My Favorite DNF - Part II

Listening to the chatter of the other runners, I could tell we were with experienced people.  The two directly ahead of me are running Hardrock.  In a race that requires a qualifier and only had 10 finishers last year, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised that there'd be experienced ultra runners.  I have learned not to be too intimidated by all that.

With only 35 runners, it didn't take long before it was just S&S, like it is on most all of our training runs.  Interestingly, we didn't talk very much at the outset.  I don't know if it was the climb, paying attention to the trail (headlamps and only actual trail markings made concentration critical), the earliness, or what.

We saw our crew at the "aid station".  Since it was only 3.5 miles in, they only had some jugs of water there.  We were promised more on the way back.  Still our guys did a good job of cheering and we got a see-you-in-5.5-miles.

A few times I found myself talking to Mindy with no reply.  I'd look back and realize I was going too fast.  She was sticking to the plan of taking it easy in the early miles.  So I'd adjust.  No longer in the dark, we started appreciating the beauty of the trail.  It was just south enough to be so much greener than home.  While I'd wished for the rain to keep it cool, I was a little sad that we couldn't have the new, bright greens against a brilliant blue sky.  Not much later, I really would have traded the rain for heat...The rocks, everywhere, were the definition of slippery.  Ugh.  A couple hours in, I told the Squirrel it was probably time to pick up the pace a bit; going was slow in so many places due to conditions, we had to run quickly where we could.  On an up, we took time to eat.  I had a Honey Stinger Waffle.

The 2nd aid station, at mile 9, was well staffed and well supplied.  Our guys flagged us in and quickly saw to our needs.  I chose a PBJ roll up, some chocolate covered pretzels, and a coke.  We didn't dilly dally.  Probably one of the faster times we'd ever gone through an aid station.  The guys told us the next stretch was supposed to be more runnable.  It was.  It felt good to be really running.  We still had to pay attention to the trail.  Running trail races, you get used to all the markings being down low.  Trails for hikers don't follow the same rules.  At more than a few intersections, we would have to try the different spurs to see where the yellow triangle went.

The Squirrel and I would remember to remind each other to hydrate.  We were trying to eat early and often as well.  The next aid station had Cooper, a sweet poodle, to visit in addition to my favorite food of the day; turkey, cheese, and mustard roll-ups.  I think I ate three.  I also had two cups of coke and Rick refilled my Nathan pack.  The Squirrel was more into the potatoes with salt, but may have tried a roll-up, too.  I said to one of the volunteers that I wanted a bit more rain to keep the temps down (it had stopped raining somewhere a bit ago).  She said we wouldn't want any rain till we got back through this aid station again; the next rocky section was not something you wanted to have slippery.

Almost immediately we understood.  Holy.  Shit.

It looks way less dangerous than it seemed.  Yup.  I would give up the cool rain in a heartbeat for dry rock.  Was the next 5.5 till the turn around gonna be all this?  Going was less than slow.  And as hard as it was, I was already afraid of the return down.  It wasn't a mile into this stretch when we met the front runner heading back.  Un-fucking-believable.  How could anyone move that fast on slippery rock?!  Then we started seeing lots of fast people.  It took a while to realize that some of them were the 21 mile racers starting out on their race.  Hey Jordon!

Here and there we crossed paths with one of the Hardrockers.  We seemed to meet up on all the spots where it was hard to tell the path of the trail...and she'd run it before!  She was almost as cautious as us on the downs.  She said she'd waited long enough to get into Hardrock.  There was no way she was going to get hurt before.  When I needed a nature call break, she pulled away for the last time.

At the next aid station, the turn around, there were more experienced runners manning it.  There was also Jack, a very cute wire-haired fox terrier.  There I discovered maple-flavored, maple leaf- shaped, very yummy cookies.  I know I had two.  They also had turkey and cheese rollups, but they didn't look as appetizing as the other stations.  Rick refilled my bladder.  Did I have more coke?  Again I was pretty happy with our relative speed through the aid station. 

I'll stop here for the night.  I don't think it will take all that much longer to write about it, but the next stretch took forever to cover.  I need a break just thinking about it.