Hennepin Hundred Pre-Race

Once we were running I remembered to switch the power mode on my Garmin to the one I saved that would have 29 hours of battery. I also had a powerbank in the mile 88 drop bag in case I was running low and would need to charge but was hoping 29 hours would be enough! Then I focused on running and not going too fast, which wasn’t too hard since it was very crowded on the trail. After a few miles it started to spread out and I ran with a couple of different groups of people, and around mile 8 I settled in with a few runners that were running similar paces. The miles flew by as we talked about previous races, race nutrition and other random topics like pets. One thing I noticed was that my legs felt a little off, almost wobblily and unsteady, and I wasn’t picking them up enough so I kept scuffing my feet and sometimes almost tripping.. until I actually did at mile 15. I did a quick drop and roll (like a ninja) and then was back up, frustrated and a little embarrassed, wondering how I managed to do that. Also, it was really early in the race and I was hoping this wasn’t going to be a thing during the rest of the race.

I approached the mile 20.4 Aid Station (AS) which had our first set of drop bags. I quickly found my bag, stuffed my vest with gels and skratch and was off. After that I got separated from my running group and was running solo. The next couple of aid stations were uneventful, just a quick bottle refill and I was off. However around mile 28 my mind went into a negative space and started thinking ‘Why am I doing this?’, ‘Do I really want to do this?’. My legs were starting to feel heavy and the thought of going 70+ more miles sounded daunting and a little impossible. I decided to focus on just getting to the next aid station at mile 32, which would have my next drop bag and I was going to see JMR.

Hearing the news that I was ahead of schedule was good and bad, good because even though I didn’t feel great, I was still doing ok, but bad because I was worried I went out too fast. By now the sun was blaring and it was really getting hot out. I pulled my sunshirt hood over my hat to help provide more shade, but it was also very windy which made more of a sail. I decided it was time to turn my iPod on for a little boost. I had decided to use my playlists from the KS 50 mile race in 2020, and hearing the old but familiar playlist’s definitely pumped me up.

I kept pushing, excited to see JMR, and finally reached AS 8. I was SO thirsty. I drank way too much water and also had water dumped on my head (they had a water tank and were offering). I sprayed some sunscreen on my legs and neck and chatted with JMR saying something along the lines of ‘it was hot and I was thirsty and it was hard’. I asked him to walk a little with me out of the aid station and then we parted ways. 5.6 miles to the next aid station and 8.8 until I saw JMR again.

This was a long stretch, with the sun blaring and the heat it zapped my energy. I started doing some walk breaks, trying to ‘walk with a purpose’ though (what I learned from the race director at the 12 hour race I did), swinging my arms and taking big steps to try and stretch my legs while walking. I had my watch set to remind me to eat every 30 minutes, so that also provided a good distraction focusing on the next gel and which one would I take (I was alternating between Sis, Maurten and Endurance Tap). At the next aid station I refilled my water and was off.

After what felt like forever, I reached AS 10 (mile 47.5) and saw JMR, but I had decided prior to the race I wasn’t going to stop for my drop bag until I came back around at mile 54. So I gave him quick kiss (he was like.. ‘you are so smelly, just a high five is ok’) and kept going. Then I saw a sign that said the out and back was for all runners. I was very confused. I thought this stretch kept going until the 50 mile race finish line and we turned around. However the 50 mile finish line was near Aid Station 10/12. I had no idea how far we were running on the out and back as I wasn’t sure if my sheet was correct (even though with simple math knowing it was the difference between 47.5 and 54, but my brain couldn’t compute). I lost steam, I walked. I started to feel nauseous. I decided to take a zofran to see if that would help and after a couple of miles I felt better, but I also saw the sign for where the 50 milers turned around and we kept going. Ugh. I slogged along until I saw Aid Station 11, thinking hooray! But they told me to keep going, ‘not very far, turn around and then come over for water’. I sadly kept going, hit the turn around (it really only was like 200 yards away, not far, they didn’t lie), and then headed to the aid station to refill my water/skratch.

I picked up the pace a little, now knowing the route I was going and knew I would get a little break once I hit AS 12/mile 54. There was a tunnel we ran through on the way out and ran back through and it was during this time in the ‘dark’ tunnel filled with lumpy gravel and that footing felt off again. I decided to walk through it this time (I tried to jog the first time through) which was better and thankfully I felt more balanced when I came back out. The leg thing was super weird.

I was thrilled seeing the aid station coming into view, waved to JMR, then headed to the porta potties for a quick pit stop. Next I grabbed my drop bag and pulled out all of my gear and nutrition. I had thought I’d be coming into this aid station around 7p and it was just before 5p. It was also still hot, and my plan was to change into a long sleeved shirt thinking I’d be a little chilly but that was certainly not the case. I also had a wind jacket and gloves, lol. After chatting with another girl who had similar original plans, she said she was going to put her headlamp on (we were going to need that regardless) and then stuff her dry clothes in her bag for later.

I grabbed the gear but my hydration pack was already pretty stuffed. I headed over to JMR to see if he could bring it to the next Aid Station 14 (no crew allowed at 13) which was mile 62. He said he was planning on going there (it was a long day so I wasn’t sure when he was going to head back to the hotel), so I gave him a high five and headed out. I was feeling ok, but my legs were starting to get achy and was considering taking some tylenol. Doing the math, I had 4 tylenol so if I took 2 now, then the soonest I could take them again would be at the 16 hour mark… and by the next time I could take 2 more (even though I wouldn’t have any more) I would hopefully be close to the finish and it wouldn’t matter, so I decided to take them now and not save them. I don’t know, I was doing a lot of running math that seemed to make sense at the time.

I noticed that at this point I was running a decent comfortable pace, and the head games I was battling around mile 30 had disappeared. I guess once I hit the 50 mile mark I knew I was halfway done, and running 50 more miles seemed more do-able in my mind. Plus the visit down memory lane with my Tritonia podcasts (trance, EDM) really brought up my morale. The next aid station I went to get a refill and realized I had only drank half of my skratch and none in the other bottle. I needed to pay better attention to hydration since I didn’t really have an alarm or reminder to drink, just to thirst. I knew the next stretch until AS 14 was going to be long and lonely since it felt that way on the way out, but this time in the dark especially, 6.6 miles and then I would see JMR again.

It was starting to get dark so I turned my headlamp on and noted which time I turned it on to remember that it only lasted around 8.5 hours and when I would need to swap batteries. It blinks to let me know it’s running low, but still wanted to mentally be ready. I also decided at the next AS I was going to swap from my iPod/wired headphones to my phone/bluetooth headphones for music since the bluetooth are bone conducting and I can still hear things around me which seems safer especially at night.

On I trudged, still feeling pretty good, readjusting my headlamp a few times and decided I was also going to ditch my hat at the next aid station since it cut off some of the light from my headlamp. I was going to give JMR a ton of stuff, lol. Soon I could hear the music and see the twinkling colored lights at AS 14. I saw JMR right away and chatted with him while swapping my long sleeved shirts, taking off my hat and putting on a buff, and changing the music situation. He told me he was planning on seeing me at the next 2 aid stations at miles 69 (AS 15) and 75 (AS 16) and then was going to head to the hotel. He took a quick photo of me and I headed off for the next 5.7 mile stretch.

I was still taking a gel every 30 minutes but I noticed it was getting a little more challenging to force them down, especially the Endurance Tap which were really sweet. I decided I would take the 2 extra Maurten I had in my bag at the next aid station and swap those with the planned Endurance Tap. Hooray for packing extra! I also noticed a little rubbing/pain on my right toe and wanted to take a look to see if there was a blister and/or it needed ktape to prevent it from getting worse. Between the nutrition and my toe I was pretty distracted and soon I could see the colored glow sticks (so cool looking!) lining the path to AS 15.

When I got there a volunteer asked me what I needed and I said ‘I think I have a blister on my toe’. I was hoping they would say ‘oh ok! take your shoe off and we will take a look/patch it up!’, however of course they did not but he offered to help take my shoe off, which was a big help! After I took my sock off I saw a small blister forming and then got out my blister kit and took care of it. I love being prepared! After what felt like forever I finally got my sock and shoe back on, refilled my bottles, grabbed more nutrition (with extra Maurten) high fived JMR and after getting all turned around (I started to head out of the aid station backwards…I was starting to get a little loopy), I was on my way again.

During this stretch of five miles, things started to get rough. My legs were feeling heavy, I was unsure if my taping job really did anything for my toe and I was also really nauseas again. I took my second zofran hoping it would help, however it did not. Despite not feeling great I tried to keep up with my nutrition, but even with just the mild Sis gel and practically unflavored Maurten, it was getting tough to swallow. In fact, I was starting to get mad at my watch when it would beep every 30 minutes to take a gel, swearing I had just taken one and surely it was too soon/hadn’t been 30 minutes. It made me laugh because I remembered reading about runners getting mad at their pacers when they told them to eat/drink and they didn’t want to, which sounded silly, but I was having a similar irritated exchange with my watch. However I knew how important it was to keep the nutrition going, especially since I was on the lower end per hour so I begrudgingly kept grabbing out gels from my pack every time it beeped and forced them down.

When I finally got to the next aid station (AS 16, mile 75). I felt like garbage. The nausea was really kicking in and I felt a little panicked on how I was going to run another 25 miles when the thought of another gel or any food was making me queasy. When I found JMR I just said I felt really sick then my eyes got watery and felt like I was going to cry (dramatic? probably really tired?). I did not cry, but when the volunteer wearing a big yellow pineapple-shaped hat asked me what he could get me, I told him how terrible I was feeling. He asked if I had been eating mostly sweet stuff and I nodded my head. He said ‘You know at this point in the race, it’s just an eating contest. You’ve got the running down. You’ve got to eat something’. He rattled off a few different salty items…PBJ, Pretzels, Mashed Potatoes, Chicken broth.. I just looked at him and said ‘It all sounds terrible’. He finally convinced me to try some mashed potatoes diluted with chicken broth, and to just ‘take a bite every mile and I would be ok’. I nodded and thanked him, thinking it was all lies and I was going to feel horrible until the end, but headed out.

I managed to take a spoonful of potatoes and after a slight gag reflex, I was able to get them down, and then another bite and a third. I didn’t feel completely better but I did feel considerably better than before eating them. I tried to eat more since I knew it was probably only 100 calories at most in the cup, but my stomach wasn’t ready for it. Then I distracted myself with my pace/ time, and started doing math to see what pace I needed to keep to finish under 30 hours.. could I walk it in? But then that would take forever and walking hurt too, so I might as well run.

The next time my watch beeped I took a gel, but chased it with a spoonful of mashed potatoes and it went down great! The potatoes were a miracle! I caught up with another lady for a bit before she picked up the pace, but she was very encouraging and it was nice to chat with someone for a bit since I had been running mostly solo since mile 20. Soon I came to a road underpass that was filled with mud and water. I was very confused, were we supposed to go through this muck? I didn’t see any shoe prints so I turned around and started to see if we could run up the hillside to the road and back over, but it was way too steep. I think it was partly due to fatigue, but I started to get totally freaked out about going under this overpass…. and then worried maybe I took a wrong turn…. and wasn’t on the right trail (how that’s even possible on a trail alongside a canal is beyond me, but at the time it seemed like a possibility). After standing there for a bit, soon I could see a headlamp coming in my direction so I knew I was on the right path. Ok! I moved forward and tried to carefully hop through the water and mud with not much success, my white shoes were no longer white (dangerous color to run in anyways). When I finally came to the other side I wiped my shoes in the grass on the side of the trail and kept going.

Soon I approached AS 17 where I refilled my bottles and got another cup of mashed potatoes, and quickly headed out. After taking a bite I realized they had dumped salt on top of the potatoes and holy cow it was salty! Since I had been doing a good job of taking in salt/electrolytes having this much extra salt made me nervous, so after taking another bite I pinched the top of the cup and stuffed it into my vest.

I looked at my watch and saw I was at 16 hours and 30ish minutes. Having 20 miles left, finishing in under 24 hours seemed do-able in 8 hours. I started doing running math to see what pace I needed to finish under 24 hours and figured with my walking pace close to 20 minute miles, if I walked the whole way I would finish in 6 hours and 40 minutes, well under 24 hours. Wow! However that sounded like a long-ass time to walk so I kept trying to pick up the pace and do some running. I would run half a mile and walk half a mile, running a pace around 13 minute/mile and walking a 19 minute/mile. Then run .75 mile and walk .25 depending on how I was feeling each mile. Soon I was approaching AS 18, once there I refilled my bottles, got another cup of mashed potatoes and was back on the trail.

These mashed potatoes were a combination of chicken noodle soup and mashed potatoes, when they offered that combination I thought ‘why not!’. They were amazing, I think the noodles just added a nice change of texture. Then to distract myself I started doing math again to see what pace I needed to keep to finish under 22 hours. I realized that if I kept up this walk/run combination pace, I could do it! That gave me some extra energy to keep moving. I also saw the lady I chatted with earlier and we exchanged encouraging words and a little chit chat.

After what felt like forever I finally reached AS 19 (mile 88ish) and the nice guy who helped take my shoe off from an earlier aid station was there. He said he wasn’t really a volunteer, his wife was racing and he was just helping out at the aid stations while he was waiting for her. What a nice guy! I refilled my bottles and took more potatoes and he said ‘Only a half marathon to go!’ I thought… only?!?! That sounded really far given my walk/run pace. Then he told me I was 4th or 5th female which shocked me and also put some fire in my feet to do less walking. Not that I cared what place I was in, I just wanted to finish, but finishing 4th or 5th female sounded really cool!

Soon I got to the point where walking seemed to make me sleepy, running was painful but the pain kept me awake so I kept trying to run. I looked at the time of day and saw it was around 3a, 20ish hours. I was surprised I hadn’t felt tired until now, during the 12 hour ultra I was sleepy around 11p and then at another point around 3a. However I knew I was getting closer and just needed to focus on getting to the next aid station. Once I made it there, it would be the final push to the finish..or shuffle…or crawl.

I made it to AS 20, which was manned by several chill guys that seemed to be having a blast. The energy was contagious and I chatted with them about how this was my first 100 and how much fun (ha, type 2!) was having. They gave me encouraging words while I refilled my bottles and sipped on some coke. Of course I asked for a cup of potatoes. Then as I was heading out, one of them offered to walk with me for a bit while I ate some mashed potatoes so I didn’t have to run the last leg with the cup. After a few minutes of walking I asked him if he would be sad if I didn’t eat all of the potatoes, and he said of course not, took the cup, and I was off! I pulled out my phone and gave JMR a call to let him know I was about 90 minutes from the finish.

I picked up my pace and was doing more running than walking and felt re-energized. And then… I felt a familiar sensation on my left pinky toe, a sharp pain and then more pain. It was a blister under the toenail. Ugh. I had been here before and knew that eventually the pain would fade and I just needed to keep moving. I also hoped it was just that toe and not the right one too like what had happened the last time I got one. After focusing on doing some deep breathing, after about ten minutes the pain finally subsided a bit and I could focus on running with a more natural gait. I decided to pull up my spotify playlist which I save for fun easy runs, and was going to be my last secret weapon to keep moving forward. Immediately my spirits were lifted and I felt a surge of new energy. On I ran, singing out loud and semi-running (what felt like a 9 minute mile was more like a 13 minute mile), trying to distract myself from my still pretty darn painful toe.

I kept doing more bad running math, trying to see how much I could walk to finish under 22 hours and realized I needed to keep up with the slow running rather than walking if that was my goal. Also, as I said before, walking was going to take a lot longer which also motivated me to keep ‘running’. I checked my watch and saw I had about 3 miles to go. That seemed like forever with my current pace. I kept moving forward and after what really did feel like forever (longest 2.5 miles of my life), I saw the sign that the finish was up ahead. I had about a mile on my watch before I hit 100, so I knew it was close. I passed a guy running backwards from the finish to meet a runner and thought ‘surely he didn’t run more than a mile to get out here’ (not sure of my logic) it has to be close! I kept seeing signs pointing the direction to the finish and kept thinking it was almost there. And then, it was. I could see the place in the park where packet pickup had been and knew the finish was just to the left of it. And then I could see the finish. I kept going, picking up my pace a bit and thinking ‘holy sh*it, I cannot believe I am doing this’. I saw the clock and saw I was under 22 hours, I saw JMR and shouted ‘holy sh*t!’ to him as I ran under the clock/across the finish line.

I did it. I couldn’t believe it, I did it. I also finished much faster than expected and ended up coming in 4th female. Wow. The only goal I had was to finish (and not crap my pants), so this was just awesome. The race director walked towards me with my sub 24 hour belt buckle and gave me a huge congrats. I was practically speechless and couldn’t think of what to say except ‘wow!’ (In retrospect I wish I had thanked her for putting on such a great race). She also gave me my finisher flannel shirt and I got a few photos taken at the finish line under the clock. I walked over to JMR and was again at a loss for words. He took a photo of me with my buckle, I chatted with another guy who I had run with earlier in the race, who had finished just before me. The volunteers let me know there was chili and soup and other food in the tent nearby but I sadly declined as my stomach didn’t want anything else coming in at the moment. I hobbled to the car with JMR…and couldn’t believe how sore I was already. I had just finished…and the next day is always the worst, oh boy.

We got back to the hotel around 5a, I showered, JMR went back to bed and I spent the next three hours unsure if I was going to puke and sitting upright as laying down (legs flat) hurt too much. My feet. Those were a mess too, so many blisters. Ugh. Finally around 10a we headed back to the finish line to get my drop bags and then after getting some food from the finisher tent we were on our way home. I managed to sleep on the drive home. Once we arrived home I didn’t even unpack, I climbed out of the car and walked directly into bed. I woke up at 8p and did a little unpacking/laundry and was back asleep at 9p until 7a the next day. I was tired!

This recap took me several months to write, not surprising given how long the race took 🙂 I will also say this was the MOST sore I have ever been after a race. After a few days I was walking around like an 80 year old vs a 90 year old, but continued to improve as the days went by. Today my toes have finally healed, six toenails lost and I’m back to running 🙂

Was it worth it? 100% Would I do it again… not ruling it out. I’m signed up to run it again this year with some new goals. I still have a triathlon planned to do in June but this year is another big focus on running and I’m loving it so far!

By the numbers (for future reference for me!):

Nutrition: (excluding the few cups of coke and mashed potatoes):

Sis gels 18 – 1620 calories

Maurten gels 17 – 1700 calories

Endurance Tap gels 6 – 600 calories

Skratch 10 pouches – 800 calories

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Medication timeline

6a 1 Immodium (at start)

6h (12p) 1 Immodium

9h30min- (4:30p) 1 zofran

10h30min (5:30p) 2 tylenol

12 (7p) 1 Immodium

15h (10p) 1 zofran

16h (11p) 2 tylenol

18h (1a) 1 Immodium

20h (3a) 1 Immodium