There is no such thing as an "Easy 100".
They all present their own unique and different challenges.
It's not that I have been putting this race report off the past two months as much as it is hard to get motivated to write about your own failures. It is time to get this on paper and out of my system going into the new year of 2019. I had registered for the Tunnel Hill 100 as a first hundred attempt early in January of 2018. I had my eyes and heart set on this race from the year before but it conflicted with other races. I went to law school in Southern Illinois near the racecourse and have several close friends there as well. My thought process in choosing the Tunnel Hill 100 included many positive attributes on paper or in my mind:
1) It's flat and fast
2) It's within driving distance
3) It's a well supported Durbin Race Management event
4) It's an "entry level 100"
5) It's cold in November and I always run better in the fall
6) 30 hours is plenty of time no matter what happens
All of those things may have been true but it was also my last race of the year with an ambitious schedule that had me running 6 other tough ultras and the Leadville Trail Marathon before getting to it. I never took the race lightly but misguidedly thought my consistent 200 mile training months and tons of climbing geared towards other vertically challenging races would be enough to get me across the finish of this flat, straight forward course. Although I raced and trained consistently all year I had no specific training plan for Tunnel Hill, ever. Although I felt I respected the race it was largely an afterthought until October 2018 when I had to come up with a defensive plan to finish it, based on my condition. After overtraining all year, an all out effort at the Barkley Fall Classic in mid September left me with a stinging pain in my heels that was soon after diagnosed in October as Plantar Fasciitis. More annoying than crippling I decided to double down on the Plantar and log 200 miles of nothing but run/walk training a month out from Tunnel Hill. I had never run/walked a race from the start in my life. I felt this was a more conservative approach that would guarantee a finish. I was playing defense against this race from the start and paid for it. Despite going in on defense my mindset remained confident, inspired and determined. I was also dedicating this race to the memory of my rescue dog Crede who had succumbed to stomach issues after months of cancer treatments. Crede was with me in spirit and on my shirt! In the end though, unlike shorter, more forgiving distances I learned at Tunnel Hill:
You cannot start on defense in a 100 mile footrace. You may end up that way later in the race but must start with a plan and belief in your ability to complete the distance and attack the 100 miler with that plan.
RACE DAY!!!
I struggled the night before and morning of the race with what to wear. I had enough gear for any temperature contingency but opted to wear longer compression shorts and calf socks vs. tights despite the fact that the starting race temperature was in the low 20's. Normally tights would be the way to go in these temperatures but I knew it was also expected to get into the low 40's in the afternoon. My concern with the tights was chafing and overheating. I had a Patagonia long sleeve woolish midlayer top and a North Face windbreaker jacket on as well and maintained handwarmers in my gloves the entire race. I am used to running in the cold of the Midwest from training outside every winter and felt I made the right choice in gear until I failed to adapt later in the race.
I had trained and planned a 5/1:30 run walk pace from my first steps across the starting line. The timer was set on my Garmin and I planned on sticking to it the entire race also knowing I could adjust the numbers if needed. The first 20 miles felt pretty good pace wise but the heel pain was nagging from the start. I kept my calories and SWORD hydration up and felt confident my gear choices were on point. I did not dawdle at any aid stations and cruised back towards the Tunnel around mile 35. The trail was flat as promised but I started counting the miles and almost getting into a tunnel vision with the trail looking the same for such long stretches. I met my family at the Tunnel and it was a morale boost for sure! It was also uplifting to meet up with Jeff Stafford and Ryan Ploeckelman of the East Coast Trail and Ultra Podcast several times during the race as they happened to be there crewing and pacing another runner. Count yourself fortunate if they are on your team at a race, they were a well oiled machine! By mile 40-50 I was feeling the pain grow in the heels and was just in a general cumulative malaise brought on from the emotions and physical ups and downs the year had brought.
Somewhere late in the first half of the race I ran into Tim Dines, whom I had met at the Barkley Fall Classic about a month and a half earlier. Tim was headed in the other inbound direction. He stopped and started running alongside me. I told him he was going the wrong way, but he wanted to impart some wisdom, experience and motivation, which was appreciated. Tim warned the 50 mile point was going to be very tempting to drop at. He urged me to continue and I promised him I would no matter what! Thanks Tim, you are a class act! As I reached the 50 I had a shoe change planned that I could not picture myself doing outside with the gear bags. I was way behind schedule already 13:30 into the race and did not want to waste alot of time. Not taking a full inventory of what I needed was a mistake. It also seems like a good place to mention the quality of care and support for the runners provided at a Durbin Race Management event. Steve and Terri and other volunteers are personally invested in not only the quality of the event but the positive experience and success of each runner no matter where you fall in the pack. It is no wonder you see many of the same faces at DRM events, its running family. Shortly after crossing the 50 mat I told Steve Durbin I was headed back out and he smiled while directing me inside to a warm place to change my shoes. It was a painfully slow process. I was looking down and heard someone ask if I needed anything. I looked up and delay processed it was my friend Terri Durbin trying to help me! It wasn't the first time either. Terri straightened me out at her aid station at Land Between the Lakes 50 in March when my GPS was malfunctioning and I didn't know my actual distance covered. Terri brought me some grilled cheese and hot soup as I got the new shoes and socks on. I thanked her and left into the darkness with a foggy mind not thinking ahead that the temperatures were set to drop again. I had a warm winter jacket right there to put on, but rushed off without it thinking my moving body temperature would be sufficient. It was not. I reached the Southern turnaround point at mile 63 trying in vain to quicken my pace up as I knew I was fighting cutoffs alone in the dark. At mile 65 I took my gloves off at the Karnak aid station and it felt like a thousand stinging needles were instantly thrust into every part of exposed skin. I couldn't muster the coordination or tactile function to open my last packet of handwarmers to put into the gloves and was grateful for a volunteers assistance opening that package. I later learned the temperature had dropped further than any point in the race and was now in the high teens with an even colder feels like temperature. Damn I needed that coat and perhaps a nap I didn't have time for. Despite warm fire tents being readily available at miles 63 and 65 I pressed on with the fear of getting sucked in and missing cutoffs. As I pressed towards the next aid station at mile 71ish I started swaying side to side on the trail almost stepping off it at points. some folks passed me as I continued to slow down and my miles were now clocking in the 20 plus range which was not going to get it done. I also felt hypothermia setting in through the windbreaker as I started to chatter and shake in an uncontrolled manner. I made it to the 71.5 mile point and knew I was physically and mathematically eliminated as I only had 8.5 hours left to cover 30 miles at a 17 minute mileish pace. We were given a ride in a pickup truck down a long dark country road back to the start which was only 5-6 more miles down the trail, but the ride seemed like an eternity. I picked up a 50 mile drop down buckle finisher award at the line, spared from a official DNF. I made my way back into the visitor center. There were bodies literally sprawled everywhere across the room, but I found a spot to curl up and sleep on the ground and my drop bag for an hour or so. The exhaustion and final realization of my failure crushed my mind, body and spirit and I swore I would never take a ride back like this again. As I later came to find out I was already officially 12 minutes past the cutoff when we left the course at Heron Pond Lake. My injuries and cumulative fatigue also made it clear a reset was in order. I am back now training so much better with my new coaches, Ellie and Tyler Fox as I do not trust myself anymore with home made training plans! The Plantar issue is STILL nagging me but coming around slowly. I have plans to finish a 100 mile race in 2019 and will be back to Tunnel Hill at some point for redemption! It is not surprising that I learned so many lessons to implement in future races from my experience at Tunnel Hill as failure is so often life's best teachers!
