Hitting the Trail

I'm getting ready to head out to the race this morning......

Start time is 8 am, and I hope to finish around 4:15.

This is going to be some crazy sort of fun!

DNF

:( I didn't finish the 50K; I got timed out at the 3rd checkpoint at mile 25.

reasons?
1) Mud sucks. I didn't factor in enough time for how much it would slow me down. How much mud? There was mud over A LOT of the trail, miles of mud, but the worst of it was up the Powerline hill-- where I actually got a shoe stuck and pulled off TWICE. I could really feel the extra effort in my legs it was taking to pull my feet up and out of the heavy sticky mud.

2) I took a tumble somewhere around mile 20. On a downhill. Slid on some mud. My right calf cramped and I went face forward into some rocks. Got a 2" gash on my forehead. Walk/ran a mile or so, with blood on my face, to the next aid station, where I got it looked at, cleaned up and bandaged. Lost at least 10 minutes of time.

I ran on to the last checkpoint, but never recovered a good-enough pace. (well that section was also the HARDEST of the course, rocky, then uphill, then hand over hand scrambling up vertical.) Missed the final cut off deadline by 8 minutes.

So ended my first 50K attempt.

I cried a little bit.

I'll write a full race report later. I'm tired out now. My head hurts (and my pride, and my heart).

I do think it's a "Did Not Fail" of a "Did Not Finish"; I really did do what I could today. The trails just beat me.

Hannah says DNF stands for "Damn Nasty Fall".