Bear 100 recap part 2

Short taper

I had 4 solid weeks of training that ended a little less than two weeks before the race. I ran 24 miles on September 14, 12 days before the race. A 12 day taper felt good to me. I might have wanted more if I'd been able to train harder in June and July.

I felt fresh at the start of the race and hadn't suffered from any taper anxiety. I'm going to stick with shorter tapers for future races.

Crew

I tried this race without any crew in 2023. My experience was much better with crew help at Leatham Hollow, Right-hand Fork, Tony Grove, Franklin Basin, and Beaver Mountain. I arrived at Leatham Hollow with intense cramps and help with drinks and resupply was key. By myself, I might have wasted another 15-20 minutes in the aid station. Help at Tony Grove shaved 20 minutes off that stop. I might have dropped out at Franklin Basin, again, without support there. Lastly, when I did finally have to leave the race at Beaver Mountain, it was nice to have a ride to the finish line and home. In 2023, I didn't have any plan other than to finish and take the shuttle bus back to the start, and that didn't work out.

Ruthie was my sole crew member and this was her first time crewing a 100 mile race. We were a good team! She had fun and said she'd be glad to do it again. Next time she'd take more responsibility for organzing the crew gear, which sounds good to me.

Gear

The race weather was great, so getting clothing right was easy. I had fresh socks when I needed them and had cold weather gear available if I had needed it.

In the year before the race I spent some time acquiring prescription sports glasses and then didn't use them on race day. Bringing more light with me in the form of a waist light and head light was all I needed.

I wore Salomon Ultra Glide shoes to mile 50 and switched to Salomon Genesis. Switching sooner might have saved me a couple toenails, but the plan worked out for me. I didn't stumble at any point or get any blisters.

Fueling

I aimed for 60-75 grams of carbohydrate per hour. A lot of this was gels and Tailwind, but I also ate solid food at aid stations all day and night. Bratwurst and sauerkraut. Pickles, dates, watermelon. Soup and waffle fries. Pizza. Pancakes and breakfast links. My stomach and gut were at the top of their game.

I started fueling early, never got behind, never felt low. I was happy about this.

Diversion

I enjoyed conversations with other runners when I could, but I did spend hours by myself out there. I listened to music during the race, which I hadn't done before. I played Miles '55, the recent compilation of Prestige recordings, between Upper Richards Hollow and Right-Hand Fork, and The Bug Club between Right-Hand Fork and Temple Fork.

Research suggests that music can relieve pain. It distracted me from my leg cramps, at least.

Other aspects of my race planning and execution went less well.

Pacing

Starting more slowly would have been smarter. In hindsight, the cramps at mile 16 doomed me. They haunted me for almost 10 miles and recurred after mile 50. Until the cramps hit, I was feeling amazingly good. Too good.

I started the race with less fitness than in 2023, but arrived at the Logan Peak aid station (mile 10.5) 4 minutes sooner. When I left the Leatham Hollow aid station (mile 19.5), I was 26 minutes behind my 2023 pace.

Would spending 15 more minutes on the climb have made a big difference?

Hydration

I drank a lot of water and peed a lot on the course. I have a tendency to skimp on water, so this was an improvement.

I should have carried drink powder with me like I did in 2023. Getting caught out with no electrolytes at Logan Peak and Upper Richards Hollow hurt me.

I won't rely entirely on aid stations for drinks again. For water and solid food, yes, but not for electrolyte drinks or gels.

Medical

I resorted to taking a pretty big dose of ibuprofen at mile 61. 800 mg. Using NSAIDs during a race is controversial, since they have been implicated in acute kidney damage, and they are banned in UTMB races. I don't use NSAIDs during races, but my quads were in desperate shape. I could barely move at the bottom of the long descent from Tony Grove.

I wrestled with the thought of taking Ibuprofen for a long time, 40 minutes, before I did, which was dumb. It would have been good to have a plan for using them if needed, rather than trying to figure out the pros and cons in the dark.

In the end, I don't even know if it helped. I spent an hour at the aid station before I could get up and go again. I might have recovered equally well without any tablets at all. At least nothing bad happened. I stayed well hydrated for the last 8 hours of my hike and didn't see any signs of organ failure during or after.

I won't take NSAIDs during a race again.

Wasps

I got stung multiple times on my legs and left hand while descending in Leatham Hollow and then got stung on my tongue at the finish line while drinking from a carton of chocolate milk. I'm lucky to have no great sensitivity or allergic reactions to insect venom.