It’s a MOUNTAIN, stupid.
The Pisgah Mountain 23K trail race.
Okay, I admit it. I just raced something a little over my fitness level. It’s a MOUNTAIN. I kind of forgot that when I signed up. I figured, well, a hilly trail run, right? with elevation changes of 900 feet at a time over a mile or so, you get the feeling really quickly that you’re on a MOUNTAIN and not a hill.
(Did I mention this was a MOUNTAIN).
The announcements were: it’s really wet up there, so get ready to swim. There are pink trail marker ribbons up. At one point, it looks like we’re asking you to run through a pond. We are. Oh, and a tree fell a few miles in, so you have to jump over that. Ready, go. (nothing more).
The first mile or so was on pavement, and that chewed, especially since for whatever reason being on a MOUNTAIN was causing my heart rate to flip out. I was up to 90% within the first 500 yards. Okay, yeah, whatever. I’ll just keep running. There were 52 people running the 23K and about 53 running the 50K. I was next to last out of the gate (mostly on purpose). It was me and this older guy who looked cooked before the first big hill.
Almost immediately into the second mile, I found myself running with a girl whose boyfriend had split off to do the 50K. She’d done three of these already, and we were perfectly paced, so I went with her. It made the running exceptional, because we talked about this and that race, and careers, and crap like that, for the whole race (except when I was wheezing up the steepest parts of the mountain).
The mountain (MOUNTAIN!) was beautiful. There were streams and brooks everywhere. Trees of all colours. We saw a little orange salamander that looked like something out of a kid’s toybox, but was real. There were these huge red mushrooms and tons of moss.
Technically speaking, the race was amazing. There were all kinds of roots, rocks, mud, moss, steep descents where you ran and prayed, and huge killer inclines that you just had to walk. There were two really well-stocked aid stations with all kinds of treats, including fruits, ClifBars, m&m’s, fig newtons, etc.
The last mile chewed, because it was onto this super hilly carriage road and then, back onto cement. But we were really feeling great from making a decent pace of it, and hey, this was 14.1 miles of MOUNTAIN behind us. We raced into the finish line, and I was thrilled to be the last finisher of the 23K distance (not counting the old guy, who I’m not sure if he finished).
But then I wasn’t last, because some girl got lost at an easy place to get lost, and she ended up adding eight miles to her race. So, she was last by about 30 or 40 minutes more than me.
Time: 3:14:20 for 14.1 miles of MOUNTAIN.
And then afterwards, the wonderful people had a barbecue, with pots of chunky vegetable soup, burgers and dogs, a sheet cake, and all kinds of other goodies. I had a burger and a 1/2 cup of soup, and then hit the road. I stopped a little later for a real victory meal of steak tips done bloody rare, fries, and a 25 ounce Newcastle Brown Ale.
It was a KILLER perfect day, and the only thing I have to do better for next year is remember that it’s a frickin’ MOUNTAIN!
Thanks to everyone for their support and kindness.
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Comments
(from Pamalamadingdong)
That’s abso-freakin-lutely fabulous!
MOUNTAIN! What were you thinking!
Hope your less sore than I am today!
Happy recovery day.
Wow, that’s AWESOME! Nice accomplishment, and nice time. Sounds like a great race. It makes me anxious for my first real “trail” race in early November, the Rock Ledge Rumble here in the Dallas area. It’s not a MOUNTAIN (did you say mountain?) but it is very hilly and technical.
Good work! Glad it was so enjoyable.
Wow. Wow. Wow. Can you believe you did that? I’m so impressed and jealous!! It sounds like a wonderful day and a fantastic run. Good for you:)Now, I’m going to say to myself, “if Chris can run a mountain, I can do this!”
That sounds like a blast - and something that’s going to be an annual tradition for you in the years to come. Great showing, and a good beer choice for afterwards!
Great race Chris!
One thing I’m not quite clear on though. Was this a mountain or just a really hilly course?
I know I’m such a dork, but truly (when I wasn’t laughing out loud at some of your descriptions) I was feeling very emotional when I read this. I felt a wee bit “teary-eyed”, mostly because you did this awesome, amazing thing. And partly because I haven’t had steak in like, 3 years, and I really, really, really want one.
fabulous description of the scenery. Congratulations! I just finished a REAL mountain run this weekend myself.
It gave me an absolute rush to read this. It was like I was right there, running through it all with you. I just found your blog and am totally floored by your self-discipline. I like that you’re working on not only changing your physical self but also your inner self. I find those two things really work in conjunction. I read up on your archives about the pre-dawn running — can you tell me what you do for safety? Do you carry any mace? A cell phone? A stick?
Again, congratulations!
FANTASTIC! That’s a great time, Chris, especially for running up a MOUNTAIN!. Gotta love the snacks. I would have stopped right there. No need to move another step. :) (That’s why you can run those and I can’t)
Great run and great report!