Tahoe Sierra 100

This was mt first '100'. I've went over 100 miles on traditional endurance races several times, but those races you have a pit with your own goodies and you get to know the course very well over the numerous laps. You also have the ability to 'pull the plug' if things are going poorly. Most 100 miles races are single loops with support out on the trail at rest areas. Mentally this is very different.
I started the race really slowly. The pre race stats looked like 93 miles with 13,000-15,000 feet of climbing(depending upons whose gps you believed). The first 25 miles were great- pretty views, chilly weather, lots of talking. Miles 25-60 were ok, it got a little lonely out there, but I felt great. the problem was: my GPS had 60 miles and only 6,000 feet of climbing. So the head game starts, "can there really be 7-9 thousand more feet to climb over the last 33 miles????!!!" I tried to eat and drink as much as I could at the 60 mile reat stop. Sometime therafter my stomach decided to shut down(around mile 75). No more food would go down- only plain water and pepsi and endurolytes. I had 75 miles in and still 'only' 9,000 feet of climbing. AGAIN, "can there really be 4-6 thousand feet of vertical to go?!" With my stomach shutting down I knew I had to take it a little easy. I kept a modest pace and never reached that dark, deep, black, scary place that the mind sometimes goes to during these types of events. Mile 85 came and I knew I could crank out whatever was left, so I took a quick break and set off again.
I finished in 11:20 and cracked the top 10 in the 30-39 age group. I had plenty of gas in the tank and felt pretty good. The final elevation change was 12,200 feet and 92.3 miles. It was a true climber course(of which I'm not @ 6 foot 205#'s) and overall a great race.