Here it is 4 days later and I still can't believe I actually finished the Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50 Mile Race. My first 50 miler. It wasn't pretty and my feet are still killing me, but with the help of a good pacer (my son Josh) and a good support crew (my wife Brenda) I was able to pull it off.
I got to the starting line plenty early, in fact too early. I had to wait around for more than 40 minutes until the race started. There weren't very many runners there when I poked my head into the tent to see if anything was going on. Some of the support people and organizers, as well as Karl Meltzer who had won the 100 Mile race a couple of hours earlier were there and maybe a dozen other 50 mile runners. I decided to go back out to the car and wait until about 10 minutes before the start. When I went into the tent with less than 10 minutes until the start it was completely packed. We received our last minute instructions, went out to the start/finish line and started the count down of the last 30 seconds, turned on my headlamp, and we were off!
I intentionally walked all of the uphill sections. I was hoping to end between 10.5 and 11 hours so I certainly wasn't in a hurry. When we had completed the first few miles of uphill I was definitely in the back of the pack, I probably had about 15 runners behind me which means I had about 110 runners in front of me. As the pack started to spread out I passed a few runners but also had a few pass me. I grouped in with a couple of other runners going about my same slow pace. When we got to the first aid station they had us go out to Elephant Head first, which I really wasn't a big fan of as it was very congested. I felt like all we were doing was dodging the runners coming back at us from the turnaround, it was really crazy in that section. You could never get in any kind of a rhythm as you were constantly jumping off the trail into the weeds to pass people coming at you. I definitely wish I had gone the other way first and done the Elephant Head loop second.
Soon after starting the next section at the top of the long downhill, my foot landed funny and twisted my left knee, then I over corrected and tweaked my right knew. I was hoping the pain would go away once I got to flat ground but that was not to be the case. Just what I didn't need was knee pain for more than 40 miles of a 50 mile race. From that point on the downhills were excruciating. I knew that once I Got to about 20 miles there wouldn't be much in the way of downhills. That thought kept me going until I saw Brenda and Josh at the gate at mile 19.
At the gate I decided I needed to change shoes, my toes had been hitting hard on the inside of my right big toe, not the end, but thought I should go with the 1/2 size larger shoe to see if it would help. A quick shoe change, took off the gaitors, put on the Ipod, and away I went.
The next 17 miles were quite painful, I took some baby aspirin and made sure I was getting adequate water, Chomps/Gu, and S Caps. I was run/walking. The pain in my knees would not allow me to continually run. Unfortunately the walking periods were beginning to last longer than the running periods. Not what I was hoping for. From about the 25 or 26 mile mark until the ranch turnaround, I was having leaders pass me on their way back. I was slow, hurting and becoming very discouraged.
It's funny the things that you focus on and that become important at this stage psychologically. There was a girl in a bright pink top that had passed me just before the Lower Frary aid station, about mile 27.5, I did a fairly quick stop there and headed out in front of her. She soon passed me again on the trail. She was walk / running like I was but definitely able to run more than I could. She was building her lead. I told Josh and Brenda that I wanted to do a very quick stop at the ranch turn around to make up some time and some ground. The girl in pink had become what I was focusing my attention on to help take some of my mind off the knee pain. As I got near to the ranch aid station the girl in pink had not completed the turnaround and passed me. As I got closer to the ranch I knew I needed to do a very quick stop there and get back out. As I went in I saw her still at the station. Josh quickly filled my water bottle, drank some Coke, had some chips, I took off my Ipod, and picked up my experienced pacer, Josh. I felt like I was ready to go.
From here Josh tried to get me to run as much as possible. It just hurt so bad. I would run about 75 yards and have to walk 200 or 300 yards. I could walk quite fast as I was not having a stamina problem, just a knee pain problem. My knees were getting worse and worse. It almost brought me to tears when I would run. It is in this section that I let Josh know that I was not in a good place right now and was really in trouble. I continued doing the run /walk system until we hit the Lower Frary aid station on the way back at about mile 39. At this point Josh suggested I go for full on Ibuprofen. I wasn't really sweating as I was doing a lot of walking. we also knew that at this pace I would not be able to finish before they took down the finish line at 6:30 or 12 1/2 hours so Ibuprofen it was. After a few miles the Ibuprofen kicked in. I was able to run a little more and walk a little less. However my feet were starting to get some significant blisters and the balls of my feet were bruised and quite painful. Plus that girl in pink was right on my tail. from just after the Lower Frary aid station until the Mountain View aid station she was right on my tail, never more than about 25 yards behind us. When Josh and I would run, she would run, when we would walk, she would walk. Josh even asked her if she wanted to pass us and she said "No, I really like the pace you guys are going". I was now determined to stay ahead of her no matter what.
At Mountain View aid station I didn't stop. Josh had my water bottles full and had a glass of Coke for me and I just walked right through. For the first time in a long time I was starting to feel like I could actually run for more that 75 to 100 yards at a time. Once we got to the top of the hill I started running more. I hadn't been able to pass more than one or two crippled runners since the ranch turnaround. Fortunately only one runner had passed me. When we got less than a mile from the Lakeside aid station I saw a couple of runners that I could focus on passing. The girl in pink was still right on my tail. I passed 2 runners just before the aid station. I again didn't stop as Josh had my bottles filled and a glass of Coke ready to go. The one runner who passed me a couple of hours ago was in the aid station, I passed him there. The girl in pink stopped at that aid station and looked like she was really struggling. I didn't see her again until the finish line. I passed 2 more runners going around the mountain. Josh was definitely pushing me to get to 12 hours. I ran most of the last 4 miles. I knew I probably wouldn't be able get under 12 hours but I wanted to make sure I didn't let anyone pass me. With a little more than a mile left I saw 2 more runners that I thought I could pass. As I ran by the 1st one I could see she was actually a 100 Mile runner. She was going to get in under the 30 hour 30 minute mark for her first 100. We congratulated her and went after the next one. I passed the next one with about 1 mile left. From here I didn't have anyone close enough to reel in before the finish.
Unfortunately I was not able to get in under 12 hours. I forgot to stop my watch when I went across the finish line but my time was about 12 hours 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the official times have not been posted yet. I had finished my first 50 Mile race! My daughter Brittany was there to greet me and of course my supportive wife was there. Josh ran (I use the term loosely) the last 17 miles with me. He really pushed me and I honestly doubt I would have made it under 12.5 hours without him. A good pacer is priceless.
My final analysis. I have huge blisters on the balls of both of my feet. I also have bruised the balls of both of my feet. I also have multiple small blisters. I will lose at least 1 toe nail and could lose as many as 3. My knees feel a lot better but it could just be that all I can feel right now is how bad my feet still hurt. My teeth ached for a full day from clamping my jaw shut so tight from the pain.
Overall I am happy with how I did. I was more than an hour longer than I was hoping for. However, I was fighting pain 75% of the race. My stamina was good. I know I need to run more steep downhills in training before my next run to prepare my knees. I also know I need to figure out my shoes. I don't want blisters like this again and I don't want to lose any more toe nails!
Thanks to everyone who supported me in preparing for this run as well as the race organizer and the volunteers at the event, they were awesome. Special thanks to Brenda and Josh. I absolutely could not have done it without both of them.
