2010 08 14 hot to trot 8 hour all you can run buffet

Susan Donnelly Ultramarathon Trail Runner. Motivational Speaker. http://www.susanruns100s.com

Hot to Trot 8-Hour: All-You-Can-Run Buffet Date : August 14, 2010

Done for the day, sitting on our stump watching everyone else finish.

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August 7, 2010. Sweetwater Creek State Park outside Atlanta, Georgia.

I may have explained this last year but Hot to Trot is different than my usual ultra. Instead of covering a specific distance like 100 miles as fast as you can, an 8-hour race flips this on it’s head to give you (of course) 8 hours to cover as much distance as you can. Here, the distance, not the time, is the variable.

The advantages are that you’re never further on this course than 1.1 miles from an aid station, especially nice on a searingly hot day like today. And since everyone’s running different speeds, you get to see everyone since at some point you’re either lapping them or they’re lapping you. That part is huge fun.

The disadvantages, for me anyway, begin with the sheer boredom of running the same loop over and over and over again. Some people love this, along with the whole convoluted set of mind games and strategies you can play if you’re serious about the thing. Oh, and even the nearness of the aid station has its downside – stopping for a minute every lap for 30 laps means you lose a half hour of run time. And believe me, it’s hard to resist stopping.

Thankfully, Rob and I agreed on the easiest strategy of all – run enough laps to get a 50k and call it a day. Rob’s a master at these races, something of which I’m in awe, and I was more than happy to turn over the calculating and strategizing to him, confident he’d keep us on track. It was better to let him set the pace anyway since he was nursing an angry Achilles tendon. Today’s motto was Damage Control.

This year’s course was still in the Atlanta area but in a different location, Sweetwater Creek State Park. The same park also hosts the Sweetwater 50k in the spring. The course was bound to be shaded, helpful in the near-record heat, and supposedly had some up and down to it, which would make it much easier than last year’s flat course to decide when to walk and when to run.

Round and Round We Go After parking, the next item of business was to check in at the picnic shelter and find a place near the aid station to set up camp. Since you pass the aid station each lap, you also leave a drop bag and maybe a chair for yourself each lap. I hadn’t packed the chairs (I was shopping at Ikea for a new sofa after the race and needed all the space I could get) but we found a perfectly serviceable stump instead and claimed it as our own.

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Steve Michael, ready for the day.

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Bill Keane and Rob.

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Speedy Kate Brun, can't wait to run (and win!).

We checked in, got our timing chips attached to our shoes, and gathered with the others for race director Sarah Tynes’ pre-race briefing, which consists primarily of her one rule: “don’t die.”

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Sarah, instructing us all not to die. She doesn't need the bullhorn.

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Jason Rogers paying rapt attention to Sarah.

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Tony Gonzalez and Orlando Baez listening. You don't ignore Sarah.

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Gary Griffin, the calm in the storm.

She started the race and Rob and I let everyone go. Some people play it close to the line, running as consistently fast as they think they can hold it for 8 hours. Some people fire all of their guns to make good time early on when it’s cooler, planning to hang on as best they can the rest of the time. Some people shuffle along and do the best they can to run a good distance without killing themselves. We were more or less in this category, Rob babying his Achilles and me trotting along with him, trying to get 50k distance in without overheating so I’d be in decent shape for the subsequent ultra at Ikea and the following 4-hour drive home. Hmm, would this qualify as a triathlon?

The loop, as we soon discovered, tilted gradually downhill from the start, rolled over some whoop-de-do’s, down a tenth or two of paved road (which even I liked), and some rocky dirt road, then turned right along the sandy side of Sweetwater Creek for a ways, then right again up a winding, mildly stair-stepped hill to the picnic shelter. Not bad! The scenery was nicely varied along the way, enough to prevent terminable boredom, and it was diverse enough that we could even play our Umstead game of trying to find a new flower each loop. It even ran conveniently by the restrooms – very thoughtful. If I have to do laps, this is a pretty tolerable way to do them and I hope she keeps the same course next year.

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Rob taking off on the road section.

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We turn right at the metal bridge that was washed out in last year's flood.

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Steve Michael pacing the sandy section along the creek.

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Fellow plant nerd Cindy Strickland Ralston smiling on the uphill.

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Another lap done - aid station ahead.

Laps passed but I didn’t count and didn’t look at my watch. I’m hopeless at counting laps (the pool is the worst) and it’s better not to know – I’d just get fixated on the number, drive myself crazy and miss enjoying the day. I only asked Rob twice – once early on when he reminded me you don’t get a count until later.

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Janice Anderson, volunteering as a timer, strikes a deep-in-thought pose.

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Susan Lance, another fast runner volunteered as a timer today too.

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Joe Pringle counting laps.

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High-tech leader board.

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...changes...

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...and changes.

We did see something new almost every lap but the best part was talking to all the friends who were there running and working the race and watching the leaders duke it out.

Sarah saw us walking up to the shelter on one of the hot, midway laps, and got on the bullhorn to tell us to “quit lollygagging around,” which translates roughly into “love having you all here but you’re making it look easy.” Kim Purcell Pike asked which one of us was Lolly and which was Gag and I declared for Lolly before Rob had a chance.

On the practical side, I stuck to Powerade or half Powerade/half water most of the day. The

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only thing I ate besides that was one GU and a handful or two of Fritos/potato chips. In hindsight that sounds shockingly low but we weren’t moving fast and weren’t burning a ton of calories; liquid calories are easier for the body to digest when it’s also working hard to keep itself cool in the heat; and I just didn’t feel hungry. I took one e-cap near the end of the day as a preventive measure but never had cramps. A pretty interesting lesson in what my body needs.

Charles Raffensberger and Psyche Wimberly pausing to refuel at the aid station.

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Jon Brun making a quick stop on his way to the win.

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Staying cool.

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Sally Brooking mans the hose lines. Ronnie Hines declines water spray in favor of some watermelon.

I resisted wetting my hair with the hose (a sure-fire way for me to stay cool and headache-free) because I wanted my feet to stay dry as long as possible, which in this heat and humidity wasn’t long, and because I didn’t want to use up my best heat weapon until I needed it. It was a shoe-squishing day and I was thankful I handle heat well. About three quarters of the way through, I started to feel distracted by the heat and on the early verge of getting a headache so I called in this secret weapon. Waiting that long gave it extra oompf, like finally getting my shoes off after 100 miles.

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Heat management. Packing ice to keep body temp cool.

While I had a fantastic time talking with everyone, spotting wildflowers, watching the rescue squad train their search dogs on the creek, and swapping stories of the week with Rob, one of the best surprises all day was when I heard Rob checking our laps and found we only had three more to run. Three on this course was easy and went surprisingly fast. I felt great at the end which I hope is a good omen for UTMB.

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All that sweat had to go somewhere. Wrinkly feet after a day in squishy shoes.

Like most days spent running, it went ridiculously fast. As much as timed races like this are not my thing, Sarah makes it fun and it’s a blast sharing the day with so many friends, old and new. It’s one of those sunny, happy days that exists somewhere outside of time. The kind you store in the cupboard for a cold winter day.

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The result of a smart run? Enough energy to spend a few hours shopping at Ikea and then drive the packed car four hours home.

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