Well, I finally DNF'd a race. Ever since I started doing (inline) ultras back in 2001, I have never DNF'd a race. I came very close in 2002 - the second year I did Athens to Atlanta. But I was so far ahead of the cutoffs that I could afford to spend 45+ minutes at a couple aid stations and limp my way to the finish. This year, I was not so fortunate.
It all started out great. 31 of us lined up in Ludington, MI - on the shore of Lake Michigan - at 8am Saturday morning. Almost all of us had signed up for 100+ miles, and hoped to be in Saginaw, MI sometime Monday morning. The start was uneventful and we all kept more-or-less together in the first few miles as we got out of town. This was against the strategy I told myself I would (should) follow - alternating run/walk intervals. But it was fairly cool at the start, and the road out of town was busy enough that it seemed safer to stick with the crowd. As soon as we turned off that road, though, I started walking and let the pack pass me. I started off running 1 minute, then walking 1:15. My heart rate was recovering nicely during the walk intervals - back around 120/121 bpm. I was feeling pretty good. The road surface changed from asphalt to dirt/gravel - which was a nice surprise too.
Probably 90 minutes into the race, the temperature started heating up. My heart rate wasn't recovering as good, so I lengthened the walk intervals to 1:30. That didn't last very long and I went to 2:00 walk intervals. I'm still feeling good, though. The temperature continues to rise, and 2 hours into the race it's already hot. This is the first time I notice my stomach feels a little "weird". I'm not feeling nauseated (yet), but something is not right. I atttributed it to maybe the heat, or maybe the Tailwind I was drinking (first time I ever tried it) or maybe the 2 terrible Gu gels I tried (Pineapple and Sea Salt & Chocolate). In any case, I wasn't far from the first aid station, so I figured I'd get some ice and some real food and maybe my stomach would settle down.
My parents and sister were crewing me for the race, and they were there waiting when I arrived at AS1. I sat down, they refilled my hydratoin pack and bottles, and I ate a little food. I was way ahead of my predicted ETA - mainly because I ran the first 3.5 miles of the course. It was nice to have the extra buffer, and my legs & feet felt great. So I didn't spend much time there (~ 8 minutes) and took off for the next leg of the course.
There was a last-minute course change due to bridge construction, so the race director had told us about a detour between AS1 and AS2. I had preloaded the (original) course onto my watch to help alert me if I got off-course, but it did not have the detour on it. So I would have to navigate the first part of this section without it. As it turns out, I missed a turn and went about 1 mile off course. Thank goodness the RD found me (and another runner) running down the road and got us turned around. Still, that just added a couple miles to a very long race. If the RD hadn't found us, it could have been MUCH worse. Luckily, I had completely filled my bottles and hydration pack at AS1, so I had about 3 liters of fluids - enough to get me to AS2 even with the extra distance.
It keeps getting hotter and hotter. I get to AS2 and finally get out of the sun. I'm about 5 hours into the race now and have run about 23 miles. Same routine as AS1 - refill fluids and food. I grab a sandwich and after 12 minutes, start walking. It's really tough to choke down the sandwich. By now, I just don't want to eat anything but I know I have to if I want to keep going. Drinking is starting to get tougher too - I feel like there's a bunch of liquid sloshing around in my stomach already. So I'm not thirsty at all, and the thought of drinking anything is getting unpleasant. I have timers on my watch set to go off every 10 minutes to remind me to drink, which I grudgingly do. Every 30 minutes, an "eat" reminder goes off and I try to eat a little more of the sandwich. This section of the course is in the woods, so it has a lot more shade than the road - but that's not saying much. There are still plenty of stretches with little/no shade. This is a legit "dirt" road (no gravel) and it's sandy in parts - so some of that sand ends up getting into the shoes. I exited the woods onto an asphalt road with maybe 3 miles to go to the aid station, and there is *no* shade at all. It is ridiculously hot. I walked most of that 3 miles to AS3.
Now I'm starting to realize I'm in trouble. I'm not eating enough. I'm not drinking enough. I haven't peed much at all so far - and I'm almost 8 hours into the race. Now, I'm hoping I can make it to the night portion of the race - and maybe make up some time then. When I got to AS3, my legs and feet still felt fine. But my stomach was *bad*. I spent about 48 minutes there cooling off, trying to eat, and trying to drink. I cleaned & lubed my feet (getting rid of all the sand & crud from the dirt road) and put on fresh socks. When I left, I felt much better. But it was short-lived. As soon as I got back out into the heat, I started feeling sick again. The AS3>As4 leg was only 6 miles, which was good because it was still brutally hot out, and still very little shade on the road. I walked most of that leg, and got to AS4 in about the same shape as I was walking into AS3.
I spent 37 minutes at AS4. Again, trying to cool down and force some food and fluids into me. By the time I left, I was only 24 minutes ahead of the cutoff time. So much for all the buffer I started off with! At least I was finally on the Pere Marquette Trail. To my surprise, it was a gravel trail - not asphalt. It made a very satisfying crunching sound as I walked on it. I'm still walking most of the time because there (still) isn't much shade. Every now and then, I'd get to a shady section and I'd jog a bit. I'm about 11 hours in now, and 40+ miles. The sun finally gets low enough in the sky to give more shade, and the temperature drops. Unfortunately, the lower temperature really isn't helping my stomach issues. I'm still not able to eat or drink much. I pass a couple other participants that are walking, and eventually catch a woman who is walking barely slower than me. (It took a long time to catch her.) We walked a few miles together as it started to get dark.
I did some math and figured that, at our current pace, we would get into AS5 with about 30 minutes before the cutoff. I was starting to slow down a little bit, though. My companion (I was in a bit of a daze and don't remember her name) was still looking strong though - so I encouraged her to go on without me. She resisted, so when we got to the next intersection I told her I needed to rest for a few minutes but she should continue so she could preserve what little buffer she had, and have a chance to continue on th enext leg of the course. I knew I would not be able to go on past AS5. I hadn't eaten anyting since AS4, and had barely drank anything. I probably could have pushed through, but it wouldn't have been safe to do so - definitely not at night. The only way to proceed safely would be to spend enough time at AS5 to force down more food and water - which would require more time than I had. I sat down on the trail for a few minutes to rest and record my final video update. My calf muscles started cramping almost immediately. I tried drinking a "hot shot" shot, but it didn't help. So I figured I might as well get moving again.
There was (almost) a full moon, so it was easy to see the trail even though I didn't have my headlamp. (I planned on picking it up as AS5.) I got into AS5 15 minutes before the cutoff and sat down. I learned I was the last person - all the runners behind me had dropped already. I confirmed the cutoff time, and knew I could not continue, so let the volunteers know I would drop here. (To the surprise of no one.)
I ended up with 51 miles (50.5 "official" miles) and placed 19th out of 28 "finishers". As far as the race results go, this wasn't a DNF - since the RD ranks everyone based on the distance they complete. But, for me, I didn't complete the course - so it's a DNF in my book.
The DNF doesn't bother me too much. I'm certainly disappointed that I didn't get to see more of the course. I had really hoped to do at least 100 miles, which would have been a first for me. I'm also disappointed that I allowed myself to get dehydrated. I thought the 10-minute timer would be sufficient, but I did not account for the insanely high temperature (95 degrees - highly unusual for Michigan in May). The things I was worried about - pounding of fet on asphalt, running in the rain, possibly getting too cold in the night portion of the course - didn't happen.
So, this was definitely a learning experience. I *will* have a better hydration strategy in the future. I'll recognize the signs earlier and make sure I don't get to the point of no return. I should have spent a couple extra minutes at AS1 and AS2 and chugged some more fluids there. I should have paced myself better in the heat - I waited too long to slow down. Better pacing and hydrating could have gotten me to the night portion of the race with at least an hour of buffer, if not more - and I could have built up more buffer overnight in the cooler temperatures.
So, when I'm back next year (and I *will* be back), I'll keep all of that in mind. Of course, knowing Michigan weather - next year it'll be 40 degrees and sleeting. You just never know. But I know I can complete this course - I just need to avoid self-inflicted mistakes.
Big thanks to the RD, the volunteers, my crew/family, and all the other runners. This was a great event with great people. See you all next year! :-)
I posted some video updates during the run, which I uploaded to youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA3rti3BvLY
Race results: https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=48793
