Prairie Spirit Trails 50 mi & 50k

Got my fix,

I knew from the first time I saw the trail, if I ever wanted to run a long one this would be the place.  Well I never imagined it would be so soon. It happened, that the first time I saw Prairie Spirit Trails was while I was volunteering with the Trail Nerds. Bad Ben Holmes, RD of the Trail Nerds asked if I would like to help out at the PST 100 & 50 mile race they were going to run in March of this year. Ben said that as a newbie to the sport of trail running it would be great to see how long distance runners manage themselves, to endure such a distance race.  I thought, great, I’ll jump in and get some good “hands on training” from the ones actually running the race. It was a great time and as many of you know it was a race of a lifetime for most if not all runners, crew & volunteers.

I had the opportunity to meet some new folks at the 100 miler in March; some of whom I still am in contact with. One in particular was Mark Berry from Nebraska. Mark was one of the front runners in the 100 mile race and I was able to witness him and others as they made their way thru our aid station in Welda. I watched him and others as they ate dressed and undressed at our station. All the while I am making mental note of the things they are doing so I might learn all I can.

 As the days and months ticked off I had some correspondence with Mark from time to time as we continued to share running interests. I had run a few races this year and decided that I would run the Flatrock 25k and then make Prairie Spirit my first 50k.  Sounded like a plan … at least that was what I thought. Then on or about the 7^th of October I got this message from Mark saying….” hey Bob, looks like you should be running the 50 miler instead of the 50k, I think you’re ready for it” Mark said. At first I thought wow, what a compliment from Mark, but then I got to thinking, I have never ran any further than 26 miles.  I guess all I needed was to hear someone say “you can do it” because, I gave it a little more thought and I said “Hell yes” if Mark wants me to run with him I’ll be honored, and will be able to witness technique from a seasoned runner. It’s now so close to the race day that any last minute thoughts of how I should train, are out the window. I figured that I had run a lot of hills up here in Wyco and it should be cool, so I started planning my nutrition.

It worked out that I volunteered at the Heartland 100 soon after that decision and got to see Mark one more time before our race. It was good timing also to see more of these crazy people putting themselves thru self educed pain and suffering for a buckle. It worked out that day at Heartland that Ryan Knapp was putting in some time with us at the aid station, ( he was the best), before he went on to pace a runner.  While we were there I watched Ryan get some nutrition ready for his runner and it looked like a product I read about a couple weeks before the race so I asked him.  Ryan what is that?  “It’s Generation UCAN”.  Ryan explained to me the benefits and I was again intrigued.  I now had the last piece of the puzzle for me to go to Prairie Spirit and run with Mark.

Race day had arrived and my son Matt had said that he would run the last leg of the race with me as my pacer. It would be his longest distance also to date. Matt had only run, one other trail race in his life, and that was Flatrock 25k with me a couple weeks prior. So I was going from 26 miles to 50 miles and Matt was going from 15 miles to 23 miles.

Now the race:  The horn sounded and Eric sent us on our way.  The way was a little different than what I expected but it was not a big deal, just a little out and back before we ran south towards Garnett. Mark and I were side by side running and talking and getting to know each other a little bit better as we exchanged stories of family and self. That is one of the things I like most about running with someone is the talking, and how it helps time fly. Talking also is the perfect barometer for pace. Mark had the pace down to a weird science, that is walking running pace, and we were knocking out the miles as we headed south.  The temperature was perfect for both of us since we don’t like heat.  The course is very straight and smooth, which is something I am not familiar with running at Wyco, but it was a pleasant change.  The race jitters were gone and I seemed to be feeling good, and not slowing us down at this point. We reached the first manned aid station and I grabbed some more water and Heed and we were on our way.  I had learned from doing the aid stations in the past that S-caps were great for leg cramps, and I had started to feel the need for some already.  Fortunately I had put some in my vest and started to pop a few.  I was thinking that if my legs cramp up on me this early I’ll suck at this and that can’t happen today.

 I think it was somewhere around mile 18 that Mark made mention that his legs were trashed.  I thought oh no… I hope this is just a little bump in the road. The thing we both now realized was that running a 50 miler two weeks after a sub 24 hour 100 miler might be something that, one should not do. That is exactly what Mark had done.  I know that Mark had made some last minute changes in his schedule to run both races and most likely never really gave it any deep thought as to the amount of demand he was putting on his body in such a short time. Mark loves this stuff and really puts his whole heart into it; I wanted the pain to go away for him.  As we proceeded to the next station Mark was very upbeat but still in a state of disbelief about his legs not being there when he wanted them the most. We had for the most part, stayed on course with our routine of running and walking, to keep close to our pace. I know now as we are running that I find myself just in front of Mark as he deals with the legs that are “trashed”.

We finally reach the turnaround and get some much needed fuel and water, some pictures and I meet up with Matt, my son and my wife Cathy.  Mark’s wife is there too. I tried to figure out how long it will take us to get back to Ottawa so my wife could meet us.  I figured that it would be considerably slower than coming down so I said 4 ½ hours to 5 hours.  Little did I know we would beat those times going back and Cathy would not be there when we arrive.  We got everything we wanted and said good bye and we were off.  We had not gone 50 feet and Mark was not with us.  I thought oh shit, slow down Bob; you started out way to fast.  But as we looked back Mark said, “Don’t worry about me, you guys just go, I’ll be ok, legs are slow now”. First thing I thought was he will catch up and it will be all good, but as we continued to run I saw that it was not going to happen today. Just that short time at the aid station made my feet really hurt.  I was thinking that if they keep up I will have to really slow down myself.  But as we clicked off the miles the foot pain seemed to subside.  I figure now that it must have just been from standing around and once I got going again it was all good. Matt was now wearing my Garmin and directing me when to run and walk, it was a little uncomfortable without Mark now. I had really wanted for Mark to get to know my son during this run but that was not in the cards today. And besides that I would not even be running this race if it were not for Mark.  He was the one that encouraged me to do this, and it sucked, him not being with us.  So now it is all in our hands to get this race done.  The first thing Matt tells me is that he thought I would be wore out when I made it to the turn, and he was surprised to see that I was in decent shape and not complaining yet.

 We kept doing the things that Mark had told me about running a race like this and the miles started to tick off.  As we made it thru the aid stations we passed a couple people and that was kind of crazy. Matt had brought his little speaker for his I pod and we were now jamming to some music.  I remember complaing about the music because he downloaded the music that was not from the original artist and it did not sound the same; Matt said,” To bad, it’s cheaper that way”.  Matt started doing something that was driving me crazy and I told him to stop telling me how many miles we had run.  I really just wanted to know certain things, and I would ask for information when I wanted it. Boy I sound like a real prick don’t I?  I do remember though when he told me we only had 13 miles to go and that was just a little half Mary… and I thought oh, that isn’t anything, just 13 miles, we do that all day. We then made it to the last aid station and Justin was there.  I knew we had this thing beat by now and felt pretty good.  My legs were tight but not cramping up on me.  I never sat down at any of the aid stations and I did not want to start now.  Justin said hey Bob you guys want a shot? I thought well, he just ran a 100 miler and maybe it will be like a pain reliever and I said why not.  Matt and I had the single shot of Bourbon and we are on our way once again. My son Matt was really enjoying being the watch keeper and directing me when to run I think, but got a little upset with me when I asked for longer walk beaks.  I was now really looking forward to the end and I started to ask how many more miles?  Matt then said about 2 more now; I said you mean I just ran 48 miles? He said yep.  It was about that time that I looked up and could see the “Loves” tower.  That single beacon in the horizon was all it took for me to say… “We got this thing beat Matt”.  I felt great now; we were going to run a little bit faster as I had some renewed strength.  We made it under the I-35 Bridge and made the last turn up toward Celebration hall.  I could hear the horns and cow bells ringing as we turned on to the last drive. With much pleasure I ran thru the finish line to be greeted by Eric and a handful of onlookers and supporters. I had told my wife we would be back later and she was still out in town but that was my fault and I don’t blame her.  We got some pictures taken had some water, chili, a cold beer, and waited for Mark to come in.  I was worried about him since we had not seen him for so long.  I did end up seeing his wife and she insured me that he was fine and was about to come in any minute.  Not long after that we rang the bells for Mark and greeted him as he crossed the finish line. I remember him saying, “That sucked”.  I was so glad to see he made it.

At the end of the day I was glad that Mark had pushed me to step up to the 50 miler and running the first part with him and the last part with Matt must have been how it was meant to be.  I will accept that fate and learn from all we endured that day. The distance to me was just right, to test my body and mind, hell maybe someday I’ll tackle a 100 miler who knows.

Thanks to everyone there, in whatever role you found yourself in, I enjoyed it all.

Nutrition:

Breakfast;   “breakfast on the go” nuts and oatmeal mix

1 cup of coffee.

2 servings of Generation UCAN Pomegranate & Blueberry mix, with water.

During the race;

5, S-caps, 40 oz’s of Heed, 40 oz of water,

 2 gels, 1 banana,

 1 Pro Bar peanut butter chocolate chip flavor.

 2 servings of Generation UCAN Pomegranate & Blueberry mix, with water

1 small single shot of Bourbon. 

Flatrock 2013

It all began nearly 9 months ago when I got my introduction into trails at Psycho Wyco 10 mile distance.

That was the first time I heard someone mention the name “Flatrock”.  At that time it was a mere word, that I had no understanding of, or concern with, I was still concentrating on making it around the lake for the first time.  At that point I had yet to go the distance around the lake all at one time.  I had run the road several times, but never ventured very far on the trails. That being said my trail adventures had begun.  I spent the next 8 months chasing the runners in every event I could think to do, I was well on my way to becoming a real “Nerd”. 

Then it started, I figured out that I needed to plan the later part of my year and see what I could possibly accomplish.  That was when I thought… hey, I can try to get into the “Flatrock” event.  So I looked it up and low and behold it was already sold out.  Part of me said it was a good thing because I had no business trying to run such a thing in the first place. But then I got an email from Eric, the “King”.  It was something like this, there was now some openings and if I still wanted, come on in, and get some. I thought to myself what the hell, I have been holding my own on the trails around here in KC, and I’ll go down there and open a can of whoop ass and see how it goes.

Mean while back in my life at home my youngest son Matt had made his way thru 6 years in the Navy and was scheduled to come home soon. I immediately thought, Ill make him like trails like I do, that will be easy. I first started with inviting him to join me on a training run at Wyco.  That went better than I expected and he seemed to enjoy the trails. We ran a few times out there and some road runs at the college and then I told him I had a run at Perry in a few weeks and I would like him to run with me.  He said I’ll let you know.  Then I proceeded to tell him that I also had this run at Flatrock and he could come down with his mom and watch me cross the finish line (what excitement).  It was not long after a couple more training runs that Matt said; I’m going to sign up and run the Flatrock with you.  I said have you ever run 15 miles? He said no, I said ok, this will very hard, but your young, you should be ok.

Now the race was scheduled to go off in the morning and we are in the hotel in Coffeyville looking at the weather report.  It looks like rain in the morning for sure; I said that’s good at least it won’t be hot.  I had had a couple close calls with the heat this summer, running, and had become very leery of the heat. I told Matt and my wife we should be at the start location by 7:45 in the morning and we will have plenty of time to get things set up.  We left the hotel and off in the distance we could see the lighting and the rain started to fall a little.  My first thought was boy, I am glad I am not the “King” Eric, this morning, having to make a call on the weather, for safety sake. But then just as we arrived, a little bit early, we could see in the distance a flashing light of a truck or car was on the road.  It just happened to be right after 7:30 when the 50k runners would have started.  Well they started and here they come.  I wish I had not been driving so I could have gotten pictures of the smiling faces of the runners as they passed by our car.  The one that I easily saw was Dave Everhart; I then realized that this was truly going to be and “Epic” event.  Not even the weather can stop these types of people I find myself with today, they are hard core, and love it.  I wanted to get me some of that, so we proceeded to the start area and waited out our turn.

It was almost like waiting for our turn on the big thrill ride at the amusement park with everyone all excited about what would happen and how they would enjoy the run. As Eric the “King” walked us up to the start line I felt some real butterflies about what was awaiting us.  This course was such that there really wasn't even a glimpse of the trails until you got on the trails.  So we had no Idea of how difficult it would be.  I still felt great because I had been training real hard back home and I felt like these “wheels” were going to roll.

 Matt was pumped and we both decided that at the half way point he would run his own race and see how it went.  Eric gave us a few of the usual thoughts and the biggest smile on his face as he said goodbye and have fun.  Little did I know how much fun I would have on this day. Soon we had made it to the end of the road and started to enter the trails.  Almost immediately the climb started as we got in the conga line up the trail. There were a few words but mostly just people trying to figure out how to find their way on the next twist and turn.  I like to think of these trail runs as amusement park rides and the car that I am riding in just happens to be my body, and I am the silly person holding on for dear life and laughing my ass off as we scurry up and down the hills. The rain was now pretty steady, but it really was sweet. I love running on the cool side.  Matt and I were talking about the cool rock formations and just in awe, of the spectacular views at most every turn. There were a lot of things that I did not really have to worry about since we were only running the 25k this morning, like water and s-caps.  I figured I most likely had enough water in me to make it to the half way point. I could clearly see now that these trails were everything they were touted to be and then some.  The views were movie quality and the trails were very well marked as we found our way almost to the turn around.  It was then that Matt said hey dad I’m going out ahead and see you at the turn around, I said cool see you then.  Now I was starting to lose some ground on the folks ahead of me but It didn’t really  matter at this point, I was having too much fun to worry about being right with someone all of the time. One thing about most of the trail systems here, was that you really could not see very far out ahead of you so when someone left you, they were out of sight in no time.

Then it came, the fast ones were making their way back after the turn around and one by one they went by as I said “great job, you look great” ,and they said the same.  I then was beginning to wonder if Matt was going to wait for me at the turn or just keep running.  Part of me wanted him to wait but that would not be fair to him, so I hoped to see him soon too.  Sure enough here he comes and he looks great.  He said something like it’s not far to the turnaround, good luck. I then knew that I would not see him again until the end of the race.  It was then that the rain had just turned the course into a mud bath.  I really don’t mind the mud, so I just kept plugging away down the trail.  I think there were a couple of people right behind me but I soon lost them in the twists and turns of the trail.  I was now all alone and not really feeling too bad.  My legs were tired but I still had good lungs and felt pretty strong.  This course does not have any real long hills that make you cuss just a lot of little ones that seem to never end at times.   Then as I figured that I was going to run the rest of the race by myself at about the 8 or 9 mile mark, a person came into view to my left.  It first appeared that the person was coming out of the woods after maybe taking a potty break, but soon I heard what happened.  The young lady I ran into was Megan Becker and she told me she had gotten turned around a little and ran into some barbed wire and turned around and ran into me.  It was at that point that I again had someone to run with and talk to. We both were there for our first time but Megan told me it was her first trail race in her life.  I said oh my God.  You are a “beast “for running this course.  Then we just kept talking about the course and how cool it was and how hard it was and how we loved to hate it and hated to love it or something like that.  Then we got to the point where we ran into another guy I had not seen on the course and he said he had run this race 8 or 9 times, and we were only about 1 ½ miles to the road.  I could almost feel the relief coming from Megan as she heard that.  We both were pretty well spent at this point and I had yet to think about how I was going to run the road when I got there.  I am not sure at this point if Megan had given it much thought either.

 So we made our way down the last hill and down on to the road.  The first thing I said to Megan was, hey, you’re in your element now (Megan told me earlier that she had run for about two years it was all road running), you should feel pretty good.  That was the wrong thing to say to her.  She shot off like a woman possessed with a tenacity of an Olympic runner.  I said to myself; let’s see how long she can keep this up.  I kept a close eye on the old Garmin and was freaking out when I looked at it the first time and we were running at a 7 minute pace.  I told Megan you know how fast we are running?  “SEVEN” that’s really fast, you’re killing me.  It seemed like she was in a zone now and there was no getting inside her head now.  If I wanted to run this race with her to the end, I had to man up and hammer down.  I kept saying that I was dying and she kept saying it’s not much further hang in there.  I really don’t know why I kept the same pace with her other than the fact that the little amusement park rider in me was having a blast and the wheels were screaming and had not come off yet so I decided to ride it out.  It seemed like an eternity down that road and so I looked down at the ground in front of me like had been for the last 14 some odd miles.  Then we turned onto the gravel and it seemed as if Megan hit the Nitrous button and blew me off the course as I finished a second or two behind her.  After we finished I told Megan what a race, and that was, like none I had ever ran in my life, she concurred.  I saw Matt at the finish line and got a few high fives from him a hand shake from the “King” and some pictures.  Then it was off to the food tent.  I think I had about three bowls of the chili and drank some coffee.  Damn that stuff felt so good and made me feel like a “King” myself.  My wife Cathy was still in the car since it was raining, and that was cool with me, I was just glad she wanted to come down.  She even took the day off from work to be there.

 I had done what I set out to do and my son had a great time also.  I met a few cool people and ran a race like   I had never run before.

I guess the only other thing I could say would be a big thanks to all of the people out there that crossed my path in the last 9 months and had offered little nuggets of info to me that made it all happen. I am hooked on this stuff and will continue to pursue my painful thrill rides until the wheels come off some day, but I don’t think that will be for a while, so I’ll see you out there.