On the Road, Perryville, AR The Arkansas Traveller 100 Miler (my 4th.)

9/28/04, Tuesday
I'm leaving a day earlier than last year in order to have a longer rest period on arrival before the run begins. Like last year, I am facing this challenge after a DNF. Not only did the Massanutten 100M kick my butt in May, the Leadville 100M did so in August for the second time. I am in need of some ego bolstering and look forward to this Traveller. The sun rises amidst clouds in the early morning as I skim along a wet road heading east for Monarch Pass. It is a gorgeous day, crisp with fall and autumn color changes in full "chiaro-oscuro". Life is good in that I am able to appreciate my environs, validating once again my decision to move to this high-country. As I turn due south at Pueblo and head toward Raton Pass, I am bothered once more by the recurring question of whether I have any reasonable chance of running a sub-24hr. time on this course (my PR here being 27:20). After several hours of deliberation I finally decide to experiment this year and see just how far I can get starting at a 24hr. pace. At Amarillo, I turn due east and to some favorite CDs to numb the boredom of the flat land I will endure across the TX panhandle and most of OK.

9/29/04, Wednesday
After sleeping soundly for six hours in a rest stop, I awake to a world of isolating, thick, gray, "London" fog, several hours west of Oklahoma City. Tentatively, I start rolling on the Interstate, wondering if driving in this soup is at all reasonable. I soon find a cautious big-rig that is driving at a reasonable pace and I fall-in behind him, just keeping his taillights in sight. The sun rises as we approach OK City, and the fog burns away as I swing NE toward Tulsa where I plan to have lunch with my brother Gèrard. A pleasant visit later, made even more pleasant by a hot shower and change of clothes, I head SE toward Fort Smith, AR, and in the early evening, 40 miles west of Little Rock, I arrive at the Ouachita National Forest Lake Sylvia campground, where I will base-camp until the run is over. By the time I rearrange my "nest" in the back of the pickup dark has fallen, I curl up with a book, and promptly fall asleep with everything wide open and not a mosquito buzzing anywhere.

9/30/04, Thursday
Twelve hours later I climb out into a crisp dawn, eager for the weekend to start. A walk around the lake with my friends Ginny & John & dogs (also from Montrose) get the kinks out from the trip. Over to race headquarters at Camp Ouachita to lend a hand. A sandwich for lunch, a nap, dinner with G & J in town, back to their trailer (with satellite TV) to watch the presidential debate, and the day is over. Travel fatigue again puts me to sleep: ten hours this time.

10/01/04, Friday
This morning is warmer and humid. Rain is in the forecast, then a cold front is supposed to come through early tomorrow morning. 10am registration and weigh-in (down to 154 lbs. this morning on their flattering scale), another sandwich lunch, 2pm race briefing, 4pm spaghetti dinner & schmoozing with familiar faces. Hans-Dieter is in CA and will not participate this year. The International team will sorely miss him. Back to the campground where nerves keep me awake long after dark. Not even a book helps.

10/02/04, Saturday
Late arrivals and occasional rain showers keep me from alpha sleep until at 1:30am I decide enough is enough. I drive over to the start/finish parking area, eat a banana and a powerbar washed down with Gatorade and promptly fall into deep sleep. Arriving traffic progressively wakes me between 4:30 and 5pm. Methodically I dress and check my gear, give my drop-bags a last once over before leaving them at the gathering place, check-in at 5:30 with the race director, and (thankfully!) answer nature's call before the 6am start.

The anticipated cold front is imminent as wind gusts increase, but the start takes place in a hot/humid environment and I am very quickly drenched with sweat and drinking copiously. To force myself to eat more than during previous events, I carry a zip bag in one hand (which can be stored in my waist-pack) into which I stuff eatables at every aid-station and munch continuously.

The aid stations go by quickly as gray dawn emerges. I refill my water bottle and grab some food at Brown's Creek (5.2m), Flatside Pinnacle (8.6m) where we turn off the dirt access road and onto the wonderful Ouachita Trail, Brown's Creek again (11.9m), but moved from road to trail, and Lake Sylvia (16.4m) where I have my first drop-bag. I leave my starting headlight, put on a dry shirt, put a can of Ensure in my waist pack for later sipping, down a couple of electrolyte pills with some Mountain Dew (doesn't ever upset my stomach and is very high in caffeine), put on a white cap with neck-shroud against the sun, and dash off. I am 10 minutes ahead of the 24hr pace time and feel pretty good although the ups and downs of the Trail has started to tire my legs already.

Pumpkin Patch (22.1m) with real pumpkin pie no less, Electronic Tower (24.4m) where old jeep trails, grown over and rocky take us on a roller coaster of ankle twisting through Rocky Gap (28.6m) to Lake Winona (31.9m) where my second drop-bag has some goodies for me. Off again, I am now only five minutes ahead of the 24hr pace and tiring. By Pigtrail (36.5m) I am five minutes behind and the experiment is over. I doubt that at my age I will ever be able to maintain that pace for a full 100m. The question now is: how much damage have I done to the energy reserves that I need for the remaining 63+ miles?

At Club Flamingo (39.4m) where I have my third bag, and Smith Mountain (42.6m), I have maintained a 26hr pace. The nasty pile of unstable rocks and masking vegetation that bears such a glorious name reduces one to mostly a walk until the top at Chicken Gap (46.1m) and the scramble down to Powerline (48.2m) where my fourth bag gives me the three lights I plan to use during the night. It is not yet dark, but it will be before the next bag is available. A weigh in shows I have gained 2 lbs. (edema in the legs) but I pass muster.

The afternoon has been warm in the sun, but delightful in the shade with the cooler air behind the front. Now, as late afternoon melts into early evening, the gravel roads and connecting trails wind through the forest. Dark envelops me by Chile Pepper (52.1m), and reduces visibility to the beams of my lights. I wear a 4-bulb headlight, a similar 4-bulb light on a strap around my stomach, and a single bulb handlight that I carry in the hand not holding my water bottle. All of them are bright LEDs that really light up what is in front of me, and this night I don't trip even once.

At Turnaround (57.9m) my fifth bag allows me to change my short sleeves for long ones, wonderfully dry in the cooling night. A pace check shows me leaving on a slowed 28hr pace. From now on it is the same topography going back over the same paths. The universe narrows down to a focus of running wherever it is possible, even for just a few strides, and powerwalking the rest, always pushing, never relaxing. At night this becomes hypnotic and one's attention drifts and pace slows.

Chili Pepper (63.7m), previously known for its good food, disappoints by being the only station having no soup at all. If one insists, there is hot water in which is dropped a bouillon cube. At Powerline (67.7m) my weight is stable and I grab some soup and move on – I am very close to losing the 28 hr pace. I rapidly drift into a mental fog, concentrating on pushing on, but ignoring my navigation. And the inevitable occurs: I miss the turn-off for the return climb over Smith Mountain. There must be a deity that helps the mentally handicapped, of that I am sure: if it hadn't been for a passing Jeep piloted by a race worker who alerted me to my mistake, I would have continued on into oblivion and an ignominious DNF. As it was, I had to retrace my steps (uphill) for a total of 4 miles, which took a little over an hour. Now, wide-awake, I was threatened by the 30-hr cutoff, and adrenaline surged.

Disappointed in myself I push harder and, to my surprise, my body responds. The constant intake of food is now paying off big time. Up and across to Chicken Gap (69.7m) and down to Smith Mountain (73.1m), up again to Club Flamingo (76.4m), Pigtrail (79.3m), and down to Lake Winona (83.9m) where they tell me I am 2 lbs. under my starting weight and to increase my fluid intake. This is the last access to my drop-bags and I change shirts, again grateful for the luxurious feeling of dry clothes, empty my waist-pack of everything except a jacket, electrolytes and 2 cans of Ensure. Since it will be light soon, I leave my handlight behind also. Off I go, with the 30hr cutoff not as pressing as before. I find myself actually running uphill at times in the breaking dawn to Rocky Gap (87.2m), and up some more in the beauty of the forest at sunup to Electronic Tower (91.4m).

All this time I have been running alone, a world of one in the forest. Now, as the course winds mostly gently downhill, I start passing a lot of people. I feel strong and it shows as I blast through Pumpkin patch (93.7m) taking on only water and head for the Finish. My feet are sore from the rocks and gravel, but my legs are willing and I can actually kick in a sprint for the last mile, painting a target on the backs of runners as they come into view. And then it's over! The clock says 28:15:17 as I fly under it and I find myself sobbing, with tears in my eyes, happy it's over, happy and proud of myself, happy that even with the very fast pace I had maintained at the beginning, I would have had a PR for this course had it not been for those extra 4 miles. I was 59th of 87 finishers, of 125 starters, and 1st in my age group. A very satisfying weekend!

The trip home was rapid and uneventful. I spent Sunday night near the AR-OK line, Monday night near Raton, NM, and pulled into the carport at midday, Tuesday. I was astounded that by keeping my speed down to 60 mph in the flats and not revving over 2K rpm in the mountains, I had averaged 21.9 mpg on the return trip. Pretty good for a pickup! After a 10hr sleep, I spent Wednesday with my legs propped up in front of the TV, eating and drinking. By Thursday morning when I went back to work, most of the soreness had already dissipated. All in all, this my 4th Traveller, is probably one of the most memorable runs I've had so far!