You all know that I ran with Team 4tunate (to have 2 more runners) in the Blue Ridge Relay race last weekend.  It was an experience that I will never forget.  I will try to recap the adventure as best as I can, but I am sure to leave out many, many things that were certainly of value.  I had full intentions of bringing pen and paper to document things that I would want to include on the blog, but I forgot to bring them and I am not sure if I would have had the time to do so anyway!

Friday, September 11, 2009

2:25 AM – I woke up to take a quick shower and get dressed.  I went downstairs and packed the few things that I had thought of as I was tossing and turning during the 4 hours of broken sleep the night before.  What a time for Mia to decide to cry twice during the night!  Chris made sure I was up and we got the car packed.

3:15 AM – Chris and I left my house to rendezvous with Alex and the Jasons.  We arrived at Alex’s house was dark and the Jasons were not there yet, but we were early, so we just waited.

3:30 AM – Alex came out and offered his bathroom, which I took him up on.  Then the van came around at about 3:40 and Jason Sutton was driving.  Apparently Jason Martin had forgotten a few things and he was to meet us in Charlotte.  We drove to Charlotte and picked up Whitney at her hotel and then picked up Jason Martin at a parking garage he has access to.  From there, we hit the road towards Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia.

The team - ready to go!

7:20 AM – Our team’s start time.  Jason Martin starts us off and at a very fast pace.  He arrives at the first exchange zone way before I expected!

Let's get it started!

From this point on, everything sort of runs together in a sweaty, sleep deprived delirium.  I remember some details from each of my six legs which I will share below:

Leg 3 – my first run

Not a terribly difficult run, but along some gravel roads that on a few occasions scare me that I will roll my ankle on the rocks.  I did feel a little pain in my left ankle, but it worked itself out.  First run of 5.2 miles down, 5 more of over 20 to go.

Leg 9 – my second run

This leg was almost completely flat for the first 4 miles or so.  Then the course turns onto Big Hill Road and things got interesting and hard!  A big hill climbing up from the river I had been running along.

Leg 15 – my third run

This run started at the gates to Grandfather Mountain Park.  Jason Sutton had the task of running the 10 miles straight up to this point and I almost felt I was cheating since all I had to do was run 2.4 miles down.  It was my first night run, so I was in the van putting on my reflective vest and getting my two blinking red lights and headlamp on and Jason Martin came up to the van after changing clothes.  It was getting dark and I was very sleep deprived and I thought it was Jason Sutton.  I panicked thinking I was supposed to be running already.  I say to him, “You’re back already!?” and he says, “back from where?”  I am confused and thinking he is messing with me, but I can’t figure out why he would mess with me and cause the race to suffer.  It doesn’t make sense to me and I think he realized that I was confused and he explains that I am okay, that Jason Sutton is still running.  I calmed down and realized that the mental game is a part of this whole thing.  When Jason Sutton did actually come in, I ran down and enjoyed a good pace on the downhill run.  It certainly was eerie running in the dark of the night, but it was an experience that was serene as well.

getting ready to run in the dark

Leg 21 – my fourth run

Another short and downhill night run.  This run took me through downtown Spruce Pine.  The town at this early hour was deserted except for a few runners and their support vans.  Again, I feel like I am cheating with my short downhill runs, but the team tells me they are nice and easy, but they still have to be done, so I am contributing.

nightime in the van

Leg 27 – my fifth run

I am now back to the 5.2 mile distance again.  This run was mostly a slight uphill and at this point I started to notice the effects of all that was going on.  The run seemed pretty difficult to me and I know that it shouldn’t.  A guy passed me and I attempted to keep up with him for a bit.  I could not keep his pace.  A little while after that, I heard a voice come from behind after a dog started to bark and it was a female asking if she could run with me because she is afraid of dogs.  I said sure and she sprinted ahead to catch me.  We ran the rest of the leg together and I think she felt like I slowed down to keep her company, but in truth she probably kept me going a little faster than I would have on my own.  When I finished, I found the van and curled up in the back seat to attempt my first real sleep in over 27 hours.  I slept for about an hour while Alex was running and felt a little better.  We had stopped at the next exchange zone and I had to pee, so I got out of the van to find the port-a-johns.  A step or two into the walk I realized that my legs from my thighs down were in a world of hurt.  My right knee had the worst pain and this was the first time that I doubted my ability to finish.  I knew the run that I had coming up was a terribly difficult one and here I was having trouble walking 50 feet down a slight incline to the bathroom.  I decided to walk around a bit to try and loosen up and it felt a little better, but still extremely painful to walk.  At the next exchange area, there was a nice river that Alex suggested we go soak our legs in.  I thought he was crazy at first, but he convinced me and to my surprise it helped a great deal!  My legs were still fatigued, but the knee pain was gone and I felt much better.

Alex soaking his legs - I had just gotten out

Leg 33 – my sixth and final run

This is the only leg of the race that I had run prior to the race.  I knew what to expect and that was on one hand nice to know what I have before me, but also intimidating because I knew just how hard it was!  I started the run at the bottom and took advantage of the slight uphill and ran a fairly good pace.  I hit the steep part and walked.  A guy did pass me while running, but he may have only gained about 20 feet on me before he started to walk too.  It was so steep that you really do walk as fast as you can run.  It made me think that whoever decided to pave this road so steep either did so with no intention of anything non-motorized ever attempting to go up it or with a sadistic humor that they knew someone would try.  I reached the top and my team had stopped to cheer me up the hill.  I enjoyed the cheers and the 10 feet of flat before the road goes right back down the other side.  I ran down at a pretty good pace before I started cramping.  My legs from my hamstrings to my calves were seizing up at this point.  I stopped and stretched with about 1.5 miles to go.  I started to run again, but the cramps came back.  I ran it out, but in extreme pain.  I had set a goal for myself to complete this run in less than 1 hour and I cam close with a time of 1:00:34.

they should add "only attempt to run if you are nuts"

me walking up the extreme incline - the photo does not do it justice!

running down the other side

 Chris finished the last leg of the relay about 32 hours after Jason Martin had started.  We were all extremely exhausted, but completely proud of our accomplishment.  We all also had the opportunity to witness the first solo completion of the course.  How amazing is the determination that would have to take place to run 211 miles in 3 days!

the man in the white hat ran the entire course!

Melissa, Jeff and my parents came to Asheville to cheer us in.  It makes such a difference when you have support from your family and friends at a race.  Melissa, Jeff, Chris and I grabbed some burgers and beer in Asheville before heading to my in-laws cabin to discuss the events and to get some real sleep.

the team running the last few feet

2009 Team 4tunate (to have 2 more runners)

Read Jason Sutton’s blog post on the race here.

Read Chris’ post here.

Read Melissa’s post here.

From another team’s perspective here.

You can see all of my pictures here and Jason Sutton’s here.  I do have some video footage and will get on YouTube soon.