Sawtooth100

I miss you switchbacks..

I decided to sign up for Sawtooth about 3 days after I completed my first 100 miler at Kettle Moraine.  Sawtooth has been on my list for over a year now, as I had to drop out of the 50 miler last year due to strep.  I spent my whole summer training for this race.  I was on the trails every single day working on different aspects of my running.  I traveled all over on weekends to try to find technical terrains, and even went up to the Superior Hiking Trail twice to work on different sections of the course.  I spent atleast 10-16 hours a weekend on the trails, ran 300-400 mile months, and worked on getting my legs used to moving for long periods of time.  I worked on night running once a week, and also worked on running on completely worn out legs.  I took many learning lessons from Kettle Moraine and worked on perfecting my weaknesses all summer so I could stand a chance in this course.

As the time was coming closer for Sawtooth, a couple things began falling apart. My only pacer who I decided to have, backed out on me.  This was a blessing in disguise, as I finally had an excuse to go with my original decision, which was to have no pacers.  I also decided to only ask my brother to come up to help me out at the aid stations.  I didn't want a lot of people there.  As much as I loved all support I received from family and friends at my first 100, it really is not my style.  I always run by myself and really enjoy the alone time and solitude it brings.  I feel way more pressure and stress when I have an audience.  I'm not saying I will never have pacers in future races, but it is something I am extremely picky with.  I had also completed two 50 milers in July, and suffered from extreme stomach issues in both.  I was really worried something was going on, and I couldn't figure out what.  I spent most of August taming my miles down, but working on "little things".  I focused more on different running techniques, nutrition (I found tailwind.. thank you Lord Baby Jesus), and recovery.

The weekend finally arrived, and we left Friday morning to check in our hotel and make it to the race meeting.  I was surprisingly really calm.  I felt like I really wasn't thinking about what the next day was going to bring.  I had already mentally prepared myself and I knew I was ready to go, so I was tired of stressing about it.  We finally got to Two Harbors, and we spent a couple hours before the race meeting exploring Lake Superior.  I found this so peaceful and this huge sense of gratitude came over me. I was so excited to be able to do something like this, a top ten 100 miler.  It was just so surreal to me.

I spent the evening eating and going over my race plan about 593 times. My closest friends and family had all called me to wish me luck and I felt ready to go. I felt pretty tired the morning of the race, which concerned me. We had arrived pretty early before the race at the start, and that's when I realized my brothers had lost the race plan.  There was nothing I could do, but make a quick checklist for what I needed at the various aid stations. I basically just said, "fuck it, bring everything".  I don't like people waiting with me before the start, so they went off to the first aid station to explore the area for the bit (I wouldn't see them for 20 miles), and I waited by the line to start the day (and peed about 563 times).

The race started and I was stuck in a congo line for about 10 miles.  As much as I wanted to bolt out, I decided to stay in the middle of the pack and just relax. I was right behind Mallory (the first overall female) for the whole time in the congo line, and watching her footing helped me out tremendously. We reached the first aid station, and I stayed for about 2 seconds, and finally was able to run at my own pace. I caught up to Mallory, and we had great conversation for a little over a hour. I decided to pull back as I was no longer able to talk and run, so I knew I had to slow my pace down a little bit. That was the last time I saw Mallory :)

I reached Beaver Bay, and it was such an energy boost to see all the crews cheering everyone on. My brother filled me up with tailwind, water, and nuuns.  I left within 1 minute as I really didn't need much more help than that. As I was running the Silver Bay potion, I began to feel really really good. I received a lot of cheers from the guys and started to see my "crowd" of the same people who I would be passing and vice versa throughout the rest of the race. It was absolutely stunning too, but the climbs were brutal.  I passed a guy who had ran with me at a 50 miler at Devils Lake and heard him whisper to his friend, "That girl is seriously badass". This made me smile and he caught up to me, and we talked about that race and our goals for this one. I also ran into another girl at this portion, who I had also ran with a bit at another 50 miler I had done "Voyageur". We caught up with each other and she was giving me shit for losing my wheels at that race. I spent a lot of time laughing and getting to know some amazing runners during this portion, and had a lot of fun figuring out how to get down the "drainpipe". I had also taken a wrong turn during this section, Luckily, 4 runners followed me and realized that the trail didn't seem right. I had only lost about a half mile.

I finally reached Tettegouche, and was still feeling really good. My brother made sure my headlamp (Black Diamond) was good to go, filled me up with tailwind, and I changed into my Hokas.  It felt amazing to change shoes and I felt like I had just started running. This was my favorite portion to run. The trails were still really technical, but it was easy to just fly across and there were some flat portions. I started running with Brandon, a 21 year old, who was running his first 100. We had great conversation about our races, adventures, tailwind, headlamps, you name it.. we talked about it... especially if it was about beer.  This made this portion just fly by and he really pushed me to keep my pace. I lost him at the next aid station, which disappointed me, but he was definitely a highlight in the race for me.

As we reached County Road 6, It was pitch black out. I quickly changed into a tshirt and stuffed down a cupcake, and I was off again. I had to run down a hwy to get back on the trail for awhile, and one of the volunteers who I had met at Split Rock, was there with his truck.  He put his beamers on so I could see the marking and the trail. When I finally got to the trail, I told him how awesome he was, and he said that he was about to go home, but wanted to see how I was doing before he did. The volunteers in this course were just above and beyond.  I got a second wind after that, and just cruised through the technical trail at this section.  There was a runner about a half mile behind me, who stayed consistent with me the whole time. When we reached the next aid station, he complimented me on my night running skills. I told him that it wasn't even 11 yet, and I'm just trying to keep it up until it all goes to shit.  Which it did in the next portion.


I kept running forward, but I was getting moody. There was a group of runners behind me, chatting away, and I just ran silently.  They were even talking about races that I have done.. Kettle, Tough Mudders, etc etc, and I just didn't want to talk. I started going off the trail again due to some horrible tunnel vision, and they all stopped and brought me back. I asked them if they wanted to pass me, but they said I was keeping a good pace for them.  We made a deal that I would keep the pace, if they would keep a watch out for the trail markings.  I eventually pulled ahead, and I found myself completely alone for the rest of the night. I also started hallucinating like crazy. I was seeing orange tabby cats in the trees, trees were turning into people, and bats. (I dont think the bats were hallucinations).

I finally reached my ultimate low point when I tripped off a rock, and landed into a tree. As I landed on my shoulder, my knee banged into a rock. I sat there for a minute, and I looked up to the sky. This complete sense of serenity came over me as I saw shooting starts in the sky. I slowly got back up, realized I could still bend my knee, muttered a swear word of relief, and started moving forward. I reached Crosby, and became in much better spirits when I saw my brother. He was just so calm and welcoming. He gave me a huge hug and asked if I needed anything. I said.. "you just being here, was what I needed". He got a huge smile on his face, refilled my bottles, and said he would see me in the daylight. As I was leaving, he said "Frayah, you are seriously doing awesome, its just unreal". I got tears in my eyes, and started running again.

The race was kind of a blur for awhile, until I started seeing the sunrise. I remember hearing birds chirping, and becoming so relieved that I survived the nighttime portion. However, my quads were screaming at me, and I was becoming.. as I call it... "over it". I suddenly starting craving breakfast food, and praying that the next aid station would have bacon. As I reached Cramer Road, I almost started bawling my eyes out when they had bacon, pancakes, AND BROWNIES! I met another volunteer there who I just instantly loved. She was such a fireball and just had my laughing so hard. However, I just could not get myself to start running again. I dreaded every mile at this point. I was also surrounded by others who felt exactly how I did. I was walking with a guy for awhile, and he kept saying "I' think you are in second place or third place right now". I started laughing and said "thats great, until the herd of girls come and pass me". I just could not find myself to start running again.

I reached Temperance, and the same volunteer worker was there from Cramer Road. I asked her if she had advil, and took four.She gave me this worried look, and I told her that I just didn't care. I noticed everyone around me was feeling exactly how I was. I started keeping pace with a guy in front of me and he was randomly laughing at me, because I was suddenly getting a little "drink" from all the advil. I was laughing at the weirdest things and then uttering a swear word every other 30 seconds. He told me that he thought he saw a girl ahead of me drop out, and I said "I wish that made me feel something, but I just can't do anything about this mood right now". He started laughing and we both came into Sawbill in much better spirits. The aid station worked was there again and told me that Advil can give you a "drunk" effect. I told her that was the best decision I made all day.

I caught up to another guy and talked with him and his pacer for a few miles. He was also at Voyageur, so it was nice having a distraction with a real conversation. I was getting really stiff again, and I made a decision to just run as much as possible.  It actually felt much better on my knees to run, but it just sucked mentally. I told myself to suck it up and just run when the trail was able to let me. I started singing Taylor Swift songs, just to add a little more torture to myself, and all of a sudden, I passed the third place girl.  I just couldn't believe it. I was waiting for girls to start passing me, and I was positive the girls ahead of me had already finished.

I reached the final aid station, and my crew was waiting for me with all the gear. I whispered to my brother that I had just passed a girl, and that's when the aid station worker told me that I was in second. I told Dylan that he was going to have to pace me because we had to fly. I started my gps watch, and we started running our asses off. I swallowed the pain and started bolting out miles. I was finally running uphill and downhill again and just really concentrating on getting to the damn finish line. Dylan did very well with the trails and I was very impressed with his consistency.  It was exactly what I needed at the time to keep up my speed. When we reached the top of Moose Mountain, Dylan told me he could see the finish line and it was all downhill until then.  We finally got to the road, and he whispered to me "Frayah, you did fucking amazing, you only have a 1/2 mile left".  I ran to the finish line, crossed it, and started bawling my eyes out in my youngest brother's arms. This wave of pure exhausted emotion just overtook me, and that was the best feeling of a finish I have ever had.

I sat down for the first time in 30 hours, and it was disappointing that I was no longer craving a beer. I started feeling really shitty, and told one of the volunteers that I felt I was going to pass out. After getting checked out, I was fine after some sugar. I passed out in the middle of a field with a medic blanket, bottle of pedalyte, and a foam roller as a pillow.  The race director came over with my trophy and we talked awhile about the race and my training. He was the nicest and most humble guy I have ever met. I was actually really sad to leave all these people who made this day so epic for me.


This race truly tested me to no end.  I remember thinking at mile 50, that I may actually be over my head with this course. My head was constant with negative thoughts at times, but I just let it do its thing while I kept putting one foot in front of the other.  The runners never got a break. If we weren't climbing, we were decesending. If the course was flat, we were skipping off rocks, roots, and stumps. When I took the hard fall, my heart just started racing that I might be injured. I had my best friend's voice in my head at the time saying "Get up, keep moving, you gotta keep moving". When I crossed the finish line, and finally had enough strength to text my family and friends to let them know I had finished, I realized they already knew because they had been tracking me all day and night. The support I received and all the love was just beyond incredible. I also did have a lot of people doubting me in this race and I felt myself having to stick up to the word I hate despise the most.. DNF. I never once thought about anything but crossing the finish line.  There was a war in my head the whole time, but it was never an option. I worked my ass off for this race, practically spent every free minute by myself in the woods, but there was nothing else I would rather be doing. This race changed my life and I can not wait to return next year.