Battlefields
Friday. The rain was relentless on Lookout Mountain and across the Chattanooga area. Saturday's forecast would call for temperatures in the low 40's and 30's. Fine by me. I've been planning for this 100k for some time now, mentally and otherwise, and was prepared to take on this new distance. Despite this the race directors decided to close off a section of the course, taking away 12 miles. They were concerned about silly things like hypothermia and other safety things like that. This announcement was made know to me during the pre race brief after I picked up my packet at Rock/Creek. There wasn't anything I could do about it now so I changed my race day strategy slightly, to treat it as more of a race, than as run that I was trying to finish.
5:00 am came along the next morning and the rain had stopped. My crew, Joe Maxwell and Nick Wilhelm, and I made a traditional pre ultra race stop at the nearby waffle house before heading up the mountain. Before we did that, though, we needed to figure out how to get to the starting line, as it had changed as a result of the route change. This guy Bob at the Waffle House helped us out. I wasn't too sure about the directions because they were taking me way around the mountain in a direction I wasn't super sure about, plus it was still dark. But sure enough, we eventually found the signs leading us to the starting line at Covenant College. We arrived 45 minutes later. I'm pretty sure we took the back way but we got there with time to spare.
The fog was thick, the air was frigid, the camp fires radiated their comforting warmth, and the race began. Once again, I was not wearing a watch or anything so I wasn't sure what exactly my pace was, but I felt like I was easing in to that could-run-forever pace pretty well. Some other ultra runners near me were talking about the Civil War battlefields we would be running through today. It was a very cool prospect for me, running on the grounds were Americans fought once about 150 years ago.
We began to descend the mountain. The trail ran under the incline railway, which probably wasn't going to be visited by many tourists on a day like today, and later winded down to the first aid station about 8 miles in. I popped an S!cap and was on my way. The trail continued on a jeep road and the elevation continued to decrease. This guy named Chris caught up to me about 2 miles later and we started to chat about random stuff. Seven miles after the first aid station, we were at about the lowest elevation on the course in an area called Reflective Riding, I think having a reference to horseback riding. I made the mistake of not topping off my water supply down there. The next aid station wasn't for another 8 miles, but I managed.
A small distance past that aid station, we ran past a clearing at the base of the mountain. This old house with a historical marker was situated on the edge of the clearing on one side, and the trail ran us right past it. I thought about stopping to read it but didn't want to loose my momentum.
The climb back to the Covenant College aid station began. The elevation that we had just lost in the last 12 or so miles we would now have to make up in the next 4. It took a good while for me to summit that hillside, but I felt awesome once I got to the top. There were many moments along the way where I thought, "I must be getting close" but after taking my eyes off the trail for a second to look up at what I had left, I was reassured that I still had a good climb ahead of me to go. That four miles must have taken me at least 45 minutes or so to ascend.
When I finally did get to the top I was rewarded with an awesome view of the valley below. I was now running kind of along the ridge line back to the starting point where the 3rd aid station was. Once I got up there, I knew I was coming up on the mid point of the race so I took a bit of a longer break here to make sure my fluids and salts were topped off. My crew was a little late to figure out that I had in fact pulled into the aid station, as they were not expecting me this early. When they did bring me my stuff they explained that they weren't expecting me for another 2 hours. Either their math was way off or I was making pretty darn good time. I'm guessing their math was off. Either way, it made me feel a little more confident. I crammed in some chocolate covered espresso beans and was on my way.
Over the next few miles I started noticing how familiar these trails looked. I had a hunch that I was finally back on the trails that the stage race took place earlier this year. After a recognizable jeep road crossing, I knew I was back on familiar turf. It was like seeing an old friend again, a friend that you step, spit, and pee on.
The next aid station was located where the stage race started. I was happy to be back. As I pulled in, I realized that it was six months to the day that I was here last, on June 19th. After I snaked on some apples and peanut butter pretzels, I started again, this time with Joe pacing me. The 50k mark was approaching. It wasn't actually marked on the course but I knew I would reach it soon and I knew that I would probably be hitting a wall soon like I did at Dizzy.
The trail opened up on a road which lead down to the next aid station at mile 34. This road was one that probably not many people in the world can say they've seen, all back woods style and such. Joe and I passed this really redneck lookin house with two male cows inside a fence. As if on cue, they started getting intimate with each other as we passed. Later on, I was talkin to some of the other runners about these cows I saw, and as soon as I mentioned the word "cow" they responded, "yeah, those gay ones!" It made me laugh.
Coming back from that station, we retraced our steps past the cows and made our way down the trail back to finish the loop we had started earlier. I started feelin pretty tired and was doin a little more walking than I wanted to. At the time, I didn't identify this as my wall, but rather as how I was supposed to feel 35 miles into this race. A couple miles later and I finally had to answer natures call behind some trees. I felt much better.
We passed a spectacular waterfall, along the same road that the stage race had taken place, and I sent Joe ahead of me to prepare a few things I would need to the next segment of the journey. I returned to the aid station where he had joined me earlier, (and were most of the footage from the video was taken) changed into some dry shoes and socks, took a few more S!caps, and started again, this time with Nick pacing me. Seven miles to go, back the way I came. Some 20 minutes later and the weather started acting up. The fog rolled in as if it had taken up responsibility to stop us from going any further. I literally couldn't see 20 yards ahead of me. The trail opened back up on a power line section where there were no trees to buffer the straight line winds that nailed us as soon as it had a chance. We punched through the frigid wind, rain, and fog so thick you could cut it with a knife, and hit the last leg of the course.
Mercifully, the trail finally turned to road and I knew the finish was no more than a quarter mile ahead. Of corse I couldn't see or hear any signs of it until I got very close. The sputtering fire in the parking lot was the first thing I could make out and before I knew it I crossed some line and was told that I needed to have my tag removed from my race bib. I reckoned I was done and breathed a sigh of relief.
At 8:30:29, my time ended up being 12 minutes faster than my previous 50 mile time and placed 12th out of 65 finishers. I was a bit surprised and very satisfied about that. We didn't stay at that finish line long as the freezing, wet weather was starting to get to us. The cooler with my chocolate milk had been left back at the Lula Lake aid station, so we picked that up and hung out there for a little while before driving back down the mountain on that dark and stormy night.
Link to the Video
5:00 am came along the next morning and the rain had stopped. My crew, Joe Maxwell and Nick Wilhelm, and I made a traditional pre ultra race stop at the nearby waffle house before heading up the mountain. Before we did that, though, we needed to figure out how to get to the starting line, as it had changed as a result of the route change. This guy Bob at the Waffle House helped us out. I wasn't too sure about the directions because they were taking me way around the mountain in a direction I wasn't super sure about, plus it was still dark. But sure enough, we eventually found the signs leading us to the starting line at Covenant College. We arrived 45 minutes later. I'm pretty sure we took the back way but we got there with time to spare.
The fog was thick, the air was frigid, the camp fires radiated their comforting warmth, and the race began. Once again, I was not wearing a watch or anything so I wasn't sure what exactly my pace was, but I felt like I was easing in to that could-run-forever pace pretty well. Some other ultra runners near me were talking about the Civil War battlefields we would be running through today. It was a very cool prospect for me, running on the grounds were Americans fought once about 150 years ago.
We began to descend the mountain. The trail ran under the incline railway, which probably wasn't going to be visited by many tourists on a day like today, and later winded down to the first aid station about 8 miles in. I popped an S!cap and was on my way. The trail continued on a jeep road and the elevation continued to decrease. This guy named Chris caught up to me about 2 miles later and we started to chat about random stuff. Seven miles after the first aid station, we were at about the lowest elevation on the course in an area called Reflective Riding, I think having a reference to horseback riding. I made the mistake of not topping off my water supply down there. The next aid station wasn't for another 8 miles, but I managed.
A small distance past that aid station, we ran past a clearing at the base of the mountain. This old house with a historical marker was situated on the edge of the clearing on one side, and the trail ran us right past it. I thought about stopping to read it but didn't want to loose my momentum.
The climb back to the Covenant College aid station began. The elevation that we had just lost in the last 12 or so miles we would now have to make up in the next 4. It took a good while for me to summit that hillside, but I felt awesome once I got to the top. There were many moments along the way where I thought, "I must be getting close" but after taking my eyes off the trail for a second to look up at what I had left, I was reassured that I still had a good climb ahead of me to go. That four miles must have taken me at least 45 minutes or so to ascend.
When I finally did get to the top I was rewarded with an awesome view of the valley below. I was now running kind of along the ridge line back to the starting point where the 3rd aid station was. Once I got up there, I knew I was coming up on the mid point of the race so I took a bit of a longer break here to make sure my fluids and salts were topped off. My crew was a little late to figure out that I had in fact pulled into the aid station, as they were not expecting me this early. When they did bring me my stuff they explained that they weren't expecting me for another 2 hours. Either their math was way off or I was making pretty darn good time. I'm guessing their math was off. Either way, it made me feel a little more confident. I crammed in some chocolate covered espresso beans and was on my way.
Over the next few miles I started noticing how familiar these trails looked. I had a hunch that I was finally back on the trails that the stage race took place earlier this year. After a recognizable jeep road crossing, I knew I was back on familiar turf. It was like seeing an old friend again, a friend that you step, spit, and pee on.
The next aid station was located where the stage race started. I was happy to be back. As I pulled in, I realized that it was six months to the day that I was here last, on June 19th. After I snaked on some apples and peanut butter pretzels, I started again, this time with Joe pacing me. The 50k mark was approaching. It wasn't actually marked on the course but I knew I would reach it soon and I knew that I would probably be hitting a wall soon like I did at Dizzy.
The trail opened up on a road which lead down to the next aid station at mile 34. This road was one that probably not many people in the world can say they've seen, all back woods style and such. Joe and I passed this really redneck lookin house with two male cows inside a fence. As if on cue, they started getting intimate with each other as we passed. Later on, I was talkin to some of the other runners about these cows I saw, and as soon as I mentioned the word "cow" they responded, "yeah, those gay ones!" It made me laugh.
Coming back from that station, we retraced our steps past the cows and made our way down the trail back to finish the loop we had started earlier. I started feelin pretty tired and was doin a little more walking than I wanted to. At the time, I didn't identify this as my wall, but rather as how I was supposed to feel 35 miles into this race. A couple miles later and I finally had to answer natures call behind some trees. I felt much better.
We passed a spectacular waterfall, along the same road that the stage race had taken place, and I sent Joe ahead of me to prepare a few things I would need to the next segment of the journey. I returned to the aid station where he had joined me earlier, (and were most of the footage from the video was taken) changed into some dry shoes and socks, took a few more S!caps, and started again, this time with Nick pacing me. Seven miles to go, back the way I came. Some 20 minutes later and the weather started acting up. The fog rolled in as if it had taken up responsibility to stop us from going any further. I literally couldn't see 20 yards ahead of me. The trail opened back up on a power line section where there were no trees to buffer the straight line winds that nailed us as soon as it had a chance. We punched through the frigid wind, rain, and fog so thick you could cut it with a knife, and hit the last leg of the course.
Mercifully, the trail finally turned to road and I knew the finish was no more than a quarter mile ahead. Of corse I couldn't see or hear any signs of it until I got very close. The sputtering fire in the parking lot was the first thing I could make out and before I knew it I crossed some line and was told that I needed to have my tag removed from my race bib. I reckoned I was done and breathed a sigh of relief.
At 8:30:29, my time ended up being 12 minutes faster than my previous 50 mile time and placed 12th out of 65 finishers. I was a bit surprised and very satisfied about that. We didn't stay at that finish line long as the freezing, wet weather was starting to get to us. The cooler with my chocolate milk had been left back at the Lula Lake aid station, so we picked that up and hung out there for a little while before driving back down the mountain on that dark and stormy night.
Link to the Video
Thanks for the write-up, sounds like some great trail up there. Hope to put it on my calendar in 2010. Enjoy the Christmas break.
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