Entering the Pain Cave at the Run Woodstock 100k

How do we know our upper limits unless we push through the limits that are already in place?

As humans, there are physical limits on what we can do. However, since the earliest days of our species, Homo Sapiens have always tried to push through these boundaries. During our hunter and gatherer days, we pushed through these boundaries in the search for food or while trying to avoid our enemies. In the book Born to Run, Christopher McDougall even hypothesizes that we used endurance running to track down prey, literally running animals to death.

Now that we are in the 21st century, most people don’t have to use endurance to flee from predators or our enemies. Instead, our lives have become soft as we go from the comforts of our bed to luxurious vehicles and climate-controlled offices.

However, many of us are realizing that we will not be as happy as possible if we only live for ease and convenience.

To truly “suck the marrow out of life,” many of us have realized that doing some hard s*** is the best way to optimize our level of happiness.

Keeping all of this in mind, I signed up to run my first 100 kilometer trail run, the Run Woodstock 100k in Pinckney, Michigan.

The setting

Compared to other ultra marathons, the Run Woodstock 100k and 100 mile races are unique because they start at 4:00 pm instead of 5 or 6 in the morning. Since this run is less than 2 hours away from my house, I was able to drive with some friends from my running club and get there at 10:30 in the morning.

As  we pulled into “Hell’s Creek Ranch,” we saw that the Woodstock Festival theme would be carried throughout the weekend. Volunteers, or roadies as they were called, were dressed in tye dye shirts, bell bottoms, and other 1970’s gear. Instead of just being a race, Run Woodstock prides itself on being a running festival, complete with camping, food and drink, classic music, and, of course, a ton of running.

We immediately fell in love with the setting, from the camp decorations to the overall party atmosphere and excitement of the participants. Whether we ran well or not, we knew that it was going to be a great weekend.

Before the race

After setting up our camp and a place near the finish for all of our running gear, we tried to relax a bit before the race. Again, since the race was starting at 4:00 pm, we knew that we would be running through the night and into the next morning, so we wanted to make sure that we had as much rest as possible before starting.

The other thing that we had to do before starting was organize all of our gear. For a 5 kilometer race, you can often show up to the start line with only a water bottle or a Gatorade. Even a longer race like a marathon just requires a few different fueling options. However, a 100k trail run is completely different. My packing list included 2 pairs of shoes, 4 pairs of socks, multiple shorts and shirts, 2 headlamps with backup batteries, and enough food and drink to allow me to replenish the 8,000 or so calories i would burn.

Although I have thought a bit about minimalism recently, my packing list included 53 things that I might need for this race. I certainly wouldn’t be practicing minimalism at the Run Woodstock 100k!

The start

The start of any race is always electrifying, but this race was particularly exciting for me. During our everyday lives, we usually are not hit with a huge variety of emotions because relatively similar things happen every day. However, at a race, the emotions can be quite overwhelming.

First, there is nervousness. Did I train enough? Will I make it? Did I forget anything? How much is this going to hurt?

Then, there is anticipation. What will the trails be like? How will the aid stations be set up? How fast will everyone run?

But overwhelmingly, the main emotion at a race is a sense of deep and profound satisfaction.

The moment that I have looked forward to for so long is finally here!

Loop 1: The easy loop

After all of this anticipation and nervousness, I started the Run Woodstock 100k by running as slow as I possibly could. After all, I had 62 miles of running ahead of me!

As I looked around, I realized that everybody had similar plans. No one was trying to be a hero on this first, 16-mile loop. Instead, we talked, laughed, joked, and told stories. I had the pleasure of meeting people from all over the United States and Canada, many of whom shared tips from previous ultras that they had run.

On this loop, my main focus was trying to run slow and make sure that I ate and drank enough to fuel me for later sections of the race. Fortunately, I found the course to be very runnable, with gentle rolling hills.

Loop 2: The fun loop

After running for a bit less than 3 hours, I arrived back at the campground where the start line was. By this time, the party was in full swing and we were greeted like rockstars when we arrived at the aid station.

I found that loop 2 was pretty similar to loop 1. I was still running well and even began to pick up the pace a bit on this section. Not only was I still making sure that I was eating and drinking at each aid station, but I also tried to get a little bit of caffeine in me to prepare for the long night of running ahead.

The cool (and kind of scary thing) during this loop was that I finally got to turn on my headlamp and experience the joy of running through the woods at night. Often, I was completely alone, with only my thoughts and the sounds of the woods keeping me company. Other times, I would come upon the lone headlamp of another runner as we made our journey through the woods.

Loop 3: The real start of the race

Running into the campground at 9:30 pm after my second loop was a surreal experience. After miles of intense quiet and darkness, the sights and sounds of the campground overwhelmed me with emotion.

I just ran 31 miles and I still felt great!

At the campground, I was greeted by members of my running club. I know that I looked pretty tired, smelled pretty bad, and was covered in dirt from an earlier fall. However, they were still really excited to see me and they gave me a lot of encouragement to get back out on the course.

Although I was feeling great and so excited to be running, I had to stay focused because the run was only halfway done. And even though I had completed 31 miles, I realized that the actual race was just starting on loop 3. At this point, the pain hadn’t overwhelmed my body yet. However, I was finding that it was getting easier to walk instead of run, especially at the start of this loop.

Even though this loop was the toughest one yet, it still only took me about 20 minutes longer than loop 1 or 2. Near the end of this loop, I was even starting to think that I might be able to finish the run in around 12 hours, a monumental achievement for me. But then I entered the pain cave.

Loop 4: Entering the pain cave

Coming into the campground at around 12:45 in the morning, I still was feeling fairly decent. However, I knew that every step I took during this 4th and final loop would be one more step than I have ever run before. I absolutely knew that my body was going to hurt.

I didn’t exactly welcome the pain, but I knew to expect it.

I also knew that I would be stretching my physical limits more than I ever had before.

So I entered the pain cave. 

Terrain that was once flat, appeared as insurmountable mountains for me to hike up and gingerly walk down.

Quads that once seemed bulletproof began to scream out in pain with every downhill step that I took.

Chafing on various parts of my body eventually overwhelmed my feeble attempts to soothe it.

Most of the time, I ran or walked by myself. When I did see other runners many of them looked like the walking dead, as they zombie-walked from aid station to aid station. One runner started wandering towards the bright lights of an oncoming car. Another seemed determined to take the wrong trail before I directed him to the right one.

At least I had plenty of company in the pain cave.

Despite intense struggling and wishing for the race to just be over, there was something beautiful about being out there. The darkness was enveloping, but every once in a while I would turn off my headlamp and try to slowly move through the forest by feel. The stars were infinite and the feeling that I got from being out there was completely satisfying.

The finish

At around 5:10 in the morning, my wife called to tell me that only 3 people had finished so far. Since I had just been lapped by the extraordinarily talented Michelle Magagna, I found this to be pretty amusing. After winning the 100k race, Michelle had apparently decided that 62 miles weren´t enough and had decided to go out again for her 5th loop.

Even though some people were way out in front of me, I eventually ended up finishing 6th out of the 96 runners that started. I even managed to win a VW Bus toy for finishing 1st in my age group.

Whether I would have ended up first or last in the race, the overall feeling that I took away from it was profound satisfaction. Since it took me around 10 minutes to walk to the shower after the race (which was 200 yards away), I knew that I stretched my limits and may have even broken through them.

I entered the pain cave and came out of a stronger person.

The after party

After running through the night for 13 hours, the only thing that I wanted to do is lie down. Like I said, I managed to slowly drag myself to the shower, but then struggled just to stand under the water without falling over. Luckily, I made it out of the shower and eventually collapsed in my tent at around 7:00 am.

When you are at Run Woodstock, sleep is often fleeting and short-lived, so I was blasted out of my tent at around 9:30 by a band playing Rolling Stones’ song As Tears Go By. Sleep would have to wait.

Even though I didn’t get much sleep during the race weekend, I enjoyed plenty of running, the company of good friends, and great food and drink. Overall, it was a great weekend!

Were you at Run Woodstock this year? Or have you been to any great races recently? Let us know in the comments.

And thanks for reading!

~Nathan

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