Freedom Park 24 Hour Full Report

24 Hours of asphalt. Man, I'm dumb. I got in 70 miles & left several hours early, but I'm OK with it. It's hard for me to write a review of this race because there was a lot I liked & a lot that was just... off. It's hard for me to say anything bad about the race because it was so well-organized & the volunteers were great, but I just didn't have a great time running it. In my last 24 hour race, I really enjoyed myself and felt like I was running with purpose. In this race, it just felt like I was going around in (cold, wet) circles for no good reason.

I walked out of the Sleep Inn to around an inch of sleet/snow on the ground. It was right around freezing- 32 or 33. I showed up at the race & picked up my packet with a nice fleece pullover, a fleece scarf & Injinji (my favorite) socks.

Everyone was really low key & bundled up at the starting line and we were off with little fanfare. The first of my 1 mile asphalt loops followed. Freedom Park is adjacent to Freedom High School & I've been there for Cross Country meets there before. The XC course is pretty nice but the paved loop has a view of a grassy field. According to Accuweather.com, the temperature never got over 38 all day and it was drizzly and misty the whole time. I would've prefered the race be on a portion of the XC course but it would've been a muddy mess yesterday. The forecasted high tomorrow is below freezing and the overnight windchill is 5, so I guess I can't complain about the weather. Is 38 and wet better than 17 and windy? Maybe so.

I ran more on asphalt yesterday than I did in the past 2.5 years combined. I really don't know why I signed up. Around mile 8, I noticed my knees throbbing. By about 14, my ankle hurt. Around 18, my shins hurt. Those problems lasted the rest of the race. That's a long time to hurt. For the better part of 16 hours, my primary thought was, "Ow." The race director said it was OK to run on the edge of the path in the grass, but I was really the only one who did. I'd run in the mud down the slight hills & another 100m stretch. It made me feel like I was cheating, but running in the mud was certainly not faster than staying on the path. After several hours, the path I'd blazed got muddier and muddier, so I stopped after awhile.

I had to take a lot of breaks to stretch & massage my legs. I'd put on a sweatshirt, get in the back of my car, shiver, mess with my legs, and get out absolutely freezing. Teeth chattering. Shaking. Miserable. I wasted a lot of time doing this. I can't even remember how many 15-30 minute breaks I took. 5, I think. Before each of them, though, my knees were so bad, I nearly quit, so I think it was the best decision.

I was wet the entire day. For most of the race, I wore shorts, long sleeve shirt, short sleeve shirt, a thin jacket & a hat. I took the jacket off for about a third of the race, which was a good decision. I was a little colder without it, but drier (not as much sweat). With wet feet from the mud I sloshed through, I'm amazed I have no hint of a blister.

I can't say enough how good the support was. Great food, friendly volunteers, chip timing (which I've never seen at an ultra). David & Rhonda Lee & their BMRC volunteers were fantastic and almost seemed offended if they couldn't get you something. I felt obliged to take something most times through the aid station. Seriously, they had a U-Haul truck full of food! The veggie burger Rhonda made for me as I left was the greatest thing I've ever tasted. Only hot food I'd had. I ate a lot more solid food than I ever have in a race. PB&J, potatoes, cookies, trail mix... but there was also pizza, burgers, grilled cheese, etc. I think I ate more than usual to stay warm.

No offense to anyone, but I've got a theory that trail runners are much more friendly than road runners. I went on a fairly long road run at the beach over the summer, I waved or gave a "How's it going?" to about 20 other runners. Not a single response. Training on trails, I've had people turn around and run with me for 5-10 minutes, and I've done the same. Now, I would imagine nearly all of the people in the Freedom Park do their fair share of trail running, but I just never got much of a conversation started with anyone. Some of the comments people made made me laugh.

Them: How many miles have you run?
Me: 38.
Them: Oh, I've run a lot more than that. I'm at 44. It's weird that we're running together but really I'm 6 miles ahead of you. It must feel bad to know that you're that far back.

or

Them: How many miles have you run?
Me: 46.
Them: I've run 40, but at my age, that's a much bigger feat than your 46. You're young. I'm suprised you only have 46.

What?! Really strange stuff. I've never had such conversations with people in an ultra. I blame the asphalt for making people mean. :)

I did meet a few people and ran maybe 2 minutes with people at the most, but that's it. I talked to some people I already knew everytime we passed, but everyone just seemed to be doing their own thing in this race. It felt like the weather and monotony of the course just had people stuck in their bubble of "I'm just getting through this." In most trail races, I befriend someone and run with them for 2-3 hours. That's part of the fun of it. Half of the people had headphones in. I have never run with an ipod, but when it got dark & started feeling lonely, I listened to the finest in 80s thrash metal and punk rock. Gave me a little company.

I got in a relatively fast two laps so I could make the ringing in of the New Year, which was kinda fun. I thought I was at 69 laps then and at that point had decided to run 74 miles (75 laps- each lap was .98xx miles) for some reason. I went to double check and was told I only had 65 laps. Hard to question chip timing. It had been about 10 miles since a break and I knew I wasn't running 10 more without a break. I got back in the car thinking I had 10 more miles for 74. As I got out, I decided to get in 6 more laps for 70 miles instead. When I got back around, they said I had 69 laps! Huh? I must've misunderstood before. I was a little out of it. I sure wouldn't have taken a 30 minute break before running 3 miles though!

I wasn't sure I could even make it a marathon on asphalt (again, why did I sign up?), so I'm pleased I made it 70. I probably should've signed up for the 6 hour option & tried to run faster rather than grind it out with all the breaks I took. I don't mean to paint a bad picture of the race. It was put together very well and most people were more than happy to get in a lot of miles on a quick paved course free of roots, rocks and mud. That's the kind of stuff I like though.

Pictures to follow.

Made it 70. Stopped Early.

Asphalt & I hate each other. Really, I have no idea why I signed up for a 24 hour race on asphalt. I ran more today on asphalt than the last 2.5 years combined. Knees started hurting at mile 8. Ankle, shins, feet... 70 miles. Got to ring in the New Year, but went home early. If I were still there, I'd have 4 more hours. I'm glad I'm not. Temps ranged from 32-41 with drizzle & mist all day & night. 1/2"-1" of snow/sleet on the ground this morning. Cold & wet the whole time. David & Rhonda Lee, along with the other BMRC volunteers put on a great event, but it just wasn't my thing. More later. Time for bed.

What Did I Get Myself Into?

Freedom Park New Year's 24 Hour Race is coming up. I'm scared. Here's a quick checklist:

1) Asphalt. Race director said you can run on the grass next to the path though. I bought the first pair of road shoes I've had in almost 3 years just for this race. I figure even if I'm running in the grass a lot of the time, a 10 oz. road shoe is better than a 12 oz trail shoe.

2) Seems like it's rained for 6 weeks straight + several inches of snow there that's melting + an inch of rain they're calling for tomorrow + RAIN DURING THE RACE will make running on the grass potentially worse than the asphalt.

3) 1 mile loop. I can handle a 1 mile loop in the woods or around a lake or something. This is all out in the open in a grassy park. I've been there before for XC meets so I knew what I was getting myself into. Something... I dunno... I just don't like running in the open. Feel like people are watching me. That's one of the reasons I don't run on the roads anymore & the few times I've done it to prep for this race, I've waited until dark. Good thing the days are short now.

4) Yesterday's forecast called for low of 25 with sleet. Today, it says low of 32 with rain on the 31st. Snow Dec. 30 & Jan. 1. I would much rather have 25 & sleet than 32 & rain. I just don't want it to be muddy. It's gonna be muddy. Not like trail muddy, but like soccer field muddy. Wet feet. Poor footing. There are 100 runners. Let's say half run 1' into the grass and let's say 50 miles is the average distance people go. That's 2,500 laps people are running, churning up the mud. I'm sure the forecast will change a lot in the next week. Either way, though, I think it's gonna be muddy, dangit.

5) Undertrained. I've gotten in few 2:00-2:30 runs in the past month, but nothing longer than that. With a good summer of training and a 90 mile race 3 months ago, I should be OK, right? Semi-OK? Good enough? As good as dead? I can't decide.

I thought injury, the heat & a boring 1.5 mile loop (turned out to be nice, not boring) was going to lead to a bad race at the Hinson Lake 24 Hour Run, but I was very pleased with my performance there, so maybe things will go well at Freedom Park! And, hey, I always love bad conditions, don't I?? I'm headed up to the mountains Dec. 26-29 and am looking forward to getting in a couple of runs with the YakTrax! Can't wait to see how terrible it is at Mount Mitchell Challenge this year. So, what's a little mud, right?

Snow Slush Mud. Greensboro Watershed Trails

Ran a pretty brisk 7 miles at 11 AM at practice today and then got in the car and drove to Greensboro to run with Hannah. We ran 11 miles on the Greensboro Watershed Trails around Lake Brandt. These trails are pretty flat and normally not that technical. Some roots, but nothing too tricky. The Owl's Roost section is the toughest, but not bad- just a lot of short, steep bumps. I forgot that they got a few inches of snow in Greensboro the other day when we got an inch of 34 degree rain (I swear the ground has been mush since before Thanksgiving!). What we ran through was an inch of snow on top of three inches of mud. Squish, squish, slide. Squish, squish, slide. Had a lot of fun and it was good seeing Hannah, but what would've normally been a pretty quick run turned into 2 hours of slogging through the muck. Made it a difficult run.

Got to go to my favorite restaurant in the world with Mr. John Rash too. Binh Minh Vietnamese Restaurant. v5 with tofu and extra vegetables. Yum.

Nice Runs Over Break

Nothing earthshattering, but I had some nice runs over the Thanksgiving break. Good to get back into the swing of things and enjoy some down time from school.

Wednesday- 1 hour at Beatty Park in Matthews with some WHS runners. We train here a few days a week over the summer but it's been a little while since I've been. Rooty as always and those roots were hidden under the leaf cover this time but no one fell.

Thursday- 1 hour at Fisher Farm Park in Davidson. This one was a new one to me. I was up at my parents for Thanksgiving & planned on running at North Meck Park but changed my mind the night before. I got a little lost before I understood the concept of these trails (Part of that was b/c I went backwards, apparently.). If you just follow green, you have a 2.8 mile loop or something like that. There are also blue and black spurs here & there, but it all comes back into the green... at least I think. There are a total of about 4 miles of trails here from what I gather. I went on all of them at least once. You go through woods & open fields. I kind of liked the open fields. Some of the trails in the woods were a little too tight to get much flow. Felt like they were trying to cram too much trail into small patches of woods. Then again, I guess the green trails were pretty easy to run. The black diamond had lots of little 6' dips and quick turns. Hadn't rained in 3 days but the trails were still a lot more muddy than Beatty the day before. I'm sure I'll go back to Fisher Farm Park since my parents live 4 miles from there, but this is not a destination trail. The fog & 45 degree temps of the morning were half the fun.

Friday- 1 hour on Smoketree Trail + gravel & paved roads, Beech Mountain. 25 degrees & 20-30 mph sustained winds with gusts over 50 mph! A little snow on the ground too. I can't describe how much I love the cold & miserable conditions. Wore tri shorts, tights, long sleeves, short sleeves, thin Brooks Infiniti jacket & toboggan. I was a little toasty under the jacket when climbing, but my ears & face stayed cold the whole time. Legs were perfect. I was a lot more cold watching Wren sled afterwards! I've done this loop a few times when I've been up here. It follows some abandoned dirt roads that have washed out. Rocky. Passes a couple of small waterfalls, which had icicles on them this time. When I was on this trail over the summer, I saw a bear scampering away from me. I think they were smarter than me this time & found a warm place to be.

Saturday- 2:10 on several trails & roads on Beech Mountain. I had planned on starting at 4900' where we stayed, but instead, got dropped off at 3400' and made my way up. Total climb of 2900'. Ugh. After injury and illness, I don't think I've run over an hour in the 2 months since the 24 hour race. 2:10 on rolling terrain would've been OK, but the fact that is was my longest run and by far the hardest, ugh... I really struggled, but got through it.

Sunday- Thought about running. Decided against it. Calves, achilles, sciatic nerve enjoyed the day off.

Freedom Park 24 Hour New Year's Race

After the problems I've had this fall, I'm not sure how smart it is, but I signed up for the Freedom Park 24 Hour New Year's Race put on by Brown Mountain Running Club in Morganton, NC. This race is on a 1 mile PAVED loop. Paved. I said I'd never run another paved marathon. I thought about running 6 hours of this race last year & asked the race director if I could run in the grass instead of the asphalt. He said OK. Hopefully that stands for this year too. Until this week, I didn't have a decent pair of road shoes & hadn't for over a year. I plan on doing more road running in the month leading up to the race. This really may not be a good idea. We'll see.

Brooks Inspire Daily Program

I was recently selected to be a part of Brooks' Inspire Daily Program. From their website:

Brooks I.D. stands for Inspire Daily. These two simple words guide the principles of the program. Brooks I.D. is made up of over 2,000 members who are active in their running communities and share a passion for the Brooks brand. They are runners who are winners in their own right: Winning their age divisions, accomplishing their personal goals, pushing their own limits, and, by extension, encouraging others to do the same. They are coaches, mentors, and leaders.

I've tried a number of shoes over the years. I've had more Brooks than any, but Saucony & New Balance would probably be the next two. I've had a few pairs of Adidas & Asics. 1 pair of Mizunos. 1 pair of Nikes in the mid 1980s. No Reeboks. Back in the 80s, I had some Turntecs, Converse (yes, they made running shoes), & Etonics. More recently, I've tried Montrails, ENDs & Inov-8s. I keep coming back to the Brooks though. From the Chariot of 1985 to the Hyperion of 2001 to the Cascadias I can't get enough of now, I've put a lot of miles in Brooks. They also happen to make the shorts (Sherpa II) I liked so much I bought 5 pairs of.

The ID program gives members a 40% discount and some free gear from time to time (some of which are new test models). I've never seen myself as a pitchman, but I'm glad to be a part of this program. Being loyal to the products I like isn't hard.

Good Hiker

Wren prides herself on being a good hiker. "The best in the world." We went to Crowders Mountain yesterday and climbed Kings Pinnacle. It's a 3.5 mile hike roundtrip and is listed as "strenuous." The Pinnacle Trail goes steadily up for about .75 mile, gets a little rolling for about .4 and then really turns upward to the summit. Wren did a great job and said she liked it better when it got steep. She loved jumping from rock to rock on the trail. It's a pretty rocky trail. Several people on the trail commented how well she did & that they were getting shown up by a 5 year old.

I hiked up with the family & then ran back down and up and down Crowders Mountain. It was my first hour long run in a month. Still coughing a lot when I run, but I'm a lot better. Today will be the 9th day I've run in a row. Mostly just 5-6 milers though.

Rough Period

I ran today for 45 minutes & thought I'd die! Before that, I'd run once in 16 days. I had bronchitis and the flu at the same time. Coughing & wheezing. The other day I ran made the coughing much worse. I think today's run was hard not only because it's been so long since I've run, but I'm also still having a lot of trouble breathing.

The team I coach has been wiped out by the flu. Unlike anything I've ever seen. The boys didn't make it to the state meet though they were ranked 7th in the state. The girls had even more cases of the flu (7 of top 8!) + injuries. We managed 4th in the state meet yesterday. Ready to get myself & the team well!

Love the Weather

People this time of year complain about the weather a lot. 52 or so when I went out the door this afternoon. Cloudy. Rained all week and looked like it wanted to today. Kinda breezy. If the weather was like it was today everyday, I'd be OK with it.

I also really enjoyed my run. 2 hours at ASC Greenway trails. Back pain wasn't too bad. Loved scooting along the roots, rocks & leaves. It was one of those dreary days where I felt like skipping the run but once I got out there it was one of the highlights of my week. Someone remind me those runs are always the best.

Low tonight is supposed to be 33. Wish I were in the mountains this past weekend. An early morning 33 degree would be nice, but I know I'm not getting up at 5 AM.