Hitchcock 100

First, thanks to God for everything He allowed me to do, and everything He gave to me over the weekend.  Excellent job on the great weather!  Then there were the awesome friends, lots of laughs, and some special surprises along the way! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My third 100 mile run over the last 6 months started with a 3:00 am wakeup call and a quick trip to the Hitchcock Nature Center in Honey Creek, Iowa.  The run started at 5:00 a.m.  It was a 12.5 mile loop course with 8 loops to finish.  It had rained and snowed earlier in the week, but it was 40+ degrees at the start.  Shorts weather!  Julie and I arrived at the lodge about 4:15.   We spent some time chatting with friends and meeting a few new folks.  It was a great atmosphere with 50 people ready to start.  The first loop was fun!  Talking and laughing with other runners, Shawn, Adam and Curtis for 3-4 miles before we all settled into our runs.  I finished the first loop in just under 2:30, right about where I wanted to be.  The trails were snow packed and muddy with a few areas with standing water.  I was worried about how the day would go.  The trails held up pretty well on the next loop, and I finished the first 25 miles in 5:01.  The fastest 25 miles I had ever run out there.  I met a young kid named Kale, and we ran together for some miles.  It was good to talk to someone on the trail for a while.  Then he decided to tear up the big hill on Westridge, and I lost track of him...

Heading into Temptation Station

The next 25 miles were pretty lonely.  I passed a lot of people, but never spent much time talking to them.  On the fourth loop, I meet up with Jeff, Annie, and Angela.  I decided to join them for a little while.  I was going a little crazy; I had not really talked to anyone in over 6 hours.  We laughed, talked, and they "taught" me a few things.  It was kind of like when a good hallucination goes bad!  After a mile or so, I went on my way, grateful for the interaction.  I finished the first 50 miles in 11:14.  Overall, a pretty good first half hundred with 10,000 feet of climbing!

Don and I at Mile 66

Typically, once you reach 50 miles you have the option to pick up a pacer for the last half of the run.  This was no different, except my pacer had to cancel due to an illness in his family.  Will Tucker had paced me before.  I was disappointed not to have him, but I knew he made the right choice, and I supported him.  I had decided to go these next 25 miles on my own, but I knew it would be a tough challenge.  I had been trying to figure out what I could do to gain a pacer in the previous loop, but to no avail.  I had offered some prayers for a solution beyond my means.  On my turn into the fifth loop, I ran into a friend, Don Thoms, who I had not talked to in a while.  We talked, and he offered to run with me a little bit and this gave us the opportunity to catch up with each other.   Providence....had I been 10 seconds faster, or him 10 seconds slower, we would have never connected.  He helped me navigate muddy downhills and showed me how easy it was to fall on your butt in the mud!  At the next aid station, I was able to get him a headlamp as he extended his 3 mile run to 12.5 miles.  It was just the boost I needed, and he ran me hard.  We started mile 62, and he offered to run another mile to the area where he parked his car.  I did not realize until then how much I must have been pushing him on the run, but going up the last hill to the car I lost him.  I joked that I ran my first pacer into the ground. 

 It was on this loop where I met up with Kale again.  We leap frogged each other for a few miles and at the 66 mile aid station I passed him again.  This was an awesome moment for me as he was the only person who had passed me during the run.   It was a great motivator for the next 9 miles, since I was going to have to run solo again.  Running alone did not last too long as I was joined on the course by the folks starting the 50 mile run.  It was nice to see the trails a bit more travelled.

 I got to mile 75 and picked up my pacer, Adam Rood!  Adam was going to bring me home to the finish.  Adam had stepped up and accepted my pacing offer after my other pacer, Scott Reichardt, was pulled away for his daughters out of town cheer competition.  It's important to note Adam joined me about 10pm and ran all night with me!  He is one of a handful of people who knows me and my running abilities well.  Needless to say, he was up for the task and anxious to get started pacing.  On top of that, Adam stepped out of his own recovery plan to help me out.  Just six weeks earlier, he completed the Gnarly Bandit series...four of the toughest 100 mile runs and a 100K over a six month period.

 It was refreshing to see Adam, Julie and Megan for a couple minutes before we took off on the trails.  We started off talking and catching up while going down Fox Ridge and starting our decent down Shea.  I guess I forgot to tell him this was the spot Don landed on his butt.  I watched him ski down the hill before finally dropping his butt in the mud.  He got lots of style points as he sprung back up like it was nothing!  The seventh loop was a ton of fun.  We laughed, joked, told stories and ran hard.  We met more and more 50 milers and hundred milers again.

 Loop 8 started, and we began the countdown!  We had made note of other markers...less than a

Adam and I heading to the finish!

marathon, 20 miles, 15 miles....  There is nothing cooler than moving into single digits in a hundred.  We slowed down a bit, and I was starting to get a little tired.  Those 10 miles get a little blurred.  I just remember talking a lot, and Adam telling me how well I was still climbing, sometimes climbing as fast as he was.  Our goal became getting to the finish line before sunrise.  I did not want to see two sunrises on this run.  We were doing well and looked to be on track for this.  The Hitchcock 100 had a funny sense of humor...I have never run anything where the last quarter mile or more "The Chute" has about a 250 foot climb before the finish.  I had done this seven other times, but this climb seemed especially cruel. We got up it and were met at the finish by Julie, Megan, all three race directors, and many volunteers before sunrise.  25:28!  I was the 5th person across the finish!

Julie and Megan

Pacing is over!

 As I look back on this run, I can't help but wonder what pushed me to run three 100 mile runs this year.  On my end, there is still a little disbelief.  I guess it breaks down to reflecting back on a number of things unfinished, and a 100 mile dream.  2013 was a difficult year.  A year I almost lost my ability to run among other things.  2014 was a year of recovery, gratitude, acceptance, and questioning what normal was going to be.  2015 was initially about attempting to push myself beyond what my limits were and not accepting any of those limits.  In the end, 2015 was a year of discovery, execution, and accepting no excuses.  I discovered I am tougher than I ever knew I was.  I learned my mind is tougher than my body is.   When you are told you can't do something you have a choice....listen to them, or listen to your heart.  From now on, I chose the heart every time.  Most importantly, my family and friends are truly the greatest support I could ever ask for.  When I bought these ideas to Julie, Scott, and Will, I was always met with encouragement.  I met so many people over the last year that helped me and pushed me.  Some of you are incredible motivators...Steve, Dave, Adam, Angie.  There are so many other people I can't even begin to name them you all.  What is going on for 2016?  I have not figured that out yet.  But based on this year and the dreams that so many of my friends have, it can only be more epic! 

Arkansas Traveller 100

Just a little recap of the Arkansas Traveller 100 Mile Endurance Run.  I finished the race in 21 hours and 46 minutes.  I would be remiss if I did not thank the following.  Thanks to God...who would have thought I would be blessed to be able to run my second 100 mile run this year. I doubted, He provided!  Read those last two sentences again...running is a privilege, literally a gift from God!  If you can run, be grateful and never take that opportunity for granted!  Thank You! Thanks to my wife, Julie, and my girls, Kelli and Megan who acted as my crew and my son, Matt, who was there in spirit supporting me from St. Paul.  Thanks to my pacers Scott Reichardt and Will Tucker.  I have been blessed to have a solid support group to run and train with over the last couple years.  You guys are the best of the best!  These are the most incredible, supportive training friends I could ask for!  There are so many others to thank and I can't name them all, those friends and family I have trained with and supported me in good times and bad.

AT Race Eve!

We headed down to Arkansas Thursday.  This was the first ultra I have run multiple states away from home.  It was not without its share of auto excitement!  Back in Omaha the van is now getting a couple new valves, alternator, and probably a new catalytic converter.  Getting there Thursday night gave us some downtime on Friday before weigh-in, pre-race meeting and pasta feed.  A little exploring the area, frisbee, talking race day strategies and vegging at the lake house was a perfect way to relax before the race. 

So many well wishers!

Mile 16, Strategy...

Up at 3:34 am to get us all out of the house.  We were like a well oiled machine, like we've done this before!  I picked up my race number and had all my crew sign it for motivation before we started.  The race began at 6 am with a shotgun start.  I had established a plan of how I was going to run it and pretty well stuck to that plan.  I ran a 10-11 minute pace for the first 48 miles.  In this stretch there were 3 places I would be able to meet up with my crew and pacers.  I met lots of folks, good ol' boys, talked with a lot of people and just had a great motivating run.  Aid stations were plentiful, every 3-5 miles.  You could have spent lots of time hanging out there and overall I was out of each in about 30 seconds.  The crew accessible aid stations cost me more time, maybe 4 minutes since I had to eat, update everybody, and make them all feel I was in good spirits.  The trail the first half was full of hills, rocks, single track, rocks, and some gravel roads.

Scott and I ready for pacing!

Coming out of single track!

Mile 48 allowed me to pick up a pacer for the first time.  The aid station leader held me back at the buffet line as my crew and many other crews were cheering for me to leave.  The leader told me I looked great but wanted to make sure I was eating now to take me the rest of the way.  She promise I would be out in 4 minutes, and she did.  With a handful of boiled salted potatoes, grapes, and some rock salt, Scott and I were back on the trail being cheered on as we left.  To me, picking up a pacer is the best part of a 100.  They are so fresh, so excited, so motivating.  I gave Scott one other goal.  From here to the finish no one would pass us.  It was a pretty big order, we were somewhere in the top third and I knew I could run better.  I would like to say if a pacer could pick a runner to lead Scott might have gotten the best hand he could.  For 16 miles we talked, laughed and ran most of the course...except some big hills.  We made it to the turnaround aid station and knew we were on the down hill with only 40 or so miles left.  It was a great segment.

Will and I on our way out

We got to the Copperhead aid station and traded pacers for another 17 miles.  Will got the same luxury of running with a pretty focused, driven runner.  Then the sun went down.  We started walking up more of the hills, they were really big hills.  He did a great job getting me though those.  He kept pushing me to run, we laughed, talked, strategized, etc.  Will got to witness my one really bad moment on the course.  Not only did he witness it, he was the brunt of my explosion!  I had asked him how far away an aid station was away and he told me it was half a mile.  He was pushing me and we were running.  That came and went and he told me maybe another quarter mile.  Then he figured out we might actually have another mile or more left.  What started out as joking turned into an all out assault on Will's math skills.  I said a lot of things I regret, I don't remember many of them and I said more "F" words in that time than I do all year.  He told me after the run that I told him he had better start learning math really fast.  A classic Mike rant at 70 miles in!  After that little issue everything went well again, our pace was starting to slow again as we were hitting some pretty rocky areas again.  Just before the aid station where Will was going to switch pacing with Scott again we let a guy pass us.  I think I called him a "persistent little bastard" and promised Will I would pass him by the end.

Last Crew Aid Station!

Scott picked me up at Lake Winona and we started climbing, talking about where we were at and telling Will we would see him in 14 miles to run the last 2 miles together with the three of us.  We started talking about what we need to do to run the last 16 miles to finish in under 22 hours.  He asked me if I had figured out what pace I needed to run to make it under 22 hours.  I just remember asking him if he really just asked me to do math at mile 87!  I may have to host a math class for pacers before the next 100!  We got through some really technical, rocky areas where we decided to power hike through.  It was a rough stretch but we kept talking, and laughing the entire way. It was tough and the rocks hurt but we got through it.  Somewhere between mile 87 and 90 I got a second wind.  Scott started to take advantage of that.  He worked me hard.  We started running miles with a 9-10 minute pace again.  All of a sudden we were back on track for a sub 22 hour finish!  We were getting in and out of aid stations in less than a minute.  We ran through some rocky areas which we were more tentative of earlier.  We passed more runners.  We ran up hills, we really demoralized runners as we flew up hills laughing and having fun as they struggled to put one foot in front of the other.  That persistent little bastard....we passed him too!

Pumpkin Patch Aid Station Rocks!

We got to the Pumpkin Patch aid station, the last before Crossroads where we could be joined by Will.  We wanted to just check in and check out so we did not lose time.  That did not work out.  The group of volunteers knew it was my birthday when I came in there earlier that day.  As we were getting ready to leave, they pulled out a cake they picked up for me and sung happy birthday to me!  We thanked them, spent a few seconds with them and asked if they would bring the cake to the awards ceremony later in the day.  It was so motivating!  We got out of there with none of the runners we had passed before arriving at the aid station as we exited.  We got back on the trail and passed a few other runners then got stuck on some really nasty, rocky trail again.  We power hiked for a mile or so with a couple runners right behind us.  We missed a trail marker and started to head up a rock trough when I said, "Scott, I think we are going the wrong way."  He shuffled back down and found the right trail marking, crisis averted!  As we got through the rocks we started running again.

A hug inside is as good as a
hug at the finish line!

We got to Crossroads, 2.3 miles to go.  No sign of Will so I yelled for him with no answer and Scott told me we were just going.  He pushed me hard and we passed two other runners.  We were going at a 9-10 minute pace again.  Scott was pushing me hard and I hated him.  My feet hurt so bad and I wanted to be done.  We were trying to think of why we did not see Will, hoping things were okay with them all.  Scott pushed me up the last hill, it wasn't steep, but it was long and I hated Scott more.  We turned into the finish path, the music started playing and we were joyous in our celebration.  Then we figured out Will, Julie and the girls were not there.  I told the race director and others near the finish our group was not there.  They decided to pinch hit.  We got high fives and hugs from strangers at the finish.  It was so cool!  Right after our little celebration the finishing music started playing again.  Scott pushed me hard to keep me ahead of one last runner.  My goal at mile 48 came true....no runners passed us the last 52 miles!  It was about 50 degrees and we were both in short sleeves, the group urged us to go inside and warm up.

Celebrating finishing 100 miles on
my birthday!

We walked in the building finding a place to sit (it had been over 22 hours since I had sat down).   As we looked around there was Julie, Will, Kelli and Megan sitting waiting for us.  They got some old info on where I was at in the run and were not expecting us to arrive in under 22 hours. We celebrated with them and with other runners.  As I took shoes off I found out I walked away


Finish line, later Sunday morning.
Scott, myself and Will

without a blister or anything to sideline me for any time.  Just a swollen foot from kicking rocks all day and it's better now!  Eventually we drove to the house where Will and Scott told me more stories about the run.  We laughed, talked and had a beer or two.  We all got showers and they went to sleep.  I laid in bed and just smiled.  My run could not have gone more perfect, rarely did I move into the "suck" zone on the run and when I did, I popped out of it fast.  Everybody else woke up and we packed up, went to the awards ceremony and drove home.  I crashed hard when we got home Sunday night as I had been up for almost 48 hours with a few brief moments of dozing off in the car.

Before the race I had set 5 goals.  All of them were accomplished!

1) Finish within the 30 hour cutoff and earn the opportunity to apply to run the Western States 100 Mile Endurance run next June.-DONE!
2) Finish within 24 hours and earn the big gold enamel belt buckle.-DONE!
3) Finish in under 22 hours and set a personal record running this distance.-DONE!
4) Finish in the top 20%.-DONE!, finished 18th overall!
5) Finish in the top 10 of my age group.-DONE! Finished 6th! Top 15%!
I earned an added bonus goal by finishing 2nd in the group of four Nebraska runners.  An even better treat since I was the oldest Nebraska runner!

Sub 24 hour belt buckle
25th Anniversary Commemorative
Railroad Tie 

Shoes: Saucony Perigrine 4.0
Socks: Feetures! light cushion socks
Pre-Race Weight: 163, Post-Race Weight: 163
10 Honey Stinger gels
20 salted caramel or vanilla bean Gu packs (race sponsor)
2 Ensure drinks
Handfuls of grapes and oranges
10 cups of Chicken Soup
40ish Electrolyte tablets
Cups and cups of Gatorade, Coke, Gingerale, Dr. Pepper, and Rootbeer
1 Red Bull

Booneville Backroads Ultra 100 miles

Ready to start with Will, Scott, Brian and Marty.

Some highlights of my first 100 miler, Booneville Backroads Ultra.  Running a hundred has been a goal of mine for as long as I can remember, but there was always something that seemed to get in the way (kids, work, injuries, etc.).  It was so exciting to finally have it happening.  It’s hard to pick out only a couple highlights since the run took place over 23 hours and there were 14 aid stations along the way.  After the fun and excitement of the night before with my crew (Scott Reichardt, Brian Boyce, Marty Ertz, and Will Tucker) I woke up at 3:00 am and got up to get ready at 4:00 am.  I probably slept a solid 3 hours.  We got to the drop off at about 5:30 and took some pictures, picked up my race chip and I got on the “Wrong” bus.  Appropriately named, but it took us about a half mile across the highway to the start/finish.  We got race instructions and we were on our way a little after 6:00 am.  I love the start of any run!

"Really Mike, 9:00 pace?"

Mile 10 aid station (AS), I came in at about a 9 minute pace and was quickly scolded by my crew (not to single Scott out) since my plan was to run a 10 minute pace during this stretch.  I got in and out pretty fast and had 13 miles to the next stop.  These first 23 miles were so fun as there were a lot of runners to meet and talk to.  I also ran past my cousin’s house at mile 19 and she was out there to cheer me on with my family. They made an awesome sign for me, I was the only runner with a personalized sign on the course!  I also lost my cue sheet with

Mike Soltys Fan Club!

directions into the mile 23 AS so I had to stay near people for about 3 miles.  With that, I learned a valuable lesson.  There were no markings of any kind on the course so without the cue sheets you are lost.  Mile 23 was the next AS and I was still running strong.  I ran through the first covered bridge of Madison County.  I started passing a bunch of 100K runners over the next 10 miles and finally ran into a 100 mile runner at mile 32ish, at the second covered bridge of Madison County.  He talked about his stomach issues, I tried to pep him up and convince him things will turn around.  While talking, I followed his directions and we took the wrong turn for the second bridge and had to back track a quarter mile or so.  The runner told me I was the third place 100 miler since I passed him, I never got his name and never heard if he finished or not.  Third place was a silent motivator, as I did not mention it to my crew for another 15 miles.



Coming into 42 strong

Mile 42 AS, I had just completed a long lonely, hot stretch. I came through the third covered bridge of Madison County running strong and confident, or so my crew and family tells me!  I had run out of water a mile before and was running out of gas fast. I was mentally moving into a dark place for the first time.  My crew got me a cold wet towel to cool off with, some ibuprofen, pringles, ensure and other food and got me out of there.  I had three miles of highway until I met up with them at the fourth covered bridge of Madison County.  I was dreading this run as it was all exposed, lots of traffic, and I was exhausted.  Something happened and I snapped out of it.  I cranked out three miles at about a 9 minte pace.  It changed the entire mood of the run.  At mile 45 I could see the excitement in my crew and family seeing me snap out of my bad place.  It inspired me.  When I reached mile 50 I recall looking at my watch seeing 9 hours, 30 minutes for a split.  I was pretty pleased at being under 10 hours for 50 miles.  I avoided setting a PR for that distance and that was good!  We met up at mile 53 and celebrated being over half way.  I also made the decision not to change shoes, socks or anything else since I was having success with what I was doing.

Me and my Crew at 62

I came into the start/finish for the 62 mile AS at 12 hours, 12 minutes.  I felt really good about that!  I finished faster than two thirds of the 100K runners and still had 38 miles to go.  I had a chance to eat more pringles, a banana and drink more ensure, change a shirt for the first time, and I picked up pacers, Scott and Will.  It was an exciting part of the run since I had run 62 miles alone and now overtook my title of having the longest run in the group, which I gave up to Scott at the Free State 100K and month earlier.  The next 15 miles were fun.  The anticipation for the finish was starting to mount.  I was running strong, but found myself walking a bit more.  We had miles where we walked and still averaged a 13 minute pace.  Crazy fast for walking!  At mile 72 we put on our reflective gear and grabbed headlamps.  The AS volunteer started telling me about the badass belt buckle I was going to win since I was still in third place. Note here, not just a belt buckle, a BADASS belt buckle.

At mile 77, I was going to exchange pacers and run with Marty.  I changed things up on my crew and said I wanted two pacers all the way.  It was dark and I wanted to make sure we did not miss a turn from the cue cards and have to back track.  It was a good thing I did since I learned Marty is blind as a bat at night!  Brian, Marty and I had a great run.  I was getting quizzed with 80’s movie trivia, and it is amazing what your brain can and cannot remember about 80’s trivia after running 85 miles.  I stopped once to check out what I thought was a rock in my shoe and I dismissed it as nothing.  At mile 88, we stopped and met up with everyone.  I changed my left sock since I again thought there was a blister on the bottom of my foot.  We could not see it so we pressed on.  Somewhere around here I switched pacers again and, I was going with Brian and Will.  At mile 92, I remember walking down the road with Brian on my left and Will on my right.  I kept bumping into Will.  Then I would go back to walking straight for a little while.  We laughed about it.  Looking back on it, this was my first experience with sleep running.  I was falling asleep, would run into Will, wake up and go again until I fell asleep and the cycle would repeat.  It had also started to rain on us a few miles before this.

Getting ready to finish the last loop

Just before the mile 94 AS I told Brian and Will I was getting very tired, disoriented and something was not right.  I was moving into a very, very dark place.  We developed a plan for Brian to get me to the AS, and Will would find Scott and talk about what was going on.  All this was designed to keep my situation from my wife, it failed and we managed to freak her out!  I got to the AS and sat down.  I remember fighting with my crew about wanting to sleep for a few minutes, or 15?  I got very chilled and was shivering uncontrollably.  I could see my breath.  They tossed blankets on me to warm me up.  They made me drink an ensure, salt tab and I requested a red bull.  The RD came over and told me I was 6 miles away from a 3^rd place finish and a BADASS belt buckle.  Somewhere, with all that going on I got up and decided to get going.  I was not going to risk losing everything I had worked for over the past seven months by sitting at mile 94.  By the time I got out of the AS and back on the road, something happened and I popped out of my bad place.  I got “wings” and am now actively pursuing a Red Bull sponsorship!  I traveled the last 6 miles with Scott, Will, and my son, Matt.  It was awesome to finish up with these three.  Scott and Will had been running with me most Saturdays for months and Matt ran with me for the last 7 miles of my longest training run while he was home from spring break.  Most of the last 6 miles it rained hard.  The first 2 miles of this loop were going back on the road we took going into the AS.  Somewhere, coming into this section we passed the 4^th place runner coming into the AS.  I remember him looking strong and it helped push me along.  I was not going to lose third place in the last mile of this run.  We got through the first 4 miles faster than the rest of my crew and family thought we would and they could see the 

Crossing the finish line!

improvement of my situation. It was a big boost for everyone.    Actually, we were so much faster that Marty and Brian were not ready to join us and run the last mile of the run together.  We met them at the finish and it was just as cool!  With about a mile to go my Garmin turned 100 miles.  It was a huge celebration and we learned that my watch mileage counter has three digits.  Does yours?  Running into the finish line was one of the best feelings ever!  I finished in 22:41:45.  Below the 24 hour goal I had talked about for months!  100.9 miles showing on the Garmin.  I finished nearly an hour before the fourth place runner.  I was the third place 100 mile runner, and won a Masters Division Ultra-marathon State Championship.  Because of the rain and darkness, we did not get many pictures.  We said thanks to the RD and volunteer folks around there, got some dry clothes, and headed out for some sleep, or a drive home.

I learned so much about my spirit and mindset during this run.  You can push through anything if your mind wants to.  Here are some frequently asked questions from my run.  I had three mantras I repeated during the run: Pain doesn’t hurt, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and live life as a get to, not a have to.  I did not listen to music, headphones, etc.  What did I eat and drink?  Over the course of the run, I drank ensure (9 bottles), water, Gatorade, and soda, about 4 and a half gallons liquid total.  I ate a handful of skittles and pretzels, a banana, 4 Gu gels and a container of Pringles.  I took Ibuprofen 2 times and over the miles took roughly 25 salt tablets.  It took about 48 hours for my appetite to really come back.  Did I lose weight?  I lost 10 pounds in 24 hours….ask me how!  (Looking for a nutrisystem sponsorship)  The only recovery issues I have had is a quarter size blister on the ball of my left foot (Note I said ball of my left foot) and I suspect extensor tendonitis in my right leg/foot.  I twisted it on our run Saturday the week before and it flared up for the last 60 miles of the Ultra.  No big deal, swelling is down and I am walking on it now.  When are you running again?  At this point it’s day by day, a little cycling tonight then running soon (Monday, next Monday).  Are you going to run another 100 miler?  Probably, Julie said she knew I was going to want to run another at mile 97.  I have to give special thanks to my crew, Scott Reichardt, Brian Boyce, Marty Ertz, and Will Tucker as well as my wife Julie, and kids Matt, Kelli and Megan for giving me everything they had for two entire days and losing an entire night of sleep.  If you see any of them, give them kudos, I would have struggled to finish without them.