Woohoo, just ran 100km!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Started my day off at 2am yesterday morning to wake up, gear up and head off to the Marin Headlands, driven by my wonderful girlfriend/race volunteer/moral support crew and her son. Standing on a cold, dark beach with several hundred other fellow ultramarathoners we counted down the final seconds to the official start of the Miwok 100K at 5:40am and then sprinted/shuffled off through the sand and up into the hills.

A bit over 14 hours later I ran across the finish line, hands high and screaming “Onward to victory!” (I was a little punchy by that point). Aside from one slightly sprained ankle and the expected sore leg muscles no problems, not even a blister.

Without the cheering-on by my g/f and her son and all the other race volunteers it would have been far, far tougher. Amazing what a smile and “Looking good, runner!” will do.

What made this especially satisfying is that for approximately 6 months I haven’t been able to do any serious long run training and three weeks ago my calf began knotting up painfully after about a mile. I rested it as much as I could and decided that Weds was my decision day - I did a short (6 mile) run in the morning and everything felt fine so I started, honestly unsure whether I’d feel that dreaded tightening up at some point and have to drop out. Of all the things that hurt during the race, that wasn’t one of them.

My primary goal was “Finish” followed by “Finish in 14 hours or less” (cutoff time to qualify for some 100 mile ultras). Missed the qualifying time but it still feels great given the lack of training.

Everything went great - we had wonderful weather, trail was perfectly marked, race crew and volunteers were outstanding, tons of food and drink along the way at the aid stations, I stayed on top of my eating/hydration and they even had hot showers at the finish line.

62 miles, 10,000 feet of climbing. There’s something amazing about discovering what you can do when you simply refuse to quit. I had some low points but powered through them; a number of famous ultrarunners have said that the people who succeed at this sport aren’t necessarily the fastest runners or those with the best conditioning, it’s the ones who can handle the inevitable hurting times, when you are mentally or physically down and wondering whether to just quit.

There’s a deep, satisfying feeling of accomplishment in my brain. Awesome.

Now I’m going to go eat more of whatever I want :smiley:

2

:eek:

Truly, I am impressed.

OK, that’s it, I’m running the half-marathon in October come hell or high water. If you can run 62, I can run 13. :smiley:

3

You are amazing! And a little crazy :slight_smile:

4

Man, I don’t think I can do anything for fourteen hours straight, nevermind something physically strenuous.

5

Awesome job. Is there a 100 miler in your future?

6

Great job! What a fantastic accomplishment.

I’m thinking about a 50k this fall but that’s as far as I can imagine.

7

Wow. Amazing feat! You will have to strap it to your leg tomorrow morning.

8

That nuthin’.

I run 100km every two weeks or so.

In 8km stretches.

:slight_smile:
Seriously, that’s pretty amazing. The furthest i’ve ever run was 25km, back when i was a teenager. I could see myself possibly doing a half-marathon now, but that’s about it.

9

I follow your threads when you come in with something like this! Well done you crazy little speedy basta*d!

How many calories did that burn? Just how much % body fat do you have? I bet you could slalom through a picket fence!! I’ve heard that English Channel swimmers lose weight after their effort. Was that the same with you?

Impressed is an understatement! But you still crazy!

10

Wowwowwow… :: awed silence::

That’s it! If you can run hundred kilometers, I can run three ! I’m starting to train tomorrow. :dubious:

11

Congrats Vanguard! Enjoy the recovery stage :slight_smile:

12

Pretty amazing. Congrats - enjoy your victory.

13

Woooooohooooo congrats! That’s cool stuff.

14

Thanks, everyone! If you want to put a smile on somebody’s face find a local race, stand by the side and cheer people on as they go by. Seems like a small thing but it really makes a huge difference to the runners.

At some point, definitely. I will be putting in a lot more long trail running training for it, though. I don’t have a specific race in mind. The Leadville 100 is open to anyone who plunks down the entry fee so no qualifier but it looks quite rugged. I think an “easy” 100 miler would be a better first race at that distance.

I think a minimum of 7000-8000 calories. Running on level ground burns about 125 cal/mile and while I did a lot of walking there’s also a lot of hills.

Don’t know my body fat percentage but I think most people would describe me as fit or athletic, certainly not lean. I’m 5’ 10" and just over 170lbs. I’d say I’m pretty typical for a non-competitive ultrarunner. Your body can’t absorb the food you eat fast enough to make up for the calories you burn running so having body fat is a good thing, the energy has to come from somewhere to keep you going for that long.

I didn’t weigh myself immediately before and after the run but Sunday morning I was 171lbs which is in my usual daily weight range. I made a point of hydrating aggressively and eating as much as I could on the go (potatoes with salt, pretzels, cookies, water, energy gels, electrolyte drinks and soda) so I don’t think that I sweated off much weight. That’s a good thing - dehydration is no fun at all. On some races like the Western States 100 mile run they weigh you at various aid stations and will pull people from the course if they lose too much.

Not many years ago I couldn’t run a mile, so for everyone who is working on their first 5k, or half marathon or whatever the goal is, keep at it. Don’t overtrain, go for steady improvements, cross-train and most importantly keep a positive mental attitude.

15

Bah, that’s nothing. Next time do it with weights strapped on ya. At least 75 lbs. :stuck_out_tongue:
Seriously, that is quite an accomplishment, congratulations!

16

Fourteen.

Hours.

HOURS.

:eek:

Well done!

17

There’s a big aid station at mile 26.7. On the way out I struck up a conversation with another runner and I said “Well that’s the first marathon out of the way. Now we just run one more, then cool down for 10 miles.”

18

The Mountain Masochist 50 miler finishers shirt says something along the lines of “Marathons are for training” :slight_smile: It’s my favorite shirt!

I’m not sure what coast you’re on but Umstead (NC) seems to be a favorite first 100 miler (eight loops - sounds mentally challenging to me). I’ve also heard good things about Rocky Raccoon (TX) and Javelina Jundred (AZ). I can’t personally comment. 50mi is as far as I’ve gone to date.

19

Some friends ran Rocky Raccoon this year and had a great time. I’m slightly familiar with the ones here in the north east, especially the VT50.

20

Well I’m out on the West Coast - the Miwok is in the Marin Headlands, just north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. I’ll check up on the races you mentioned; I’ve heard of the Javelina Jundred before.