I DNF'ed...but Anton said it was okay.

[blndsnbrdr]

I attempted to run the Dirty Thirty 50K this past weekend. It's 32 miles with 8,000 feet of gain and very technical trails.

It did not go well.

In short, an old kinda-sorta-injury from my first marathon popped up the week before and I wasn't smart enough to DNS so I made it 17 miles into the race before dropping out.

It was the right choice [my foot is still cranky] but it still sucked.

Most importantly I came away from the race a smarter person with some serious motivation to get my butt in gear with running and cross training!

Oh, and after I DNF'ed I somehow got the courage to walk up to Anton Krupicka [who won the race, of course] and ask about his outlook on DNF'ing was. He basically said if it's injury prevention it's the right choice but if you're quitting because you hit a low spot or are tired then you need to keep going because that is kind of what ultra running is about. We also talked about the most efficient way to get up steep climbs -- yes, he power hikes, it's more efficient. By then we'd arrived at the beer tent, refilled our pint glasses and went our way.



full recap, if you're interested: runaroundaroo.com/2014/06/03/dirty-30-50k-my-first-dnf/

[trigal]

Sorry about the DNF. Those are always tough. But I agree that it was probably the right thing to do!

[mrs.jacinthe]

That sucks. I'm sorry.

If it makes you feel any better, at the most recent AR50, I was volunteering at the mile 38-ish aid station and the very youngish guy who ran into the station in THIRD OVERALL dropped due to an injury. While we were waiting for the sag wagon to get around to him, I was chatting with him and he said "You know what, it happens to everyone. I'd rather drop now and recover quickly so that I can continue to do what I do than tough it out with an injury and wind up unable to run any more."

With that in mind, it seems like you DEFINITELY made the right decision. Good for you.

[hannahb]

Probably the best decision but it still stings.

[cinco]

Sorry about the DNF, but you did the right thing!

[chw57]

Ahhhh that sucks , and it sounds like it was definitely the right decision.
Anton is so awesome

[reginaphalange72]

That's a bummer. Good decision though. Better to DNF now than really mess your foot up.

[sadlebred]

That sucks, but if it prevents a long term injury it will be worth it.

[blndsnbrdr]

Thanks for all the support -- my foot/leg is still being a whiney biotch so it was definitely the right thing to do.

...now to just figure out how to properly fix the problem! I will not get legitimately injured. I will not!

[clseale]

I'm sorry, but you definitely did the right thing. I hope you figure it out, and that your back to 100% ASAP!