Sulphur Springs 50 Mile Ultra - May 24, 2014

 Returned to Sulphur for my third consecutive 50 Miler.   My 50 Miler PB of 10hrs17min is pretty soft so I thought I would try to better it this year.  Plan was to go out fast and play the fade.

 Up at 2:30 am after a few hours of broken sleep.   Arrives at 5:00 am with lots time to get ready ...just chilled in the car.  Sunrise was spectacular ,  I knew it was going to be a great day!

 Race started at 6:00 am.  Temps were around 10C  with almost no Breeze and lots of clear Blue Sky.   I knew it was going to get into the mid 20's in the afternoon which deifnetly slow things down so the race plan fit the weather.   Had a blast running fast ,  felt great and didn't want to slow for water , gels all that sorts of stuff that allows you to keep going.   Did 2 glasses of Eload ,  a glass of Water ,  a Gel and about a quarter of my water bottle in the first of 4 20K loops.  No big deal I thought at the time I will make it up when I slow up a bit on the next loop.  Tripped the 20K time at 2hrs8min ....holly smokes fast loop!   Heading out on loop 2 my Quads were hurting a bit.  I have had that pain before and I knew it would go away.   I had filled my bottle at the start finish with the goal of downing one before all 4 aide stops in the loop and that what I did.  I also started eating everything that there was to offer as well as taking S CAps!   So I was a little behind ,  slow down and let what I have consumed do what I was suppose to.   Finished loop 2 in 2hrs38min  fully expecting to pick it up in the next loop.    Well loop 3 was a bit of a disaster.  All the stuff I ate and drank in the previous loop was having almost no affect.   I was quite dehydrated and the rising temperatures and constant Sun exposure with almost no breeze was not helping.    Mt chest was quite tight from the extra work the heart was doing as a  result of my thickening blood!   Usually when I walk the stomach processes the food , water and electrolytes but I walked and I walked and I walked but nothing happened.   I just couldn't get it going and was fully prepared to quite DNFing  the race.   I started moving again in the last few Ks of the loop Running a couple of Ks down the "Lolly Pop".    Finished loop 3 in 3hrs56 min walking 90% of it.   I decided to sit down at the Start / Finish ,  put my feet up and crack a Beer before dropping from the race.     Well the Beer and the break made me fell much better.  Gone was the tight chest so I figured that all the stuff I had been consuming for the past 7 hours was finally starting to be processed.   The Sun was lower in the Sky ,  there was a little more Breeze and the Temps were beginning to ease.  Suddenly I found myself Running again ,  albeit rather slow but I was Running.  Teh trails were much more relaxed with mostly the 50 and 100 milers on the course.   There were lots of folks walking dogs,  hiking ,  riding Horses so I made a point of greeting everyone...had a blast.  I was really feeling good and was getting so much enjoyment out of the last 20K.  I  thanked my lucky stars for being back out there.  I came so close to missing it all wanting to quite.  Finished up the last loop in 3hrs35min but that included my 20 minute Beer Break after loop 3.    The last loop was at a perfect pace if I was doing the 100 Miler....once again I finished Sulphur feeling like I missed half the race!

My final time was 12hrs19min finishing 66th out of the 82 folks that completed the 50 Mile Journey.   I am really happy I hung in there and turned things around.   Yet another valuable experience that I can draw on in the future.