Another 100, another DNF

By Steve

With the OTM 100 over the weekend (on which Sam will give the full report), I have once again DNF'd a 100 miler.  So much for the third time being the charm.  However, I'm a slow learner, so despite my rantings over the weekend that I would never ever, EVER do this to myself again, I'm sure there will be another attempt at some future date.  Here is my brief report and what I take away from this and what I need to improve.

First, it must be said that Sam and Tony are amazing and solid.  Sam spent the first 50 waiting for Tony to make sure he followed the correct course, and half of the second 50 trying to get me to keep moving.  I'd really like to see him just go pound out a hundred miler by himself and see how well he could do, but he is always wanting to help someone else along the way.  I was also amazed that Tony could just keep going and going.  Despite the rough course and almost 40 hour finish, he was solid to the end.

The first 50 miles were fantastic.  After a nice slow start as prompted by Sam and Tony, I finished the front 50 to Beus Canyon in 14 hours.  That is about 2.5 hours faster than last year.  I took everything I had learned from Capital Reef and applied that.  And you know what?  It worked!  My lungs were strong because of the increased focus on proper breathing and keeping my body warm.  Even after dropping out at 78 miles, I still wasn't suffering anything lung or cold issues.  I kept my body warm and my breathing slow, deep through the diaphragm, and through the nose as much as possible.

So, as I see it, after finally pushing through the limits of my lungs, I was now in new territory.  Up till now, my nourishment while running has worked for me to get me through till my lungs gave out. But in this new territory, it failed me miserably.

Up till now, taking ibuprofen while running has been a good thing.  This time it caused some major stomach issues with... evidence... that my stomach was in a dangerous place.

Up till now, drinking Ensure has been a great way to get calories.  This time, the extra vitamins proved to further upset my stomach.

Up till now, I had never had to take salt tablets.  This time, my stomach was cramping like crazy.

With all of that, at mile 73, I stood wide legged, hunched over with my forehead leaning on my trekking poles time and time again, listening to Sam holler out something about it being all in my head and I need to keep moving forward, and trying with all my might to make my legs keep going uphill.  My body was at it's physical limit.  I had no energy.  I couldn't eat anything to get more energy.  I wanted to puke.  I wished I would puke.  I simply couldn't walk another mile up that hill.  I was sure of it then, and I'm still sure of it now.  So, as Sam left me to go finish the race, I turned around, gently walked downhill 5 miles back to the car, and then spent the next 48 hours slowly turning my stomach back right-side out.

So where do I go from here?

1.  I'm done with ibuprofen.   From now on, unless I break a leg or something on a long run, I really don't need any.  I should have been done a long time ago, but like I said, it had always worked till now, so why change a "good" thing?

2.  Liquid Calories:  I'm going to experiment with Tailwind now.  There are a couple other brands to try out, but I'm pretty sure my body will do well with these.  Also, I'm going to focus more on fruits and proteins for my solid foods.

3.  Salt:  Tailwind has a lot of salt, so additional salt tablets shoudn't be necessary.  But either way, I need salt now.

4.  Ginger chews:  DJ gave me a couple chews early in the night when I was first having stomach issues.  The calmed my stomach down for a while, and I was very grateful for that.

In the end, I had 78 miles and 19,421' of vert over 27 hours.  It's still the farthest distance and the most vert I've ever done in one run, and the longest I've been on my feet without stopping.  I'm happy the race director decided to give me credit for the 50 mile finish.

Orange Trail Monkey 50 mile finisher paracord bracelet with engraved Monkey Carabiner