Nathan Vapor Wrap Hydration Vest