coop-aero-06 said:
Sorry to hear that. How was the race going for you?
this isn't even close to the full race report, especially since it doesn't include the mountain lion encounter, but here's part of an email I sent to my coach...sorry for the big block of text:
As for the race itself, I started out at a decent pace where I felt like I was pushing it a little, but it didn't feel unsustainable. I was hoping to bank a bit of time on some of more runnable terrain before we got into a couple rough climbs. As it heated up, I purposely backed off the pace a bit. Partly to not burn myself out, but also to try and ensure no stomach issues. I had a couple short low moments during the day, but didn't really hit a serious low until late evening. My stomach started to turn on me. I dry heaved a few times, but never really threw up much. I put my head down and tried my best to power hike and force myself to run a few times, but it was slow going. Didn't help that there was also a decent amount of climbing on that section. Eventually the sun went down and I was questioning if I was going to be able to continue or even make cutoffs. They made some of the earlier cutoffs more aggressive this year to give people more time on the back end. So I knew I'd eventually start getting some extra time, but had to get into the last third of the race. I eventually just decided I was going to force some food down. If i threw up, I threw up. Luckily, it stayed down and I got a nice boost of energy. I made it into a "water only" aid station and decided to change things up. I'd been using tailwind, but had brought some Gu Roctane drink mix (250 cal/60g carb), so I mixed that into a bottle. It was 2.3 miles to the next full aid, so I took that bottle down and made that section in about 25 mins...it was downhill so that helped, but I was still feeling good. I spend more time at that aid station than I probably should (~15 mins), but there was a 7.3 mile climb next and I wanted to make sure I was good for that. I had a very good climb for the first probably 6 miles until I made it up to the top part where it turned more into a rolling climb. This is when thing started to take a turn. I got insanely tired. I was literally falling asleep while running. I ended up walking it in to the next aid station, so I lost some time there, but I had banked about 10 additional minutes on the cutoff on that climb. I used most of that at the aid station to refuel and slam a red bull, thinking that would solve the tiredness. The pick-me-up from the AS only lasted about a mile and I was back to having issues staying awake. I fought it the best i could and was passing a few people through the first couple times, but then I started losing the battle to sleep. I kept checking the cutoff and doing the math b/c I knew I was losing way too much time. I didn't think I was going to make it, but I knew it was going to be super close. If the split was shorter than stated I would make it. If it was a little longer, I was going to miss it. If it was dead-on, it was 50/50. I started getting close enough to hear and occasionally see the aid station, but the trail looped around a bit before getting to the AS. I kept checking my watch and didn't think I had a chance to make the cutoff. The way I was feeling, I almost didn't want to make the cutoff, but I told myself if i made it, I was going to keep going. I eventually got close enough that everyone at the aid station saw my light and started cheering, knowing I was potentially going to make it. I picked up the pace and made it in with 1 minute to spare. I didn't have enough time to refuel or get to the tables to see what was there to grab food (I was low on what I was carrying, but had a couple tihngs). I felt a hand on my back pushing me out of the aid station. The aid station captain was shoving me out to make sure I didn't miss the cutoff, as I had to be out of the aid station before the cut off time. She got me out and then grabbed my bottles and went back to refill them for me. She showed back up with another woman for shoved some chicken soup in my hand. I ate/drank the soup, ate an apple sauce, and they pushed me down the trail. I had serious doubts about making the next cutoff, but was determined to try and make it. The first couple miles, I was banking plenty of time to make it...then the wheels came off. I started falling asleep again. Stumbling off the trail, almost fell a couple times. I had to stop and walk b/c running wasn't safe. I was still very out of it and at this point was having a lot of hallucinations. I kept trying short stints of "running" but I just couldn't stay awake. Eventually, it became pretty obvious that without some sort of change, I wasn't going to make the cutoff. I tried taking in more calories to see if it would give me an energy boost, but it didn't work. Then my waist light started flickering. I knew I was screwed. I didn't have a spare battery. I've never had it not last through the night. I always took extra batteries with a headlamp, but this one hasn't given me an issue...lesson learned. I was able to get another ~30 mins on low, but then the light died. I kept walking super slow following the trail, luckily it was a non-technical section. Eventually, I saw a couple lights behind me. It was the course sweeps. Luckily they had a spare headlamp. At that point my race was over, so I ended up hiking in the last ~2 miles with the sweeps.
