I Run 24 (ummm... Make that 16)

The last weekend in September, I went for a run. When I finished, I had put in a total of 54 miles, which while a lot, it was 9 miles less than my goal. This is the epic tale of my failed attempt at 100K at The Hinson Lake 24 Hour Classic. 

Have you ever had a race where you had so much FOMO every year, that even though everything about it seemed crazy, you just HAD to do it. That was Hinson Lake for me. As long as I have been a runner, I have had friends that ran and loved Hinson Lake. And this year, things finally lined up for me to participate. 

The race consists of a 1.5 mile loop around a beautiful lake in the Rockingham, NC woods. It starts at 8:00 am Saturday morning and ends 8:00 am Sunday morning. You run as much as you could/wanted to in that 24 hour period. Your distance was totally up to you. All you had to do was not stop. 

Spoiler alert: I stopped.

On the Friday before the race, my fellow Fleet Feet Fort Mill runners Robin, Katie, Bonnie, Nicole, Gail and Pat arrived to Hinson Lake and set up camp. We had a camp area a bit away from the loop so we could get some sleep on Friday overnight while others set up and if we so desired during the race. For dinner we ate wood fired personal pizzas from a food truck on site and hung out at camp with a shot of peanut butter whiskey and all went to bed fairly early. We had a big day ahead of us. Everyone in our group had a goal to finish 50K. 2 of us were shooting for 100K (Katie and me). 

The intrepid Fleet Feet Fort Mill Team

At 8:00 am sharp Saturday September 30th, the race started. There were around 450 runners, which you can image made for tight squeeze for a 1.5 mile loop, so the first half mile or so, I kind of fast walked/jogged until it thinned out enough to get a run going. After than, for the first Half Marathon (or 9 loops) I kept a steady run. After that, I took a short break. The muscles along my right knee were starting to bother me already which kind of freaked me out a bit, so I stopped in to see the onsite massage therapist to stretch it out for me. Luckily for me, after a quick session, it didn't bother me again, and I set out for another Half Marathon distance, this time run/walking. 

My strategy was this: For the 1.5 mile loop, after crossing the timing mat, I walked .25 mile. This area contained the "Hinson Buffet" 2 table flanking the course that had tons of food, glorious food and every manner of beverage. The left side was many processed foods (cookies, candy, crackers, chips and sodas) and the right side freshly cooked foods that rotated throughout the day like sandwiches, quesadillas, burgers, pizza, pancakes and more and your Gatorades and water. I tried to grab a bit of something plus a drink every time I walked through. After the food were the team tents. My team's tent was overlooking the lake and had a few chairs, our drop bags (mine had sunscreen, some snack and Vaseline) plus a white board for us to mark off our loops. There was a big dip right before the first turn in this section and at the top was my friend Shannon's tent. I stashed some water there as well in case I forgot to grab some in the excitement of the Start Area (which I did more than I should have). 

I would then run the next just over a half mile until I crossed the long bridge over the lake. Right after the bridge was the longest hill which at the top was a rather sandy area. I walked this .25 mile stretch. Then, I ran the next half mile back to the timing mat. So for the next 9 loops it became, walk .25, run .5, walk .25, run .5. At 18 loops total, I had surpassed a Marathon distance and it was time to take a bit of a longer break. I walked 1 full loop with no running and then set out back to camp.

The Bridge at the halfway point of the loop

By then is was almost 2:00 and my strategy had been to break the run into four 6 hour segments. I made my way back to our campsite area, and into my tent to get undressed. I did my best to dry out, not to be gross or overshare, but I was hella sweaty as I was 6 hours and 27+ miles in and the day was heating up. I laid on my air mattress for about 30 minutes sipping water. I had grabbed a half a burger when I went through the buffet as well. I didn't want to stay out of it too long so, begrudgingly, I got dressed in fresh everything and set back out. I was back on course around 3:00. 

Post Wardrobe Change, ready for 6 more hours

I kept to the strategy that I had planned before, walk .25, walk .25, run .5, walk .25, run .5. Every few loops, I took a 5-10 minute break at the team tent on the lake. No real rhyme or reason to when, just when I felt like it. The hours kind of blended together during this part and soon it was 8:00 pm, time for me to take another trip to the campsite to change clothes and grab my lights as the sun was setting. 

I didn't say in camp long as by then I was coming to terms with just how tough this race was. And if I am being 100% honest, I wasn't doing so well as far as keeping myself fed and hydrated. I was forgetting to grab food. I was eating a few bites, a couple of gummy bears, a sip of Coke. By then my plan was to keep moving as best I could until Midnight. I was still run/walking but not as strict as my previous strategy. For example, some laps I'd just run as much as I could. Or I would run the bridges, as they were solid footing. I never walked a full lap until the last one before midnight, managing to run a bit here and there. But it became a blurry slog of just keep moving around in the dark, illuminated by my chest light. The number of people on the course had greatly thinned and most were walking. 

I did some quick math and figured that I could get in 36 loops, which totaled 54 miles by Midnight. And if I could start loop 36 by 11:30, I would let myself walk it completely. At 11:29 I crossed the timing mat. I walked a final 1.5 mile loop and at 11:58 I crossed the mat and walked over to my team tent and promptly sat down. Shortly after, one of my friends, Katie, arrived, also with 36 loops completed. "Let's go get some sleep," she said. "Gladly," I weakly replied.

This is where, dear readers, our hero is defeated. Around 12:30 I had made my way back to my tent. The camp was quiet except for Katie and I. The rest of our group had tapped out earlier for the night and were already sleeping. I again undressed in my tent, but rather than changing into running gear, I put on some cozy leggings and a t-shirt, intending to sleep for a few hours. I figured I had 9 miles left, if I got back on the course by 4:30 - 5:00 am I would be golden. But alas, it was not to be. 

Full Moon over Hinson Lake

After laying there for an hour trying to calm myself down enough to relax, I realized that sleep was not going to come easy. I couldn't get warm. I couldn't stop shaking. I kept randomly cramping different places in my legs. My mind was frantically racing about everything and I felt like a panic attack was just on the horizon. And most importantly, I WAS NOT SLEEPING!

I laid there for 3.5 hours like that. I heard Katie get up and go to the bathroom and realized that she was getting ready to head back out at 4:30 like she planned. I tried to get up. I fell back down. I tried again. Fell again. I texted her saying that I was going to try to get some rest still and go out in an hour. I thought if only I could get ANY sleep, I could knock out those 9 more if I was out at 5:30 am. Just let me get a SINGLE HOUR of sleep. 

I didn't take many night pics, so here's a daytime shot of our campsite

Another hour passed and whelp, more of the same. It was then, at 5:30 am I made the decision that I was done. And you know what, I was strangely ok with it. It was over and I knew it. And that acceptance, is what I think finally let me fall asleep. HARD. As in the rest of my camp got up and ready and headed out for some final laps and I heard NOTHING. I had finally just completely shut down. 

I slept for about an hour and a half, waking around 7:00 am. At this point, I made my second major decision concerning the race - I had an hour left still, I could have gotten dressed and back on course and knocked out 2-3 more laps. Nope, I decided. I'd come to terms with being done so that was it. I'd rather my results say I competed 54 miles in 16 hours than 56 or 57 in 24 hours. I slipped on my sandals and made my way to the team tent so I could watch my friends finish (and hopefully find some coffee). I sat down at the team tent, took a deep breath and the promptly broke out hysterically sobbing. 

Sitting in the Team Tent, just finished a nice long cry

Apparently all of me was not 100% on board with the "I am ok with this" mentality. Mostly I think it was the exhaustion finding the only outlet that it had. I was, and I still am okay with the decision I made to not go back out. I honestly do not think I could have made it back on course without incident. I had made too many mistakes in my preparation and execution of the race. And you know, 54 miles really was a lot of miles. Like a lot. Was I happy, no, I can't say that, but I was okay. I do not think I honestly could have done more than I did. 

Final Results

I will be going back to Hinson Lake in 2024 and next time, next time I bring home a medal (only 100K finishers get a medal). I learned a lot from this first experience that  I will use to make some changes that will better prepare me for success. This post is long enough already, so I will do another about what I plan to do differently next time.

Peace Out til next year, Hinson Lake

The Ultra that Wasn't

I've been putting off this post for just over a week now. Well, to be totally honest, I've been putting it off for a lot longer really. See, I had registered for a race, that I hadn't talked about it much. Part of it was it was a bit of a crazy goal that I was trying to wrap my own head around. Part of it was that if  didn't talk about it, then I couldn't get talked out of it. Instead I mainly just vaguely referenced a crazy race I was preparing for. If I did happen to mention what it was, most everyone, with the exception of my craziest running friends reacted the same way - WHY?!

See I registered for a Trail Ultra... in February. Cause apparently it wasn't enough for me to be running a crazy distance, but I had to do it the worst part of the year as well. In the woods. On a very technical trail. Go big or go home, right?

Well, if you haven't guessed from the title, the Ultra didn't end up happening for me. I trained, I was ready, I still think I could have done it, but alas, the universe decided otherwise. So here's the short, disappointing story of my first Ultra attempt. 

I honestly cannot remember how it came up in conversation. Two of my friends signed up for the Millstone 50K, an Ultra that was held each February at Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill. I am very well acquainted with the ASC Greenway, I ran the Ragnar Relay there in the Fall. But I had no interest in the Millstone. First of all, I had strongly proclaimed I'd never do another marathon even, and this, this was 6 more miles. On trails. Technical trails. Plus, if you know me, you know that I HATE HATE HATE being cold. Like really hate it. And I still had pretty awful memories of last winter when I was marathon training and doing long runs in the cold and rain. No thank you, not interested,

And then... I started thinking. Could I? Maybe... I mean, why not? 

First I floated the idea past a few of my regular running/Burn crew. "You're crazy." I heard and expected. I didn't even bother with my family, I knew what that reaction would be. So for the ultimate test, I ran the idea past my craziest running friend. You know that guy who is game for anything? Who will say yes to any dumb idea you come up with and have a few of his own even? Well I asked him and his response was... a bit lukewarm to be honest - up to you if that's what you want. Then, about an hour later I got a message from him - You know what, go do it. Sounds crazy but you can totally do anything and I fully support you. So with the blessing of my craziest friend, I registered.

... and was put on the wait list. Apparently, the Millstone 50K was chosen as the SC State Ultra Championship race so there were more registrants than in past years. So I decided that it were up to the fates if I'd run it. If I made it off the wait list, I'd do it, if not, it wasn't meant to be. Either way to help prepare, I changed my annual New Years Day Trail 5K race to the 20K distance thinking the extra distance would be good training. 

My Friend pointing out we are
on the Most Difficult Trails

And train I did. First couple of weeks I ran the Baxter Trails that the 20K would be on. I've run these before, but not 20K on them (12 miles) and not some of the sections the race covered. They were hard. Really hard. Way more technical than the Anne Springs Trails even. The average climb was about 100 ft for each mile. And the first/last 3 miles were the hardest. I met up with some friends and did a preview run of the course and we promptly got lost. A few times. In fact everyone who ran the preview run that day got lost. But surely race day they would be well marked. 

Cheers to an Extra K

So yeah, on race day, I was doing really well actually. I've found I am more comfortable on trails when I am not in a group so I didn't mind running alone. I felt pretty great actually. Until... in the last mile I came to an intersection that had multiple signs. I chose poorly and my 20K became a 21K (luckily, the way I choose looped back so I didn't get too lost). But I was pissed. And I'll admit, I cried a bit. But I drank some beer, had some BBQ and sucked it up. After all, Anne Springs Trails were much easier to run than these. 

This became a common sighting

Shortly after this race, I got an email. I was off the wait list. I had an official registration for Millstone 50K if I wanted it. With only a little hesitation, I confirmed. I had just over a month to train. That mean every weekend until Feb. 8th, I got to spend hours in the woods training the Millstone Loop. See the race consisted of three 10.5 mile loops. I didn't yet know the route very well, so I was meeting more experienced runners to help me figure them out. Unfortunately we had the added challenge of part of the loop being closed when started training, so we had to be creative with putting in the miles. One day we'd start on the Lake Hagler side and run that portion, plus some add on and visit the Horse Farm. 

Horse Break!

Then we'd go to the Adventure Center side and run over there, plus add on Paradise (ugh) and some other trails. One day, we ventured over by the closed section and low and behold, it was open! We had already run some add on miles so we didn't do the full loop, but we did run new portions and upped our mileage. 

This happened a lot. Map break to find some add on miles 

It was now 3 weeks before the race and I had not run a full unbroken loop yet. I made arrangements to meet up with 2 friends who knew the loop really well, both who were doing the race and we were going to run not 1, but 2 loops full through. 

You may have noticed I haven't mentioned much about the weather. Well, part of my "official training" was that I couldn't complain about the cold. But it was. And wet. For the last month of training, there was a steady weather pattern. During the week, it would rain and get the trails all sloppy wet. On the weekend, the temperatures would drop below freezing for the days I would train. This day was no exception. I believe it was 31 degrees when we started. There was frost on the ground for sure. 

You can see the frost on the tall grass of the Prairie Loop

We started slow, but steady with the me and another girl waiting at trail change overs for the girl in the rear to catch up. She seemed to be struggling a bit, but we were doing pretty good I thought. The lead girl, who knew the trails best and I kept steady pace and conversation. On the Prairie Loop there is a place to take a bathroom break. We took it. We passed the Millstone around mile 5.5. You gotta touch it, or else. At mile 7, the worst part of the loop starts, 3 trails back to back that climb up and have the roughest terrain - Trestle, Billy's Walk and then Wild Azalea. I always joke that one day, I am just going to quit trails all together and it will be because of Wild Azalea. I'll just stop randomly on it, sit down and wait for a horse to pass by to take me back in (it's a horse trail as well). We got past those rough 3 miles and just had a bit of flat around the lake before the climb back out to the Rush Pavilion and loop 1 would be done. 

Finally made it out to the Grist Mill!!

Taken near the end of my 2nd, solo loop

We we finished the first loop, one of the other girls told me she was done. As in DONE. Not just not doing another loop, she wasn't going to do the 50K any more. She had decided to drop down to the 8K. The other girl said she was quitting the race as well, but completely. I tried not to take it as an ominous sign that both my partners decided to quit the race during my first ever completed loop, so I pressed on and did a second one alone. Again, I actually enjoy trails alone so it seemed to go by fairly fast. 21 miles done, 2 loops and I was feeling good.

It was now the week before the race. I met a friend who was still actually running it, but hadn't put in a full loop yet and another friend who was volunteering for the race and just along for the run. The plan was 1 loop. I was lead since by now, I knew it. We stopped a lot, a bit to play around and a bit due to my friend having some hip issues, but it was a good loop. Time had run out, next weekend was the race so we were as prepared as we could be.

Last visit to the Millstone before race day... so we thought...

Except... That Thursday, a massive storm system swept through the area. Schools were cancelled for 2 days. It POURED rain nonstop for 24 hours. There was thunder and lightening, and tornadoes! On Friday, when the storm had moved on and the trail was evaluated... the call was made to postpone the race. Millstone 50K was cancelled. 

Mood like... 

Fingers crossed I anxiously awaited a decision on a new date. They picked March 7th, the day that I was registered to run the Myrtle Beach Marathon, out of town, with me providing lodging for some other runners. Long story short, I couldn't run the new date. My Ultra adventure had come to a crashing halt. 

Let me say real quick, while I was DEVASTATED that I couldn't run the race I had trained for, it was the right call to cancel. The trails were a MESS of flooding and downed trees and were in no way safe. Not to mention, it SNOWED on the actual day the race would have taken place. Rock Hill Striders did the right thing. They gave us a chance to transfer our entries (which luckily my one friend who trained with us who was going to volunteer did take my entry so it didn't go to waste) or defer till the next year at a discounted rate.  

And with a few more weeks before the new date, this weekend, I was back on the trail with my friends to help them train for their race, no longer mine. Ironically, the trails were in amazing shape yesterday, just a week after the race-cancelling storm. In fact, with a few exceptions, there were better than they have been in months. Less mud for sure. (Though we did have to remove a small downed tree from across the trail on Billy's Walk). 

So, here's the big question for me know I suppose. Will I try again. I honestly do not know. Training was hard. It took a lot out of me and was super time consuming. Trails are MUCH harder than road. The elevation changes and switchbacks and running over rock and root hit your body in a different way. I was cold, and wet a lot and hated that. But there is part of me that still thinks I need to prove that I could have done it. Maybe, when the weather is nicer and I am through my insane Spring racing calendar, I'll pick a day and do my own Ultra. 

Until then, I wish those still doing the Millstone 50K good luck. I can honestly say I now know the trails out there really well and I will for sure be back on them again, even if it's not for 31.5 miles! 

Moonlight Bootlegger Recap

I've mentioned on this blog before that I am a bit weary of trails, but have been making strides to be more comfortable on them. Running a few miles here and there on trails, dipping into the woods in the middle of a longer road run and so on. Each year I start the New Year off with a trail 5K even. I've gotten better, more confident, but I can't say that I absolutely love trails yet. Although I did finally graduate to my greatest trail challenge as of yet, the Moonlight Bootlegger 5K. It was an adventure that I was super nervous to do, but I'm always up for a challenge. 

I have several friends that have done this race each June and it seemed like a lot of fun. Basically, the race is a night time romp through the local Anne Springs Close Greenway. Prior to the Bootlegger, I've only run on this particular greenway once before. I know, not amazing prep, but I felt ready. I'm crazy like that. 

The race started at 8:55 pm, so it was going to be dark during the run. I was meeting several friends for this race so we arranged to arrive a bit early as there was no pre-race packet pick up. We wanted to have plenty of time to meet up, get our packets, run stuff back to the car, hit the port-a-potties and take some pictures before the race started. Everything was super well organized and I was excited to see one of the ladies in my run club volunteering at packet distribution. I love local races! With all that taken care of, we just had to wait until the sun set so we could head out into the woods. 

Run the Rockstars, ready to race!

So here's the scene... It is late June in SC in the evening, so you know it's hot. And humid. I'm honestly a bit terrified to be running in the woods at night. And there is going to be roughly 2.4 billion bugs out, so not ideal. Luckily I had my Insect Guard Buff to keep me nice and protected from creepy crawlies during the race. Seriously, this thing was a life saver. No bug issues for me at all. And I can't say the same about everyone. Not even kidding, after the race, a friend of mine pulled a TICK out of her BRA! HER BRA!! So big, huge thank you, Buff!! THANK YOU for a tick-free bra! 

"Disclaimer: I received several Buff products to use and review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!"

The race started exactly on time and we were off. The sun had just set so it was still a bit light, but the second that we hit the woods, the light disappeared. The race mandated that you had to have some kind of light in order to participate, so I had a pretty strong headlamp to light my way. The first half mile or so was on a pretty wide gravel trail so I felt like it wasn't too bunched up or crowded. The path was also lit by lots and lots of tea lights along the side of the trail which was really helpful. And any place that you may have confused for a turnoff was roped off which I really appreciated as someone not familiar with the trail. By the time we hit the more narrow trails, runners had pretty much thinned out into their own pace. I heard another runner pretty directly behind me and yelled to her to let me know if she wanted to pass (I have a tendency to flail a bit on trails, so I wanted to move over closer to the side if she were passing) but she said she was using me to pace, so we got to chatting throughout the race. 

Crossing the finish line

Trail pace is of course always slower than road, but I was feeling pretty good as these trails were obviously very well maintained. There were a few rooty areas and one crazy area that randomly had concrete stairs, which thankfully we ran up instead of down, and I only really caught my footing a few times. I did hear someone fairly near behind me fall but she yelled she was fine, so me and my new pace buddy kept going. Each mile was marked with a speaker playing banjo music (which yes, the organizers joked about during the starting info) and was a fun way to mark the way, especially since my Apple Watch wasn't tracking very well in the woods. We wound around Lake Hagler and then back out to the original trail we started on which I had not noticed on the way out how steep down it was, but trust me, I noticed how steep UP it was. Man, that last half mile was a killer. 

Finally, I burst out of the woods, back past the parking area and to the finish where each racer was welcomed back by name. There was a bluegrass band playing and Moonshine was being served (your bib had two Moonshine tickets on it) in two varieties - Peach Tea and Tropical Sunset and computers were set up so you could get your official finishing time. I was the first of my friends to finish, so I grabbed a bottle of water and hung out at the finish line cheering runners in. It wasn't until then that I realized just how hot and sweaty I was! I honestly could not have been wetter if I had gone swimming instead. Gotta love Summer races in SC! 

When a few more of us had finished, we went to get our Moonshine, I opted for the Tropical Sunrise which was very fruity and good, but also very weak on the alcohol, which wasn't a bad thing. I also found out that I placed 2nd in my division so that meant hanging around for the awards. The race always has really neat placement awards that are unique each year and they are usually really cool things like lanterns or neat bottles and so on. This year was no exception. We were given personalized growlers with our placement on them, so cool! 

All in all, it was an awesome race, and awesome adventure and I am so glad that I did it. Do I love trails yet? Not really, but each challenge that I overcome, I am getting more and more confident. In fact, I'm running trails tomorrow! And I am for sure taking my Insect Shield Buff with me to ward against any potential bra ticks. /shudder 

2nd Place Division! Woo hoo!