Hopefully you’ve enjoyed following my journey throughout the process of preparing for my first 100 mile run, the Savage 100. Throughout the year, I’ve been providing regular updates of my progress. If you want to reread or read for the first time any of the previous updates, all of the links are below.
- Why run 100 miles?
- The training and racing plan
- Napa Valley Marathon & goal setting
- The importance of building a strong base of fitness
- The real training begins
- Running a lot while avoiding injury
- Two crazy prep “races” – Part 1
- Two crazy prep “races” – Part 2
- Twin Cities Marathon & Final Race Prep
With that, let’s move to to the race recap.
The Savage 100
For those not familiar with ultra running, they are usually run on trails (not roads) and this race is no different. It consists of 6 laps of a 16.7 mile loop with around 2,000 feet of elevation gain per loop. The first 5.5 miles are the most hilly and most wooded. The middle section is actually a horse trail and is more flat and the terrain consists of grass and plains. The last 4 miles go back into the wooded areas and is once again more hilly as you loop back to the starting point.
There are five different aid stations on each loop including the start/finish. Aid stations are not something you run through and quickly grab a cup of Gatorade. Most of the time, you’ll want to stop and eat & drink as many calories as possible before leaving again. The food generally available are things like pretzels, cookies, sandwiches, soup, etc. Beverages include water, heed (electrolytes), and soda (for caffeine and sugar). It’s ironic that ultras include the foods and beverages we mostly try to avoid on a day to day basis.
There is a 32 hour cutoff if you start the race at 5 am like I did. You could also start at 1 am if you wanted an additional 4 hours to finish (hard pass for me).
The day before
The day before any race is always filled in anticipation and anxiety. I spent most of the afternoon packing and planning out my race strategy. Given the early start time, my friend and I decided to camp at the start. I think this ended up being a good move because the tent was also available for our families if needed and could hold some of our supplies during the race.
We didn’t get the best sleep in the world but waking up a 4 am at the start line was better than waking up at 3 am and driving in. Next up was the race!
Race day
The race started at 5 am so it was pitch black. In fact, most of my first lap took place in the dark.
It is very hard to pace a race this long correctly. I knew slowing down each lap was inevitable but I didn’t want to start too fast either. Using my heart rate from my watch as well as my perceived effort, I tried to keep a slow but steady pace at low effort early on. I also know the course pretty well at this point which helps know places you can consider pushing a bit harder.
My main goal was to keep the pace and effort very easy for the first 50 miles. In my head, the real race didn’t start until after this (sounds crazy I know). Given that I had never ran more than 50 miles in one day before, there were many unknowns in the second half so I wanted to be as fresh as possible during this stretch.
Entering uncharted waters
When I started lap 4, I still felt pretty good and was able to run a majority of the time. Every step was further than I ever ran before. There was additional motivation for me to finish this lap as fast as I could since I knew the next two laps would take place in the dark. Plus, there were still a decent amount of people on the course and cheering me on, including my own personal fan club.
The final two laps were slow, but steady. I had a harder time seeing more than anything (apparently my headlamp needs an upgrade). I barely saw anyone on either of these laps. To keep myself entertained, I listened to 5+ hours of podcasts to help keep my mind off the fact that my legs were getting tired.
I ended up finishing a bit after 4 am in 23 hours and 5 minutes. Finishing a race at 4 am is a bit strange since there was literally nobody there except for Lindsay and one of the race volunteers. Overall, I finished 4th out of 25 100 mile finishers (there were 56 people registered). I was definitely happy with this performance so all of the hard work paid off. Thanks to all who supported me through this task and especially those who came out on race day!
Where do I go from here?
What does a person do after finishing a 100 mile run? Well, for one thing, I’m taking some time off from hard core training. I ran 1678 miles and biked another 765 over the past 365 days so I think it’s time for a break. I have no “planned” training over the next month though I will likely work out plenty since my recovery is going better than expected so far.
After that, I’m tentatively planning on returning to triathlon training for 2020. I have a goal of finishing an Ironman before age 40 (before 2023) so I need to get my swimming and biking back up to snuff. But I plan to continue trail running in the future because it offers a nice change of pace from endless miles on the road. And considering I ran in ultra races over the past 4 years, that will likely continue as well.
Planning for this epic year of running started almost two years ago so I’ve been focused on this goal for a long time. I always like looking forward to the next challenge ahead. Always remember, the journey is more fun than the destination!
