This race was the most challenging I've run so far. Even though I was confident physically and mentally I ended up with a pre-race setback that flipped my optimism around fairly quickly. I had felt an oncoming headache just as we left the pre-race panel on Friday night and decided not to take anything proactively so I waited. I finally had enough at 1:00am when I finally decided to take something and had to chase it with a cold shower. By the time the race started I could feel the headache lingering but it was in the back of my mind at that point. It was about mile 10, just after deciding to wear my headlamp instead of carrying it to try to keep the headache from coming back that the headache struck again. Soon after my inner quads started talking to me and I realized I hadn't fueled enough in the first sections of the race since every time I would go for something I risked tripping. All I could do was drop some tablets and down a few more gels and keep on to see if I could keep "the wall" from coming so early. Seemed like I caught it in time but there were the headache symptoms to deal with. Anytime I would climb and my heart rate would elevate I would start to feel the throbbing inside my skull. I was hydrating well but eating was starting to make me nauseous. This resulted in me hiking the three stacked climbs out of Beech Bottom and up to Molly Hugger. Luckily the first portion of this was downhill so I was able to keep a good pace. I hiked it up and then started to feel better about my legs but my biggest concern at this point was the limited intake of gels since I was having trouble running without starting to feel sick. The aid station at Mollyhugger was a bag drop so I got a chance to put more gels in my pocket and lube up my feet. On my second gel of the day I had tripped and landed straight on my taped knee which cut through the left side of the tape rendering the bandage nearly useless and there was nothing I could do about it since I only had kinesio tape in my crew bag at the tower. After finishing up at Molly Hugger it was off to Rocky point. All that was starting to go through my head was how much further I had to the tower since they had pain reliever and I needed it bad. One caffeinated gel and a shot of Mountain Dew was as close as I was getting to relieving a little bit of the headache symptoms at this point. After Molly Hugger we all started to realize what the return back for the second half the race would hold for us. There were sections of trail that had to be 1/2 mile wide or more that had been devastated by the tornadoes earlier in the year. This complicated the terrain of the trail slightly. Thanks to the Pine Mountain Trail Association and their 1900+ hours of man hours that they put in to get this trail back in order. This exposed section of trail was still shadowed by the crests of the upcoming ridge-line but we all spoke of what it was going to be like as returned through the peak heat of the day. Those of us who had run the race the year previous discussed how different the scenery was with no trees to impose on the views. We were headed towards Rocky Point. This section of the challenge provided some of the longer ascents of the course reaching the highest elevation at 1360' where we pass over Dowdell's Knob. I find the maximum elevation so funny considering what most of the competitors in this race train for all year and how difficult the race proves to be for most. After 7 miles we reached Rocky Point, the 1st time cutoff of the day. From here we traveled through the lower portions of watershed, crossing numerous streams, which provided wonderful crossing points if you were responsible about foot placement. I personally thrive in this substrate and was loving the cooling effect the lower elevation provided. We didn't cross any roads on this section and the path to the tower was exciting as the pack I was leading ran into another runner who was at first concerned she was running the wrong way. This may be due to the similar terrain repeats that we had been passing but it reminded me that we were entering the point in the race where some runners may start falling victim to the effects a distance run can have on you physically and mentally. I ran with her for a while and we spoke about how getting lost or turned around can boost adrenaline production and just as we seemed to be concluding this conversation she gripped the tree to her right bringing her to a dead stop mid trail. A 3-4ft. rat snake had come onto the trail to get some rays. We kicked off from being startled and she turned to me and said"guess thats number 2 for adrenaline production today!". Once I arrived at the Tower I was greeted by my wife Laura and Reeve who happened to be waiting to pace another racer from the tower. I was crashing hard at this point. My head was throbbing and I couldn't shake the nauseousness. I downed 200mg of Naproxen, a salted 1/4 orange, 1 banana and 25mg of caffeine in a gel. I was losing motor control in my fingers so I knew I had to get more fuel in me. At this point I had decided that Montana Huckleberry flavored gels were my arch enemy in the race and so I ditched all of them at the station and grabbed all Apple Cinnamon. I also grabbed the unflavored gel as a last resort which soon you'll see why this was a bad choice. Thanks to Reeve for reiterating my answer to the race steward's question "is he dropping out?". I was in no way, shape or form dropping out of the race at tower besides the fact that he clearly heard me bitching about a smashed knee, sprained index toe and migraine. After changing Bikilas and being presented with a dose of "HTFU" inspiration from Reeve I departed the Tower aid station. In all the "excitement" I ONLY forgot my fresh bag of electrolytes, new kinesio tape and a fresh shirt so not to bad for feeling like I had consumed the entire top shelf the previous evening. From here I was lucky that it was primarily flat back to Dowdell's Knob...or so I thought. Although my belly was sloshing I was becoming optimistic that this fuel was going to digest and not make its way back up my esophagus. After a few miles, I was approaching a group of volunteers that were directing runners when I snagged a gel from my pocket and opened it. Immediately after it touched my mouth my body decided that not only did it not like the taste of the gel but also the contents of my freshly filled stomach. I puked a watery mess onto the ground as my audience cheered me on. Vomit doesn't phase me anymore, kind of an old buddy of mine, so after a quick check to make sure I wasn't covered I kicked off. Just as I turned the corner I thought to myself that I needed to finish the gel so I tried one more time. Apparently my body had not gotten rid of every last bit of nourishment so it decided to hit me again. I puked everything else I had in me onto the forest floor. I tossed the rest of the unflavored gel in the trash and dropped in behind a team of runners. These guys were great. They were motivating each other and also acting as a sort of realtime crew. If one guy needed electrolytes you would see one of them grab a dose out of their pocket and pass it back. Water, fuel and pace were all shared amongst the group which was awesome for me since I chose not to wear a watch for this race and I was able to poach some stats as they announced them. This gave me a clue of how I was doing. We were starting to see the 50k'ers roll through which seemed to give me the extra energy to pick up my pace a little where I could. After trailing the pack for a while I passed the crew on the next downhill. Downhills are my favorite part of every run. I used this as my strategy for 2 more aid stations. I took it easy on the climbs which gave me the opportunity to try and get something in my stomach. Things didn't start turning around for me until just after hitting my gear bag at Molly Hugger where I put a pair of midweight Injinji's and a fresh pair of Bikilas on my feet. I had also gained some extra encouragement from Reeve as he had caught up to me with his runner on the way up to Molly Hugger. This new setup gave my feet a fresh start and I was looking forward to finishing this thing. I put down quite a few miles running from here and ended up catching and passing quite a few runners who were having slight trouble keeping their feet up on the trail and I was starting to feel great. At the next aid station I started putting ice chips and water in one of my handhelds to help chill my CBT. This worked amazingly well. If you ever have a migraine midultra give this a shot. I would drop just enough ice water to cover my skull and would drip a line down my spine which acted as a distraction from the pain as well as refreshing my body. With every aid station I could feel the anticipation growing among the racers. The last few miles and hours always act as the true test of the race. At the pace I was making I ended up on course with a runner who had just received a text from his wife letting him know that he needed to be at the next aid station in 20 minutes. He was at mile 37 in the race and we wished him the best of luck. I paced behind a dude with some of the brand new Black Diamond trekking poles and I was a little jealous at certain points in the last few climbs. He pulled a lead at the Buzzards Roost aid station and I dropped in trying to put together a pace that I could keep up to the line. I wish I had felt as good as I did in the last 2.6 miles of this race the entire time but it was nice to know all in all that I finished this one with no injury and a ton of great training. This course is pretty cool in that you can't hear the announcer until you are just about to crest the last ridge and drop into the start/finish corral. Its a nice grade to just bomb so I decided to take it and pump it to the line. After finishing (61st overall @ 11:51:24) it was off to the ice bath and on to food. We'll see how next year goes.
Thanks to my Parents, Reeve, Ivan, Vibram and The North Face(Store 32 ATL especially) . I could not have done it without you guys.
