#brazosbend100

Event date: 12/09/2017

Oh geez, how do I start? I guess a good place is to answer the question - Why? Why would I want to put my body through this for the 2nd time? It’s so painful, the course is so flat, recovery takes a long time, it’s not the cheapest thrill out there, etc. But before I get into the why ... I’ll describe the experience first while the pain is still super fresh.

At packet pick up. Gotta love serendipity after looking at Charles’ shirt.

RACE DAY

After a solid 6 hour sleep (with the help of melatonin), I woke up at 2:30am, in disbelief, and asked out loud, “What the eff am I doing here?!”

Charles and Phil looked at me, then at each other as if to say “Oh boy, it’s going to be a loooooong day.”

In a strange mix of matter-of-fact and dream state, I ate breakfast, taped my feet and dressed for a cold weather run like I would for a winter 50k back home. The biggest difference being that my friends were getting ready with me. Charles was my crew chief and Phil would pace me for the last 2 loops (out of 6), over a 50k distance.

Rocking my derelique fashion sense. Photo courtesy of Phil.

We all agreed it was best to get to the start line early. It was so cold that all the cars at the Best Western parking lot were wrapped in ice sheets. Phil quipped that it was like looking at sparkly teenage vampires. While I cracked up, good ol’ Charles was watering down the car and Phil tried to blow smoke rings.

When we got to the park, all the other cars there were running, blasting heat inside and exhaust into the air. Then, with 10 minutes to go, we walked to the start. I was very happy I brought the long jacket so I could stay warm once I took off.

The brain is funny. It was only once I started running that I finally accepted the hard fact that I was here to push my body to finish a 100 mile distance. So I made the best of it. I marveled at the few runners who weren’t wearing much. I saw shorts/singlet combos and three ladies wearing tutus as their warmest covering. Although they weren’t elites, I’m sure they were moving much faster than I would be and therefore, generating much more heat.

Around mile 2-3, I caught up to a guy pulling a 22-pound tire around his waist. What? His name is Steven Monte and we shared about 25 miles. Since Dallas is flat, the best way for runners to train for mountains is to pull a tire. He started training with a tire for Cruel Jewel 100. Then, since Brazos Bend 100 is so flat, he wondered if he could finish it with the tire. Side note, he also does this race without any support, just to make things as hard as possible. 

Here’s a link to training with tires, just in case anyone is interested: https://ultrarunning.com/featured/lugging-along-the-benefits-of-tire-pulling/

The first quarter of the race was super fun because we swapped stories and I learned about other crazy, crazy races around the country that he’s done. I also got to enjoy his local celebrity status as every 5th person made a comment on the tire (a handful were original) and every 10th person wanted a picture or high-five. The energy and inspiration surrounding Steven and his tire was infectious. By mid-2nd loop, I started getting nervous about my pace, so I waved good-bye to Steven and picked it up.

Above is one of Phil’s shots.

Below is the only picture I took during the entire race because I had to stop, take off my pack, and pull out my phone to snap it. It’s an American Alligator.

Brazos Bend has the challenge of having a super flat course going in the same direction six times. Just after 2 loops, I started imagining the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 mile footrace in NYC which goes around one city block. But even that race allows runners to alternate the directions of their loops. I’m not whining though.

On the 3rd loop, I made a new trail friend, Austin, who was running his first 50 miler. I was running my own race now and Austin kept up. We had to split because he wanted to stop and greet his family at an intersection near the start/finish. He caught up with me an hour later and we chatted some more, but once his race neared the end, he was able to surge forward and finish as my proverbial tires began falling off the cart. Despite this, the 3rd loop was my best loop overall, because it was mostly daylight, my brain was still working, and I generally felt strong enough to keep up a decent pace.

THE SECOND HALF

Sigh. What can I say about starting my next 50 miles? I would start in the dark, I was tired, I was behind my planned pace. I forgot to ask Charles for my music. The ramen served during the race was not vegan although I was told it would be. Nowhere on the website said that I could have a pacer during this 4th loop although at packet pickup, it was announced that I could’ve had a pacer at the 4th loop. I’m not whining though.

In the middle of my pity party, a lovely lady came alongside me named Gabriela Martinez from San Jose, CA. I knew Gabriela from North Face 2015 when I gave her a ride to the shuttles and also when she completed 75 miles at Headlands while injured earlier this year. She is such a strong runner, I was surprised to see her. She needed to spend 30 minutes at the medical tent to get her foot taken care of from the aftermath of Achilles surgery. What? Note: She does not have pacers or crew for her races.

Gabriela was a godsend. She talked my ear off and I loved every minute of it. My brain and body were shutting down and it was wonderful to learn about her extraordinary life as I could not find the wherewithal to run ... at all. Gabriela was so encouraging and she even set our power hiking speed. Nearing the end of our loop together, I was so out of it, that I was convinced she and I had accidentally cut the course because we were talking so much. It took Gabriela, a couple of volunteers and my calculator to assure me that we followed the course correctly. Lordy!

After that brutal loop, we finally, FINALLY got back to the start/finish where my beautiful angel friends were waiting for me although Charles was breaking down himself. He normally has a high tolerance for cold, but he was not prepared for this weather. As crew, this meant that he’s been exposed in the cold all day without reprieve, just waiting to take care of me for a few minutes after I completed each loop. What’s harder? Running 100 miles or taking care of your friends, being in charge of dozens of details while staying up for 30+ hours? That’s a tossup.

Charles and Phil walked me to the bathroom so I could do my business, change to dry tops, switch out my headlamp and add another layer. When I came out, they told me that I had eaten up all my spare time during loop 4 and that I had to boogie if I was to make the 7am cutoff.  Alrighty then. I had not planned on chasing cutoffs, but here we were.

Bless Phil. He had no idea what he was dealing with. This was going to be our first time “running” together and all he knew was that during loop 4, I was sending nonsensical texts and that I took much longer than I should have. He started his job with a bitch faced f-bomber with a bum knee. Phil truly saw the real me during these loops. 

Thank god Phil was there to pull me through. I loved that I could shut my brain down completely while I listened to his happy chatter and followed his fresh feet. Following him still took a lot of effort so I wasn’t talking much (I think) as I focused all my energy on moving forward and keeping him in sight. 

Aside from screaming because I thought I saw a rat close to my hand while I was peeing behind a bench (it was just cobwebs mixed with fatigue), there isn’t much to report on loop 5. I do remember that Phil said we were ahead of cutoff by 30 minutes and we passed a lot of people. That made me happy but I wanted more cushion. That made him happy because he knew he wouldn’t have to do any brain surgery on me to keep me going. 

When we finished loop 5, Charles wasn’t there. It was unexpected but completely understood. When Charles crewed me at Javelina, he was able to rent a tent and sleep a little so he would have enough energy to pace me the final 10 miles. For Brazos Bend, there is nowhere to sleep unless you have a trailer. Even in the car, you can’t sleep if you’re constantly turning the engine on and off. So Charles, desperate for some rest and to warm up, left for the hotel. 

He only missed us by 30 minutes ... bless him as he still tried to catch us. But all went well as cool-headed Phil, in a matter of seconds, was able to find what Charles had pre-prepared: hydration pack, coffee and music. Then we skedaddled on that last gosh darned loop 6.

Below is the picture Phil could take before his phone died at loop 6

My body doesn’t want to ingest calories in the wee hours of the morning. It wants to sleep. So when I do eat something after 2am, it gets confused and wants to eject what I’m consuming. Combine that with the bouncing, I feel nauseous. As my brain was turned off, I asked Phil if I had to eat or drink at all as I had started to belch constantly. I think I belched for the whole 50k we spent together. 

This is how awesome Phil is. Even though we were under the gun, he kindly explained I have to eat and drink, but I shouldn’t run at the same time. That’s a recipe for disaster. So sacrifices need to be made. I can eat, drink and walk, then he’d encourage me to run again once a few minutes had passed. I also don’t believe Phil ever let up on the pace, even as he was getting super tired himself and that he had to factor in my cranky right knee.

As we neared the end, I was still nervous. I was nervous because I REALLY wanted to walk to the finish but there was not enough cushion for that. And then we both looked up and there were no flags at the intersection. WTF. There were no signs as well. I was indignant. They couldn’t even wait for us to finish?? They had to sweep the flags and signs??  And I felt so stupid because after 5 loops, I should remember the way back home, but I didn’t recognize this intersection. OMG, I was going to DNF with less than 2 miles left!!!

Phil, who kept his cool, backtracked. I obediently followed and saw the familiar bridge, which we had missed. Oops. We might have lost 10 minutes from that detour, but it was enough to get me going faster than I wanted to. 

Phil’s phone had died pretty early on so he couldn’t call/text Charles to tell him how close we were. But then, a mile away from the finish, we saw them ... the beautiful faces of Charles and Victor. I was ecstatic to see them! They had been waiting all day for this. This was the only point where I could finally relax because neither of them were making me run. Thank goodness!

Victor took this sweet picture of me shuffling toward the arch.  I was the Dead Last Finisher (DLF) and damn proud of it!  96 finishers 101 non-finishers

Thanks to Charles for this pix of me with the sweet buckle.

Gear Shoes: Brooks Ghosts 10   Socks: Injinji Headlamp: NAU Hydration Vest: Ultimate Direction Jenny Watch: Garmin Forerunner 935 (died after 27 hours which is pretty good) Clothes: Various brands on sale

Nutrition Breakfast - Rice and beans Next 30 hours - Fluid Performance, MamaChia, beans & tortillas, pickles, pickle juice, potato chips, Oreos, Coke, Sportlegs and salt tabs, 4 cans of Starbucks Cubano double espresso coffee

Note: 7 days later, I believe the key to my fast recovery was the steady source of protein (beans & tortillas) during the race and definitely the recovery drink immediately after the race. 

THANK YOU!

Charles and Phil, if either of you ever need an organ, or the moon and stars, you know who to ask first.

The tire guy, Steven Monte. Thank you for your stories and for inspiring me to live life to the fullest like you do. I’m waiting to see you on the cover of one of these trail magazines.

Gabriela, mujer, thank you for staying with me even though you could’ve left me behind. It was inspiring to eat your dust as you pulled away in that last loop. We did it!!!

Victor, always a pillar of positivity and class-act sportsmanship wherever you go. If I have one regret it’s that I wasn’t wearing the Victory Sportdesign cap (that I love so much) at the finish line. Thank you for being there!

Jesse Ellis of Let’s Wander Photography. I totally thought you were running!  Ha ha!  Can’t wait to see the photos and thank you so much for being out there.

Rob Goyen, thank you for this race, and thank you for waiting for all the runners to come through. You and your wife and team of volunteers are wonderful.

Coach Bob Shebest who only had 7 weeks to work with me. Your words “Don’t burn through your glycogen stores” kept ringing in my head.

Greg, always putting me back together after I do these crazy things. Love you!

THE AFTERMATH

I know it’s not inspiring but it sure was needed and it was actually pretty fun. I’m talking about how Charles took care of me the following morning. I was pretty screwed up. My bodily movements appeared halfway between stiff and cadaver. When we got to the airport, Charles thought that I should use a wheelchair. I was like “Well, I’m still walking if you can hang with this.” He promptly beelined for the wheelchair. 

It was a cool experience. While Charles stood in line at Starbucks, I played with rolling around in it and it was pretty easy and intuitive to maneuver. Plus, BOOM! We got to jump in front of all the lines and got the best seats on the plane. At Oakland Airport, they have employees to help get our luggage and then push us to the shuttles. I don’t know if y’all want to run 100 miles to get this treatment, but I’m just saying it was pretty awesome.

When Greg got home, he explained that the tingling I felt on the bottoms of my feet are the nerves being impinged from all the swelling. From my notes on Javelina, it took 5 days before I was able to run 2 miles. I’m hoping it’ll be the same or sooner this time.

Tree trunk legs from the swelling. No blisters though!

SO WHY?

OK ... thanks for sticking with me for this long.  

The reason I ran this race is to prepare myself for a self-supported 500 miler around the San Francisco Bay Area. 50k/day for 17-20 days. It’s called The Bay Trail. http://baytrail.org/  And the reason I want to run this is to raise the seed money for my for-purpose charity - The Animal Run (TAR). With the help of friends within the running community and my sister, I’m still setting this up and I’m hoping the website will ready by next Feb.

When will this 500 mile run (50k/day) happen?  I’m shooting for May 2018

What’s the fundraising goal? $10,000

What’s the seed money for?  To hold 1-2 races per year to fundraise for non-profits whose mission is to enhance the lives of all abused and neglected animals

When will the first TAR race be held? I’m thinking August 2018

Which charities will be the initial beneficiaries? TBD but I do have a short list

So it’s still a few months away, but please look out for my notifications about The Animal Run and donate generously if you can. Happy Holidays!

Paz y amor

Video credit: Charles Dexter Lim ... the best crew chief in the galaxy

WHAT TO DO BETTER NEXT TIME

Bring turmeric pills for the inflammation

Bring cranberry pills for the kidneys (super cranactin)

Load up on glucosamine MSM before and after the race

Wear compression socks for legs and feet on plane & @home

Ice my legs and feet down asap after the race & once I get home with a cold blanket or cold wrap kept in the fridge

TRACKING MY RECOVERY

Race ended Sunday 12/10 - Got a 1.5 hour massage 

Monday - Needed a wheelchair at the airport

Tuesday - Still in pain. Did not leave the house ... still shuffled ... able to get adjustment. Spent the day writing the race report.

Wednesday - Still limping but got another 1.5 massage (which worked wonders for my gait). Got another adjustment.

Thursday - Walked to Transamerica from BART in the morning and then walked 2 miles to meet Charles & Phil. I limped most of the day. But I was walking normally at the end of the day. No anti-inflammatories.

Friday - I’m recovered 100% except for the knee. It’s still sore when I got out of bed, but I was able to clean the house.

Saturday - Spoke to coach Bob. No running until the knee is 100%. We’ll focus on staying active with swimming, yoga, maybe biking. I might not run again for 2-3 weeks or mid-Jan at least.

10 days after the race ended, I still have not worked out. Knee is much, much better ... but the twinge is still there. Still not 100%

Finally, on 12/24, I woke up without knee pain.  Woo hoo!