On august 17th and 18th I set out on my second running of the Run-de-Vous 100 miler. Last year I went out to this race and set my 100 mile personal best time of 23 hours 50 mins 44 secs in the 100 mile distance. This was my first and only time that I had run a 100 mile race in under 24 hours. I made 2 attempts before but fell short both times at the Rocky Road 100.
A year later I found myself back at the Run-de-Vous 100 miler once again. In the back of my head I had the goal of a sub 23 hour finish. I wasn’t too sure if this was going to happen because just 2 weeks prior to this race I ran a very difficult race in Cool, California call the Cool Moon 100. Out of the 25 people who entered the Cool Moon 100 miler, I was 1 of 4 people that finished. I had also never run two 100 mile races so close together before. I was a little skeptical about what kind of finishing time I could realistically pull off at the Run-de-Vous 100.
I went into the race with a few time goals. I wanted to basically run a 2 hour half marathon, 4 hour marathon, hit mile 50 somewhere close to 10 hours, and then just hold on for the last 50 miles and see what would happen.
I hit the half marathon about 5 mins slower than I planned. I didn’t let it get to me because it was a little warm out so I figured my pace would be a little slower that planned. I knew that I would be able to hold a decent pace in the evening once the sun went down.
I was slowly starting to get a little hungry and my friend Leigh brought me a KFC chicken bowl when I reached mile 44. It was nice to have some real food since all I had only been taking in so far was Gu and sports drinks all day.
My goal was to hit mile 50 around 10 hours into the race. I ended up hitting mile 50 at 9 hours and 35 mins. I sat down and changed my socks and got some food. I was able to get back moving within 10 mins. My goal at the last few races has been to eliminate the time I tend to waste at aid stations and time I spend just sitting and resting. So far I was doing a pretty good job.
I hit mile 70 just as the sun was going down and I was feeling really confident about my sub 23 hour goal.
When it got dark I switch to a caffeinated sports drink and Gu that had caffeine in it as well. This helped me stay awake in the later hours of the event. I feel like I’m finally getting my caffeine intake during these long events figured out. I basically eliminate all caffeine the week before my race, then during the race I still continue to avoid caffeine until it starts to get dark out.
I kept up with my slow but steady pace throughout the night. I began to realize that I was maintaining my pace and that I was going to finish well before my previous expected time.
All through the evening and early morning I kept moving, only stopping to use the porta potty. My goal was to eliminate wasted time at this race, and it was working very well for me.
When I crossed the finish line I was well under my goal of sub 23 hours. I happy to say that my finishing time was 20:35:45
I feel like I’m learning more and more every race. I’m keeping things basic and not over thinking things like I use to.
Hopefully I’ll take what I’ve learned from my past races and be able to apply it to this weekends Headland 100 race. The Headlands 100 was my very first 100 mile event that I ever ran. I ran it in 2010, proposed to my girlfriend at the finish line of the race when I finished in 2011, went back in 2012, and now I’m heading back for a fourth year in a row in 2013.
Hopefully I’ll run a decently fast race at the Headlands 100 this year. I set a big goal for myself and hopefully everything will fall into place.
Until next time…
KEEP RUNNING!!!
