Well, the good news is, I am not a 40-year-old virgin anymore. I finally popped my cherry. Got my first DNF. Ever. Since I started running in 2009. I always have been of the attitude that I will never drop, unless the race officials pull me, or the medics call it. This time, I called it. A lot of factors contributed to the decision. Few thoughts:
- Went into the race with a back spasm the day before. Back was tight all the time. I saw a good sign at mile 18 – my old Chiro, and good friend, Don Freeman was at Browns Bar aid station. He worked on my back at mile 30 (second time at the same aid station).
- As a result of lower back being locked all day long, I overcompensated on the upper back, which then started locking up. So much so that when I wanted to breath deep and fill up my lungs, it hurt, so I ended up with short quick breaths.
- Heat. Even though I have run in worse heat (at Western States), this one hit different. No prior heat training, as it has been a cold spring. First time ever I was running out of water even when aid stations were only 4 or 6 miles apart. It was low 90s, with no wind – felt like 100. Specially from mile 36-40, when it was all on road – the pavement was reflecting the sun. sun on the back, the reflection on the face. Brutal.
- Heat also meant a lot of water on the body, which means lots of chaffing and blisters. My body is susceptible to chaffing and blisters, so nothing new - but another thing that slows me down.
- What would become the real reason that I made the call not to keep going, at mile 41 (Mammoth Bar), I sat down at the aid station and passed out. Not sure if was because I was tired or other reasons. Woke up to realized that I fell asleep. I continued, the climb from Mammoth to Drivers (mile 49) is relentless, with exposed trails. I sat down on the side of the trail, as my eyes were closing while walking. Again, passed out – woken up by a fellow runner.
- Doing mental math in my head I realized the course will eventually be 66 miles. (100K is 62 miles) – I will not be able to meet my goal (Western States Qualifier) of getting under 18 hours. The race cut off is 19 hours. To make it under 19 hours, I will have to do a 16 min pace, which didn’t seem worthwhile, especially when I did not know why I was so tired that the eyes were shutting down.
- So at Mile 50 (Driver Flat, supposed to be mile 48.4), after 14:15 hours, I called it. I still had 4:45 hours to finish. I thought long and hard – I could technically finish, but I was not sure why I was so tired and passing out. But since I was not going to get a Qualifier, I didn’t want to do any further damage to the body.
It was heartwarming to see familiar faces, dedicated volunteers providing support unselfishly, and strong runners from around the world.
I knew this day would come. Didn’t know that I will DNF by my own decision. I have no regrets. Until next time!
