Lean Horse 100- Part 1 Getting to the Starting Line

Since many are asking about my Mountain Lion encounter, here is a link to my Lean Horse finishing story, Mountain Lions, Black Hills and Buffalo...oh my! .... Yes...I did see a close up of a mountain lion around 3am, but that little kitty wasn't getting in the way of me and my belt buckle. I'm curious if anyone else saw any Mountain Lion at Lean Horse, this year or in years past. I would love to hear from you. My Getting to the starting line story is below.

Lean Horse 100- Part 1 Getting to the Starting Line

This is me just after the race, tired, icing my knee- with my AG trophy, belt buckle and pillow.



Getting to the starting line, my first step to the finish line

It took a little insane ultra runner logic to get me to the starting line of Lean Horse 100. A shin injury caused me to DNF at Dawg Gone Long Run 50 on July 10th. After that setback I needed to heal and get healthy for my upcoming races. Marquette 50 mile, August 21st was next on my race schedule. It is steep, hilly and technical course that I love and ran in 2009. A wrong turn cost me some time last year. I had been looking forward to returning to enjoy the course and see what I could do without that mistake.

Recovery- I tried to take a few days off after DGLR-50 then run again, it didn't work. I eventually realized I had to give my body some time to heal. I took 18 full days of rest and took a lot of ice baths. During my rest period I worked on my nutrition and considered my options for my upcoming races. My doctor said I should come back slowly, then stay off steep hills and technical trails for awhile. I wanted to listen because running healthy was most important to me. When I started running again my body felt great, the time off had worked. I knew Marquette was no longer a good choice for me. It was only 4 days away, plus the down hills on that course would put a beating on my shins. I had to consider other options.

Option # 1- Take the month of August off of racing, come back slowly, get a solid 11 weeks of training in with only 2-50k races on the schedule. This would give me plenty of time to get some solid tempo runs in without having to taper for a race. I would most likely do better at the 2- 50ks with this choice, plus I could work towards a PR finish at Javelina 100.

Option # 2- Lean Horse 100, August 28th- This choice gave me 11 days of running before the race. Most likely my legs would be dead at my 2- 50ks (which are the last two races in an Illinois Ultra Series I am in). Plus, It was 8 weeks before my next 100 miler, Javelina 100. Would that be enough time to recover for another 100? On the other hand Lean Horse is a non technical race with never more than 4 % grade on the hills. The Doc did say to stay off of technical trails with steep hills. Lean Horse 100 is on the beautiful Mickelson trail, winding through Black Hills National Forest with Granite Mountains and canyons. Buffalo, Mountain lion (as I would see), streams, and plenty of Wild West heritage...Plus I could hitch a ride with my friend Holly that was already signed up. The thought of this course just excited me!

...I decided to pour myself a glass of wine and make a decision...the more I drank the more convinced I was, Option # 2 was impossible for me to resist! I just couldn't wait to get to that starting line! Now I had to plan my running schedule before the race.


I felt confident the time off would not hurt me. My body was now healthier from the break. I considered it a very long taper to the 100 miler. I did get 2 long runs in during that 11 days. The first was a 15 mile run. Then my son Royal biked along side of me for a 17 mile run. We did that run on a wide open trail, 90 + weather during the heat of the day. I thought that would be most helpful to me for Lean Horse.

Here's my son Royal and I during my hot final long training run, we did 17 miles. This was the Saturday prior to race.

















I carefully packed my drop bags, I felt I packed light to make it less confusing at drop bag stops. If I had to many choices it would take me longer. I had no crew at the race and was relying on aid station food to keep me fueled, but threw in a few things I like to eat just in case. Plus for an energy drink I wanted to use Caffe Latte Perpetuem. It is not sweet, taste pretty good, and I find it easy to digest to get energy from.

Drop Bag # 1 ARGYLE mile 16.6 & 83.4
1 energy bar
1 Pay Day candy bar
2 ensure drinks, strawberry & vanilla
2 ziploc baggies- both with one serving each of Caffe Latte Perpetuem
2 little baggies of e-tabs and advil
1 flash lite

Drop Bag # 2 PRINGLE mile 24 & 76
1 energy bar
1 Pay Day candy bar
2 ensure drinks, strawberry & vanilla
2 ziploc baggies- both with one serving each of Caffe Latte Perpetuem
2 little baggies of e-tabs and advil
1 flash lite

Drop Bag # 3 HARBACH mile 35.5 & 64.5
1 energy bar
1 Pay Day candy bar
2 ensure drinks, strawberry & vanilla
2 ziploc baggies- both with one serving each of Caffe Latte Perpetuem
2 little baggies of e-tabs and advil
1 flash lite

Drop Bag # 4 BUCKAROO mile 50.8- this is the only drop bag I stop at only once
1 Pay Day candy bar
1 ziploc baggie with one serving of Caffe Latte Perpetuem
little baggie of e-tabs & advil
Go-Motion light kit that fits on to my Nathan waist pack
extra batteries
Flyroc 310 shoes, 1/2 size bigger than I started race in. (In case my feet were swollen and I wanted to change shoes.)
Injinji socks

I was starting the race in Terroc 330s, I feel the Terrocs are the best shoes for the course. I used the Flyrocs because I already had a pair that was 1/2 size bigger I picked up for Javelina 100.