Notes
Going into the race I was pretty worried about some nagging IT band/hip flexor problems I had been having for several weeks. I had hoped it would go away during taper, but even race morning it was tight. It was about 60 degrees at the start, overcast and 80% humidity. As usual, 20-30 runners took off way ahead of me, but I focused on staying slow trying to go my own pace. Even so, my GPS was saying I was going 7:40 pace after 2 miles so I slowed down even more. The first 10 miles were at 8 minute pace and felt easy. Ran along side Robert Wehner, RD of the crusty 50K for a while and chatted about who the winners would be past races, etc. Eventually he slowed down a little and I continued on. IT Band had been a little tight for the first miles but had loosened by mile 15. Those first 15 miles of the course are pretty easy on the legs, hills are small not so frequent, very few rocks and roots and I felt like to not take advantage of this easy part of the course would be a mistake.
Saw the leaders coming back from the first turnaround around mile 20, (they were at mile 24 or so). At that point Zach was only 30 seconds ahead but was clearly the pace setter. Saw the female leaders were still at least half a mile ahead of me at the turn around as well. Coming back from the turnaround was fun because I got to start seeing folks I knew like Robert, WG, and lots of folks from the NLUR running club. Through mile 30 I felt good, a little fatigued but not anything unexpected 30 miles into a 50 mile race. After that I did start to back of the pace just a little bit too be safe. I was also starting to have problems fueling. I followed behind the female winner for a good 3 miles or so before passing her. I thought she was fading at the time, but that turned out to be far from the case.
Passed through confusion corner and got ready for the remaining relentless hills for the next of the race. Came up on the 2nd place female and ran with her the next 3 miles Around mile 36 I had to stop and pee, and the female winner, 2nd place female and another guy passed me. Arrived at horseriders feeling like absolute crap, could not eat or even drink heed/pop just water. Dumped my handheld and kept going. My stomach was starting to revolt and started walking more uphills than I would have liked. It was a horrible feeling knowing your finishing goal keeps slipping away every mile you run slower. Somewhere after that I saw Zach blazing past, looking like it was a jog on the track. The 2nd place guy at least 2 minutes behind maybe more. At the turnaround I had to stop and use the facilities which cost me almost 3 minutes. Tried to eat a PB&J sandwhich but couldn't get that down. It stuck in my mouth until I hit horseriders again. My worst patch was between 40-45, my right hamstring was cramping if I ran for more than 2-3 minutes straight so I had to walk flats even when I shouldn't have. Finally I started to think all of this felt like heat exhaustion and took my shirt off to attempt to cool. Maybe it was placebo, but I really felt like that helped a little.
When I hit bluff road and saw the sign for 47.6 (my watch said 46 something) I slammed a couple of mountain dews and some water. At that point I thought maybe I still could hit under 7:30. I had stopped looking at the time on my watch so I honestly thought I was going to finish within seconds of 7:30, and more likely 7:30:XX than 7:29:XX. I was surprised that I could start to run longer without cramping (did the mdew kick in that fast?) but managed to make my last 5 miles faster than the previous 5. Saw PaulyGram probably a quarter mile from the finish. He yelled last hill and I tried to kick it in even more. Of course he was lying (at least there was another incline I would call a hill at that point) but I could hear the finish and nothing was going to slow me down.
Ran in hard and kept straining to see the clock. Finally saw it said 7:27, crossed the mat and almost passed out. Spent 30 minutes trying to get under control, legs cramping, dizziness (was seeing stars for a few minutes), nausea, and just couldn't imagine feeling normal again. Finally started to feel human again within about 40 minutes or so, but wow I cannot believe how trashed I was after the race. Way worse than last year.
As usual the race was well organized, and all of the volunteers at the aid stations were amazing! Every time I ran into the aid station the volunteers were asking what they could get me and made me feel like I had my own personal crew there!