While planning for this race, I had thought about staying at the Cahuilla Casino Hotel. It was located really close to the venue for this race, but the daily room rate was a bit pricey, so I ended up booking a one-nighter at a hotel in nearby Temecula. I wasn't feeling really confident going into this race as I wasn't really in shape to be running a 50 mile race. However, most of my lingering injuries or running issues have finally been resolved with the time off from running so many races. Prior to the race, I waffled between downgrading to the 50k or sticking to the 50 miles. In the end, I just decided to go with the 50 miles and play it by ear.
As soon as I was done with work on Friday, I threw my bags into the car and started heading out to Temecula. Before hopping on the 60 freeway, I filled up the gas tank at the usual Chevron gas station. At first, the traffic wasn't too bad until I got onto the 71 freeway. It got worse when I got on the 91 as it was clogged with stop-n-go rush hour traffic. I thought it would ease up on the 15, but it was still bad. The traffic finally cleared up during the last stretch before I had arrived at my exit in Temecula.
Since it was already kind of late, I headed over to the nearby Chick-fil-A to pick-up dinner before heading over to my hotel. The drive-thru line was incredibly long when I got there, so I parked in one of the curbside delivery spots. I placed my order on the mobile app and waited in my car for an employee to bring out my food. I ordered my usual Cobb salad with grilled nuggets and medium sized waffle fries.
Chick-fil-A "curbside" delivery
After getting my food, I drove over to the nearby La Quinta hotel to get checked-in. I was given a small packet of hand sanitizer during check-in. I was assigned room #218. It was quite spacious and definitely more than adequate for a one-nighter.
Hand sanitizer
After getting settled it, it was time to polish off my dinner. Sorry McDonalds, but the Cobb salad from Chick-fil-A is starting to become my pre-race meal before a race. I guess it's never too late to start eating a bit healthier. After dinner, I laid out my flat runner, took a shower, and got ready for bed.
Cobb salad with grilled nuggets and waffle fries
Cobb salad
Flat runner
Saturday 3/6
I got ready, packed everything up, and left the hotel at about 5 am. It turned out to be a nice beautiful drive out to the race venue as dawn was just breaking when I reached the gate off of Cahuilla Rd at about 5:40 am. From the gate, it was a short drive along a dirt road to the Cahuilla Ballfield where I was directed to make a right turn. Then I parked my car along the right side of the road right behind the long line of cars that were there before me. Parking was $10. I walked up the road to check out the starting line area as well as to use one of the portapotties.
Aid station
The 100 mile/24 hour race started at 6 am. I got there just in time to see the group take off. Next up was the 100k race at 6:15 am. I bumped into my buddy, Mitch. We were both wearing our INK-n-BURN's Out-n-Back shirt. He took a quick selfie of us before we went back to our cars to get ready for our race. He was running in the 100k race.
Twins with Mitch
The participants in the 50 mile race were split into 2 groups by alphabetical order. I was in the first group which was designated to start at 6:30 am. The second group started at 6:45 am. Per the instructions, I checked-in at the start line with the person in charge of timing by giving her my assigned number, 32. We were given a sticker to stick on our shorts. Their plan was to mark the number of completed loops on that sticker. There was also a person there taking our temperature with a contactless forehead thermometer. Once everything was in order and last minute instructions were given, we were sent off at 6:30 am. For the 50 mile race, we were supposed to be running 10 loops where each loop was 5 miles.
I took that first loop at a nice comfortable leisurely pace. The first thing that I noticed about the loop once it got off of the groomed dirt road was that it was very winding. So many turns! I was definitely feeling it in my ankles. I went through that first loop in about 54 minutes. We needed to call out our number each time we went through the start/finish line. Unfortunately, everyone realized that the loop was about 6/10th of a mile short of 5 miles.
First loop done
Loop 2
I noticed that I was feeling somewhat hungry. I'll have to make a mental note to eat more than a salad the night before! I walked parts of the second loop with a guy named Steve. I went through the 2nd loop in about 59 mins. They eventually started recording our loops on a chalkboard.
Loop 3
Seeing Robert during Loop 3
Robert
Deo
I went through the 3rd loop in about 1:04, so I was averaging about 5 mins slower per loop. They made sure to let us know that we would be needing to run an extra loop to account for the shortage for each loop.
Loop 4
Seeing Meili during loop 4
Loop 5
I walked almost the entire first half of loop 6 with an active military guy who told me that he was planning to drop out. We talked about how somehow we were able to get into the Tokyo Marathon more than once even though the odds in the drawing weren't very good. I was caught by Robert before reaching the dirt road. We ran a bit together, but eventually he went on ahead. I went through the 6th loop in about 1:25. That would be my slowest loop and the thought of dropping out weighed heavy on my mind. I passed my friend, Stacy, as she was getting stuff from her car.
During the start of my 7th loop, I walked while eating some salty snacks. My legs were starting to cramp up whenever I tried to run or jog. My friend, Stacy, caught up to me. I ended up walking the loop with her. We were trading life stories to take our minds off of the growing discomfort that comes with the increasing mileage. I dropped out after that loop for a DNF at 50k. I went through the 7th loop in about 1:23.
Meili still going strong!
Ready to drop out
Finish: 8:14:56
Race credited for 50k finish: 8:14:51
Click here for my Garmin data.
After finishing that 7th loop, I wished my friend good luck as even though her knees were bothering her, she was intent on finishing out the race no matter how long it took. She's definitely more mentally tough than me! She is definitely not a quitter!
I can still remember when I had a hard time just completing a 50k. However, it would seem that when I moved the goal to 50 miles, the 50k distance wasn't all that bad. I definitely could've kept on going and grind out the 50 miles, but that would've definitely increased the possibility of me picking up an injury and ruining all of the progress that I've made with trying to get myself back to 100%. So in the end, I was content with my DNF at 50k.
After they've noted my status of dropping out or dropping down in distance, they gave me a finisher medal and a long sleeve race shirt. I caught up with Robert. He came with Deo, so he had to wait for Deo to finish. We shot the breeze a bit before I headed out for the drive home.
Before I reached the gate to get onto Cahuilla Rd, I bumped into the race director. She apologized for the loop being short. I told her that it wasn't a big deal and thanked her for putting on this race. It was nice to be able to finally run a race in California after such a long break! The drive back home started off pretty decent, but then there was actually a lot of unexpected stop-n-go traffic along the 79. Unrelated to the traffic, at the Northwest corner of Anza Rd, someone had set up a pro-Trump display with huge waving flags. The election is over, bro!
When I got home and took off my shoes, I noticed that blood had soaked through the socks and into the insole of my right shoe. I guess I had a blood blister on the outside of my right foot near the heel that popped! I didn't really notice during the run because that part of my foot has really thick tough skin. I'm glad that it wasn't causing me any additional pain or discomfort during the run. In addition to the bloody heel, my arms were quite sunburned. My skin had gotten really pale with the lack of year-round racing and there was absolutely no shade out there on the course. After I got cleaned up, I ordered some Chipotle for my recovery dinner.
After finishing that 7th loop, I wished my friend good luck as even though her knees were bothering her, she was intent on finishing out the race no matter how long it took. She's definitely more mentally tough than me! She is definitely not a quitter!
I can still remember when I had a hard time just completing a 50k. However, it would seem that when I moved the goal to 50 miles, the 50k distance wasn't all that bad. I definitely could've kept on going and grind out the 50 miles, but that would've definitely increased the possibility of me picking up an injury and ruining all of the progress that I've made with trying to get myself back to 100%. So in the end, I was content with my DNF at 50k.
After they've noted my status of dropping out or dropping down in distance, they gave me a finisher medal and a long sleeve race shirt. I caught up with Robert. He came with Deo, so he had to wait for Deo to finish. We shot the breeze a bit before I headed out for the drive home.
Finisher medal
Long sleeve race shirt
Time to go home!
Before I reached the gate to get onto Cahuilla Rd, I bumped into the race director. She apologized for the loop being short. I told her that it wasn't a big deal and thanked her for putting on this race. It was nice to be able to finally run a race in California after such a long break! The drive back home started off pretty decent, but then there was actually a lot of unexpected stop-n-go traffic along the 79. Unrelated to the traffic, at the Northwest corner of Anza Rd, someone had set up a pro-Trump display with huge waving flags. The election is over, bro!
When I got home and took off my shoes, I noticed that blood had soaked through the socks and into the insole of my right shoe. I guess I had a blood blister on the outside of my right foot near the heel that popped! I didn't really notice during the run because that part of my foot has really thick tough skin. I'm glad that it wasn't causing me any additional pain or discomfort during the run. In addition to the bloody heel, my arms were quite sunburned. My skin had gotten really pale with the lack of year-round racing and there was absolutely no shade out there on the course. After I got cleaned up, I ordered some Chipotle for my recovery dinner.
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