Full report HERE
I fully intend on writing up a nice race report, but I'm out of town right now. Hopefully I'll have some time in the next few days. Here's a few things that happened to keep you interested til I put up a full report:
- The first 30 miles flew by. I felt decent, but not great. Kept a steady pace to stay about 15 minutes up on my splits for my goal of a 24 hour finish.
- Miles 30 - 45 were tough due to the heat, but I stuck it out and kept the 15 minutes I had on my splits.
- Miles 45 - 70 were when my first blisters started to appear. They continually got worse throughout the day, but I can live with blisters.
- Between 70 & 75 I got lost. I was tired and just missed the trail. Had to shut out my light and wait 7 - 8 minutes til the next person came into the area, then I followed them to the aid station. My quads were also dead and my left IT Band started hurting.
- From 75 - 85 I decided to take my sweet time at the aid stations. I mentally gave up on my goal of 24 hours and just wanted a finish so I tried to enjoy the experience by taking a little more time at the stations.
- I asked my dad to come along from 85 to the finish and it was great having him.
- At about mile 87 I smacked my shin on a rock and I'm now walking with a limp (still). I really hope I don't have a hairline fracture in the bone, but I'm waiting til I get home to decide whether or not to see a doctor.
- At about mile 90 we got lost for about 45 minutes due to someone sabotaging the markers. We worked with several other runners to find the trail again and my dad made an arrow out of sticks so that other runners wouldn't make the same mistake we did.
- The descent from 93 to the finish was unbearable. My shin was killing me, my IT Band would start stabbing me every time I slowed or stopped, but I eventually made it to the finish and I finished strong.
Obviously I'm disappointed with not reaching my goal (especially since I was on target thru 70), but I'm happy that I stuck it out and was able to finish. Congrats to all finishers on a really tough day out there. |