After being injured most of last year and having a mild case
of burnout, I was a little apprehensive about this race. My last trail race was the North Face 50 over
a year ago and that was a challenge with less than one week recovery from the
FATS 50K. I had done some running the
last part of 2012 with my physical therapy going well, but no real training
except for the last 7 weeks going into this race. In fact, I was using this as a training run
with no taper, 30 miles on the legs for the week, hill repeats, and weight
training. I read a few race reports and
decided at the last minute this would be a good run to kick my training in the
ass. Nonetheless, my training only
included one long run on the local trails, and the remaining long runs
performed on a flat 3 mile dirt loop. My
weekly mileage was low with only 40 miles per week logged. Didn’t want to ramp up my mileage to hard and
fast and risk injury again. My wife said
with this just being a 50K, this should be a light run for me. She asked me if I was ready, and I replied
not even close, but I got to start sometime.
As I dug deeper into the details of this Mount Cheaha 50K,
there was over 7,000 feet of climbing, technical rocky trail sections, stream
crossings, and Blue Hell with 1,000 feet of straight up in less than a half
mile.
I soon realized I had no business
toeing the line after taking a look at my brief training window.
I had done few hill repeats and weight
training sessions, and knew my legs would die on this race before the day was
over.
To complicate matters worse, it
had rained hard the past couple of weeks in the South, and still a steady rain
fell the morning of the race.
Streams
were now rivers, dirt trails now mud slop, and rocks like ice.
I got my son Josh setup at the lodge on top
of Mount Cheaha (finish line), he wished me luck and said “Dad, this is just a
little 50K, no worries and have fun.” I told him this will be a long day for
me.
I boarded the bus to haul 195+
runners to the starting line some distance south on the Pinhoti trail.
The fog was so thick, the chatty runners
rambling in a nervous tone, and I managed to get my survival strategy plan
together in my head.
Don’t race hard,
start slow, conserve to save-up for Blue Hell, and stay in the middle back of
the pack (let the faster runners go).
Remember, this is just a training run and I already had mileage on the
legs from the week.
After getting off
the bus and walking to the starting area, I ran into my friend
Olga and her husband
Larry from TX.
Couldn’t believe my luck
and was so excited to see them in the middle of some remote location in Alabama.
Both of them are very accomplished Ultra
runners in the elite category with tons of talent.
After a brief visit, it was time for a 10 min
stretch, fall in formation for the start, and a Harlem Shake video shot to get the juices
flowing.
Too funny!
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| Stream Crossing |
This race does not start with a countdown, or a gun shot,
but the playing of “Sweet Home Alabama”.
Next thing I know I’m flowing on very soft pine needles as the trail
flows into the heavy dense fog woods like a scene from an Alfred Hitchcock
movie. The trails were saturated with
water, but at least the raining had stopped, and all was right in the
world. Wow – This felt great, and at
this moment I realized why we do this, again.
I could feel the excitement in my bones, the legs felt fresh, and I
wanted to run fast. But this was not
going to happen with some 100+ runners in front of me on single lane
trails. Remember, start in the back! I
reminded myself to settle down, go with the group, and there would be plenty of
time later to run hard if anything was left.
It was funny to see some of these runners gingerly hopping over small
streams worried about getting their shoes wet.
I told them to just go ahead and get it over with, it’s a part of the
trail experience. This was the last time
my feet experienced dryness for the race.
I could tell a lot of them were inexperienced and this may have been
their first Ultra. After about 2 miles
into the race, the conga line thinned out some which allowed me and two other
runners to stretch our legs out and pass by a large pack of runners, which
should have started in the very back based on their pace. The trail was very wet, but fantastically
smooth with some small rises and downhills.
I could not see much with the dense fog and it felt dreamlike running in
the woods with a comfortable 50 degrees.
It reminded me of the FATS trails I have back home. Chandler Springs Aid Station (AS) was only 3
miles into the race and I only needed a splash of water and a gel. The next section was a little more difficult
with more dramatic climbs, rocks, and soft muddy trails. I reminded myself again to take it easy on
the climbs, keeping the heartrate down, and conserve energy. Another noticeable trait with these trails
was the camber. It either sloped left or
right, seldom even. This required a
little more attention to details with the wetness factor and slippery
rocks. After what seemed like 4 miles of
steady inclines, the trail dumped out onto a forest service road for a 1 mile
haul butt downhill to the next AS. Time
to stretch the legs out again and let it fly!
I passed several runners along this stretch, and a few got on my heals
and followed into the Clairmount Gap AS.
I ditched the sweatshirt, another gel and banana, filled the bottle,
grabbed a PB&J cube, and now time for some more climbing.
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| Trail |
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| Smooth Dirt Road |
The first mile was steady going up with a few
switchbacks. Then the trail leveled off
into rock city and more narrow slanted trails.
This was the most technical part of the race and difficult to maintain
any sort of a pace with all the rocks. I
could not enjoy the scenery because the trail was demanding, and one glance or
distraction could end in a nasty fall.
After about 5 miles of this, I noticed a runner down with paramedics
along his side. A few other paramedics
on their way from the next AS, but looked like they may not make it to the injured
runner based on the look on their face and exhaustion level from the one mile
of travel on these trails. I heard the
runner tripped on the rocks and shattered his knee cap. The paramedics had to airlift him from the
area because hauling him out was too difficult. I had a few close calls, but always managed
to catch myself before going down.
Finally, Adams Gap AS #3 (15 mile mark) and felt a little worn after
that tough demanding section. With fuel
in the tummy, I was ready for some more – Bring it.
I was cruising at a
steady pace along another muddy and rocky section with a cambered narrow
trail. Out of nowhere, my left foot got
a little too close to the soft muddy edge and my world went upside down. I landed on my back and started to slide down
the edge of the bank before stopping myself with my hands on the edge. My right calve got a hard cramp and locked
up. I hit hard, but nothing broke. All I could do was hang on to the edge and
keep myself still while I worked out this killer cramp in my calve. Wow – was it painful and all knotted up. Another runner from a distance behind me
yelled if I was ok as I replied “all was good, just got a cramp and can’t move.” He reached down and grabbed my arm pulling me
back on the trail. I assured him I was
good, thanked him, and took a few minutes to stretch this cramping calve out
and get my mind refocused. He hung out
for a few minutes making sure I was alright before moving on. The camaraderie is amazing in this
sport. We win together, we suffer
together, and we take care of one another.
Just amazing! I regained my composure,
and took several minutes to stretch my calve out because it did not want to
cooperate. With a slow start, I fell right back into a steady pace and into AS
#4 Hubbard Creek (~18 miles). I felt a
sore spot on my left lower right calve and found a nice scratch from the
fall. Didn’t notice it until now;
grabbed a wet paper towel to clean the mud out of it.
The next section was very wet with several stream crossings
and lots of standing water on the trails from all the rain. The stream crossings were refreshing with the
swift cold water, and gave me a chance to wash some of the mud of me from the
fall. The dense fog had lifted which
gave me an opportunity to look around at the beautiful scenery with water
falls, outcrops of large rocks, and Mount Cheaha looming off in the
distance. A quick check into Lake
Chinnabee AS (mile 22), a hit of coke (cola type), banana, and PB&J square
before talking these last 9 miles.
This next section was very runnable, and as a pack of 8, we
put the miles behind us. I got a little
tired of the conversation, was feeling too good for the slow pace, and dropped
the hammer past these guys. After a few
more water crossings, the trail dumped onto a dirt road which lasted a little
over a mile to the next AS. I asked a
guy helping out with the race standing alongside the road, if he had seen any
water to jump into because I haven’t step in any for a ¼ mile and felt
neglected. He laughed and said it’s all
uphill from here.
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| Ankle Deep Wet & Muddy Trail |
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| Blue Hell - Photo from Olga |
Lake Cheaha AS (mile 28) was set under a pavilion along the
lake at the base of Mount Cheaha. I
remembered the RD saying to fuel up and hydrate well before tackling this next
section. Another PB&J, banana, and
two small cups of coke should do it. I
felt good and ready to take on Blue Hell with 1,000 feet of straight up. After a brief run to the base, a small group
of us started the steep climb up boulders, roots, and mud. I just put my head down and said one foot in
front of the other, enjoy the moment, until I get to the top. Don’t look up; just keep going until it is
done. Water was pouring off my face, but
I was feeling good considering, I thought I would be half dead at this point of
the race and barley holding on. A couple
runners pulled off to the side and let us by.
Another hundred feet and the rest pulled off to catch their breath. I was in a rhythm and did not want to stop as
I passed the pack. I looked up and saw a
few more runners staggering up the mountain and adjusted my sights on
them. I finally caught them ¾ of the way
up, and as we passed a race safety aid on the side. I asked when did Blue Hell start, and she
replied in a serious tone that I was on Blue Hell. I smiled and thanked her for supporting
us! The small group pulled off to the
side and I felt a little serge of energy and started running up the steep face,
but only a short distance. I finally
made it to the top with an awesome view, but short lived as the clouds rolled
in.
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| Blue Hell - Photo from Olga |
With the legs still feeling somewhat
fresh, I hit my running stride again passing a few more runners along more
rocky and wet trails. As I approached
the finish line, I felt good considering I thought I would be in a world of
hurt based on my small amount of training.
Maybe I should have not held back as much and pushed it more. With a time of 7:48, I should have done this
course in about an hour less with a more conditioned state. Josh had something warm for me to put on, and
found a heated bathroom for me to cleanup in and change. The trip back to Augusta GA was smooth, and
only a little sore the next day. Nothing
another week of training won’t resolve.
I was pleased with the outcome considering my conditioning going into
this race. The only cramping I
experienced was from the fall, and the only low point of the race was around
mile 18 which I expected and not unusual.
Time to get ready for my next 50K in April.
This was a great race Todd Henderson and supporters put in
place for us. It was challenging with a
variety of terrains to manage. Not what
I would consider a beginner 50K by no means, and a race that deserves respect. Not a PR course, and a race you won’t
forget. A must do for you experience trail
runners.
I told her I felt good but the
legs a little heavy from the hard training runs earlier in the week. Nevertheless, I did have a slight low point
just before the next AS, but knew this was not unusual for me around the 18
mile mark. After conquering the power
line section again, and passing a lot of miserable runners, I topped my bottle
off, took a shot of Coke, and hit a good running pace. These two younger runners in front of me were
trying hard to keep me from passing them. As I closed the gap between us, they would
pick their pace up. This went on for a
couple of miles until we hit the last of the power line hills and I noticed
them starting to struggle some. I had
enough of this and dropped the hammer and powered right past them on the uphill
and never looked back. The last AS was
only 3 miles from the end of the race and took only a few shots of Mountain Dew
for fuel. I was feeling really good
again and really stepped the pace up and started to pass several runners. Overall, I was pleased with my performance,
but could have taken a lot of time off my finishing time if I had tapered and
not lingered in some of the AS talking to people I knew. I was not planning on a PR, just a fun
training run, and had a beautiful day and course to run on. The kids enjoyed the day at 6 Flags, and we
ate at one of my favorite restaurant. 
