Riddlebox 50K
What a
fantastic way to end the racing year. The Riddlebox Ultra offered everything I
could’ve wanted in a late year ultra-marathon to cap off a very successful year
thus far (one 2nd place and one 15th place!). I had never
raced a 50K before. 50K stands for 50 KM (kilometers, which is about
31.something miles). You get about 5 extra miles on top of your average
marathon distance. Just so you know that you are physically done when you
crossed 26.2 miles and tell yourself that another 5 miles isn’t that far (yeah
right!). Your body is protesting but your mind is stubborn enough to tell it to
go to *$&@ and that you will finish this S.O.B. (sorry for the language mom!!!).
This has
been a harder race than my previous 50 milers. The overall pace was more
strenuous and I kept looking back to ensure my overall standings starting from
about the half way point. More on this later. Mentally this was a good test for
my bigger ambitions coming up in the next couple of years.
The day
started of beautifully with me waking up next to my beautiful wife and
daughter, and they both slept in peace, which didn’t happen too often in those
days. It’s like they knew that I needed a good night sleep to compete in the
following day’s ultra-marathon just outside of Sioux Falls. I
was tempted to simply go back to bed and sleep in until 6am! Imagine that!
was tempted to simply go back to bed and sleep in until 6am! Imagine that!
My gear (with Gloves!!!) |
Both how tired I was the morning of the race and the morning after the race! |
We
conversed on our way out of town on commented on the ever declining gas prices
but fell more and more silent the closer we got to the starting line in
anticipation of the race start. I anxiously tied my shoes and shouldered my
water pouch and we entered the local winery to receive the pre-race instructions.
The rules were pretty straight forward and wouldn’t cause an issue throughout
the day, It was interesting seeing the competition shuffle nervously from one
foot to the next or in quite contrast calmly checking their Facebook newsfeed
as the race director let us know what to expect on the course. Shortly after,
we assembled at the starting line. As everyone was cautiously holding back, I
didn’t mind taking the point at the starting line, and with the sound of the
gun we were off.
The first
half mile was probably the fastest split of the day for me. Even though I lined
up knowing that I should not go out too fast, I always try to break the mile
world record at the beginning of the race. So far, no luckJ.
me right after the start, going out too fast |
That early
turn around after 3 miles allowed me to gauge the remaining competition. I had
expected that a couple fast runners from Omaha would show their cards at this
point, but I never figured out if they didn’t run hard enough or simply didn’t
want to go for it. Either way, I had a good feeling that this was a 3-person
race. The leader, myself and the leading lady.
After about
6 miles we returned to the starting line and my father-in-law professionally
passed on to me my exchange water bottle, asked me what else I needed and told
me that the guy ahead of me was about 4 minutes ahead. A perfect crew chief!
The following rolling hills weren’t necessarily my strength and I lost visual
contact with the leader. I had a short confusion at an intersection but luckily
settled for the correct turn and continued on my way.
For fun I
raced a couple of bikers from the Fat-Bike race which happened simultaneously.
We went up the next big hill and I actually beat them to the summit, before
they left me in the dust on the following descend.
I was
surprised to see my father-in-law again after only 10 miles, but it was a great
mental boost as the monotone gravel road had taken its’ toll and I slowed down
to pedestrian shuffle. After meeting him I stormed up the biggest climb of the
day. While climbing, I could see the 3rd place in the distance,
which made me feel a strange mix of confidence and anxiety, as it was a good
distance after 10 miles, but nothing to feel safe about.
To my
surprise I reached the summit, took a left turn and was 30 feet behind the
leader! Holy crap! I must’ve mountain-goated that ascend to make up that big
difference! I was feeling it!
On the
ensuing downhill, the leader looked back and simply left me in his dust. He
quickly opened a 2 minute gap, which turned in to a 4 minute gap by the next
aid station at the half way point. After the race he told me that he had taken
the wrong turn and went off course. That’s why I popped in right behind him,
which also explains why he was able to separate so quickly from me again. Turns
out he had qualified for Boston before and entered to run the “Boston Marathon
of Ultras, the Western States 100 Endurance Run” in California. As with Boston,
you also have to qualify to run it, which I have done before, but need to enter
the lottery and auction off your first-born in order to have a shot at getting
a coveted spot, as only a couple hundred runners every year get to participate.
I spent a
generous 10 seconds at the aid station refilling my bottles as I was trying to
catch up to the leader. The course at this point was a stretch of 3 miles of
straight gravel road. So despite the 7 minute difference he worked up, I could
clearly see him straight ahead. What an agonizing feeling. So close, but yet so
far!
A local
farm dog encouraged me to speed up during the next mile or so as he wouldn’t
stop trailing me while barking profusely. I know, barking dogs won’t bite, but
why take a risk. That was probably my second fastest mile of the day!
I shed the
protective dog and took a turn into the wind coming from the east. From now on
I kept glancing back hoping to hear the dog bark at the next runner in order to
know how far ahead I was. I never did hear the dog. I didn’t know if that meant
that there wasn’t a runner or if they were just too far behind to hear. Either
way, the leader was out of sight and I was approaching the 20 mile mark and I
noticed that I had neglected my nutrition throughout the day. I bonked pretty
hard and was glad that the next aid station had sugar loaded gels to get me
back on my feet. My father-in-law
encouraged me to keep going at the 22 mile point, while he had become friends
with a local lab, which came out of nowhere. He later told me that the dog
vanished as quickly as he appeared in the first place. At the aid station at 24 miles, the aid
station attendant told me that the guy ahead was long gone, but that I wasn’t
looking “too bad” (that’s code for: Man, you’re done!)
Tired, hurting and overall whiny... |
I reached
the base of the second climb of the highest peak of the day (same as earlier,
but from a different diredction) and started nervously looking back. This is
not that mindset you want to have during a race. Look ahead, not back!
Anyways, I
could see the next runner about 1.5 miles back and knew that distance could
easily be made up if I didn’t keep my pace. The bicycle racers for the 100k started
passing me after I was done with the descend and I asked each one how far the
next runner was behind me. Interesting enough, each one had a different answer
ranging from 10 minutes to a good hour. That turned out to really not be
helpful at all. That portion of the race was mentally as draining as could be I
ran scared. It is more fun chasing someone than keeping someone off your tail.
\
I had about
5 miles to go and more bikers kept confusing me to the point where I told
myself that the next runner deserved 2nd place if they caught me.
That’s not necessarily a winning strategy, but it kept me going for the next 3
miles. The next biker told me that the runner behind was a lady, and only 3
minutes behind. HOLY CRAP!I could almost feel her breath on my neck!
I had maybe
3 miles to the finish and I started going for broke. I could’ve cramped at any
point but altered my running gait from decline to incline depending on the
situation and simply started eating up distance. I didn’t dare looking back. I
faintly hoped to make out a figure in the distance ahead of me, but had not
look with doing so. I was fighting for second place. With about a half mile to
go, another biker passed me and told me no one was behind me for another 45
minutes or so (the next runner had taken a wrong turn! This is horrible for a
runner’s psyche, but is necessary to develop your mental game!). It set in to
me that I was going in for a second place overall after all.
For a
moment I got quite emotional as I saw my father-in-law at the finish line
taking pictures of me coming in and I was simply elated by breaking my personal
record for the 50K and having him in that spot supporting me.
He ended up
taking a sweet picture of me crossing the finish line, which he gave me framed
for Christmas a few weeks later and is standing on my wife’s desk at work now
(makes me feel awesome!).
The leader
beat me by a good half hour and I gapped the 3rd place by another
half hour. I think if I focus on my marathon training in 2015, I should be able
to compete for the top spot next December. We’ll see.
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