Well, this breaks down into lessons learned and suspicions confirmed. I had gone to UT to try a decent mountain 50 miler.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I was less than prepared. My main goal was to have a good run, and make sure I did not re-injure my ankle or otherwise set myself back.

I arrived yesterday, and really enjoyed hiking and jogging some trails, albeit in jeans.

Long story short, I ran just under 33 miles of the 50-mile course and saw the best Oktoberfest aid station (hosted by, among others, Kelly and Jo).

Lessons:

1. I am sensitive to altitude when running and react differently on different days -- Leadville slowed me down but I was fine, today I had a headache and nausea for about 20 miles I could not shake. I ended up in the medical tent for about an hour after I got back to the start, so a wise choice. The troubling thing is that I almost convinced myself just to continue and thought I was just being conservative.

2. Coming back from injury is tough. My ankle still hurt and I was compensating.

3. Fun aid stations rock -- thanks Kelly and Jo

4. Hokas of any sort do not work for me. Huakas nailed my toes and it was much better once I swapped to N2s at 21 miles.Shoe issues persist.

5.  Never listen to others telling you to continue. Yes, I could have walked in and finished (I was at 33 miles at around noon so I had 8 hours to go 17 miles, a lot of which was descending. However, see point #1.

6. Fun for me is when you can run and at least push now and again -- I was pretty mellow cycling the double last weekend, but got to push on some climbs and finished strong. Today I was weak, largely due to my lack of fitness. Given the risk and this run was for fun, not a hard call. As it is I am happy with my run.

7. Garmin Fenix is so inaccurate it is not worth bringing.

Things I already knew:

I am out of shape, certainly running-wise

Sorry it didn't work out, but don't beat yourself up too much. That course is a bitch! High altitude, tons of vertical gain and LONG relentless climbs. I spent the second half of my day treating the wounded.

 

It was great to see you out there. Use those miles as a springboard to ramp up for your next big thing.

 

If you're still local, come on by for some easy trail miles later this morning.

Thanks, I am not beating myself up, just being honest. You can fake cycling to some degree (cf. me riding a double century with tons of vert in the same time I did a few years ago when I was in better cycling shape), running is another matter. Whereas previous 50-milers were to test fitness I had been banking, rather than to shock me into some fitness. When you are consistently hiking climbs you know you can run, it can be demoralizing, but not as much as the thought of cerebral edema. My bride is glad I took it easy -- and I am glad I puked my guts out outside of the truck taking me down, and not in it

I am home already, getting ready for a quick ride to celebrate our cycling groups' 25th anniversary. Runs are planned for this week big time.

Me, the famous Davy Crockett and Watoni...trying on shoes at the aid station.

I think #6 is really important. It probably wouldn't have been too much fun walking that whole 17 miles. However, you probably gained some significant adaptations. Sometimes, I think doing one that you aren't prepared for is a good way to jump start your endurance. I can't say for sure if that is accurate, but I believe it. And I go with it.

I think #6 is really important. It probably wouldn't have been too much fun walking that whole 17 miles. However, you probably gained some significant adaptations. Sometimes, I think doing one that you aren't prepared for is a good way to jump start your endurance. I can't say for sure if that is accurate, but I believe it. And I go with it.

Thanks. To be clear, I would not have walked in because I would not have let myself. I would have run as much as I could. The one consideration (other than health) was how limping 17 miles and potentially being wrecked would negatively impact further training versus what adaptations it would provide, if any.

As I was I was able to push pretty hard on a couple cycling climbs Sunday and play tennis with no ill effects. Today I am hoping to get in a good tempo workout with some decent climbs. We will see.

As for the altitude and medical tent, the headache started when I hit about 10,000 at the top of the climb and never abated. In the tent, they just observed me and asked a bunch of questions. The headache was brutal though.  I was able to hydrate so no IV needed, I just wanted to be sure I was ok before heading back to my hotel room.

Thanks for sharing Watoni...sorry it didn't turn out as how you hoped.  The sickness and headache is pretty hard to continue through.  Makes me rethink doing the 50 miler at Northface in Dec.  Maybe the 50K would be better.