|
Another
newbie broken in by the Masochist! I remember hearing about the
MMTR during high school, either from Jefferson Forest XC teammates or
possibly while running hashes with the Seven Hills Hash House
Harriers. Whoever I heard it from, I remember thinking that it sounded
crazy to run 50 miles through the mountains, but that it also sounded
really cool (honestly, it was probably just the fact it was called the
Mountain Masochist Fast
forward a few… err ten years, to this July.
I left a job that had me traveling the world for two and a half
years and decided that I wanted to get back into running. Something I wasn’t really able to do globetrotting.
So I decided to start training and decided I needed an end
goal. I had already done
a marathon, albeit only one, and so the next logical or in my case,
illogical choice was an ultra. The
MMTR was my choice. I grew up in Lynchburg, my parents still lived
there, and my brother Brian had ran it two years before.
Well,
in hindsight, I think the 18 weeks I set aside to train for my first
ultra was probably not enough. My
base mileage was pretty non-existent, but as they say hindsight is
20/20. My goal from the
beginning was just to finish, so I didn’t worry about times during
training, rather, just getting out and running at a comfortable pace
for several hours. Unfortunately, but predictably, there were setbacks.
Minor aches and pains, work commitments, and the passing of my
grandfather, all led to missing crucial training runs.
Three weeks before the race, I hung up my poorly chosen shoes
due to blister and foot problems and decided to rest until the race,
figuring it would be better to be rested and healthy, than tired and
sore. Needless to say, I
was feeling pretty unprepared for my first ultra. Race
week came quick. Brian
had signed up to run with me, but had to drop out due to a severe
ankle sprain, but still came into town to support me.
I probably annoyed him with my constant questions regarding
what to do about blisters? What should I wear? Do these shorts make me
look fat? Etc… His
advice was helpful and he even gave me his spare shoes to run in.
Usually not the best idea, but I was desperate.
Luckily we are the same size and they fit nicer than any pair
I’ve tried The
race started out great, despite the cold temperatures.
I held back my urge to run a faster pace at the beginning,
knowing I would need the energy later, and did a good job of keeping a
steady comfortable pace through the first two aid stations.
Most importantly, my feet felt great!
No hot spots and the foot pain that plagued me was nowhere to
be found. Upon
entering the woods, everyone was walking, and despite feeling great, I
walked with them. I
figured that most everyone knew what they were doing, so I would just
follow along. Finally the
trail widened and people started to run again.
I remembered reading that a good strategy was to walk the up
the hills and run down. I
noticed a lot of people doing this and again, I followed suit.
Not only did this feel great (I could only imagine how painful
it would have been to run up some of those hills), but I actually
would make up time on other runners walking up the hills.
I guess my stride and walking pace was above average.
Not to worry though, most everyone would fly by me on the
downhills. I
got into a pretty groove from Aid Station 4 – 10, and to be honest,
I don’t really remember too much.
I was consistently 35-40 minutes ahead of the 12-hour pace and
felt good. Knowing that
the 2nd half was harder than the first, I was cautiously
optimistic that I could finish in the allotted time.
At AS 10, my parents, brother, sister, and her boyfriend were
waiting for me. Some
quick words of encouragement, a stock up on gels, and I was off. I
still felt great and was halfway there!
Well,
at least everyone was honest; the 2nd half IS much harder.
Again, I really don’t remember too much.
I guess I was focused on the goal at hand.
I continued to stay about 35-40 minutes ahead of pace and
started to feel the burn in my thighs.
My walking pace up hill started to slow down, but my running
pace stayed consistent, consistently SLOW!
But soon enough I was at the loop.
The dreaded loop. I got to the loop about 40 minutes ahead of the 12-hour pace,
but knew that this is where I would probably lose some of that time.
The
loop hurt… A LOT! I
continued to walk up hill, but because of the trail, I couldn’t run
much of the downhill, I felt like I spent 2 hours in that loop.
I kept thinking back to the song from the night before how it
is listed as only being a 5 mile loop, but realistically its closer to
7. I really thought that
was an exaggeration. But
then I saw the sign pointing to Mt. Pleasant and realized that I hiked
this loop in high school a few times.
That brought back memories to how I swore back then that it was
closer to 7 miles than 5. The
song wasn’t exaggerating at all!!!
Finally, I made it out of the loop, I had lost about 15 minutes
in the loop, but it was then that I realized I had a legit shot at
finishing! I
said farewell to my family at the exit of the loop as they told me
they’d see me at the finish and I trucked along.
I don’t remember much until AS 15.
I remember that hill before it being a pain, but I came in to
AS 15 with about 23 minutes to spare!
It was then that I walked near Tom Green for a while.
I remember him saying that we were hitting the steepest uphill
on the course but that it was the last major one.
He also said that we should get to AS 16 in about an hour. I figured that if I at least stayed around him, I was going
to finish, I mean, he finished all 23!
I also remember saying to him on one pretty flat, maybe
slightly inclined path, that earlier, I would be running this, but
can’t seem to motivate to do it.
To which he basically said that he was pretty sure he was
finishing and could care less about making up a minute or two here.
As I hit the last AS (just over an hour after AS 15), I felt
good knowing the remaining miles were basically all down hill.
I
started to run again and felt great.
I was close to finishing my first ever ultra!!
I had noticed the blood trail earlier on and had commented to
another runner how that person was sure to win best blood. We both agreed that it was a lot of blood and were surprised
the person continued. Unfortunately,
we would shortly run up on the large group helping Vicki out.
My hat goes off to all of those who helped her and I am happy
to hear that she is doing well and that everyone was able to finish. As
for me, I made it. I
finished my first ever ultra!!! The
soreness I feel now was worth it and I am hooked!
Thanks to all the AS volunteers and anyone else who helped!! As I told David Horton after the rewards ceremony, this was
the most fun I’ve ever had running.
Here I come 2007 LUS!!!!
Can I use last year’s applications?J
|