HABANERO HUNDRED … OVER AND OUT… DNF

HABANERO HUNDRED…AUGUST 12TH AND 13TH…CAT SPRINGS, TEXAS

It has taken me 17 days to sit down and write my race recap of the Habanero Hundred ultramarathon.

I will briefly tell you the background leading up to this race. I had been running for 20 years without a break. I trained 6 days a week and competed in numerous events. I suffered serious burnout in 2015. I couldn’t bring myself to get out the door and run. For eight years I suffered. My body and mind missed the training, but I had lost the desire to put in the effort. It wasn’t fun anymore. And life was tough too. I had a lot going on and the stress was too much. I am not going to get into what led me down a really dark path, maybe one day I’ll be ready to share, but not now.

It was in late March, early April that I started to feel the desire to run again. I honestly cannot say that anything triggered me. I wish I could say something incredible happened to inspire me. But no. I just woke up one morning and felt like going for a walk around my neighborhood. I headed out into the sunshine and felt the warmth on my face… I saw the leaves in the trees rustling in the wind… I looked out to the mountains and was in awe of how majestic they were. I was back. My love of running has always been rooted in feeling the force of nature around me. I love to connect with the planet. I put in eight miles that day and was on my way back to doing what I have always loved.

Within one month of that hike, I had put the wheels in motion. I have always needed to have a goal to keep training. I can’t just do it for the fun of it. I decided to do the Habenero Hundred race in Texas. It offered up everything I loved… mainly heat and sand. It is an environment that I have always thrived in. I’m not crazy about humidity but I could deal with it.

I gave myself 4 months to train, buy new gear, study new research, and test various foods that would agree with me during the race. I was eight years older and it felt like I was almost starting over. I am 61 years old now but still feel like I am in my 40’s. But 20 years of running helped me to catch up fast. In the past I have always had a coach. But truthfully, I wasn’t sure if this newfound desire would last. Each day I was just grateful for the opportunity to get outside and enjoy running again. So I found a 12 month training plan for a100 mile race and condensed it into 4 months.

I knew better than to overdo the hill and speed training. I just wanted to put in miles to be able to finish the race. If I still had the desire to run after the event… I could get a coach and work on getting stronger and faster.

My husband was going to crew me and we went over what was going to be needed to get me through the race. We were going to set up a tent and have all of our supplies so that I wouldn’t need to rely on the aid stations. The hundred mile event consisted of 16 loops of 6 miles. Every day that I trained I visualized the race from start to finish…loop to loop. I had no doubt in my mind that I could do this.

       

We made the trip from Colorado to Texas in two days. We set up our tent a day before the event and picked up my race packet. I had my usual pre-race meal of pizza and went to bed early. The next day we had a good breakfast and headed out to the race site. Jim got the tent organized and all of the supplies set up. What was interesting about this race was dealing with the heat. We ended up buying 20 liters of water, 40 bags of ice, and 40 pounds of dry ice. I wanted dry ice to keep my ice packs frozen.

Before this event, I had only done 2 ultras in the States. I am Canadian and had a number of ultras in Canada, but most of my races were overseas, mainly in Africa. I was amazed by the atmosphere at this event. I have never been to a football game, but this to me looked like everything I had seen about tailgate parties. The atmosphere was so fun to me! A lot of running clubs were out in full force, and many runners were repeat competitors who were reuniting with old friends.

     

This race starts at high noon. Temperatures were extreme this year. It was determined afterward that this was the first time the race had cracked 100 degrees farenheit. It reached 107F with a feels like factor of 114F.

                                       

The race is started off under the Trail Racing Over Texas Banner. A shotgun blast into the air signified the event was on! This year there were 82 people registered for the 100 mile event… 69 men and 13 women.

I headed out with the crowd at a nice easy pace. My plan was to get through the heat of the day and then take advantage of the lower temperatures in the evening. It wasn’t long before I experienced running through the sand that everyone talked about at this race. To me it was fine. I have run in sand for most of my competitions.

It was the heat that really knocked me for a loop. It had been eight years since I had run in extremely hot weather. The only thing that made this a bit more bearable is that there was shade available along parts of the course. That and the fact that ice was readily available. At all of my other desert races there was no ice, and only desert temperature water, which was rationed. Each runner was only given 1.5 liters per checkpoint. Here I could drink as much as I wanted and it was ice cold!!!

I did the first loop in 1:50 which is about what I was expecting. But man was it hot! I had to stop after the first loop and give my body a chance to cool off. I was so happy that I had put in hours of sauna training or it could have been much worse for me.

Before I headed out for my second loop I took the time to change my shoes. I had two pairs with me. I started out in my road shoes. But my heel was sore so I changed into my trail shoes. I was now starting to acclimate to the intense heat. But two miles miles into my second loop I was starting to limp. I had no idea what was going on. I literally hobbled up to the aid station at the halfway point. I could not wrap my brain around what was happening. I sat down and immediately sent out a text to a friend of mine who specializes in foot injuries.

I belong to a facebook group of people who suffer from foot problems including plantar faciatis. It is headed up by Frank Ng. He has a lot of expertise in this area, with loads of advice on how to treat foot injuries. So I managed to contact Frank, and he was giving me information on what to do at the aid station to try and alleviate the pain from this unknown foot problem.

Unfortunately, nothing was helping. I contemplated giving up right there. But I couldn’t do it. If I could just hobble the next 3 miles I could give my foot more attention at my tent. I wish I had recorded how long it took me to get that loop done. It was a blur. It was probably about 3 hours. Two other runners had joined us at our tent. Lari Hart was there to pace 100 mile runner Mark Wooten.

I took so long to get back that Lari came out to find me, even though she had her own runner that she needed to take care of. Fortunately I was only about ½ a mile from the tent when she ran up to me. I couldn’t believe that she was so kind to look out for me. We walked together for a bit and I insisted that she get back to the tent. It was taking me too long and I didn’t want her to get too hot walking with me. But she stuck with me to the finish and I was overwhelmed with gratitude.

At the tent, Jim tried to help me get back on my feet again… by getting me off my feet. He had two buckets of water waiting for me. We soaked my foot in an ice bath and then in warm water. He massaged my foot, and we tried to work on my Achilles with a spooning technique. You use the edge of a spoon to try and massage out the area surrounding the achilles. I stretched my foot out and popped some anti-inflammatories. I tried to stand on my foot and couldn’t. This was insane.

Two loops into a sixteen loop race and I couldn’t walk. I never in my wildest dreams imagined this scenario. I wanted to keep going…but this early in the race I just didn’t know the damage I could do if I went on. If you can’t walk? I sat there in the heat and it was just so surreal. I don’t know which could be worse. Dropping out 12 miles into a 100 mile race… or having to drop out with 12 miles to go in a hundred mile race.

At the same time I was doing this race, I had a friend in Europe doing the Berlin Wall Ultramarathon, Vivek Joshipura. It was a 100 mile race, and he too had injured his foot. But he had already completed 85 miles. He only had 15 miles to go. The finish was so close, yet so far. How agonizing. He was medically pulled. Which do you think would be tougher? Not getting a chance to show what you’re made of … or giving it all you have and not being able to finish. Both suck.

That was it … race over for both of us. Wow…. With Jims help I hobbled over to our vehicle. We left the tent set up along with all of our supplies so that Lari and Mark could avail themselves to what they needed. We would come back the following day to pack up. We went back to the hotel and I just tried to absorb what had happened. But really, what can you do? Is is what it is. We both had to roll our eyes at the absurdity of it. We had spent 2500 bucks on a 12 mile race! That works out to 208 dollars a mile. Not to mention all the time and effort it took to get there.

The following morning Jim picked up some crutches for me at Wal Mart and we headed back to the race. The hundred mile runners were still rolling in. Jim had to work by himself to take down the tent and get all of our supplies back to the vehicle. We saw Lari and Mark running by. Mark ended up finishing in 23:57:53. There were 82 runners registered for this race. This was the highest number of competitors yet for the 100 which was ironic…since these were the highest temperatures ever for the race. Suckers for punishment. There were only 22 finishers…20 men and 2 women. That is a finisher rate of 25 percent. Wow.

Now this race brings me full circle to my very first ultramarathon, the Marathon des Sables. It is a 150 mile stage-race in the Sahara. It is said to be one of the top ten toughest ultras in the world. I trained for a year for that event. I ended up having dysentery the day before the race started. I was vomiting, I had diarrhea and was dealing with agonizing stomach cramps. I lasted four days of the six stage race. I lay in the medical tent in the middle of the night with an IV in my arm. I indulged in weak thinking. Why me, why did this have to happen to me? I resolved then and there that I would come back the following year and finish the race. You have to be strong in these situations. The stronger you are, the more positive you are…the easier it is to move on. If you indulge in weak thinking and negativity…. you are failing yourself. You know the line…it’s not about how many times you fall… but how many times you get back up.

So here we are full circle. That was my experience in my very first ultamarathon. Habanero Hundred was supposed to be my 100^th race of marathon distance or longer. I had been ready to celebrate the accomplishment.

MARATHONS COMPLETED… 62

ULTRAMARATHONS COMPLETED … 37

EQUALS 99 RACES

HABANERO HUNDRED WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RACE 100 OF MARATHON DISTANCE OR LONGER.

Full circle… I have to go back to Habanero Hundred to finish what I started. It most likely will be an event in the near future which will be race number 100. But I can’t let Habanero get away from me.

When I returned home I made an appointment with a podiatrist. I had xrays taken and he examined my foot and determined it was plantar fasciitis. I wasn’t happy about it, but at least I wasn’t dealing with a break or a heel spur. He gave me a cortisone shot which I will have to say hurt like crazy.

Now I walk around during the day in oofos, and sleep in a boot at night. I am working on stretching and strengthening. I am swimming to keep fit.

There just happens to be an ultramarathon taking place in the mountains right outside my home at the end of September. Literally just a 20 minute drive away. I have my sights set on rehabbing this injury and running the 50K. It is this focus that is keeping me patient as I work on moving forward. Once I complete the 50K I can focus on my larger goals. One step at a time… I have always been able to fyndaway. REMEMBER…YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD…GO FOR IT!

THANK YOUS!!!

As always, at every race there are so many people to thank. I always try to remember everyone.

1. My husband…Jim Molaschi, who supported me in this dream to come out of the darkness and back into the light.
2. To my cousin Sue…who convinced me I had to go after race number 100 of 26.2 miles or longer.
3. To the race director,Cal Neff, who put on a fantastic event. I wish I could have enjoyed more of it. But I will next year.
4. The volunteers who worked their butts off in that god-awful heat. You are the best!
5. To Liz Casa Perez who helped answer questions for me and get me in a good spot for my tent.
6. To Lari Hart…who came out to look for me out on the course and gave me encouragement to make it back to my tent.
7. To my friends who provided encouragement going into the race, and commiserated with me upon not completing it.
8. To my chiropractor, Dr. Shane Conrad, who kept my bones aligned with all the training I was doing
9. To my podiatrist, Dr. Fleck, who provided my diagnosis and skillfully stabbed me with that giant needle.
10. And to Frank Ng. Foot expert and all around nice guy. Look for his facebook group and you can find him on youtube as well.

FOR MORE ABOUT THIS RACE YOU CAN VISIT THEIR WEBSITE

www.trailracingovertexas.com