I ran, I hurled, I ran some more, I finished- will fill in the blanks tomorrow

I ran, I hurled, I ran some more, I finished- will fill in the blanks tomorrow

Sounds like Lake Sonoma for me this year, except:

I ran, I hurled, I ran some more, I hurled some more, I shuffled, I finished.

Congrats and can't wait for the report!

Feeling better this morning

This was a much more challenging 50k than my previous one in late June, elevation gain was in the 7500' -ish range and the trail was a lot more technical (read rocky).  We couldn't have had better weather, low 50's in the morning, probably 80 for a high- some decent cloud cover as well.  Everything started out great.  The scenery was absolutely stunning, I had to to make a conscious effort not to gawk too much and pay attention to the rocky trail.  I tried to keep a somewhat subdued pace so I wouldn't burn out late and hit the Tepee Ck (10 mile) aid station in 2:20- I was pretty happy with that as I was shooting for roughly a 8 hour finish.  The next four miles I knew was going to brutal, most of the elevation we gained in the first 8 miles was lost by the time we hit Tepee Ck.  We'd be gaining about 3000' in those 4 miles, it was steep, technical and relentless w/ no runnable sections.  I hit the next aid station, Elk Park (14 miles), in about 1.5 hours- still on track for a 8-ish hour finish.  It was shortly after this aid station that wheels started coming off.  I got very nauseous and started feeling weak and dizzy.  This was a runnable stretch and sadly I was forced to walk.  The nausea built to a crescendo and I hurled (and hurled some more).  After emptying my stomach I felt a little relief, but it was short lived.  My stomach was still flip-flopping and I was still weak.  I couldn't eat a thing, couldn't drink perpetuem and barely could stomach a little water.  I continued to walk to the next aid station feeling absolutely miserable.  I have no idea what time I made it to the Tizer Ck (20 mile) aid station, but I knew a 8 hour finish was long gone.  When I got there a person I had met earlier in the day was sitting on the ground w/ a makes shift splint and ice on his left ankle.  He landed badly clearing a fallen tree and his day was done.  I asked if he would have to wait until the aid station was closed (which would be late as it also served the 50 milers) and he said someone would be headed down in 20 minutes.  I was sitting next to him, very seriously considering throwing in the towel and heading off the mountain w/ him.  I drank a little sprite and forced a couple of saltines down.  I then slowly headed back out to the Elk Park via a different route than we came down (now would be 24 miles).  This section was steep and really knocked me down, not that I had much further down to go.  After what seemed like forever I finally made it to the Elk Park aid station for the 2nd time.  I drank a little more Sprite, ate a small orange and filled my water bottle.  The good part was it was all downhill from here, the bad part it was over 8 miles to the finish and very technical for the next four miles.  Surprisingly the nausea started to subside and I was actually able to run.  The further down I went, the better I felt- not great, but much better.  I hit the Tepee Ck aid station (mile 28) feeling half way normal- I ate some orange and banana, drank some Sprite, filled my water bottle and hit the trail for the last four miles.  This section was less technical and slightly downhill, so I actually made pretty good time (even reeled in a few runners).  I hit the finish line in 9:20, about an hour longer than I hoped, but better than I thought when I was hurling my guts out

My DW was waiting for me at the finish line and took good care of me.  She ran the 23k and told me she would have finished 20+ minutes sooner, but had gotten off the course.  We soaked in a cool, deep hole in Mc Clellan Ck, chatted about our adventures and slowly the world seemed a heck of lot better.

Nice job pushing through! Thanks for the report!

You really toughed it out for a lot of miles. And now you'e got another 50k under your belt! Soaking in the water hole sounds wonderful.

Add some candied ginger or gin gins to your pack , it really does work .  Great job finishing feeling that sick .

My stomach felt sick just reading your report. My opinion - running with that sick feeling is worse than sore legs, no energy, etc.  So great job sticking it out.  I guess you didn't get any pictures? (of the terrain not the hurling!)

Sorry about the sickness. Ditching the perpeteum sounds like a good idea so you don't look like that hurl dude the next time. All in all though you bounced back nicely from the sounds of it and soaking in that cool water hole must have been heaven.