The second reason I picked this mantra was that I have turned my ankle so many times over the past two years that I don’t have the confidence on technical sections and downhills (so nearly the entire BFC course!) that I used to have. I also know that one misstep could end my race, disintegrating all the physical and mental preparation I have poured into this race. I even bought high-top hiking shoes to run in and considered racing BFC in them!
My ankle was on my mind the entire day, especially in the final miles. One of the final trails had very recently been grated and I feared that my foot would land and sink into a pocket causing my bad ankle to roll on the final downhill. Luckily I remained unscathed. (The huge ruts previously required utilizing my mountain bike skills finding a best line as I Clydesdaled down the hill.)
Descending Rat Jaw, we usually couldn’t see our feet and luckily there were only a couple of spots that we stumbled over a rock. On the way back, twice the number of rocks were visible plus a log we missed altogether. More frequently, our feet were so entangled in briars that as we stepped forward we’d stumble.
Turn around at the “Turn”
Finally, I experienced an absolute godsend at the low point of my race at the literal turn around point on the course, but let me first provide the context.
Cracking like an egg
Going down Rat Jaw was scarily taxing. Although long pants saved my legs hundreds of cuts, I was overheating. Stomping down the briars was so much more physically demanding than burrowing up like last year. When the briars were especially thick, we occasionally crawled downhill but that was extremely taxing having to hold much more body weight in that body position. Not a single burrow remained on the way back up. I lost several minutes peeling off my shoes and pants as soon as I got to the prison. As I escaped the prison (after entering through the tunnel and over the prison wall), I expected to be in full sun for the next several hours, a stark contrast from last year with complete cloud cover and a mini monsoon during this section. I wouldn’t allow to be cracked like an egg on the hot pavement so I focused on executing the task at hand.
I did a self check and realized I was getting in trouble. This was one of the hottest ultras I have done and the radiation from the sun was melting me. I could no longer eat, I couldn’t manage to drink enough to quench my thirst or to meet my caloric needs. Eating also forced me to slow my pace since I needed my hands to climb and clear briars from snagging my flesh to minimize additional resistance of my labored momentum. Ignoring my situation would lead down a slippery slope that would not self-correct, but I didn’t have a plan other than trying to drink my bladder until it was gone (which disappeared in half the time I had planned).
