Mohican 100 primer continued...

I realize now I've left out a few details in the previous blog about my long training run at Mohican, so for those that are interested, here's the rest... 

• Why was it important that it was so overcast that the sun's position was not visible?
• Many of the course directions consisted of: "turn west"..."run south for 1 mile"..."go north", etc.  I thought, "No worries, I have my iPhone which has a compass."  Mistake #1.
• This should have been clear to me when I arrived at the starting point and my phone displayed "NO SERVICE"!  Nah, it'll be fine...Mistake #1 becomes amplified.
• 2nd warning: when I fired up the compass app first time, all bearings seemed to jive...2nd time, all bearings were precisely 180 degrees opposite...somehow the earth's poles switched positions while I wasn't looking!
• Strike 3, you're OUT!  Phone working so hard to find signal, it only lasted 2 hours into my run and drained the battery.  Epic fail.
• Back to original point, so overcast I couldn't find the sun position...wing it.  I found my way back at least.  Although there are certain trail sections I'm pretty sure are not part of the race.
• I never was able to locate the Gorge Overlook.  I'm thinking it doesn't exist.  I sure hope they have the proper trail marked well come race day or I'm in for some frustration.

This also explains why there are no pictures beyond the root climb (about 2 hours in).  Note to self: bring a camera next time.  Take a picture of your car, license plate, and the place you parked so when they drag your body out of the woods, they'll know where to leave it.  Also, get a plain, old-fashioned compass that doesn't depend on any other type of technology.

• Nobody knows ALL the trails.
• There are some good folks out there, but in my experience, no one person knows all the trails at Mohican.  At least none of those I asked for directions, even Park Rangers.
• Can't really blame them though, huge park with hundreds of interwoven trails, if you're not familiar with the specific race course, you couldn't know for sure; nor would you care when some goober waddles up to ask you "Where should I go from here?".

Again, "Wing It" was the name of the game.  I did complete 49 miles before finally calling it quits.  At least I know I won't run the first 1/2 of the 100 miles any slower than 14 hours, which is actually quite reassuring.  At least I'm still on track for a 26 hour finish.

• There is such a thing as "too much vaseline on your feet".
• I learned from a good friend that coating your feet with vaseline helps keep them from getting pruned up when running through water and helps keep them warm during winter runs, however...
• I got the bright idea: "if some is good, then A LOT must be better!".  It is not.
• A few times during this run the footing was questionable at best.  On a couple occasions when I slipped sideways I found myself staring down at the bottom of my shoe while standing on the laces.  My shoe had rotated 180 degrees on my foot!
• It got even more entertaining when my shoes got wet = oil & water repel one another!
• Key learning "sometimes less is more"
• Running trails at night with a headlamp is harder than you think.
• The last few miles I ran after dark with only a headlamp.  I did not think this would be a big deal since I've often run around home like this and it's easy...on the road.
• So it gets dark and I put on the headlamp...
• I almost bit it hard three times in first 100 yards!
• Placing the beam 10ft in front, I couldn't see what was under my feet...if I put it right at my feet, I almost ran into trees lining the trail because I was looking straight down.
• Clearly this will take some practice.
• Definitely scheduling 1-2 night trail runs before the race.

I also discovered that I don't drink nearly enough while running (I lost 10 pounds over 49 miles), and trying to eat a granola bar after mile 45 will result in very dramatic dry heaves.  The squirrels, I think, are very happy about that as I chucked most of the uneaten portion into the woods out of frustration (I did properly dispose of the wrapper...leave no trace and such).  Guess I'll be on noodles and broth after mile 40.  Apparently my ability to eat anything has limits.

There was a meme posted on facebook once that read: "Everything you ever wanted to know about yourself you can learn in 26.2 miles"; for me, I disagree.  I've run marathon distances many times, and often longer, I learned a lot more in this 49 miles; enough to know there is much more to come over the full 100 and I can't wait to find out what!