Library Lady Runs the South

Table Rock Ultra

2011-12-13T20:46:00.001-05:00

I've thought about changing the name of my blog.
"Craptastic Runner" and "Surely There is Someone Slower than I on the Planet" spring to mind :-) I ran a bunch of stuff after Hinson Lake. No real goals, just running races that looked interesting or close to home. In a nutshell:
10/2...Dupont 50K...great course in my own backyard. RD needs to take aid station refresher course cause I about died of starvation out there though.
10/15...Cumberland 50K...harder than hell but loved every minute of it. A definite repeat race for next year. I was DFL for almost the entire race but ended up passing 2 runners in the last few miles. LOL.
10/29...Spinxfest Marathon....hour drive. Could hardly pass that up. Most of the race was on the Swamp Rabbit Trail which was nice.
11/12...Chickamauga Marathon....nice run through the battlefield.

And the icing on the cake was my very first DNF at the Duncan Ridge Trail 50K on 11/19. I totally ignored the race profile (9000 ft. gain and 9000 ft. loss) and the fact that it was very technical single track covered with all kinds of leaves. I failed spectacularly! I wasn't even close to the halfway point cut-off. Very humbling to have to ride back to the finish line area and slink back to my car.

I was so demoralized that I pulled out of Pine Mountain 40 miler on 12/4. I had so been looking forward to that race but was very apprehensive with it being very hilly with technical single track covered with rocks and leaves. I could not take another DNF.

I considered just taking the rest of the year off but had signed up for the Table Rock Ultra on 12/10. I had 3 weeks to nurse my hurt pride and get some training in. I was encouraged by the fact that this race was on paved roads and gravel roads. No single track. The elevation profile was a bit daunting with about 4 miles of rolling paved roads, then 11 miles of climbing on the gravel road to Wiseman's View. But, that meant 11 miles of mostly downhill running on the way back! Plus, it was only about a 1.5 hour drive from my house. I just cannot pass up close races like that :-) Race start and finish was at Lake James State Park. 50K runners ran up to Wiseman's View and back. 50 milers ran up to Table Rock and back. They had a cut off but we 50K runners really had nothing to worry about since the finish line was going to be open for 12 hours.

Very chilly at the start but temps predicted to get into the upper 40's. I was layered up and never really needed to take any layers off. It was windy and cold once you reached the ridgeline and I was very happy with my choice of gear. Aid stations about every 5 miles so I carried a handheld and wore my Nathan Race vest to carry incidentals.

Met up with a few Maniacs prerace but once we were underway, they were long gone. Pretty much everyone was long gone by the time we were a few miles into the race but like the tortoise I am, I just kept keeping on.

I had looked at the course map a couple times and knew there was a short out and back as we exited the park but instead the volunteer turned us right out of the park. Hmmmm. That had me a bit concerned. I was a bit more concerned when we ran past some markings on the road with arrows coming from a different direction. That was the road we were supposed to come out of after we ran the out and back. I didn't think I had heard anything about a route change. But, I pushed it out of my mind since we seemed to be back on course OK.

Some lady was running ahead of me with a dog and I swear that practically every house we passed had dogs running out and hassling her and then hanging out on the road waiting for more runners to bark and lunge at. I was very happy to finally reach the gravel road and leave civilization behind.

The 11 mile climb wasn't too bad. I did alot of walking. There were a few downhill sections and it felt great to just stretch out my legs and run. Somewhere in this section I actually started passing a few people. I am the world's worst uphill runner so I was quite surprised. There were some very spectacular views along this section. The higher we climbed the better it got. Great views of Table Rock across the gorge.

Got to see everyone coming back from the turnaround. I was very jealous cause they were all just flying down and here I was all disgruntled and trudging as fast as I could up the road. But eventually I too made it to Wiseman's View and enjoyed some hot noodle soup and other aid station goodies as I looked across the gorge to where the 50 mile runners were heading. I did not envy them one bit. It took me 4 hours to reach the halfway point and I was very happy with that.

The trip back down was quite uneventful. I was loving the long stretches of just letting gravity do it's work. I was passing a few more people as I went down and we were all joking and having a good time knowing the worst of the race was over. Eventually hit the paved road again and I really did not feel like I had already run 27 miles. The last 4 miles back to the finish went so easily. I finished in 7:18 so had a nice 42 minute negative split on the return trip. Dang I love me some downhills!

Nice finisher's hooded sweatshirt as a reward. Just one more reason why I love ultras. I love swag that I can use :-) Good chow at finish line. Helped myself to a yummy burrito then hurried to my car to get out of the cold. I think Mark Rostan (RD) and his group of volunteers put on a quality run. The aid stations were excellent. The course was very pretty especially in the higher elevations. Maybe a little tweaking with the course markings but overall this is a race I would gladly run again.

And best of all....I got the DNF monkey off my back. This was not an easy course and I did fine. I have to be more selective in the ultras I pick out in the future. I am no spring chicken and I just need to admitt to myself that there are just races I cannot run.

Hinson Lake Ultra

2011-09-29T21:56:00.004-04:00

I really like this event. I hope that some day I can stay and run the entire 24 hours but I do enjoy very much the time I get to spend there no matter how limited that might be.

Up early and on the road by 3:30 for the drive down. Lots of rain storms along the way and it rained/drizzled up until 8:00 when the race began. Very humid conditions the remainder of time I was there but not as hot as last year. I think it was in the 80's this year so I thought (mistakenly) that I would be able to perhaps crank out a 50K PR. That was the early plan anyway :-)

Saw lots of ultra friends there and it's always fun to chat with people you know throughout the day. Plus making new friends is very cool.

Drizzly beginning of the day in this pic.

Out on the course, coming back up the short little hill near the aid station. 3 other women had my skirt on that day!

So, as I mentioned, I went out with the intention of trying to set a new 50K PR. Good course for it if I could stay out of the aid station and away from my chair. Things were going great in the beginning. I was running each 1.52 mile lap right around 16 minutes each. That's pretty fast for me. I got to lap 9 I think, at 2.5 hours and just totally crashed. My hips were screaming. My legs felt like lead. My back hurt. And I was out of energy. Thus started 2 laps of walking as I regrouped and tried to figure out what to do.

Popped a couple Motrin. Drank lots of fluids and scarfed down a bunch of yummy treats. Not sure when the pumpkin muffins appeared on the aid table but I put a serious dent in those babies. The shredded chicken also went down real easy! Was finally able to get back up to running speed and completed my 50K with no other problems. Obviously no PR but I was still happy with my day. I made it on the leader board, so had to take a picture of my short moment of glory.

As usual, the main aid station was stocked with whatever you could think of and the volunteers are top notch. I loved coming around every lap and getting a cheery shout out from my lap counter! Nice t-shirt and an engraved beer glass this year. I will be back next year. Hopefully to run more miles!

Iron Mountain Ultra

2011-09-05T08:55:00.005-04:00

You'd think with me not working in the summer that I would have time to write up some race reports. My races this summer were pretty bad though so I just didn't feel like writing about all my misery. In a nutshell.......

Chattooga 50K was a huge suffer fest with high heat/humidity/dehydration problems but I finished......with a personal worst 50K time. Many of my southern ultra friends were at this one so it's always nice to see familiar faces on the trail. Grandfather Mountain wasn't too bad. It was my 3rd time running it and I logged my slowest time yet and was denied the victory lap around the track at the Highland games. No biggie. I enjoyed running and chatting with a number of maniacs throughout the race. Got into Hot to Trot 8 Hour at the last minute so had to shuffle some prior plans. It was Molly's birthday so I was on a strict time table to get home in time to take her and a bunch of BFF's out to Chang's for dinner. I could only run for 6.5 hours and then drive the 4 hours home like a maniac! Managed to knock out 29.5 miles on a very runnable course. Georgia in August is no picnic but I managed my hydration well and ran/walked the 1.18 mile loop at a pretty steady pace. Spent too much time at the aid station each loop but the food was so good! Who could resist?

I had originally planned on running Woods Ferry 24 hour Labor Day weekend but decided running through the night was not a good fit for my clumsy feet. Switched to Iron Mountain trail races instead. This event took place in Damascus,VA and offered 3 distances...16/30/50 miles. There was no way I would be able to manage 50 miles over that terrain so opted for 30. I was a bit concerned with the cut-offs in the 30 mile event but felt pretty rested with a 4 week break.

On the road by 3:30 for the 2.5 hour drive up to VA. The race start/finish was at a gazebo in a park next to the Virginia Creeper Trail. Very easy to locate and check in was quick. I was opting for my Nathan Hydration pack vs. handheld this race as there were only 3 aid stations at 5, 9, and 16 miles. You passed back through the 2nd aid station at 23 miles and then mile 27 was just water. Or in my case...nothing. All the water containers were empty when I went back through:-( I was in a dilema about my shoes. I had switched to Brooks Cascadias earlier in the summer but was having some problems with PF and achilles pain on my right leg. I almost decided to wear my road shoes (Kayano's) but knew they wouldn't provide enough support. So, it was Cascadias by default.

Temps were already in low 70's with blanket like humidity at the start. With predicted highs in the upper 80's I knew I would have to very diligent about not falling behind in my hydration. About 150 runners total in all 3 races. We had race numbers that started with our distance. I was 311. I noticed as I took my usual spot near the back that I was in with mostly numbers starting with 1. I hoped this was not a bad omen that I would be turning around with the 16 milers.

The first 5 miles were on the flattish Viginia Creeper Trail. Very pretty with lots of trestle and bridge crossings over the Whitetop Laurel Creek. The crushed gravel surface made for easy running but I could feel the gradual uphill incline. The first aid staion was water only so I tanked back up and hurried out. I had only made it into this station with 5 minutes to spare on the unofficial cut-off time. I knew after this aid station the rest of the race to the turnaround was mainly single track and mostly an uphill climb. I was not disappointed. The next 4 mile section was challenging. Lots of long uphill climbs and very rocky. I'm not fast but I was getting stuck behind groups of 16 milers walking. Very irritating and making me quite anxious about the cut-off time. Was so happy to arrive at the 9 mile aid station and see them turning around. The aid station was impressive. Tons of ultra food and choices of beverages. Very enthusiastic volunteers. I had made it with 10 minutes to spare so couldn't hang out too long. Refilled my Nathan, grabbed a few goodies and hustled out. I had an hour and 45 minutes to travel 7 miles. Aid station 3 had a firm cut-off time at Skull's Gap because they had to reposition the station for the 50 milers.

Once out of the 2nd aid station I was pretty much alone the rest of the way up until returning 30 milers started coming back at me. We were on the Iron Mountain trail at that point and it was very rocky with lots of challenging climbs and descents. There was some easier ridge running too so I tried to use those to cut some time off but the rocks were killing me! My feet were hurting so badly. I was getting extremely anxious about the cut off time when I wasn't able to run for long stretches of trail.

I passed a couple guys at one point and asked them what their Garmen's were saying. They had 16 miles already. I looked at my watch and saw that I had 23 minutes left. Surely we were almost there? Shortly after that I asked a returning runner how much further to the aid station and he says....about a half hour!!!!! Seriously?? I was not making it this far to be stopped. I picked up the pace and fortunately alot of the remaining distance to the aid station was downhill. Everyone I met along the way kept saying..."you're almost there and you better hurry, you're close to 11:00." I was sprinting (ok, running faster than 12 min. miles) and managed to hit the aid station with 5 minutes to spare. If it hadn't been downhill, I never would have made it.

I felt so much more at ease now that the cut-off clock wasn't ticking. Spent a few minutes in the aid station eating and drinking. Topped my Nathan back off and trudged off to go back up that long downhill stretch. There were still runners coming in to the aid station, some 10-15 minutes over the cut off. I was wondering if they let them continue. The return trip back to aid station 2/4 seemed to go much faster (it actually didn't, took me 15 minutes longer, go figure). More downhills and I picked up a running buddy (Anita Finkle) so we chatted the miles away. It probably seemed easier because I wasn't pushing as hard and I was taking more time with my footing.

The aid station had a huge cooler of ice so I put a bunch in my nathan plus under my hat and down my shirt. The heat was making it's presence known and with only one more water stop I made sure my tank was full before heading out. I ran out of water at Chattooga and did not want to suffer like that ever again. (Turned out to be a good thing as the last water stop was empty). Really enjoyed the next 4 miles back. It was mostly downhill and not as rocky so we were able to run pretty easily. As I mentioned earlier, we hit the last water stop and it was empty so we soldiered on. The next couple miles remained on the Iron Mountain trail instead of going back down the Virginia Creeper. It was along this stretch that we were passed by the first returning 50 miler. I would guess that he finished in around 7.5 hours. The last couple miles were a very steep downhill but you really couldn't get any speed going. The footing was treacherous, it looked like a washed out river bed with gazillions of rocks. There were many wet stream crossings along here also but I managed to haul my aching footed self across them safely.

We finally broke out of the woods and had to run through a very sketchy housing area. Kinda creepy. It was nice downhill stretch though and it felt great to be able to run without fear of falling after so many hours. Eventually the course took us back to the Creeper trail, over the bridge and back to the park/finish area. Since I was carrying no watch I was pleasantly surprised at my 7:42 finish time over a very difficult course on a hot day.

Lots of delicious after race food including grilled hamburgers/hot dogs, ice cream, watermelon, salad, and cookies. We were given the option of fresh bread or homemade jam for a finisher's award. I picked sourdough bread. Yum!

There was one other Marathon Maniac at this race that I know of...Rich McNeil. He also ran the 30 mile option. Here we are celebrating our finish of this tough course :-)

Back to Normal

2011-06-19T08:42:00.002-04:00

The past 2 weeks have been incredible. Our oldest daughter graduated from high school with many honors. So proud of her!

The day after she graduated we hit the beach for a week with the entire family. Had never stayed at Topsail Island before but really enjoyed our visit there. The weather was awesome the entire week.

Could not get enough of this little guy. Really wish Bryan, Ashley, and Parker lived closer to home. California is so far :-(

Did alot of this all week but also ran every day on the beach for at least an hour. So got some heat training.

Parker and Grandma enjoying our last day together.

Really won't get back to normal until Wednesday. Have to go up to Western Carolina University tomorrow for freshman orientation for 2 days. Will take running gear and check out the trails there. Looking forward to Chattooga 50K on Sunday.

Black Mountain Monster

2011-06-05T15:25:00.002-04:00

I took 3 weeks off from running after the Twisted Ankle. I did run one 3 miler about 10 days after my injury and that convinced me to take more time off. The ankle was just not right. I bought every ankle brace known to mankind but none of them felt comfortable. I finally settled on just wrapping my ankle in a ace bandage for some support but that came off after about 5 miles when I developed a blister where it rubbed my ankle. So, I ran the rest of the way with a naked ankle. I'm slow enough but was really slow on the single track trails. I was watching where I put my foot with just about every step. The only time I was not looking down was along a short paved trail that was part of the course.

I had come into this race with some lofty goals. The easiest one was to beat my 48 miles from the previous year. Or so I thought. It's not that I had a bad day, I just did not have a good one. The best part of this race was seeing and running with lots of friends......Psyche, Charles, both Jasons, Weezy, Daniel, Terri, and Angela....and making some new ones.

The day was quite hot but I thought I was managing my fluids and electrolytes well. I carried a handheld and was draining it every lap plus taking an S cap each lap. I still developed huge puffy fingers so need to do some research into that. Didn't eat a whole lot of food, just did not feel hungry and then the gastro problems started up. I was a frequent visitor to the 2 portojohns on the course and finally after a miserable 14th lap decided to call it quits. Only managed 43.4 miles, not even close to what I had hoped to run.

Yeah, I'm disappointed but I have 2 more 24 hour runs in the plans for this fall. I will set a new distance PR at one of them. Count on it.

Twisted Ankle Trail Marathon

2011-05-17T19:50:00.004-04:00

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.

Enoree Passage 40 Mile

2011-05-02T18:57:00.002-04:00

Has it really been 4 months since my last race report? There have been plenty of races during that time, just haven't sat down to write anything up. Short recap:

1/15 Weymouth Woods 100K (only did 50K)
2/19 Pilot Mountain Marathon
2/26 Thrill in the Hills Marathon
3/5 Umstead Marathon
3/20 Tobacco Road Marathon
4/9 Kings Mountain Marathon
4/16 Sweet H2O 50K

All of these were total trail or had major trail sections. I just don't enjoy road races all that much any more. I've made an exception for Grandfather Mountain this year though.

Anyway, the Enoree Passage 40 mile was a Terri Hayes ultra. I had run the 30 mile version last year but knew I could handle the longer distance now. I was up early Sunday morning for the short 1.5 hour drive to Whitmire, SC. The race is very easy to find and I got there early enough to not feel rushed getting all my gear together. Supplemental water carrier was required as the aid stations were about 5 miles apart. I decided to wear my Nathan hydration pack as I did not want to carry water bottles for 40 miles. I am so used to it now that I barely notice it.

Was nice to see lots of familiar ultra friends at the start (Jason, Psyche, Charles, Daniel, Connie, Jimbo, Scott, Greta just to name a few). Mingled for a bit and then all of a sudden we're off and running. I settled right into my place near the back and spent many enjoyable miles joking around with Jason, Psyche, and Charles. The miles were clicking by very easily and it was almost a surprise when we reached the first aid station. Psyche and Charles had stayed back at one point to check on a runner who had fallen (Greta) so it was Jason and I continuing on for many miles together.

The trail was quite varied but mostly single track. Lots of fallen trees along the way. For the most part shady which helped alot in the later miles. There were a couple sections along some roads but not for any long distance. Some runners were getting off track at these points but I can only remember one point where I came out of the woods and really had to look to see where the orange steamers were down the road. The trees along the trail were also marked with yellow paint so I made sure I kept yellow markings always in sight. There was also an abundance of hills. None very high or steep but just relentless up and down the entire day. I think looking at the Garmin data that Jason posted there was about 4000 ft. in total elevation changes.

Aid stations at miles 10 and 15 came and went. Very happy volunteers and lots of good munchies. It was nice to have volunteers who knew how to fill up a Nathan pack so I could concentrate on stuffing my face. But no hanging out too long, relentless forward motion. It was somewhere between miles 15-20 that I started to feel not quite as chipper as the earlier miles. I was starting to drag more up the hills and look for reasons to walk a bit. This was also the stretch where returning runners started going back by. It was nice to exchange encouraging greetings with each other. Around mile 18 was a horrible stretch of a wide open road. In some parts it was thick grass and others parts rutted clay with rocks. Very hard to run through and of course most of it was uphill. I was also starting to get puffy fingers. I was taking S caps regularly and drinking ample water so not sure what that was all about. The day was warming up so I mentally told myself to really watch the hydration. This would come back to bite me later in the race.

Finally the turn around came into sight. They had the 20 mile aid station on a gazebo on a little spit of land jutting out into a lake. Very scenic and I was very happy to get to that point. Many tasty treats here but I really wasn't hungry. I did eat a boiled potato and some pretzels. Figured the extra salt couldn't hurt. We made the turn around in 4 hours and 30 minutes. My secret goal of 9 hours was not going to happen. Even splits on this course with the increasing temps was not going to happen.

I was back on the wide open road when I took my first fall. Just trotting along and bam, I'm in the dirt. Must have tripped over a rock. I was a mess. Red clay dust, bloody hands and right leg. Nice. I had on compression socks so I think that helped prevent worse cuts from the rocks. I sat there a bit to make sure nothing serious was wrong and then got up and headed onward. I felt completely deflated after that. Just no energy and it was hard to run even a little bit. I struggled on trying to walk as fast as possible. I guess I should have taken in more calories at the earlier aid stations cause I was definitely bonking.

I was so happy to reach the mile 25 aid station. I think it was at this one that they had rice krispie treats! I scarfed several of those down while the volunteer filled my water for me. Also drank a couple cups of Heed and trotted off with a handfull of pretzels. Jason had gone ahead at the 20 mile station but I caught back up to him and a couple other runners. He was having some stomach issues so I gave him some ginger chews. I was getting some energy back so went on ahead. The day was getting very warm and I really started to drink often along this stretch. I hadn't been totally filling my Nathan knowing water would be available every 5 miles. DUMMY! I got to the 30 mile aid station totally empty and they were OUT OF WATER!

They did have some ice left in the water container so I had them scoop a bunch into my Nathan and then sucked down several cups of Heed. I figured I could manage the next section with sips of melted ice water. It wasn't very much though so I had to be frugal. I also did a lot more walking through here to conserve energy and not get as heated up. The last aid station at mile 35 seemed like Nirvana. Lots of cool water and 2 great volunteers....Connie and Jim. Was sorry to hear that Jim's race had ended at 25 with dehydration problems. I must have thanked them a couple dozen times for being there, they probably thought I was crazy.

The last 5 miles were pretty rough. I don't think I totally recovered from the low fluids situation. I fell several more times. Most of the time I couldn't even see what I tripped over. A group of 3 guys had come into the last aid station at the same time as I did so I stayed pretty close to them the rest of the way back. The last hill made for some pretty slow going but finally we came out of the woods and hit the road for the last half mile or so back into the campground area. Came across the finish line in 9:47. It was the 2nd farthest I had ever run.

Terri made some of her beautiful SC plaques with pictures of the trail on it for finishers. I snagged one with the Enoree River. Plus I won a pair of Montrail socks so that was cool. I don't know the final statistics of the race but I think there was a fair number of DNF's. I probably should have stopped at mile 30 and waited for water. That would have been the smart thing to do.......

Harbison Forest 50K

2011-01-09T09:19:00.002-05:00

Didn't feel like blogging about my last races of the year after Marshall. That race just depressed me to no end. I almost decided to take the rest of the year off but had paid for a couple more races so went ahead and ran them. Ran Bartam Forest again on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Only did the marathon this time and had a nice day out on the trails. Ran it in 5:18 so felt much better after the Marshall debacle.

Then 2 weeks later, on Dec. 11th, ran Thunder Road for the 3rd and probably last time. They cut out race day packet pick-up so I had to drive down to Charlotte (2 hours) just to pick up my stuff on Friday. Up early to drive down again Saturday morning. I decided to run with the 5 hour pace group for at least the first half so I would keep it slow and not burn myself out like I usually do on this course. Had a really good time. I knew one of the pace leaders, Charles West, and he kept everyone very motivated. At the half way point I backed off a bit and finished the race very comfortably with my best marathon time of the year...5:11. I had been hoping to run a course PR but missed it by a minute. Still very pleased with my race over this quite hilly course. And they even had food at the end this year for us slow pokes :-) The race is being moved to November next year. On the same weekend as OBX. Not a good move I'm afraid.

Was supposed to run 2 other races...Coyote Ridge 50K.... while we were out in California over Christmas. Blew that one off. Did not want to miss a minute of time with my adorable grandson. Hadn't signed up for Freedom Park Ultra on New Year's Eve but could have gone and run it if I wanted to. Blew that one off too. Did get up New Year's day and go run a 10 miler down in Spartanburg....Hair of the Dog. Ran a 10 mile PR and even had several miles under 9 minutes (on the downhill sections of course) :-)

Updates over.

Harbison Forest 50K was a great way to start the year. Great trails, volunteers were awesome, aid stations had everything you could think of, nice tech shirt, and a beer glass as a finisher's award. You could not have guessed this was an inaugural event. It felt like it had been going on for years. The RD, Dan Hartley, did an incredible job. I'm hoping this race continues on in the future.

Weather was chilly at the start...30's...with a real strong wind gusting away. I wore a couple shirts, fleece jacket, tights, gloves, and my buff. Also carried my Nathan pack with about 30 ounces of water. The course had aid stations but the first one wasn't for 6 miles. I guess I could have gotten by with a hand held but wanted to carry some other gear so went with the larger pack. Even tho the temps got up into the 40's I was never able to take off any layers. The wind was very strong and biting on many sections of the course. I was pretty comfortable with what I had on.

It was a 2 loop course, about 90% single track with a gravel road at the start and some wide fire roads in some sections. I ran the first loop with a group of 4 runners. Time goes by so quickly when you're blabbing away. I thought my race was going to be over in the first mile though when I stepped into a hole covered by leaves and twisted my right ankle terribly. It hurt so bad. I hobbled along for a bit then got back to running. I could feel it throbbing but eventually the pain settled down enough that I could run normally. I would fall several more times. The course was mainly single track and just covered in leaves. Lots of roots and rocks hidden underneath to grab a shuffler's toe.

Saw many familiar faces throughout the day. The NC/SC ultra crowd is very small. You tend to see many of the same people at every race. Hit the mile 16 aid station and there was Jason Sullivan. Seemed odd to not see him running! The infamous Terri Hayes was also there helping at aid stations. Her ultra trail series cranks up in May with a 40 miler that I plan on running. I think I convinced one of the guys I was running with to try out one of Terri's events.

Anyway, finished the first loop in 3:40. My hammies and hips were starting to scream tho from all the hills. I wanted to try and run through the pain for as long as I could but finally, around mile 20, I had to stop and take a couple Tylenol. That helped with the ankle too. 2nd loop went slower. Somewhere in here I caught up to Psyche and Charles. It was nice to run with them for a bit and hear about all their races. They dropped back after a couple miles to look for a camera that Psyche had lost on the first loop.

The last 3 miles just seemed to fly by. I was feeling good even tho my pace had slowed. There was never a point in the race where I felt that I couldn't go on. I had eaten and taken in enough fluids regularly enough to not have any bonks. Still, it was a welcome relief to come out of the woods and run down the finishing chute. Recieved my beer glass as a finisher's award. I think I was the only over 50 female runner in the race but no AG awards. I had passed about 6 people over the course of the race and knew there were about 4 behind me at the start so not last!

Not too sore today. Snow storm moving in so will have to do a couple recovery runs on the treadmill I'm afraid. May run Museum of Aviation History Marathon next weekend. We'll see what the weather holds. I decided that I'm not going to preregister for any races in Jan. or Feb. I got burned several times last year by snow and ice and couldn't make it to races I had paid for. Aviation History would be nice to do and am also looking at Callaway Gardens on Jan. 30th.

Marshall University Marathon

2010-11-13T22:13:00.003-05:00

Such high expectations for this race. Sadly, I did not have a good day and went home quite disappointed. I did not run Ridge to Bridge on the 30th due to some minor surgery and then being put on Cipro for an infection. That stuff scares me. I didn't run a step until I had been off the stuff for over a week. So, I basically went into Marshall having only run 3 times since Medoc. Very undertrained.

Was supposed to meet up with several running board friends to celebrate it being my birthday but arrived very late so was unable to make that get together. Then it was just plain crazy prior to the race so didn't even bother trying to find anyone in the crowd. There were many maniacs at this race so did get a chance to talk to some of them prior to the start. Very chilly at the start, around 25 degrees. I decided to wear tights, 2 layers of long sleeve shirts, and gloves. Quite comfortable the entire race.

I started out pretty good. Ran the first 6 miles in about an hour. If this had been a 10K I would have been very happy with my race. Not so much with 20 more miles to go. The course was very flat and probably an excellent course to try and BQ if you're that kind of runner. I'm not. I was hating this course before we even hit the half way point. It was just so boring. Mile after mile of either strip malls or run down neighborhoods. The only pretty part of the race was about 3 miles along a river in a park.

But I kept chugging along and eventually made it to the football stadium. They hand you a football and you run down the field across the finish line. I'd already done that at the finish of the Knoxville Marathon earlier in the year so not as exciting. I'd also been looking forward to the advertised juicy hamburgers at the finish but none left :-( All I could find was bananas and a soda.

Did get a very nice fleece jacket and the finisher's medal is pretty with a buffalo on it.

I can see why this race gets very good reviews on marathonguide. If you like road marathons, this is a good one. Just not my style any longer.

Went out and ran a nice trail half marathon down in Spartanburg this morning. Absolutely loved this race. It was the inaugural Camp Croft half marathon. Nicely run. Beautiful trails. Even snagged 3rd in my old lady age group. I'm pretty sure there were only 3 of us but what the heck. Got a nice beer glass. Ran with Jason Sullivan and his wife for several miles so that was nice to have some company on a beautiful fall morning. Enjoyed hearing about Jason's races and getting ideas of some to run in the future.

Bartram Forest in 2 weeks. Will probably only run the marathon this year with Pine Mountain only a week later. Need to save the legs for that one!

Medoc Trail Marathon

2010-10-17T09:27:00.010-04:00

Medoc medal.

This was the best trail marathon I've run, and I've run a few:-)

Weather....perfect. Mid 40's at start and mid 60's at end. Not a factor at all.

Trails...good mix of flat sections, hills, roots, rocks, bridges, steps. The only thing we didn't have was wet stream crossings. That was OK with me!

Aid stations.....3. Well stocked with water, gatoraid, gummies, pretzels, gels, and boiled potatoes. Passed each one 3 times as this was a triple loop course.

Volunteers....numerous, enthusiastic, and clearly were enjoying their day as much as we were.

Swag......nice long-sleeved tech shirt, very cool medal, and a running vest with the race logo as a finisher's surprise. Sweet!

Very happy to finally get to run this one. I had an OK day running wise. Was hoping to run a bit faster than I did, but managed to finish only a few minutes slower than my best trail marathon this year. Cut 3 hours off my 50K time from 2 weeks ago so that was good :-)

The course was a loop that you ran 3 times. There was also a 10 mile event that started 15 minutes after the marathoners. So, by the time I hit the 5 mile mark, the fast 10 milers were starting to run by. I was very happy to start out on the 2nd loop so that I didn't have to worry about being mowed down by a 10 miler any longer. The last 2 loops I pretty much ran all alone. I passed a couple people on the last loop but that was about it for human contact other than the aid station volunteers. They were awesome by the way!

In previous years there were only 15 or so women runners in the marathon. Well, word of mouth is a wonderful thing. Not only did this race sell out but there were at least 30-40 women this year. And looking at the race list, 12 of them were in my age group (50-59). What's up with that? My finishing time this year would have grabbed me 2nd place age group both previous years. Not this year. Would have been nice to get one of the beer glasses but I guess I'll have to get faster if I want one next year.

Not sure about my next race. Scheduled to run Ridge to Bridge in 2 weeks and then Marshall Marathon the week after that. May just volunteer at R2B and actually follow some kind of training plan for Marshall. It is my birthday that day and I'd like to run a strong race instead of just running to finish.

FATS 50K

2010-10-09T19:30:00.005-04:00

Garmin data of the course. 5000 ft. +/- combined

Trail markings. They really were pretty easy to follow.

The back of me in red and Leann close behind in yellow.

Leann and I. So fresh and happy!

This would be my 3rd ultra in 4 weeks. I didn't think much of that. I've run 3 races in a month previously. Not 3 ultras, but 3 marathons. Surely couldn't make that much of a difference? I would find out just how much on October 3rd.

I was looking forward to this race. Love races put on by Terri Hayes. She is the best! Plus I was getting to see another running friend that I hadn't seen since February when we met up in Myrtle Beach for the marathon that was cancelled due to snow!

Up at 3:30 again for the drive down to North Augusta. Love traveling early in the morning like that. No traffic to speak of. Just so quiet and peaceful. Rolled into Sumter National Park with about an hour to spare and saw Leann right away. Checked in. It's always nice to be recognized by the RD and greeted warmly. Makes you feel a bit special. I think that is one of the great things about Terri. She makes everyone feel so welcome at her races.

Plenty of time to get my gear ready and chat with Leann. She said she'd like to run the first loop together and I agreed even tho I knew darn well she was way faster than me. The course was a series of 4 different loop trails and then you ran the first loop one more time in reverse to finish up. There were 4 aid stations so I was carrying my Nathan pack.

I had no idea what to expect in terms of terrain or hills. I was thinking it couldn't be as difficult as Norris Dam 50K so figured I'd finish around 7.5 hours or so.

Terri gave her trail briefing and I could hear people talking about it was confusing and they were afraid of getting lost. I ran almost the entire race by myself and did not have one problem with the trail markings. All turns were clearly marked with paper plates and arrows. Easy smeasy.

Anyway. We started a little late but no matter. Leann and I were in the midst of a pretty long train of runners for a couple miles. I was going way too fast for me and I eventually pulled off to the side of the trail and let Leann and about 20 people go on by. One of them was Jason Sullivan. Waved hi to him and that was the last I saw of most of those people. Let another fairly large group go by me after another couple miles and then it was me and nature for a long, long, long time.

The first loop (Great Wall) was 7.5 miles and it just seemed to go on forever and ever. There were no huge climbs or descents but it was constantly rolling hills with sections of rocks to look out for. It took me an hour and 36 min. to complete that first loop and I just felt exhausted. The aid station was at the top of a hill and I trudged in there none too happy with my performance so far. Well stocked station with all the usual ultra goodies. I didn't know it at the time but this was going to be aid station 2 and 4 also.

I really didn't want to leave the aid station but head out towards the next loop and just have zero energy. I was seriously considering dropping at the end of the loop if I didn't feel any better by then. I don't remember much about the next loop (Deep Step). We ran on a connector trail to reach it and a couple guys had already finished the loop and were running back towards the aid station. They looked great. I felt like death. Somehow I manage to navigate this loop and am heading back towards the aid station. I meet another lady running out to start the loop and this makes me feel a bit better. I was beginning to think I was dead last.

Back into the aid station and there are several runners just hanging out and eating. One of them was a 10 year old boy. I didn't know it then but he was Psyche Wimberly's son. He had on an ABYSA soccer shirt so I knew he was from the Asheville area. My addled brain didn't put 2 and 2 together tho. So obviously 2 of the runners hanging out were Psyche and Charles. Duh me didn't realize it at the time.

So, it was decision time. I was not feeling any better. Really wanted to lay down and take a nap! DNF or gut it out? Obviously the German stubborn streak in me won out and the fact that a 10 year old boy outran me for 13.5 miles was not the way I wanted to end this race. Huge kudos to Leopold btw. What a great runner! So, I manned up and headed off towards loop 3....Skinny. I think this was the most runnable loop. I don't remember feeling as strung out navigating this one. Plus I was encouraged by the fact that I was starting to repass some of the people who had blown by me in the first couple miles.

Somewhere along here I started hearing gun shots. That was bit frightening. I was happy to be wearing a bright red shirt. Surely they would not mistake me for a deer??? Aid station 3 was somewhere along this loop. They were also hearing the gun shots but knew nothing about it. Kinda scary. Tanked up here. It was starting to get warm and I was getting puffy fingers. I don't like puffy fingers. It means I am doing something wrong with my hydration/electrolyte balances. I didn't think I had taken in too much of either water or S-caps so really didn't know what to ease up on. So, just continued on.

In between aid stations 3 and 4 I passed about 6 or 7 runners. I felt exhausted but was able to keep running slowly through this section. Finally reached aid station 4 to find one person still manning the station. Slim pickings as this aid station had been run through 3 times already by just about every runner except the few behind me. I scavenged what I could find and refilled with water.

Finally, the last loop. It sure seemed like we had already run a full 50K by that time, but still 7.5 miles to go! A backwards jaunt along Great Wall. I seemed to remember way more uphills than downhills when we first traversed this section earlier in the day but it didn't seem that way going back. My feet were not happy by this point in the race. Very sore and I felt like blisters were forming under my toes. But eventually the finish line came into sight and I was happy to be able to pick up my finishing award. I thought for sure Leann would be long gone but she was still hanging around. She had finished about a half hour in front of me and agreed that that course was much more difficult than it looked. It was also about 33 miles long according to other runners with Garmins.

While we were hanging around the finish area Psyche and Charles came running in and I was finally lucid enough to recognize them. I really couldn't believe Psyche was out there running this race as she had run the 77 mile foothills trail the previous weekend. One tough runner! There were also runners out there who had run the Stump Jump 50K the previous day. Those are some serious ultra runners! The more I run these things the more I am impressed with the people who are serious ultra runners. I am but a dabbler in this area but really do enjoy it despite my slowness.

My next 3 races are marathons. Wondering how they will go after a string of 6 ultras and one trail marathon since April.

Hinson Lake 24 Hour Ultra Classic

2010-10-02T09:18:00.013-04:00

I had no intention of running the full 24 hours. My initial goal was 50 miles but I bumped that down to a 50K when I saw the forecast temps for the day and a request from the family to be home for dinner that evening. It's all good. Maybe next year I can go for the full 24 hours!

I was very excited to be a part of the event. The atmosphere when I arrived was just so enthusiastic. I got up at 3:15 to make the 3.5 hour drive down from the mountains and arrived with plenty enough time to set up my little area, get checked in, and then wander about and chat to other runners. And what a group it was! Lots of familar ultra running faces, especially all the new friends I have made running ultras in the south. Some maniacs were present too.

Here's a scene of set-ups along the dam. You can see my little chair with it's orange towel in the bottom right.

The race started around 8AM. It was already in the 70's with high humidity. I think the RD said there were over 200 starters making this the largest 24 hour event in the US. I'm not sure how many actually ran the full 24 hours. I think the majority of runners were out there for lesser times and distances.

The course itself was a 1.52 mile loop around Hinson Lake. It was soft dirt, gravel, shifting sands, and lots of little wooden bridge thingys. There was also a wooden bridge across the lake at the farthest point where you could look back across the lake and see the lap counting area. It was not flat! There was a section after you ran over the lake that was an uphill climb. Not real steep but you had to run through pretty deep, loose sand. The first 12 laps I ran up the hill, after that I walked. It just wore you down. The rest of the course was very rolling. Fortunately it was mostly shaded so we didn't have to contend with the sun beating down on us too much.

When you completed your loop you ran across a little walkway and past the lap counter table. Each volunteer had a sheet of runners they kept track of. My counter was so nice. She would see me coming and yell out....I got you #70 or Lynne, that is lap # whatever it was. And then she would always say something encouraging. From what I could see, all the lap counters were the same way. It was awesome.

Once you passed the counter, there was an incredible array of food and drinks set up. I'll admit right now that I could have probably cut at least 30 minutes off my time if I hadn't stopped at the aid station every single lap and ate/drank something. Plus I would then run past my set-up and most times stop to take an s-cap or text home or put ice under my hat. It was always something. Way too much time wasted but I wasn't after any kind of record. Just out to enjoy the run.

The first lap was very slow and congested. 200+ runners trying to navigate a fairly narrow trail was quite comical really. I'll never understand the walkers who start at the front tho. That just bugs the crap out of me. And not just one walker, huge groups of walkers. I'm not fast but I was continually getting stuck behind groups of walkers as I tried to navigate that first loop. It eventually spread out and I had no problems the rest of the race but that was a very slow, frustrating first lap.

After that the rest of the race went very smoothly. I don't mind loop courses. After a couple laps I knew what to expect where and just got into a pretty comfortable pace. The lead men started lapping me quite quickly. The eventual winner...Mike Morton....was a machine. He ran 150+ miles in that heat. Got passed a bunch of times by Jonathon Savage too. What an incredibly nice guy. He always has something encouraging to say. I noticed that about him at Landsford Canal 50K in July. I really couldn't tell who the lead women were. There had to of been a couple lapping me but I never noticed one in particular. Did talk to Abi Meadows (of Vol State fame) a bit. She was there crewing for her 16 year old son who was attempting a 100K. (He did it). She ran some too but was saving her energy for Grindstone.

One of the more motivating sights was seeing LTC Fred Dummar guiding CAPT Ivan Castro around the course. I had seen them once before at Ellerbee Springs Marathon and they totally kicked my slow behind to the finish line. I can't imagine how much more difficult it would be to guide a runner along a trail tho. They are both very inspirational. One time I ran by them and Ivan was cracking jokes with a woman runner about how she was looking good out there. She replied that she was running naked. HAHA.

The day went very smoothly. I changed my shoes around the 15 mile mark. Started out in trail shoes but didn't really need them so switched to my Gel Kayanos. Neither one helped with the sand, gravel, dirt mess that continually crept into my socks. Here is a picture of my feet when I was finished. The trail was extremely dusty. Everyone was covered with a layer of grit by the time they finished. I was in serious envy of those who had on gaiters. I don't know how many times I stopped to dump rocks and dirt out of my shoes.

I seemed to be hydrating fine. I know I was eating way too much. I'm sure if I had been going for longer mileage my pork fest would have eventually caught up with me. I was starting to get fat fingers by the time I finished so something was a little off in my water/sodium balance.

I ran 21 laps to get my 50 K in and then walked a final lap to take some pictures. So my total for the day was 22 laps and 33.44 miles. Surprisingly enough I was on the leader board when I called it a day. My lap counter was very excited the last couple times I went through as she called out the lap I was on and where I was in the standings. Too funny. When I went through the last time and told her I was done for the day she was like..."Are you sure? You're doing so great and up on the leader board." Made me feel pretty good :-)

Packed up all my stuff and hauled it back to the car. I immediately pulled on compression socks for the ride home. I had had major swelling in my ankles after Norris Dam 50K. Decided to try the socks this time and it really helped. I wore them the rest of the day and had no swelling at all. After I had gotten everything loaded and was heading out of Rockingham I happened to glance at my temperature screen. 96 degrees. Dang! you gotta love North Carolina in September.

Very few aches and pains the rest of the week. I hardly knew I had run a 50K. Looking forward to FATS 50K tomorrow. Cooler temps and another beautiful trail run.

This is the lap counting/aid station area we ran through at the end of each lap.

A picture of the trail.

My little set-up. Pretty pathetic compared to some of the crew areas.

Looking at the finish area from the trail.

One of the longer wooden bridges we ran across.

Going up the sandy incline.

Looking across the lake.

Lots of lily pads.

The wooden bridge across the lake. This was at about mile 1 I think.

Another shot of the lap counting area.

Going into the lap counting area.

Overall very pleased with my day. I tried to calculate where the actual 50K point was since lap 20 was 30.4 miles. I kinda took a guess and figured I was around 6:20 at that point. Much better than my previous 2 50K's. Probably could have set a 50K PR for myself if I hadn't been such a porker at the aid station and wasted so much time eating/drinking. Oh well, that wasn't my goal and 6:20 in that heat was pretty good for me!

Norris Dam Trail 50K

2010-09-06T08:18:00.003-04:00

This was one tough race. But I loved every step of it. Beautiful single track along a lake, steep rocky climbs and descents, picturesque streams, and I even got close enough to a deer to almost touch it. Just wow. This picture from the course is just one of many reasons I love trail running. It doesn't get much better than that.

Summer, Kevin, and I arrived in Norris, TN in complete blackness. It felt like the middle of the night but was actually only 40 minutes before the race started. Race start/finish was at a campground area in the Norris Dam State Park. Kevin was running the 25K option while Summer and I elected to run the full 50. It was a loopish course with the 50K runners going back out to run the course in reverse. 2 aid station about 5 miles apart out on the course. I opted to wear my Nathan pack but only filled the bladder up half way. Thought I had packed everything else I'd need for the race but forgot a couple things that would impact me on the 2nd loop.

I didn't know what to expect as far as the course was concerned. I had read on a message board that there was 5200 ft. of elevation changes in the 50K. Considering my lack of any kind of training after the Landsford Canal 50K I knew I was probably going to be close to the 8 hour cut-off time. I gave myself a self imposed cut-off of 3.5 hours at the turn around just to make sure I had enough time to finish the race. Other than that, no goals except to enjoy the day.

There were about 100 runners milling about, most of which were running the 25K. We listened to some last minute instructions from the race director and then headed out onto a single track trail that was still shrouded in half darkness. It was quite beautiful in the early morning stillness. Temps were in the low 50's so just perfect running conditions. I was in my usual back of the pack placement and could see the congo line of runners moving off effortless along the trail. We hit an extremely steep, graveled drop and it was quite comical watching runners sliding on their rears, crashing through trees to try and break their speed, and just the overall general mayhem. I made it down safely unscathed and continued trotting on. It wasn't more than a mile later tho that I caught a rock or root or something and fell crashing down on a gravelly part of the trail. Lots of elbow and lower leg blood. Also broke my fall with my left hand. Did the same thing later in the race so my left hand is a bruised mess today. Other than that, no real damage. Some pride maybe as the 2nd time I fell it was right in front of a guy. That must of been quite entertaining from his perspective.

The course was really divided into 3 sections. The first 5 or so miles was single track along the lake. At some points you could see the lake but mostly you were too deep in the trees. Very runnable trail with a couple steeper hills that I would walk. At the end of this section you came out on a gravel road and this was where the 1st aid station was. It was do it yourself but well stocked with pretzels, trail mix, fruit, and PB&J sandwhiches. There was also a forestry guy there to make sure you went the right way up the road.

So, you ran about a half mile up a gravel road and then back into the woods on a logging road. Not sure how many miles we ran through that area. Maybe 5? It had many long climbs and descents but I was able to run most of them. This is where I got too complacent tho and took my 2nd fall. We hit the end of this section and back out onto the gravel road. I had been hearing gun shots for awhile which was making me very nervous but as I ran down the gravel road found out why. There was a rifle range. Was hoping that the shooters were good and no stray bullets would come my way:-) Nice long downhill on the gravel road and then back into the woods. This time we ran along a pretty stream. Very enjoyable section. At the end of this section was the 2nd aid station. Unmanned but again well stocked. I later found out that it was at 12.3 miles. So, 3.2 miles to the finish from that point.

The last section was in a word....HELL. First you "ran" up a never ending hill. It was a pretty single track but it was at least a mile long. It was along here that the leading 50K runner came back the other way. He was flying of course but managed a "good job" shout out to my pathetic struggling self. You got to the top and thought, man I'm glad that is over. HA! Some nice downhill which got pretty steepish and gravelly. Had to be careful not to fall again. Then BAM! Another long, even steeper hill. This one felt like it was about a mile long too. I just kept trudging along. Started seeing more and more of the 50K runners going the other way. Finally go to the top of that hill and then it was a gradual downhill back to the start/finish area. Met Summer going back out on the course along here too. She looked strong and was in 4th place.

Finished that first loop in 3:35. Close enough to my cut-off time to head back out. Quick pitstop, Kevin helped fill my Nathan back up, grabbed some food and back on the road. I was 7th woman by my calculations and it didn't look like there were many, if any, behind me that were doing the full 50.

Was interesting running the course in reverse. Knew what to expect but thought many times "did I run this before". Looked different going the other way I guess. By the time I hit about 20 miles I was running on empty. I wasn't fueling properly with only the 2 aid stations. Started worrying about electrolyte imbalance when my hands started getting puffy. One of the things I had forgotten to put in my Nathan were my S-caps. At both aid stations I grabbed handfulls of pretzels and just stood there and licked the salt off. Plus tried to drink as much gatoraid as I could stomach but it was all gone at the 2nd aid station.

So, the reverse trip was not so much fun but I kept moving as quickly as I could. It was starting to get warmish on the return trip and I ran out of water before I hit the last aid station. I was so thirsty. Just absolutely parched. Luckily most of the course was well shaded or I could have been in serious trouble. I remember running along and after every curve thinking surely this is where we hit the gravel road? And then total dejection when all I could see was more woods stretching out in front of me.

Eventually the road appeared and I mustered some energy to run down into the aid station. Not much left but there was water and pretzels. That was all I really needed anyway. Filled my Nathan, sucked salt off a bunch of pretzels and hit the trail for the last 5 miles. Did manage to pass one runner in the final stretch so I wasn't the only one hurting out there. Got to the hellish uphill near the end and basically crawled up it. Had also forgotten about the lovely steps we so blithly trip trapped down at the beginning of the race. Not so much fun going back up them 31 miles later with dead legs.

Did manage to run across the finish line. 7:38 was my time. Can't complain when you don't actually train:-)

Showing off my boo boo's.

The 3 amigos. When we checked in the RD asked us what was up with our little contingent from NC? Just crazy we replied :-)

Not my greatest performance but no where close to my worst. With the amount of elevation changes I actually did pretty good for me. 3 weeks until Hinson Lake. The legs (especially my quads) are screaming today so will take some time off for recovery.

Sleep deprived

2010-09-02T17:56:00.005-04:00

I just want one good night of sleep. I don't think that's too much to expect. Lately I've been getting by on 5, sometimes 6 hours and it's taking a toll. Just not enough hours to get everything done. No school on Monday tho so maybe I can sleep in that day if the dogs will let me.

It's always tough to get back into the routine when school starts back up. It's been crazier than usual these first 2 week back. With Molly running cross country and also playing on a classic soccer team I never seem to be home. We had to go to Charlotte last night for a soccer game. On a school night. Crazy! For the 2 1/2 hours down she did her homework. On the way back, she finished A Separate Peace for a test they were taking today. And she still had algebra and a World History test to study for. Didn't get to bed until almost midnight.

Mel is busy filling out applications for college. Her top choice is NC State. She has also gone on a very healthy diet and wants to drop 60 lbs. She has already lost 10 and is very determined to keep at it. She uses a pretty cool application on her smart phone. It's called My fitness pal. I tried it for a few days and was shocked at how many calories I actally consume. Yikes! Time to cut out the brownies.

As for this ultra on Sunday I am so gonna regret it. My last long run of any distance was my last 50K. I think I've run a couple 12 milers since then. That 8 hour cut off is looking very iffy. Fortunately it is a double loop course. I've decided that if I haven't completed the first loop in under 3.5 hours I will stop.

Springmaid Splash 10K

2010-08-29T10:38:00.004-04:00

This is one of the best trail races in our area. No one goes out to PR, which would be impossible, it's all about having fun. Brought Molly along with me as well as Summer and her daughter, Cassidy. Molly and Cassidy are on the cross country team together so they ran the 5K option for their Saturday work-out.

I just enjoy this run so much. Splashing through the river 4 times, tough climbs, steep descents, mud bogs. Totally awesome trail running experience. We even had to fight off killer bees this year :-)

I ran within my comfort zone the entire race. Not out to kill myself. I knew with the huge numbers ( over 300 in the 10K and about 250 in the 5K) there was no chance for me to win any age group hardware. I wasn't even close. I think I was 9th out of 18 in the 50-54 group. Lots of ladies out there. Also saw lots of people I knew. Enjoyed running with and chatting with David and Rhonda Lee (RD of Ridge to Bridge marathon) for a bit.

We all finish up and decide with the sheer numbers of runners that none of us won anything so we head on home. We later found out that Cassidy (12-13) and Molly (14-16) both took 2nd place in their age groups. Very proud of my Molly. She is shaping up to be a good runner.

I have the cutest grandson!!

2010-08-16T15:16:00.005-04:00

Our first granchild, Parker, was born July 17th. We took a week long trip out to Sacramento to visit last week. Had a great time. Lots of hugs and kisses. Lots of sightseeing. Lots of beautiful early morning runs with temps in the 50's/60's with NO humidity. I think I was running at least 2 minutes a mile faster every time I hit the road. It was fantastic! Here's a couple pics of the beautiful guy. In the last picture his Aunt Molly is holding him with Aunt Melanie looking on.

My overall running has taken a serious hit since the 50K. Nothing over 10 miles. My right knee is bothering me. I don't think it's shoes as these have less than 200 miles on them. Planning on running the Springmaid Splash 10K on Saturday and then at least 20 on Sunday. We'll see how the knee feels with more time on trails instead of roads. Molly also has her first cross country meet on Saturday up in Boone. She'll be running against other freshman so hopefully will do OK and not get discouraged. Right now it's all conditioning and she's got a long way to go.

Landsford Canal 50K

2010-07-23T14:10:00.008-04:00

You'd think with it being summer and me on vacation that I could do a better job keeping up with my race reports. I just get busy with other stuff and haven't been reading the blogs much. I did do the Chattanooga 3 day stage race and it was a great experience. Summer and I survived 3 days of heat, humidity, a thunderstorm, any type of terrain the RD threw at us, thousands of feet of elevation changes over 3 mountains, running out of water, bee stings, and finished with all body parts intact. I can't say that I will ever run that paticular race again but it was worth doing at least once. I wasn't particularly pleased with my total time for the 3 days but in looking at the complete results I saw that I was the oldest female runner to finish all 3 legs. Yeah me :-)

I had initially planned to run Rattlesnake 50K and Landsford Canal 50k on back to back weekends in July. Rattlesnake didn't happen so I was doubly determined to make it down to SC for LC. After reading about the 2009 version on Jason, Christian, and Angela's blogs I knew I needed to conquer this one to be a tough southern ultra runner! Plus, the shirt and the handmade finisher's plaque are totally cool.

Up and out the door by 4AM for the drive down to SC. Uneventful trip and I arrived with about a half hour to spare. A moment of panic when they couldn't find my race number. My name was on the list though so they looked back through the numbers and there it was! Claude Sinclair only takes 40 runners for this event and I felt very fortunate to be one of those lucky few. Saw several familiar faces from other races and a couple fellow Marathon Maniacs so chatted with them a bit. Didn't have to get too much gear ready. The course was a 4.25 mile loop so all I was carrying was one handheld for water. I would go past the aid station each loop and also past my car as the race went through the parking lot. Could grab anything I needed then.

The course: 7 loops (4.25 miles each) plus a short out and back to make it legal. Probably the flattest 50K I've run so far.

The start/finish/aid station was in front of a log cabin along the Catawba River in the Landsford Canal State Park. We ran up a short hill, through the parking lot, and then hit a pretty steep little hill. It wasn't too long, maybe a 1/4 mile. Then it leveled off a bit, still uphill but not bad. One more hill, another leveling out and we hit the first turn. This first side of the loop was about a mile.

The next section was a road that went on forever. Seriously. Forever. Straight, flat, forever. There was one smallish hill about a mile down the road that was nothing the first few laps but then a great excuse to walk in later laps. After about 1.5 miles you hit left turn #2.

The 3rd side was a nice downhill run to the trailhead. About a half mile. Liked this section each and every time I hit it. Left turn #3.

The last section was the trail that ran alongside the canal and the Catawba River (1.25 miles). Varied footing...dirt, gravel, wood chips. Best of all....shaded. This would be a lifesaver later in the day. At the end of the trail you would find yourself back out at the main park and a short uphill climb to the aid station. These are some pictures of the canal and trail section.

Weather: About 75 and humid at the start. 92 and humid at the finish. Not bad for SC in July.

The race:
I wanted to run each lap under an hour. That with the out/back should get me finished in under 7.5 hours. A reasonable goal considering the heat/humidity but not too difficult of a course.

The out/back was just cruel. By the time I got to the top of the hill there were only 5-6 people behind me. I was not running that hill. Then the front runners came back blazing by. They looked amazingly strong. I felt amazingly sluggish. But hit the turn around and then got to run back down the hill. Yeah! That was the one and only time in that direction. 7 more times to run up it :-)

The first 2 laps went by quickly. I actually finished each lap in about 50 minutes so ahead of my goal. The sun was still below the level of the trees so there was plenty of shade on the course. I was having problems with stomach cramping tho so didn't really know how that was going to work out. Have never had that problem before. I stuck to water and gatoraid at the aid station the first 2 times I ran through. Was afraid to take in anything solid with the cramping. Stopped at my car each lap for S caps and texted my husband my progess. Lots of runners had crews with them with chairs set up around their cars.

The aid station volunteers were great. Each time I ran/walked up the short hill they were ready to fill my water bottle and get me anything else I needed. They had water/gatoraid/sodas pre poured in little cups so you could drink whatever you needed as they filled your bottle. There were also snacky type ultra foods.

Started to really feel the heat on lap 3. Stomach was still hurting but I knew I needed to eat something or I would never make it another 17 miles. They had ginger snaps at the aid station so I took a handful of them and munched them as I walked up the hill. Within a mile or so my stomach was feeling much better and I didn't have any issues the rest of the race. Each lap I took several ginger snaps. And the last couple laps I felt good enough to eat some pretzels and M/M's.

Lap 4 went by and I was thrilled to think that I was over half way finished. I had been leap frogging with the same 5 or 6 runners the first few laps and on laps 5 and 6 I ran with a real nice guy from NC named Tony. He had run many, many ultras and we had a great time talking about all the different races. The sun was beating down full force on the road sections of the course by then and it really helped to be distracted from your misery with someone friendly to talk with. The RD had placed some gallons of water at the 2nd left turn and I was refilling my water bottle there also. So the last 3 laps of the race I was sucking down 40 ounces of water every 4 miles. I was closely monitoring my hands for swelling and never had a problem with that this race which was nice. As we ran into the aid station after the 6th lap all the runners there were talking about getting stung by bees. I was the only one who hadn't been stung. I guess it was my lucky day :-)

Lap 7.
The final lap. 4.25 miles to go. I had been running for 5 hours and 58 minutes. I suddenly realized that I could break 7 hours if I could get my tired, hot, sweaty body around the course in less than an hour. Sounded easy enough. So off I went, walking up the hill :-) Tony was still with me for part of the loop but I wanted to run a little more than he did so he fell back when we hit the endless road to nowhere. I was making all kinds of bets with myself along that thing. The heat was just shimmering on the road. Zero shade. Run to that crack, then you can walk. Run to that tree, then you can walk. It was actually more of a shuffle but I was moving forward. I passed a couple women on that stretch. One was running her first 50K. I told her I was trying to make it in under 7 hours and she ran with me until we hit the trail then I lost her. The trail was shady but it was just stagnant under the trees. I kept trotting as fast as I could though and came across the finish line in 6 hours 53 minutes. Way under my goal time and feeling pretty good.

Contemplated jumping in the river to cool off but decided to just head on home. Was very happy with my day. My right knee was not happy and I had a couple blisters on my right heel but other than that I was good. When Claude posted the race results I found that I had finished 7th out of 14 women and 22nd overall out of 34. 3 runners DNF'd. I was once again the oldest woman in the race. Where are all the 50+ ultra runners this summer?

Bonus good news......when I got home I found out that my daughter-in-law was in labor and later that evening our first grandchild was born. His name is Parker and weighed 6 lbs. 9 ozs. Unfortunately we won't be able to see him for another couple weeks as they live in California. We are going out for a visit in early August. Can't wait. Might even find a race out there to run :-)

Chattanooga Mountains Stage Race

2010-06-17T07:58:00.003-04:00

Heading over to Chattanooga this afternoon. Summer and I signed up for the stage race that starts tomorrow and runs through Sunday. 3 races, 3 mountains, 60 miles. Tomorrow we will run 22 miles over a tough course (Lookout Mtn). Very tough climbs and desents by the looks of the profile. Saturday is the easy day. 18 miles over much of the Scenic City Trail Marathon course (Racoon Mountain). Looks like an extra loop added to the course. Fairly flat as far as trail races are concerned. Sunday (if we're still alive and kicking) is 20 miles over another mountainous course over the Cumberland Trail on Signal Mtn. We'll take it one day at a time. Lots of ice baths and napping on the schedule after we finish each day:-)

Oh, and the Boogie didn't happen for me. Took an extra week of recovery instead. Enjoyed a pool party for my youngest daughter and 25 of her closest friends that night! They were celebrating the end of middle school. Sigh. My youngest is now a high school freshman. Will be a busy year next year with the older daughter being a senior and all that entails. I think we'll be visiting some college campuses this summer. She wants to stay in state so that will help with tuition costs.

Black Mountain Monster 12 Hour Race

2010-06-06T09:16:00.003-04:00

Totally untrained for something like this but what the heck. You never know what you're capable of unless you try right? While I was disappointed that I wouldn't be running Chattooga, I started to get a little excited about this race. Here was a chance to go for a mileage PR and hours run PR. I really had no idea how to handle fluids, pacing, rest breaks, etc. but figured I would just listen to the body and run according to how I felt.

The race was held on the Montreat College campus in Black Mountain, NC. A 45 minute drive for me and the race started at 10AM so I didn't even have to get up early. I pretty much packed everything but the kitchen sink but still had very little compared to some of the set-ups I saw when I arrived. People had tents, canopies, tables, chairs, grills, incredible amounts of stuff all over the field near the start/finish area. I assume most of them were the 24 hour runners and relay teams. It seemed like we 12 hour runners came with the bare essentials comparatively.

The course was a 3 mile loop winding to and fro through the woods all around the campus. There was single track, wide grassy trails, and about a half mile on an asphalt trail. The majority of the course was nicely shaded with occasional open areas (grassy trails). Very much runnable with a welcome variety of hills and flat. 2 aid stations. The main one at start/finish and one other one about at the half way point. Stocked with water/gatoraid and lots of fruits, pretzels, fig newtons, trail mix, etc. Weather was clear, predicted highs in the low 80's with the ever present chance of afternoon thunderstorms. It pretty much rains every afternoon here lately but surprisingly enough, we only got a few sprinkles in the late afternoon. I was a bit disappointed in that as a nice rain shower would have felt marvelous!

I arrived with plenty of time to set up and then found some other Marathon Maniacs to chat with. Most of them were running either a set mileage or set hourly challenge. I was not sure what to set a goal for. I knew I wanted to run further than a 50K which was my longest run to date and longer than 9.5 hours which was how long it took me to complete Promise Land 50K last year. I felt woefully undertrained and was very worried about the heat conditions later in the day.

The race started right on time. I think there were about 50 runners? Not sure how many were relay teams but out on the course you could easily tell. You'd be chugging along and zoom....a relay runner would just fly by. It got very annoying towards the end when it was a struggle to just put one foot in front of another! I recognized a couple regular Asheville Track club runners and Annette Bednosky, ultra runner elite, in the crowd. There was also a couple pushing a baby jogger. That had to be fun on the single track. And there was the guy I thought of as Cowboy Bob. He had on a huge foam cowboy hat. He passed me several times. The last couple times he went by me tho he had ditched the hat. Too freaking hot I'd imagine!

Once the race began, I quickly staked my place out near the rear of the pack and settled in for a long day of running. With only 1.5 miles between the aid stations I didn't carry anything with me. I used the first loop to get a feel for the course and try to figure out pacing strategies. 36 minutes for the first loop, a quick stop for water/gatoraid and a couple pretzels and I was off again. The first couple loops there were runners around to talk to but after that we got pretty spread out and I picked up my Ipod and cranked up the tunes. I also picked up my handheld around lap 5 when the heat started to bother me. Felt a bit better sipping a little water constantly than chugging cupfulls at the aid stations. Although it was over 80 degrees for most of the afternoon, the shady trails really helped. I was taking S-caps after every 2 laps to counter the water was I drinking. I was covered in salt by the end of the race but my hands did not swell up as they normally tend to do whenever I run an ultra.

Around mile 20 my legs started being very unhappy. Hips hurt, knees hurt. I debated gutting it out but then figured a couple Tylenol would be OK. So, the next time I hit the main aid station I took a couple and the rest of the race I was fine. My feet were very sore towards the end but no blisters and I only fell once so no big ouchies to contend with.

I seemed to be hydrating and fueling OK. Never really felt thirsty but I was getting sick of fruit and pretzels and sports beans after about mile 30. I had visions of PB & J sandwiches or a big juicy hamburger. There were people eating them at their areas. Naturally I didn't think of bringing anything like that. I don't remember what lap it was but I came into the main aid station and there was PIZZA. OMG, they probably thought I was a crazy woman the way I raved about some cold pizza. I grabbed a couple pieces and devoured them as I started walking the next lap.

The laps just kept rolling by. I remember feeling quite thrilled when I completed lap 11 and knew I had set a new mileage record. And before I knew it I was finishing lap 13. 39 miles. 9 hours and 27 minutes. That seemed like an odd number to stop at so I decided to run one more just to get over 40. I was feeling fine although I was slowing down. My 36 min. loops had slid to 40 minutes and now 45. I was spending a bit more time at the main aid station chatting with the lap counters and gauging how the other runners were doing. Many runners had left by then. My little area was getting deserted as each lap more runners had packed up and left.

A funny thing happened after lap 14. My name went on the leaders list. Me. Slow poke-o-rama. Annette was blowing away everyone, men, women, and relays. I think she ended up with 23 laps. I know she lapped me at least 6 times that I remember. But I was tied for 4th with 3 other women. Haha. Maybe they had quit? No. They were still out there running but slowing down according to the lap counter. Ok. So, I had run 42 miles. It was 8:15 and starting to get dark. I had my mileage PR. I had my time PR. Did I do the smart thing and pack up? Heck no! There was now a challenge to be met. Women to beat!

So, I grab my headlamp and head back out for lap 15. The trails had been marked with glowsticks so that was pretty cool. Thankfully it was a bit cooler but now I had to be really careful with my footing. Did not want to take a header in the dark. I had an older gentleman running behind me the entire loop. He had no light and I was his guide. Lap 15 done. They are still ahead of me according to the lap counter but one was feeling sick so they were going slow. I grab a quick drink and a couple Twizzlers and go. It is 9:00PM and full dark by this time. I truck along for about a mile and then spot 3 lights in the distance. YES! As I get closer I see that it is 3 women. I have no idea if these are the 3 I am tied with but I'm thinking probably yes. I forget my aches and pains and tired legs and pick up the pace a bit. I pass them and know I have about 2 miles left to the finish. It is very spooky in the woods but kinda cool at the same time with the glowsticks hanging from trees and bushes. I run very gingerly trying to pick up my feet to avoid the roots and rocks. Can not fall and bust my butt this late in the game. It seems to take forever to cover those last 2 mile but eventually I see the glow of the bonfire through the trees. I glance behind me and all I see is glowsticks. I have done it. 48 miles. 11 hours 45 minutes. I can hardly believe that I really went that far. Wow.

For an unplanned, untrained for event, this went far better than I had expected. I don't have any idea how my recovery will go this week and if I'll be able to run the Boogie on Saturday. If at all possible I will be there. I really enjoyed this race. I'm going to have to search around for another 12 hour in the fall or spring to see if I can do better with cooler temps. There's always another challenge to be met!

PS....the results went online today. I did not get 4th, I tied for 2nd in the 12 hour event behind Annette Bednosky. A couple of the ladies I thought I was tied with for 4th were actually running the 24 hour event. 2nd place. I am totally blown away.

A Change in Races this Weekend

2010-06-02T18:34:00.002-04:00

Soooo, I'm signed up for the Chattooga 50K this Sunday. I really want to run in the woods. But I have looked at the weather and the limited amount of aid on the course and I am bagging it. Predicted high of 93 degrees!! And I am slow so I would be out there for hours in the 90+ degree weather. I am not ready for that. Very disappointing but I have found a back up race to make me a little happier. Will be heading up to Black Mountain for the 12/24 hour Awesomeness race instead. High of about 80 degrees and the course is a 3 mile loop with lots of aid. That makes me feel a little better especially with Paul in Alaska fishing. If I pass out from heat stroke or exhaustion at least I will be close to a hospital :-)

I will only run the 12 hour option. I haven't run over 9.5 hours so this will be a challenge. Dare I hope to run at least 50? Maybe I should set my goals lower...40 miles and see how it goes. Whatever, it will be a mileage PR for sure. Hate to miss meeting some of you all at Chattooga but plenty more races coming up!

Paris Mountain 15K

2010-05-30T12:19:00.005-04:00

Ran this little gem yesterday. Paris Mountain is located to the north of Greenville, SC. This is about an hour drive for me. I've run the 11K version of this race a couple times. The 15K adds another run up and down the backside of the mountain to add to the overall fun of the race.

This is advertised as rooty, rocky, single track trail with grueling uphills and treacherous downhills for the hardcore trail runners. Well, I'm not real hardcore but I do enjoy running the trails. I knew my time would be pretty slow after my previous weekend's marathon but I could not pass this up. After some rain storms the past couple days I figured they could also add muddy and humid to the mix!

The race started out on the access road into the park. After about a 1/4 mile we were directed onto the trail and the fun began. I stayed well to the back because I knew I was going to be really challenged. You were either running up or down. This picture was taken along the only really flat section of the race around mile 5.5 I think.

Here's the elevation profile.

I just kept chugging along. Passed a few people along the last 2-3 miles. It was really humid and they had no extra water with them. I had carried my handheld and sucked it dry between each of the 3 aid stations. Probably overdid it a bit but did not want to have any heat related problems. I managed to run the whole race without face planting although I did have some spectacular tripping with windmilling arms or grabbing a tree to catch myself events!

2 hours and 10 minutes later I trotted across the finish line. Summer had finished almost 15 minutes in front of me and snagged 3rd in her age group. They only announced the 1st place winner in the 50-54 AG. I figured they had printed up the awards list prior to my finishing so I told the RD my time and he gave me the AG award (bag) for finishing in 2nd. In checking the results on line today my name doesn't show up at all. They are checking into it but the time where I finished fits with who I know was running in front of me and behind me. I finished 159th out of 175. The only AG winner to finish in over 2 hours. Haha.

Where did May go?

2010-05-30T10:02:00.003-04:00

My poor blog has been quite neglected lately. May is just a very busy month with school finishing up and both girls keeping me going in all directions. Molly plays soccer for her middle school, so many afternoons were spent watching her play. She was on track for an absolutely awesome season. Leading the team in goals and assists when she was brutally taken down by an over aggressive player on an opposing team. This same player has taken out 3 other girls on other teams in our conference and all she has been given is yellow cards. Diagnosis for Molly was a stress fracture in her right ankle and her season was over. Crutches for several weeks and she is still in an ankle imobilizer thingy. She can't play any sports until July 1st. That cuts out 2 soccer camps, a volleyball camp, and her beach volleyball league. To say she is upset is putting it mildly.

And then Melanie was involved in a car accident. She was down in Greenville, SC and got into a pretty bad wreck. Some girl pulled right out in front of her and Mel t-boned her going 45mph. Naturally she calls me 2 minutes after it happened and all I hear is hysterical sobbing and something about an accident. That's a heart stopping phone call. I think I set a land speed record for flying down the mountain without getting a ticket. Greenville is an hour drive on a good day, I got there in about 45 minutes! Luckily her car had air bags galore and she only suffered some pretty nasty bruising, air bag burns, and minor cuts. What a horrible scary day. I always worry every time she pulls out of the driveway and then this happens. She hasn't driven since then. She is afraid and she doesn't want to drive my hulking SUV. Plus we haven't received the insurance check yet so can't replace her car. Her little Caliber was totalled. Brand new car with only 15,000 miles on it. I don't mind being her taxi driver for school and work, but I had gotten used to her being pretty independent. It's taken some adjustments. Hopefully we'll get her back in her own car soon. I am so thankful that she is alive and well.

Despite all that, I have done some training and run some races.....

Blue Ridge Parkway Marathon (April 24th)
Enoree Passage 30 Mile option (May 9th)
Scenic City Trail Marathon (May 22nd)
Paris Mountain 15K (May 29th)

DNS the Twisted Ankle Trail Marathon on the 15th. Just could not work it out logistically with Paul out of town and Mel with no car to get back and forth to work. Was able to volunteer at the Biltmore Estate 15K on the 16th and that was quite fun. Interesting being on the other side of the aid station table.

3 weeks...3 races

2010-04-19T20:32:00.003-04:00

Black Mountain Splashdown 15K

(ignore camera dates, I am technologically challenged in that department)

Getting close to the top.

The lake at the start/finish.

The sweep was so nice to take this picture.

Go climb that mountain and come back down again!

(Note to self....stop running crap with mountain in the name. That cannot possibly be anything good.) This was a very low key 15K in Black Mountain. It was on the Blue Ridge Assembly grounds and total killer. I should have gotten back in my car after hearing the the RD describe the course. The almost total lack of runners should have been another dead give-away. 7 women! 7! And they were all skinny and athletic looking with compression socks and muscular biceps and gnarly looking trail shoes. I was for sure going to be DFL. No doubt in my mind.

So, basically, you climbed up some big freaking mountain for the first half of the race and then you ran back down. I can generally run slow up most grades but not this one. I was having a hard time walking forward for much of the race. I didn't carry any water cause I figured heck, this was a measly 15K, and they said there was aid stations. There was one. It was at mile 2. I got to the summit and was just parched. No water. Just some guy marking bibs and turning us back around. Did I mention that I was DFL to the summit? Me and the sweep. Yipee! An hour and 25 minutes to go 4.5/5 miles. That had to be some kind of record for crappiest race ever.

So, I'm thirsty and in last place but now we get to go back down. I can deal with that. And I can run downhill. I felt like an antelope sorta. Or maybe a goat. Whatever. I did make up some time going back down and picked off one other runner so I was NOT DFL. Whoop whoop! 40 minutes to get back to the finish line where I immediately headed to the water container to find it totally empty. WTH!!! No water on the course, no water at the finish (except the lake). Where exactly was the Splashdown in this race????? They did have some excellent homemade chocolate chip cookies that I availed myself of about a dozen. And I did have some water in my car so all was not a total mess up.

With only 7 women there was no way I was not going to win an award. 1st AG. Out of 1. Whatever.

Inaugural Dupont Forest Trail 1/2 Marathon

This is one of my favorite places to run. Beautiful woods, nice trails, never very crowded. I'd run the marathon version 2 times and was curious to see what trails they would use for just a half. Much to my disappointment, no single track, just the wide gravel forest service roads. Less chance of face planting but also less interesting.

The race had sold out months in advance so a very large crowd at the start. I barely got through packet pick-up in time and even then had to dash into the woods for a last minute potty break when I saw the lines at the port-a-pots. Saw many Asheville Track Club friends either running or working as volunteers so that was nice. Weather was perfect, low 40's, so I started in a long sleeved tech shirt but it ended up around my waist in short order.

The first 2 miles were a nice downhill. I tried not to think about having to run back up those hills to the finish. The crowd had spread out quite nicely within a couple miles and I ran with a group of women most of the race. Not much talking but we all seemed to be running the same pace so hung together. No real flat areas in this race. If you weren't going up, you were going down. Except for one mile where you run along an abandoned airstrip at the top of a long climb. I didn't have a watch or Garmin with me so had no idea of my pace. Was just running comfortably. Finally asked one of our group what time she had when we hit 7 miles and I was pleasantly surprised by her answer. I was running about a minute per mile faster than I had anticipated. Quite happy to be doing that well on such a hilly course.

Was able to maintain that pace even back up the long 2 mile climb to the finish. Very satisfied with my 2:22 even tho it was well off any kind of PR. I felt good the entire race and was just thrilled to be able to run my 2nd trail run in 2 weeks over a difficult course. The race was very well run and I hope they bring it back next year.

Mainstay Mountain Medley 10 Mile Race

OK, this one had mountain in the title too but I knew this one was as flat a race as you can find in western NC. It was also an Asheville Track Club Grand Prix event so all the fasty fast speedsters were there to pick up race points. Lots of familiar faces at this race too, I had a great time chatting with a bunch of new and old friends before the race. I never realized how much I missed seeing some of these running friends with all the long distance races I ran in 2009. I didn't run any ATC races at all. Was nice to get caught back up with some of my buds.

The race started and ended at Camp Green Cove on the shores of Lake Summit. There was really only one hill on the course. It came right after mile 3 and was less than a half mile. Plus the going back down was sweet! The rest of the race was flat, flat, flat along the shoreline of Lake Summit. I got in a groove early and ran with 2 other ladies. This time I did have my watch and got a bit concerned when I noticed that I was running quite a bit faster than my planned training run pace. But, I was feeling strong and able to talk so figured it wasn't too fast.

Hit the halfway point at 52 minutes. That was about 3 minutes faster than my planned pace. I began to think a possible PR in the making. Old lady PR anyway. Kept on pushing myself just to see if I could hold that pace. Dropped one of my friends and then my other friend started upping the pace a bit. I let her go since I was already at my comfort limit. Ended up running the last 5 miles a minute faster than the first 5 for a final time of 1:43. My initial goal was 1:50 so I totally killed that time. Lots of good eats at the end and ended up 3rd in my AG. Got a little ceramic plaque thingy for my "I love me" shrine.

A little bit of tapering this week. Looking forward to the Inaugural BlueRidge Parkway Marathon this weekend. Forecast is rain but after Knoxville...no big deal :-)

Knoxville Marathon

2010-04-06T10:32:00.007-04:00

Cassidy and Molly (on left) before the 5K

Summer and I prerace

This was planned as a family weekend. We traveled to Chattanooga Friday evening. Our youngest daughter, Molly, plays club volleyball and was in a tournament all day on Saturday there. Finished that up around 4:00 and headed up to Knoxville where we met up with Summer and her daughter, Cassidy. Summer had picked up our race packets so did not have to go to the expo and be tempted to buy things I didn't need! Enjoyed a nice pasta dinner at Carraba's and tucked into bed by 10. Only to be awakened at 12, 2, and 3 by drunks and a barking dog that was illegally in the room across the hall. And this was the Hilton. Not some fly by night trash hotel. Totally PO'd. Called the front desk, they did nothing except say the dog was not supposed to be there. YA THINK!

The hotel was only 2 blocks from the start so did not have to get up too terribly early. The girls were running the 5K so they came with us to the start line. It was drizzly with rain predicted for the entire race. Not real thrilled with that but what can you do? We gave the girls last minute instructions on what to do when they finished their race and then we headed out onto the street. Almost immediately ran into a friend from another running board. We ended up running the 1st half together which was really nice to have someone to talk to. Summer is faster than me and she was out of sight before we had run a half mile :-)

The first half of the course is quite scenic. You run through the University of TN, along a river, through some very ritzy neighbors, and along a very nice greenway. The miles seemed to slip by easily even tho the course was very hilly. I knew I was probably running too fast but that was OK. I always slow down in the 2nd half of a marathon, that's just the way it is with me. So, we get to the 12 mile mark and my buddy heads for the half marathon finish. I am all alone the rest of the race. The half marathoners vastly outnumbered the full so the back half of the course was very lonely. Finished the first half in 2:24.

Kept plugging along. I could feel my motivation slipping as the miles continued to roll by. Had to make a lengthy pit stop on mile 15. Tummy was not happy. Ran the entire race on water and whatever the electrolyte drink was. That contributed to my slowing too. Then around mile 17 the skies opened up. Massive thunderstorm. Luckily I had kept my rain jacket with me. It helped a little but my hands were freezing! I pulled them up into my sleeves and kept on slogging. The back half of this course is just plain boring. Lots of industrial areas, some neighborhoods, a desolate highway. There was one neat neighborhood, I think it was Islands something. Some people were actually out cheering there. The rain did eventually taper off and had stopped by the time I reached the finish. The last miles of the course took you back through downtown Knoxville and right by our hotel. Hubby, Molly, and Cassidy were out front cheering as I trotted by. The girls ran a ways with me then had to stop. They had on flipflops!

The finish line is on the 50 yd. line in the TN stadium. Kinda cool especially if you're a TN fan (I'm not). Recieved a nice finishers hat and medal. Then you are hustled off the field and cannot come back in that way at all if you want to take pictures. No eats at the stadium. You had to walk a couple blocks to the basketball arena where they had a very nice spread set up. Pizza, chilli dogs, cookies, brownies, all kinds of yummy stuff.

Here's a link to the finish line photos.

http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=60386&BIB=173&LNSEARCH=1

I ended up finishing 4th/9 in my age group. Quite surprising as I really did not have a good finishing time. It was 10 minutes faster than Ellerbe but still not back under 5 hours where I want to get back to.

Molly finished 8th/34 in her age group in the 5K. And she does not train at all. She runs for 2 hours a day at soccer practice so I guess that keeps her in shape:-)

A pace run

2010-03-22T21:07:00.002-04:00

I haven't done a pace run since I can remember when. I ran a couple recovery runs after Ellerbe this past week and then on Sunday just felt like doing a pace run. We have a 0.65 loop around our local park that I decided to run on. It is a bit hilly but nothing extreme. The weather was coolish and raining so very few people out and about. A couple dog people braved the rain for awhile and then a family of four made one loop before hustling back into their car. I just kept going around and around and around (15 loops)......

Now granted, I am slower than a snail so my pace runs are nothing to really brag about other than the fact that I think I did a fairly good job keeping a steady pace for almost 10 miles :-) My goal was 7 minutes for each loop.

My splits and cummulative difference from goal pace:
7:05 +5
7:02 +7
7:07 +14
6:53 +7
6:56 +3
6:50 -7
7:00 -7
7:05 -2
6:55 -7
6:46 -21
6:39 -42
6:58 -44
7:03 -41
7:03 -38
6:38 -60

Started out a little slow then overcorrected and finished a minute faster than planned. Did not feel tired at all. Hope a bit of this energy is still with me on Sunday for Knoxville.

I'm Baaaccckkkk!

2010-03-21T11:00:00.002-04:00

After a bit of an unscheduled break in racing due to the crappy winter, I am back trying to run as many marathons/ultras as my life will allow. Totally disappointed in the 4 I didn't get to do....

Freedom Park Ultra on New Year's Eve. Was going to be my first shot at a distance over a 50K. DNS due to icy road conditions.

Back up 50K (Tsali Frosty Foot Fest) on Jan. 2nd. I did this race last year and finished last. Had a dizzy spell with a couple miles to go and was scared to death I was going to die out in the woods all alone. They had even less support this year so I decided not to risk it especially with roads still messed up from another storm.

Callaway Gardens Marathon....once again. An ice storm the night before. Not safe to travel.

Myrtle Beach. Made the trip down with my family in tow. Met another runner friend for a nice dinner out. Watched the pretty snow fall. Race cancelled. ARGH.

Did get to run Black Mountain Marathon. Race report is here....
http://www.tapermadness.org/tm_phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=11074

Did run Ellerbe Springs Marathon. Race report is here also.
http://www.tapermadness.org/tm_phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=11098

The weather is finally looking like spring although I saw a day predicted with snow showers next week. I'm thinking...NO! Will be running Knoxville Marathon next weekend and then will make a decision about SweetH2O. Want to run it but will see how Knoxville turns out. I am slow, slow, slow and SweetH2O has a cut-off. I only made it with 15 minutes to spare last year. Water crossings sound like they're going to be even worse this year with all the rain/snow we've had in the south this year. FUN!

Health issues

2010-01-10T12:01:00.002-05:00

I'm in a bit of a funk. My running has really fallen off with this cold weather. I am NOT a cold weather runner. With weeks of sub freezing temps, snow, ice, wind chills I have had to resort to the treadmill. Unfortunately I took a nasty spill and trashed my knees. Thankfully it will not show up on Youtube and I will not post a picture of the gruesome outcome!

Did not run either of my planned ultras. Weather was a factor but motivation played a role also :-(

Now for the really scary stuff. Had my annual physical last week. My blood pressure was sky high. 160/85. What the heck? I'm a runner. I don't drink. I don't smoke. My job isn't too stressful. How can I have high blood pressure? How is this possible? How could I run for 8-9 hours and have this problem?

So, for now I am going on the DASH diet. Losing 10-15 lbs. can only help. I have a home BP monitor. The readings I have taken range from normal to high 130's. I go back in a couple weeks for a reevaluation. I guess I will keep running. It hasn't killed me yet.

I'm hoping to run something in January. Maybe Callaway Gardens Marathon on the 31st. That'll be 7 weeks from Thunder Road. That's a long time between races for me. I might have to actually run some long runs between now and then :-)

Christmas 2009

2009-12-22T23:39:00.003-05:00

All 4 of the kiddies were home this year for a couple days before they had to travel to other destinations. Bryan and Ashley broke the news of "baby makes 3" while they were here :-) 1st grandchild on both sides of the family. The baby is due in July. Since they live in California I'm thinking a trip out there in early August would be fun. Will have to find a race or two to occupy my time!

Kiddies....Ashley, Bryan, Molly, Melanie, Brett I've been doing some running. The snow and ice messed things up for several days. I HATE the treadmill so tried to at least make it a few miles outside when the roads got a little better. The weather forecast for the New Year's Eve ultra is looking worse every day. 40's and rain. Uggg. I may go run for a few hours and see how it goes. Can always switch to the Tsali Frosty Foot Fest 50K on the 2nd. Hmmmm, come to think of it, ran that in 40's and rain last year.

Thunder Road RR

2009-12-18T13:07:00.001-05:00

I ran this race last year and thought it was pretty good for a road race. It was much bigger this year with about 5000 runners, 2/3rds of which were half marathoners. Parking was a breeze as I got there very early and was able to snag a spot in the Westin parking garage. It was right across the street from the convention center where the expo was located and the starting line. Sweet! I spent very little time at the expo, just enough to pick up my packet and browse a couple of the vendor booths. Met up with a fellow tapermadness friend and we chatted for awhile before I had to run back over to my car and get everything ready.

Made it back to the start line with about 5 minutes to spare. Lots of runners dressed as santas, reindeer, elves, etc. It was 32 degrees and was not expected to get above 40, so I wore tights, a couple tech shirts, gloves and hat. Was very comfortable the entire race. We were off right on time and I made a conscious effort not to get sucked in with all the fast half runners. I had run the first couple miles last year at an 8:30 pace and paid the price later in the race.

This is a pretty hilly road race but nothing compared to some of the trails I've run this year. The aid stations were 2 miles apart. Sporadic spectator support, mainly around the aid stations. The first half of the race winds through southern Charlotte. Lots of McMansions. I was able to maintain a pretty good pace despite the mob of runners and hills. Talked to several manics. One guy was running his 14th marathon in 9 weeks. He had only 3 left to complete all 50 states. Impressive.

Way overhydrated so spent too much time waiting in portajohn lines on the front half. They only had one per aid station and there was usually 5-10 runners waiting. Went across the half timing mat almost 7 minutes slower this year than last. The back half of the course was not as scenic. Lots of industrial areas and seedier areas of Charlotte. The pack had thinned out quite substantially with the half runners gone. There were a couple areas on the back half that I really enjoyed. One was a percussion band playing under an overpass right by the Panther's stadium. They were awesome. Wish I could have stopped to listen for while but needed to keep on keeping on. Another area was in the North Davidison area (NoDa). Lots of block parties. One group had constructed a wall with a hole in it for us to run through. I think it said "Don't hit the wall, slap it." This was around mile 21. Another huge party around mile 24. I remember them from last year. Much bigger this year with a live band playing and people handing out beer to the runners as they went by. I declined. :-)

I ran very strong the back half. I was passing all kinds of runners in the last 6 miles. I ended up running the back half 9 minutes faster than last year! Very happy with that. Legs felt great despite the pounding on the city streets. Crossed the finish line and was looking forward to some goodies to eat and drink. We got a bottle of poweraide and if you looked hard, you might have found the Snickers marathon bar table. That was it. Oh, and some green bananas. I guess I am just spoiled from the great trail races I have run this year with all their goodies to eat along the way.

They gave out 2 tech shirts this year. One at the expo and one as you crossed the finish line. That was pretty nice. I can always use shirts.

Very heavy medal. Probably one of the best ones in my collection. I thought it a bit odd that it did not have the year on it tho.

This was a shirt I bought at the expo. Could not pass it up :-)

Minimal soreness. I took one day off and then started back with a nice 5 miler in 60 degree weather on Monday. Gotta take advantage of the good weather when you can (as I write this we are in the middle of major snowstorm).

I guess I'll come up with some kind of training plan between now and my 24 hour ultra New Year's eve. Am on Christmas break from school so have lots of time to get some quality runs in.

Snow Day!

2009-12-18T12:44:00.002-05:00

Our last day of school before Christmas break turned into an extra day off. Lots of snow falling and more predicted all the way into tomorrow. I just hope they keep the runway clear at the Asheville airport so my son and daughter-in-law make it in OK from California tomorrow.

Dasher, Donder, and Blitzen are all ready for the holidays.

Darling daughter heading out to enjoy the snow.

View from our front porch.

No running outside. Will probably hit the treadmill later after the cookie baking and present wrapping is finished.

Little running, lots of eating

2009-12-08T21:19:00.003-05:00

Crazy, busy, no time to run. This week looks like a total wash unless I can squeeze in a quick run before I have to take Molly to volleyball practice tomorrow night. Not too overly concerned, the legs are probably happy with some extended rest time but little running and holiday eating is making me feel plumpish.

I'm not so much concerned about the chilly/rainy weather for the race. The weather is looking rather iffy up here in the mountains Saturday morning. I'm really worried about the wintery mix predicted. I do not want my 16 year old daughter driving herself to work in icy conditions. If it is at all icy, I will have to bag the race and take her to work myself since Paul is out flying this weekend. Family first. Always.

Thanks to the heads up from David Ray. Signed up for Twisted Ankle Marathon today!

Post race musings

2009-12-02T21:20:00.003-05:00

1. Soreness post race. Very little. So little that I went out and ran with only one day of rest on Monday. Another 4 miles yesterday but took today off. Didn't feel like running in the monsoon! Clearing skies tomorrow so looking forward to a nice 5 miler.

2. If I had run the marathon distance Saturday I would have placed 4th overall woman with the time I had after my 5th lap. Much prefered the PR on the 50K tho :-)

3. When your children ask you if you'd rather have trail running or road racing gear for Christmas does that indicate anything obsessive about yourself?

4. Got my Runner's World magazine today. There was an article on a survey of runner's favorite marathons. No wonder I couldn't get into Chickamauga Marathon this year. It was rated most family friendly, runner up most scenic, and 3rd best overall. I ran it in 2007 and really need to go back and run it again, I agree wholeheartedly with the survey.

5. Best overall marathon.....Missoula Marathon. Perhaps a road trip this summer? Surely a July race in Montana would be much preferable to Grandfather Mountain again!

6. Wondering when Twisted Ankle registration will open. I WILL get into that race this year.

7. Moon Pie's new Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies. Need I say more?

Bartram Forest 50K

2009-11-29T16:05:00.005-05:00

I was quite unhappy at having to miss the Monkey but consoled myself knowing that this race was the next weekend. It was a bit of a haul driving down in the morning (4 hours) but getting up at 3 or 3:30 AM for races has started to become something of a routine. Made it to the race site with about a half hour to spare and quickly checked in and got my gear ready. The website listed about 100 pre-registered runners in the fun run (15.75 miles), marathon, and 50K but it didn't seem like that many at the start. I later learned that some runners started early and were already out on the course. I was leaving my options open for either the marathon or 50K depending on how I felt. Hopefully not as crappy as my race 2 weeks ago.

This is a picture of the main aid station as you circle the lake. The main aid station was incredible! A veritable ultra runners smorgasbord. A new entry in Lynne's favorite ultra foods is now grilled cheese sandwiches, closely followed by rice krispie treats. There was one other aid station on the course located near mile 3.5. It was well stocked with fluids and munchies.

The course was a mixtures of single track, grassy meadows, forested logging roads, and wide hiking paths. Very runnable in most places. It was a lot of ups and downs but nothing punishing. There was one long hill but a very gradual grade and then one shorter hill with a steeper grade. Dry weather in the previous days was good in that the couple low lying areas were basically dry. There were a couple muddy areas (one of which I fell into after tripping on a sappling stump) but like the race website indicated...trail shoes not necessary.

After partially circling the lake, the race turned up a beautiful single track. This section was way too short to my liking. Probably less than a mile and then you popped out onto gravel/dirt roads and trails bushwacked through meadows.

I about got my eye poked out several times by this tree. It was directly across the trail as you ran by and right at my eye level.

This was the main hill on the course. There were a couple other ones but run this one 6 times and see how happy you are by the last time you have to go up it!

The unmanned aid station out near mile 3.5. These goodies showed up in time for my last lap of the day.

Leaving the aid station you get to look down this hill. Towards the bottom you could see the trail and runners coming out of the woods and going across. I was happy that we got to meander through the woods a bit and gradually reach the bottom.

Nice little gear bag and gingerbread treats at the finish. I'm pretty sure I did not finish 3rd in the 50K but they shoved it into my hand when I finished.

I had an absolutely awesome day. This being a loop course (5.25 miles) I decided that I would try and run each lap in less than an hour and cut down on my aid station grazing/chatting. The weather was perfect (upper 30's at the start and low 60's finish) so I didn't have to worry as much about fluids. If it had been any hotter tho I probably would have taken a handheld with only one aid station at 3.5 miles.

My splits:

Loop 1.....56:08 aid station 2:21

Loop 2.... 57:41 aid station 1:52

Loop 3.....57:36 aid station 1:49

So, at the half way point I was sitting at 2:57. I was extremey happy with my consistancy. Visions of a sub 6 started popping up in my calculations.

Loop 4....58:41 aid station 4:45

About a minute slower on the loop and then the stop totally killed my time. I had to change shoes, change a shirt that was bothering me with a neck label rubbing, and then waited in line for the one bathroom for way too long :-(

Loop 5...59:25 aid station 1:45

At this point I had to make a decision. Kill myself trying to run my fastest loop of the day to make it in under 6 hours or enjoy the day and still get a huge 50K PR. Not a hard decision in the least. I grabbed my camera and took pictures along the way plus got the added benefit of meeting up with Terri Hayes out at the unmanned aid station. Talked about her 2010 ultra series for a few minutes.

Loop 6.....1:05.

Got back to the finish area. Laid back race. No one was counting laps or anything like that. When you finished you ran along the side of the pavilion and someone took your picture and gave you a gingerbread person. I didn't know about that so I finished and wandered over to the food tables. Someone asked if I had just finished and I said yes. They directed me to the finish area. So an extra minute or so on my "official" time.

Officially.....6:08:09

Huge PR for me. My best 50K of the year was the Tsali back in January where Summer and I finished in 7.5 hours. I still think that race was at least 34-35 miles tho.

Physically I felt like I could run several more laps. I had a couple areas of concern.... hip flexors were aching a bit. My right knee was starting to yip at me and I knew I was going to have a huge bruise from the fall. Must have hit another tree stump when I landed.

I accomplished everything I wanted to in this race. This is a great little run in the woods for anyone wanting to lower their 50K time. If I can do it, anyone can :-)

Turkey Day

2009-11-26T13:30:00.003-05:00

We actually had our Thanksgiving dinner last night as Paul had to go to work today. As much as I envy his work hours as a corporate jet pilot ( 1 week on, 1 week off), I would hate to have to work the holidays. He also has to work Christmas :-( Maybe he'll get some good tips from his richy rich passengers this weekend.

So, I spent most of yesterday in the kitchen but am kicking back today. Have gotten to run 4 days in a row which is amazing for me. The weather has been beautiful after the endless rain moved out a couple days ago. Will rest tomorrow and then up early Saturday morning to head down to Milledgeville, GA for the Bartram Forest 50K. Looks a big crowd this year and the weather is going to be perfect! I know nothing about the course but I did see power lines on the course map. Surely they can't be as bad as SweetH2O or Mystery Mountain? Surely not?? I do like the loop design of the course. Shorter loops than Lynch's Woods so that will be appreciated. No real goal in mind. I'd like to cut some time off my last 50K if the course is fairly easy. We shall see.

No Monkey

2009-11-21T08:17:00.002-05:00

A family related problem is going to cause me to cancel out of the Monkey this year. I don't think it will affect my race next weekend but very disappointed to be missing the Monkey :-(

Rutledge Marathon

2009-11-15T10:12:00.007-05:00

Ran this one last year in absolutely miserable weather. Here's a link to my last year's report:
http://www.tapermadness.org/tm_phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=9658

This year, the weather was perfect. Summer, Kevin, and I hit the road around 4AM. We had to take a major detour around the rock slide on I40. Not much traffic at that time of day so we made good time and arrived about an hour early. Easy check-in. We each got to pick a jar of preserves and also some breakfast items. I choose apple butter and a blueberry muffin.

The 3 amigos prior to the start. It was chilly (38) so I wore my flying monkey shirt the first loop.

The breakfast of champions!

This was a double loop course. The first 6 miles were mainly downhill along the main highway into Rutledge, TN. There were a couple loops thrown in with steepish hills but nothing too terribly difficult. It's not a very scenic course so I was taking pictures of cows, goats, horses, and random buildings. I was ready to head here the 2nd time around.

Your basic view of the course the first 6 miles. Do you see any other runners? This was the 2nd loop and it was just me out there by myself after the half marathoners finished up.

I appreciated the random port-a-potty. This was just sitting in someone's front yard. No aid station in sight.

This building looked kinda historical and important so I snapped a picture of it. I think it was called the Grainger House? This being Grainger County and all you know :-)

A pretty little church in downtown Rutledge.

You arrive in downtown Rutledge around mile 6ish, spend about a mile running up the main street and then the last 6 miles were run on a frontage road. Here's the view the last 6 miles. It was a long, gradually up hill climb back to the farm.

Got back to the farm in 2:28. Not real happy with that time but what can you do other than keep on chugging. I thought about dropping at the half but have never DNF'd. Tossed the long sleeved shirt in the car since it had warmed up quite nicely and went back out for the 2nd loop. The scenery did not get any more interesting the 2nd time around.

Summer, Kevin, and I at the finish. Summer took 1st in her AG. Kevin took 2nd. And pokey me took 1st. Out of 2. Whoopee!

This was a well run race. The RD fixed everything that people complained about last year. The aid stations were great. Tons of police present out on the course. Nice long sleeved t-shirt. Cool acrylic finisher's medal and AG award plaques.

I didn't have an especially good day. Stomach cramps on the first loop and then back pains on the 2nd. I have no idea what that was all about. Maybe the back pains were due to it being a road course. I've gotten so used to trails and gravel roads that all that jarring from a harder surface maybe caused my back to hurt?

This course was probably a very PRable course. I know Summer ran a PR on it and cut 10 minutes off her last year's time. It got a bad rap last year but it was the first year and like I said before, everything was so much better this year. I felt kinda bad for the RD cause there were only 28 runners in the marathon (9 women) and this being a charity race he probably did not meet his goal. He told Kevin that a bunch of the half marathon runners had fund raised tho and their donations were much better than last year. That made me feel better.

So, overall a beautiful day for a run. A week to rest up a bit and then the Monkey!!

Another year older

2009-11-13T18:51:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday was my 52nd birthday. My wonderful family gave me some awesome running attire. Can't wait for the weather to be cool enough to wear my new camo/tights combo. Maybe for the Monkey?

Paul really worries about me running the streets when the days get dark so early. So, this great Brooks vest and cap will surely make me stand out! The cap even has a flashing strobe light on the back velcro fastener. Nice!

Why does my knee hurt the night before I'm going to run a race? Hasn't hurt one bit in the 3 weeks since R2B but now all of a sudden I have a strange pain on the top of my kneecap. Guess I better go get my gear packed. It's up at 3:30 for the drive over to Rutledge, TN. Weather looks great and the 3 amigos are off for another adventure.

Veteran's Day

2009-11-12T09:44:00.003-05:00

Yes, this is a day late but today I am taking the day off to go eat lunch at Molly's school. They honor all parents who are vets with a nice lunch. I went last year too. Molly is probably a pretty unique child. Not only is her dad a retired Marine, but her Mom (me) spent 5 years on active duty in the Marines. Both her brothers are vets. Bryan is in the Air Force and Brett also spent 5 years in the Marines. Plus, both her grandfathers were Air Force vets as well as 3 of her uncles. I don't think many kids can claim that many veterans in their immediate family. They served in all wars and conflicts from WWII up until today's war in IRAQ. So, here's a big salute to the men and women of the Evans and Haase families for their service to our country!

Finishing out the Year

2009-11-11T11:03:00.002-05:00

Recovery from Ridge to Bridge went very smoothly. Minimal soreness and back running 2 days later. Not running any huge distances with 3 races coming up this month. Just maintaining fitness.

Added some more races to my calendar. Hopefully I'll be able to run them all. My goal is to reach 30 marathons/ultras by year's end. I'm sitting at 25 right now. My racing will take a backseat to family obligations starting in January. Molly's club volleyball team starts traveling all over the state to their tournaments just about every weekend. I do have a couple marathons lined up in February....Myrtle Beach and Black Mountain. Fortunately they were both on off volleyball weekends. :-)

Ridge to Bridge Marathon

2009-10-25T08:37:00.006-04:00

Ceramic leaf medal

Medal with long sleeved tech shirt

More swag

Forgot my camera, forgot my cell phone, so no race pics with this one. Up and on the road by 4AM for the 2 hour drive down to Brown Mountain Beach. This being a point to point race, we loaded up at the campground for a 45 min. ride up the mountain to Jonas Ridge. I had been expecting something like school buses so was pleasantly surprised to see that our chariots were very nice chartered buses with bathrooms! Quite warm and humid at the campground but when we arrived at the start it was chilly with a stiff wind blowing. I was happy to have a long-sleeved t-shirt to hang around in.

Chatted with several Maniacs, and the mother (Anne-Marie) of one of my daughter's classic soccer team members who was also running. We were missing their last soccer game of the season for this race but the dad's had it handled :-) Also saw Autumn, one of my fellow tapermadness friends, and wished her luck. Many familiar faces from the Wild Hare marathon.

The first 6 miles of this race are on rolling asphalt roads with a short out and back section after mile 4. Some pretty good climbs but also great downhills. I could feel that my legs were still tired from M3 so was running very conservatively and averaging 11 min miles. Around mile 3 started seeing the front runners heading back our way. Autumn was running great and in the top 20 women. Recognized ultra runner Annette Bednosky. When I got to the turn around I could see that there were only about 30 people behind me!! Lots of fast runners in this race today. Hit the aid station at 6 miles and then the downhill dirt road began. This was naturally my favorite part of the race since I love downhills.

The course was beautiful with leaves in full color. I thought this part of the race would be muddy with all the rain we'd had the previous day but only a little mud and some puddles scattered around. Perfect running surface for me. I continued to try and run 11 min. miles and was pretty successful. Altho this section was mainly downhill, there were a couple good uphills, one at mile 9 that I ended up walking. I passed a few people in this section and finally dropped a couple run/walkers that were driving me crazy. My half split was 2:21 and I had thoughts of a sub 5 hour race if I could maintain my pace.

All too soon the downhill ended at mile 15 and the real race began. The last 11 miles was a nice dirt/gravel road along a river. Mostly flat. Good marathoners probably just ate this section up. Runners with tired legs (me) endured a long, slow, run to the end. I knew I was in trouble when I hit the flat section. Just no go with the legs. It's pretty humbling when you hit the wall at mile 17 :-( There were others in worse shape than me tho. I passed at least 10 runners in this last section even as slow as I was going. The day had also warmed up considerably and with little shade along this stretch I began to regret not carrying water with me (I think it was about 73 at the finish).

But, I just kept slogging along. Enjoying the fall foliage and the river tumbling along beside the road. Talking to the awesome volunteers at the aid stations while I scarfed down the assorted goodies. Arrived back at the campground and ran the loop around to the finish. 5:13. Not my worst marathon but pretty close. I was a little disappointed in my failure to reach sub 5 but consoled myself with the thought that I cut 15 minutes from my Wild Hare time :-)

Received a very nice ceramic leaf-shaped medal. Tons of BBQ, veggies, pizza, and desserts at the finish. Award winners received beautiful hand made pottery. Very nice indeed.

This is a great race. David and Rhonda Lee, the Brown Mountain Running Club, and the hordes of volunteers do a fantastic job. They're runners and they know what we like and appreciate.

Mystery Mountain Marathon

2009-10-17T11:44:00.012-04:00

M3...Mystery Mountain Marathon

Was this the mystery? No, I think the mystery is more along the lines of how slow can you actually run a marathon and not be embarrased? This one came pretty close.

From the website for the Mystery Mountain Marathon……

Difficult, sometimes technical trails with long, extended climbs, over and around Fort Mountain. Other words of warning from the course description….rocky, rooty, single-track, cambered, narrow and footing is difficult, steep power line trail, beautiful, challenging, passes through pine and scrub laurel thickets, upland hardwood and cove forests, by old mines, then waterfalls and rhododendrons. There may not always be another runner in sight. It is entirely possible that you could get lost or sustain a serious injury in this race. No matter how careful you are, you might fall or trip along the way.

I bailed on Lynch’s Woods the previous weekend. Molly had a late soccer game in Boone, NC which would have resulted in 3 hours sleep, followed by a 4 hour drive if I had manned up and gone down to North Augusta. My heart wanted to go but my body said not this time. So, I scoured the race sites and found this little gem of a race the following weekend. Even better, I talked Summer into running it with me!

We headed down the night before and blew into Fort Mountain State Park with about 5 minutes to spare before packet pick-up ended. Pick-up was at a cabin in the park. It was getting dark and the fog was rolling in so we had a bit of a problem locating the cabin. Spooky! The race was being put on by GUTS (Georgia Ultrarunning & Trailingrunning Society) and there were quite a few members at the cabin, including one man with a huge bag of ice on his leg. He had been out marking trails all day. I’m not sure if he fell or had sore knees from all the walking/climbing.

We collected our booty (very nice tye-dyed shirt, some socks, and other items) and headed back down the mountain to our hotel in Dalton, GA. Enjoyed a nice dinner at Outback, got our gear ready for the morning, and crashed.

Race day weather was predicted to be partly cloudy and in the low 70’s. I decided not to carry a water bottle with the fairly cool temps and 8 aid stations out on the course. Wore my Umstead Trail Marathon shirt for good mojo and my Marathon Maniacs hat. Met up with a couple other maniacs (Andrew Strickland and Russ Johnson) before the race. Unfortunately the picture I took didn’t turn out too well. Jason Rogers was there as well and I talked to him a bit after the race. He had some pretty nasty cuts on his legs from a couple of falls but finished strong.

Summer and I before the race.

Me looking clueless. Courtesy of David Ray's camera. The guy in front of me is wearing a shirt for the Stump Jump 50K. Hope to run that one next year!

The race started for both the 12 mile option and the marathon in the parking lot near a lake, followed by a fairly wide, flat loop around the lake before you headed up on the Gahuti trail. Summer and I ran together for about the first half mile, then she gradually pulled away not to be seen again until the finish. I settled into a comfortable pace near the back of the pack.

Once on the Gahuti trail, the mob began to spread out. I could still see runners in front and behind me but no one running my pace to chat with. A couple miles into the race I was surprised to hear a bunch of fast footsteps coming from behind. Apparently the lead group had taken a wrong turn and were now trying to get back on track. There were about a dozen of them. Was kinda fun to see good trail runners zip along.

Continued along and eventually got to the first aid station. Very nicely stocked with ultra type food and plenty of fluids. Continued along a ridge and got to climb up some nice stairs. Saw this view from there.

I actually started passing a few women along the next section. I think most of them were 12 mile runners but a couple had on marathon bib numbers. Then, met up with some runners coming back down the trail. Momentary panic thinking I had messed up some where but no...they had. Better them than me. I guess there are advantages to being slow, you don't run by so fast that you miss the trail markings.

Reached the top of the climb and saw a pretty neat stone tower. Unfortunately, going back down from the tower you had to run these monstrous steps. I tried to run alongside the steps whenever I could see a bit of a trail to try and spare my quads. Along this stretch is also the mysterious stone wall for which Fort Mountain is named. I stopped to read the information plaques about Prince Modoc and the Moon-Eyed people. Quite interesting. Wish I'd had more time. This stone wall is about 800 feet long and built sometime between 500BC and 500AD.

Those were pretty much the highlights of the first loop we ran other than the numerous rocks wearing out my shoes! I had to stop a couple times and tighten my laces. My feet were slipping all over the place in my shoes. I've never had that problem in the past??

Rocks.

More rocks.

One side of the mountain was foggier than the other.

Funny trail marking. I guess they didn't want us to throw ourselves off the cliff :-)

Reached aid station 4 (11 miles) which also happened to be the first cut-off point (made it with a half hour to spare). This was also where the 12 milers turned towards home and we marathoners turned towards…….a power line climb. I think Georgia race directors get together and plot how they can include power lines in their trail races. This was not as bad as SweetH2O but still quite formidable. The aid station volunteers were all decked out in Halloween attire and quite enthusiastic. I stayed and grazed a bit upon the wide assortment of goodies but finally had to man up and tackle the climb. Relentless forward motion.

Upon reaching the top it was a pretty incredible view looking back down. Could barely see the aid station at the bottom. Then we turned and began following the 301. It was a fairly wide mountain biking trail but what I didn’t know was all that hard climbing was now going to be negated with a mile or so run down, down, down, down. This was not a fun descent. My toes were jammed to the front of my shoes and I was terrified that I was going to take a header down the slippery, rocky trail. I don’t even think you could call what I was doing as running. More like sliding, hopping, controlled falling. I passed one runner in this section so that was encouraging to know I wasn’t last. This was my 2nd least favorite part of the course. My least favorite was yet to come.

Reached the next aid station in one piece and treated myself to a PB&J samich for my hard work. The aid station volunteers seemed a bit concerned over my lack of water bottle since it was 6 miles to the next station, but I assured them I would be fine. The weather was perfect and I had been hydrating well so far. I did drink a couple extra cups of water and Gatorade before I headed off on the next part.

The next 6 miles were tough. Very grueling uphill climbs interspersed with a few downhills. Switchbacks. Old mines and abandoned shacks. Passed another runner along in here. He joked that he was now last but I assured him that there was at least one other guy back there. I imagine it must be pretty demoralizing to be passed by a granny type but I was happy to have a couple guys behind me. If I crashed and burned later in the race at least I knew someone would be along eventually.

There was a very nice downhill into the 6th aid station and I enjoyed being able to stretch the legs out a bit. This aid station was out at the furthest point on the course. There were 3 guys out there and they were so encouraging. I think this was around mile 19 or so and I hit it at 5:05. I began to think I could finish in under 7 hrs until they refreshed my memory of what was ahead of me. The lovely 3.5 mile climb back up to the top of the mountain. Could it be worse than the 4 mile climb at Promise Land? I told myself that nothing could be that hard and charged out of the aid station munching on a handful of pretzels.

I hate to be wrong but this last climb was in a word…..brutal. I couldn’t run a step of it. I could barely power walk. The one redeeming feature was that it was a beautiful stretch with a gurgling stream and waterfalls paralleling the trail for much of the climb. It took me an hour and 7 minutes to put this 3.5 mile section behind. When I did reach the top my legs were so tired that I couldn’t even run when the trail leveled out.

I somehow made it into the 7th aid station. I can’t imagine what stories these volunteers took home with them as we all staggered out of the woods after that stretch of the race. I hung around a bit chatting, munching, and slurping and trying to will some life back into my legs. Fortunately it was a downhill out of the aid station so I was able to pick up the shuffle a bit.

Came to the end of the 301 trail and was greeted with a familiar sight…..the power line trail. Only this time we got to run down it! I’ll admit, I stood at the top of that hill and let out a huge war whoop I was so happy knowing the end was almost upon me. It felt so incredible to just let gravity take over and run, hop, slide, and splash through the mud on my way to the last aid station at the bottom of the hill.

I was warmly greeted by the aid station volunteers. (I’m sure they were anxious to get home) grabbed a quick drink, and then took off on the lap back around the lake to the finish line. Finally some flat trail. I could hear everyone across the lake talking and cheering finishing runners in so that was motivating. Summer was at the finish with several other GUTS members to cheer me in. As I crossed the line I heard someone yell….”she’s the one”. I get handed my finishers beer mug and then another woman places a beer pitcher into my hands. Apparently I was the Grandmaster’s winner :-) Got a nice $50 gift certificate at a running store in Atlanta. Sweet!

Good post race spread. Had some delicious veggie chili and corn muffins. Changed out of our dripping wet sweaty clothes and muddy shoes/socks and then hit the road for the ride home. Stopped off somewhere along the way for a large fries and a chocolate shake. Oh so good!

I look like a dork with my crooked hat. Summer looks as fresh as a daisy.

Parting thoughts:

Toughest marathon I’ve ever run. With a finishing time more in the ultra range. 7:18. I looked up some of the other women runners. Every single one of them had finishing times at least 2 hours slower than their normal marathon times. I didn’t feel so bad after that.

I managed to run the entire race without falling once!

I was the last woman finisher but I beat 4 men.

13 women registered, 8 finished. Not sure how many started and switched to the 12 mile option or DNF'd.

The weather was perfect. 50’s and foggy at the start. I don’t think it got above 70 and we were in the trees all day so cooler.

About the only way the RD could make this race tougher is to make it an ultra and work in some river crossings.

The race was short last year so they added the lovely little 3.5 mile climb after aid station 6. The RD admitted to Summer that the new course was actually long….27.2 miles. Not that it mattered!!

The volunteers were awesome, the aid stations were incredible, the swag was great, the course was brutal but beautiful.

I’m going to wear my M3 shirt to school on the day before Halloween to gross the kids out with the dripping blood.

Loved this race!

One final view from an overlook on our way down from Fort Mountain.

2 Days, 2 Races

2009-10-16T19:58:00.002-04:00

Still working on my Mystery Mountain report. Until that epic is completed, here's a picture of Summer, Kevin, and I with our AG medals from a 5K we ran the day before MMM. It was right in our little burg of Etowah. Only had to travel 3 minutes to get to the race start. Could hardly pass that one up! Kevin ran the 10K and finished 7th OA and 2nd in his AG. Summer and I both ran the 5K and we also finished 2nd in our AG's. Pretty tough little course with lots of elevation changes to challenge the legs. It was my worst 5K ever I think but I was just running to keep loosened up for the MMM.

No FATS 50K for me

2009-10-04T09:12:00.003-04:00

I bailed. By the time we got home from the soccer game it was 12:30. When the alarm went off at 3:30 I knew I didn't have the energy for a 3 hour drive and a day in the woods. Disappointed but there will always be another race. After I hauled myself out of bed at 8AM, it was down to the computer to find a replacement race. Signed up for Mystery Mountain Marathon next weekend. Now it's off to the Dupont State Forest for a relaxing 2-3 hour run.

So not ready for FATS

2009-10-03T08:17:00.002-04:00

So, the FATS 50K is tomorrow. I haven't run much since Lynch's Woods 4 weeks ago. Life just gets in the way. I'm OK with that tho. With no time limits, the only clock I'm running against is the one in my head. I kinda wanted to try and beat my Lynch's Woods time but have decided that that will probably not happen. My longest run in the past 4 weeks has been 11 miles. I've had a very extended taper I guess:-) Weather may play a factor, looks like cool to start but back up to the 80 degree mark once again. Won't be getting much sleep tonight. Molly has a soccer game up in Boone at 7PM. So figuring we won't get out of there until at least 8:30 and a 2.5 hour drive home.....bed by 12? and on the road by 4:00 for the drive down to North Augusta.

Received a notice about Mountain Mist 50K. It has some pretty tough cut off times (for me anyway) but looks like a great race. I would have to be in better shape than I am now. Motivation to keep training during the holiday season!!

Wild Hare Marathon...August 23, 2009

2009-09-20T21:20:00.000-04:00

Several Brown Mountain Running Club members put their heads together in 2008 and decided to host a marathon run along the Ridge to Bridge Marathon Course. With one glaring difference...none of the frills of the official marathon. Free (donations accepted to cover the cost of snacks and electrolyte drinks), if you wanted a shirt you could pay them $12, and no medals or post race feed. Basically, it was just a group of mostly North Carolina runners getting together on an August day in the south to run a race for fun. The coolest thing about this year's race was that the course is completely new and 20 miles of it are on gravel and dirt roads with little traffic. Quite a change from the previous years when it was run straight down a busy highway during the height of leaf peeper season. But there is still a net downhill loss of about 3000 ft. so a potential BQ course.

This was going in as a training run for my September ultra. I've been putting in lots of mileage but after a very bad Hatfield and McCoy Marathon in June I have not run any other races his summer. I am just so slow now. The 50's have not been kind to me. I warned David Lee (RD) I'd probably be last. Not a problem, he just wanted everyone to have a good day and not worry about time.

The marathoners met up on top of Jonas Ridge for an 8AM start. The gas station up there even opened up early for us! (It's always a treat to use a real bathroom before a race). It was actually a bit chilly and foggy at the start but I knew I would be happy to be in a singlet later in the day. (It was about 85 when I finished). The RD and his caravan of 25K runners were late getting to the start. They had had to move a fallen tree off the course. We went over some last minute instructions and finally got headed down the mountain around 8:30. I think there were about 20 running the 25K and another 20 running the full marathon.

The first 6 miles of the course was on pavement and after a nice long uphill, it turned more rolling. Not much to see with the fog but did run past a man walking his dog as he rode his riding lawn mower. You don't see that every day. There were also sightings of a dog sitting on a huge boulder watching all the runners go by but I missed that sight. At about mile 4 you turned around and ran back a couple miles to where my favorite part of the course began.

This next section had a nice well packed dirt road with shady woods on each side and downhill for the next 10 miles. I tried to maintain a steady pace and not try to go really fast (as if that's even possible!!). Pretty successful. Only ran this section about 30 seconds a mile faster. Even so, by the time I came out of the woods at mile 16 my legs were not happy and my toes were yipping from the extensive downhills.

Miles 16 to the end were run along the Wilson Creek. Pretty flat with some minor hills. Another dirt packed road. This road had a fair amount of traffic with vacationers driving to and fro with boats, kayaks, tubes, and all kinds of people having fun on the river. By this time the sun was out in full force and this section had very little shade. It was also quite dusty when the cars would drive by. I kept chugging along and eventually the finish area came into sight. O how cruel tho. You could see the finish line clock as you ran by on the main road but then you had to run into the campground and run the other way around a big loop before heading back to the finish. Ugg. Finished up and could see several runners sitting on big rocks with their legs in the river. I headed over there and claimed my rock and refreshing river ice bath.

I cannot say enough good things about David and Rhonda Lee. They host a marathon in the middle of the summer in NC and I never saw them stop smiling. Rhonda drove one of the 4 support vehicles (those were our rolling aid stations). I was stopping her constantly as she drove up and down the course to refill my water and eat the snacks. David was also up and down the course checking on our well being all day. And Rhonda gave us final finishers a ride back up to Jonas Ridge to get our cars. Tell me that wasn't a stinky car for 40 minutes!!

This course is going to be beautiful in the fall for the official marathon. And hopefully there won't be as many vacationers on the final section of the course kicking up dust as they drive by. Even tho 20 miles of the course is on dirt roads, you do not need trail shoes. I ran in my regular road shoes without any footing problems.

And I was not last. There were actually 5 runners who finished after me. :-)

Here's a couple pictures taken along the course. Not the greatest quality, cell phone pics.

Lynch's Woods 50K..Sept. 6th, 2009

2009-09-19T18:24:00.000-04:00

Lynch's Woods is in Newberry, SC about a 1.45 hour drive for me. Terri Hayes, the RD, puts on 4 ultra races in SC a year at various state parks. They are donation events so just the basics once again. Did receive a very nice finishers award. Very unique.

I hadn't looked at the weather report until the night before and then just rolled my eyes. Who'd a thunk it's be upper 80's with high humidity in SC in early Sept? Duh. With 2 aid stations about 4 miles apart I decided I needed to try out my new handheld water bottle. I had used a waist pack in the Wild Hare Marathon and it really bothered my stomach. The handheld took a little getting used to but after about the first 10 miles I barely noticed it. It came in handly breaking some of my falls too.

This was a loop course. The first 4.3 miles was on a dirt/gravel road, then the next 4 loops were on a 6.8 miles trail with a short out/back into the aid station which was in a picnic shelter. The 6.8 mile trail was contained within the 4.3 mile road. It was very twisting and turning. One guy compared it to running through your small intestine. Very well stocked aid station with everything an ultra runner could think of to snack on. There was one other unmanned water station at about the half way point of the trail section with water/gaterade/gels.

Only about 40 runners started. Mostly men, maybe about 15 women. We started right on time and by the end of the first lap on the road, coming into the aid station, I think I was close to last. I'm used to that by now. Refueled and then hit the trail for the first loop. Typical single track trail with lots of roots and rocks to trip you up. Also many places covered with slippery pine needles. Hilly, not a flat section to be found. In the pre-race briefing Terri made sure we all knew to follow the orange markers. Ignore the pink! Stay off of the horse trail!

It's so quiet in the woods. Every once in awhile I'd hear some runners on other parts of the trail but for the most part it was me and nature. No ipod today, the trail is too narrow and I knew I would be getting lapped. Passed the unmanned water station, tanked up, and back out again. A couple miles further and started running a section of the trail that went back and forth across a power line area. I cross it the first time, head back into the woods and up a fairly long hill. I'm watching the ground as I head up but glance up to see pink ribbons on the trees, not orange!! Thinking I have gone off the trail I turn around and go back to the last orange streamer. Look around. There is no other way to go but the way I just came back down. So, I go back up again and continue on hoping this is the right trail. Eventually, another orange streamer comes into view and I breath a little easier. Probably added a half mile to my race but no matter. Loop back and forth through the power lines 3 more times. Hot out there with no trees.

With about 2 miles to go before getting back to the aid station, I get passed by the lead runner. This guy is flying. About 5 minutes go by and the 2nd place guy zips by. And they are smiling and saying kind things as they fly by. The last 2 miles back into the aid station are the hillest section. Did a fair amount of walking up the steepest parts and then tried to shuffle a bit faster on the downs. Hit the out and back into the aid station and met lots of runners going back out for their 2nd loop.

Refuel and head back out. The heat is making itself known by then. I sucked down my entire water bottle by the time I hit the unmanned aid station. I am already crusty with salt. I don't want to dump any of the aid station water on me cause the runners after me need water to drink. The rest of lap 2 is pretty uneventful. I fall a couple times so now I have dirt mixed with salt/sweat. Luckily nothing hurts after my falls so I trot on. The lead runner passes me again. When I get to the aid station he is done and sitting in a chair.

Laps 3 and 4 are much of the same except it gets hotter and hotter. Thankfully most of the trail is shaded but it is stifling with no breeze. There seems to be no water at the unmanned aid station when I get there on the 3rd lap. I momentarily panic as I am completely out of water. There is ice on the bottom of the container so I scoop it out and put it in my water bottle. I feel bad for the runners after me but what else could I do? When I get back to the aid station after the 3rd loop I let guy recording laps know that there's no water out there. They hustle someone out there and there is plenty of icy water when I get there on the next lap. Thank you!!

So, lap 4 rolls around and I am actually passing people! I keep up my slow trot and start picking off the ones who are walking. Meet up with a lady on a huge white horse on this last lap. She questions why we are on her trail? Momentary panic that I have gone off the trail but no, there are the orange streamers. Hmmm. Maybe she was on our trail??? I eventually hit the last couple miles of the trail where it just never seems to end. Each lap has been like that, you think you're almost to the out/back section but NO, another loopy loop appears in the trail. I was running this last section with Trey (SC) and it was nice to have someone to talk to through the last miles. We cross the finish line in 7:53 which I consider to be a very fine time for me!

Collect my finisher's award and do some grazing at the food table. Not real hungry. I ate way less on this ultra than my previous 3. No tummy problems, just not hungry. I wasn't even hungry when I got home which is unusual. Just kept drinking lots of fluids.

I was really quite happy with my race. I ran very even splits on the loops. Every loop was within 1-2 minutes of the previous loop. Did not crash and burn on the last loop. I beat my SweetH2O time by an hour and a half under similar conditions (88 by the time I finished). Not as hilly so that helped my time. I felt good the entire race.

Next race is the FATS 40/50K. Another SC ultra put on by Terri. Looking forward to slightly cooler weather???