I had the training and was loaded up with food but my attempt at 77 miles came up a bit short. I seem to have a barrier at 50. The good part about Headlands 50/100 is that it was in my back yard. The bad part is that back yard is really hilly.
More than 8,000 ft. of and 8,000 ft. of down and not all vertical is created equal. I long meandering fire road can make for a very speedy descent. This event had lots of rocky and very steep descents that are tough on the joints!
Things started out promising as I found myself ahead of schedule as I crossed mile 22 but the next 13 miles were sun exposed on a treacherously narrow single track on the shoulder of Mt. Tam. At mile 35 I was dejected but found Daisy (and Julie!) there to offer some support. Revitalized, I had a scorching next 5 miles (still smiling at mile 40 below!) but then the wheels came off.
The next 10 miles were beautiful (out of Muir Beach and then out of Tennessee Valley) but very painful — sharp up and sharp down and as the day faded my left knee got progressively more sore. I limped in (literally) taking 4 hours over the last 10 miles. Mahir came with me on the last 5. He was planning to join in on the final 25 but as the sun disappeared it was evident that my finish line was arriving early.
Fortunately, Julie had a Giorgio’s pizza waiting at the 50 finish line.
I gave it everything I had.
Thank you for all the words of encouragement. When a friendly Indian woman in her fifties went cheerfully gliding by me at mile 48, I had to smile at how very mainstream feats of extraordinary determination seem to have become! And when I saw the 30+ hour finish times of some of the folks who carried on to finish the 100 miles, I bow humbly to them.
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