[643] Grindstone 100

I sat out of running in the Iron Mountain 50 this year, hoping to recover from Wasatch and getting ready for Grindstone.

I had about two weeks of very little of running events.

Grinstone 2024, was a repeat for me.  I did not finish (dnf) last year and my goal was to finish it this year.  A good report, here, reminded me I faced with similar circumstances as last time.

The trail was familiar to me. Compared to Wasatch, there was not anything too big of a climb to scare me.

The race started at 6 in the evening.  We (my crew and I) drove down to Harrisonburg a night before.

The race went well for the first night.  I was moving at relatively same pace as previous year, maybe 10-15 minutes slower at the earlier stations. 

By midnight, I made it up to Reddish Knob, unfortunately the aid station there ran out of water. They did have plenty of food (pizza), the best food in all aid stations, so I took a slice of pizza, and drank a can of soda (only liquid they had).

By 3:15, I made it down to North River Gap, in line with my goal pace. I enjoyed the cheese and deli table there.  They served coffee out of a giant container. I did not take any, but went for refilling my water.

My water pack was leaking, so I was drench the whole night. My crew later patched the hole found.  This helped kept me relatively dry for rest of the race.  The leak was still there but was not as big as before.

About gear, just the moment before my race, I realized I left my hydration pack at home.  I quickly repurposed a small backpack into a hydration pack (I found a spare hydration bag, but leaky). My crew found me a soft flask, since it was a cupless race.  I tossed in a few required gear into my bag (a jacket with hood, lights, batteries, food). One thing I missed of not having my traditional hydration pack was lacking pockets in the straps in the front.  I was unable to keep my phone, pace chart, or food in the front pocket. There was no easily accessible pockets with this pack. Also the backpack hangs low in my back and it just does not move as well as a usual traditional hydration pack, which goes high in the back.

I was concerned that the straps would cut into me.  In the early of the race, the shoulder straps were annoying, cutting into my neck and shoulders, but I got use to it and it was not a source of irritation later on.  One thing I did right in this race was carrying medical tape on me, so I could patch myself at any time.  I used tape to tape my nipples which were rubbing against the shirt I was wearing. Usually, I don’t have chafing issues but today, the shirt I was wearing was a bit rough. I was planning to tape my neck too, but the issue went away.

Morning on Saturday brought me  renew energy.  I met my crew at 7:15 am at Dowells Draft, mile 45/46. My crew refilled my water. It was the first station allowed pacing. My crew left with me to her car. I told her, I will see her again in 8 hours.

We had a 26-27 mile loop at Crawford Mt and Elliot Knob. I was pushing my pace a bit to make sure I could arrive back at Dowells before 6 PM.  Last year, I was cut at Dry Branch (mile 52), and I determined not to do it this year. I had to get there before 11 AM. It took about 2.5 hours to climb Mt. Crawford.  Last year, a friend and I tried to do the same but we were a bit late. This year, I was able hit the pace on the dot.

I arrived around at Dry Branch by 10 AM and got back at Dry Branch by 2 pm.  Climbing up to Elliot Knob and then descending to Cold Spring was time intensive.  We arrived By then, I knew, we had plenty of time to get back to Dowells before 6.  I was feeling good to be ahead of pace.

We (Wayne, a fellow friend and runner and I) arrived back at Dowells by 4 pm, two hours ahead of the cutoff.  Looking back, things were going downhill for me — my energy was low, and sleepiness started setting in. However, I was high on adrenaline at the time and did not properly diagnose my actual condition.  I left the aid station thinking I was fine.

My crew fixed my feet with taping, refilled my water, and got me couple cups of ramen.  I did not realize at the time, I was behind on my calories. I should have eaten more solid food here as well as taking a nap if necessary since we were ahead of pace. Wayne, a fellow runner and who crewed for me last year, spent maybe up to an hour at Dowells to sleep and eat real food.  As for me, I stayed about 15 minutes. He was a smarter runner.

It had rain (a thunder storm moved in) as we descent from Crawford. I was drench from head to toes.  So I dried off myself with changing into a bit drier clothes from the morning.

Rain started again after leaving Dowells.  I was surprised arriving at Magic Moss by 6:30 pm (early).  I did not stay long except grabbing some M&Ms and off I went.  It rained hard as I made my push to Camp Todd, arriving at 8 pm in line with my goal.

Looking back, this was a turning point.  I stayed at Camp Todd, maybe for 5 minutes, fixing my feet and shoes.  My crew now turned pacer showed up. Originally, I planned to have my pacer meeting me at mile 92 to do the finally 13-14 miles with me.

My pacer believed I needed help earlier on so plan changed (at 4pm) to meet up with me earlier.

This was supposed to be the final hardest climb, and race would be easier after this.  We were at mile 82, with 10 hours left to finish the race. At the time, there were no doubts the race would get done. As long as we could walk, we would finish.

The short version, the next 11 hours, from 8 pm to 7 am was the hardest part of the race for me.  I was extremely weak.  We had couple thousand feet of climb, and we did get up to the top.  It might had taken us two hours. 10 pm, we arrived at Little Bald.  There was no aid station there, though I wish there to be one.  I had expected the next 6.5 miles descent to take another 2 hours, which would still put me on pace for reaching mile 92, by midnight.

Soon, it was apparent midnight goal was impossible to reach.  By midnight, I had moved only 3 miles, there were three miles left.  I was moving at a 40 minute mile pace. It was a rude awaken (for not wearing a Garmin watch). I had no idea of my location and how many miles were left, until I asked a fellow runner. I was heartbreaking to know still how far away was the aid station.  I was already in this trail section for 4 hours.  My water I carried on me was empty by now. 

The conversation between me and my pacer were at the worst.  Language flew and feeling hurted we carried on.  We still had to get down the mountain even if we decided not to continue with the race.  There were still only 1 hour and 45 minutes left before the cutoff.  Every minutes count.  Many runners passed us by including many friends. We stumbled down with a few struggling runners in conditions like me.

I had mentally checked out. My pacer refused to let me dwelled on the negatives but to me there were no way to finish, much less reaching the aid station in time.

In my mind, I believed we had 2 miles left, but the aid station just happened to pop in front.  I saw a car, went past at the edge of the forest and I thought I was seeing things.  I could not believed it.  In dazed, I arrived at the aid station with 15 minutes left.

Here, volunteers helped refilled my water. Another volunteer looked for my drop bag, so I could change into fresh socks and get a new head lamp. Another volunteer asked if I would like some broth and broght me a cup.

We made it out mile 92 (North River Gap) before the cut along with couple other runners.

Little did I know, the next 7 miles, had just as much climbing as the previous 10 miles.  It was a struggle bus from 2 am to morning.  We went up and up maybe with couple thousand feet climbing.  Then we descended just as many thousand feet to a valley onto a jeep road.  Time no longer was a concern for me.  I was still hoping to only get to the aid station by 5 am, hoping once I reach the road/asphalt portion, I would maybe still move at 15 min pace on the road and still finish.  5 am came and gone and then 6 am.  I was actually moving at 45 min pace, even slower than before as expected (runners only get slower not faster, in late stage of a race).

The sweepers caught up to us.  They know my friend, having been to another event couple weeks ago.  Together, we climbed the 1.5 miles jeep trail.  By 6:55 we finally reached the last aid station at Lick Run. 

It was probably two hours after the aid station closed when we arrived.  No one was there. Luckily the tent and all supplies were still there. I could take some refreshment (self-served) but soon I realized I could not eat much and food wanted to come back out. I was done.  All I wanted was to sleep. We still had 5 miles left to the finish.  We were still in the middle of nowhere. The group said, we had to run to the finish because the station here is closed, but I asked if I could sleep a bit. (to do a self-extradiction).

In moment of despair, a volunteer drove up on the road. We were saved. He was there to take down the tent and take supplies back.  He agreed to give us a ride back to the finish with him.  My 11 hours ordeal was finally over.

Looking back, I made several tactical mistakes.  1.  I was moving at 10 miles in 6 hours (35 min pace).  There was no way I could pull 4 hours in the final 14 miles (18 min pace). I should have dropped at mile 92, in order to avoid delaying the sweepers at their job, and everyone else, plus putting myself at risk of serious injury for being out longer than allotted.

2.  I pulled my left calf before 8 pm.  I should have aware of it as early as 4 pm (Dowells) to take care of it or even fix it at Camp Todd, such as putting on an ice pack or applying Biofreeze (which I had in my drop bag at Dowells) at the aid station.  I should have carried oilment on me for issue like muscle ache.

3.  I should have eaten more food, at Dowells and at Camp Todd.  What different between Wasatch and here at Grindatone was I filled up my hydration with electrolyes (calories), sometimes doing 50-50 mix, but at Grindstone I drank only water.  So I was behind on electrolytes and calories. Dowells Draft had good food. Camp Todd, does not have much food (we had watermellons). Their ramen soup was too thin to do me any good. Here, I should have brought my own food.

4th. sleep, sleep as much as possible during the day, because the race has a night time start. I was kind of tired during the afternoon before the race start. I should have taken a nap.

Final words, I would like to run it again and get it to the finish next time.  I had a good time over the weekend. My pacer arrived at the right time.  It could have been worst if I were by myself.  It was bitter sweet.  I came so close yet so far.