Pinhoti 100, Round 2

I towed the line of my 10th 100 miler this past Saturday morning. This was the only 100 mile race I did this year, despite the fact that I like to do 2 a year if possible. But as life would have it, I chose to pack away my dream of giving Hardrock 100 a chance and I pulled out of Run Rabbit Run (a qualifying race for Hardrock) which was in September.  I decided to take my daughter to her soccer games in Florida and spend time with her. I mean, honestly I didn't train well enough to attempt a race like that anyways. Racing at high altitude, with steep climbing... I just wasn't ready for that. So I pulled the plug on it. Thankfully I had also signed up for Pinhoti 100 in Alabama , just in case Run Rabbit didn't go well. I have yet to give up on my Western States dream! This is my 6th year entering the lottery, and I have my fingers crossed for a pick this year! 

Kevin and I left Friday afternoon for Sylacauga. We arrived at the hotel and unpacked. We went over my game plan and where I needed him to meet me. If you know me, you know I have everything meticulously planned out- complete with laminated charts. We headed over to Huddle House for dinner and got in bed by 8 pm.

Race morning started bright and early. We had to board school buses at the finish line at 345 am to make a journey to the start, which was almost 2 hours away. Luckily I was able to sleep on the drive over to Pine Glen and the start of the Pinhoti 100. This beautiful point to point race traverses the Pinhoti trail from Heflin, Alabama all the way to Sylacauga, Alabama. It's a gorgeous trail with lots of thick, dense forest, rocky outcroppings scattered about and lots of creek crossings. I have a whole race report on this blog from 2020 that went over the course as well, so I won't go into too much detail about that again, but I do wanna break this race down and go over what happened this year. If you would like to read about my last Pinhoti 100 race- CLICK HERE

Packet pickup

Trying to bring on good juju with my previous shirt and buckle!

The race started at 6 am central time. I grabbed a quick photo, and within 5 minutes of unloading the buses, we were lined up and ready to start. I used to get extremely nervous before ultra marathons, but I don't anymore. I just repeat the little phrase "I'm going to spend the day in the woods today" over and over. It's my favorite saying for ultras. Well, my other favorite saying is "It can always get better!", but I wouldn't need that one until later on. I dearly love to be outside on the trail, and I learned how awesome a 100 mile trail race can be... when I literally get to be in the woods ALL day and night! Like it's my job for the weekend, to just be in the woods. 

This race has what they call a "conga line" for the first few miles. It's an immediate single track within the first 1/4 mile and basically comes to a halt as everyone tries to enter the trail. So.. if you know, you will start in the front and bust your ass to get up to the front of that conga line as quickly as possible to save yourself some time. And I did just that. I tried to get towards the front of the conga line and save a few minutes, because as you know, and you will see later on... every minute counts. 

I started out a little fast for me, but I knew after I hit that first aid station, High Rock, 7 miles in, I would back off. I just needed to bank a little time. Well, I felt good through the first aid station, so I decided to keep pushing a little and trying to bank as much time as I could. I had a good pace and was enjoying the warm morning and thought, why not? I had made my pace chart for a 29 hour finish, if it went south- I would go for the 30 hour finish. And of course, if things went real sideways- I would just switch over to making the cut offs. 

Aid station 3, Horseblock, about 18.5 miles in is where I asked Kevin to meet me for the first time. I didn't really need anything, but I just needed to see him. If not, I would of had to wait 43 miles before I saw him. The race has implemented a even/odd bib policy for crew. He was only allowed to meet me at the "even bib" crew spots.  I felt really good through mile 20 and I had a great pace going and was well ahead of the 29 hour pace time.  

I had forgotten to get my coffee on the way in, so I had a red bull that hit the spot.

About mile 20, I kicked a small tree stump in the middle of the trail. It caught my left pinky toe and pulled it off to the side. I immediately felt excruciating pain. I have had this happen before, but after a few minutes the pain usually subsides. This wasn't case this time. The pain was so intense. I stopped on the side of the trail to take a deep breath and give it a minute to stop throbbing. Still, as I started back running I had severe pain. This pain would continue on for hours, and would never really go away. 

The leaves on the trail are beautiful, the colors are so vibrant!

Of course pictures don't do it justice.

I continued on despite the pain and at approximately mile 23 I managed to find myself in a "boobie trap". I stepped right into a 4 foot hole covered with leaves and sticks. My entire left leg, all the way up to my thigh sunk. I have a huge bruise on my upper thigh still! I wasn't "injured", praise the Lord, but it definitely didn't feel good. At this point I kind of felt like Pinhoti was out to get to me. I now had a broken toe and bruised quad. I continued on to the longest climb/highest point of the race in Cheaha State Park. When I did this race before it was super foggy and dark and I was unable to enjoy the sites. The top is called Bald Rock and there is a beautiful view. Then you head back down a massive boulder garden called Blue Hell before you pop into the lake and aid station. I was happy to make it down blue hell in the daylight.  I made my way down into Cheaha State Park and found Kevin for an entire wardrobe change and some dinner. This was about mile 43. I grabbed my poles and headed out for what would soon be a long, dark night. At least it was still hot outside- so I didn't have to battle the cold.

The boulder garden known as Blue Hell

I left from Cheaha feeling really good. My pace was great, I was well ahead of the 29 hour finish. My foot was beginning to feel pretty numb, so that was helpful too. And we had some dirt road section to run, so that allowed me to make up more time. I knew i wouldn't see Kevin again until mile 57- Adam's Gap. And that would be approx. 10 to 11 pm. It got dark by 6 pm, so I knew i was in for 12 hours of a headlamp. The long, dark night didn't bother me. I think perhaps because it was so warm out. I was able to endure the evening hours far better considering I was sweating and not shivering! 

When I got to Adam's Gap, I was a little earlier than he expected me. I sat down for a second and contemplated changing into Altra's (a zero drop trail shoe). I took off my Vibram's and got the first look at my toe/foot. Just as I suspected, black and blue. I put the Altra's on... instant pain. I took them off and changed socks and put the Vibram's back on. If I was going to finish the race, it would be in the Vibram's. Kevin made some mashed potatoes in the jet boil for me and I cracked open a coke zero. This food hit the spot and I headed back out. The next time I would see him would be at 530 am at Pinnacle and my best friend would be there as well.

Mile 57, 10 pm

Pinnacle is a 5ish mile climb up. Although it's nothing compared to Coosa or the DRT, it is the biggest climb of Pinhoti 100. The climbing took a lot of my energy/food from me. The day had been extremely hot and I felt depleted going into the night. When I reached the top I was pretty exhausted. I had been in the dark for over 10 hours, mostly alone, and my calories were gone. Kevin joined me here to run, thank God, and carried me through sunrise and the ridgeline. This 13 mile stretch is some of the rockiest, gnarliest trail on the course. We crossed through Wormy's aid station at mile 81 and then headed on to Bulls Gap. Annie would jump in here and get me through to the finish. The section from Wormy's to Bulls was difficult and lasted forever. I was trying to push myself to run but my foot hurt so badly. I settled into a really fast walk and tried to get through the pain. I felt like we would never reach the mile 87 aid station. The trail became downhill, soft with pine straw, and I was able to pick up the pace the last mile as we finally dropped into Bull's Gap, mile 87

Trying to force food at the top of Pinnacle

Nothing like a sunrise to boost your mood!

So happy, thankful and blessed for this man who pushed me through the worst of this race. I was in a terrible mood, lots of pain, and just needed to see the finish. He kept me moving when I needed it most.

I was happy to see the aid station finally, and Annie took over here. The sun was up and beaming, it was gonna be another extremely hot day. The next 8 miles were on dirt road and extremely exposed to the sun. I had slowed down so much, I had lost a lot of time. If I was going to finish, I had to be under 20 min miles. The first 2 miles into the last stretch with Annie I managed to run 13-ish minute miles. I was happy to bank this time because I was unable to maintain this pace any longer. We ran/walked the dirt road and finally hit the last aid station, Watershed. Per the pace chart I had 4.5 miles left from here , all on the Sylaward Trails. I remembered this area to be smooth and runnable from the last Pinhoti, but as memory would serve me... I was pretty wrong. The trail went on forever, the heat was miserable and my foot was throbbing in pain. I kept thinking, this has to be the last miles. I'm almost there. But the finish line never came.

Annie finally said, per her calculations, we still had at least a mile, and I needed to move faster if I wanted to guarantee my finish. As the minutes ticked on, we began to get dangerously close to 1 pm and the cut off. Every little slow down and stop entered my mind. I kept thinking- "if only I had" over and and over on how I could of saved myself more time. The what if's were running ramped through my sleep deprived mind. Finally, FINALLY we encountered a man who told us the finish was 1/2 mile around the corner and down the hill. I looked at my watch, 15+ minutes left until 1 pm. I had tears in my eyes. I was going to be okay! I was gonna make it! 

At 12:47 pm I crossed the finish line of the Pinhoti 100, with crowds cheering and minutes to spare. It was extremely emotional and overwhelming. It had been such a long, hard fight to get there, and I was happy to have it end. And I had my Western States qualifier- which is ultimately what got me through this race mentally. I'm beyond thankful for my Kevin and Annie who saw me through the dark times, and chased me around all night in the woods. They made it all happen and I can't thank them enough. 

I have no idea what is on the table for next year, but maybe.. just maybe... Western States? Fingers crossed!

Race Stats:

**154 finishers out of 282 starters

**25 female finishers out of 50 starters

I always like to compare the men/women ratio at an ultra, just to see how many women showed up. It's a man's world on the trail of a 100 miler - but I will continue to show up and keep pushing for women to get out there and push HARD!!

Bighorn 100

   

     This was my 8th attempt at a 100 mile buckle. I love the 100 mile race- it pushes every ounce of physical and mental strength I have. I try to do 2 a year, one in the spring and one in fall. Why the Bighorn 100? The race is halfway across the country, higher elevation and totally different terrain. Well, Hardrock. That's why. I needed a qualifier to apply again for Hardrock 100 and there are only a few choices. If you take off the list the ones I have already done, the 200 milers, the ones in other countries and the ones that are incredibly hard to get into, there are only a few choices left. So that's how I ended up doing this race to start with. I have dreams of one day getting into Hardrock and Western States- both are very iconic 100 mile races in the ultra world. 

    I signed up and began researching where to fly into, where to stay and other travel logistics. I quickly learned that flying anywhere remotely close to Sheridan, Wyoming (the closest city to the Bighorn Mountains) would cost a small fortune. After watching flights for several months I decided the cheapest option would be to fly into Denver, Colorado. I knew this would mean a 6.5 hour drive and leaving at least 2 days early. I booked a little motel in Sheridan that worked out just fine. 

    We woke up bright and early to catch our 6 am flights out to Colorado. I knew we had a 6.5 hour drive to Sheridan and we would need to stop and stretch our legs a good bit. We had enough time to spare a quick hike in Colorado before we hit the road. We decided Rocky Mountain National Park would be a fun stop so we headed that way. It was definitely out of the way, but we didn't care. We managed to get all the way up to the gate in the long line before we were asked about our "reservations" to get in. I knew that most of the national parks were now requiring reservations, but didn't think it applied to this park. Well we looped into the park long enough to take a picture of an elk and head back out the exit. We were pretty disappointed. We made our way back out to Estes Park and found a great hike just outside the park boundaries. It was about 1000 feet of climb in half a mile. The views from the top were worth it and I got my first taste of climbing at altitude. We saw mule deer everywhere! I loved every second of it. Finally we hit the interstate and took the beautiful drive up to Wyoming. It is some of the most picturesque scenery you could ever imagine. 

My other half

Road trippin' buddies!

The deer were everywhere on our hike!

We stopped 100 times to potty and stretch

    We checked in the hotel pretty late Wednesday night. We all got a good night sleep and woke up Thursday morning in full preparation mode. We decided to have some local coffee then head out to the little town of Dayton where the race started. We went ahead and drove down to where the race actually started. The next morning we would board buses that would drop us off down on Tongue River Canyon Rd. We decided to check out some of the course and went about 1 mile down the trail and back. It was so beautiful! I knew this was going to be a course I would remember forever. 

 After the hike we drove back into town where we had lunch and discussed the plans for the race. There are only 3 spots on the way out crew can see you and 2 on the back. This is not a very "crewable" race, which would unfortunately come back and bite me later. We planned for Annie to meet me at the turn around- mile 48 and finish the race with me. After our lunch we shopped in town and got groceries/last minute supplies. I took a little nap before we headed to packet pick up that evening and attended all the pre race meetings. I packed my drop bag for Sally's Footbridge because I was unsure if Kevin would be able to get to this aid station. 

We picked up our bibs at check in

They wanted each runner to pin their town on the map of the US. There were runners from all over the USA as well as other countries

My main man crew!

The race briefing was in this really cute little park in Sheridan

We found some interesting things in the goody bag from the race packet!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep. I got everything ready for the morning and went to bed. The race starts at 9 am, but the buses began at 630 and went through 830. Crew was allowed to ride the buses to the start with you. We got there about 745 and loaded up. It was cool but not cold. I knew it would warm up over the course of the morning and I decided to wear shorts. I also knew that the first half of the course was very exposed. Luckily this year the temps were very mild and only reached 75 mid-day with lots of cloud cover. I have heard tales of highs in the 90's with scorching sun! 

Annie got stuck with a "talker" on the bus ride out to the start

My bus buddy

Start line photos

The first 2 aid stations are reached very quickly. Tongue River at mile 1.5 and Lower Sheep at mile 3.5 . Both of these aid stations had pretty much water only. I realized at Lower sheep that I didn't pack a SINGLE THING to eat in my pack. Lower sheep only had oranges for food so I just ate a small orange and kept moving. I decided I would get some snacks to take with me at the Upper Sheep aid station which was about mile 8.5. Looking back this was a huge mistake. I know better. I know nutrition is so important and I didn't realize that I would be climbing so aggressively in the mud so soon into the race. Imagine my poor little bodies surprise when the Upper Sheep aid station never comes. Eventually.. several miles down the trail we see where the truck has slid off the road from the mud and was unable to make it to the aid station. The sweet volunteers had walked water and a few little mini candy bars down to the trail to top off water for thirsty runner. I got 2 or 3 little candies and kept on moving. By this point I was over 10 miles in and absolutely starving. I came across a runner who offered me a pop tart to last me until we arrived at Dry Fork. Dry Fork was the first spot to meet crew and the first real aid station on the course. This was mile 13.5 of the race. In those first 13.5 miles I climbed almost 5000' feet. Most of which was in thick, nasty Bighorn mud... which made it 10x harder and had me burning 100x the calories. I started out in a deficit. And if I had it to do again... I would go back and pack food and eat it! 

The Tongue River Canyon area was absolutely gorgeous!

After the canyon we began our long climb up, up, up through the open fields of the beautiful muddy Bighorn Mountains!

I was literally all smiles. Everywhere I looked it was just so beautiful. I couldn't help but smile. 

This mud was something else. I had no poles the first 13.5 miles so I basically was trying to just stay upright! The slippery mud was very difficult to run or even walk through.

I picked my poles up at the aid station where I met Kevin and Annie.. 13.5 miles in.

I had a delicious BBQ sandwich and Gatorade from Kevin and Annie at the Dry Fork aid station. It was good to get food in me. I grabbed some food from the aid station to put in my pack so I could try and stay up on my calories. There were 2 more aid stations before Sally's Footbridge which was at the mile 30 mark and had my drop bag. I feel like this section went by pretty slow. I tried very hard to meet someone on the course to run with. I think this is always very important for me. I am a social person and I need someone to run with to distract me and speed me up and pull me along. I never found anyone to run with. Strike 2. I was behind on calories and I had no one to run with. There was more mud on the sections from Cow Camp to Bear Camp. I felt like this section just dragged on forever. I was ready to get to Sally's and hit the 30 mile mark.

I finally arrived at mile 30- Sally's Footbridge. This was one of three aid stations that could have crew. This aid station was 2.5 hours from Jaws (the turn around and next crewable station). Sally's was very difficult to get to. It required I high clearance 4x4 (which we had rented) and a lot of long dirt roads. Once at the aid station area, crew would have to hike in another 3/4 mile to meet their runner. Based off this information- I chose to leave a drop bag here with warm clothes/snacks/socks/headlamp, etc. I knew that I would not make it to Jaws before dark so I would need to dress warm and have my headlamp ready. Jaws would be at mile 48- I had 3 aid stations that I would cross before reaching the top. This 18 mile stretch would be a long, slow climb and with dropping temps and thick mud. I grabbed my jacket, long sleeve shirt, pants and gloves. I threw my hand warmers in my pack but I was unable to find a sock hat in my bag. I'm not sure what happened to it- but it would later be a costly mistake. I only ate potatoes and avocado at this aid station. I remembered later on they said something about burgers but I never saw them at the aid station. I grabbed a couple of granola bars for my pack and began my climb up and out of Sally's. It was rocky and a tough climb. It was still warm out though.  

The rocks headed out of the Sally's aid station were intense!

The trail followed the river for a couple of miles. The river was rushing a crazy amount of water over the rocks. I stood and watched 

I reached Cathedral Rock aid and refilled my water pack. I ate a few crackers and carried on to Spring Marsh. The stretch from Spring Marsh aid station to Elk Camp was the most brutal, miserable section of the race for me. I had ducked behind the aid station tent to put my warm pants on and put my jacket on. I was getting cool but not super cold at Spring Marsh. I tried to eat a little something but the only food was snack items and nothing really stable to eat. I was not nauseous at the time, and still able to eat. But what I was consuming at the aid stations was no where near enough to make up for the calories burned. None of the aid stations I encountered had any sandwiches/soups/wraps. I needed more calories. I activated my hand warmers when I changed into the pants, but shortly after I headed out of Spring Marsh I noticed they were not getting warm. It was getting darker and colder. The climb to Elk Camp was long and cold. My body temp dropped to the point I was shaking due to the wind blowing across the mountains, the temp dipped into the low 30's. I didn't pack a sock hat and only had a thin buff on my head, my handwarmers were trash and I was low on calories. I thought about quitting right there. I could not imagine carrying on at this point. I was too cold to think about anything else but being cold. I finally made it the 3.5 miles to Elk Camp. I decided that I would sit by the fire and eat some food and take the time to get warm before I continued on. I'm not 100% how long I stayed at this aid station, but it was definitely a while. Based off my watch mileage I spent about 45 mins here getting warm and convincing myself to carry on. Once I warmed up my core and had a little broth I mustered up the courage to make the trek to the top.. Jaws Trailhead. I knew Kevin and Annie were there waiting on me and she would run the rest of the race with me. 

It was very cold and very dark by the time I rolled into the Jaws aid station. I checked in and got some broth. I had missed my crew somehow in the parking lot, so I had to circle back around and find them. I quickly got dressed into warm clothes, a sock hat and fresh HOT hand warmers. We filled my water and I sat In the warm car and tried to eat some burger. I wasn't hungry and the burger didn't sound good. I left the turn without much fuel in the way of calories. I should of eaten more here, but I was so worried about getting warm and making up lost time that is didn't focus on my food. 

Annie headed out with me from the aid station to make the trek back. The miles from Jaws back to Elk Camp are very runnable downhill... when it isn't flooded and full of mud. It took us longer than anticipated due to the slipping and sliding through the black mud. I moved very well thru Elk and Spring. The sun came up around 5 am so we had very little darkness (I didn't even turn my headlamp on until 10 pm). As we headed out of Spring we saw a moose grazing in the field beside us. It was awesome! We finally rolled into Sally's Footbridge at mile 66. I tried to eat a little something stable, but found nothing to speak of. Food wasn't going down easy and nothing sounded very appetizing. I changed out of my warmer clothing and we made our way back onto the course. The climb out of Sally's to Bear Camp was downright miserable. Awful. Horrible. I believe this is referred to as "the wall" and I sure hit hit- head on. This section gained 2,500 feet in 3 miles and it was torture. All the last bit of calories/energy I had left in my body were used to climb this section. When we hit the aid station I was dead. I forced another granola bar down, some electrolyte caps and filled my water up. We made our way to Cow Camp- which was a very long 7 mile stretch. I started crunching numbers in my head and things weren't looking good. I knew I would need time to slow done for the final stretch to the finish, which would need to be done by the 35 hour mark. Ultimately, I would need more time. When we left Cow Camp aid station- mile 76.5 , we had 6 miles to Dry Fork. We would meet Kevin there and I could get food and change clothes. But as we made the trek to Dry Fork I knew I would need more time. If I had 30 mins to sit and eat a good meal, I could finish. But I just didn't have the extra time. I was moving too slowly. 

I think was shortly after it had hailed. We had been up at the Cow Camp aid station when it just randomly started hailing. Which was a really first for me! The hail were pretty big and hurt when they hit your skin. It didn't last long , but definitely added to my adventure!

When I had the realization that I wasn't going to make it to the finish line in the amount of time I had left- I slowed down and enjoyed the last 6 miles. We took pictures in the fields of flowers, laughed, talked.. and just enjoyed the last of the ride. It eventually became very difficult for me to walk more than a few steps without severe nausea so I was beyond happy to make it to the aid station where Kevin had the car waiting with a delicious grilled chicken sandwich! It was freezing at this aid station, it was at the top of a hill- the wind was blowing and it was starting to rain. I crawled into Dry Fork (mile 82.5) at 3:04 pm. 4 mins past the cut off. Man- WHAT A RIDE! 

The parking area for crew was .5 mile even further up the hill. So my sweet husband, who had been out in the cold for hours waiting on me to get into this aid station, walked up the hill in the rain to get the car and come down and get me. The only shelter from the cold, wind I could find was behind the medical vehicles. As we got into the car, the race directors asked if we had room to transport another runner who was cut back to the finish area. We agreed and had quite the entertaining ride back! Through conversation we learned our new friend knew many of our people and had run many Georgia races as well, including Cruel Jewel! 

I loved every second of the race/trip. Having Annie with me made it even more special. 

The muddy aftermath when we got back to the hotel!

A few more pics of the intense Bighorn mud!

We got back to the hotel for showers and a quick nap then headed out for pizza. We got up the next morning with intent to hike in Colorado on the way back to the airport. After some discussion we decided to take "the scenic route" back and it did NOT disappoint! We saw mountains, snow,  pronghorn antelope, buffalo, windmills... and so much more! We drove through Rocky Mountains and had rooftop dinner overlooking  the lake in Dillion, Colorado. It was literally one of the most incredible experiences of my life. From the road trip, to the race- all of it was breathtaking and magical!  

The remote areas and beautiful views were amazing.

Becka had sent me a bighorn to wish me luck before we left. I took him with us and he rode around in the front of the rental car all week!

We didn't have a signal for most of the 7.5 hours we drove back. We stopped at a rest area out in the middle of no where and found an emergency phone. 

Another of our road side attractions- bathroom stop at a gas station!

We stopped at the "Mangy Moose" for lunch, the food was definitely mangy.

I just loved the fields of big, massive windmills

The majestic snow capped Rockies!

Lake Dillion

Lake Dillion was absolutely breathtaking!

We had dinner and drinks at "The Vue" which was a rooftop restaurant with the best view and drinks you could ask for. The food- not so much.

Watching the sunset over the Rockies was a highlight!

So, I didn't walk away with the buckle. That's the fist DNF for me, ever. I've been racing for 11 years and have never quit a race. I definitely do not feel this race to be a loss. I loved every minute of it and I am proud of what was accomplished as a little ole' Georgia girl who had no idea what running in the Bighorns of Wyoming was gonna be like. I can very easily pinpoint what ended this race early for me. The many nutrition mistakes that I made, not having poles from the start, not having warm gear, not making friends from the start... all these added up to a DNF. If I had more time, I could of finished- but like I said before, that wasn't an option. I ran out of time. But there will always be another day. Another race. Another adventure.