I have to thank the best crew at
the Vermont 100 (Ann, Jen, Ryan, Hoyt & family, Andy, our kids my
mother and brother and his kids). I have no doubts I could not have completed
this journey without them and I underestimated how much I really needed their
support. Someone once said ultra marathons are 90% mental and the other
10% is in your head. That is so true.
This course was hilly with a little more than 15,000 feet of climbing. It was
hot and humid, the Vermont scenery was green and beautiful.
Pre-race meal was the usual chicken parm, a bottle of pedialite
with a teaspoon of salt.
Awoke Saturday morning at 2:00 a.m. breakfast was, Whey protein
shake, 2 boiled eggs, banana, apple sauce and sweet potatoes.
Ann drove us to the 4:00 a.m. start. Just before the
gun, they had Fireworks, that was really cool. But, it was about then where it
sunk in for the first time WTF am I thinking doing this, and for a fleeting
moment I was scared, but, that passed and I was psyched and ready to go. I
carried two hand helds, one with water and the other with GU Roctane drink and
a few GU gels stuffed in. We rolled through the first few miles with
headlamps, mud and rocks. About 5 miles in I had to stop in the woods. (Oops, no
TP or baby wipes, Hint- always carry baby wipes!)
Mile 14 saw Ann, Jen, Ryan and my mother a nice lift.
Mile 20ish First aid station, a little more than 3 hours, refill
hand helds, ate some cookies, Pringles, and fruit.
Mile 30 next aid station. Again refill hand helds, ate cookies
Pringles and fruit, peanut butter and fluff sandwich. While standing at the aid
table eating, I noticed my legs were shaking uncontrollably, I thought that was
weird, but figured it would stop sometime.
It was somewhere in this next stretch where, I noticed my ankles
and feet started to hurt, but focused on relentless forward progress and
keep moving forward.
It was also around here, that I learned, that when stopping to
pee, other bodily functions may involuntarily follow. Oops, how I wish I
had some baby wipes. That strange phenomenon would occur a few more times over
the next 15 miles. It was getting hot and humid, drinking lots of water. Maybe
too much, but I didn't want to find out the alternative of not drinking enough.
Mile 47- Camp Ten Bear aid station, in about 10 hours. Went to
mandatory weigh in, lost 4lbs, but I was good to go, All things considered
feeling ok, a little vasoline on the undercarriage, potatoes in salt, Pringles,
cookies, fruit and some other things on the table, I think I had an
Ensure (actually the generic version from Savemart, I had several of
those throughout the day, very helpful), a fellow runner overheard me talking
about stomach problems and gave me some ginger candy (hint this stuff really
does help). I also stopped the GU Roctane drink, and stayed with water, coke,
fruits, cookies and Pringles, later I would add Ramen noodles, chicken broth
and Frappicinos and chocolate milk.
Got to halfway point in about 10:30. We were on steep hills in the
woods and walking, this was a tough stretch for me, stomach feeling better,
ankles felt like someone cracked them with a sledge hammer (it wasn't til the
next day when I would realize the extent of the carnage). Really struggled to
get to 55, then the hills got steeper, started to rain, but given the humidity
of the day this felt glorious. At this point, all I could think about was
getting to mile 62.5 (Margaritaville Aid station) Finally trudged into Margaritaville
feeling drained and beaten, the hills, humidity and bathroom issues having
taken their toll. My mother, brother, his kids, Owen, David and Livia
were all there and this was a huge lift. A change of clothes,
shoes, Ensure, Coke, ginger snaps, ramen noodles, bag balm on the underside and
I was rejuvenated and ready to roll. I noticed, that my change of shoes were
tight, and my feet hurt more, I had heard your feet swell and you should have a
change of shoes a half size bigger, I realize now this is true. Oh well,
time for the little piggies to suffer and move on. I was able to pretty
much run to mile 70 (Camp Ten Bear) I felt like I had gotten a second wind, I
was very much looking forward to seeing Ann, Hoyt, Jen and getting Ryan as my
first pacer. My goal was to get there before sundown and I made it.
I approached mile 70 and saw Hoyt who had jogged out, I was happy,
I was at least going to make it to mile 70. We saw a girl who was in a little
trouble, Hoyt stopped to help her, she said she was losing her vision.
Hoyt helped her to the medical tent. I only hoped she was ok, could recover and
continue. I got weighed in, lost 8lbs close to the point were they may
put a medical hold on me for losing too much weight, but I made it and I was
good to go. I had the devil's crotch to deal with, all I wanted was butt
cream, Ann went waay above the call of duty, and took me behind the
Porto-pottys, I saw her surgically remove a fern, some leaves, twigs, and who
knows what else I stopped looking after that, and I really don't know where
that stuff came from, but that's what happens when you forget the baby
wipes. Butt cream applied felt heavenly and I was sooo happy. I would
have no similar issues after that. I was starting to feel recharged, drank a
Frappicino, ate Pringles, cookies, fruit, potatoes in salt, and ramen
noodles.
Good to go, Ryan and I jogged out of aid station, 8:00 pm, 18 hours
in. I was happy to have Ryan with me. My joy was short lived as we got to the
next hill in the woods, we walked on but I was again sinking. We got out of the
woods and into some open meadows, still up hill, I felt I wanted to run but it
was too hilly for me and I just couldn't. The sun was setting, the nearly full
moon was coming up, it was breathtakingly beautiful. We turned on our headlamps
and went back into the woods. I couldn't run the steep downhills, too
tough and I was having problems adjusting to the dark. We got to some
relatively flat section and started to shuffle along. It was about here Ryan
politely pointed out our walking pace may be faster then run pace, but it felt
good to run. We finished this 7 mile leg, Ryan had gotten me through, and Hoyt
picked me up for the next 11. We were able to run (at least I am calling
it that) quite a bit of this stretch. Hoyt pushed me on through and we got to
Jen at mile 88. More Frappicinos, ramen noodles, cookies, Pringles and we were
good to go. Just needed to get 3 miles to next aid station, then 4... Jen had
the world's brightest headlamp that lit up the woods. It was awesome. She
walked behind me and I saw my shadow and I thought I looked like Frankenstein,
playing around with that a while in my mind, got me through the next mile. At
this point our goal was just to get to the next glow stick, then the next, we
got to aid station at mile 91, ate and drank some more, and trudged on. Jen
would ask me questions to distract me and keep me moving, but I couldn't talk
and I am not sure if I didn't answer or just said yes or no. Jen got me to mile
95.5. I had no doubts I was going to finish, I never did, I always knew I was
going to make it no matter what because I wasn't quitting, but I had been
scared of the unknowns and what could happen. Ann picked me up from this point
and we walked glow stick to glow stick. I think even "ran" a little.
The sun was coming up and it was beautiful. Ann got me to the finish, it
was now daylight again, we saw Jen, Ryan, Hoyt, my brother and mother,
and the dude handing out the finishers medal which is also the coolest bottle
opener. I really felt pretty good at that point. Finished in 25 hours 26
minutes.
Later that day, Jen, Ryan, the Kohl family came over for some awesome
baked ziti Ann made. A highlight of the race weekend, discussing the finer
points of the race, and the adventures of the crew, who had stayed awake over
24 hours, with only a few naps sprinkled in, and had successfully navigated the
Vermont "roads" and woods, to be there for me at every possible
handler station, and even more. I am sure they all have their own
stories, that I look forward to hearing more about.
Post-Race beverage of choice: Magic Hat Blind Faith IPA courtesy of
Ryan Brubaker
The Good: Ann, Livia, Owen, David, my brother, his family and my mother, Jen,
Ryan, Hoyt and his family, Andy, Vermont, covering 100 miles and yes it is an
awesome adventure and experience.
Some things that worked well for me:
The best crew in the race!
Chocolate milk, Frappicinos, Pringles, ginger snaps and any kind of
cookies, ramen noodles, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, watermelon,
potatoes in salt, ginger candy and butt cream.
The bad: the hills, humidity, pain, struggling through the second
half.
The ugly: stomach problems, no baby wipes, and my ankles, once I took my sneakers
off after the race they looked like grapefruit.
Is it what I thought it was? Yes, and more. Although I underestimated
the pain. But it's a pain we can all deal with, anyone of us can do this. I had
heard you run the first 50 miles with your legs and next 50 with your head. I
believe this is true, anyone of us can do this or something like it.
Would I do it again? No doubt! (just not anytime soon)
I hope some of this information is helpful for you, and of course, I
would be happy to talk stories with anyone, that's where I learn the most and
pick up some great advice from you guys.
Thanks, Jaime
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