Rim to River 100

Preamble. It was a little disorienting on Friday to go from 12 hours of travel immediately to the race briefing. On the other hand, it was super efficient and got me into the race mindset right away! We did build in some buffer time, but our flight was slightly delayed… I suppose that’s why you have some buffer. The race took place in New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia. Bryant Baker, the race director, was brimming with passion for the area and the opportunities for kids to experience the outdoors that this race helps fund. It was a no-brainer to be swept up in it and in the small, dedicated trail running community of Fayetteville. There were 100 returning racers (out of about 225)! At registration we talked with Hyperlyte founders Emory and Jeremy about the recent Hans Troyer documentary and advice for 100-mile races (go out slow). We also saw Dan Green, who had come to pace his training partner to a new course record (taking down his own). It’s so cool how runners push and support each other in this sport!

Thanks. Special shoutout to the entire Rim to River Endurance Co. for handling the unexpected land slide and course reroute that happened midday (luckily no one was hurt!). It was also so cool and personal that Bryant was at so many of the aid stations cheering us on and at the finish line to give congratulations. The organization and care are probably a big reason people keep coming back. I also of course have to thank Kevin for traveling with me and crewing and being down for big adventures!

Preparation. I recovered extremely well and quickly from the Ironman in July and was excited to get on some trails for the rest of the summer and fall. Most of my trail “running” happened on the extremely technical trails of the White Mountains — the exact opposite of the flowy, 100% runnable trails of the New River Gorge. So, my training was mostly flat pavement running 4 days a week, some stadium stairs, and 1-2 trail run/hikes the other days. In other words, basically no race specificity. On the positive side, I got in a lot of vert and felt on race day that muscular breakdown was not a limitation (and I wasn’t even sore the next day??). On the negative side, I wasn’t prepared to just run for 20+ hours on, well, relatively non-technical trails. I knew this going into the race. I wasn’t planning on trying to run 100% of the race. My goals were to complete the race, enjoy it, and stay calm in the face of any challenges like nausea, bonking, cold, or other things that made me panic in the past. My mantra would be “it’s fine, you’re fine.” I thought it would be interesting and informative to see what broke down and fatigued first during a race of this length.

Start to mile 20. (By the way, despite the race length, I still did a 5-10 minute running warmup before the start!) I started the race with no pack on because the first aid station was at mile 7 and I planned to pick up my pack there. This was a good decision! I think not wearing a pack made me feel like I was just going for a safe run in the woods rather than some long remote trek, which took some pressure off. Also I figured the less time I wore the pack, the longer my shoulders would hold up with it later. We were off to a good start. I think my pacing was great, and I was following two guys who were talking about the last time they ran here and the turtles they rescued off the trail, which was just so wholesome. The trail at the beginning was definitely a little technical, especially in the dark, as leaves covered the rocks, roots, and uneven ground, but maybe this was for the better for pacing! At the mile 7 aid station I saw Kevin and he handed me my pre-filled pack, which made for a nice short pitstop. I had planned to take a cup of Hyperlyte and a Huma gel from every aid station (they were the fueling sponsors), but after trying this here I realized it was a time-sucking plan and ditched it for the rest of the race. The sun was rising, birds were waking up, and next was a nice rolling gravel section followed by some smoother, though still leafy, trails. At this point I encountered a couple runners who must’ve cut the course because they rejoined the singletrack at an intersection with a dirt road, and I was definitely in front of them… Anyway, the next little trail section had a slick unavoidable rock that I was warned about when I heard an exclamation from the runner in front of me (out of my view, but in my sound range!). That was fun and reminded me of all the great adventures we’d been having in the Whites. (Though there were a few trails in this race that had some technicality, nothing compares to the Whites, like not even close.) The next fun part was a little stream crossing and then a short “technical” ascent to an out-and-back, which the leading runner was already coming back down!! I overheard some runners talking about the train through the Gorge and how last year they had to wait for it to pass before continuing their race. I figured if that happened to me I’d use the time to fuel so wasn’t worried one way or the other. Plenty of pros get time penalties in triathlon and go on to win the race. It was still nice not to see the train coming though when I did cross the tracks! It was also on this first out-and-back that I saw the leading female runners, and they were cruising! I recommitted to running my own race. This meant taking the short technical downhill return a bit faster than most, and I somehow, on the very last step-down, tripped, over-stretching the top of my ankle/shin forward. It was fine after a few steps and I thought nothing of it. The next four or so miles felt very long. It was pretty though — the sun had fully revealed itself and the gorge was on my right. Unfortunately I started feeling nauseous, and I slowed considerably due to this. Eventually I wondered if it was because my tights plus shorts together were too tight around my waist, so I moved to the side and took off my leggings. It was warming up anyway. This helped for a short while, but I think it was a placebo effect because a few miles later I still felt quite bad.

Miles 20 to 40. Around mile 20 there was an aid station, and since I wasn’t doing well with gels I filled an entire bottle with Hyperlyte to use that instead. After the aid station there was a short paved hill which everyone was hiking up, so I did too. I also figured it’d give my stomach some time to settle. Unfortunately it still didn’t, and I was reduced to a run the ups because there’s less jostling/walk the downs to minimize jostling on the next section. Take what the trails give you. I didn’t worry. At this point I’ve had a good amount of experience with nausea and it always passes eventually, even if it takes 20+ miles! Overall this was a very nice stretch of trail. We were along the mid-rim of the gorge and had views down to see the water. Next there was a fun section past some rock climbing rocks (everyone said hi!), then a little out-and-back to Long Point, a viewpoint of the New River Gorge Bridge (apparently the longest steel span and the third-highest bridge in the United States!) where I picked up a keychain to prove I’d done the out-and-back, and finally a short smooth section to the next aid station around mile 40.

Miles 40 to 60. The Bike Farm aid station was hopping with energy! I saw Kevin and was surprised/happy to see that the two Hyperlyte guys were chatting with him. They remembered me as the person from Boston and gave me fist bumps and words of encouragement too! For this first stop I decided to drop off my pack and just take two handhelds to switch things up. After a nice downhill section that would’ve rocked if it weren’t for the continued GI issues, I came into another aid station. There was some good energy here too, and I was off again quickly. After passing over a little picturesque bridge and climbing a bit on the road, I exited onto another trail section, also frustratingly runnable, continuing to execute my strategy of running up and walking down. At this point I got passed by a few people, which I am so unaccustomed to because usually I pass others as the race goes longer! I was definitely still struggling stomach-wise. Oh well, this was part of the experience. Luckily there was still a lot of course left and I figured I’d catch them later. In this section there was a distinct long straight dirt road where I could see a few people far ahead. It was a slight uphill, so I ran it, and I counted steps: 50 steps, sip of drink mix, 50 steps, sip, 50, sip… until the hill was over. I actually started feeling a bit better after this and ended up running the next smooth downhill section, which was a huge morale boost. I came into the aid station at mile 53 pretty happy. I’d also set a 50-mile PR, which was fun. I took my pack back, this time with night gear in it too, and was off again. It was refreshing and exciting to be heading back toward the start/finish line! I did pretty well on the way back to the Bike Farm aid station, feeling alright and running nearly the entire 1700 ft climb back to mile 63. I was thinking to myself, woah, it’s been a 100k and you’re still running! It’s fun to go in without really any expectations.

Miles 60 to 80. I was starting to get some hot spots on my feet, so I decided to change shoes from my usual Hoka Challenger 8s to Adidas Agravic Speed shoes. Looking back, I think this was the biggest mistake I made all day. I’d worn the Adidas pair once for a good and fun 10-mile trail run. They felt very similar to the Evo SL road shoes, which I love. But now that I think back, I do perhaps remember feeling some anterior tibialis discomfort towards the end of that run and maybe brushing it off. I’m not sure why they would cause this, but it became a major issue. I would way rather deal with a few blisters than the high ankle pain I ended up getting. Anyway, at this aid station I also heard that the course was rerouted and that got me a little disappointed. But, off I went before I could think too much! It was dark now so I turned on my headlamp. The fact that the entire daytime had passed was baffling to me. The next section of the course went alright, as I put on some music and it was a pretty lightly rolling section. It would have gone better if I’d actually been able to see though: my headlamp seemed so dim! After the next aid station around mile 70 I started to have some more… shall we say, challenges… the high ankle pain was running out from under from my control, and I started to develop a foot drop since I couldn’t dorsiflex that foot anymore. It wasn’t absurdly painful, but this combined with the dim headlamp made me so worried about tripping. I kept telling myself, it’s ok, you haven’t tripped yet. But then I did start tripping and that slowed me down to mostly a power walk for the rest of this section. This made me sad because I felt so strong still and really wanted to run, and of course I started wondering what the point of all this was. I decided I was doing it for the experience and the stories and to enjoy the time on trails by myself. “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” came on and it fit my mood so perfectly I put it on repeat for a bit and got lost in time… “we all float on alright.” During this section I also peed a number of times and was proud of my hydration throughout the race (very much just drank to thirst and made sure I had some salt). As I was tilting my head to drink from a front bottle, I had the dreaded trip and fell pretty hard. A rock gouged out my knee, and the cut started dripping blood onto my white shoe. I was a bit distraught at this point, and though I had first aid in my pack I didn’t want to stop. Funny because I called Kevin intending to DNF at the next aid station for fear of tripping again and also just worsening the ankle injury. He told me I was fine and to just keep going but call back if needed at the aid station. By the next aid station I’d decided the dripping blood looked intense and didn’t really consider stopping anymore. I still think it would have been very reasonable and a good alternative decision had I dropped.

Mile 80 to the finish. Once I was sure I would go to the finish I took a caffeinated gel. My stomach was sloshy at this point, but again nothing I hadn’t experienced before. I figured I was well-hydrated and drank basically nothing for the rest of the race (it was getting colder too!). My power-walking prowess was improving the more I embraced the arm swing, and I started passing people! I got a few, “good job, man” comments, which were funny because, well, I’m not a guy. I embraced the last climb, feeling strong, and controlled myself on the last descent as to not trip again. Finally I hit the last little downhill of road and let the legs flow, finally without fear of tripping, to the finish.

Post-race. Rim to River made beautiful mugs for the top 10 finishers, and I was happy to get one! I was quickly getting cold though, so we cheered in a couple more runners then headed to the warm car. On our drive home we cheered for a few more finishers who were bombing (or hobbling… depending) down the last stretch of pavement to the finish. Despite the seat warmer and heat, my teeth were chattering. When we got back to the Quality Inn (P.S. this was a really high-quality Quality Inn), I showered, took some Tylenol, and ate some bread. My left ankle had some bruising laterally and redness and swelling anterior-superiorly, so I also iced for a bit before going to sleep. I’d deal with that as a future me problem.

Reflections.

• I approached this race with nonchalance yet respect for the distance. I thought just enough about it to be prepared, but not so much about it to build it up in my head. This mental approach worked well for me in this situation and has also worked well in the past (and with things outside of running).
• Many different taper strategies can work! I have a few different ways I’ve found work for me, and I personally like switching it up depending on the race demands. For this race, I did a 24 mile run with 6k of vert one week before this race and then a very hard step taper.
• A lot of things went well. Aid station transitions were quick. I liked the shoe change to manage blisters/hot spots instead of taping my feet (though I’ve never tried the latter). I was fully prepared for the cold (emergency blanket, hand warmers, gloves, buff, hat, jacket with hood, leggings). Carb loading for 3 days before went well (liquid carbs were great for reducing fullness!). I avoided getting sick all fall (yes, I wore a mask around, but it was worth it).
• It could be fun to have a pacer next time but I also liked being out there relatively alone in a relatively safe environment. Crew is so key though! Big props to Kevin for executing well on his first go and also making some new friends chatting at aid stations along the way!
• Overall I was disappointed that it felt like injury prevented me from exploring the fitness and strength I gained over the summer. On the other hand, I got to do something new, and if you don’t try, you won’t learn!

Because results can be fun: 7th female overall, 28th overall, out of 235 starters (75% finishing rate). Time was 21:20:47.