What a cool experience! Overall, this basically felt like a
longer training run. One of the biggest things I noticed was that I didn’t pay much attention to the landscape or my surroundings, but more so focused on the trail in front of me and how my body felt.

The morning started out like a typical trail run with a bowl
of oatmeal adding a scoop of protein, accompanied with a raisin English muffin, garnished with almond butter and preserves. The drive was pleasant with some fluids and a quick dopamine release bumping to some old school Eminem.

I arrived to the trailhead approximately 30 minutes prior to the start time and immediately grabbed my bib once I parked. Returned to a silent vehicle and caked a large amount of sunscreen on my face, arms and legs. One last visit at the porta potty with some quick stretches and I was at the start line about 5 minutes early.

A cool 50° at the start, I couldn’t have asked for better weather. I decided on shorts and a short sleeve shirt, with a BPN hat to block the shadeless trail throughout the day.

I was loaded with 10 gels with half containing 30mg of caffeine. I had four 8 oz bottles which two contained SOS sodium mix and the other two containing a Spring endurance mix. Everything fit comfortably inside the Salomon advanced skin waistband.

Immediately after the beginning, my focus was on nothing but myself. I never took the opportunity to look back, but felt like the entire field of 58 past me within the first mile. It didn’t matter, I was in my own world. Slow, methodical, and ready for what was ahead.

After that first mile, I started taking inventory and already felt some discomfort in my left hip. I also felt some doubt creep in, but ignored it too. A mile or two later, both disappeared and never returned.

The first of four 8-mile laps seemed to take a little longer than expected, eventually realizing this wasn’t a walk in the park. The 4-mile front stretch on the second lap now included a massive headwind of over 20 mph. It was brutal, but I didn’t let it deter me. I decided to throw my headphones in and listen to some music. I jammed to two partial albums of From Ashes to New then followed it up with an Andrew Huberman podcast with exercise scientist Andy Galpin. I removed the headphones after about 2 and 1/2 hours.

As for my body, I never really felt high highs or low lows, but more like a slow burn of decreasing fitness. I didn’t hit my first “wall” until about mile 19 or 20, but it didn’t last long because that was nearing the end of the third lap. However, that fourth front stretch was absolutely miserable.

The wind had picked up to what must have been 30mph. I
guesstimate this with close certainty because they were winds that I would never skydive in. The gusts made me feel like I was jogging in place. These were definitely the most difficult 4 miles of the entire race. At one point I was quite upset with it, I started yelling “fuck you wind”, while raising my middle fingers in the air! Immediately after this release, I put my head back down and told myself the job’s not done. I smiled because that terminology reminded me of the gypsy Brad Pitt saying it in one of my favorite movies, Snatch. I assume that others were feeling this pain too, because I passed at least eight people on this stretch; while never being past again myself.

The back stretch didn’t include any winds, but the occasional gusts on my back certainly helped with some of the small climbs. By this time, my calves, quads, and hamstrings were quite fatigued. I had gone into this race worried about my feet, but they felt good nearly the entire time.

However, somewhere near mile 20, out of nowhere, I had a extremely sharp pain that felt like a blister on my little left toe. I immediately told myself that since I hadn’t felt it coming on, that it would be temporary. Luckily, it was. I walked about a hundred yards and it disappeared. I returned to shuffling.

The last 3 miles were quite difficult on my legs. On the downhills, I could feel what felt like an overuse injury inside my left knee. By this time though, I was pretty motivated to get this thing finished. All of this being accompanied with heavier breathing and the occasional moan or grown. However, I felt like I was doing a good job of compartmentalizing anything that had arose while continuing to carry on. I even felt a strong sense of gratitude during those last couple miles too. I started feeling proud of myself and fortunate that I had put myself in this situation.

I graciously showed my gratitude to everyone at the aid stations, thanking them at every visit. They were always so accommodating, refilling my bottles with water or Gatorade as I would hand it off to them. This alluded to my continued happiness and success.

Crossing the finish line, I just wanted to walk. And slow walking is exactly what I did. Maybe even with a little limp. I felt accomplished receiving my belt buckle, but slightly disappointed noticing that the snack table had all junk food. I snagged a banana and headed to the car. I wiped my hands and face with some baby wipes, reflected for a few moments in silence, then slowly drove away. I was briefly overcome with a moment of emotions, but quickly snapped to, thinking; step one complete!

After arriving home, I did a few stretches and had an extended hot sitting shower. By now, my hunger had truck. I was more than looking forward to a hearty meal.

I recovered my legs for an hour in compression pants while I ate a My Fit Foods white bean chili with shredded chicken and spinach meal. Accompanied with a couple hard boiled eggs, that banana, and an icy cold Skratch coffee recover shake. Damn, it was all so good!

I was tired, but surprisingly felt pretty decent. I popped a couple Tylenol and by the time I went to bed I actually felt quite recovered. Slept like hell, but didn’t really feel sore the next morning. I did have a few soft spots on my toes, finally realizing that I had a handful of blisters. Nothing too bad, just a little annoying while walking the dog. A little soreness in the right upper Achilles area too.

Compared to the marathon, night and day differences in recovery. I remember feeling absolutely destroyed and that I would never do anything like that again. I’m already looking forward to this week’s recovery workouts. I’ll continue to use the compression pants and let you know if any tenderness or discomfort arises.

I finished 27th overall, 20th in males, and 6th in my age
group.

Thank you for your continued support! I’m ready for the next phase!