| Old Pueblo 50 Mi Endurance Run Page 5 |
| The next 31miles were an emotional roller coaster. Even when I tried to run, it was just a shuffle. It was 6miles to the next aid station. I could not believe I was feeling so awful so early in the race. At first I wanted to irrationally blame it on the coke I drank.. but deep down I knew it was due to the fall. How quickly things had changed from zipping along to crawling along like a snail. My hopes of breaking 11hours were beginning to fade. The runner whom I had recognized from Bandera was the last of the group to pass by me. As he passed me, he said something about "What a beautiful day we have for running another 50k". I replied with a comment agreeing about the beautiful weather. However, it was easier for my mind to handle "another 6miles to the half-way point" than "50km to the finish line". And my mind went negative for a while. The thought of walking it in for 50Km was horrible. Then I thought of my Dad ..... When people would whine and wuss out on something, his name for them was "Candy Ass". When I was growing up, he would tell me "Linda, you cannot be a Candy Ass in life, you have to try , you have to make an effort." It made me laugh a little bit thinking about Dad. This pulled me out of the negative mental state and into damage control mode so I could stabilize my mental state. After some thought, I concluded that there were three possible outcomes to this day: 1) My condition would stay the same (not get better or worse), and I would have to shuffle and walk it in to finish. This was not a cheerful thought….. 31miles of slow crawl. But I still had a little over 11hours before the 15hr cut-off and a flashlight in my dropbag at 40miles, so it was doable . Then I thought of the pretty buckle. Yes, I could trudge for 50k. 2) My condition could worsen. If my knee and/or ankle joint started swelling or tightening up then out of avoiding injury I would have to stop. This is the first time in a race that I have thought that a DNF might happen. 3) My condition might improve. I thought of what Gordie A said in the 2001 WS100 PBS Documentary.: "If a runner can just get through that devasting low, often time things do get better." I know he was referring to the fatigue which can hit in the latter sections of a 100miler, but possibly it could apply also to the mental and physical hurting that resulted from nasty falls. One can always hope. I thought about the runner who fell at Crosstimbers50Mi two years ago early in the run , split open his chin and not only finished but won the event. He ended up needing surgery to his jaw/chin. Then I thought of other runners whose early falls in an event eventually took them out of a race. It could go either way. I decided to hope for Outcome #3, that if I hung in there things might get better . I could at least focus on the thought and try to will it into existence. About that time two runners went by me. One was wearing a white and blue WS100 shirt from 1998. Seeing the WS shirt made me realize my sub-11hr test had been corrupted by the fall, but I could still use OP50 as a good training run for WS in June from a ‘ time-on-the-feet standpoint’. I might even be able to finish under 12.5-13 hours if things got better. The flat section ended and we started climbing some , continuing toward the aid station at 25miles. My elbow and arm were bleeding again. There was blood slowly creeping down the backside of my arm and it had reached half-way to my wrist. There were more cattle guards and gates in this section. One gate did not open, it was necessary to crawl over it. My initial thought was to try to go around it, but I was only met with barbed wire…. A runner near me (who must have run the course before) said you have to crawl over this gate, unless you are one of those types that LIKES barbed wire. His comment was made jokingly, but caught me off-guard… of course I did not like barbed wire. And I replied to him, "no, I’m not one of those types". In retrospect, I think it was all the blood on my right arm that motivated his comment. About a half-mile before reaching the aid station at 25miles, I started feeling a little better. I remembered I had a can of RedBull in my dropbag at 25mi aid station :-) I was looking forward to some Red Bull . In this 0.5mi another runner caught up to me and he commented on my elbow, which led to a short conversation. Arriving into the aid station, I got Boost and Red Bull from my dropbag. It was time to start the long 4mile uphill that Wayne had mentioned earlier. A volunteer asked if I wanted any first aid for my elbow or knee. I thanked him but told him no. It seemed useless to take the time to wipe off the blood when it would just continue to bleed more (when I would bend my elbow or knee too much, the cuts would break open and bleed more). Plus if I stood still too long, the knee would stiffen up and it would hurt to get going again. The 4mi ascent was actually on a dirt road. There was considerable amount of vehicular traffic on the road. Fortunately dust was not a problem (probably because it had rained/snowed the two days before the race). I like uphills. Long ascents encourage patience. I used this time to gain some perspective on my situation and to regroup. All the hill repeats I’ve done at McKinney Roughs helped me in this section. I would run some, then walk some, run some , then walk some.. slowly dragging myself up the grade trying to keep my place… slightly in front of the runner who made the barbed wire comment and to keep the runner ahead of me in my sight (the runner whom I had spoken with right before entering the Aid station at 25miles). About 75% the way up, I lost sight of the runner ahead of me. A new runner that I had not seen before , with sunglasses and his bib number pinned to back of his shorts, had a very strong powerwalk and went by me. We spoke briefly as he passed . In the final 25% of the climb, there were some tight curves. One vehicle that passed by me, stopped , then backed up. The driver rolled down her side window and asked if I needed any help for my arm. I thanked her and said I was okay. The elbow had become quite the conversation piece. Looking at the arm, the blood was now down to my wrist. Reaching the top of the ascent, I was closing in on the aid station at 29miles: California Gulch. Entering the aid station, a volunteer was assigned to me. All I wanted was PB&J and the Boost from my dropbag. The volunteer asked about my elbow. I told her that it had been like this since 18mi mark and I was trying to ignore it, and she understood. I left California Gulch, gave the stuffed javelina an obligatory kiss, and was off along the single track. This is the section we had traversed in opposite direction in the morning. The sections of pasture/field were no longer frost covered. It was good to be back on rocky single track and off the dirt road. I was feeling a little better. One runner , with an orangish-yellow shirt passed me. There were also several loose dogs in this section. The dogs were friendly. I was able to run a good amount in this section, even though it was net uphill. A while later I came upon the runner that I recognized from Bandera. I said "hello again" as I went by him, but he said nothing in return (nothing that I heard). A while later the trail crossed through a dry creek/gulch. I could not see where the trail picked up. Fortunately another runner came from behind me, and he pointed to the trail. We ran together for a short section, then I went on. The terrain was becoming familiar and I knew I was closing in on the next aid station: Granite Mountain at 33miles. There is a descent leading into this aid station, and I caught back up with the runner who I had met coming into the 25mi aid station. He recognized me and said something like "you must be feeling better". I told him I felt like I was back from the dead. Pat Coates was working at this aid station. I was happy to see her, but did not expect to see her until the 40mi aid station (there had been some last minute changes, and she was working this aid station instead). She noticed my elbow and asked if I needed help. I told her I’d been running with it like this the last 15miles, and I just wanted to keep going. It felt good to be feeling better, I wasn’t back to 100% but I was at least back in the saddle and beyond just trying to shuffle and survive. Leaving Granite Mountain, my watch read 6:57 (elapsed time). Doing the math, it meant I had 4hours to cover the next 17 miles to finish under 11hours. For the first time since I fell, I felt I might still have a shot at breaking 11hours since I was feeling better.… I only needed to average between 14 and 15 minutes per mile for the last 17miles…and it seemed I might be able to do that . I knew from the elevation profile there were a couple more significant climbs in the final 10miles. I decided to run everything I could between here and the next aid station at 40miles…. Maybe I could get some time back in the bank for those final climbs. With a new plan in my hand, I was filled with optimism. In this section there were more cattle guard crossings and probably 8-10 water crossings. I managed to keep dry feet through all the water crossings.. there were ample rocks to step on and having gortex shoes on, I could get the shoes in 1-2inches of water but feet would remain dry. Also in this section I caught up to and passed the runner who had passed me with the strong power walk on the long 4mi ascent. (he was still wearing sunglasses, and bib number on back of his shorts). Arriving into the aid station at 40mile mark, my drop bag was already out for me. Boost and another can of Red Bull. It was 8:27 elapsed time. I had averaged around 13min/mi in that section and had put time in the bank for the upcoming ascents .. there was still hope for sub-11. Two volunteers were helping me. One volunteer asked about my elbow. I replied that the elbow and knee were numb, and I was hoping they would stay that way for 10 more miles. The other volunteer had been at the 25mi aid station and remembered me.. He said "at least the elbow and knee have stopped seeping". This was true... it is important to be grateful for the smallest of things. I took off again. The next aid station, which was the final aid station, was 6miles away at the 46mile mark. The next section was flat for a bit, then an uphill climb , followed by a descent and then some more rather flat stuff leading into the last aid station. . A new runner appeared behind me. A runner in pinkinsh-purple shorts. I really did not mind if he passed me, but I was trying to stay ahead of him just as motivation to keep up my pace. He was gaining on me in a flat section on a dirt road that went by campsites. I really don’t like flat stuff, and I need to work more on it because I lose time during later sections of a race when on flat terrain. Then the single track ascent started. I pulled away from him here . It was a longer climb than I expected it to be. It dumped me out on a dirt road that I think was Gardner Canyon Rd. The 6 mile stretch between the aid stations seemed longer than 6miles. In the final mile or so before reaching the final aid station, the course goes by a set of historical markers… one of them was for an old dam, another commented on "very expensive gold". Too bad I could not stop to read them. By the time I reached the last aid station at 46miles, I had completely used the time pad I had built up. This realization made me sad. I had just under an hour for the final 4 miles to the finish. |