I don't know if I provided any background in my last post, and I'm too lazy to go back and check, so I'll cover it (or re-cover it) here. This year, I was supposed to do the Big Horn 50k race. However, due to an unfortunate series of injuries starting with the development of a stress fracture on a road 10k last October, I wasn't able to get any training in. So, I dropped back down to the 30k, and figured that hiking the course would be easy enough.
So, we get to the starting line and are waiting to begin. It was a pretty warm day, and rather pleasant, though it did give indications that it would soon get too hot. We started off, and I found it was kind of neat to be in the back because I could see the long train of people going along the trail. In the beginning, I was feeling pretty good, and was looking forward to it. The course was pretty wet, and extremely green, which is kind of an oddity around this state. There was a lot of very muddy sections on the course, and the water crossings were very wide this year. So, I was going along for a while, all fine and dandy, and then we reached The Haul.
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| The Haul- so innocent looking when you're nowhere near it. |
The Haul was a giant hill in the middle of the course that gained almost 1000' in definitely less than half a mile, and possibly about a quarter of a mile. I felt bad for any first time Big Horn runners. The Haul looked so green; so innocent. No one would have suspected it of being a killer if they hadn't escaped it before. Anyways, this year it was abnormally tough, and I've heard similar complaints from others. Normally, I can power-house up it, but this year, I had to stop fairly frequently and rest. I was still doing better than nearly everyone else around me, but I was getting pounded none the less. When I finally got up, it was a nice little summit, and then across and below it was green fields and mountains covered with wild flowers. Very purdy. We started the decent there.
The downhill was my downfall. My target was still to go slow and reserve my energy for the long flat end. However, trying to keep the brakes on the entire way down was a killer. It was four miles of never ending, single-track trail downhill. By the time I hit the bottom, my feet were giant hot spots, my knees were shot, and I was exhausted. In hindsight, I should have just gone with the flow because trying to keep myself slow the whole time cost me far more energy than it saved.
So, I hiked out of the bottom aid station through a canyon overlooking a river. It was a great sight this year, and the river was moving much faster. I was still trashed and moving slowly. By the time I hit the trailhead aid station (second to last aid station), I was ready to be done. I think my saving grace wa the fact that I had ran and completed that race twice before. I wasn't ready to let my first "Did Not Finish" be on a hike. So, I rested for a bit, and pressed on. Since this was where the long flat finish started, I tried to run like I had planned. That lasted all of 30 seconds before I decided I was too tired for it. So, I continued to hike to the Homestretch aid station.
Home stretch was supposed to be 3 miles out from the trail head, but I'll be damned if it wasn't longer... a lot longer. That was the hardest part for me simply because it was so hot, feeling a lot longer than it should have been, and it was kind of getting disheartening. My hot spots were getting hotter too. I finally reached homestretch and had to sit down and rest for a bit. I had zero intention of quitting less than two miles out, but the aid station captain had definitely gone to those aid station seminars I had heard about. At first she was telling me that if I sat down, I probably wasn't going to be getting back up (how dare she question my already challenged resolve! haha), but I sat down anyways because I needed it. After a few minutes, she then changed to " You've only got x-number of minutes and then I'm getting you up and out." Apparently, the longer I sit there, the more likely I was to change my mind about finishing.
So, I got up and left. I kept hiking because I was still too tired and hot to go. I was hobbling pretty good, and it was getting tough because I could literally feel every single rock under my shoe, especially where I was growing the blisters. Being on a dirt road, this meant that there was a lot of rocks to feel. Through out the entire dirt road, I do believe I was losing my mind. I started off just generally talking to myself; things like, "You've done this before. You can't quit." or "You've come too far to give up." Then I started trying to sing to myself to keep myself distracted. But I realized that at that very moment, I could only remember bits and pieces to three songs. So, I kept singing those bits over and over again, with occasional defiant talk mixed in. Finally, after passing homestretch, I ended up resorting to a mantra... which I don't remember.
Anyways, I kept on like that for a while, and finally, I saw pavement, which meant that I was almost on top of the finish line. I don't know where I got it, but I somehow dug deeper and started running. I must say that it was a pretty impressive pace considering my condition. I was running, and finally saw the finish line, where I kept going. Somewhere in all of that I started crying too. When I crossed the finish line, I said it was because of the pain, but I wasn't hurting any more than I was before. I think it was just a symptom of losing my mind. So, I finished in 5.57ish, but I finished, which was all that was important.
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| Survived another one. |
At that time, I said I was done with the Big Horns. I'm all ready planning for next year. I said that I should probably be done with racing for the year, since I've only done two races, and both of which challenged my resolve severely, which gets old after a while. I already have planned a race for next week, a race for August, and a marathon for either september or october (which, if anyone is really bored, I may need a crew for).
It was a tough race, but I finished, which sometimes all that can be done. These tough races are definitely my element, but a little bit of training never hurts before hand. I'm still walking (very) funny, still got blisters, and probably shouldn't sit down if I intend to get back up. So, that's my epic tale for the year. Within the next few days, I should have some neat pictures up. So, I will see you all around!
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