Introduction
As many already know, my goal for this year was to complete a 100 mile race. Last month, at the Jackalope Jam (another great TROT) race, I accomplished this goal. Going into Saturday’s Brazos 100, I was a lot more relaxed. Which is good since AJ had to stay home with the kids and I would have to run the race without any guaranteed support or crew. For Brazos, I decided my new goal was to complete 100 miles in under 22 hours – faster than I did at Jackalope and earn the sweet “Under 22 Hours” buckle.
The Brazos Bend race has a couple of unique characteristics – it is one of, if not the, fastest trail ultra and it takes place in a park full of alligators. Never having been there before, I had no idea what it was like. The park is a straight-up swamp, with the bright green algae, water everywhere, and tons of “Beware of Alligator” signs.
The race started at 6am; it was cold and dark. The temperature was right around 40F. If I was running a shorter race I would have been stoked. Given the length of the race I was running, I knew I had to be careful about not going out too fast because of the cold and burning myself up before the end. The race started and I was going at a good pace, a little faster than I wanted, but it kept me warm and I felt great. I finished my first loop in good time with Rob, the race director, cheering, “Good job, Ed Boo Bear.” (One of the nicknames Rob bestowed upon me during the Jackalope Jam.
I stopped at my dropbox, refilled my food/fuel, dropped some clothing and went back on my way. Over the next couple loops, I kept a good pace, met some new people, and saw many friends and familiar faces. I also got to see the winners include the new NA 50 mile trail record holder tearing it up on the course. It was an awesome sight.
Vision Problems Begin
On my fourth loop (out of six), I began to notice my right eye bothering me. It felt like I had some goop in my eye. I tried to make my eye tear and flush it out to no luck. I stopped at the bathroom with running water, tried to flush it out but still nothing. It did not hurt and was not bothering me too much and I figured it would work itself out as I went along.
By loop five, the sun had set and it was headlamp time. During my run, I kept thinking my headlamp seemed too dim. I kept playing with the settings trying to make it brighter. I started to get annoyed. This headlamp is relatively new and I just put in new batteries the day before. “What the hell?” I thought. I knew I had extra batteries and another headlamp back at my dropbox. I figured I would either change out the batteries or switch the headlamps. By the time I got to my box, I was beginning to think my headlamp was not the problem. Every time I saw another headlamp or bright light, it was blinding me. I grabbed my other headlamp, compared the brightness of the two and they looked about the same. I decided I would use my spare headlamp, but throw the other one into my pack. This turned out to be one of the smartest decisions I made all race.
As I started on my sixth and final loop, I was having a very hard time seeing anything on the trail. My vision was blurry around the outside of my eyes. I could still make out the trail, because of the contrast between the trail and the land around it. I did a quick personal assessment. My legs still had a lot of life, the pan in my feet was very light, I was not hungry, thirsty or very tired. I felt great except for losing my vision.
10 Miles To Go & Severe Vision Impairment
At about mile 90, my vision had significantly deteriorated. I could only see clearing through a pinhole in the middle of my right eye. In my left eye, my only clear spot was slightly higher that the middle of my eye. All direct light was completely blinding me to a second or 2. I could not make out the trail in front of me. I pulled out my second headlamp and used it to create shadows and contrasts in front of my to help keep me on the trail. I also relied heavily on my senses of sound and feel. I hear the change in sound of my footsteps and/or the feel of the ground to tell if I had veered off trail. I would then correct myself, moving either left or right, to get back on track. Of course, I always worried about the presence of gators just off the trail. I convinced myself that I would hear them growl or hiss before I would get too close. (By the way, I have no idea if that is an accurate statement, but I believed it). Running this way slowed my pace. It was bothering me that I could not give it my all, but the thought of injuring myself because I couldn’t see kept me in check.
All Done
I crossed the finish line at 20hrs 24mins 15secs, over an hour and a half faster than my goal time. I was thrilled. I had destroyed my goal, even with losing most of my vision during the race.
With the race over, I picked up my dropbox and headed to the car. I cleaned up, took out my contacts, rinsed out my eyes, set up my “bed”, and slept until daylight. When I awoke, my eyesight had not returned. My vision was still extremely blurry. I called AJ to warn her that she may need to come get me. I decided that I would walk around the park a little to see how bad my sight was then determine if I could drive. I walked around and ran into a friend. She was kind enough to check out my eyes and let me know nothing looked wrong other then they were very red and irritated.
The sky was overcast and there was no one on the road, so I decided to try driving out of the park to the main welcome area. I was able to without a problem. I hung out there for a little bit, then decided to get on the road and drive to the gas station. I could see the road, cars, etc, I just could not read the signs until they were close. Once I got to the gas station, my eyesight had improved. I decided to keep going.
Epilogue
I made it home safe. By the time I got home, about 80% of my eyesight returned. I decided to rest in bed watching cartoons/movies with the girls for the rest of the day.
Tuesday morning I saw the eye doctor. She was awesome. She ran me through a lot of different tests and examinations. In the end, she determined that I had not done any damage to my eyes and thinks the cause was the swelling of my cornea. She also gave me her cell phone number to call if I do a local race and it happens again.
I am back to normal and wearing my contacts. I am not sure what my next race/event will be, but I have decided to take January off from races/events. With the amount of races/events I did this year plus two 100 milers in 4 weeks, I feel like taking a short break.
