Those 3 dreaded letters no one wants attached to their race result. But it happened yesterday and now I have to live with it. For clarity, no I was not injured, no I was not sick. It was not out of necessity, it was a choice. My legs just failed me and while I probably could have kept trudging along, I chose to drop. They were done. I was done.
Kristin, Colin, Me + Evan at the race start.
I was running well through the 1st loop running 4th behind the female leader. I thought I was running within myself and running smart. Cardio-wise I felt great. Steady on the ups, fast but not out of control on the downs. I was drinking often (containing my calories + electrolytes) and taking my salt.
In spite of all of that, those all too familiar calf twinges hit me after about 10 miles into it. They started in my right calf, then it spread like a virus to my right hamstring, left calf, then both of my quads. On my descent down from the 2nd major summit, my legs were full-on seizing and I knew I had to throw in the towel.
I don't know how I could have expected any other result based on how little I've been running. I tried to go out again after coming through the halfway point at 25K (although it measured more like 17 miles) but only made it about ~3 miles out before I finally threw in the towel and walked back frustrated but not too dejected.
Colin and Kristin finishing together.
The trip itself was actually a blast as my girl and I along with our friends Colin and Kristin made the drive up the day before to make a weekend out of it. We had lunch in Santa Barbara, passed through some beautiful wine country, stayed at a charming bayside cottage in Los Osos and ate at my favorite steak joint Jocko's Steakhouse post-race. Also, I took immense pride in my friends who gutted out all 32-33 miles to go along with 6,400+ feet of climbing on a tough, sunny day.
Above Santa Barbara wine country.
Jocko's Steakhouse.
I will certainly be back. The course is too beautiful and too luring in the challenge it presents for me to not return. I will just be better prepared to deal with it next time.
12 comments:
I hope you are recovering well - smart move to DNF rather than risk injury. Your next one will kick ass, I'm sure!
great attitude dude. you'll be back. take a few lessons from this and crush the next race.
I'm sorry to hear about the calf cramping but I'm really glad you listened to your body.
ouch! great job listening to your body
Sorry about the DNF but I don't see what choice you had! It's all part of the game. Sounds like a fun weekend overall. :)
SOunds like a wise choice, the race will be there next year for you!
Good seeing you this weekend!
Tell Colin and his wife congrats for me. I saw them come in at the finish and they looked great!
Oh billyburger. No shame in shutting it down early. Those 22 miles were probably equivalent to a "regular" 50k...that course is friggin' tough!
Looks like it was a great weekend with your girl and the Cooleys. Wish I could have made it (I would have been right behind you in the DNF line).
I hate cramps. I definately see no shame in your DNF. You are an awesome runner. I'm sure there will be many more grand finishes in your future.
Bayside cottage in Los Osos -- love it!
Hey - I recall seeing you out there. It was a tough day, to be sure! Glad to discover your blog; I just searched other MdeO reports since I (finally) wrote mine, subtitled "Why a Painful 50K Made a Romantic Getaway".
BTW in my post I said the elev was 6700 because that's what the elev chart said, though PCTR published 6400. Whatever, it was steep!
Doing any Northern Calif races? Maybe I'll see you up here.
You have to pick your battles it was probably smart to end this one short so you can recover more quickly and get back to training. Thanks for sharing the nice pictures and good luck getting back to training!
finally got around to reading your recap... a little deja vu for me... except I tried to finish and got stuck up in the mountain.
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