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50 Miles Yesterday

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LABuckeye's picture
March 22, 2015 at 8:05am
59 Comments

I appended a short comment last night to the original thread about my race, but I thought it might get missed. For those who missed that original post, it is located here: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/forum/anything-else/2015/03/51555/50-miles....

Since this was the least physically prepared I've ever felt for a race like this, I went out very conservatively. In fact, I was one of the last 10 or so people. I stayed within a conga line of runners heading down and up numerous switch-backs, just chit-chatting about life, various races, etc. A lot of that happens in trail races. At some point, maybe mile 10 or so and heading down a very technical, steep, and rocky as hell section, the woman in front of me was not handling the terrain well and going way too slow, so I passed her and headed forth alone at a comfortable pace.

Fast forward to mile 20. We had already completed a good 5,000+ feet of sun-exposed climbing and descending when we returned to the main aid station at Blue Jay Campground. I replenished my food supply, and tried to eat, but the first signs were there of my stomach going south on me (a frequent problem in long races because of the physical stress, but you have to constantly eat and drink to finish these things). The ensuing climb, up a very steep and exposed fire road for 2.5 miles, was devastating to my well-being. From there, I never really fully recovered. Eating and drinking was a struggle, as my stomach wanted to reject (it never did) everything I put into it. My legs gradually deteriorated. My feet hurt like hell. So did my shoulders.

Frequently, during this period, I had momentary thoughts of dropping. I wanted to do anything else but run another step. I squashed those quickly, though, and I did - seriously - think of my accountability to the members of this website and wanting to post of success, and not failure.

Fast forward again to mile 42. The remainder of the race is mostly downhill. I am running with some friends, all of us are having stomach issues, all of us destroyed, and we rally each other to push through to the finish. It quickly gets dark. Views are spectacular of the cities below. I see a tarantula. I hear owls calling. My headlamp reflects brightly off the steep dirt road. I run as quickly as can, with bad views of the ground in front of me, slipping and tripping a lot. I barely have the ability to handle the handful of intervening climbs, and wish all climbing would end. I think of my failures at these races in 2014. I think of finishing. I cry to myself several times. Hard races like this strip you to your core and lay you emotionally bare.

The last aid station is 2.7 miles from the finish. I was told that I was going to finish, even if I went over the 14 hour time limit, as all runners who made the time cut-off at that station would get a finish time (the 14 hour limit was an approximation). I REALLY wanted a sub-14 time, though.

There were a couple people at the base of the fire road in a car, cheering for me, telling me to run the last mile hard. I looked at my watch. I had 20 minutes left. Adrenaline flowed. I ran my ASS off. My legs suddenly felt like they hadn't run a mile. I ran hard through all the climbs.

I crossed the finish line in 13:53.

There were friends waiting for me. There was beer. I drank half. I was given a burger. First bite: immediately wretched 10 times. Never fully ate all night. Drove carefully down the mountain to my hotel room. Passed out in bed. Awoke early with a lot of muscle pain. I am drinking coffee, writing this, and preparing for my early quest for a giant plate of eggs and sausage.

Thanks to you guys for your support pre-race. These things are as much a mental game as they are physical, and you helped a lot. 

Race details here: http://www.trailrunners.org/races/old-goat-50m09.html

 

This is a forum post from a site member. It does not represent the views of Eleven Warriors unless otherwise noted.

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