Subject: Rocky Raccoon Report for 2002 (LONG) From: Dale Perry Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2002 14:35:24 -0700 I went down to Texas with two other Colorado buddies, Ron Wright and Vince Gerber, spending two days to drive down. We just missed the freezing rain and snow in Texas. We stopped along the side of the road outside of Wichita Falls and took some photos of the ice-laden bushes, fences, signs, trees from the earlier ice storm. Very pretty, but very nasty. Luckily the roads were clear. We also beat the freezing rain coming home Tuesday. We managed to get to Dumas Tx (45 miles N of Amarillo). Woke up to drizzle and slick sidewalks. 10 miles out of town, no precip, just winds. We were very lucky on the travel weather. Race weather was ideal (at least for me). About 30 degrees race morning, never getting much above mid-50's and it got down in the low 40's at night. A big contrast from last year's 31 degree night run. I was comfortable temperature-wise the whole run. I entered this year's run pretty much on a lark and at the last minute. I've been battling with the cause of my severe bloating (edema) for a number of years now during 100 mile events. Last year I gained 10 lbs at Rocky and looked like the Pilsbury Dough Boy at the finish line. I spent this past year doing blood work, stress echo cardiograms, etc. to try to find a possible medical problem. Nothing showed up. The only other reason was probably nutritional. I also gained 10 lbs at WS last year, as well as at Leadville and at Arkansas in 2000. I spent a lot of time researching this angle, and I came to the conclusion that it may be my energy drink I have been using for years now; namely, the use of simple sugars in my energy plan that may be the culprit. I'm not a biochemist and don't know all the technical stuff, but what I can gather from what I have read is that long term use of simple sugars like fructose, sucrose causes an imbalance in your body that tends to hold in more water (can't process it efficiently) which leads to bloating. You biochemists out there can probably explain it better than I can. I found a product that claims to prevent this (doesn't contain simple sugars). I also cut out a lot of sugar in my diet a few weeks before the race (hard for me to do as I love chocolate) to try to rid my system of whatever is I had so I can go at it with a blank slate at the start. So one goal was to try to get this bloating under control. My other goal was to try for a sub-24 hour time. This would involve doing something I've never done before: going easy the first 60 miles. Last year, I went out to fast early and died the last two loops of the run: loop 1: 3:37; loop 2: 4:02; loop 3: 4:31; loop 4: 6:03; loop 5: 5:47. Since I averaged 4 hour loops during the first three laps last year, I figured I could try to manage 4 hour loops consistently the first three loops, then try to do 5 to 5.5 hour loops for 4 and 5. That would put me around 22 - 23 hours. I used a heart rate monitor the first three loops to try to keep me in range of my early goal: tend to stay in the 130 range (easy to low moderate for me). This was invaluable for me to keep me from going with the fast guys who passed me a lot on the early loops. I've learned through experience that I tend to go out fast at the start and pay for it later in spades when I crash and burn at the end. We all started the race in fairly cold temperatures, but not overly frigid. There was some frost on the bridges and such, but I was comfy. I used my mini LED light for the beginning, and it provided ample light to keep me from stumbling over the many roots I would encounter during the day. I ran with fellow SLUG (St Louis Ultrarunners Group) Jim Stroup and we agreed to try to keep each other honest by going out nice and easy on these early loops. This was Jim's first 100 miler and he wanted a finish bad. So we stayed with each other for most of the loop. As with any race, no matter how many times I use the crapper pre-race, I always have to go within hours of the start. As Jim and I were about 3 miles out of aid 174 (mile 7.3), I mentioned I was going to have to make a visit to Mr John soon. When we arrived at 174, Jim tended to his needs, and I to mine. I saw Jim waiting for me and told him to go on and not wait for me. I soon felt wonderful again and started to run again. Got to the turnaround and saw several another SLUG Mark Williams helping out at the aid table and the wife of another SLUG James Mercer helping out as well. Got weighed, with no loss of weight, but no gain either. So far so good. Looked at my watch: 3:48. Pretty close to my goal so I headed back out to the car and changed into lighter clothes. Loopp 2 was equally fun and relaxing, and I was able to keep the heart rate in the 130's for the most part. Played cat and mouse with Jim, caught up with Vince at 174 who was running with Pat Gorman and his band of merry people. Soon I got to the turnaround, got weighed (down 6 pounds!), checked the watch (3:54 split) and headed back out. I was a bit concerned about the weight loss and figured it might be dehydration (it wasn't hot, but maybe the crapping was taking it's early toll on me). I decided to try to push more fluids. Big mistake! Loop 3 found me making 4 trips into the forest losing yet more precious fluids. I also lost some time making those visits (about 30 minutes or more I'd say). I caught up with Pat Gorman who offered me some Immodium (I had forgotten mine back at the car) and things started feeling a bit better. I saw Jim coming back from the 2/3 turnaround and the 50 mile mark. I hit the 50 mile mark in 9:54. It then hit me why I was having stomach problems: I was pounding the fluids and energy drink too much too fast! I felt pretty stupid doing such a rookie mistake. I got to the turnaround area with a 4:38 split (ouch!). Got my bottles refilled (without my energy drink) and got weighed: lost another 2 pounds! I wanted to try to clear the gut with what I had before using it again. Since it was getting dark, I took a visit to the car to change into warmer clothes, replenish my drugs, energy drink, and pick up my LED light for the night. Spent about 8 minutes here and managed to take off with Pat and his friends. The loop I was dreading was finally upon me: loop 4. The loop from hell. The Dark Side of Rocky. I managed to keep up a good pace with Pat, but soon faded and had to take another pit stop. By the time I got to aid 2, I was feeling pretty low. I walked the 2.2 miles to the turnaround hoping I would rejuvenate. I ended up walking the way back to aid 3 (mostly downhill) feeling the dreaded bonk. When I got to aid 3, I immediately sat down and ate two cups of bean and rice soup. Yummy. Had some water, and just tried to catch my breath. Not long after, Pat came up and immediately plopped down on a sleeping bag. I was entertaining thoughts of that dreaded DNF. The thought of going out for one more loop was too much for me to handle. A friend from Boulder, Paul Pomeroy, soon arrived (on his final 5th loop for a 17+ hour finish) and offered to walk out with me. Since I had started using the energy drink again and the soup was starting to make me feel better, I started running after 10 minutes. Soon, DNF was not in the plan and I started feeling more and more alive with each running step. I came to what I call the Enchanted Forest (roots, trees, hills, and roots) and actually ran most of it! Got to 174, stopped for some more soup, and walked up the hill outta there. Then I was running again. I looked at my watch and realized I still have a good shot of a sub-24 hour finish, despite the crap stops and 20 minute aid break. I've heard from a lot of people how amazing you feel after a bonk if you just stop and take a short break. I was completely different person now, and a new believer. I got to the turnaround, refilled my bottles, and got weighed again: gained 3 pounds that loop. My split was 5:35! Even with the bonk I was right on target for loop 4 time. I now had 6 hours to get it done for a sub-24. Went for a quick visit to the car and headed out for my last loop. I made every effort to run when it felt comfortable since I have a hard time making out the terrain in the dark. Not sure if this was a little hill, but if it felt easy, I ran it. Got to the turnaround (mile 90) with a 3 hour split. Great! Most of the rest of the course is downhill, so I knew I could get the second half done in less than 3 hours. Kept on running the flats and downhills, walking the ups. Ran through most of the Enchanted Forest. I got to the boardwalks marking the edge of the lake and 3.5 miles to go in 23:04. I had less than an hour to get it done under 24 hours. I pretty much decided to keep running the rest of it. No walks. No stops. No matter what. I got to the Interpretive Center (less than a mile from the finish) at 23:34. I knew then I had it licked. I kept on running though, just to make sure I had plenty of time to get in under 24. Crossed the finish line in 23:43. I went to get weighed, but they said it wasn't necessary. I wanted to anyway to see what I lost or gained, and gained yet another pound. Only a loss of 4 pounds for the day. Pretty good in my book. A very successful trip for me: I got the bloating issue finally resolved, I did a PR for 100 miles. Not bad for a last minute decision. I now have two Rocky buckles: one brass (2001) and one pewter (2002). Nice collection. Bitch of the race: aid stations 1 and 2(3) started running out of stuff (coke, soup, sandwiches). I was on a 24 hour pace, I wonder how it was like for the later runners. Not a good thing. Dale ________________________________________________________________ When I die, I want to go peacefully Dale R. Perry like my Grandfather did--in his sleep. 325 Broadway R/E/FS6 Not screaming like the passengers Boulder CO 80303 USA in his car. (303) 497-6050 perry@fsl.noaa.gov ________________________________________________________________