So here's what happened on my first attempt to run 50 miles. It was a 12-24 and 100 mile race down in boulder. I signed up for the 12 hour race and did so on race day. I'd never been to the reservoir where the race was held. I noticed a different vibe there than at the fort collins race 2 weeks before. People were not as easy going maybe? Just a little more serusness in the air or somehting. maybe buolder BS or what I don't know. This was for the most part only perceved because during the race I was overwhelmed by how nice and stoked everyone was. Maybe I was in the club by that point.
It was nice to see pete and eric and rob from town.
OK to the learning:
I didn't drink enough water. After lap 3? I was taking longer then 10/min miles and should have been drinking more than ~1 22 oz bottle a lap!
7-I ate 1 GU on lap 1 and had a bottle of Gatorade. ~10 min mile
14-I ate 1 GU on lap 2 and had one bottle of Gatorade. ~10 min miles
21-I ate 1 piece of pizza on lap 3 and had 1 bottle of water. 1:17 for 7 miles
28-I ate maybe 1 GU? had one bottle of water but lap took, 1:47 for 7 miles
35-I ate snickers bar, can of soda and little chicken soup broth (very little). lap took 1:43 for 7 miles
42-I ate nothing had one s cap and might have drunk 20oz of water. lap took 2:24 for 6 miles.
OK heres the pain:
At about mile 15-18 i started to feel pain in my R front hip (top of quad) this was not good in that I had never felt this before and was kinda taken aback by this pain and not the ones that I was most worred about from the 50k 2 weeks before. Those pains would be lest knee and right foot.
That pain in the hip would be with me from then on with little relief. at about mile 35 i got some strange pains in my knee that made it feel like iwas going to give out with out warning.
Stopped to cover my little toe on R foot at mile 27 from shoes laces not tight enough and sock seam ripping into top of little toe. That would inturn cause a nice sized blister on the bottom of that toe. feet didn't look to good at the end. right foot 2nd toe nail bang and big toe bang. rubbing under lat. maliolus R foot. Rubbing on top of L foot 2" proximal to 4 toe. left pinky toe started to feel hot spot only last little bit.
Again the hip is what I remember the most and spent most of the day running/walking away from that my have caused some other issues. The hip made walking very hard in the mid to late part of the run.
I tried to walk 5 run 25 only once or twice and hip pain made me think better to run than waste time on my feet. Really it seemed like the clock was ticking all day. However at mile 40 I did kinda think that OK i can still try and just walk it in to the 12 hour cut off! I was silliny in that I didn't drink or take any action at that time to see that happen. Really it was not a good call to skip so many chances to refuel and do some more self care. I was not treating the turn around aid station as an aid station. I had written it off early in the race as not having much and should have used it better for what it did have ( that dam water was piss warm!!!)
Food wise I think that I shoudl not have eaten as much pizza all at once. I should have spaced it out more like I had done in training and not been lazy and just garbed the whole peice. That may have taken a lot more water to get absorbed than I was willing to drink at that point in the race. Not having my drinks together was a huge mistake. heed tastes like shit.
I will get some etabs for future races and use them with water if I can't get any energy drink down.
Now the subjective part. How i felt when I crashed. I was feeling like shit and no longer had much energy to hold my body upright at ~ mile 40 I was looking for a comfortable place to sit but couldn't find a nice rock and didn't want to sit on the road at that point. so I just walked in pain from my hip mostly. I had to stop a few times to bend over and rest my hands on my knees just cause I didn't feel like I had any energy left. so I got to about .75 of the way to the turn around and was pooped. I just felt like something was going to have to give. My legs had no more ATP to give. and I sat down just as the sun set. how poetic.... That total lack of energy I think was from not enough training. Plain and simple I didn't build my body up for this race and it came to a head there at mile 42. I was very open about telling others that I was not feeling well and one nice guy stopped and gave me some of his water and waited with me then went to get some "help" another guy came up and was a Doc. he got me on my feet and walked with me for half a mile or so till the EMT let me hop in his truck and get warm. I was cold and just pooped. I have to say that I wanted to lay down but knew that I needed to keep it together and drink and get ~normal~ again. I drank and got about 36oz of water down and peed a little very dark urine so I knew my kidneys worked a little.
We then went to whole foods and had soup and bread and juice and lots of water took about 3 hours till I felt like I was OK. and at about 4 hours I was hungry and could eat and drink almost like normal.
Never did I have any true symptoms of a serious nature but it was definitely a new feeling for me to not have the ability to lift my leg. Again, it was the right hip that stopped the train. Funny how it was the first to start and in the end the thing that may have did me in.
Training for my next race will include longer runs with walks and eating forced if need be to see what I can force down. I need to get a drink system down and stick to it. This was a hot race for me and that was something that changed things. I'd done all my training in the early morning and the 50k was on a cold day so eating is a lot easier in the cold something to think about what to eat in the heat.
In hindsight I was about 3/4 bottles of sports drink or water down. considering how much white crusty salt I had on my skin i'd say sports drink would have made the most difference if my muscles had enough in them to do it in the first place.
Great time and good experience for sure. I was happy and in the moment for the whole time. Again with out my wife I would not be able to do any of this. She is my inspiration and so much more.
