Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Trail Run - DNF

Last year at the 2011 Rocky Raccoon 100 mile trail race, I had a great night of running and made it over 75 miles before my inexperience in nutrition took me out of the race.  This was supposed to be the year that I set the record straight.  Things did not go according to plan.

Let me start by contrasting the races this year and last year.  Last year’s 100 mile trail run was the weekend of a severe ice storm.  Starting temperature, while clear, was 28 degrees.  All of the footbridges were covered in ice and running after dark was bitterly cold.

This year, temperatures were better, but conditions were miserably rainy.  I thought that would make things better, but it actually made the event harder.  I base this on the fact that last year’s finishing time was nearly 45 minutes faster than this year’s time.  As we pulled into Huntsville State Park at 5AM on race morning, the sky opened up and torrential rain came down.  Not just rain, but a true storm.  Lightning lit the sky and I had time to think about just what I was getting myself into.  As we prepared to line up in the start area, I made a last-minute decision to switch into running tights instead of shorts and to run in my Houston Dynamo rain jacket.

Rain at the race start (taken from Ian Sharman's blog)

I went out at a quick but comfortable 12:00/mile pace with Sarah and the two of us ran the 10k to the Dam Road aid station uneventfully.  The torrential rain had already created some massive puddles and runners were presented with the option of running right down the middle or trying to skirt the puddles.  I was very conscious of my nutrition and calorie intake after last year.  I had spent a lot of time working with Penny Wilson on getting together a race day plan and I intended to stick to it.  At my Dam Road drop bag, I topped off my water again and grabbed another Perpetuem packet.

We ran the 6.5 mile Dam Road loop without incident as well.  This part of the course was not as boggy and featured several long inclines that gave me walking break opportunities to spin my waist pack around and get at the food I had picked up.  In this case, it was four rice balls wrapped in seaweed.  I was consuming calories at about the limit of my ability to take them in.  I wanted to set the tone early for how I planned to eat throughout the day.  We made it back to the Dam Road aid station at the 20k mark and again I grabbed another packet of Perpetuem and topped off my water.  My hydration and my nutrition were spot on.  I also grabbed a packet of potatoes to eat on the move.  I was spending an extremely short period of time at the aid stations, which was another thing I wanted to do better from last year.

From that point, I passed through the Park Road station and eventually, Sarah and I finished our first loop at mile 20.  We came in at 10:02AM meaning our first loop was just a touch over four hours.  That was a little fast, but not taxing for the first loop and besides, it was nice to know we had a little cushion of time for later on.  I topped my water, but missed Alida who had my drop bag.  As I was running out, I told her to meet me 5k later on at the Nature Center, which she did.

One thing that did strike me as odd about the first loop was that I was beginning to feel some fatigue in my quads.  That didn’t seem right to me.  I had two solid weeks of rest and I certainly wasn’t running hard enough to have tired quads so soon.  I resolved to slow the pace a bit and be more attentive on the second loop.  As we went out on the second loop, the 100 mile leaders were already coming in at the end of their second loop.  Ian, Hal, and Karl led the way with race numbers 1, 2, 3.  By the time I got to the nature center, my quads were noticeably fatigued and it was starting to concern me a little bit.  I was only 23 miles into the race—not even ¼ of the way finished.

By the time I made it through the Dam Road station again, I was really sore to the point where I wanted to take some walk breaks every now and again.  Something had to change or else I was going to be in trouble.  I just couldn’t figure out what was going wrong.  My hydration, nutrition, and calorie intake were right where they were supposed to be.  I crossed paths with Stef, who was running her first 50-miler.  I was proud of the way she had been approaching this race and we trained together on a few long runs leading up to this race.  It was good to run with her.  Eventually, we reached the 50-mile cutoff and she turned right whereas I had to go straight.

After Stef split off, I stepped behind a tree to relieve myself.  This was good.  Having a full bladder meant I was managing my hydration properly.  What was not good was when my urine came out the color of coca cola.  At first I thought it was blood, but it reality it was much darker.  This is when I knew I had a problem.  I have done all kinds of long distance training runs and ultramarathons in the past and I’ve never had this happen before.  I called Alida on the phone and told her of the troubles with fatigue I was having and my most recent shock of the kidney issue.  We decided it would be best to finish the 6.5 mile loop back to Dam Road and then ask someone about it once I got there.

Once I hit the 28 mile turnaround and unmanned timing mat, my legs were so tired I almost could not run at all.  Even hiking felt like a chore.  I called Alida again and we discussed the very real possibility of me having to drop out of the race before I was even 1/3 of the way through with it.  It turned out I would never even make it to the next aid station.  It got so bad I had to stop at a park bench and rest for a few minutes.  Eventually, I had the energy to walk a half mile or so to the next park bench on the dam itself.  Looking across the lake I could see the finish line close by even though it was over 8 miles away by way of the race course.  I decided I could not continue.

I called Alida and told her to have the race crew either send an ATV to pick me up or if possible, to send a boat across the lake.  It turns out they were able to send a boat, which was much shorter and faster.  As I sat and waited for the boat, it began to rain again and I got colder and began to shiver.  It was early-stage hypothermia, but I was not concerned because I knew I would be picked up in a matter of minutes.  It was still pretty unpleasant though.  Final score: 30.5 miles.

The boat picked me up and took me to the medical tent.  I laid on a cot and they covered me with blankets.  Once I warmed up a little bit, I was able to get some chicken soup down.  When I described my strange and seemingly unrelated symptoms to the doctor, she immediately told me it sounded like I had Rhabdomyolysis, which I had never heard of before.  Apparently it is not all that uncommon in ultra distance runners.

Rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle fibers that leads to the release of muscle fiber contents (myoglobin) into the bloodstream. Myoglobin is harmful to the kidney and often causes kidney damage.  Symptoms include: Abnormal urine color (dark, red, or cola colored), Decreased urine production, General weakness, Muscle stiffness or aching (myalgia), Muscle tenderness, Weakness of the affected muscles.  Well heck, I had five of the six symptoms right there.  But why did I get it here and now?  The most common cause of it in ultra runners is dehydration, but I had been very careful in taking in the right amount of fluids throughout the race.

Most importantly, the doctor told me that I should drink a lot of fluids and electrolytes.  If I can flush the color from my urine, then I’m good to go, but if I cannot, then I need to go to the emergency room.  I didn’t like the sound of that.  I drank a ton of water, chicken noodle soup, and Gatorade and eventually, everything came out clear like it was supposed to.

The reason for why I experienced this was a complete mystery until the drive home the next day when it all came together.  I had made a last-minute decision to run in my Houston Dynamo rain jacket.  It did a good job of keeping my upper body dry and warm, but it removed all ventilation.  I had wondered why my running shirt was soaking wet under my jacket and why water would pour out of my sleeves every time I lowered my arms.  I just assumed some rain had gotten into it.  After looking at the results from my Garmin GPS watch, I see that my heart rate was also far higher than it should have been right from the start.  I'm not exactly sure about why this is, but I do believe that was a factor as well.  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/147545601

I was disappointed to have to drop out of the race for the second straight year, especially considering I had put so much effort into training and preparing for it this time around, only to be taken out of the race by possibly the last thing I would have imagined.  All I can say is that I will be back again next year with yet another hard-earned piece of wisdom and experience.

I would like to give thanks to everyone who donated toward my fund raiser for Team COCI.  Even though I was unable to meet my goal this time around, I can assure you that this money will go to children who are in great need all over the world.

I should mention I feel fine now (unfortunately) and I believe the danger has passed.  Next stop: the Tahiti Moorea marathon!