Cheaha, we meet again

I've never been a huge fan of pre-race carb loading dinners. They tend to, how do I put this?, not taste good. Or maybe I don't like them since there's usually some nice local place available to dine at instead. That was definitely the case before 2011's Cheaha. As the spaghetti buffet line opened up at the Bald Rock Lodge before the pre-race brief, I opened up my to-go box from one of my favorite BBQ joints, Sonny's. Though green beans, mac & cheese, a half pound of pulled bbq chicken with Smokey bbq sauce and a generous piece of sweet corn bread aren't exactly my standard pre-race dinner (do I really have a standard?) it sure hit the spot.

Since none of my Auburn runnin buddies this year opted to stay in a hotel down in Oxford, I decided I'd find somewhere to sleep up at the lodge and take the bus down to the start line instead. Dink Taylor was kind enough to let me crash in his R/V parked right next to the lodge. As the race starts and finishes up here, it sure is convenient to have all your stuff right up there when you finish.

After a sleepy bus ride down to Porter's Gap (the race's beginning), I pulled off my 3 layers of t-shirts (in all my wisdom, or lack thereof, I didn't bring any jackets with me from Auburn. I guess I forgot it got cold and night and in the morning) and chatted with Josh Kennedy about the condition of the course. He had done some recon the night before at midnight by starting way up at the lodge and running the course backward only to meet all us regulars and run back the way he had come for 100k total distance. Wasn't that nice of him? He reported that the trails were lookin mighty fine and that it was gonna be a good day for an ultra. Indeed, the unseasonably warm weather was not unwelcome.

As the race began I started my usual system checks. I'd been dealing with some shin issues over the last week and was hoping they wouldn't be a factor today. Early on, maybe miles 1 through 5, my arches and shins did start to feel pretty achy but it was all abated with some good ol trail runnin. (I hadn't run trails since Mist a week ago.)

I hadn't really set a time goal for myself today, only to beat last years' time. As this was going to be my last ultra for several months, I wanted to make sure I didn't break myself today. The first 6 miles went by quickly but I was keeping a very moderate pace. Markedly more slowly than last year. Lately I've felt like that's simply the better option. The sting of the mile 28 climb reminded me that I need to preserve myself a little better.

Rolling through the Adam's Gap aid station at around 2:23 or so I started running along the same single track that I had run just a few months earlier at the Pinhoti 100. It was kinda weird to be back, like returning to the scene of the crime, but the only evidence left are some surreal memories made during a long, aphotic night not too long ago. I was reliving those memories as I went along, musing at how much differently I felt last time I was at this specific section of blue-blazed trail.

Enjoying the weather as I went along, I continued to check my TIMEX to make sure I was taking in salt tabs at least every hour. That and water was pretty much all I did for hydration. I tend to get sick of sports drinks pretty quickly during these races. I never seem to get tired of water (let's hope not!).

Crossing the river towards the second to last aid station (there's a short bit of trail you have to run down and then retrace before heading onward) I spot Dink and 2 or 3 other runners heading up along the hillside. I didn't think I had gotten that close to them. This whole race I haven't been passed a single time (a rarity) and now I was starting to catch up to some others. I knew I was in something like 12th place. I had been periodically passing a few others throughout the day. My new strategy of blazing through aid stations was paying off I guess.

Making my way up the side of the river now, I busted out my favorite Bonk Breaker Bars and threw it down the hatch to give me a little boost for the next few miles. I really hadn't been taking in many calories at all. By the end of the day it turn out to be about 3 servings of Hammer Gel, a PB&J quarter, and that bar, something like 650 calories total. I felt like the heat made my appetite wane a bit.

With only the usual pain I experience after some 25 miles of hilly trail running, I was doing pretty well when I hit the fire road that would eventually take me to the last aid station and finally the "blue hell" climb. I was feeling a lot better at this point in the race than I have over the past 2 years. Though I wasn't running the whole way, (it was a really hilly road) I still felt like I kept a good pace when I did.

Rolling through the base of Cheaha State Park where curious park-goers observed some very slow runners bouncin through their picnic areas, I topped off my water (I was really guzzlin the stuff down now; it was comin up on 70 degrees) and started the final climb. There was not going to be much running happening for at least the next 15 minutes. Blue Hell gets harder ever time, it seems. The trail went from steep and rooty to downright vertical in a matter of minutes. My legs were screemin like banshees the whole way up, but still I managed to pass two more runners during the ascent.

With my legs shot, I eventually make it out of there and again hit the last little bit of single track before returning to Bald Rock Lodge. I walked all the way up until I hit the road that took us over the official highest point of Alabama, elevation: 2,407, and tried to get some semblance of a jog going so maybe I could make up some time. I did. I even somehow passed two more runners. It seemed that climb really took it from them.

A few minutes prior, however, I spotted Sarah Woerner gaining ground. She had been knockin on the door practically all day and we were both about to give it one final push to the finish .75 miles away. That, and I just found myself in 4th place. Maybe there was a slim chance of a podium finish.

Somehow I still had enough left in the tank for a good run through the last bit of leaf-covered trail. Checking my TIMEX again and I saw I had less than 5 minutes before the official race clock rolled over to 5:00:00. I never thought I'd come this close to finishing sub-5 at Alabama's most difficult 50k but here I was.

Smile on my face and dried sweat all over, I surged though that finishers chute getting away with a sub-5 finish by the skin of my teeth. 10 seconds to spare. It doesn't get much closer than that in an ultra.

I thought I'd go out and enjoy the scenery and test myself for the 3rd year in a row on a challenging 31 mile course along the Pinhoti trail, but, for reasons I'm not quite sure of, finished fourth overall with a time of 4:59:50, making Cheaha the 3rd 50k in a row that I've run sub 5.

Must've been the cornbread.