2018 Rocky Raccoon 100 - All About Celebrating The Little Victories

My racing over the past couple of years has been all over the map. My sub ultra distances have been blessed with PR after PR. My ultra distance finishes have left me "satisfied" mentally, but I've left those races just feeling...blah.

I came into the Rocky Raccoon this year...let's just call it "undertrained". After the 2017 Equalizer 24 hour where I managed a measly 67 miles after a strange pop in my foot which turned out to be the result of nothing more than just being REALLY cold for 14 hours. I was just tired. I felt amazing during the race for 14 hours. The weather was windy and the windchill was ~20°F or colder for most of the day and I gave it what I could. I had a total of one...yes a single run of over 15 miles since November 1st...and that happened two weeks before Rocky. I spent a fair amount of time working on my climbing, doing stair workouts and even jumping on the occasional bike or rowing machine. The fitness level was there, the running piece wasn't. It's not that I didn't want to run, I just needed to work on some areas I felt were lacking in my fitness. I was still working out HARD and when I did get the runs in they were hill repeats, tempos or ladder runs. The intensity was there, but the distance was not.

I LOVE this race. Even in the middle of the race when it sucks, I love it. And that is the draw back to it every year. The people are amazing. The course is awful...I mean beautiful... 😏 and the community is unbelievable.

Because of the historic flooding the Houston area got in 2017, the course was altered and consisted of four 25 mile loops with much of it having two way traffic the entire course (more to come on that) and the communication beforehand was great from Chris and his team. They put in many man hours getting this course ready for us racers and you could totally tell.

My trip down to the race was pretty non eventful....oh, wait....my whole family, including myself came down with the stomach flu the weekend before the race...so that was pretty awesome. Nothing like spending your evening bent over a toilet puking your guts out less than a week before running 100 miles in the woods...lots of fun.

I got down to Texas on Thursday and Friday were spent hanging out with my friends and their kids and just trying to relax. I love this family and it's like a mini reunion every year. They are such great hosts.

This year, I tried my best to not let myself get so stressed out about the race. I went into it with one expectation and that was a finish to get my Western States qualifier. I put very little out on social media about my upcoming race. I didn't want the external pressure...which isn't even there...to weigh on me. I wanted to keep it as quiet as I could and not draw a lot of attention to the race. I would say that 90% of my friends and family don't even care that I do these things, but I feel like if I am constantly posting about it, the pressure will intensify within my own head.

Friday evening rolls around and we head up for packet pickup and once again I got to meet "The Godfather" Gordy Ainsleigh. He was back for yet another crack at Rocky. He's an incredibly fit 70 year old that has very little care for the pre-race hype. This year he was carrying around a bag of something and drinking a gallon bottle of spicy tomato juice from Kroegers...yeah...I don't get it, but that's just Gordy. He's truly a legend and one of the nicest guys in the sport.

Saturday morning was almost a blur. I woke up around 2:30 for no apparent reason than I just needed to be up. I wasn't nervous. I didn't have to poop. I just woke up. I watched a couple of episodes of "The Office", got dressed had some coffee and a PB/Nutella/Banana wrap and we were out the door by 4:10. The environment at the start line of any race is infectious, but the thing I love about this race is the nervous faces of those who've never done one of these before. Because of the time of year and the relative ease of getting into the race (no qualifiers), this race attracts A TON of first timers. You see the nervous pacing, the hopping, the stretching, the deep breathing. Me? I was just trying to wake up and figure out if I had enough time to poop again 😃

With just a couple of minutes left before the gun went off, Byron and I said a quick prayer and just prayed for strength. I prayed for protection. I prayed just to make the day as much fun as I could. Prior to leaving for Texas, I love to watch running movies. My favorite are from Billy Yang with my favorite being LIFE IN A DAY...I won't explain...just watch it...but before the race I had sent a message to Kaci Lickteig and thanked her for being an inspiration. She sent a message back and reminded me to "smile every mile" and to just enjoy the day. And that's what I was going to do.

As we run out of the start, we're on a really wide jeep road that allows the crowd to spread out quite a bit. The crowd was relatively quiet compared to the other years that I had done the race. I don't know if people were more focused this time or if they were still waking up. Within the first mile, wonderfully awesome roots of the Rocky Raccoon reared their heads. The historic flooding in the greater Houston area had caused some major problems with the trails and the washout caused the already terrible roots to be exposed even more. We had received communication earlier in the month letting us know that the course would be altered (four 25 mile loops compared to five 20 mile loops) and that a lot of the course was going to be two way traffic and the roots were even larger....I think Chris undersold HOW much large the roots were 😉

I'd found out late last fall that I have a liver condition which prevents my body from processing sugars as quickly as other people and can cause me to get extremely dehydrated during these events and could be the culprit of my stomach problems. Before the race, I made the conscience decision to eat minimal sugar, if any, during the race to see if I could avoid the stomach issues I'd had in the past. The focus was going to be on eating ACTUAL food supplemented with my Spring Energy gels and TONS of water. This concept worked for our forefathers so why shouldn't it work for me too.

Let's just start this off by pointing out that it either rained or I was wet from the humidity ALL DAY!!!!! Just thought I would preface

Loop 1 was awesome!!! Sure the roots sucked. Sure I rolled my ankle 8 times. Sure it was raining, but I really felt great. The course allows you to run, but the roots really do a great job keeping you from running too hard. I ate, I drank and I was merry. During the first loop I had the pleasure of meeting Magdalena Casper-Shipp. She's a recent finisher of the Tahoe 200, knew who the G.O.A.Tz were, has a Masters in Library Science and used to work with nuns at a library in Illinois. Super interesting lady. It was really great to spend much of that first lap getting to know her.

At this point in the day, the trail was really great. It was tacky, but not muddy. "The Gate" aid station caught me off guard a little bit and even though they added an aid station in the middle of the Damnation loop, that section still sucked...even on the first loop.

Coming into loop number one (4:50 time elapsed), Byron was there volunteering. I found him, did a quick addressing of a blister on my left foot, called my wife to let her know how I was doing, ate and was back out in less than 10 minutes. Right where I wanted to be. As I walked out of the aid station covered in cheese from the most glorious quesadilla I've ever eaten, I came to the realization that right now is where my stomach usually revolts...let's see if the no sugar thing was actually going to work.

Loop 2 was a lot of the same. I was running. Drinking. Eating mostly quesadillas, bacon and my Spring energy gels. I had decided before the race that I was going to carry handhelds instead of my pack for as long as I could to try and coax myself to being more conscience of drinking. I had the goal of drinking the equivalent of one handheld (I was carrying two) in between aid stations and I was doing really well. I was forced to stop for a total of 30 minutes this loop to address some blisters I was starting to have because my feet were just wet.

The rain had been coming all day. I was really pleased with my choice of wearing an Icebreaker merino wool long sleeve shirt (which I was given by my great friends at Active Endeavors) with the anticipation that I could stave off getting crazy cold out on the course. I've struggled with regulating my body heat in races before. This was going to be my "something new" during this race but was appearing to be a great choice. I was staying warm in the cold rain, but didn't find myself overheating. I did have a spell between Damnation out and Nature center where I chose to wear a garbage (ala John Kelly from Barkley style) just to give my core a break from being rained on.

Seeking my newest sponsorship from Hefty garbage bags

As I came back into Damnation from "the loop from hell"...roughly 43 miles in...I found a volunteer and asked if I could celebrate something with him. I grabbed him by his shoulders and screamed "I HAVEN'T HAD ANY STOMACH PROBLEMS AND I'M STILL RUNNING!!!". He looked at me like I was nuts and just said "...umm....cool?". It made me laugh manically and I ran out of the aid station.

I found Byron at Nature Center, asked him to grab my UVU windbreaker, ate more quesadillas some pickles and ran out on my way to finish out my 50 mile loop. I was feeling amazingly as I heard "on your left" behind me. I knew that voice. It was Sabrina!!!!! I had seen her all day and was so excited to be passed by her. She is one of the most amazing athletes in MUT running and one of my favorite people to follow on social media. She is one of the few people in the sport who wears her faith on her sleeve and I LOVE IT!!!! I had never had the chance to run with her in the past and I didn't want to miss my chance. I'm a talker when I run, so I started asking her questions. "How are you feeling?" "How's it going?" "What's your favorite N'SYNC song?"...OK..maybe not the last one...but she very politely responded "I don't talk much when I run". Sounds good. I was seriously just in awe of how well she was running nearly 75 miles into the race. We ran uphill, we ran the flats and we SCREAMED downhill. I got the chance a couple of years ago to run next to Ian Sharman for a total of 2 minutes and this was JUST as amazing!!!! I was starting to feel like I was pushing myself a little harder than I wanted to at this point in the race, I so told her I was going to hang back a little bit and let her go on.

As I came into the 50 mile aid station (elapsed time 6:02 split). I felt more incredible than I ever have at this point in a race. My feet were starting to get trashed because of the rain and the difficult footing. I was applying Squirrels Nut Butter on my feet, but because I wasn't wanting to stick around long enough for my feet to dry before applying I don't think it was actually sticking. It was working great...everywhere else...., but the blisters were there and starting to get more painful.

I ate one of my avocado wraps, another quesadilla and then was given some ramen which apparently was being cooked on the open flames from hell because I burned the ever loving crap out of my mouth and could barely taste anything the entire rest of the day...YOWZA!!!

As I ran out of the start/finish area, I don't know if I've ever been as excited as I was at this point in a race. I was finally running in a race where my stomach didn't feel like garbage. I gave Byron a quick hug and all I could say to him was "This is actually happening!!!"

At this point in the race, people were in varying levels of mental state. I was SUPER jacked up, people were coming in heads down, there were a couple crying, there were some that seemed very focused. As much as I don't like the two way traffic, the range of emotions on peoples faces as they crossed over the foot bridges or navigated the roots was a really cool experience.

It was during this next section of the trail when I was starting to feel "meh". My stomach was starting to not feel "great" but I think it's because I had eaten too many calories, too fast at the last aid station. Coming into Nature Center (~54 miles) was the first time I really didn't feel like eating. I just felt bloated, but knew that I needed to continue to eat for as long as I could. I grabbed another quesadilla and some chips. Refilled my bottles and headed out. I was just starting to feel a little...blah....which was disappointing since 4 miles earlier I was on top of the world. And then throw in the fact that the trail and "road" sections were turning to creamy peanut butter from the rain and humidity.

When I got to "The Gate" AS, I knew it was time to start drinking some liquid caffeine and calories. This was the first real low that I had been in all day and as weird as it sounds, to look back on the fact that I hadn't had a low until this point was AMAZING!!!!! Hopefully some caffeine and finally introducing some sugars would bring me out of it. Honestly, this next time miles or so was the only TRUE mental low I had all day...celebrate the successes.

I know I've touched on it earlier and in reports past, but the Damnation loop is the absolute worst part of this race. Weather, footing, mud, slop and the like are things that can't be controlled are parts that drive us to continue to do this goofy sport. The Damnation loop is the one thing that makes me want to quit every year 😉

Like I pointed out earlier, due to the flooding the course had to be altered. One of the main areas was the Damnation loop. In years past, the section is "roughly 7 miles". And I say roughly because it feels like it takes a month and a half to complete one loop. It's dark, even in the light of day, there are really long straight sections, the footing is awful, and it's essentially a black hole of never ending suckatude...yes...I just made that word up. This year, they made it a 4.5 mile out/back. GREAT!!!! Make the worst part of the course even more terrible by adding 2 miles!!! One thing I did appreciate, however, is that they did add a small gel, tailwind and water aid station at the turn around point. This did also serve as a check in station for the runners to make sure that they were making the whole loop. I think this was a great addition. Keep people honest...and it appears to have caught a cheater, but I won't go into that....

Making the 3rd of 4 loops on this section was the only time in the race that I considered calling it quits. My feet were starting to ache even more and the thought of 9 miles of no food didn't seem like fun. I had taken another avocado wrap with me out of the AS and was drinking coke, but I knew that because of the rate I was now moving because of the searing pain that was radiating from my right foot it wasn't going to be enough or even something I was going to want to eat/drink. Every step was starting to get more and more difficult. I was trying to run, but my foot was starting to swell and get more painful.

I finally made my way into the "Far side" AS, checked in, filled my bottles and walked out for back 4.5 miles. This section was also the first time I had turned on my iPod for the entire event. I needed something to take my mind off of how mind numbing this section of trail was. I turned on the Billy Yang podcast, which is slowly becoming one of my new favorites, and he was interviewing Topher Gaylord. Most people who've read "Ultramarathon Man" know the name as Dean K's best friend...as did I...but what an interesting person to listen to on his take of the ultra running scene, the outdoor industry and living each day with passion. God works in mysterious ways and having that podcast on at that time was EXACTLY what I needed.

I was starting to come out of my "funk" as I came back into Damnation. This was also the first time today that I sat down with the intention of sitting down and eating. I just needed to sit, reflect on how I was going to proceed. This was also the first time I had seen Byron in HOURS. I told him what I was dealing with, ate some mashed potatoes with chicken broth, drank a bit of coffee and go out. It wasn't pretty walking out of that AS, but as it was approaching midnight I was still moving and that's the longest I had been moving in nearly 4 months.

Walking out of Damnation I spotted Catra Corbett who is one of my favorite personalities in the sport. She was at the race to crew/pace a 14 YEAR OLD KID!!!! I had gotten a picture with her earlier in the day, but was trying not to "fanboy" every time I saw her. Walking out of the aid station, I did something that I'd never do normally, but I was just so beaten down, but I asked her if I could have a hug. I told her it was weird and I'm not even sure why I needed a hug, but I just missed my family and with a house full of girls, a hug can be an incredible spirit lifter. She was so supportive and asked what was going on. I told her about the blister that had taken over my foot and she offered up incredibly kind words "Ya know, you're still moving. Just think of all of the people that would love to be out here doing what you're doing right now and just keep moving". Yup....that's what I needed... The first person to come to my mind was Dave Mackey (who I don't know personally), what he's been through and how far he's come...and that's what was going to move me forward.

The next 7 miles were a blur. Byron was with me for a little bit, but seeing that he had the Rocky Raccoon 50 mile the next weekend I didn't want to burden him with long stretches of pacing. We chatted for a bit and I got back to the start/finish area where I'd see him again.

By this point, my foot was starting to go numb and I was trying to not tell Bryon how bad it had gotten. I told myself that this race was not going to be about the bad things, but about the positives and for the most part I was doing a pretty good job at not complaining. As I got into the AS at the start/finish, I finally confessed to how bad it was and needed to have someone look at it. I still had A TON of time to finish, so even if I needed to crawl in...that's what I was going to do.

I spent nearly 45 minutes at the start/finish just getting my foot doctored. I was eating and drinking. One of the funniest parts about the time spent in this AS was when the volunteer didn't get the mashed potato and broth combo mixed well enough and Byron scolded me for not eating all of the potatoes. I looked at him and said "Dude, I can't eat this. It's all crusty" and there at the bottom of the cup was a GIANT clump of powder-esque potatoes. Now, I'm not a diva, but that tasted awful. He went back to get some more broth and the poor volunteer just wasn't understanding what he was saying. I mean, it was nearly 1 a.m. I probably would have been just as confused as she was 😀

Blister upon blister was getting drained, dressed and poked. The lady, whose name I can never remember, is an amazing encourager. She kept looking at my big toes, which I had caught about 1,000 times and saying "Oh, those guys are angry!" as she attempted to slip on my injinji socks. She even said at one point "Well, the KT tape on this guy is going to just keep the nail on for the rest of the race. Flip flops are probably going to look weird after the race".

I walked out of the start/finish knowing that I was going to finish. Just keep eating, drinking and moving and everything is going to be fine.

The section between Nature Center and The Gate was probably the most scared I've ever been during a race. I had grabbed one of my Red Bulls coming out of Nature Center as I was just starting to get tired. Normally at this point in a race, I have a pacer with me to keep my mental state up. Because I was planning on going alone, for the most part, I was trying to do what I could to stay upright. I was weaving, I was catching more toes than I had been for hours, I was literally falling asleep while I was walking and there was nobody around me. I was "seeing" people in the woods...going number 2...but they weren't actually there. Sweet...this is a new type of hallucination....

I walked into The Gate AS and told the people that I was really concerned. The slop of the road and trail were expelling so much more energy than I had. I told them I needed to take a few minutes and just lay down. I asked one of them to set an alarm for 15 minutes to wake me up, but I wasn't actually asleep. It was a weird "unconscious" state where I was awake, but my body was asleep. I could hear everything around me, but my body had literally fallen asleep. Super weird.

The guys timer went off, he gave me a gentle shrug and I sat up. I asked what time it was, started doing math in my head and said "SH*T!!! I GOTTA GO!!" And I RAN out of the aid station. Looking back on my Strava data after, the next 3 miles were the fastest I had moved in hours. I was actually running and it was EXCRUCIATING.

My headlamp had started to go dim and I was carrying one of the Nathan Zephyr handhelds as a backup. I knew that I had extra batteries and my backup headlamp at Damnation so I had to move. I wasn't going to be fighting cutoffs.

I grabbed my bag as I came into Damnation to do a quick switch of my batteries, grab my other headlamp and get out. I heard some of the volunteers talking about cutoffs and I was starting to freak out a bit. I asked what time the cutoff was for where I was at in the race and the guy responded "7:30am."
"What time is it?"
"5:00am"
"How close am I to the cutoffs"...math and telling time was not coming easy to me at this point
"Man, you've still got 2.5 hours before you'd need to be at this point. Shoot, you could take a 2.5 hour nap and walk out of here and still have enough time"
"Oh...thank God....I thought I had less time"

As I headed out of Damnation for the last "loop from hell", I was happy for the first time in a while. I knew that when I got back I had just over a 10k left. The next 9 miles were going to be AWFUL, but I knew I could get it done, but I wasn't done yet.

I was fighting the sleeping monsters again for the next 4.5 miles. I came into the small AS and again asked someone to set a timer to wake me up. These guys were great at this AS. Honestly, everyone comes into it pissed off because I'm pretty sure they moved it farther away with every loop, but they kept a great attitude.

I "slept" for 15 minutes, got out and could barely move. My feet were completely destroyed and wanted to just be done, but I was less than 1/2 marathon away. As I was walking along, I was so excited to see Byron come bounding down the trail. I hadn't seen him in so long and I just needed someone to talk to. I was so exhausted though that the normal tricks that he uses to lighten the mood WERE NOT HELPING. I felt really bad because he does such a great job, but this time it wasn't working and I was kind of bitchy. Sorry buddy 😉

Damnation...then Nature Center...then the finish. That's all I had left. I had plenty of time to make it and I was going to do it!!!!

Coming into Nature Center, I met a Canadian guy, who I swore was Gary Robbins when I had seen him throughout the day. We chatted about The Barkley, UTMB, his world travels and some of the sweet races he'd done. It was pretty neat to hear. I could tell that he wanted to run, but I had NOTHING in my legs...but stomach was still good!!!!

Walking out of Nature Center on the way to the finish, all I could do was pray. I had pleaded with God to just help me get through this race again. I just needed the finish. Training this year hadn't been where I wanted/hoped it would be. We have a crazy schedule. Four children will do that. But I knew I was going to cross that finish line with less than 4 miles to go. That last 4 miles, I don't think you could have beaten the smile off my face.

As I made the corner to crest the final hill I decided to run. I was going to use everything that I had left in the tank and just go. As the straightaway into the finish line came into sight, I started to cry. I had done it once again...and mostly on my own.

Crossing the finish line, I let out my "signature scream". I was DONE. I gave all that I had. Chris McWatters gave me a HUGE hug and congratulated me once again on another finish. I had decided early on that I wanted another one of the "legacy buckles" and was going to make my way over to the table to grab one when I was approached by a little guy, probably no older than my youngest daughter, he looked at me, handed me a buckle in a bag and said "here you go sir"....my heart melted. I took the buckle from him and wanted to give him a hug, but I thought that was weird so I settled for a fist bump. As I walked away all I could do was drop to a knee to thank God for helping me to pull through.

I couldn't stop staring at the buckle. The beautiful shining silver with the state of Texas and the huge star. I had done it again and I bawled...and bawled...and bawled. I just wanted a shower, a beer and just to take a nap.

We made our way back to Byron's house and every step sent shockwaves into my brain. I was in SO much pain. My legs, stomach and systems were all fine, but my feet were SMOKED. I don't blame the shoes or sock choices. My feet were just so wet all day and never recovered.

Here I am, a week later and still riding the high. My feet are recovering fine. I've lost a couple of toenails and I've gotten one -12F run in. I am recovering really well and the 28:20 finish is still fresh in my mind. I've gone through the day and how it unfolded and honestly there aren't many things I would change. I ate well. I drank well. I pee'd 28 times and it was a GREAT color....TMI?...I should have changed socks earlier and let my feet air dry a bit more...but most importantly was walking away with a finish.

This race is great. The volunteers are amazing. The weather sucked and the roots were terrible. Would I do it again?....ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY!!!!

As always, I thank God for giving me this body to move. As Catra said, there were a lot of people who love to have the opportunity to do what I am able to do...granted that I don't do it as quickly as some...but I'm still able to. I thank my wife and my kids for allowing me to be gone for a couple of days to go spend 28 hours in the woods beating the crap out of myself. I thank Byron and his family for always being so supportive and hospitable. I know that I'm kind of a burden. I thank all of my friends at Active Endeavors, Fitness Sports, Spring Nutrition, Nuun Hydration and iRun4Ultra for believing in me to show the world that these things can be done. I thank Chris McWatters and the Tejas Trails crew for putting on an amazing event as always. I thank all of the trail running groups and volunteers for their support and encouragement. And lastly I thank you for reading!!!

Items I used during the 2018 Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile:
HOKA ONE ONE Challenger ATR 4 from Fitness Sports - I took a pair of the Speedgoat 2 as well, but the roomier toe box in the new Challengers are AMAZING!!!!
Spring Nutrition gels - My go to on the go nutrition product. All REAL ingredients and super easy on the stomach. The "Longhaul" and "MacRaeCovery" were my go to between quesadillas 😉
Squirrels Nut Butter - The massive blisters on my feet this race were the first time I've had blisters in over a year since discovering this product. It was a mismanagement of my feet and not a reflection on the AWESOMENESS of this product
rabbit Quadzilla shorts - I wore one pair of shorts the entire race. They are my go to shorts now. The material is super soft and really durable
Icebreaker merino top (50 miles) - From Active Endeavors in West Des Moines, IA
Tasc Baselayer LS (50 miles) - Seriously...I'm in love with both merino shirts!!!
Nathan VaporKrar WaistPak - Really great waist pack for carrying gels, phone, etc
Nathan SpeedDraw Plus Insulated handhelds - Love these insulated bottles
Random smartwool and injinji socks
Way too many quesadillas, chips, pickles, bacon, coke and coffe
S Caps and Nuun Hydration for electrolytes

Stay Strong, Run Long
Tha Messenjah
***pictures on the bottom***

Some pics from the weekend