The day started off well enough- perfect running temps, no threat of rain til later, the course was dry and fast, Lorrin and I were running together, the bluebells were beautiful… but by about 10 miles in, my knee started hurting (IT band? Tweaked in the mud at HAT? Who knows but I’ve never had this problem before). By mile 15, it was really hurting and I knew I couldn’t finish if this continued. At the drop bags at Hemlock (17 mi), I took a major dose of Aleve, wished Lorrin well, and hoped it either worked itself out or the Aleve would kick in. The next aid station was in 4 miles so if it got worse, I could always walk it in, and drop out there. This was probably the worst section for me- pain, getting mad about possibly dropping, wondering if I’m being an idiot if I don’t drop. I also knew that if I went much past 20 miles, I was probably going to push through it to finish, so if I was going to drop, I better do it at the next opportunity. Well, the pain did subside- combo of Aleve and stretching maybe? Also, the rest of the course was more rolling so there was more opportunity to walk, and more varied terrain. The early part of the race is very runnable and we had been really moving along. Also, I was ahead of my 11 hr splits (which were somewhat arbitrary but at least I had something to go on). I ended up hitting 26 mi in 5:30, where one of the aid station volunteers showed me an IT band stretch that really helped.
Miles 27-35 are usually where I’ve fallen apart in a 50 miler. Not today, I was starting to rock this course! This didn’t last real long but I’ll take what I can get! I caught Lorrin on the way into the Do Loop, and she caught me back about 5 miles later. (Note: the quesadilla I had after the Do Loop was awesome, though I didn’t wash it down with a beer as offered!) Lorrin had been running with a girl named Erin who was running her first 50. The 3 of us stayed together and were on the 11 hour pace—the confidence that we’d all finish, and the good conversation, allowed me to ignore the inevitable late-race pains. Plus, the rain was holding off- only drizzling occasionally and really not affecting the race. By mile 40, Lorrin was feeling nauseous but she was still running through it- she was obviously not feeling well, and really toughing it out. The 5 miles until the next aid station (Marina) seemed to go on forever for all of us. At the last aid station, mile 45, we stopped for a few minutes to regroup- plus we got some much appreciated encouragement from Joe and Stephane who had been crewing us at Fountainhead earlier as well. I had a bunch of cookies and some ginger ale, Lorrin tried to settle her stomach with soup and ginger ale. Now, we just had to gut it out for the last 5. There is a lot of up and down for the first few miles out, then it flattens out for a bit. We had 1:20 to make the 5.5 miles to come in right at 11 hours. I really didn’t know if I could move that fast but once we hit the flatter section, I found some energy to try. Erin stayed right with me and we cruised until the last hill, pretty sure we could come in under 11. We power walked up the last big hill, and gave a last push to come in at 10:55!
I’m very happy with a lot of things about this race (my injinji socks, even pacing, trail conditions/luck with the weather, quesadillas, hanging out with friends) but it wasn’t the most “comfortable” I’ve felt in a race and unfortunately that distracted me from enjoying the beautiful trail for part of the race. Still, this is a great race and ultimately, it was a great day!!
Pictures, courtesy of Joe, are here.
Straggling Irregulars Mical, Mark, and Lorrin sport the finisher's jackets!
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