Everything was going really well through 25 miles, which I finished in 4hrs 5mins on zero gels/simple sugars (even with a 15 minute wrong turn on the trail). I was feeling really good (I think I finally have my nutrition plan dialed in), and was easily on pace for the sub-9hrs i was shooting for. Then I leave the check point, tell Vanessa I will see her at mile 35, go about a half mile, and 'boom' my hamstring feels like it is on fire. A slight tweak, which probably was at least partly contributed to by a major slide i took down a 10 foot slab of rock a few miles earlier, totally out of control, is all it took to hand me my first DNF. As bad as it sucks, it was probably better to pull out. After all is said and done, I wish I could have finished because I feel really good right now, other than the leg.
Lessons learned: nutrition worked perfect, finally; my hill running has improved, as i felt really strong on some decent inclines when many people were walking; NEVER using pure grit ones again if there is any possibility of wet conditions-probably just going to change shoes any way; I think I am also done with compression shorts for a while to see how that works out...I really think they are unecessary during racing and actually too restrictive on my legs, course was really nice and I think I might try it again next year.
In short, my participation in the Stone Mill 50 was disappointing, and has been mentally burdensome, but I learned some important things, as is always the case in this very early stage in my ultra life, and now I can move on with my first DNF out of the way and behind me. Time to turn to the next challenge.
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