Speedgoat 1 Bart 1

Here it is Wednesday, 4 days after the Speedgoat 50K, and I am still disappointed in my results. This was my 2nd time running Speedgoat and this year I dropped out at the 21 mile mark. Although I was very disappointed with my decision, as I have never dropped out of a race before, I knew it was the right thing to do. With that the score is now Speedgoat 1 - Bart 1. At this point I am planning on running it again next year as I cannot stand the thought of having that course slay me and having it end that way.

I knew it was going to be a tough day as it was going to be very hot. I also ended up working all day on Friday and was on my feet doing shipping all day long. Friday night my legs did not feel the way I was hoping they would at that point. The next morning I definitely could tell I was not where I wanted to be when we hit the end of the 1st long uphill. My legs were tired already and although I was on schedule I knew it was probably not sustainable.

The one bright side of the day came in Mary Ellen Gulch. This is the section that psychologically did me in last year. This year I passed 4 runners in this section and had no one pass me. I was more confident and my knees felt much better than last year. At this point I was quite tired and knew it would be a long day with the crazy uphills ahead. I pulled into the Pacific Mile aid station at 4 hours and 16 minutes and was out at 4:22, just about on schedule. After the Pacific Mine aid station is a brutal long and very steep uphill. I was doing okay until about half way up. At that point I had knots develop in both of my quads. I slowed down but the knots would not let up. I was drinking plenty of water but It was brutal finishing this section. The heat was crazy and the pace was slow. Once it flattened out a little the knots were not as severe but still present. When I got into the Larry's Hole aid station I felt fairly good  as there is some downhill just prior to the aid station. I knew that I could continue but would be quite a bit slower than I had anticipated. Once I started out of Larry's Hole and into the next steep uphill the knots in my quads flared up again. At that point I had a decision to make. There are only a few locations on the course where you can drop out of the race, Larry's Hole is one of them. I needed to decide if I wanted to tough it out and finish, knowing that I would probably be extremely sore for 3 to 4 weeks if I did, or drop out and be able to get back into training for my 100 mile race the end of September. After thinking about it for 3 or 4 minutes I made the difficult decision not to sacrifice my training for completing the race. At this point I turned around and went back to the aid station and officially dropped out.

It was definitely demoralizing, however I know it was the right thing to do. I was able to go out last night and run 6 miles without any pain and will continue with my training the rest of this week and through the next 2 months in preparation for the Bear 100.

Overall not what I wanted as a result of the race. However now looking back I know I did make the right decision to drop out in order to preserve my body for training for what is my ultimate goal of completing a 100 mile race this year.

As a side note, the course was very difficult this year and the temperatures were through the roof. when I saw the final numbers come in it appears that about 65 runners did not complete the race, almost 25%. It does bring me some comfort knowing I wasn't the only one having a tough day out there.

Next year I will definitely slay the Speedgoat 50K.