My anxiety for the race this year was at an all-time high - in large part because I'd set a pretty high goal for myself - finishing under 6 hours. My previous times were 6:36 and 6:35; improving by over 30 minutes was ambitious. However, I'm running better than ever and had a lot of encouragement from my running friends, so thought it might actually be doable.
I showed up early and had my vitals checked for a study on sodium and ultra-running. My blood pressure (which the day before was measured at 86/52 - normal for me) was around 100/60 and my pulse rate (which during normal activity usually hovers around 55) was already at 96 bpm. Sheesh - you'd think I was running already!
The race started as it always does - without much fanfare. The gong was rung, and we were off. Peter, Linda, and I were all hoping for sub-6 finishes this year, so I kept pace with them - which felt really fast to me. I credited running fairly conservatively for the first part of Peterson with how well I did there, so wasn't too concerned when I lost contact heading up Powder House. But when I turned onto Road 580 and saw that Meghan was running with them and Dan was running just behind, I couldn't resist and ignored the little voice telling me to be conservative and sprinted to catch up to them. When else would I be able to run with Meghan during a race?
Our little group broke up again as we crossed Lewisburg Saddle, but early on in the maze, John from Albany started running with me and we ended up running most of the race together. We chatted off and on, but mostly just having someone on my heals helped me keep my motivation to keep pushing myself.
I hit Chip Ross (22 miles) at around 4 hours and realized that my goal really was within reach. I had hoped to get to the Saddle again (now at 26 miles into the race) under 5 hours. Not q
uite, but close enough that my goal was still within reach, if only I could at least jog the remaining 5 miles.Miles 26-28 didn't go so well, and despite knowing that I didn't have the time to waste, I ended up walking a decent amount of the climb up Road 500. I hit PowderHouse and pushed through - it hurt a lot, but I was almost there - and it's not like I needed to have anything left - just a little harder....
I finished in 6:03. Not quite my goal, but pretty close. And I managed to shave 32 minutes off of my previous course time. That feels pretty darn good (and was good enough for 13th woman and 68 out of 201 runners).
A few favorite moments from the day: Dennis pointing out the flowering dogwood as I left Baker Creek; Almost falling as I turned onto two bits because I was distracted by Mikio and his camera (in hind sight, it was pretty funny); The Mac Ale (already consumed!); Sam's bluegrass on Horse; April and Craig got married!; LD won her agegroup!; and the hugs, good luck wishes, offers to fill my pack, laughs, and over-all great support from all my running friends both on and off the course.
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