Prairie Spirit 100

Prairie Spirit 100 – March 27, 2021

The 100 mile start line.

Located in Ottawa, KS - just west of Kansas City, MO

http://www.prairiespirit100.com/

Race Options –
50k, 50 mile, 100k, 100 mile

This race is an out and back along the Prairie Spirit Trail, a rail-to-trail.  The surface is nicely packed with limestone and extremely well maintained.  There are manned aid-stations every 7-9 miles with unmanned water stations in-between.  

Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont

Fourteen long months have passed since my last in-person ultra.  This race was on my 2020 schedule but was canceled and rolled over to 2021.   

Official training started in December 2020 for the event.  Training for most of 2020 was a little boring for me and I knew I needed to add speed work again. It had been awhile and I was actually doing speed work thanks to the Ornery Mule Racing Winter Challenge. Doing the challenge gave me a coach guided 10 week program to reset my mind and body.

I was doing strides, faster steady paces, and even 1 mile time trials.  Who knew I could run a 7:04 mile?  I didn't know for sure.  A month later, I pushed that down to a 6:58.  I gained so much confidence that I put in my head I should try for a PR at Prairie Spirit (21:25).  

As the few people who are close to me know, I love to do math while running.  While on one of my long training runs, I was calculating how I would pace Prairie Spirit.  I thought to myself "Wow, that was pretty good, I'm not sure if I can shave any time off of that."  

When I returned home, I started plugging my mental numbers into Excel and came up with a game plan.  I was going to run an average of 11:36/mile for the first 100k which includes time for bathroom breaks and aid station breaks.  That was then broken down to an average moving pace of 11:00/mile and 5 minutes per manned aid station. I would split the rest of the race into 2 sections, 14:00 /mile and 16/mile.  That allowed extra time to change clothes, with the possibility of getting cold or chilled to the bone.  

My PR page calculations.

During my planning, I also kept a page for more conservative paces. I felt like I needed a back up, a crutch, a breakup plan.  As I reflect back on it, I kept the backup plan too close and didn't focus strongly enough on my top goal.

Don't come without strategy

The morning of the race started out like any other race: bad weather with rain and lightning. The rain stopped about 20 minutes before the start of the race. I was also second guessing clothing choices and finally decided on what I was going to wear, which can be a common problem. Pro tip - don't change what works. Lastly my body wasn't cooperating, not getting all of the biological waste out of my system. Maybe it was nervousness that kept me running to the bathroom just to sit there and have my legs go numb. 

The start of the race went like every other ultra, people huddled way too far back from the start, chit chatting and not having a care in the world.  Even non-runners were mixed in with us.  Much different from road races.  

Yes, this is quite typical of me to look dumbfounded, stupefied, etc.  

In any ultra, I start out slow.  I actually want it to feel slow.  That way, I don't get caught up with people who either went out too fast or people who are faster than me.  I had this crazy girl sprint past me and scream in my face "It's my birthday" to finally notice it was a friend - Anastasia - who went out with a big goal of a PR as her 100% mindset.  Spoiler Alert - she did get a huge PR and finished 2nd woman.  

So the two things on my mind were: 1) I still need to go to the bathroom and 2) let's try for this PR.  Notice I said try, and not do- dumb mistake.  

But it's home to me, and I walk alone

By mile 2 the pack of runners had slimmed out.  I had breathing room and was glad to be running completely alone.  That sounds sad I know, but that's how I like it.  I'm not much of a chit-chatter in real life nor in running life.  I made it to the first aid station right on time where I had about 4 oz of Coke and proceeded to get the hell out of dodge.  Quick and efficient.  

Guess what?  I still needed to go to the bathroom.  This trail is a rails-to-trails.  I have run on quite a few of these and I know how they are.  The side of the trails have bramble and short bushes and such right on the edge of it.  Behind that you may have trees, evergreens, or even a big drop.  But one way or another you have big drops on both sides of you.  It is very difficult for a female to find a spot to go to the bathroom.  The bramble is hard to get through and doesn't give any cover.  You can't go any further back because then you stuck on a big drop which can be slippery.  So I waited and waited.  Finally, at a country road crossing, I was able to get off to the side of the road, tucked back enough so people would have a hard time seeing my bright white butt.  

A very typical section of the trail.  Beautifully groomed, crushed limestone, no potty spots. 

Well, let me tell you, it didn't do much good.  I guess now is a good time to tell you that ultra runners have very few TMI items.  

My alarms for this race.

Around noon, my phone started playing music.  I set up alarms in my phone to help give me a push once in a great while as I don't listen to anything while running. However I was getting flustered because I know I didn't set a noon alarm and music kept on playing on its own.  I started fiddling around, turning alarms off and then back on again to try to silence it.  I put my phone back into my pocket.  I spotted my running friend, Greg, who was running the 100k, at my mile 33.5 aid station. Surprise - my phone started music AGAIN. Turned out it was the ole boob rubbing the phone through the pack.  For some reason, maybe because of my phone, I felt a little flustered, a little short on temper - that should have been my first clue that I wasn't eating enough. I grabbed Coke and a mandarin and got back on the trail. Not smart.

My ridiculous bathroom situation had really started to tick me off.  But I finally started working the puzzle pieces together:

• Was I drinking too much? - No, I didn't think so; I went through 1.5L of water in the first 25 miles.
• Was I getting enough salt? - Well, I had that bag of Lays and my Hammer Perpetuem, but that's it, so the answer was probably no. Again.
• Had I been eating enough? - In honestly, probably not.  I screwed up big time by not taking anything substantial from mile 33.5  I should have grabbed a stupid Uncrustable.  

The puzzle came together and showed me the bathroom issue was from not having enough salt.  The water was just sitting in my stomach doing nothing but sloshing around in the belly.  Luckily I kept  salt tabs on me so I swallowed one immediately.  Next, I was feeling a little tired, probably from not enough food.  All of these had me in negative space.

Should I just keep on chasing pavements

Another characteristic of rails-to-trails is the flatness.  It's so flat, that it looks like you are going up a teeny-tiny incline due to perspective.  But, I would look to the side and the water from the creek is also moving in the same direction as me.  Meaning I was actually going down hill. I told myself to see what the elevation gain was at the turn around.  Not for any real reason, just curiosity, and to prove that we were going down hill.

I had a very serious conversation with my self. 
Then I picked myself back up from the scruff and shuffled on my way. 
       

Mentally I was feeling a little whooped.  At mile 37, I found a raised concrete spot in the shade along the trail and sat down to think and shovel food.  I pulled out my pace chart and started overanalyzing.  Now I was just falling further into the hole and munching on plantain chips. This stretch was the earliest I have ever sworn off any more 100s.  It happens in almost every race, but generally much later.  I told myself I shouldn't be doing these, I'm not good enough. I should focus on shorter ultras.  Get stronger, get faster again.  I just kept digging that hole.   

I told myself to let go and get rid of the chart at the next station.  Did I feel better?  No, but I wasn't expecting it right away.  I did feel a little more calm with a plan in place.  There were 4 miles until the next aid station and I better eat every piece of food I had on me before I reached mile 41.  

When I arrived to mile 41, I told the volunteers I just needed to sit and regroup for a bit. I mentioned I was behind on calories and they immediately made me a large cup of ramen and iced bubbly Coke. Yes, it has to be cold and still have bubbles. While resting, I grabbed my drop bag to refill my vest with food and to get rid of that darn pace chart that was pissing me off.  I thanked the volunteers, told them I'd see them in 20 miles and headed off with ramen.

When in doubt on what to do, always EAT.  Mentally and physically it will do you a world of good.

The butterflies fly away

By now the salt tab was doing its thing and I FINALLY didn't have to go to the bathroom.  The calories were also starting to work their magic.  I was feeling much more confident heading into the turn around (51.25 miles) now with a new respectable goal of under 24 hours.  Looking back at it now, I shouldn't have gone to 24, I should have pushed myself to sub-23.  I was only minutes behind my PR goal pace but I felt the wheels starting to get a little goosy again.

I got to the turn around and immediately asked for a Coke.  The Coke had been sitting out all day and they didn't have ice.  Strike One.  The Coke was in a 2 liter bottle that had been opened for who knows how long.  Strike Two.  I saw instant mashed potatoes on the picnic table. They weren't prepared to make them.  Strike Three.  I drank warm flat coke.  Yuck.  I ate a small cup of  ramen, but not nearly enough.  I also sat there way too long.  Definitely my own AS (aide station) failure. I should have asked for more food.

This little doggie ran over 25 miles with runners. He did not belong to
anyone at the race and didn't have tags.

Heading back out, I checked the elevation, the gain was about 30 feet less than the loss; so yes, I was right, it was down hill.  So we were in Kansas, flat plains, nothing to break the wind.  I run in Chicago where you can run your whole time into the wind and 15 mph is considered my "normal" standard.  I started back out and we were going into the wind again.  After 50 miles already, this was not so much fun.  You will be going slower, yes. So head down, keep the same effort- not the same pace.  

I was walking more to conserve energy both from a tiredness standpoint and a caloric standpoint.  It took a little longer than I would have liked, but I knew I was very close to the next AS since I saw the same blue jays that were nearby last time I passed through there.  Once I arrived at the AS, they fed me a very large cup of ramen, which hit the spot.  "I said I'd be back, I just didn't say how long," I chuckled trying to lighten the mood, more for myself than anything.  These wonderful volunteers also made me a large cup of THICK mashed potatoes.  Why thick?  More calories.  This was my way to load up, other runners have theirs.  Once again, I sat too long, but at least this time I put my feet up a bit to drain since they were getting puffier.  I had already adjusted my shoe laces once.  

It's always darkest before the dawn

I am now getting to the part of the story that I don't remember very well.  At the time, I only had two subjects going through my head: 

1. A few lines of a song or maybe just the chorus over and over and over.  There were about 5 songs in rotation and I can't even remember those anymore.  
2. Possible finish times, goals, changing of goals, pacing, math.  Honestly, during the entire race this was pretty much all I had floating in there.  

I was getting so mad at myself and unsuccessfully trying to change the subject.  

A reminder of the total distance I was trying to cover.

I remember it getting dark.  I remember the temperatures starting to fall a little bit.  I remember actually feeling warm because I was still running/walking very strongly.  I was going into AS 77.5 knowing that I needed to get my jacket, loosen my shoes, fill up on Hammer Perpetuem, and eat more calories.  The volunteers asked if I had my jacket because the area was getting a little more open, bringing more wind. I had on a dry long sleeve, jacket, buff.  I thought I was in good shape.  Oh boy, here's where some wheels actually fell off.  

Problems:

1. The AS was heated, actually too warm.  Heading out to the cold air was a shock to the system.
2. I regretted not putting pants on and not grabbing my gloves. 
3. My body was so stiff from the warm to cold temperature change that I couldn't run. 
4. If I couldn't run, my body temperature would drop more.
5. If my body temperature drops more, I'd be using more calories to keep my body warm. 
6. I'd get behind on calories again.  

Now I was officially in the viscous cycle of calories vs body temp vs running.  

My body didn't want to eat, every single thing I had felt horribly dry.  It required me to drink a sip of water with every bite.  Do you remember as a kid or while raising kids, the pocketing of food they hide in their cheeks if they didn't like the food?  And then you'd force them to swallow but it ended up like they were chocking on the food?  Yeah, that was me.  Bite, sip, bite and mush, swallow a fraction, bit and mush, swallow the rest.  

I was freezing.  My body was tense from shivering.  I yelled at myself, internally only, to run, or at least shuffle along.  Get that blood pumping, let my body warm itself up.  Shuffle, Shuffle, drag, drag.  

Pain started in my right vastus medialis, next to my knee.  And at the exact same time, a pain in my left iliopsoas.  It started to hurt to walk fast or with long strides.  At this point, I thought about getting to AS 86.5.  I visualized it.  I visualized myself dropping.  Not the thoughts I wanted to have, but the little creepers got in there.  I really told myself that if this didn't get any better, I'd drop with only 13 miles to go.  

Wow, it was late or actually extremely early.  I was almost falling asleep out there.  

I finally have a mental regroup session with myself, again.  Common theme huh?  

Run Down:

1. Ok, muscle pain, took some Tylenol. I had it in my vest.
2. Tired?  I had a double shot Starbucks can with me. 

Luckily there was a bench shortly ahead to sit on and get my head together.  My coffee was in the back of my pack so I had to take that off to reach it.  My light was attached to my vest and that was sitting on my lap.  Another runner came by and was concerned that I didn't have a light.  I informed him I was fine, I just needed caffeine.  

Even though the Tylenol and caffeine hadn't started working immediately, I was able to get a little bit of a running stride going.  With the blood pumping, I started to warm back up and my horrible endless cycle was cut like a hot knife through butter. By the time I reached the next AS (86.5), I was feeling awesome.

I actually thought the next AS was 84.5, that turned out to be a surprise. That mile passed on by so I did a little math and realized it was 86.5.  As my watch turned over to 86, I kept a close eye for the lights of the AS.  I was also referring to my watch to see the tenths of a mile.  It finally said 86.47 and I could finally see the tent.  Like a savior.  This was the place where I was going to - but would no longer - drop.  I was going to grab cookies, Coke, and ramen.  Fast, in and out, with only a half marathon left.  Once in the tent, I look back down at my watch.  It's off.  Blank.  The watch died.  I had my cord and charger with me but it didn't give me a single warning that it was low.  I plugged it back in, started a new workout, and knew I had to keep doing math until the last minute of my race.  

Say to me, this one's a fighter

I had less than 2.5 hours to run 13.5 to get my PR.  Oh hell no, that is NOT happening tonight/this morning.  Three and half hours though, that was doable, roughly 15:30 per mile.  I was doing about that anyway.  The goal of sub-24 was definitely in reach. I knew I was going to be around 23:30.  

I was feeling great. I was running great.  I just had to do a lot of math with a weak mind to figure out miles gone, or miles left, how many miles to the next aid station, average pace, total time, etc. 

Finally, I got through the last AS (93) and messaged my supporters since they wanted to be at the finish line.  I hated sending them a text 3:45AM, but much to my surprise, Kathy and Greg were both there to see me come in at 23:21.   And in typical me fashion, I ran fast and looked strong as I crossed that timing mat. It was as if all of the bad moments had just blown away.

Kathy and Greg meeting me at the finish line.

Let me know that I've done wrong (when I've known this all along)

Always take inventory of your body.  If you don't pay attention, you'll miss important things it is telling you.  You can't always come back from those mistakes like I did.  

If your goal is truly what you want, don't be wishy-washy with it.  Own that goal.  

I really wish I had pulled out my earphones to listen to music.  I needed a distraction.

You will screw up.  How quickly you adjust to those screw ups is what matters.

Don't walk while trying to look up and stare at the gorgeous moon and stars.  You'll have the ultra-drunk walk going on.  

Before

After

Professional Race Photography by Mile 90 Photography.