"How much time do I have to get to the next aid station?" I asked.
The race director looks at me, tells me 2 hours, and asks if I have a
headlamp. One of my way more experienced
buddies gave me the “it ain’t happening” look and head shake.
Calculations begin in my head as I walk to the car to grab another pair of shoes, wash the mud and sand out of my feet and get ready to head back out on the trail. 10 miles, 2 hours, that's just a 12 minute mile, no
problem. Normally. Only problem is that the last 4 that I just
completed miles were 20 minute per mile death marches.
DNF. Welcome to the
JW Corbett 50 Miler!
It's better to be in the game than on the sidelines. I was hoping to actually do OK in the race. In February I'd completed my first 100K somehow managing 6th place and had been putting in the long runs every other weekend since then and was looking at this as a way to work on hydration/fueling
strategy, and do a nice 50 miler. Prior
to the race I was playing around with time and distance between aid stations and
posted a spreadsheet with distance/times between aid stations from 12 minute
miles down to 9 minute miles on their Facebook page. One of the guys who is really fast and runs
there regularly said I need to put one out that has 15 minute splits. Boy was he ever right.
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| Should have gone up to 20 minute splits! |
The course was 15 miles out and back, followed by 10 miles out and back on part of the Ocean to Lake Trail that goes from Lake Okeechobee to the Atlantic Ocean. The 50K started at the trail head straight out and back. The 50 mile started with a 1 mile lollipop type loop before hitting the trail head then doing the out and backs.
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| Course map |
I was the second
closest to the starting point when we started so I ended up in second place for
the first mile. Once we got done with
the lollipop, I pulled over to the side and let the pack pass me because I knew that it was going to be a long day and judging by the looks of the other folks
out there I didn't want to be a bother when they passed me on the single track. There were some really good runners there, some who had finished the Leadville 100 and others I had seen or met at other races previously.
We are cruising down the single track trail at 70 degrees of a beautiful day for a couple of miles and then things get interesting. The course opens up and there is about 100-200 yards of water. Not deep, not too bad, just muddy. I make it through that and back onto singletrack. A while later I come up on some friends who are doing the 50K, so far so good. Hit the second patch of water this time on the single track trail through the woods, about 50 yards or so not bad. Walking through and see one water moccasin that fortunately heads the other direction. Pass that water and back onto single track.
Note for people running this race in the future… If you find yourself running on a dirt road for more than say 25 yards, you are probably off course. I think the race director made a comment at one point that if you are looking for an easy 50K or 50M race, this ain't it! I got off the course 4 times and knew I was off course when I no longer saw footprints or orange course markers. Let me take that back, when I no longer saw human footprints. There were plenty of animal footprints when I got off course for sure… mostly hog and small animal tracks probably raccoons, armadillos, etc.
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| Off course diversions! |
I want to make it very clear that it wasn’t that the course
was poorly marked. You just had to pay attention to detail and not get distracted. Get into a conversation, or into a song on
headphones (not a good idea for this one), you will get off course. One of the times I got off course, then back on I caught up with this lady in front of me and she hit the dirt,
there were lots and lots of roots, and
just about everyone hit the dirt at one time or another. I tripped several times but was very lucky not to faceplant. As I’m talking to her and ask
her name, she says, “Jennifer”. We are
friends on Facebook from when I volunteered at the Skydive Ultra in February. The thing that went through my head was the scene
in Top Gun where they are flying with Viper…
Viper: Good morning gentlemen, the temperature is 110 degrees.
Wolfman: Holy shit,
it's Viper! Goose: Viper's up here, great. Oh, shit.
Maverick: Great, he's
probably saying, "Holy shit, it's Maverick and Goose."
Goose: Yeah, I'm sure he's saying.
Goose: Yeah, I'm sure he's saying.
Why would I think that? Well Jennifer is an amazing runner and recently came in second in a 118 mile race beating some of the best runners in the state and top five in a really big 100K. I immediately felt like I was in over my head! We chatted a bit and then I think I went on ahead for a while. I was happy to even be running with someone like that. I can be competitive in my brain even though I'm not actually competitive... It’s also one of the things that I really like about ultra-marathons and the community. Normal people like me get to toe the line with some really good athletes. Another thing I like about the ultra-marathons is that guys and gals in their 40's and 50's seem to be able to do pretty well and actually win them. Not that I will ever win one but I can dream about it!
After getting off course and seeing some friends I finally made it to the turnaround point and my GPS said 17.8 miles. I asked how many people were ahead of me, and only 5 people had come to the aid station. Many of them had turned around at a sign on the trail that looked like the turnaround sign but actually wasn’t at 13.9 miles. Kudos to the RD for making a rapid adjustment with the lollipop portion of the course at the end that got people to finish the distance. He really kept it together when it could have gone really south!
Heading back to the previous aid station I started going along at a pretty good clip for the trail, 11-13 minute mile range, and then just ran out of gas, which seems to be a recurring theme for me. I think this is where it gets back to my fuel/hydration strategy.
Prior to the race I went over the Hammer Fueling Handbook (link at bottom of article), which is a series of articles that aside from promoting their own Hammer products, has some great information on the what and how much fuel, water, etc. to take in during a race. Based on my weight, it recommended 20-25 oz. of water per hour and if you weigh more and its hot more water. I was carrying two 20oz. handheld bottles one with water and the other with Hammer Perpetuem blended thick that I was planning on using as my calorie intake for the first 30 miles. The plan was drink a bottle of water per hour, and at the aid stations drink some extra fluids to make up the difference. It was 90 degrees out and I think the biggest mistake was not drinking enough extra fluids at the aid stations. I should have downed an extra bottle each time, and taken in a few more calories I think I would have fared better. I realized I was dehydrated around mile 23 when I went to the restroom and was peeing brown.
It seemed like forever until the next aid station. I was passed by a couple of people and Jennifer caught up with me again and I ended up keeping up with her for a couple of miles then slowed down. She pulled ahead, and not surprisingly would end up one of the people who would finish the 50 mile race.
I pulled up to the unmanned aid station about 4 miles from
the start line and had to try and gather myself. I sat down and stretched, ate, drank, and
think I knew at that point I was done, just had to get back to the
start/finish. The last 4 miles wasn’t
fun, back through the mud and water this time with blisters, and knowing in the
back of my mind that I was done. Here
are a few lessons learned:
1. Pay attention to detail. Had I focused more and not got off course I believe I would have finished the race. My GPS when it died shows 29.75 miles and still had 5 miles to go to get back to the start/finish.
3. Should have planned the footwear
strategy a bit better. I got lots of mud in my shoes and didn’t take it
out until about mile 22 and had about 10 blisters total on both feet in
different spots. For scale, the folks in my “normal” running group would
probably freak out, but the folks in the ultra-running group wouldn’t really
bat an eye and they are just normal blistering for a wet and muddy trail
run.
4. Don’t EVER underestimate the difficulty
of a run. I never imagined that a DNF would happen on a 50 mile
race. That tells me I should have taken it way more seriously and will
definitely pay better attention next time.
5. I will prepare better before taking this on next year for sure!
It was great to participate in this event, and I love seeing
my friends in the Florida Ultra Runner community. Christian the Race Director did a phenomenal
job. If you are interested in a challenging, beautiful, different, swampy race
you should definitely do this one! There is another one called Lake 2 Ocean 100K which
crosses the course that we ran this past weekend but as of right now is sold
out and has a wait list. I think I’m
number 6!
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| One mile in of what was a long day! |
