Black Hills 50 RR

Short version: DNF- Dropped at mile 30. (I take back anything negative I’ve ever said or thought about anyone dropping any race at any time for any reason. I personally apologize to everyone who’s ever dropped.)

Slightly longer version, but in two parts. Feel free to stop after part one.

Last weekend I made my first attempt at the 50 mile race distance. I tried to race the 50 miler at the Black Hills 100.

The course takes you over and around the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. The race starts and ends in Sturgis, home of the world famous motorcycle rally. They offer three races, a 50 miler, 100 kilometer and 100 mile race. All are out and back courses along the Centennial Trail (Trail 89), and follow the same path, with different turnaround spots for each distance.

The course starts on the high school track, and follows a gravel and concrete bike path for the first few miles. It’s relatively flat to start, but pretty soon, you make a hard right under the highway, and the fun begins. The trail turns into nice smooth single track trail. The first portion of the Centennial trail you follow is closed to all motor vehicles, and is truly single track. On the way out (and back) you get to run past two United States National Cemeteries, Fort Meade and Black Hills. They are both beautiful areas and fitting resting places for the great men and women who’ve served our country.

After passing the cemeteries, you cross under the interstate and start the climbing. The course elevation is deceptive. You start around 3500 feet in Sturgis, and make your way up to the high point of around 6500 feet. The climbs are long and relentless, but never steep enough to really force you into a walk. The first climb is about 4 miles, and you gain just over 1000 feet. You then drop about 400’ over the next miles, only to gain 1200’ in the next 3 miles. That’s all the course was, up a lot, down a little. It really beat me up. I’m used to massive climbs (2500’+ in 3-4 miles) that force you into walking, followed by huge descents.

The course then takes you through an area known as Elk Creek canyon. It’s a dense, green lush area, covered in ferns and moss. There are 4-5 river crossings. Luckily on race day the water was no more than ankle deep, and there were good rocks to hop on to cross it dry if you chose to (I did). You get to climb up again, and you have some great views of Elk Creek Canyon, and the Bethlehem cave facilities (closed in 2010 or so unfortunately).

A few miles out of Elk Creek the 50 mile runners get to the turn around and head back for the finish line. Overall the 50 miler has over 9000’ of climbing and about the same descent. It really is a great course.  END part one.

This ends the descriptive part of the report, should you continue reading, you will only hear self-reflection and commiserating.  You have been warned.

Part Deux

I signed up for this race, and made hotel reservation back in February. The 50 miler was meant to be nothing more than a scouting run, as I had visions of making my 100 mile debut at the Black Hills 100 in 2014. I was coming off my first ultra finish at the Moab Red Hot 55K, and I was itching to try something bigger. I took a little training break after Moab to nurse some injuries, and got back at it hard mid-March.  I got my weekly average over 40 for the first time ever. I was doing great. Then it all fell apart.

I was out in Chicago for a weeks’ worth of training, and had nothing better to do with my off time than run for hours and hours. I put in 35 miles the first 3 days I was there. Turns out, that was 4 miles to much. My knee started to swell up, and it was a classic overuse injury. I recognized what it was, and quickly cut my mileage back, but did not take any time off, at least not at first.

The knee kept hurting, but didn’t seem to get any worse, so I just kept at it, and tried to hit my weekly mileage goals. After three weeks, it got worse, so I took 8 days off. I tried to ease back into it, and it was going pretty well. I talked to my PT and started doing some strength training to help my patella track a little better. The pain never really went away, but it got more manageable.

Towards the middle of May, I had a little race, just a 10K. The night before, I got “chicked”, by a two year old. While racing my daughter around the kitchen, I slipped on some toys that she had left on the floor. I skidded into our kitchen cabinets foot first. I’m pretty sure I broke my foot (I didn’t go to the doctor then, but will be going shortly as it still hurts, 7 weeks later). I still raced, and did o.k. all things considered. But now I had another injury to deal with. My training plan was shot.

In the 4 weeks leading up to the race, I ran 5.5 miles. The 4 weeks before that, I averaged 17 miles per week. I got in some light cross training (biking and swimming) but nothing major. I knew I was in trouble, but kept thinking “It’s only a 50 miler”.

I gave a lot of thought to dropping from the race, but my ego wouldn’t let me. I had made reservations, gotten time off from work (which was very difficult. I had to do some wheeling and dealing) and paid my entry fee.

I did however make some decisions about the race before I got there. I knew that the course was an out and back. I knew there would be places to catch a ride back to the finish area, if things got really bad. I was determined to at least start, run to the turnaround point and evaluate things from there.

It took me 7:50:00 to get to the 25 mile mark. I hit the turn around and there happened to be a rock ledge, overlooking a mountain scene. I sat down and thought about my day to that point. My knee was swelling up again, to the point where I could no longer run. My “broken” foot had been hurting like crazy since mile 10, and I was scared to take off my shoe, for fear I wouldn’t be able to get it back on again. I knew from the course map that my best bet for a ride out would be to go back to the Elk Creek aid station (mainly uphill) about 8 miles away, or to keep going forward (and downhill) to the Dalton Lake aid station at mile 30 (5 miles away) and catch a ride there. I walked out to Dalton Lake.

I was the first 50 mile runner the Dalton Lake aid station had ever seen. It took a while to explain that I thought it would be easier (and shorter) to reach Dalton Lake than get back to Elk Creek. I was able to catch a ride out of there in a crew vehicle.

In hindsight, I am content with my decision to drop.  I was in bad shape, and getting worse. I had to go to work on Monday , regardless of my physical condition. I figure it would have taken me another 9-10 hours to finish, putting me well past sunset, and I didn’t have any form of lighting with me. I did what I set out to do, which was to “scout the course” for my 100 mile debut.

I’m pushing back my 100 mile debut a few years, at least until 2015. I’m 80% sure I’ll try this race again next year. The RD’s are fantastic, the community support is tremendous and the course is gorgeous.

I thought I could make it through this 50, it’s only 50 miles after all. I learned the hard way, you can’t fake a 50.

p.s. I got to meet lace_up in person! (Yes, it was a bit of a high-lite for me. He's always given me great advice here, and it's really helped me in my trail running pursuits. So thanks Lace!)

 

p.s. I got to meet lace_up in person! (Yes, it was a bit of a high-lite for me. He's always given me great advice here, and it's really helped me in my trail running pursuits. So thanks Lace!)

It was a pleasure to meet you, too. Sorry about the DNF. That course will really take a toll on you and exploit any injuries that may be lingering. I hope you recover well and get back on the trails soon.

Sorry for the DNF, but it was a wise decision. Running 30 miles with such little training in the weeks before, on a course like Black Hills, is already a great accomplishment. No need to wreck yourself any further.

Good luck with your foot! The bones in the foot can take 6-8 weeks to heal, with proper treatment and no/very little weight bearing, so it is not a big surprise that your foot is still hurting. Maybe you'll need some kind of immobilization, or surgery, to make it heal up.

I had a metatarsal fracture (trauma, not stress fracture), and it took 6 months before I could wear shoes again. 2 years later, the foot would still hurt occasionally. DD had a metatarsal fracture last year, and her foot also still hurts sometimes (she's a dancer, on pointe). Good news is, chances are it will eventually heal up, so stick with that!

Birdwell, that's a pretty heroic effort even to start the race based on how you're training/mileage was in the couple months leading into the event. Wow!  There is no dishonor in a DNF in my opinion. Ever. In my long and very UNdistinguished career I've got 6-7 of them. Sometimes you listen to that little voice and live to face another day.   Injuries can heat up and the pain tends to disappear for awhile or you can mask it with enough ibuprofin but eventually you have to face it.

A big effort though especially under the circumstances. Now take the time to get well and I think you'll come back really motivated so you can smoke the little 2 yr. old.

I guess it didn't all come together for you, but at least you scouted 30/50 miles for the 100.  Congrats on the 30 you got and making the smart move.  Sounds like it was a rough one.