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* '''Chaffing.''' Unlike the Keys100, chaffing was not a serious problem in the race, but I still lost rather more skin that I would like. The fine dirt of the trail was part of the problem, as it got everywhere and acted as an abrasive. Having lost some weight, I don’t think my [[Under Armor Heat Gear Top]] is fitting me quite right and is baggy under the arms.
==What Went Well==
* '''[[Shoes]].''' The [[Modified Nike Free]] again served me well. The open toes did mean that I got sand and grit in them when I was walking on some of the soft trails with Amy and Vince, but other than that, they did great. (Interestingly, the open toes are not a problem when running, even on gravel or soft dirt, but when walking they scoop up all sort of junk.)
* '''Swollen Feet.''' Rather like the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curious_Incident_of_the_Dog_in_the_Night-Time|Dog that didn’t bark] my feet were notable for not swelling. I would love to know why I had no problem, as normally I have some level of swelling on a race this long.
* '''Ice. ''' Normally when the weather is as hot as it was at Hinson Lake, I would use an ice filled bandana, AKA [[Jimbo Bandana]]. I’ve had some issues with blisters on my forefoot due to my [[Epidermolysis Bullosa|Skin Condition]] and I know that the ice bandana will mean my feet are saturated with water. As a compromise, I held some ice in my hands and rubbed my skin with ice, which helped a bit. It was a tough call, but I think I did the right thing. Using the ice bandana may have prevented my overheating and allowed me to hit my goal, but the saturated feet could have retriggered the blister and caused long term disability. With hindsight, I may try putting ice in a Ziploc bag so I get a bit of the cooling without the saturation.
* '''[[Walking breaksBreaks]]. ''' I walked on each loop, including the first one. The walking breaks [[Walking Breaks]] were reasonably short, probably less than a minute. It was enough time to get a drink make sure the timers had my lap number right (they did every time). I think the regular walking break helped keep my legs strong the whole time.* '''Transition to night.''' [[Running in the dark Dark]] is always hard, but the combination of Fred (Doom) Dummar's advice about mental attitude and the Petzl MYO RXP headlight got me through it. The MYO RXP is worth every penny when it comes to lighting up the trail. (See [[Running in the Dark]] for other tips.)* '''Ivan.''' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Castro_%28soldier%29 Ivan Castro] is one of my running heroes and a source of constant inspiration. When I hit the point of asking myself "what am I doing here?" and running out of motivation[[Motivation]], I kept coming back to Ivan and the desire not to quit. There are times when dropping out of a race is the right thing to do, and I would have dropped if I’d had a problem with the blister on my left forefoot. In this context, I use the term "quitting" to mean "giving up". Many times the memory of Ivan's finish at the Midnight Boogie has kept me going when I wanted to lie down and cry, and this race was no exception.(As it happened, Ivan was at the race with other folks from [http://www.bragg.army.mil/sorb/ Special Operations Recruiting Battalion].)* '''Amy and Vince.''' I met up with Amy sometime after 4am, who had decided she could add in a few laps to get to 50 miles and I offered to keep her company. This helped provide me with a sense of purpose and the motivation [[Motivation]] I needed. She was in good shape and running well, so when I met up with Vince I let her go on and helped him through his last few laps. Vince and I had traveled to the race together, so I knew he was aiming for 75 miles, with a stretch goal of 100 miles. I also knew that he’d had a rough day, but had managed to stay on pace for a 100 mile finish. When I started to pace him, he had a few more laps to do and only a little slack. It was great to run with him and see him finish with some time in hand.
==Race Summary==
