Such high hopes for this race. The Hallucination 100 is held basically in my back yard, and on trails that I have spend a great deal of time on. One would think that given the (relatively) easy nature of the course and time of year, a fast time and a great result would be possible. The race is not without it's challenges, however. The 4pm start on a Friday afternoon is a little iffy. 6 loops - no matter the course, just plain sucks. This year in particular, it seemed that Michigan waited to drop the hottest and most humid day this summer on the starting day.
I started my day at work at my usual time. I tried to plan out specific times to eat so that I would reach the start line feeling full and ready to rock. This proved to be more difficult than I expected. After some nutella filled tortillas for breakfast, a bit of chicken pasta for lunch and two more nutella tortillas a couple of hours before the race, I found myself 15 minutes pre race just feeling empty. I took a gel just to get something going and lined up for the race. I lined up pretty close to the back of the pack to ensure I wouldn't start out too fast. This may or may not have been a bad idea, but I hated the choice as soon as the gun went off. With all of the 100 mile and 100 k runners starting at the same time, I spend a tremendous amount of time walking at a pace so slow that it was uncomfortable. Once the pack thinned out a bit by the first aid station, it was ok. I was feeling pretty good aside from the heat and humidity. After passing the first aid station, there is a long flat section that leads to the Potowatomi section of each loop, which I was really looking forward to. I passed a lot of people on this section and started having fun on the mostly downhill section on the Poto. I had to really hold back to make sure that I would finish the 16-17 mile loop in about 3:30. At about 12 miles into the loop, the weather shifted and got quite crazy. Tornado sirens sounded, the wind picked up and was so powerful, it was snapping trees in half and dropping branches on runners. Fortunately, I wasn't one of them. I came into the main aid station right on target at 3:28:47 and it was pretty crazy to see tents and canopies flying away. I was really just in and out, grabbing more water, a couple gels and my headlamp.
On the second loop, I was able to make up a bit of time at the beginning of the loop since there was not anyone in front of me. The second loop was really uneventful (unfortunately for this report). I was having a little bit of problems with cramping in my legs, but nothing too terrible. Really, it was just enough to make me think twice about pushing the effort too hard. The rain during this loop was a welcomed addition. I think it rained for nearly the entire loop.
The third loop was very much a repeat of the second. On the long flat section leading the the Poto section, I met up with a runner named Charlie who seemed latch onto me for the mile-ish long section. It was his first 100 miler and we mainly just shot the shit until I took a walk break. He then caught up to someone else and I didn't see him until around mile 40 or so. We ran together for the next few miles until I dropped him on the flat section leading back to the Bridle trail section leading back to the start/finish. I was really happy that I was feeling so good at this point. I left the last aid station of the loop after a quick stop to change the battery in my headlamp and got down the trail. Shortly thereafter, I stopped to go to the bathroom and noticed that there was blood in my urine. I worried about my kidney and if there was something really wrong, or if it was some typical ultrarunning trauma. I tried to get moving but my mind had already started shutting my systems down. I became tired, my legs started to hurt, my stomach felt sick and I just plain got scared. I soldiered on, trying to force myself out of my funk and I made it in to mile 50 and sat down in the chair with Christy and told her what was going on. I asked for her advice and she just deferred, asking me what I thought I should do. The smart thing to do was to stop and not risk damage to my kidney. After a long deliberation, that is exactly what I did. Gathering my things we made the long walk to the car where I checked my phone and found out that the power had been out at the hotel for several hours. My day would not be finished there (That is another story)
A week after the race, my body is back to normal. My legs feel like I haven't run a step in weeks - better than I've felt in a very long time. My "plumbing" is back to normal and short of having a little bit of a cold, I'm in great shape. After an intentional complete week away from running, I am ready to race with a renewed enthusiasm. I've got the Foothills 50k Frenzy in Boise a little over 2 weeks from now. Even crazier, I registered for the Javelina Jundred in Arizona at the end of October. Though this season has felt like my worst yet, I just might be able to finish on a good note.
One can hope...
