A Little Too Fast-DNF

 Sulphur Springs 100 this year I was ready to go. I was in good shape going in with no real issues and in the back of my mind was sure if everything came together on race day there was a good possibility of beating my course record from last year.

 

 

Unfortunately that was not the way things unfolded on race day.  Out of bed the temperature was noticeably warmer than last year I had done almost no warm weather running yet this year but chose to ignore this warning sign anyway,mistake #1. At the start line I had plans to match last years first loop time of 1.38 instead I went off like a 25k runner and turned in a first loop time of 1.32, mistake #2 and I'm sure the undoing of the rest of the day. Had I played it smart at this point and backed way off I might have recovered from this but the all or nothing plan was in place and I was sticking to it. I could go on with the gory details of how things fell apart from here but the long and short is I suffered severe leg cramping and decided after walk/running my fifth loop it was time to realize that further pushing was going to ruin my plans for the other races this summer. I made the hardest decision to make in a race and after sitting in the aid station for 30 minutes considering I pulled from the race. The support of my fellow runners was amazing, it was difficult to do this after such an amazing race last year but with every ones support I was positive I was making the right decision. We had an amazing afternoon, re-hydrating and watching other racers charge to their goals, some completed some didn't but the spirit shown during races like these is an amazing thing to witness.

 

I guess to sum it all up I'm glad I took the chance, mistakes happen but without failure you never know what the possibilities really are. I will continue to race as fast as I possibly can and try to learn from the errors along the way. Thank-you to all my friends and sponsors for your support.