I never imagined not finishing this race
I didn’t “strike oil” this year.
Many things went right. Hydration and nutrition were spot on, which was a huge goal going into this.
No blisters or chaffing, thanks to Squirrels Nut Butter and Injinji socks.
The weather was one of the better years.
I was surrounded by friends, including my pacer, Kaitie, and my husband Stephen.
I was moving well and keeping up with my friend Chris. Chris and I planned on running as much of the race together as we could, since we both wanted to aim for 7.5 hour loops.
What happened to me?
Unfortunately, the “lady time” of the month came three days early. I noticed it when Chris and I stopped at the aid station around mile 13. Despite this terrible news, I still battled the course.
My results
68.02 mi (DNF)
Average pace 18:30 /mi
Elevation gain 9,875 ft
Pre-race meeting
Minutes before the race, Tom Jennings stood in front of all of us and gave his final pre-race briefing.
After running the Oil Creek 100 for 14 years, he is retiring and passing the reins off to Heather Nelson.
It was a bitter-sweet time. There was a cake and other farewell and thank you gifts for him.
Tom and the rest of the Oil Creek team have build an awesome brand and have equipped the race with some of the best aid stations.
Thank you, Tom and team for your hard work and attention to details over the years!
After eating a little more breakfast and chatting with friends, Tom announced that we all needed to go line up outside because the race would be starting in five minutes.
Man, these five minutes go by so fast! There was barely enough time to take a selfie with Miriam. [Note: a lot of these trail pictures were taken by her!]
The race starts and finishes at Titusville Middle School (TMS). After each loop, you end up back here. It temps you to drop.
Here’s the story. It’s a wild one
As the race began, Chris and I found each other and began executing our plan of sticking together.
The first topic was craft beer, ha! Chris and I have a few things in common, so we make a good team.
We both enjoy good beer, we both like heavy rock music, our favorite band is Breaking Benjamin, we both have tattoos, we’re parents and have spouses, and we both love outdoor adventures, particularly ultramarathons.
Throughout the day, Chris and I chatted about all of these things and kept our pace on target.
We admired the beautiful Fall day and suffered plenty because of all of the climbs and rocks. Our spirits were high.
Most importantly, we stuffed our faces with the delicious food provided at the aid stations.
It’s really hard being a female ultrarunner
After discovering my period, I thought about my pacer, Kaitie. My period wore me out on the first loop and hormones had me emotional.
I was feeling concerned that this would be the nail in my race coffin, but again, I don’t give up.
On section 4 with Chris, I had to stop and use the bathroom (the woods). It was becoming urgent. Another wonderful symptom.
I told Chris the awkward situation and that I could feel my energy being drained.
I knew that it was too early to feel this fatigued. It was only loop 1! It was difficult to keep up with him. Feeling this way, I told him to continue ahead without me.
It was a bummer running by myself and I knew that I’d likely be heading into the dark alone between miles 50-something and 100k. Running alone at night is an adventure in itself, ha!
My friends are the best
Coming into the TMS, I found Katie. Her and Stephen helped me gather what I needed, including a tampon (it is important that aid stations have these kinds of products).
Close to being in tears, I explained to Katie what was going on. Her words were helpful, made sense, and put things into perspective.
I didn’t even consider the hormones influencing my decision to want to quit, or that they might change hours later.
Menstrual cycles make a challenging race a nightmare because there are a bundle of symptoms to manage on top of what the trail is doing to you.
Shifting my mindset on loop 2
I wanted to cry on and of loop 2, sections 1 and 2, which are my favorite sections. It was definitely the hormones.
But I remembered what Kaitie said and was able to rally and shift my mindset to mantras.
“Keep going,” “keep moving,” “why quit now” (what my painted rock said), “I want that buckle,” and “don’t stop until you get that buckle.”…
When I thought about my situation, I reminded myself that we were all out there suffering and doing our best.
Meeting Keith Straw in-person!
I don’t know if you’re familiar with any seasoned Badwater 135 veterans, but Keith Straw, I think he’s 67 years old, was near me for most of loop 2.
He’s so badass, everyone at the ASs talked about him as he would take a few bites of food and then carry food off onto the trail with him.
He DID NOT use trekking poles. – In my opinion, this is definitely a race where it’s helpful to use your trekking poles from loop 2 to the end.
He is such a kind man. We’re Facebook friends, but glad that I got to meet him in-person. Having him around kept me highly motivated and inspired.
At one point, I shared with him that I found ultrarunning because of Badwater and that it’s my number one goal to finish 135 someday…
Have you ever almost been hit in the face by a flying squirrel?
At night, I was alone for hours. I can hear animals moving around in the woods, a little scary.
Well, next thing I know there’s a grey and white (how it appeared super close to my light) furry thing swooping 3 inches from my forehead. It came from my right, swooping down to the left. I saw little feet.
Woah!! An owl? It landed on the log at the edge of the trail and turned around and looked at me.
It was a FLYING SQUIRREL!!! So awesome!
It’s eyes we’re large and had big black pupils to see in the dark. It looked like a cartoon and was easily one of the cutest creatures I’ve ever seen. Wish I took a picture. I felt blessed to have this encounter.
My decision and hiking out of the woods
Stephen was pacing me after 100k.
At mile 64, for safety and health reasons, I needed to quit. I could tell that my body was approaching a limit, the inability to take another step. I was feeling clumsy on the trail and moving very slow.
With being slow, I was getting colder and colder, close to hypothermia.
If I continued, I would miss the cutoff time, I was close.
Many details need to line up to make this challenging sort of event successful.
Instead of trying to make it to AS 1 (this was my third loop), Stephen and I hiked down an old, overgrown path to the bike path.
The hike was about 2 miles.
He emailed Tom to tell him what we were doing. Tom sent out the EMS to pick us up. They showed up in a cute little emergency vehicle.
They had to go look for another lady after they took us back to the middle school.
If I would have decided to walk back to TMS and not ride with EMS, it would have taken about 40 minutes to get back.
I managed to stay upright
Although my period wrecked a lot of things, everything else went perfect. – As trained for, as planned. I believe that if it weren’t for the period, I would have finished.
During all those miles, I didn’t trip, not even once, which says a lot. The trail is full of things to trip on, and this time of year, most of it is blanketed by gorgeous Fall leaves.
I saw someone fall very early in the race. Before I went out on my third loop, someone came into the aid station and dropped because he fell. Very unfortunate.
Falling can happen to anyone, but I give some credit to the running drills I do every now and then. 5 minutes of drills here and there can add up to helping your race.
Recovering back at home
Back at home, I was still getting chills and slept with 4 blankets. It felt so good.
I had a little 2 day soreness, doing alright today, minus something odd in the back of my knee, but not a knee injury.
I’m thinking a varicose vein was irritated during the race, which impacted/inflamed a tendon and where the hamstring connects. Just a guess.
I noticed towards the end of loop 2, I could no longer straighten my leg. I tried working it out on the flat loop around the drake well museum and bike path.
My entire body had enough though on loop 3, partway to AS 1. Too slow to move fast enough to stay warm.
I believe that my period was the biggest issue.
Honestly, I probably would have pushed the knee/leg to the point of injury if I wasn’t on my period… just to get the finish.
Post race feels
I’m giving my body 6-7 days rest, then see. Probably chiropractor next week and he can look at the back of my leg. It doesn’t straighten well.
The stiffness is insane. If I sit for too long, it takes a few minutes to work out.
I’ve been using Prevail Botanicals CBD salve on my legs, letting that soak in, then compression socks all day. Ultra Recovery massage gun if I feel like it.
I did my best. Every time I do this race, it greatly challenges me and I gain so much experience. Next time I’ll get it.
HUGE thank you to Tom Jennings and race staff for putting on years of a wonderful race!
Thanks to my friends who were there, you inspired me to keep moving forward.
Thanks to the aid station volunteers, you all made me feel like a celebrity when I came into the aid stations, cheering and asking what all I needed.
Strike oil or move on!
Related content
Oil Creek 100 Mi Race Report (10/6-7/2018)
Pennsylvania’s Most Kickbutt Trails: 30 plus miles long, lots of vert, and mostly dirt
Oil Creek 100 Race Report (2021)
Coach Shannon’s Store
https://coachshannonsstore.etsy.com
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