Mist, 2011

Rolling in to the Monte Sano lodge after a long drive from Auburn, 10 minutes before closing time, Joe Maxwell and I pick up our race packets the night before the gun went off. We'd been commenting to each other how much snow had accumulated up here and were wondering how it would effect our performance tomorrow. Never a dull moment on these trails.

Friday morning I got a great 3 hour nap from 8am to 11am, you know, one of those where you wake up and your arms have lost circulation from being static under your body for so long because your body's too busy enjoying its time at the very bottom of the sleep cycle to be bothered by things like numbness of the upper limbs. Last year, prerace sleep was for sure an issue and I wanted to make sure I eliminated it as much as possible this time round. This was the year to break 5 hours after all.

With ample sleep behind my eyes, I didn't regret the phone alarm sounding at 0600 Saturday morning, really an extra hour's sleep compared to what I'm getting used to these days. This year I actually made it to the starting line in time to hear the gun blast initiating us on our 50 kilometer journey instead of hearing it as I was just stepping out of the lodge like last year. The layer of sparkling snow provided a great backdrop to the days' activities. There were actually some points along the trail where I knew where I was but didn't recognize the trail from its blanket of snow.

As nice as the snow was to look at the ice commanded much more attention. Not one mile had gone by before I saw a runner in front of me see his own life flash before him as his feet and head traded places and he found himself tumbling off the side of the trail. I made sure to tread lightly as I got a feel of what the course was gonna be like today.

I soon realized that a frozen ground was much preferable to a wet one, especially in sections like power line where the trails in this area will leave your calves caked inches thick with muck.I'll take crunch, crunch over shloup, shloup any day of the week.

Out of the other 14 ultras I've ever done, I probably spent the least amount of time at the aid stations here. I literally spent less than 30 seconds at all but one aid station. I brought 4 GU's along for the ride hoping I could slurp those down and forgo the generous support of the volunteers in order to save as much time as possible.

The first half of the race went by reasonably well. I was mostly just trying to get into a good rhythm that I could hope to keep at least until the water line hill. The only thing that annyoed me was that I kept getting runners line up behind me, playing follow the leader for miles on end, even though I provided may opportunities for them to pass. It shouldn't have been that big a deal but when you hear footsteps directly behind you for 10 miles at a time it starts to feel like you're dragging that person along. As I approached the Fern Gate aid station, I opened up the throttle a little just to lose the guy behind me. I've heard that this was roughly the half way point as far as your time is conserned so I was feeling confident when my TIMEX read 2:24:00. I topped off my handheld and entered into the land trust section. It seems like every year I run this race I'm always alone for these miles and this time around was no different, with one exception. Someone had thought it a good idea to place one of those skeletons you see around Halloween time that talks to you when it senses motion on the side of the trail. It was completely unexpected and I was very amused by it.

By the time I hit the mile 22 aid station, my muscles were really craving food and GU's didn't seem to be satisfying enough. I took my first real walk break as I passed the table there and took a pretzel stick and some fun sized chocolates, scarfing them down when I walked away. It was really interesting to feel the difference solid sustenance has on your body as opposed to "performance energy" promised by the GU packets' logo. I started to bounce back and get back into a good rhythm again. I'm really glad I went out with Eric Patterson several weeks ago and trained on these trails ahead of time. I felt much more mentally prepared than in previous years.

I made my way over some more snowy trails and found myself at the bottom of waterline, it's drawn-out decent looking at me in the face. I busted out my last GU (espresso love flavored) and ripped the top of it off like a grenade pin, hollywood style, and started speed hiking. Feeling tired but not beat down just yet, I trudged up a more precipitous, slippery climb than normal and eventually made it to the second to last aid station. That climb never ceases to give you a good, swift kick in the pants before you start that last 10k.

Again, I opted for solid food, PB&J, this time round before moving onward. For the journey into McKay's Hollow I hit many mental and physical ups and downs; my body couldn't figure out if it was supposed to be in pain or receiving a second wind. Eventually, thankfully, it decided it was supposed to be the ladder and I was able to run more than hike despite the now muddy terrain; the snow was thawing.

Another rough climb later and I stumbled into the last aid station. I checked my watch and I would have 18 minutes to reach the finish if I was to achieve my goal. I threw back some powerade, the first non water drink of the day, and started running. I had to keep moving, keep this pace, ignore the sudden calf cramping and pain in the quads. My form was getting bad but I was pretty fatigued. But really that's how I had hoped it would be, leave it all on the course. I passed Dink as he was hiking down the course in the opposite direction and he announced to me the news of the new course record.

Seeing and hearing the finish line through some trees I checked my watch again, just to make sure. Four minutes to spare. I would make it after all.

And that's the way the cookie crumbles.