Twisted Ankle Trail Marathon

I can't think of any other trail race with a warning sign like this one!

There were a couple monster climbs in this race.

Kinda ironic that with 50+ marathons/ultras I trash my ankle at this one.

Was really looking forward to this race after reading all the hype and race reports of previous years. I was apprehensive about the big climbs, especially Becky's Bluff, since I am such a crappy hill climber but the rest of the course looked very runnable. The 9AM start had me a bit concerned also with the very real chance of a hot day but weather was not a factor at all. Very cloudy with a bit of misty rain in the beginning and then pretty comfortable temps the rest of the day.

Didn't know too many people at this race but met a couple new Maniac friends and also chatted a bit with Jason Rogers. This race also had a half marathon so there was quite a large group of runners at the start. I took my customary spot near the rear and settled into a comfortable pace for the first few miles. First we ran around the lake, then through the campground, over a dam, and then finally hit the trails. The first climb began very gradually and we were treated to a very pretty sight called the Marble Mine. Then the trail began to ascend more steeply and the real work began.

I kept wondering if each incline was the infamous Becky's Bluff but no, each turn revealed still more climbing ahead. I was slowing down and really feeling the grade. I could feel my heart pounding in my head which kinda scared me especially since we still hadn't reached the hardest part. Still upward I trudged. Several people passed me as I stopped to catch my breath. Finally reached the sign that warned of steep grade ahead and knew the worst was yet to come. I was feeling a bit desparate wondering how it could get worse and how was I going to make it up. But I kept going. I think I was whinning a bit as I climbed. Muttering curses under my breath about the sadistic RD. Gasping for breath and hugging any tree that was close to the trail. More people passed me. FINALLY the summit! I was so relieved but wondered if I had expended so much energy going up that hill that it would affect my later miles.

Half marathoners turned left and the full runners turned right. Our numbers had thinned out considerably. Very soon after that was the first aid station. I grabbed a couple munchies, some gatorade and hurried back out. I think I am getting pretty efficent at getting through aid stations. Do not ever want to finish a race again and realize I have spent 30 minutes hanging around the aid stations.

The next section was a wide gravel road. Rolling hills. Then onto another single track that began to go downhill. I was amazed at the runners coming back at us along here. They were running back up the hill. I knew I wouldn't be :-) At the bottom of the long downhill was the 2nd aid station. A quick fill up here and then back up the hill. I could see that there weren't all that many people behind me. Less than 20. My motivation at that point was to try and stay ahead of as many of them as I could.

Back up the hill, back along the road and back into the first aid station. I think this was about mile 12? Not real sure. My garmin kept dropping off. Then we headed in the opposite direction along the ridge to the turn around at mile 18. This was my favorite section of the race. Very pretty single track. Rolling hills, very runnable. One aid station out in the middle of the woods along here. I don't know how they got the stuff out there but I was happy to see it. Also saw all the runners coming back along here and enjoyed giving and receiving encouragement.

One more road section to traverse. First was a nice long downhill followed by a lengthy uphill so I did alot of walking. At the turn around point we were treated to watermelon. I grabbed a slice and headed back out very quickly. 8 miles to go. With my garmin problems I really had no idea what kind of pace I was running, what time it was, or how long I'd been running. I really had no goals other than to run comfortably and finish strong. I knew that once I got back to the last aid station on the ridge that there were about 3 miles to go and it was mostly downhill. I wanted to reach that point with energy left.

One person passed me on the way back along the ridge. It was Jason's friend Samantha. She was running very strongly. I knew I could not hang with her and was hoping Jason would catch up to me so I'd have someone to talk to. But I didn't see him although later he did say that he would catch glimpses of me through the woods. I passed one guy who was walking and did not look happy. Got to the last aid station before the big downhill, grabbed a couple gummies, a cup of gatoraid and hit it. It felt so good to just let gravity take over. My legs felt great and I had plenty of energy left. I think I passed about 6-7 guys in that stretch. Naturally all good things come to an end and what a bad ending it was.

I was coming down the last rocky stretch before reaching the trail that went back around the lake. I had been such an eagle eye about where I was putting my feet down and had had no falls all day. One lapse of attention was all it took. And one loose rock. I rolled my right ankle horribly. I think I screamed. I'm not sure. I do know I saw stars. The pain just rolled up my leg. Complete stop. Panic. I didn't know what to do. I was afraid to look at my ankle. I thought for sure a bone would be sticking out.

Well, I looked. No bones. Throbbing pain though. People were passing me back up that I had just flown by on the downhill. I took a step to see if the ankle would hold. It did. I took a couple more. I was not going to stop this close to the finish. I would hop the rest of the way if I had to. Eventually I was able to manage a kind of quasimodo type of gait. Level and uphill sections weren't too bad but the downhills were horrible. I was crying at a couple points and I honestly don't know how I got through those last miles. Selective amnesia.

Eventually the finish line came into sight. We had to run across a bridge that went all the way across the lake. I did my best to run normally to the finish. Jason finished right after me and I congratulated him on a good race. I then limped up to the pavillion to turn in my finish card. Found out I took 2nd in my AG and was given a very pretty ceramic medal as an award. There was a huge container of ice water with drinks. I so wanted to stick my ankle in there but had to be content with just rolling an ice cold Coke can against it.

3 days later and the ankle seems to healing pretty fast. I iced all day Sunday and used crutches at work Monday. Today I just wrapped it in an ace bandage for support and was able to walk slowly with a little bit of a limp. It is still quite swollen/black/blue beneath the ankle bone but my range of motion is already better. I have rolled this ankle many times but none this badly. I have ordered an ASO ankle brace and think that this will be a part of my running attire from now on. Not sure about Long Cane 50K on the 29th. May just be volunteering to allow for more healing before Black Mountain Monster on June 3/4.