Somewhere along the line we have confused comfort with happiness. Dean Karnazes

The Hitchcock 100 Mile Endurance Race was a late season add to my typical race calendar. After recovering from my DNF (did not finish) at Superior 100, I wasn’t ready to be done with the racing season just yet. (You can read about Superior in the next blog post down.) I was back to running long runs on the weekends, strength training & overall feeling strong as the fall season wore on. I signed up for Hitchcock 100 knowing that an early December race would be a wild card in the weather depeartment, especially here in the midwest. Race reports of previous years talked about snow, ice, mud & overall slippery/nasty conditions. I joked with friends that I was “manifesting” 30 degrees & dry conditions. Apparently it worked. More on that later.

Hitchcock 100 is held at the Hitchcock Nature Center not far from Omaha, Nebraska/Council Bluffs, Iowa. From the tops of the ridges you could see the city skylines. We stayed in downtown Omaha, an easy 20-25 min drive from hotel to race headquarters.

Just because it’s Iowa, don’t think that the course is flat. It is very much NOT flat. My Garmin Fenix 7 reported 22,000’ of vert over 100 miles. In comparison, Superior 100 reports 20,000’ of vert over a similar distance. This is a looped course & for the 2023 edition it was 6 16.7 mile loops.

The loop starts & finishes at Loess Lodge at the Hitchcock Nature Center. There is an aid station at mile 6 & again at 11.5, & the main aid station at the lodge. Crew can meet you at the Lodge & at the 11.5 mile aid station. The “loop” on paper looks like a kid scribbled on a map. There were out and backs, loops within the loop & many views of the Lodge. It took me a few loops to realize all the different parts of the loop. Guess it was good I got to do it so many times!

I travelled to the race with my friends, Kelly & Alisha. Collectively we are “Team Pocket Pickles.” Kelly & Alisha are the best travel companions, crew & pacers a girl could ask for. They computed my pace on the fly, were always there when I needed them & frequently predicted my needs.

The race started at 5:00am on Saturday morning with 34 hours to complete the 100 mile distance. We started with a group of runners running the half marathon, so those early miles you had plenty of folks around. It was dark, as most of this race would be, given the short, winter days; when we all started off on the pavement in front of the lodge & headed out with our lights casting out over the trail. Very quickly I noticed the steepness of the trail as we descended the first hill (the lodge sits on top of a hill, as this will become very apparent later on!) I immediately thanked my lucky stars for a dry course. This first descent was no joke. And then as quickly as we descended we were climbing again. I tried to meter my effort & find my rhythm among the other runners.

The first loop was an adventure. It was all new to me. Plus for the first half of the loop it was dark! My body felt good. The climbs, while challenging, didn’t leave me wasted at the top. There were lots of runnable areas along the ridges before the steep descents. I carefully picked my way down the descents, every time being grateful it was dry. As morning broke on the first loop, the wind picked up & it started to snow. The wind would be the biggest issue Mother Nature would give us, as the snow didn’t last - it was just enough of a tease to remind us what could have been!

Blurry photo of Omaha sky line as the sun comes up on the first day.

I finished loop 1 in good spirits & well ahead of the 5 hours I had allotted for each loop. A quick pass through the Lodge to refill my pack & I was back out on the second loop. I left the lodge by myself & nearly missed the first turn off the pavement. I had had enough folks around at the beginning, I wasn’t paying attention that much to course markings. Now I was completely alone & really needed to pay attention! Loop 2 went great! I started to notice some new things about the course that I hadn’t seen on loop 1. I was running well & finding sections where I could get my legs moving a bit quicker. It felt good to run a little faster in places. I could feel my glutes working on the steep climbs & I was excited to note that my body was feeling strong and durable.

Cruising into the Lodge at the end of loop 1.

While on loop 1 I had had the occasion to run with some people and chat with them along the way, but now on loop 2, I was totally by myself. I still had 1 more full loop before I would pick up a pacer & A LOT of miles left to go. I elected to put in my ear buds & listen to a podcast. Generally speaking, I don’t listen to anything besides music & then it’s only in the very later stages of a race. But because I was already running solo, I decided to add earbuds to help some of these middle miles pass a bit faster.

The podcast & music helped the miles pass & I was back to the Lodge at the end of loop 2 with just over 8 hours on the clock. I took the time to change my shoes & socks. The dry soil had worked its way into my socks & I could feel the grit between my toes. I still had one loop to go before I picked up Kelly for pacing duties. I was worried about running out of daylight on loop 3, but Alisha & Kelly assured me that I was moving well enough & I wouldn’t need a light until they met me at the 11.5 mile aid station this loop.

My pace started to slow on loop 3. It wasn’t as easy to get the legs to move on the flats, the climbs were feeling harder & the steep descents were feeling more steep than they had previously. I was still in a good frame of mind, but everything was feeling a little more difficult. I was excited to have a pacer soon. I still hadn’t had any other runners near me since loop 1. The small field of runners doing the 100 mile distance had really gotten spread out. Overall, I don’t mind running alone. I do a lot of my long runs by myself on the weekends & all but one run during the week is solo. However, after 12 hours of running solo, I was definitely ready for some company!

Sunset on loop 3. I kept my face covered a lot of the time to avoid over drying my mouth & face from the wind.

Kelly was my first pacer & she would run all of loop 4 with me & loop 5 until mile 11.5. So just over a loop and a half. It was dark when Kelly & I left the Lodge on loop 4 & as usual, we were alone. This was going to be a “night cruise.” Keep moving in a purposeful way, continue to eat well, and not over analyze the pace. It was going to be dark for a long time & I still had 50 more miles to go.

Kelly & I heading out into the darkness (with snacks!)

Loop 4 was probably the most mentally challenging loop. Each climb & descent would need to be covered 2 more times. Mentally it felt like a lot. One of the things I’ve noticed about human behavior is how we like to think ahead - we are really one of the only creatures who thinks about the future. Look at your dog - they’re not thinking about what’s coming next, they’re just happy to be curled up next to you on the couch. But humans, we’re always thinking about what’s next. And while there can be value in looking ahead & planning, sometimes we lose sight of what’s right in front of us. What’s important in this moment. Loop 4 was practice being in the moment. I couldn’t rush the miles. I couldn’t rush the loop. I couldn’t rush my body. The ups & downs of my energy were going ebb & flow & I couldn’t rush that either. I had to stay present.

Kelly & I finished loop 4 & back at the lodge I changed my socks one more time. We headed out on Loop 5 to meet Alisha at the 11.5 mile aid station. The miles passed & Kelly told me all about the environmental significance of the area where we were. It was super interesting! If you want to know more, I’m happy to share, but we’ll save that for a long run on another day.

Soon we rolled into the 11.5 mile aid station on loop 5 & Alisha joined me for the remainder of the miles. I was definitely tired. By this time I had been running for 22 hours, it was 3am. There was a lot more hiking and a lot less running. My skin under my pack was feeling raw & I had chaffing in a few other notable places as well.

Starting loop 6 with Alisha. Bacon in hand!

When Alisha & I got back to the Lodge at the end of loop 5, I knew I needed to address the chafing under my pack. I have a history of chafing my back from my pack, bra & clothing. One year my race was saved by a volunteer using Tegederm on my skin to help protect it. Tegederm is a sterile, clear skin covering used in hospitals. I had purchased some to have in my drop bag, just in case. We pulled that out & Alisha applied it to my back. It made all the difference! For a point of reference, I had a massage a week after this race & my massage therapist asked if I had slid down a hill on my back because of the scars that were there… nope - just chafing from my pack over 100 miles (insert face palm emoji here…)

Remember that wind I mentioned earlier. The wind during the race was brutal. Running across the ridges the wind would almost stop you in your tracks. There were times early in the race I would walk to conserve energy because running into the wind was so difficult. There was another time that the wind nearly blew me off my feet on a ridge. The wind would catch your jacket & whip any loose fabric like a kite. As Alisha & I were running on loop 6, that wind finally died down when the sun came up on Sunday morning.

The sun came up, the wind died down & the morning was gorgeous. The daytime highs on Sunday were forecasted to be well into the high 40’s. It was going to be a beautiful day. However, I was dressed for those overnight cold temps that were freezing our hydration hoses. Managing my layers on that last loop was a challenge!

The last loop was very gratifying because I knew I wouldn’t need to climb that hill or run that out an back another time. One of the analogies I used during the event was that I was “dating the course.” Each loop was a “date,” and the course was showing me something different each loop.

The very sad looking turn around sign at the end of an out and back section.

Loop 1 showed me all the best characteristics; it was new, fun & exciting. Loop 2 had a lot of the things I loved on loop 1 and few new surprises - the things I had missed on loop 1. Loop 3 & 4 were more of the same, but by loop 5, all of those new & exciting attributes were now simply annoying. And by loop 6, we were getting divorced! No more first steep descent, no more running the pavement through the campground, no more ridge running out and back, no more…

I’m so glad I opted for 1 more race of the season. It felt good to run a new (to me) course, push myself & practice a lot of the lessons I encourage my clients to do. Find something challenging, stay present, & know you are stronger than you think.

Finished!!! With the help of two amazing women!

Upon “divorcing” the course on loop 6, I finished my race in 29:05 - this planted me as 2nd woman and 7th finisher overall. What a race!

Thank you to Hichcock Nature Center for hosting the event, GOATZ for organizing the event, all the volunteers & most importantly, Alisha & Kelly, and my super supportive hubby, Matt, for holding down the fort at home. These events may be considered “solo” but they most certainly are not.

Thank you for all of you for reading along & until next time, go forth & be awesome.