Elk/Beaver 50k

So the elk/beaver 50k went well (i finished at least) but i now truly understand how ultra running can be so addicting. Never once did i feel like i was "racing" even though the pace was being pushed the whole way, and the atmosphere of the athletes is incredible. Most are their to see old friends and meet new ones, and the support i got from all the vets was awesome. Here the race report..
Lap 1: 0 to 10km - felt pretty good, settling into a good pace was a bit difficult, i felt like we (there was two other guys i was running with) were pushing the pace. time for lap one was about 41 minutes
Lap 2: 10 to 20km - felt even better, started eating my shot bloks and maintained pace. time through 20km was 1:22
Lap 3: 20 to 30km - felt good until about 25km went my stomach said hello and my gut began to turn but i managed to get through 30k in 2:05
Lap 4: 30km to 40km - i have never hit the runners low before, but i believe on this day, i was at my lowest point i've ever felt. physically i felt fine (i think) but emotionally i was destroyed, a guy a met the day before who i had passed earlier in the lap who was in the 50 miler (Glen Pace was his name) caught back up with me and got me running again, and got my miserable ass to the 40km aid station in 2:55 for 40km.
40km aid station: i felt terrible and i wanted to die. I've never felt so crappy mentally that i wanted to just say "screw this, i'm going home" but part of me wanted to keep going. So i drank some gatorade and coke (which i had neglected earlier) and my troubles of being stuck in a valley suddenly came to end. I was also informed on my way out of the aid station i was still leading the 50km (the two guys i was running with for the first lap were in the 100k!!!) so i quickly left the aid station to find the second place runner Rob Mackey had entered just after i left.
Lap 5: 40 to 50km - so as i began my final assault on the last lap of the elk/beaver 50k, my stomach had settled, the tunes on my ipod were blasted, but being that i was too concerned about racing and not about what my nutrition plan was, the neglect of gatorade, S! caps and coke was coming back to haunt me. My legs were cramping pretty bad, but i managed to tough it out long enough to catch up with Glen again, and ask him one of the most popular questions asked among ultra runners "Hey, you got any salt caps?" he gave me two and off i went, trying to maintain my lead. the cramping subdued and but now a problem occurred. I was out of fuel, i hadn't taken any fuel on the 4 lap because i couldn't stomach anything and my waist pack with my Carbopro felt like it weighed 40 pounds. So as i was pounding away, Rob finally caught me at 47km mark, leaving me in the mud (literally). He cheered me on, and took off, after being passed i took in a gel and the cramping came back and i had to walk/run the last km but managed to finish 3 hours 50 minutes on the dot.

So the Lessons i learned:
1 - eat
2 - dont just drink water
3 - eat
4 - take salt caps at least once an hour, and drink an electrolyte drink
5 - eat
6 - dont have too much fiber the morning of the race
7 - coca cola can be your best friend
8 - whens the next race?

I went for a run today (Sunday, yes i know its the day after) but i needed to flush out my legs, and it was greatly appreciated. For now, i'm gonna take a few days off and relax. Thanks to everyone and Carlos for putting on a great race!