Broken Toe 50K

Race recap!!!
FUN FUN FUN.

My first 50K (Run Woodstock) was so awesomely fun and amazing and my recovery post run was surprisingly quick and relatively painless. So I figured, what’s better than ONE 50K? TWO 50Ks!!
We had one weekend available in October, so I did an online search for ultras in the area, including multiple states. The goal was to find something fairly close- within a 3 hour drive- that was on our available weekend and that was located in a state in which I’ve never raced. The last qualification is not a difficult one to meet. Currently, the only states filled in on my run board are: NC, SC, IN, AK, and MI. Our weekends were completely booked except for the weekend of the 21st of October. We have swim meets on our calendar and we are currently preparing to move to Hawaii. So there’s a lot going on. I found a race in Ohio called the Broken Toe, and it fit all our criteria. It was also really small- capped at 50 runners for the 50K and 25 for the 25K. It was inexpensive ($45 I think?) and began in a random park not far from Dayton.

My training for this race consisted of running as much as possible and as far as possible and trying not to injure myself. Before I ran Woodstock I tried some new shoes and they caused something that feels suspiciously like sesamoiditis. I was concerned going into Woodstock that this would affect my run, but trails do not bother or aggravate this issue. Pavement running causes increased inflammation in my toes, but trail running doesn’t seem to bother them at all. This is really great news for my racing plans, and really terrible news for my training. In order to run unpaved trails, I have to drive, and I really don't have time to drive to a trail and also run a trail.#homeschoolmomlife. There isn’t anything in my surrounding area that is unpaved and suitable for running. There are tons of paved trails and sidewalks, navigatable shoulders, etc, but zero unpaved trails. So my training for the Broken Toe was tricky. I pushed Sam for pretty much all my pre race runs. I find that stroller running is excellent prep work for trail running, if I can’t get to an actual trail. If I can push a 75-80 lb stroller uphill and downhill for sustained distances, running up a trail without it is cake. The joints of my big toes were pretty inflamed by the time I hit taper week, and I was just hoping that the rest prior to the race would be enough to earn me a successful finish at Broken Toe, and even more optimistically, that I wouldn’t end up with stress fractures in my feet.

Going into race weekend, I felt pretty good, but my head was not in the game. We are preparing for a huge move- from Indiana to Hawaii- and quite honestly, we are heartbroken over it. We love Indiana and moving is rough on all of us.

We were all excited to explore a little bit of Ohio. We’d never been there before, except in passing through on the highway en route to Indiana. We booked a hotel room outside of Dayton and drove to Harveysburg to do recon on the park area. Once we figured out where everything was located, we went to find food. Waynesville is near Harveysburg and there is very little there- a few restaurants and lots of antique shops. The town is completely adorable. We ate at Stone House Tavern and we loved it. Very affordable and a nice range of menu choices. I had a teriyaki mushroom burger and it was Delicious. Two thumbs up. The architecture in Waynesville was delightful. During my race, my family walked around the downtown area. Great regret was expressed that we didn’t stay at the bed and breakfast there. :)

Exterior of the Stone House Tavern

Stone House Tavern: where the sandwiches are bigger than your head.

One of the stipulations we have on traveling is that the hotel in which we stay MUST have a pool. This keeps the 7 year old happy. The kids swam after dinner and then we crashed. I always have a hard time sleeping in unfamiliar places, and that combined with pre race adrenaline did not lead me to expect a full night of sleep. The night before Woodstock I got about 90 minutes of sleep, so my hopes weren’t high! I got more than I expected, so I actually felt really rested when I got up Saturday morning. Race start was at 8, the park was thirty minutes away, and I wasn’t sure what to expect, so we left at 7. We arrived at the park around 7:30. It was dark, cold, and very no frills. But the sunrise was spectacular.

I grabbed my bib and went to find a portapottie. When I got back, my husband told me, "They are drawing a line on the road for the start. With chalk."

We started the race from the park and ran down the road to the trailhead. I had a pretty good idea that this was primarily a local race, and I think that ended up being accurate.

Chalk start line. Worked out just fine.

Most of the people seemed to know each other, and quite a few seemed familiar with the trail itself. I didn't know anyone and had no concept of what to expect of the trail. I ended up behind two older dudes and a couple of women that were bffs. They set a really nice pace and seemed to know where they were going, so I just matched their pace and hung on. The folks in front of me kept up a running stream of conversation and that kept me entertained for the first 12 miles or so. One of the ladies had adopted a Maine Coone and thanks both to my 7 year old's voracious interest in non-fiction, and to our public library, I knew exactly what a Maine Coone was. I became a little intimidated because one of the women in front of me was a very experienced ultra runner. There was discussion about all the races she had run, the 50s, the 100s, the race she recently ran with a fractured foot. In retrospect, I shouldn't have felt intimidated because I was keeping up with them just fine. I lost the company at the 12 mile aid station (It may have been the 8 mile aid station. I can't recall. There weren't mile markers to indicate distance, and I wasn't checking my GPS at this point.) because the temps had risen and I took some time to take off my hydration pack and shed a layer. This was a tough trail and I saw no reason to rush or hurry. When I rush, my risk of making mistakes skyrockets, so I figured it was in my best interest to take things at an easy pace.

Aid station. I was attempting to be as colorful as possible. Lacking a flare orange hat, I went with a bright bandana instead.

After this aid station, I found myself alone for quite a while. It was kind of a relief, because I was more free to set my own pace.

The biggest issues I had with this race:
- the fear of being lost
- the terrain

The trail was not adequately marked for someone that was completely unfamiliar with it. For someone local, I'm sure it was perfectly ok. The rule of thumb was, "orange flags will always be on your right." I came upon several spots where I had to choose a right or left turn- and there were flags on both right and left sides of the trail. So. Many. Flags. At one point, I went completely off trail and didn't realize it until I ended up in a dried up lake bed and the trail had disappeared. Fortunately, I hadn't gotten too far off course, so backtracking wasn't a problem. Much later, I had to choose right fork or left fork. I had no idea- there were flags on the right side of both trails- so I just picked one and then spent the next several minutes running and questioning myself. So I just stopped and waited for someone to catch up with me. I knew there were people behind me, and I figured that maybe one of them might know which trail was correct. And if not, we'd be lost together.
The terrain was hard on me. The trail was beautiful; I stopped several times to take photos because I knew I would hate myself later if I didn't. I did not photograph the hardest parts. I was too focused on not falling down.

There were a lot of very steep ascents and descents that I found impossible to run. I had to slow down and carefully make my way. I ran where I could, but it was slow going because there was a layer of leaves covering most of the trail. There were long sections of trail that were rutted with tree roots, and sections that were covered with river rocks. I couldn't see them because they were under the leaves, so I rolled my ankles several times and banged my toes up a lot. (Race was very appropriately named.)

Equally unflattering and realistic photo. My face says,"Concentrating so hard. Must not trip and fall down."

I kept waiting for the aid station with the portapottie. The race info had said that there were two portapotties, and that we should, "Plan accordingly." When I got to the halfway point- the 16 mile aid station- I asked, "Where's the portapottie?" The answer came, "There are no portapotties." Fair enough. I guess I misunderstand the race info- they meant there were two portapotties at the PARK for pre race use. When they said, "Plan accordingly," they meant, "Bring TP."
Lesson learned. *insert thumbs up like Fonzie.*
After I left the 16 mile aid station, I started hearing gunshots more frequently. It's hunting season and the park was open to hunting while we were running. I didn't love that, but I was wearing an orange shirt and I figured that we all have to go sometime and there was a really good chance I wouldn't get shot. I passed a few people- one guy I passed twice. The second time I passed him, I was honestly confused and said, "How am I passing you again? You didn't pass me!" It seems he thought I was insinuating that he was cheating- which I wasn't- but his loud protestations awakened a suspicion that had not existed prior. I didn't assume he had cheated, I actually assumed that I had once again taken a wrong turn and gone off course.
When I reached the final aid station, around mile 23, the volunteers told me that I was currently in third place for the women. I thought they must be kidding because I felt like I was moving so slow.
After the last aid station I started checking my GPS every mile or so, because I was concerned I was going the wrong way. I realized that the race route was a series of loops and was comprised of about three different trail routes. The race organizers had planned a route that looped around and crossed and recrossed the same route several times.

Finished race route. I gave up trying to make sense of my route or direction.

Elevation like wow. 

All things considered, my splits weren't terrible. It just felt tedious and slow. 

It's taken me about a week to organize my thoughts about this race. The two 50Ks that I've run have been so altogether different. Woodstock was very blingy and flashy with fully stocked aid stations every four miles, volunteers with cow bells and enthusiastic cheering. Broken Toe was the polar opposite with minimal aid and minimal information. I don't know what's standard for ultras- or if there is a standard. They may all be different. Two races isn't enough to form an opinion on what's "normal." Broken Toe felt like a "real" ultra, in that it was hard as heck and I felt wasted at the end, physically and psychologically. I expect to feel beat down after running 31 miles. I look forward to having more basis for comparison, as to whether other ultras will be hard like Woodstock, where the primary challenge lay in actually completing the distance, or hard like Broken Toe, which was hard mentally (fear of being lost or shot) and extremely challenging physically. Broken Toe was so much harder for me than Woodstock that when I finished, I was left with a sense of what felt very akin to failure. 

Cheer squad keeping it 100. Best sight in the world was coming up the hill at the finish and seeing these guys at the top of it

I felt pretty good at the finish, with the exception of the ache in my feet. Fortunately, nobody stepped on my toes. My feet look stellar in the photo, but I'm a slow bruiser and I have a couple of toe nails that are changing color, even now. The thing that really killed were the muscles in my lower left shin. That part of my body took all the impact when I repeatedly rolled my ankle. I was so fortunate to finish without a stress fracture. Walking down stairs or down hill has been a challenge this week, but I took a solid four days of rest and that seemed to do the trick. It took me about 48 hours to completely rehydrate. I emptied my hydration pack and refilled my handheld three or four times while I was running, but by the time the race was over the temps were in the 70s and the humidity was high. Fluid loss was high. 

During the race I went through two Honey Stinger waffles and three Nuun tablets, one of which was Nuun Energy with a bit of caffeine. I finished up second for the women, and tenth overall, with a time of 7 hours, 10 minutes. The second place finish is based on my deduction, as I was in third at the final aid station, and then passed a woman between that aid station and the finish line. As far as the posted results, I appear to be in second place for the women, as long as female dogs are not included in the results. A canine named Maeby finished before me, and I truly hope that dog had a giant treat and an epic nap following her run. I would have liked to finish in under 7 hours, and I could have, if I hadn't gotten lost or stopped to wait around and check my location. Or if I hadn't taken so much time at the aid stations... so much room for second guessing in retrospect. All things considered, I'm so grateful for a healthy finish and that I didn't have to be rescued. I feel like such a newbie in the ultra community, which is appropriate, since it's exactly what I am. I have to remind myself frequently that the only way to obtain experience is just to DO THE THINGS and that everybody starts from somewhere. No one starts off at threat level Expert. I learned a lot from this race experience and I'm so thrilled that I had the opportunity to participate.
I'm currently plotting and conniving, trying to figure out if I can fit one more ultra in before we fly to Hawaii... maybe get one more state marked off my race map. I'm not sure if I can manage another ultra less than 30 days after Broken Toe, but mentally it seems like a great idea.
One lesson learned from this ultra: Donuts are always a good idea after finishing a 50K. :)