Last year, my goal was to complete a 100 mile race. (I finished two.) This year, I dove into ultras with no real goal. I ended up completing 5 100+ milers. For those keeping track, that is 7 100+ milers in 14 months, averaging a 100+ miler every other month.
On December 9, 2017, I ran Brazos Bend 100, my last ultra race of 2017. I finished in 21 hours 36 minutes for 25th place overall. It was a fairly uneventful race for me, which was exactly what I needed to end the year. On numerous races earlier this year, my vision became impaired. On my previous race, I was almost completely blind, ripped my leg open on a fall, and nearly went to the ER for dehydration the day after the race. For Brazos, I had a goal of finishing under 22 hours with no vision issues and a stretch goal of finishing in under 20 hours. I achieved my goal, but missed my stretch goal. I also really wanted to see an alligator on the trail, which I am happy to report that I did.
Before Brazos 100, I was very concerned about my eyesight. I still had not found a solution to my vision becoming impaired during cold and/or windy ultra races. I was not able to get prescription running glasses in time for the race, so I had to find an alternative. I decided to pick-up some Goodr yellow lens sunglasses to use at night, plus new eye drops specifically designed to lubricate eyes with contacts.
The race began at 6am with the temperature hovering just below freezing. My yellow Goodr glasses were working great in the dark with my headlamp. I high fived Rob, the horn blew, and I got off to a good pace. About 5 miles in, I started to feel hungry – real hunger. Being hungry that early in a race is not a great sign. Luckily, I brought some real food with me on the first lap. The trail was flat and wide, with a couple of patches of thick, glue-like mud that definitely made my quads work a little extra.
Due to a mistake with trail markers, the first loop ended up being an extra 0.8 miles. I completed the first loop in good time. I dropped some of my layers picked up more food and started off. I stopped at the first aid station to put some eye drops in. The second loop went well, a little slower than my first loop but still on pace for a sub 20 hour 100 miler.
After my second loop, I tried to down some of Tailwind that was in my vest. It turned out that my body heat really warmed it up and warm Tailwind tastes nasty to me. I ended up pouring it out. I needed to figure out a new solution for a calorie and electrolyte drink. One of the great things about Brazos Bend 100 and all TROT races, is that the aid stations are well stocked and run by a great staff of volunteers. I filled my chest bottles with blue Gatorade from the aid station. (I can drink blue Gatorade no matter how warm it is.)
The third lap was fun – I got to see my first wild alligator. I didn’t have my phone with me, so I didn’t get a picture of it, but the photographers got plenty of pics of the gator. With the third lap down and halfway done, I was still under the 20 hour pace, but I didn’t have the buffer I wanted. I hit my dropbox and the aid station and loaded up on food. With a full belly, I started off on the second half at a slow pace. I met Charlotte, an ultra runner from Canada, who also ate a lot and was taking it slow. We “ran” together and chatted for about 2-3 miles. One of the things I love about ultras are the friends you make on the run. There is always a couple of miles you end up running and chatting with a stranger. We also met up with Orlando and Alisha who were running the 50 miler. We all hung out for a bit before I started to pick up the pace. I hit the first station, put some eye drops in, and grabbed a grilled cheese.
The sun started to go down and the temperatures began to drop and hovered around 30 degrees for the rest of the night. For final half of the race, I focused on my pace, keep filling my bottle with blue Gatorade, and grabbing some pretzels at every other aid station.
I finished the 100.8 miles in 21 hours 36 minutes without any vision issues. I wore my sunglasses the entire time, put in eye drops every 21ish miles, drank A LOT of blue Gatorade, and ate a ton of pretzels. I may have found my limit of how much blue liquid I can drink, which I did not think was possible. When the race was over, I couldn’t bring myself to drink the special Cool Blue Gatorade I brought for the ride home. I just couldn’t drink anymore blue.
In the end, I know I could have pushed myself harder and finish in less time, but I had fun. I saw so many friends and other racers that I know and have raced with all year. It was so great to see and call out to everyone running in this year’s race. I am also fairly confident in my solution to my vision problems during ultras. Basically, I made have held back a little on this race, but I feel the lessons learned will have huge payoffs for my races next year.
