While I had been well prepared for OPSF 50k this March, I had prioritized other things above running over the last 2-3 months, and my fitness had declined:
Still, I managed (thank to impressive efforts by Nathan to rally me during a 90+ degree humid run) a 30 mile training run 3 weeks out, and I trusted my experience to carry me through.
The Cry Me a River race website claims 23,500+ feet of elevation gain over 100 miles, and while I intially expressed my skepticism of this to a local runner (Paul), I became a believer as the triple out and back course allowed me to see every hill six times. The trails weren't technical at all and were impressively dry and hard; my shoes were cleaner when I finished than they had been when I started.
I had my typical plan to walk 1 of out every 10 minutes, but the hills demanded walking more than this. In retrospect, this means that my planned "recovery" while going was consistently replaced by tough uphill hikes. I settled in with a runner named Paul after the few miles, perhaps going a touch faster than I would have alone, but overall comfortable. When we reached the first turn around point at 11 miles, the lead female (last year's winner) greeted us as she ran back out with, "Oh my gosh! There's 5 females within 5 minutes!" I noted this but realized that this early in to the race, the most important thing was to stay steady and be careful not to speed up.
For the next 30-45 minutes, I was able to see the woman ahead of me, Sarka, and I finally caught up to her, thinking we should run together since we had the same pace. I quickly realized this would not work: she was a very strong downhill runner and I ran the gentle inclines while she hiked them. On such an incline, I suddenly found I had passed her and the two women ahead of her. As I came into the 20 mile aid station, I moved in to first place.
The temperatures were rising for the second out and back, and I slowed some as a result. I came to learn that the 4-7.5 mile section of each lap was the toughest, and the return to the start/finish direction was easier than the way out. At the turnaround, I saw Sarka was only 8 minutes behind me (I was not surprised). The other women were further back. I moved a little better on the quicker return trip, but the cumulative hours in the heat, even though it wasn't terribly hot, were adding up. Around mile 38-39, my stomach was sloshing and I hearkened back to Burning River. I needed to get my gut to absorb this water or I was going to end up vomiting and unable to eat. I walked a few minutes without improvement. I was looking forward to taking a wet wipe to the thick layer of salt caked all over my body. That was it--salt! I grabbed a handful of very salty potato chips from the aid station and walked while I let the salt do its trick.
After a few minutes, the stomach slosh was gone, but now I was bonking. I forced down some food, but it was making me nauseous. My breathing was much heavier on the climbs than it should have been. I knew I was dehydrated, so I grabbed a bottle of rocktane to guzzle down as I left at mile 42.
Sarka caught up to me a few miles later, as I had been expecting. She cheered me on and encouraged me: "If you want to race me, just run. I walk all the hills." She said this while setting a blistering pace hiking a steep climb. She was so strong and so friendly about it all. I was genuinely happy for her and felt she deserved the win. At the same time, I had to adjust my goals since now trying to win wasn't realistic. My stomach was acting up again (a poorly guided bite of quesadilla really set me off) and it took my a good 45 minutes to get out of my funk and decide on breaking 17 hours as my new goal. This would still be faster than the previous course record (though this year was admittedly under better conditions). Eating was a real struggle for the rest of the race, but I choked down the calories and made it to the finish line at 16:41. I was 2nd female and 4th overall. Sarka had finished a whole hour before me, and was showered and enjoying a post-race snack when I finished.
As tough as yesterday was, I do feel that I did about as well as I could have given the amount of training I put in. I met some friendly Illinois runners and enjoyed the one patch of hills in a state of fields. All in all, a good (if tough!) experience.
-Jordan
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