I unknowingly planted the seeds for a January trip to Honolulu and the H.U.R.T. Trail 100 back in May about a week prior to my run at Jemez. As best as I can figure that is when I originally fractured my tibia. That fracture kept me from running San Juan Solstice and Leadville which were to be my key races for 2011. After hobbling around on crutches for most of the summer feeling sorry for myself and generally disappointed in my lost season, I hatched the idea of entering the August H.U.R.T. lottery. I never would have planned on running a 100 miler in January if I hadn’t busted up my leg. I asked my ortho if he thought I would be able to run the distance come January and while he didn’t exactly say yes he didn’t absolutely forbid it either. I figured at best my odds of getting in were 50/50 and I thought it would be a nice surprise for my wife’s 40th birthday to take a mid-winter break in HI so I didn’t let her know of my plans beforehand. Come lottery day when my name was drawn I told her that we were headed to Honolulu. Now I just had to rebuild all my lost fitness and do so on a tender and far from 100% left tibia.
I wasn’t entirely sure how to approach my return to running from serious injury and the internet didn’t offer up much of value beyond a very conservative program from Pfitzinger that looked geared to a recreational 5-10K runner. I knew I needed to enlist the help of a coach to avoid another lost season and get me to the start line of race healthy for once. After some research I reached out to Howard Nippert and embarked on a 5 month program to get me back to 100 mile fitness.
I started “running” again in early August with no more than 5 minutes of running separated by equal intervals of walking. It took several weeks before I was back to continuous running and, while my leg responded well, I was constantly unnerved by every twinge. I even went in for x-rays at one point to settle my mind. My real training kicked in around the first of September and it wasn’t long before I was putting in consistently solid weeks of training with quality long runs interspersed with speedwork and ample recovery days. I totaled just over 225 miles for Sept but Oct began a steady build and I managed to put in 315 quality miles by Halloween. For November I wanted to get in one long confidence building run and the weather cooperated to allow Jake Jones, Josh Arthur, and myself to escape to the Grand Canyon for a Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim adventure run on Thanksgiving weekend. With a solid 11 hr run under my belt and another 300+ mile month I was primed to tackle a solid December training schedule in the lead up to H.U.R.T.
My December schedule called for 7 long runs between 12/1 and 12/25 with most occurring on back to back days every weekend. I hoped for dry weather so I would be able to run locally for most of the month and was rewarded with one of the lowest snowfall totals in decades. I was able to run on dirt all the way through my taper until leaving for HI. I wish I could say the taper was uneventful but I managed to irritate my right Achilles on my last long run and added intensive PT to my reduced workload. We got the inflammation under control by race week but it was definitely a concern heading into the race.
We arrived in Honolulu on Wed the 11th to allow for some acclimation to the heat and humidity and were met at the airport by my high school buddy, John Helm, who I hadn’t seen in 20 years. John was intrigued by the notion of running 100 miles in the rainforest of his adopted hometown and offered to take me and the family to the early a.m. start on Saturday. Because the H.U.R.T. course is 5 loops with two aid stations besides the start/finish I had a pretty easy time planning drop bags on Thursday. I was planning on going entirely liquid for my nutrition strategy so I only had to measure out 15 servings of Perpetuem and divvy them up with my 36 Hammer Gels into 3 separate bags. I threw a few more miscellaneous items into my start/finish bag, called my pre-race prep good, and headed to the beach with the kids. My only pre-race obligation was a mandatory meeting and packet pickup on Friday afternoon. I grabbed a taxi to the meeting which was happily very informal, low key, and over in half an hour. I needed a ride back to the hotel and fortunately previous women’s champion Tracy Garneau and her boyfriend were kind enough to give me and my 5 year old son, Peter, a ride back to our hotel. She was a great resource on pacing, course conditions, and footwear choices. I relaxed by the pool for the rest of the afternoon with another old friend from high school and we caught up all too briefly while watching my three year old flirt endlessly with a hot tub full of women. After a light family dinner we retired to our condo for an early bedtime, only to be startled out of bed by a fireworks display from the Hilton down the beach. That, of course, amped the kids up beyond belief and spoiled the early bedtime plan.
I managed to squeeze in about 4-5 hours of decent sleep before beating the alarm clock out of bed and forcing down a few hundred calories worth of breakfast. I made my last minute preparations, roused the kids out of bed, and made our way downstairs to meet John for our trip to the start. John had decided to make a mini documentary of the race and pulled into the hotel with the camera (and jokes) rolling. We got to the Nature Center start/finish about half an hour before the start. I checked in with the RD, posed for the obligatory pre-race “holy crap I’m nervous” photos, and made small talk with fellow Coloradan Ricky Denesik. With a few minutes left before the start they ushered all the racers onto a little bridge, gave us a blessing, and sent us off into the dark with a blast from a conch shell.
The race immediately begins with the steepest climb on the course known as the Hogback. It is extremely technical to boot and I was more than happy to settle in to a comfortable power hike and burn away my pre-race jitters. I quickly found myself in the front third of the pack but made a conscious effort to let the front runners go and promised myself that I would take it super easy during the first of 5 20 mile loops. At the top of Hogback the outbound course joins briefly with the inbound section and descends briefly before splitting off again and climbing sharply toward the road crossing at Tantalus. One thing I immediately noticed was the intense humidity and it only took 20 minutes before I was soaked through and dripping wet, a condition that would persist through the rest of the race. I also quickly discovered that the numerous rocks on the trail were greasy from the humidity and required some caution to negotiate. Overall, though, I was pleasantly surprised to find the trail conditions far more runnable than I expected and I soon found myself crossing the road on Tantalus greeted by the most amazing pre-dawn views of Waikiki and the Pacific. I actually ran backwards for a few steps just to take in the views before disappearing back into the canopy on the Manoa Cliffs trail.
The Manoa Cliffs section of the course is one of the smoother more runnable sections despite being slightly uphill. The views from the ridge were spectacular and the sections of the trail cut into the rock were a pure aesthetic joy to run. From the top of the trail the course turns down into one of the more technical root infested sections of the course that was also part of the two out and back sections meaning we would traverse this stretch 10 times during the race. I continued to take it very easy through here and was surprised by how quickly I got through this section and was on to the moderately technical descent to Manoa Falls. It was getting light at this point and there were a few breaks in the canopy that allowed stunning views into the surrounding mountains and down valley to the Pacific. I had to stop briefly to take it all in and let another runner come by. I continued down to the falls (which I failed to notice) at a very relaxed pace determined to save my quads for the 14 more descents. I re-passed the runner I had let by earlier on one of the more technical sections and soon saw the leaders scrambling through the slippery rocks on their way back from the Paradise Park aid station. Within minutes I hit the pavement just outside the aid station and cruised in for a quick bottle refill and a couple of gels.
I left the aid station at a comfortable trot and settled in for a mellow run/hike back up past the falls (which I again failed to notice due to the extremely technical nature of the trail) and on towards the high point of the course on the Nu’uanu trail. I maintained a leisurely effort climbing out of the Manoa valley and soon found myself on the very runnable ascent to the top of Nu’uanu. The views and exposure from the ridge were fantastic and this was a section I looked forward to returning to 9 more times. The descent was extremely steep with a few technical sections including some fixed rope on the steeper more exposed rock steps. Towards the bottom of the trail the course loops out onto the Judd trail and the vegetation shifted from bamboo and banyan to some kind of conifer. The Judd trail was very smooth and runnable relative to much of the rest of the course and I quickly found myself at the Nu’uanu stream crossing complete with fixed rope to assist getting over the very slippery rocks. The aid station was just after the crossing and I cruised in for a quick refill of Pepetuem, water, and gels and was quickly on my way.
The climb back out of Nu’uanu was uneventful and I gained the highpoint with little energy expended. There was still a little more out and back to cover before clanging through this really loud metal gate back onto another stretch of the Manoa Cliffs trail. The views from this side of the trail were even more spectacular than anywhere else on the course and I tried to enjoy every step along this stretch but I had to be mindful of the exposure and moderately technical footing. I made short work of this all too fun section, crossed Round Top Dr, and was back on the Makiki Valley trail I had been on earlier this morning after the Hogback climb. I soon came to the split where the outbound course climbs toward Tantalus and the inbound heads downhill back to the Nature Center. Within 10 minutes I finished my first H.U.R.T. loop and was greeted by the cheers of my family and friend John. I hit the aid station exactly on my desired 4:30 split and felt like I had barely made an effort on the first lap.
I got a little distracted by all the fanfare at the aid station but managed to refill my bottles, grab a special bandana filled with ice that Howard had made, said a quick goodbye to my wife and kids (they wouldn’t be back until the finish), and cruised out of the aid station. Unfortunately, I got a few hundred yards out of the aid when I realized I forgot my gels for the next segment and had to turn around and go back. It turned out to be no big deal and gave me a chance to catch up with one of the runners behind me for a little company on the second loop. Loop 2 would be the only complete loop I would do in the daylight and I was fortunate that the runner I hooked up with, Alex Nunn, was local and showed me some of the better lines through the technical sections. We hung together through most of the second loop and there were only a couple of eventful moments both of which involved me falling. The first fall I took pretty much dislodged my left big toenail from the nail bed, nearly sent my handheld flying off a 500 ft drop off, and left me with some significant toe pain for awhile. The second fall was a little scarier and happened on the steep descent into Nu’uanu where my feet went out from me on loose dirt and I cut open my right wrist deep enough that I severed a nerve and lost feeling in my hand for about an hour. Eventually Alex and I separated on the descent back to the Nature Center when I stopped to pee but I would catch him again on the 3rd loop. I hit the start/finish around 3:30 pm which was right on target and was psyched to see John with the camera out filming my pit stop. By now my aid station routine was just that and I headed out for my 3rd loop hoping to cover as much distance as possible before the darkness set in.
I picked up my light at Paradise Park knowing that I would need it sometime before or right after my next aid stop at Nu’uanu. Most of the 3rd lap passed uneventfully until my batteries began to run low on the inbound Manoa Cliffs section. I think I was running with Jamie Gifford and Adam Schwartz-Lowe at that point and had to let them go as I couldn’t maintain much of a pace with limited visibility. I ultimately resorted to holding my fading light about a foot off the trail trying to illuminate the roots and rocks. I made it back to the start/finish around 9 pm and swapped out my light for a fresh one and was again greeted by John and a friend of his. I was a little confused because I thought John wasn’t planning on coming out again until mile 80 but it made for a nice surprise. I had to deal with a small hot spot on my heel and took the opportunity to re-lube my feet and change socks before setting out on the last couple of loops.
I headed out onto my 4th H.U.R.T. loop and turned on my iPod for the first time all day. I had waited so long because I wanted the battery to last me through the night as I figured my playlist might be my only company for a very long time. I was still feeling really strong climbing Hogback and I was still able to run some of the mellower uphill grades. I continued running strongly into Paradise Park where I caught back up to Adam and Jamie and left them at the aid with yet another fast transition. I powered through the rest of the lap really only limited by the darkness and passed another couple of runners on my way back to the start/finish. I think I came through the Nature Center at about 3 am and it was pretty subdued and quiet. I made another quick transition and headed out on my final loop.
Everything was going very smoothly until I began the descent back in to Paradise Park and my light began to fail me again. I resorted to holding it near the ground and probably lost another 20 minutes getting back down to the aid station. I was able to swap batteries at the aid, continued with my totally liquid nutritional strategy, and began the 2nd to last climb of the race. I still felt strong on the climb and made quick work of the 5+ miles back to Nu’uanu. The aid personnel had my routine down and were ready with my drop bag and refills. For the first time all day I glanced at the leaderboard but it wasn’t in order and I didn’t have the mental faculties to do the math but I thought I might be somewhere in the top 10.
I climbed out of Nu’uanu elated to be on the last leg of my H.U.R.T. journey but also surprised at how good I felt with 93+ miles under my belt. Every other time I have gone this far I have been in some kind of slow motion death march and it was a totally new experience to be able to maintain a running cadence even on the uphills. I blasted through the remaining miles and clocked one of my faster splits of the race back to the finish. I hit the line in 28:06 (9th overall) to the cheers of friends and family, kissed the sign, and sat down with my boys to soak in the accomplishment. I hung out at the finish for a bit while my boys played on the trails and I got a chance to cheer on a few more finishers and hang out with new friends.
All in all my H.U.R.T 100 experience couldn’t have been better. The course was well marked (hard to get lost on a loop course but it happens), the aid station volunteers were phenomenal, race management was top notch, everyone was treated like family, and the vibe was incredibly low key. H.U.R.T. was also the first time my family was able to see me race and it was a special treat to be greeted by them at the line. Thankfully, we had booked a few more days on Oahu to hang out and do the tourist thing and our trip was capped off by a great last day with my buddy John seeing the sights, trying to surf, and catching a bit of his live music. I am pretty sure the whole family is hoping I get into the lottery next year.
