Zumbro Midnight 50-Mile Race Report
Date: 4/12/15
Completing the Zumbro Midnight 50-mile was one of my biggest goals for 2015. After a less than optimal turnout to last years race (dropping after 41 miles due to hypothermia symptoms), I had a bone to pick with this course and I wasn't going to let anything stop me. As usual I ran this race with my good friend and ultrarunning inspiration, Tony Villano.
Our day started with a drive down to the village (yes...it's technically a village, not a town) of Theilman, MN. We headed down mid-afternoon to allow us to set up the tent and hopefully get a few hours of sleep prior to the midnight start. We got to the Zumbro Bottoms West Management Area Campground around 5:30pm. We set up the tent, and attempted to catch a few hours of sleep. As expected, sleeping prior to the race start proved futile, as the noise of generators and the pre-race adrenaline kept us awake. We instead prepped our gear, had a bonfire, and waited until race start. Our significant others, Isabel (my fiance), and Tanya (Tony's wife) joined us just before midnight. We then did our final preparation and headed over to the starting line.
My gear for the event:
The first lap you do in complete darkness, which is good and bad. The good is that you can't see how high the crazy long climbs are as you're ascending them. The bad is that you miss out on seeing the beautiful scenery of bluff country in southern, MN. Never the less, it makes for a unique and exciting race. My first lap felt smooth for only about the first 3 miles, at which point I started to notice a pain shooting through the top of my right foot and ankle. It was a familiar pain that stopped me in the middle of a training run a few weeks prior. I'm quite sure it stems from a minor ankle injury I suffered at Icebox 480 earlier in the year, where I rolled my ankle multiple times, resulting in some major pain through my ankle and outer foot and forcing me to take a month off running. Although the pain was quite bad, I found that focusing hard on keeping a quick foot turnover seemed to help a good deal. Luckily, by some miracle the pain subsided completely by the 3rd aid station. The first lap was a good reminder of just what a beast the Zumbro course is. 16.7 miles of mud, bluffs, sand, rocks, and long grinding climbs and descents that put your quads to the test. Never the less, I finished the first lap feeling remarkably good. I crossed into the start of lap two at 3:30.
The second lap was even better than the first. I felt as though I was floating rather than running. I was elated that as I crossed certain markers...26 miles...30 miles..etc. my legs felt better than they had at the beginning of the run. I think part of finding this "high" was the sun rising and the beautiful terrain coming into view. The tops of the bluffs provide amazing views of the landscape. Although not a true mountain landscape, it is about as close as you're going to get in MN. I finished lap 2 at 7:39, a little slower than lap 1. I had intentionally slowed my running pace to something a bit more economical and sustainable than my first lap, where the excitement and adrenaline of the start had inspired a little too much speed than was wise that early in the race.
The third lap I would call "reality." Up to aid station 1 (3 mi in) I felt rather good, but between the first and second aid station in lap two I hit a real low point. My runners high was over and my legs were beginning to feel the repeated climbing and descending. I would consider myself very strong at uphills, and that served me well during this race, but the downhills became my biggest enemy towards the end. I found the more technical and steep downhills, often littered with rock fields and roots, slowing me down significantly during the last lap. My quads were burnt out and my legs were hurting. I took a bit between these aid stations to switch to a hiking pace and hope to gain a second wind. I crossed aid station 2 still feeling less than ideal. I had switched back to running, but at a much slower pace than I had been earlier in the race. My mentality had shifted a bit from that of dominating the race with a great finish time to just getting it done. I reminded myself to be patient. Being patient with a race when you're hurting and have been running for 10 hours can be difficult. I kept thinking of two things, the first being to just enjoy the experience and the beautiful environment of the race, the second being the importance of being able to tolerate pain in athletic performance. The truth is the best endurance athletes in the world all have one things in common, they are remarkably good at tolerating pain. The truth was that I was in pain, but it wasn't that bad, and despite my legs feeling heavy I could still muster a good running pace and get the race done in decent time.
One of the things I am most proud of during this run is the fulfillment of a promise I made to myself after last years race. There is a 2ish mile section of service road between aid stations 3-4 that is very runnable, despite a slight incline that is just enough to annoy you when you're running on tired legs. It is all too temping to take this flat section to walk and relax, as it is among the very few flat miles you see during the run, but it is also an opportunity to significantly improve your overall pace. Last year I walked at least half of this section for both of the laps I completed. I finished the race promising myself I would run the 100% of this section next time. This year I ran every inch of it all three times at a good pace. I had pictured dominating this very stretch in my training many times since last years race, and this year I did exactly what I had pictured during those runs.
At the final aid station on lap three I had two cups of coffee, rehydrate with some HEED (an electrolyte beverage/sports drink) and proceeded to the final 2.96 miles to the finish. I ended up next to a fellow 50 mile runner who said we were on pace for a "very respectable" time. I told him I had been intentionally not watching the clock and didn't want to know, but was glad to know it was good...at least according to him. Never the less, this information got me a real second wind and I ran the last stretch of the race very strong, actually passing a good deal of the 17 milers (there is a 17 mile race that coincides with the tail end of the 100 and 50 mile races) on the course. As I approached the final stretch, I had a big smile on my face. I knew I was about to cross the line and complete a big goal. The best part, I felt great both mentally and physically...way too good for having just ran a 50-mile trail race. I crossed the line, shook hands with director John Storkamp, got my medal, and gave my fiance, Isabel, a big hug. It was done, and I felt better than ever.
Finish Time: 12 hours, 12 minutes
Place: 35/100 finishers, there were 139 starters and 39 drops/DNF's
A Few More Techy Details:
My Nutrition During The Race:
Notes: Although overall I feel like this nutrition strategy (...or lack thereof really..) worked well, ideally I think I could have choked down a few more calories overall during the race.
My Pacing Strategy:
There was absolutely no strategy other than to run a sustainable pace and not burn out too early in the race. I had no running watch on, no phone gps, nothing. I didn't even look at the clock other than when crossing the start/finish into the next lap. The goal was to run completely off of feel and see what happened. Whether this strategy is ideal or not is up for debate, but not having a constant reminder of my pace made the race very pleasant for me. I think we can learn a lot about our body and it's limits by just listening to the biofeedback we get when doing endurance events.
Image / Data credit: www.zumbro100.com, 2015
Our day started with a drive down to the village (yes...it's technically a village, not a town) of Theilman, MN. We headed down mid-afternoon to allow us to set up the tent and hopefully get a few hours of sleep prior to the midnight start. We got to the Zumbro Bottoms West Management Area Campground around 5:30pm. We set up the tent, and attempted to catch a few hours of sleep. As expected, sleeping prior to the race start proved futile, as the noise of generators and the pre-race adrenaline kept us awake. We instead prepped our gear, had a bonfire, and waited until race start. Our significant others, Isabel (my fiance), and Tanya (Tony's wife) joined us just before midnight. We then did our final preparation and headed over to the starting line.
My gear for the event:
- Nathan Hydration pack with the bladder removed (I used it only for storage of a few items; rain poncho, extra shirt, clif bars, extra headlamp batteries, headband/gloves, my phone/ipod)
- C9 base layer shirt
- Brooks shell running jacket (love that thing...has lasted me 2-1/2 years and it has held up beautifully)
- Brooks light running tights
- Injinji toe socks (worked awesome, no blisters despite wet conditions)
- New Balance Zante shoes (yes, I wore road shoes for a trail event, they did awesome but are completely destroyed now)
- My "lucky" white hat
The first lap you do in complete darkness, which is good and bad. The good is that you can't see how high the crazy long climbs are as you're ascending them. The bad is that you miss out on seeing the beautiful scenery of bluff country in southern, MN. Never the less, it makes for a unique and exciting race. My first lap felt smooth for only about the first 3 miles, at which point I started to notice a pain shooting through the top of my right foot and ankle. It was a familiar pain that stopped me in the middle of a training run a few weeks prior. I'm quite sure it stems from a minor ankle injury I suffered at Icebox 480 earlier in the year, where I rolled my ankle multiple times, resulting in some major pain through my ankle and outer foot and forcing me to take a month off running. Although the pain was quite bad, I found that focusing hard on keeping a quick foot turnover seemed to help a good deal. Luckily, by some miracle the pain subsided completely by the 3rd aid station. The first lap was a good reminder of just what a beast the Zumbro course is. 16.7 miles of mud, bluffs, sand, rocks, and long grinding climbs and descents that put your quads to the test. Never the less, I finished the first lap feeling remarkably good. I crossed into the start of lap two at 3:30.
The second lap was even better than the first. I felt as though I was floating rather than running. I was elated that as I crossed certain markers...26 miles...30 miles..etc. my legs felt better than they had at the beginning of the run. I think part of finding this "high" was the sun rising and the beautiful terrain coming into view. The tops of the bluffs provide amazing views of the landscape. Although not a true mountain landscape, it is about as close as you're going to get in MN. I finished lap 2 at 7:39, a little slower than lap 1. I had intentionally slowed my running pace to something a bit more economical and sustainable than my first lap, where the excitement and adrenaline of the start had inspired a little too much speed than was wise that early in the race.
The third lap I would call "reality." Up to aid station 1 (3 mi in) I felt rather good, but between the first and second aid station in lap two I hit a real low point. My runners high was over and my legs were beginning to feel the repeated climbing and descending. I would consider myself very strong at uphills, and that served me well during this race, but the downhills became my biggest enemy towards the end. I found the more technical and steep downhills, often littered with rock fields and roots, slowing me down significantly during the last lap. My quads were burnt out and my legs were hurting. I took a bit between these aid stations to switch to a hiking pace and hope to gain a second wind. I crossed aid station 2 still feeling less than ideal. I had switched back to running, but at a much slower pace than I had been earlier in the race. My mentality had shifted a bit from that of dominating the race with a great finish time to just getting it done. I reminded myself to be patient. Being patient with a race when you're hurting and have been running for 10 hours can be difficult. I kept thinking of two things, the first being to just enjoy the experience and the beautiful environment of the race, the second being the importance of being able to tolerate pain in athletic performance. The truth is the best endurance athletes in the world all have one things in common, they are remarkably good at tolerating pain. The truth was that I was in pain, but it wasn't that bad, and despite my legs feeling heavy I could still muster a good running pace and get the race done in decent time.
One of the things I am most proud of during this run is the fulfillment of a promise I made to myself after last years race. There is a 2ish mile section of service road between aid stations 3-4 that is very runnable, despite a slight incline that is just enough to annoy you when you're running on tired legs. It is all too temping to take this flat section to walk and relax, as it is among the very few flat miles you see during the run, but it is also an opportunity to significantly improve your overall pace. Last year I walked at least half of this section for both of the laps I completed. I finished the race promising myself I would run the 100% of this section next time. This year I ran every inch of it all three times at a good pace. I had pictured dominating this very stretch in my training many times since last years race, and this year I did exactly what I had pictured during those runs.
At the final aid station on lap three I had two cups of coffee, rehydrate with some HEED (an electrolyte beverage/sports drink) and proceeded to the final 2.96 miles to the finish. I ended up next to a fellow 50 mile runner who said we were on pace for a "very respectable" time. I told him I had been intentionally not watching the clock and didn't want to know, but was glad to know it was good...at least according to him. Never the less, this information got me a real second wind and I ran the last stretch of the race very strong, actually passing a good deal of the 17 milers (there is a 17 mile race that coincides with the tail end of the 100 and 50 mile races) on the course. As I approached the final stretch, I had a big smile on my face. I knew I was about to cross the line and complete a big goal. The best part, I felt great both mentally and physically...way too good for having just ran a 50-mile trail race. I crossed the line, shook hands with director John Storkamp, got my medal, and gave my fiance, Isabel, a big hug. It was done, and I felt better than ever.Finish Time: 12 hours, 12 minutes
Place: 35/100 finishers, there were 139 starters and 39 drops/DNF's
A Few More Techy Details:
My Nutrition During The Race:
Notes: Although overall I feel like this nutrition strategy (...or lack thereof really..) worked well, ideally I think I could have choked down a few more calories overall during the race.
- Lots of HEED sports drink - an average of 30ish oz per aid station
- Three Hammer electrolyte caps at every aid station from lap 2 through the finish..this worked awesome, as even though my quads were totally fried, they never cramped. Nor did any other muscle in my body.
- A 1/2 cup of ginger ale a few times, this worked awesome for my settling my stomach.
- Fig Newtons. I had 1-2 per aid station just to have something solid in my stomach when I got queasy.
- A cup of black coffee at every other aid station from lap 2 on.
- Three 200mg doses of caffeine, one at the beginning of each lap.
My Pacing Strategy:
There was absolutely no strategy other than to run a sustainable pace and not burn out too early in the race. I had no running watch on, no phone gps, nothing. I didn't even look at the clock other than when crossing the start/finish into the next lap. The goal was to run completely off of feel and see what happened. Whether this strategy is ideal or not is up for debate, but not having a constant reminder of my pace made the race very pleasant for me. I think we can learn a lot about our body and it's limits by just listening to the biofeedback we get when doing endurance events.
Image / Data credit: www.zumbro100.com, 2015
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