Back to Running

Two weeks after the Iron Horse 100 and I got back on the horse yesterday with a very slow and easy 5 mile run through beautiful Golden Gate Park.  Still some residual soreness in my right foot as those small bones continue to heal.  Added 30 minutes on the spin bike to stretch everything out a bit.  I should be ready for some longer trail running in a week or two!

Fat Bastard and Captain Morgan circa 1997, Key West, Florida.

Once again, take a look at this Fat Bastard here!  I'm at that place again where I've been slacking and have grown soft, physically and with respect to my discipline.  So I am once again getting back at and doing the things that I know work: Fat Secret, Crossfit, etc. in preparation for OT100 2013.

After 2 DNFs in a row at Ozark Trail I went looking for an "easy" 100-miler, like a down-on-his-luck prize fighter I needed a patsy to get my confidence back.  I had not run more than 15 miles since I dropped at 90 miles with a torn calf at OT back in November.  The Iron Horse 100, held every year on a rails-to-trail course in Florahome, Florida seemed perfect.  It's a flat course consisting of four 25-mile out and back loops so it can be run with a minimum of crew support.  In it's 8th (or 9th) running I figured the bugs were worked out and since the race is run a couple hours from my mother-in-law's retirement community and the Orlando airport, it seemed perfect.

I arrived 2 days before the February 9, 2013 race and sequestered myself in the race hotel, the Florahome Holiday Inn Express to do my prerace mental preparation. The hotel offered a special rate for runners and also hosted the prerace briefing Friday night.  They also catered to runners by putting out the breakfast service extra early the morning of the race.  The RD promise the 6pm race briefing would be well short of an hour and it was, with all the crucial info covered in detail.  This included a pre-race weigh-in to get a base weight. All 100-mile runners were required to weigh in before the race and then have another weight check at the conclusion of the 3rd loop, at 75 miles.

The start/finish/aid station #1 is located 13 miles from the hotel and offered plenty of parking.  I arrived to find many runners had set up their personal aid stations along the first 1/4 mile of the course and two burn barrels going for pre-race warming.  The RD repeated the race brief for late comers, as promised at about 6:30 am and the start went off right on time a 7:00 am.  The race includes a 50-miler and a 100K so there were about 150 people gathered at the start on the asphalt trail.  The race starts with 1.75 mile out and back to the west of the start/finish/aid station #1 then a 4 mile leg back to the east.  A total of 3.75 miles at the beginning of the loop is run on this asphalt path before it gives way to the original railroad bed of dirt and rip rap that had originially composed this part of the trail.  In addition to the new asphalt, the railroad tressels had been replace with proper bridges so it was no longer necessary to navigate over the 2" x 12" planks as in prior years.

After the initial 7.5 miles of rails-to-trails path the course comes to a 3 way intersection of East-V and West-V roads.  These are fire roads alternately composed of hard pack macadam and loose, soft sand.  At the first time through the 3-way you head up East-V road to Aid Station #2 for a p-shaped loop which brings you back to the 3 way intersection.  Then it's up a gradual 3.75 mile climb to Aid Station #3 for a 7.5 mile out and back to the intersection.  This section is the most trying part of the course, especially later in the race it seems you will never get to the top!  Once back at the 3 way you have 4 miles to go back down the path, half rocky trail, and half asphalt, to the start/finish/aid station #1.

I set out with a deliberate easy pace (remember I NEEDED a finish, not a PR!) of about a 20:00 finish.  I had made a pace chart for 20 hours and 22 hours, knowing I would slow in the darkness and fatigue later in the race.   I ran and chatted with a few runners on the first loop but by the second and subsequent loops we were spread out enough that I ran alone the rest of the time.  During the day the aid stations were manned by the local Navy Junior ROTC kids.  Each of the aid stations were moderately stocked with chips, cookies, M&Ms, etc, as well as Hammer Nutrition products (a race sponsor).  I use only water and S-caps for electrolytes and hydration and Lara Bars for nutrition, so I mostly took a little of whatever looked good at the aid stations. 

I finished my first loop at 4:40, a little ahead of my planned time.  The out and back section allowed me to drop my hydration pack with a volunteer for refilling and I grabbed a handheld bottle to do the out an back section.  When I got back my pack was ready to go so I grabbed my visor and put on some suncreen, grabbed a hamburger and went back out for another loop.  This time I came back in closer to 5:00 hours on my second loop and my crew (wife Chia and her mother) were there with my gear all set out.  I again grabbed the hand held bottle while they prepped my gear to start the night running.  Once back from the 3.5 mile out and back I grabbed a grilled cheese, my head lamp, hand held light and hydration pack and went out for loop 3.  Night fell about 2 hours into this loops and I slowed down even more.  The aid station crews had switched over and I began to hear about a lot of 100 mile runners dropping out from the heat or dropping down to the 100K or 50 mile race.  It  became even rarer to come across another runner on the course with maybe thirty 100-mile runners still on the course.  Aid Stations #2 and #3 had not yet gotten the night chow ready, but I had some luke warm chicken noodle soup at Aid Station #2 and then slogged up the hill to Aid Station #3 for similar chow.  Back at the start finish I repeated my routine and had another hamburger as I set out on my last loop.  I had finished the 3rd loop in 6 hours and was now onto my 22:00 pace chart.  My quads were getting really tight and I was forced to stop and squat to stretch them throughout the 4th loop at ever-shortening intervals.  By the last leg on the 4-mile path I had to stop every 10 minutes or so to keep going at any reasonable pace.  I'm sure the other runners wondered if I was doing something else right in the middle of the course when they saw me squatting like this throughout my last loop.



As I entered the asphalt 2-mile section of the final loop I switched off my headlamp and ran in the dark so I could see the glow of the finish line in the distance.  I don't know what my pace was but it seemed to take forever!  Finally I crested the small rise about 1/4 mile from the finish and I could see the red race clock in the distance.  I stopped to stretch/squat one more time so I could look good running into the finish, and came in at 22:34 to be greeted by the RD, my wife, and a few hearty spectators.  After a brief photo session of the sub-24 buckle presentation we loaded into the car for a quick ride back to the hotel for a shower and a nap, then hit the hotel breakfast for a cup of coffee and conversation with a dozen other runners gathered there.

All in all the Iron Horse 100 is a very well run race and an easy, flat course.  It's a far cry from the rugged Ozark Trail 100, but it gave me a 100 mile finish that I hope will inspire me to get back on my training plan and get me to the end of the OT100 in 2013!

Race results were posted the day following the finish.  I placed 11th among the 61 registered 100-milers, only 29 of whom finished the 100-mile.
-->

	Leg Time	Leg Pace
Leg 1	4:43	11:19
Leg 2	5:13	12:31
Leg 3	6:00	14:24
Leg 5	6:38	15:55
Total	22:34	13:32