http://pilotmountainpayback.com/
I
was on my own this time. My family was not in attendance - just my
running family who I would be meeting there. I arrived at the state
park late Friday night for camping. The gate was closed. *sigh* I was
trying to figure out what to do when I thought I would go see if it was
actually locked. I got out and saw that the lock was not actually
latched - woo! Opened the gate and did my first B and E into a state
park at night. I had been here last year, but driving through the
streams on the way in was way cooler in the dark.
When I
arrived there were 2 people there and a big campfire. Several others
arrived and we hung out for a while and talked running stuff around the
fire.
I called it a night about 11:00. I slept on an
air mattress, in sleeping bag, in my warm Jeep. Had it nice and warm
when I went to bed, then shut the car off, but woke up at 5:00 cold so I
turned it back on for a while to warm back up. Slept a bit more as the
other runners started to arrive.
I was thinking back to
last year when I was here. I ran the half. My grandmother had passed
away a few days prior and this race was just a brief stop on a long trip
to another state to attend the funeral. My mind was not on the race at
all. It was hard to focus and I never did find my rhythm. Also the
person who got me to sign up for this race so we could run together
decided to run their own race. Since I was not able to keep the pace, I
was on my own on the trail, just trying to take in the events of the
past few days and thinking about the things that were to come in the
coming two days. It was tough.
Back to marathon day -
lots of folks began arriving around 7:30. I had gotten up, had
breakfast, changed into my clothes and was ready. It was sunny and
cool, but heading for a high in the 50’s. Just about perfect running
conditions. I was not sure what to expect. I was hoping for a great
race, but coming off of 2 injuries it was hard to tell. I would just
have to wait and see how the day unfolded. I had 3 goals - one: to
finish without pain in my IT band, two: to finish without a new injury,
and three: to log my slowest marathon time ever. It was just that
tough of a course.
9:00 am arrived and we were off.
Just like I had wanted to, I plowed through that stream at mile .05 and
walked up that first hill. Last year I ran it and never did recover
from going out too fast. I was slightly irritated at the bottleneck of
people who slowed down at the creek crossing trying not to get their
feet wet. Come on, it is a mountain trail run with 12 creek crossings!
You signed up for this, remember? I think some of them ended up
getting splashed when I passed them…. *he he* Anyway…..
Spent
some time with James plant very early on. Then was trying to keep with
Bill Weimer and Mark Long. We stopped often to take pictures - there
was some beautiful scenery! Couldn’t keep going without snapping some
pics.
After 7+ miles of rolling hills we arrived at the
aid station where the half marathoners turned back and the marathoners
keep going. New territory - bring it on!
It did not take
long for the rolling hills to turn into a steep assent. We took a trail
that said “strenuous” yeah, it was! The next 2 miles we ascended 600
feet, followed by a one mile, 160 foot decent followed by a mile and a
half 820 foot assent. It was the toughest single track I have ever
done. Mostly rocks and some packed gravel. Looking up at the hill I
could not believe it just kept going! I passed many people at this
point of the course. I could tell many folks were not sure of their
footing and were not too confident with the single track, and others
just lost steam on the hill. At one point I looked at my Garmin and it
showed that I was holding a blistering 23 minute per mile pace, and my
heart rate was pegged at 175 bpm - in the 90th %. It was tough and
exhilarating at the same time. I wanted to make it to the top to see
that view!!!
The aid station at the top of the mountain
was the best sight ever. I made it! This is about the time that James
Plant caught back up with me and we ran many miles together on the
decent back down the mountain. This was tricky too. Can’t take the
down hills too fast with the difficulty of the trail. You also don’t
want to take them too fast or you risk injuring your knees. The shaded
side of the mountain was chilly, but you got to the sunny side and it
was warm with the heat radiating off the rock. There were many rock
climbers out scaling the pinnacle. That sport is not for me, but it was
cool to watch the people out there doing it.
Jim and I
ran 6 or 7 miles together. I enjoyed his company a lot. We took
pictures, talked and laughed a lot. I had to take a rest stop and said I
would catch up, but never caught up with him. The last 6 miles I did
not see a soul. Just me, the trail and my iPod. I ran, walked, sang
and enjoyed the beautiful day. I think the word for it was
“awesomeness” (copyright - James Plant)
As I was coming
towards the end I saw arrows that said “finish, that way“. It renewed
my spirit and I picked up the pace again. I was so glad to see those
last 2 big creek crossings followed by the finish line! Joey was there
and got a picture of me finishing. He had finished over 30 minutes
ahead of me. Jim was about 10 minutes ahead.
Found my
way to my friends, the pizza and chocolate milk. Not sure it gets much
better than a day like today. The weather was great and I ran with no
pain which was so encouraging. I felt like if I could do this race
without pain then I am well on my way to doing well at U100. I was
concerned about running that long with wet feet, but I did not get any
blisters either - woo! Met my goals - slowest marathon ever at 5:33
(not quite DFL, but close), no ITB pain and felt great.
Couple
things I loved about this race. The views are spectacular. Especially
from the top! I thought the half was an amazing race last year. I
found out that the fun does not begin until after mile 7. Creek
crossings rock, especially when you pass someone who is trying to not
get their feet wet. The level of difficulty of the trails and the
extreme elevation gain/loss was something that I loved. Yeah, I know it
sounds crazy, but I loved every painful minute of that climb. All
smiles here.
I will be back again next year. I wonder what color the mug will be?
Amy
Congratulations! PM is a tough one! So glad you were pain free! Umstead 100 look out!!!
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