** Dear Emil, if you're reading this during Spring or Winter while deciding on which races to run, please remember to stop signing up for races in August especially this race since it's always freaking hot! **
I gathered my stuff and made the drive out to Malibu Creek State Park for the Bulldog race. I brought along my hydration vest as well as enough nutrition for a 50k. However I knew that my gimpy left ankle most likely wasn't going to allow me to cover that kind of distance especially with the hot weather! I was mentally prepared to drop after the first loop this year. There was no way that I would have a repeat of the disaster 4 years ago. I made it to the corner of Mulholland Hwy and Las Virgenes Rd at about 4:30 am. I parked my car here to wait until 5 am, the time the 50k participants were instructed to enter the park. Parking was $12 cash. It was dark and I didn't bring my headlamp, but I was able to see well enough to walk over to the packet pick-up.
Race shirt and bib
At about 6 am, I got ready and went over to the starting area to use one of the portapotties. I met my buddy there before gathering with the rest of the participants at the starting line for some last minute pre-race announcements. Most of it was to warn us about the heat that we'll be encountering.
Last minute pre-race announcements
The race started promptly at 6:30 am. My friend and I took it nice and easy from the get-go since he wasn't in shape and my left ankle was gimpy. We were having fun for the majority of that first loop. Unfortunately for me, the soreness in my left ankle just kept increasing as the run went on. The climbs were actually much easier for me this year. It was the downhills that was hurting my ankle. Eventually the tightness in my ankle caused my toes to cramp up. After crossing the stream, we approached the Tapia aid station. The Coyotes running group once again did a fantastic job manning this aid station. It was good to see a few familiar faces. From this point, I knew that there was zero chance of me going out for another loop, so I sent my friend on ahead of me. During the final section of the loop, I bumped into Min. I haven't seen him at a race in a long time. It was actually quite toasty by the time I limped through the finish line taking my DNF.
M*A*S*H set
Nice view from up here!
Approaching Tapia aid station
Dropping out :(
DNF: 3:30:13
Click here for my Garmin data.
After getting a 25k finisher medal, I sat down for a little bit with some ice to cool down. Thank goodness they had a lot of fold up chairs at the finish line. I then got up and went over to the post race food table and grabbed a slice of watermelon. They had other food, but nothing looked appealing to me except for the watermelon.
25k medal
Post race food
I thought about whether or not I had made the right decision. I supposed I could have gone back out for loop 2 and just hike the whole thing, but I just didn't want to endure the heat or risk further injury especially with the Disneyland half marathon next weekend where I have a legacy status to maintain. Also I really wanted to avoid what had happened last time with the severe leg cramps. So at the end of the day, I was content with my decision to drop.
I then walked back to my car to drop off some of my stuff before going back to the finish area to talk to a few friends and to watch some of the faster athletes finish the 25k and 50k. At first I thought about sticking around for my friends running the 50k, but I changed my mind after realizing that it could take up to 5 hrs for them to show up. Since we're all Maniacs and run a lot of races, I'm sure I'll get to catch up with them at an upcoming race in the near future.
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