OK, Yeah, I Choked

Gator Trail 50K today. Lake Waccamaw, NC- near Wilmington. Just decided to run a week ago. Not expecting anything. Three 2-3 hour runs in the week leading up to the race.

Race starts & I look around & wonder why I'm in FIRST place! I didn't want to be in first place. ...now admittedly, there were only 28 people running. I was in the lead for the first 18 miles before the wheels fell off. Let me make this clear- I was leading the race! I still don't understand how that's possible. As a wise coach once said, "They don't give awards for winning the first half of a race." :) I do NOT think I went out too fast. I held back the first lap & ran comfortably the 2nd.

2nd place was 40 meters behind me at the 2 mile mark & I felt a lot of pressure, so I decided to surge a tiny bit for the next 800m. That gave me a more cushion so I could relax. At the end of each of six 5+ mile loops, you have a 4:00 section of out & back where you can see where people are. At the end of the first loop, he was about 2:00 back. I went to the outhouse (yes, outhouse) in the 2nd loop, but he was still 2:00 back, which means without the stop, I was still gaining ground. I decided, "If I'm going to win this thing, I need to get some separation and by the next loop, I don't want to be able to see him." My thought was "Out of sight, out of mind." If he knew I was making up ground, he'd forget about me. At least that's what I thought. ...I mean, I'm never close to this situation, so... So I picked it up from miles 10-13. My already queasy stomach had enough & at 14 miles, I puked. At the end of the 3rd loop, I was still 2:30 or so ahead. I took a little long between laps to get more drink & special needs stuff. Puked twice on the 4th loop and he caught me at 18. Another guy caught me at 19. Two others caught me at 19.5. Two others caught me in the 5th loop. I was forced to walk a few times the 4th & 5th loops, but ran the whole 6th loop- just slowly. I passed one of the guys less than a mile from the end, so I ended up in 6th. 4:49:40.

Laps 2-6 included about 2:00 at my car/aid station, but I was going pretty well until the 4th loop.
Lap 1- 42:11, Lap 2- 42:40, Lap 3- 41:59, Lap 4- 49:41, Lap 5 - 57:16, Lap 6- 55:45

I decided a while back my puking trouble has always been about nerves. I used to have stomach problems in every road marathon I ran b/c I put so much pressure on myself to PR. With trail running, I relax more & enjoy it, so no stomach problems. I think because I felt the pressure of not getting passed, I had the stomach problems. Dumb, I know. I've never led a race since 10th grade! Uncharted territory. I freaked out a little, I guess. Some of the problem, I'm sure was picking up the pace, but I wasn't exactly flying- 7:30 pace for those 3 miles maybe.

The course was OK. Very flat, longleaf pine forest, sand. The sand was loose & soft. Not ideal, but it was good enough. Not very technical, but there were sections with roots & little stumps. The sand made it tougher than it should've been though. Weather was perfect! 60, no sun & breezy. Course well marked & race director & volunteers nice & helpful. Sweatshirt. Finisher's award is a framed picture of you, which I like better than a medal. Something different. Saw no gators, but there was a baby alligator skeleton on the course. A 12 foot gator recently died there.

Eating didn't happen. With that & the pukes, I'm surprised there was no bonking, but I was OK. Got very hungry the 5th lap and ate some trail mix, which hit the spot. I also remembered why I don't like Perpeteum. My sciatic nerve problem was pretty bad. I'm sure I would've slowed due to it in the last 2 laps. My toe problem is getting worse & worse. Since I was little, one of them has curled under, but it's getting worse. When I run, the end of the toenail faces all the way down- perpendicular to the ground, causing some nasty problems. I'm thankful when it falls off 1-2 times a year, because it's so mangled you can't really cut it well. I think I need to have something done to it. Surgery to straighten it has always been in the back of my mind & I always say, "After the next race." I'm thinking it may be better to just get the nail permanently removed. I dunno. Yeah, it's gross.

Spring Break '08

I've enjoyed the time off. Went to the mountains with the family. Everyone had fun. It snowed an inch and the high was 28 one day. Got in some very difficult runs. Saw a couple of bear tracks yesterday during a 2 hour run far from people. Made me think I should be more prepared for encounters like that. I'm running the Gator Trail 50K Saturday at Lake Waccamaw, near Wilmington, NC. Very flat, but sandy & possibly muddy. Should be fairly fast, but I'm not feeling that fast lately. Only 17 people ran last year. I just decided to run this race at the last minute because a track meet fell through.

Ian & I are officially a 2 person team for what was the 24 hour Relay For Africa, but is now called the Blue Planet Run 24- Black Mountain. It still benefits clean drinking water in developing countries. I'd wanted to run the whole 24 hours, but they changed the date and now it's on the day of our regional track meet. Instead, Ian will run from 10 AM-10 PM and I'll come after the meet & run 10 PM-10 AM. Hoping to get in 65 miles. The 5 mile loop has one incredibly hard mile and a few other decent hills, but also has some nice downhills & flats. We haven't come up with a team name yet, but there's talk of costumes! We'll see.

Crowder's Mountain

I'd planned to do a 4-5 hour run tomorrow, but wanted to get in an hour today. Decided to get the family in on it and suggested we go to Crowder's Mountain. It's about 35-40 minutes from our house, but I've never run there before. Pretty tough! 900 ft. of elevation gain in the first 30 minutes, along with crawling on my behind over rocks & lots of unrunnable rocky patches. Total elevation gain of 1140' in the 1:03 trip. I went from the Visitor's Center, up along the ridge, down what must've been 200 stairs(!), and back on the nice rolling main trail. Nice clear day & good views, but I didn't stop to take them in. Jennifer & Wren walked around the lake and we ate a picnic lunch. Fun little outing, but it ranks up there for the most difficult hour long run I've ever done. Now on to the ASC Greenway trails for my long run tomorrow.

3/2/08 Update- Ran the whole marathon course I came up with for the ASC Greenway Trail Marathon (Sept. 27) today. Pulled a muscle in my back earlier in the day. Sore from the Crowder's Mt. run. Maybe I'm not that smart. Felt decent though. 4:35.

Holiday Lake 50K++

Good day!

So I've had this achilles problem off & on (mostly on) since early November. It's been at its worst since Salem Lake 50K in early January. I've gone to the chiropractor several times and done ultrasound on it almost everyday for the past couple of weeks (We have the machine at school.) It's felt fine when I run lately & just hurts a little when I'm not running. I've been able to run runs of 1.5 hours, 2.5 hours & 3 hours in the past 3 weeks without any pain, so I thought I'd give the Holiday Lake 50K++ a shot since I'd already registered.

Holiday Lake is north of Appomattox, VA & I keep hearing it's the easiest race David Horton puts on. I took that to mean "easy," but considering he also puts on Mountain Masochist 50+ miler & Hellgate 100K, I should've known better. It was not easy, but it wasn't incredibly hard either- 34 miles, over 2,200 feet of elevation gain, 6 creek crossings, 1/3 singletrack, 2/3 muddy jeep roads. Of course the jeep roads bored me.

I got lost getting there following someone out of the hotel & got to the race 10 minutes before the start. Locked my keys in my car. I can't explain it- I just wasn't "feelin' in," early in the race. Literally, at mile 3, I thought about turning around. Didn't get much better for the first 2 hours. I was convinced I'd stop at the end of the first 17 mile loop. I think a lot of this had to do with being a little out of shape from resting my achilles. I've only run 3 days/week, being sure to get in a long run each week. Those have been more tiring than they should be. I was also worried about my achilles. It didn't hurt, I just thought it would. Because I'm scared of messing it up, I've started running more in the middle of my foot instead of my normal tiptoe running. I feel like the new way doesn't give me much power.

After 2 hours, things started clicking though. I am VERY glad I kept going because the second half was much better. With 9 miles to go I kind of giggled to myself, "Ah, you can finish now!" Part of that was the aid station worker saying, "OK, you've got 9 miles & 3 hours before the cutoff." I responded, "I must look worse than I thought if you think I might not make it!" I picked it up with about 7-8 miles to go. With 5 miles to go- I can't tell you how hard I was pushing it. I really don't think I could've run faster if it had been a stand-alone 5 mile race. I was flying- taking risks on the singletrack, and really going for it. I was hoping to break 6 hours. For kids I coach or others who don't run trails, don't get the calculators out. Yes, that's 10:30 miles, but it's nothing like a flat road race.

No one passed me in the last half of the race & I caught about 20 people. I'm often on the other side of that, getting passed at the end. Both feelings feed into themselves. If you're getting passed, you imagine problems and it gets worse & worse. If you pass people, you look for just one more person ahead of you to pick off. Such a good feeling- not because I'm all that competitive, but just knowing you're giving it everything you have. I felt kind of white-knuckle-ish. I never got any sort of runner's high until my second Ironman in 2002 & then not again until this past year of running longer distances. I didn't have my heartrate monitor, but I had to be at 182 or so the last few miles. I started feeling sick and got that feeling like in a 10K, "Oh no, I'm flying. What if I can't hold this? What if I puke?" I was able to maintain & finished 5:54. I'm pleased. I didn't have a great race, but the end made it pretty darn good. I may have sandbagged it a little early on, but maybe that's why I had a good second half. It feels SO much better to run the way I did than go out hard and fade late. Best of all, no achilles problems!

Had a pretty good time too & talked to more people than usual. Ran with a SIXTEEN year old for a few minutes. He finished a minute behind me, so he must've been bookin' it too. This was the first time I've worn my Nathan HPL #020 hydration pack. It just came in this week. I liked it a lot & especially the pockets up front. Since I'm not used to a hydration pack, I didn't drink enough though. I took a sip every 5-10 minutes, but it wasn't enough. I got lucky I didn't have problems with dehydration or bonking. I barely ate anything- just the HEED in my pack, a few pretzels, half a Mojo bar & a few Sharkies.

I need to sit down & rework my race schedule. 3 of my races for the year are out now. I wanted to find a 24 hour race to go for 100 miles in. Looks like I may just go with Rocky Raccoon 100 Miler in Feb. 2009. Who knows? Anyone want to go to Texas with me??

ASC Greenway Trail Marathon

So, I've decided to direct a trail marathon. After talking with the Greenway for the past couple of weeks, we've nailed down a date & name. It will be called the ASC Greenway Trail Marathon, Relay & 5 Miler and will be run Saturday, September 27, 2008. 7:00 AM start time to keep the temperatures down a little. The course will be 100% on unpaved surfaces- a good mix of singletrack, horse trails & some dirt roads.

I run there most weekends & I think people will like the course. Incidentally, ASC Trails are 34 miles long & they will eventually link to the 30 miles of Nation Ford Greenway trails (just 2 miles opened now) for a total of 64 miles in Fort Mill, SC. Amazing!

Online Registration & Info: http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1540675

What an Idiot!

We decided at he last minute not to go to a track meet today, so on Wednesday, someone asked me, "So, that means you're going to run the Frosty 50K, right?" I hadn't considered it. My achilles have been hurting since last week's long runs & I've been sick all week. For some reason, I signed up Wednesday night & didn't feel like I could back out. If for no other reason, I shouldn't have run since I ran my most difficult 5 hours ever just 8 days ago (& 3 hours the day before).

So against my better judgement, I ran the Frosty 50K today at Salem Lake in Winston-Salem. Flat, easy course. Not really a trail race- hard packed, wide trail. I used to run there all the time when I was at my last school. It's not much different from a flat road race, which I told myself I would never do again.

Went out in exactly 8:00 miles for the first 11 or so & was close after that. Around 12, I felt a blister & some chafing coming on. At the halfway point, I used some Vaseline & realized my blister covered half the ball of my foot! I was worried about taking care of it & forgot to eat or drink at the aid station. I hadn't eaten yet & wouldn't get to until about 19 miles. I really made mistake after mistake with this race. Everything about it- from registering to dealing with the problems that came up to forgetting to eat was a mistake. Felt very bonky from 16-19. Ate some at 19 & felt better in 20 minutes, but still had the blister, chafing & achilles problems. The achilles made me most worried, by far.

At 21, I said, "OK, I'm done." At that point, you're right near the start. I started to turn around & saw I guy I knew who said, "Keep running." I did. The last 6 miles weren't so bad really, and I picked it up a little.

Last time I ran this race, I was disappointed in my 4:41 finish. Today, I ran 2:08 for the first half & a disgusting 2:48 for the last half! 4:56:40 finish time. I am glad I finished & considering all of the problems & the fact that I ran my tail off a week ago, I guess I'm OK with it. I will go get those achilles check out though!

Thanks to Braden who came out & ran 10 miles with me & Hannah & Nick who ran about 5. Unexpected, but nice.

Next stop, Holiday Lake 50K in Virginia in 5 weeks.

2007 Best & Worst

A lot of running-related changes in 2007. Almost all very good. I'm happy to be evolving as a runner- keeps it from getting boring. I can honestly say that I was only bored running maybe 3 times since March. After running thousands & thousands of miles, I feel like I reinvented my running this year and have never loved it so much!

Here's a Best & Worst of 2007 list someone sent me that I used as a template:

Best Race: 12 Hour Adventure Trail Race in Triangle, VA. Loop was 6.62 miles long & fairly difficult. I made it 8 laps before the cutoff & was under the impression you could do another lap as long as you started before the 12 hour cutoff. I really wanted to get in 60 miles & was... angry when I was told I was done at 8 laps. I went out and did another lap on my own, finishing 60 miles in 12:35. I cleared it up with the race director later. I really felt like I had a lot more in me after 60. A great feeling. Even better was that I had some moderate blistering which I took care of and that was the only problem at all! Felt fantastic!

The Myrtle Beach Marathon was a little special too. I had been injured for over a year (back/sciatic nerve problem that still hurts some) & just being able to do a marathon in February 2007 felt like an accomplishment even though it was 25 minutes slower than my PR.

Worst Race: Outer Banks Marathon from Kitty Hawk to Manteo, NC. See previous post. After not running on asphalt for so long, my feet & legs were destroyed in this race.

Favorite Training Week: Running Camp at Brevard with my new team. Runs in Pisgah & DuPont Forest.

Highest Weekly Training Mileage: 82. A few others at 75 or more.

Lowest Training Mileage: 0 the week I hurt my foot. Probably something like 18 on a busy week.

Total Yearly Mileage: Around 2,200. I didn't keep a log for a few weeks in there.

Best Route: My wife's from Fort Mill, SC & I never knew there are 34 miles of trails there! I ran a 1/2 marathon there & then moved 7 minutes away when we moved to Charlotte. Having something that close, that long, and with a variety of hills and flat is wonderful. Before moving, my favorites were Gibson Park/PEC & the Salem Lake illegal bike trails.

Worst Route: Since April, I've made a point of seeking out good places to run, so I haven't run many places I didn't like. I guess I'd say a 2-3 hour run at tiny Triad Park, which included going on the same 2/3 mile trail 10 times. Also as New Year's struck, I was running 20 miles in my parents' neighborhood, covering the same ground several times.

Greatest Acheivement: The 12 hour race & simply the renewed love of running.

Biggest Disappointment: Hmm... I really can't think of one. I have had 2 slow marathons, but given the situations in each, I don't think of them as disappointments. I also can't think of a training run or overall trend that was disappointing. I've been pleased with my running, though I have been faster at times.

Longest Injury-Free Stretch: I didn't have a major injury all year, but I felt great from March to July.

Worst Injury: Hit a rock wrong coming down a gravel road lost in Pisgah National Forest. Wearing New Balance 810s with odd places with no outsole (for drainage, I guess- love the feel of the shoe, so I put Shoe Goo over the holes on a newer pair.) & felt like I broke a bone in my foot. Out for 8 days. That was mid-July & I still feel it when I'm barefoot. Doctor said it was just bruised. I'm not sure.

Most Memorable Moment: The solo 5+ hour Appalachian Trail run from 2 days ago ranks up there! See other post. 34 degrees, pouring rain, 60 mph winds on exposed grassy balds, ice on the trail, 4270' of elevation gain... Kinda memorable.

Most Forgettable Moment: I forgot.

Best Run Shared with Someone: 21 mile Sauratown Trail run with Hannah Parks. From Hanging Rock, over Sauratown Mountain and up to Pilot Mountain. Trail barely marked & barely there in places. 90 degrees. Having to drink out of people's hoses when they weren't home.

Best Shoe: I haven't run in them enough, but the Keen Ochocos have treated me right in wet and rocky conditions. Not an everyday shoe though. I've worn the Keen Wasatch Crests around this week to break them in. They may fall into the same category as the Ochocos- heavier duty than I need everyday, but a shoe with a purpose when I run long and on rocky terrain. As mentioned, I love the New Balance 810 if there aren't many rocks around.

Worst Shoe: Only shoe I've run in that I didn't like this year were the Merrell Pursuit Ventilators. Felt tight out of the box. I should've known.

Something I Never Thought I'd Do: So many things... Move to Charlotte to coach & teach. Run 60 miles. Run back to back long runs on a regular basis. Change my idea of a long run from 14 miles & up to "Eh, 4, 5, 6 hours or somethin'." Wear a Camelbak. Use hand-held waterbottles. I used to hate running with anything extra.

Race I Enjoyed Most Watching: West 4A XC Regional. Close second- 2 girls I coached in the Indoor State Meet 3200m, one 2 seconds from winning

Most Important Lesson Learned: Running for me this year has been all about freedom. I haven't worried about training, races, pace, etc., etc., and it's never been as fun. I've run more mileage than ever, done intervals with my team as hard as ever, and it's fallen into place, I just haven't planned it out and it's worked well. Not what I would suggest to my team or anyone else necessarily, but it's worked for me. The pressure to perform isn't there. I used to never run a race unless I thought I would PR. If I didn't, I'd pout about it for weeks. Now, I enjoy doing well, but the measure of that is a lot different than it used to be. My second best race of the year was a 10 miler in the mountains. I finished thinking, "WOW! I really ran as fast as I absolutely could. There wasn't a second where I could've pushed it harder. What a great feeling!" I have no clue what my time was. Didn't matter. In training, I used to plan 4-6 months in advance day-by-day. Now, if I feel like running 2 hours today, 3 hours tomorrow, and intervals with the team the next day, I will. If I feel like taking two days off & running 4 hours the third day, I'll do that.

Thing I'm Looking Forward to Most in 2008: Keep lovin' it. Run at least 90 in a 24 Hour Race. Of course that sets me up for an even 100 miler in 2009.

8 Hours of MOUNTAIN Running

I enjoy a long training day much more than racing usually, but of course I like a change of scenery. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I'd take a solo trip to the mountains centered on running. I chose very difficult runs for my two running days- I didn't really know how runable either trail was.

DAY ONE- LINVILLE GORGE

December 27, I went to Linville Gorge, a deep gorge sometimes called, "The Grand Canyon of the East," with old-growth forests and a 50' waterfall. It's been 15 years since I've been there and when I was 18, I got lost in the dark with Tipa and camped who knows where (we shared a Walkman when we were sure we would be mauled by whatever we heard nearby!). I was a little nervous of that this time- or of getting hurt with no one to help me. People get lost for days every year in Linville Gorge. The trails aren't marked or blazed and some of the trails aren't maintained regularly. All of the trails are listed as "More Difficult," and "Most Difficult." I planned on starting on the west side of the gorge, going in on the easiest and shortest trail- Pine Gap Trail. It's only 0.7 mile and links up with the much longer Linville Gorge Trail, which travels the length of the gorge, hooking up with all of the other trails.

It rained the day before, but was clear & warm on the 27th. The trail was muddy with slippery rocks & roots. As I climbed (using my hands in places) further & further down, I wondered if I was on the right trail because it seemed a lot steeper than what I'd read. I ended up at the river & was almost certainly not on the right trail. I ran back up another trail and went out & back 20 minutes or so down three other trails. I ended up at the dirt road I parked on at a trailhead 1/2 mile from my car. I ran away from my car out & back for a total run of 2:50 with half of it on the dirt road. I had planned on runing 2-3 hours, so I was at the top end of that. The dirt road wasn't what I was looking for, but it is nice & narrow & through the woods. Good scenery, good run.

The highest elevation on the run was 4000' and total climb for the day was 2440'. Heartrate average 156. I was at 170-185 on most of the climbs. 50 degrees.

DAY TWO- APPALACHIAN TRAIL

The next day was a lot different. The forecast for Beech Mt. was 50mph winds. At 800' higher elevation, Roan Mt. had to be higher than that. Add to that 2 inches of pouring rain- and at times, a little sleet & snow, extreme fog, sheets of ice covering the trail... it was a pretty miserable day, but I had a good time. It was the kind of day where I got all my clothes on in the car and waited for just the right moment to burst out of the car and start running, as if I'd dodge the rain somehow. I ended up wearing two jackets. According to the National Weather Service, 35 degrees + 60 mph winds = 17 degree wind chill. Being soaked in that, I don't know what that equals... death?

The plan was to run along the Appalachian Trail from Carvers Gap up to Roan High Knob, back down and over to Round Bald, Grassy Ridge Bald, etc. to Hwy. 19 and back. I was planning on running 4-6 hours. I knew I'd alter those plans, given the conditions, but I was kinda proud of myself for running through more than I could have. After the first long climb, I told myself I had to at least run 90 minutes. Then 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, and finally, I told myself, "By the time you run 5 hours, it'll almost be dark. That's a good stopping point." So I ran 5:04.

I ended up climbing Roan High Knob (34 degrees at the top) & going back over to Round Bald, Jane Bald and Grassy Ridge Bald. This was the absolute worst place to run in these conditions! You're running along a 5800' ridgeline with no trees to block the 50-60mph wind! The wind was incredibly tough. Horizontal rain/sleet stung my face so bad! I was almost blown down a few times. This section had 4" deep mud in places. I had to turn around, but ran an hour on the balds. The decision to get back in the cover of the woods was a wise one. I later went back up and over Roan High Knob, towards Hughes Gap, over Roan High Bluff on the Cloudland Trail, and along the road for a little while. I was never more than an hour from the car.

Highest point was 6285' with a total elevation gain of 4270', which is a lotta up & down. Average heartrate was 148. Couldn't quite push myself on those uphills to top out like I did the day before, but more than that, I was negotiating the ice & mud a lot more and my HR would go down to 110-120 for a minute or so. I didn't feel any worse at 5 hours than I did at 1 hour. I was a little sore from the day before (calves & achilles), but not bad. The day after, I barely feel like I ran.

My Gore-Tex Keen Ochoco shoes did a fantastic job on the rocks (most sections were very rocky) and in the rain, but nothing could keep my feet dry once the trail turned into a creek later in the day. Water was flowing down the trail ankle deep in a lot of places. My feet were dry for the first two hours. In the New Balance 810s I normally wear, I couldn't have run a rocky trail like this. Also no blisters. Thanks, Ochocos. You're ugly, but dry and protecting.

I took a picture right before I started running on the Appalachian Trail. I knew there was no way the rain would let up and I'd be able to use the camera. They say the balds are the best views on the entire 2000+ miles of the Appalachian Trail. I wouldn't know. I couldn't see more than 50 meters ahead of me.

Roads=Crummy

I ran the Outer Banks Marathon a month ago. Before that, I hadn't run more than 5 miles on the roads since my last marathon in February, and could probably count on both hands the number of times I'd even run 1 mile on roads since February... a few times at running camp, a couple of times with Wren in the stroller, and once at night. That's it.

Anyway, I didn't know what to expect. I'm not used to the even cadence of road running. Not used to the mind-numbing monotony of taking step after step that's exactly the same. A 3-4 hour run is routine for me- something I do once every week or two. ...but on trails. I can run all day on trails, but had the sense I might not be that fast on roads right now.

So, I ran the race and did lousy. The first 10 miles was fine. I ran through the half in what I wanted to, but the last half was so rough on my body. I've never experienced anything quite like that. The pounding of the road killed my legs- mainly my ankles, achilles, feet & shins. At 23 miles, I actually thought about dropping out because I was in so much pain- PAIN, not fatigue.

But, see, that was a month ago. "It's just a marathon." I should be able to bounce back from a marathon in 4 days or so. I shouldn't still have ankle & achilles issues now, should I?? I guess so.

I remember when I only ran on trails every once & awhile & how 10 minutes seemed like 30 minutes. More winded. Not used to the undulation, mental focus of the trail. I guess it's just what you're used to. I guess I learned a lesson at the Outer Banks Marathon, though. I've sworn off road marathons for at least a year.

I'm tinkering around with my 2008 race schedule. It's going to be ambitious. I don't usually race much, but I'm planning on doing 4-6 long races in 2008. 1-3 at the marathon/50K distance, one 50M/100K and one 100M/24 hour race- most likely Run For Africa 24 Hour Race in Black Mountain, NC.

Woolly Worm 10 Miler

Avery High School (Newland, NC) track to Lees-McRae (Banner Elk) track. 42 degrees at start.
2 miles downhill. 5 miles up a mountain. 2 miles down a mountain. 1 downhill-to-flat mile.
Kept my HR reasonable going up, but didn't feel like I was sandbagging. Not knowing the course, I had no idea if the first climb was 1/4 mile, 1 mile... had no idea it would be 5 miles! As I kept going up, I wondered if it would continue to climb all the way to Banner Elk. Was VERY happy to see it go back down when i did. I flew going down the last 3 miles & worked as hard as I could the whole race. Average HR for the race was 166 bpm. Felt good to give everything I had. Leaves & views were great. 720ft. of climbing in those 5 miles. Highest elevation was 4400 ft. Tough race! Legs killed me the rest of the day. 1:16:30- 7:38/mile if that means anything given the terrain.

Wren liked Woolly Worm Festival. Good weekend.