Race Report: Kansas Rails-to-Trails 100 Miler...4th Overall (20:03)

 

Last Saturday I completed the Kansas Rails-to-Trials Extravaganza 100-Mile race in 20:03:52. I didn't run as fast as I hoped too, but I had a fun and memorable time with my amazing crew. I enjoyed the course, the excellent race direction, and super helpful and friendly volunteers. I highly recommend this race.

The rain before and during the race slowed me down. The course is mostly a soft surface and it did get a bit too soft. My pacing was too aggressive early and my fueling strategy failed in a big way. I took a fall early in the race and had some pain in my right lower ribcage that I'm still feeling a week after the race. Even with all that, my crew helped me solve problems and get moving forward again and again. I'm proud I did not back down and ended up with a solid result. This was one of my most "ultra" of the ultramarathons I've run. After going home early during a couple of 24-hour races last year, this feels like a bit of redemption.

This is my longest run after knee surgery and matches my longest ever. Another box checked. The comeback is complete. I'm not sure it will last (discussion below), but the surgery and rehab were clearly successful at giving me another chance to do what I love...and do it at a high level!

The training. I trained without any concessions to my right knee (other than avoiding high volumes of hard downhill running). I peaked with an 89-mile week and a 38-mile long run. During each of my back-to-back hard (or "on") weeks (followed by an easy recovery week), I ran two medium-long (up to about 15 miles) runs with embedded speed work. I typically did only one quality workout during my recovery weeks. I finished separate 8-week phases of VO2max, threshold, and steady state running (in that order). The last several weeks during taper, I did some sharpening work including 1 or 2-minute repeats and some threshold work. I was hoping to bring everything together to feel sharp for the race...but I ended up showing signs of fatigue on race day. My HR was a bit high for the paces I ran. Overall, the training went really well. I did not miss any important workouts or have any major setbacks.

The race strategy. My plan was to run the same way I did at the Lake Waramaug 100k earlier this year...find "cruising altitude" somewhere around 9:00 min/mile or a bit slower (as long as it felt easy and was at a low HR). I was hoping this would get me beyond the first 100K (62 miles) and aggressive fueling and hard work would help me hang on through the finish. I ran a 9:48 100K race in April of this year and was clearly in better shape for this 100 miler...so I was hoping for a very competitive time in my age group...well under 20 hours.

The fueling strategy. My plan was to alternate Amacx gels (with 40g carbs and 160 cals) with Carbs gels (with 50g carbs and 200 calories) every 30 minutes...so a "90g carbs/360 cals per hour" strategy. This is a bit more than I've been doing. I had backup foods for late in the race when I thought I might get some gel fatigue. (In my previous 100 miler and other recent races, I tolerated gels longer than any other food source.) I carried water and drank to thirst. A very simple and crew-friendly strategy (until it failed...see below).

The race.  After struggling with right knee pain and stiffness the last few weeks of training, I was surprised to feel free and easy during the first few miles of the race. Then I started to feel some knee discomfort, but it was manageable. 30 minutes into the race (after my first fueling), still in total darkness, I stepped on something (or in a hole) and fell pretty hard. I rolled with it as best I could and popped up and continued to run. My hands were a bit scraped up and I landed hard on my right hip, which hurt for a while, but eased off and was not a factor the rest of the race. I did start to feel some pain in my lower right ribcage area that persisted throughout the rest of the race. I still feel this pain a week after the race and will seek medical attention for that this coming week. (I'm not 100% sure this pain is due to the fall.) Early in the race I also started to feel "heartburn," which is unusual for me during long runs and foreshadowed the digestive difficulties I would run into later in the race.

It started to rain around daybreak and the hardest rain fell during that first 4 to 5 hours of the race. Some parts of the trail held up well, but some parts became soft and muddy. Despite this, I found a groove and my splits improved down to around 8:50/mile. Usually my heart rate would be in the low 130s at this pace, but I was in the 140s. In hindsight, I should not have allowed this to happen. This is not sustainable for 100 miles (for me). I had a mindset of not sweating the details and just running by feel. A mistake. However, I got away with the mistake for quite a while. I kept a quick pace through 40 miles and only slowed a little bit approaching the halfway point. I hit mile 50 at about 8 hours and 3 minutes. I was feeling increasing heartburn, but running well.

Then around 56 miles into the race, things took a very sudden change for the worse. After taking a large Carbs gel, I began to throw up rather violently. It looked like my stomach hadn't been emptying for some time. Lots of fluid. (I've never thrown up during an ultra or marathon. This was a total surprise!) After repeated bouts of throwing up, I started walking. My immediate plan was to stabilize before I began to worry about how I would cover another 44 miles or so. The walking led to some easy running with walk breaks. The plan became to get to the next aid station (at about the 61 mile mark) and then reset and load up with some different fueling options. It was difficult to decide when to start fueling and hydrating again. After losing the contents of my stomach, I didn't want to challenge my stomach again. On the other hand, if I waited for next scheduled fueling in 30 minutes, that would be an hour since my previous successful fueling. I decided to wait until my next scheduled fueling. I was running slow and struggling, but that seemed a better option than standing still and vomiting.

After what felt like a couple of weeks, I finally arrived at the aid station. I sat down (mistake) and changed shoes...going from the Nike Vaporfly (road super shoe) to Hoka Tecton X2 (trail racing shoe). I knew I was going to miss the light weight and springiness of the Nike, but opted for the dry, comfortable trail shoes and the better footing for the deteriorating trail conditions. I don't know if that was the right move. I do know that it was hard to get up from that chair and get started again. My right knee kind of locked up and initially I couldn't run. I walked/limped slowly at first and eventually loosened up enough to start mixing in some very easy running. Eventually I settled on running for 3 minutes and walking for 2 minutes in a repeating pattern. I also walked while fueling. It was slow going, but this gave me hope that I had a way to get myself to the finish line. I continued this pattern (with some variation...running more than 3 minutes when I felt up to it) through mile 86.5 when I picked up my pacer (aka my son).

I had settled in enough by the time I picked up my pacer, that I wanted to give continuous slow running a try. This worked for a short period of time. Then my fueling tripped me up again. One of my gel alternatives (a Gu Stroop waffle) triggered another round of throwing up. After a delay and some walking, we started up again. I began to move pretty well, but still needed to find a way to fuel up to continue. I decided if I could choke down a few more fuelings and get to the last 5 miles or so...I would stop fueling and use all remaining energy to reach the finish. This worked. I ran really well for a while (12:something/per mile, not fast, but not bad at the end of 20 hours of running). 

I started to bonk during the last mile, but that was more appealing than potentially vomiting again. The course was super dark, but it was uplifting to reach the town of Ottawa and start to see lights and cars and people again. I reached the finish at 20:03:52. Fourth place overall. (This was a surprise, I thought I was somewhere between 5th and 10th.)

I should have lain down immediately after the race, but instead posed for photos and tried to eat a bit. This was a mistake. After I finish running a long race like this my blood pressure starts to drop and I made it worse by allowing the blood to pool in my legs. I ended up throwing up again and briefly passed out. Kind of an appropriate thematic ending to the event. Once I was able to lie down in the back of the car and get some blood to my brain, I stabilized.

What an effort! I totally left it all out there on the course (literally and figuratively). After I prematurely exited two 24-hour races last year, I feel a bit of redemption that I did the "ultra" thing and found a way to solve problems and keep moving forward. There were quite a few DNFs in the race. The rainy conditions got to people. I learned a lot about myself and what I can endure and how long I can fight. Also, the crew had some issues of their own (including a mid-race flat tire in our rental car) and always found a way to get me the assistance I needed. Everyone played to their strengths. This was a team win and a most memorable race overcoming adversity!

Post-race analysis. I went too fast for the conditions and had too high of a heart rate early in the race. I should have focused on getting to the halfway point with fresher legs and less willpower spent. 

I need more variety in my fueling strategy. 90 grams of carbs and 360 calories per hour may have been too much for me to absorb. I've done quite well with a less aggressive fueling strategy. 

Aging may have played a role in my metabolic struggles. This is perhaps the reason you don't see many 60+ year-olds running faster times in these very long races (while still performing quite well at the marathon, etc.).

The knee. Well...my right knee started to act up in the 2 weeks before the race. Lots of stiffness and the area behind my knee has become painful and "grabby." The timing of this was unfortunate after getting through my full training program and executing every workout. I knew the knee would become a problem again at some point. I'm super grateful though that after 2 knee surgeries, I was able to come back and run 6 ultramarathons including a 100-miler.

My knee still hurts and is very stiff, one week after the race. I don't know if this was my last ultra or if I'll be able to do more. Who knows? I may need surgery again if I want to run more races. I will find out in the coming weeks what I am dealing with.

What's next? I don't know. Some time off. I was hoping to run the Frosty Looper 8-Hour in December if I bounced back quickly enough from this race. It doesn't look like that will happen. What's next might be surgery or at least a period of physical therapy and strength building. If the knee improves, I'll probably look to run a Spring ultra...maybe 100K or maybe another crack at a 24-hour race.