San Diego 100 – October 22-23, 2005

I decided to do SD100 as my second 100 miler because I was trying to find a 
race that I might be able to do with a little less training than I did for 
WS100, no major altitude, low chance for scorching heat, and relatively close 
to home. 

When I told Stan Jensen of my plan, he said “Why choose a hard one?” I 
corrected him that SD wasn’t a hard one. After all, it only has about 15000 
feet of climbing. As usual, Stan knew more than me. 

My training went fairly well. Although I did less total mileage (about 
55/week average), I did longer long runs including 2 X 50 miles (Tahoe Rim 
Trial and Grand Teton), one crazy night run on Mt Diablo, and a bunch of 
other runs over 35 miles. I think I never fully recovered from Grand Teton 
just 4 weeks before SD100. Plus, I got a deep massage for no good reason 
thinking it might help my flexibility. In fact, it gave me stabbing hip-
flexor pain in the weeks prior to the race. It was fine on race day but it 
messed with my mental preparation. 

The race: The course is really beautiful if you like desert mountains (I 
do!). It is gently uphill for the first 25 miles, then shadeless and rolling 
for about 15 miles. The trail is rocky, but early in the race it doesn’t seem 
so bad. I train on virtually rockless trails, so the rocks slowly wore me 
down. Then, it was downhill with some good running (smooth dirt road) to the 
turnaround. 

I got to the turnaround on 27 hour pace, but I had a feeling it was going to 
be a long night. I had a blister but more importantly, I was getting sick of 
my Hammer Gel. The gel I had been using with great success for years (Lava 
gel) had recently become unavailable, so I was experimenting with Hammer Gel 
on race day. As a result, I wasn’t eating as much as I should have been, and 
therefore I was slowing down. My buddy dropped at 38 miles so both his pacer 
and mine joined me at the turnaround for the slowest 50 miles of our lives. 

After hiking back up to Lucky 5 (mile 62) I was tired and not that cheerful. 
It seemed like every time I accumulated some energy that might allow me to 
run or go faster, the course would hit me with just enough rocks and hills to 
deplete me again. Then around 4PM, I started getting very sleepy, probably 
due to low blood sugar plus the fact I had been on the move for 22 hours. 
During my first 100 miler (WS), I never felt sleepy at all during the short 
night. Now, I was caught without caffeine pills with 2.5 hours until light. I 
tried sleeping at the 80-mile aid station, but it wasn’t working. So I 
staggered until it became unsafe, then I would sit and sleep for 30 seconds. 
This allowed me to continue for 10-15 minutes until my next forced micro-
sleep. It wasn’t so fun. Once it started getting light, I felt much less 
sleepy.

In the last 15 miles, there were short sections of rockless downhill that I 
was able to run, but mostly it was a death march. My feet hurt and I think I 
never really got on top of my nutrition. But I kept moving and finished in 
29:19. I was a little disappointed in my time but I was pleased that I kept 
going until the end.  I was 2 hours slower than my WS time, but I think SD 
should be about 1 hour slower than WS given equivalent performances. Without 
my pacers, it would have been less safe and even less fun. Plus, my friend 
who dropped and his crew became my crew, making me the best supported runner 
in the race! 

What I learned: 1) If the race is on rocky trials, you should really train on 
rocky trails. Not doing so is like training on flat trails for a hilly 
course. 2) Unless you are used to it, deep massage is just as likely to hurt 
you as help you. 3) I shouldn’t have run a hard 50 miler one month prior to 
the race. 4)  I should have carried caffeine pills. 5) I should have dealt 
with my blister as soon as I felt it, not 30 miles later. 6)  If possible, 
don’t experiment with new nutrition during a long race. I had no choice. 7) 
Lastly, 100 mile runs are really hard if you aren’t having your best day.

The race was extremely well-organized and beautiful. Thanks to all who made 
it possible. 

Alex Sox-Harris