Silver City was a crazy ride. It all started with the curvy drive up and down the Mountain to the Start/Finish line. My family dropped me off and headed back out. So here I am surrounded by amazing people and yet I set out for my tent, like a foreigner in a foreign land. It is an odd feeling being part of a group you do not know well but somehow feel totally connected to on a level that words cannot explain. I rested in my tent listening to the hustle and chatter of the runners as they passed by my tent. I was visualizing the day and looking forward to my longest race to date. It never fails the night before a race I think “What the hell am I doing??” and the very moment I arrive at the start line I know exactly what to do --- run and have fun! When morning came my pacer, Linnaea, and I got set for the day – we would meet up at my mile 38 and run the rest of the race together. We are testing out the pacer runner relationship for IMTUF 100 in August.
The course was rough, the rocks were sharp and loose. The first 20 miles came very easy to me, nothing much to report on except for the fact that it was beautiful and freeing to run, I also discovered that I love water crossings. As the miles added up I found that me and the scree were not a good match, I found it very difficult to run down the scree and ended up side stepping – note the self practice running down hill your knees and IT bands will thank you for it!
Hayden Peak was amazing! I summited at approximately 8700 feet feeling strong after the epic climb, had a sandwich on the way down and set my sights on meeting up with my pacer. I caught my second wind and ran hard and consistent, I was so happy to see Linnaea I nearly knocked her down with a perfect and powerful Aid Station hug! By mile 40 I was in a slump -- the kind that is topped off with sore IT bands and a grouchy outlook! It is funny how these things can happen on the trail, I am learning, learning to let go, learning to let it be, learning to smile and run it off. Linnaea was a perfect pacer, I know now that she struggled in parts of the run yet she never let on, she was a tremendous support for me. We ran on. Tennessee was ridiculously steep and incredibly fun, except when I stopped, I thought for sure I would fall backwards. The miles piled up and before I knew it I was checking firsts off my list, the first time I ran further than 52 miles, the first time I ran over 12 hours, the first time I ran and finished a 100k race. After leaving our last aid station we shuffled our way to the finish -- i was happy to be done. I may not have hit the mark on my goals for this race, I learned a great deal and had another incredible experience out on the trail, surrounded by other runners, amazing volunteers and beautiful views.
7/14/2013
Silver City
Silver City was a crazy ride. It all started with the curvy drive up and down the Mountain to the Start/Finish line. My family dropped me off and headed back out. So here I am surrounded by amazing people and yet I set out for my tent, like a foreigner in a foreign land. It is an odd feeling being part of a group you do not know well but somehow feel totally connected to on a level that words cannot explain. I rested in my tent listening to the hustle and chatter of the runners as they passed by my tent. I was visualizing the day and looking forward to my longest race to date. It never fails the night before a race I think “What the hell am I doing??” and the very moment I arrive at the start line I know exactly what to do --- run and have fun! When morning came my pacer, Linnaea, and I got set for the day – we would meet up at my mile 38 and run the rest of the race together. We are testing out the pacer runner relationship for IMTUF 100 in August.
The course was rough, the rocks were sharp and loose. The first 20 miles came very easy to me, nothing much to report on except for the fact that it was beautiful and freeing to run, I also discovered that I love water crossings. As the miles added up I found that me and the scree were not a good match, I found it very difficult to run down the scree and ended up side stepping – note the self practice running down hill your knees and IT bands will thank you for it!
Hayden Peak was amazing! I summited at approximately 8700 feet feeling strong after the epic climb, had a sandwich on the way down and set my sights on meeting up with my pacer. I caught my second wind and ran hard and consistent, I was so happy to see Linnaea I nearly knocked her down with a perfect and powerful Aid Station hug! By mile 40 I was in a slump -- the kind that is topped off with sore IT bands and a grouchy outlook! It is funny how these things can happen on the trail, I am learning, learning to let go, learning to let it be, learning to smile and run it off. Linnaea was a perfect pacer, I know now that she struggled in parts of the run yet she never let on, she was a tremendous support for me. We ran on. Tennessee was ridiculously steep and incredibly fun, except when I stopped, I thought for sure I would fall backwards. The miles piled up and before I knew it I was checking firsts off my list, the first time I ran further than 52 miles, the first time I ran over 12 hours, the first time I ran and finished a 100k race. After leaving our last aid station we shuffled our way to the finish -- i was happy to be done. I may not have hit the mark on my goals for this race, I learned a great deal and had another incredible experience out on the trail, surrounded by other runners, amazing volunteers and beautiful views.
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