2010-12-06

Mountain Masochist 50+mi

Finally, the day we trained for the last 6 months, the 28th Mountain Masochist 50+mi Trail Run.
The race director (Clark Zealand) and his mentor (David Horton) at the pre-race briefing
We stayed overnight in Lynchburg at the Kirkley Hotel, where also the pre-race dinner/briefing took place. We shared a ride (Andrew and our crew-wife’s Cristina & Jamie). Quickly we checked in and got our race packet (a shirt, GU’s and the usual shebang). The pre-race dinner offered a buffet with lasagne, salad, cake, ice cream. We ate in a big ballroom and were lucky to get find four empty spots at a table. Only later we discovered that we sat with the MMTR’s first place, Scott Jamie (07:23:19), and the women’s 2nd, Jill Perry (08:53:11), along with a few others at the table. Good company to get last minute tips like, “start at a slow pace and go even slower” or “whatever you do, just never stop moving”. Clark Zealand and David Horton talked about details of the race and held a raffle. We got lucky and got a Montrail running cap, a Montrail T-shirt. Sweet! At about 9pm we were done with the briefing and ready to get some hours of sleep. We went to our room and got our gear laid out to be ready in the morning (drop bag with a complete change of clothes and shoes, 20 s-caps (1 every 30min), 10 electrolyte tablets, filled hydration pack, gaitors, hat, headlamp etc etc) At this point it was still not clear if we had to prepare for snow in the morning or not. But as it turned out, it was a beautiful sunny day in the mid 40s.
The race course starts on the Blue Ridge Parkway and continues after 6miles on a trail. Most of the course however are hard packed jeep/fire or gravel roads, so all in all very runnable. It is a point-to-point race from Lynchburg to Montebello. The total elevation gain of 9200 ft and loss of 7200 ft distributes on about 5 peaks with the highest point of about 4040ft. The scenery was very picturesque and as beautiful as the Blue Ridge Mountains can be in the fall. Based on past runs and comparison to old race results I figured a finishing time of sub 10hrs as a moderate or sub 9:30hrs as an ambitious goal should be do-able. Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the MMTR training runs,but we got an extensive pre-race briefing from David Snipes who was kind enough to meet us in Cville in the week before. Of course I could just remember half of it on race day but had a general idea.
Just before the start..

We got up at 3:45 am geared up. I had my pre-race-breakfast-of-choice (oats with a cut-up banana) which usually keeps me energized a good while in a race. Then out to the car and follow the 300 other runners in the transfer buses to the start. We started at 6:30am on the Parkway for about six miles on the road until we hit the trail. It was dry and about 45F. I was comfortable in my long running tights, long sleeve shirt and CTRC club shirt layered over it (just had to show off that shirt). I thought: “Lets do this! How bad can it be, its gotta be like a 50k, just a little bit longer, right?” Despite the tips we got on the evening before, Drew and I ran  faster (about 8:30-9min miles the first 5miles). I figured if we could keep an average pace of 10:30min/mile that would leave us enough room to crash, burn and set us on fire again make the 9:30hrs. I felt good overall but some twitching in my right knee and left ankle appeared. I kept going and hoped it would fade away once we are warmed up. It did, for some time…
After a while Drew took off while I kept a slower pace and took some pictures in between. The trail turned into great rolling hills which were a breeze to run. I was making sure to eat enough at the aid stations and keep my hydration up. Lots of cheering/clapping (for a trail race) spectators/crews at the remote aid stations made me smile and happy to be out in the mountains. It was a great atmosphere. My knee pain became persistent but wasn’t too bad for a while. At the half-way point (Long Mountain aid station) I met “my crew”, Jamie and Cristina and Bob (who came out for additional support), who were a great help. At this point I told Jamie my legs were shot and that they hurt. I assumed to have gone out to fast in the beginning. Anyways, being at the halfway point, I thought, with every step you run less total. Great. Lets continue!
After the half way point the serious climbs began. I tried to run as much as I could from the first climb but had to put in some walking. I kept telling myself, just never stop moving and you will be fine. After some people had passed me, I ran behind somebody who seemed to have a good pace and was going for the climb. I thought, if he stops and walks I am allowed to do the same. Well, he never stopped and before I knew it we made it up to the top. He turned around and thanked me for pushing him up the hill: “If you would have stopped, I would have walked too”, he said. I was surprised. and thought: “Are you kidding me? YOU helped me up here!” It gave me an endorphine rush and a great deal of motivation to stay on target.
Arriving on the road towards the loop I spotted Bob’s car on the side and was looking forward to meet him at the aid station and ask for advice. My legs felt tired and my knee pain has gotten worse. I was wondering if it was a re-occuring injury of my miniscus that I developed running a marathon in 2006 with the training for a half (yes I know, that’s not very smart). I had put in more walking/hiking and less running as this seemed to create less pain. I was unsure what to do. After re-fueling at the aid station I went in “The Loop”, an often mentioned tough part of the course. It seemed not really that bad, a lot more technical than the course before but fun to run. I just wished my legs weren’t so tired. I continued with a mix of running and walking and thought about my finishing time. Can I make it sub 10? What if I just walk fast all the rest, can I make the cut-off then? In addition to my knee issues I hit a mental and physical low that felt like hitting the wall. Going downhill was increasingly more painful and I sidestepped down. Then ate a cliff bar, shot block, some s-caps and stopped for a bit to clear my mind. Quitting? Horton said only 82% of first timers make it to the finish. Well, if I don’t make it I have to come back try it again for sure! Pain again? – No! Just keep moving.
Finishing

I could hear the cheers from aid station coming down from the loop. Invigorating and motivating. I saw Bob and asked again for advice. I decided to take an Advil (rarely, very rarely take medicine, but this just had to help). I took my time with at the aid station and took a deep breath and was determined to cross the finish line. Now the course seemed a lot more gentle and easier to run. Also the Advil seemed to have kicked in. I knew from Snipes briefing that there were the ‘the three sisters’ climbs left and was not looking too much forward to them. I kept running the uphill as much and persistent as I could which helped to make up some time. Turns out, the climbs weren’t so bad if you have the finish line in (mental) sight. At the last aid station they said that it was only 2 miles to finish, I asked, “2miles or two Horton miles?”. The volunteer just smiled which I took as answer b). Looking at my watch and knowing that Horton races have more miles than advertised I was planning on 5 miles. As it turned out the volunteer was right, only 2. On the last stretch I gave it a push and finished in under 10hrs, 9:56 clock time. Happy and exhausted, very happy to have done it. I couldn’t have without you, Jamie, Andrew, Cristina, Bob and the CTRC.  Thanks!
Despite the pain the race was awesome. Perfectly organized, lots of volunteers and a great course. I would do it again.
50mi …because Marathons are for training.

My soup