Were do I start? Weeks preceding MS50 I decided not do this particular race as I was in the middle of rehabbing my right achilles, along with being midway into my base-building block of training; building a strong base of fitness not derived from fast speedwork, but long slow distances (LSD). The Saturday preceding MS50 J and I knocked out ~32mi out at Bowie State Park which really gave me allot of confidence for it to be February. Feeling great I thought I would go ahead and jump in on a whim. That Monday I started teetering on the edge of a sinus infection that would manifest itself with a trip to my Dr. two days before the race. I still thought I could go down to Mississippi and "fake" it for the 50k as I decided to drop from the 50m down to the 50k. Long story short, I DNF'd at mile 25. There were several factors that lead to my dropping: lack of energy/strength, troubles breathing, ankle deep mud, knee high stream crossings, nutritional issues, and a bad mental attitude. I guess one could speculate that nothing went my may on this very day. Due to weather, the conditions of the course were very challenging requiring one to be on top of their game both physically and mentally, of which I was not for the former or latter. Again, in sunny dry conditions there is no doubt that this would be a smoking fast 50! Somewhere around 5 to 8 miles in it was apparent to me that I lacked the energy and mental stamina to give a truly competitive effort. Sometimes you weight your options and make what you hope is a wise decision. I like to think I made the right choice when I walked into the 25mi aid station with lumbar pack in hand and said: "I'm done." The RD and race volunteers were great as I could tell they didn’t enjoy being out there under such conditions but kept rolling with the smiles. And everyone knows that the ultra community are nothing but tough ass people!
Now what was that old Kenny Rodgers song talking about knowing when to hold’em…
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