Mistakes were abound in my first attempt at the Arrowhead 135. After a shocking finish at the Tuscobia 75 miler I actually had illusions of grandeur. When in all actuality it was more like delusions of grandeur. Just because one does well in a 75 miler it DOES NOT mean they will do well at a 135 miler. It's a whole new animal! Not to mention 60 miles farther and about 60 degrees colder at the starting line.
1st and biggest mistake was to sign up for a race while still trying to recover from the last race. Going 75 miles on a snowmobile trail took its toll on me. I had no idea how long my body would need to recover. My feet, knees, and quads were in worse shape than I even knew. I have no regrets. Just lessons learned.
By mile 5 my knee that I had surgery on was hurting. I stopped to take Advil and it seemed to help, but I knew it was just masking the pain.
The bikes took off first and then 2 minutes later the starter called for the skiers. Only one skier straggled up to the line. They sent him on his way. Then the starter called us runners up. Instead of a gun going off the starter says, "release the hounds!!" I'm guessing that had something to do with the fact that we pull sleds. Similar to a sled dog. With this race we are required to bring certain survival gear with us from start to finish. The mandatory gear is as follows: a -20 degree sleeping bag with insulated pad, a waterproof bivy sack or tent, a stove and fuel for melting snow as drinking water, matches or a lighter to start a fire, insulated drinking containers(64oz minimum), and at least 3000 calories of emergency food supply.(many runners take a pound of butter or peanut butter)
we also were required to have a headlamp, 2 red blinking lights, and 10 inches of reflective material on our body being that we would be on a multi use snowmobile trail for 2 days and nights.
My plan was to go out fast and get to the first check point in the top ten or so. Then just steddily slow the pace down and hold on. In retrospect not the best plan in a race that is 135 miles long in -25 degree temps.
The night before the race my Dad and I were hunkered down in the hotel after the pre race safety meeting and spaghetti dinner. My Dad was shaking his head as the race director was telling us what the odds were that we'd finished. If I remember right some years only 25% would finish. On a good year 50% would finish. Odds were pretty low this year with it being so cold. Every day leading up to the race the forecast just kept getting worse. Once in our room we were watching the Pro Bowl. It was early and I had dozed off twice. That was a great sign because I needed a good night sleep. As soon as my Dad said to turn the TV off I was wide awake. I could hear ever noise in the hotel. I tossed and turned until midnight. The alarm was set for 5:30am but I was up multiple times looking at the time fearing I'd sleep late or the alarm wouldn't go off.(I always think about the Seinfeld marathon runner episode) At about 5 we got up and headed to the lobby for some breakfast and some java.
It was so cold out that I went out to start the truck(which I never do) to give it a chance to warm up. As I started turning it over I got a little nervous. It wasn't firing. I tryed it again. After about a minute it finally fired up. Thank God my battery was good. I've never had a hard time starting my truck. But then again, it isn't normally that cold. Plus it usually isn't parked outside all night either.
At about 20 to 7 we headed to the starting area. We sat in the truck for about 15 minutes. For a race like this there is no standing around waiting for the gun, or in porta potty lines. I ran in and checked in. After that my Dad and I said our good byes. I could tell he was worried. The temp was -24 or -25 with a wind chill of about -45. He gave me a big hug and said to be careful. He also thru in that if I didn't make it he'd come get me no matter when or where. There are people straggling to the line even as the starter sent us on our way.
As soon as the race began 2 guys bolted out and I tailed just behind. At about a 1/4 mile they slowed to cross the first road. I cruised right on by. The skier also slowed and stopped to take off his skies to cross the road.(what a pain that would be) I was leading for almost the 1st 5 miles like the imbecile I am. Unless you are Scott Jerek you don't want to lead in the beginning of a 135 mile race. Especially one that is in -25 degree weather. Sweating profusely is not a good thing at these temps. Not to mention the mental toll it takes on you to continue to get passed all day.
Photo by Burgess Eberhardt
A few Bikers were pulling over with mechanical troubles because of the cold. Anyway, at about mile 5 I slowed way down because my knee was already bothering me. It was swollen for a couple weeks after Tuscobia. The surgeon had told my that if I over did it that's what would happen. Who knew 75 miles was over doing it!;-)
You would not believe all the wolf tracks on the trail. I would have thought with it being that cold even they would be hunkered down somewhere. Obviously that is not the case because I've never seen so many tracks in my entire life. At one spot there must have been a pack of them that dug a depression in the center of the trail. Then they urinated in the depression.(my guess would be they were marking there territory)
I did pull over at about 8am and take some Advil and try to eat a little. It was then that I realized stuff that worked at Tuscobia wasn't going to work here at these temps. It was so cold I had to wear a mask the whole time.(mainly to prevent the lungs from freezing) When I'd stop to drink or eat I'd lift the mask. It was wet from my breath. Then when I'd go to put it back down it was stiff as a board and totally frozen. I'd have to use my breath to unfreeze it in order to get it fitted back over my face. Not to mention the granola bars that worked fine at the last race were now solid as a brick. As I chewed them the crumbs would fly up into my eyes as I breathed out. Those troubles led me to not eat or hydrate every hour as planned. That led to my pace slowing with every mile. I would rebound a couple times when I did stop to drink. By about mile 30 things were starting to unravel. I was beginning to look at my watch way to much. I was getting more and more thirsty by the minute and my water was either frozen or gone. Tricks I used in Wisconsin didn't cut it up there in the cold. By mile 15 my second bottle of Gatorade was half gone and starting to freeze. I had my water and Gatorade in an insulated cooler with big hand warmer packets to keep them from freezing. This didn't work nearly as well in these extremely cold conditions.
Photo by Burgess Eberhardt
With every turn of the trail I was expecting to see the road crossing that was near the 1st check point. I had to be close! Finally I was passed by Chris.(the Tuscobia race director) I asked him if he new how much farther it was to the check point. He said, "it has got to be less than a mile." As soon as he said it we came to the road crossing that I had been looking for for a hour and a half. All I could do is think about buying more Gatorade and slamming it.
As I pulled onto the spur trail to the check point I saw the girl that was the 2nd person to pass me.(Alicia Hudelson) She was heading back out to hit the next leg of the race. She still looked fresh. She ended up getting 3rd overall. She is a fricken machine! Not only did she take 3rd place, but she crushed the women record by over 7 hours!! I was surprised to see all but 2 of the 7 that passed me all still in the 1st check point. I believe I was the eighth runner into the check point.
I was soaked when I got there.
I bought two big bottles of ice cold Gatorade, sat down and slammed the 1st one. It was at that time I started getting cold. So I bought a big cup of coffee too. As I started on the coffee the guy sittin accross from me starts talking about how tough the trail gets in the next section. This guy was the 1st one that passed me near the 5 mile mark. He was already DNF'd and was looking for a ride back to International falls. He went on to say if you aren't sure you'll make it thru the night don't chance it. It's a long way without a possible rescue if you get in trouble. We all knew it was only going to get even colder overnight. Maybe even as cold as -55 windchill. Even I know you don't Fu@$ around when it's that cold. I don't care how tough you are. At temps like that one mistake and you are going to die or at the very least lose some digits.
So as I sat there drinking all my stuff because I was so dehydrated my body temp must have dropped fast from the cold liquid. All of a sudden a volunteer mentioned to me that I had a pretty serious case of the shakes going on. Then my feet and hands started to get super cold. I managed to stay warm for 36.7 miles on the trail, but now sitting in a heated store I was freezing. Go figure!
I did however know that this could happen from stuff that I had read, but when it happens to you it kind of puts a scare into you. It was at that point I made the decision to drop. It wasn't the only reason. My knee, my feet, and my back already hurt.(Big Wuss) I still had a hundred miles to go! I don't think I was fully recovered from the 75 miler. It's hard to train and recover at the same time. I pushed my body harder than I had ever probably pushed it before at Tuscobia. It really needed more time to come back. The feet especially. The balls of my feet just ached. Running on snowmobile trails took a huge toll on the feet. Like I said, "no regrets, just lessons learned."
As I sat around waiting for my ride I watched the other runners come in and some depart. Some of the others that were already there did end up finishing. All of them seem to have little tricks they use in this environment. I just tried to take it all in. Some runners had certain ways of insulating their water, some had just their nose covered for breathing the cold air and I'm assuming it makes eating easier. All great things for us rookies to learn.
I also saw Logan come in in pretty rough shape. Logan is the kid that pointed me in the right direction after I got turned around at Tuscobia. He's a pretty awesome kid! People seem to be drawn to him for some reason. He had stripped down to just a pair of running shorts to have his wet clothes dried in a drier. As he was standing there he started shaking and his skin turned kind of blue all over. An EMT gave him some pants and a jacket to put on in hopes that it would warm him up. Logan continued to shake. The EMT came back over and had him put the hood up to help retain the heat. As I talked with Logan he was still considering going back out if he could warm up. When I left he was on the fence. I gave him my 2 cents about how it just wouldn't be worth it to lose a life over it. There will always be other races. Later I found out he did go back out. I thought about him all night. In the morning I checked to see if he made it. He ended up DNFing at the sheep ranch road crossing in the middle of the night. I also read that he got frostbite to his hands. The kid has balls for going back out through I will tell you that. See article below about young Logan.
So what did I learn? I learned I'm not as tough as I thought.💪However I also learned that I'm not as dumb as I thought either. So that good right?! When temps are that cold gear makes a big difference. But maybe the biggest lesson is that experience is something you have to earn. If you want to finish a race like this you really need to spend a lot of time outside training and camping in the coldest temps you can find. Hopefully the good folks at Arrowhead will have me back. I absolutely have some unfinished business up there. Plus I have this awesome race shirt & jacket that I can't wear until I finish that F'ing race!!
Thank you to the race director, Ken Krueger for giving me the opportunity and thank you to all the awesome volenteers that helped put on a truly one of a kind race.
A big hats off to those few warriors that did finish the ArrowHead135. Your determination, heart, and true grit is absolutely admirable. 18 of 54 runners crossed the finish line.
How do you feel about wearing a race shirts or gear from a race you have yet to complete? Have you ever DNF'd? Did it get you down or fuel your fire?
Next up the Superior Spring 50k. More unfinished business. I'm hoping to shave at least a hour off last years time. DREAM BIG my friends! Dream big.
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