I have to admit, I was feeling a little unprepared. I really enjoyed my holidays filled with pie, wine, and not running. Since my last race in November, I had maybe ran 100 miles over the course of a month and a half. Over half of those miles were cupcakes miles (road or treadmill), and I was also taking care of a broken tailbone which hindered my workouts tremendously. However, I was owning the stairmaster like a boss, and felt very prepared to handle the elevation.
I picked Cloudland Canyon for many factors... the difficulty level, the race director, and the location.The upper Georgia area will always have a place in my heart, as it is where I started my ultra running. I also love the location because the mountains are silent killers. They are constantly beating you down and never give you a break. However, you get surprisingly amazing views and you leave these races feeling like you absolutely earned your medal. I know that I will always have a difficult, sadistic, and bipolar course when Run Bum (Sean) is involved. Somehow his idea of race courses fit my personality perfectly, so his races always are on top of my dream sheets.
Pete and I got to Atlanta early Friday morning and decided to do some sight seeing before starting our roadtrip to the course. I experienced Wafflehouse for the first time, and became the hit of the restaurant due to my "Wisconsin" accent. We finally arrived to Chattanooga, and I began getting extreme stomach issues. Even though we ate at Wafflehouse, I still had eaten pretty "clean" and it felt more like a virus. I began to just chug water and pray for a miracle. Pete went off to sight see for a bit while I napped (6 am flight and 5 am race start the next day) and put together food and drop bags for him. I checked in to Cloudland later that evening, talked to Sean for a bit, and went back to bed to be ready for a 5 am start the next morning.
I was a bit concerned on my gear, as I knew the temperature was going to be a factor. The temperatures were below average, and we were going to be starting in 20 degree weather. I had just left a state that had -5 degree temperatures, so I wasn't as concerned as others. I decided to go with cold weather leggings, UA cold weather long sleeve top, Nike windbreaker, UA beanie, gloves, buff, two pairs of Injinis, headlamp, and Fell raisers (between those and Kailuas... the fact that there was going to be ice was the deciding factor) . I felt extremely comfortable at the race start, and knew I probably wasn't going to be adding on any layers.
We arrived about a half hour early, listened to the race brief, and made sure I knew what miles I was going to see Pete at. We went over the race plan one more time, and off I went. I started my run with Michelle, who I met at Georgia Death Race last year during some high and low moments. We keep tabs on each other all the time, so I was thrilled to be able to run with her again. We were catching up with each other for over a hour, which made the miles go by pretty quickly. We were in the front of the pack for about 10 miles, and I had suddenly tripped and immediately lost the congo line. I also had taken a wrong turn and became lost for a good 5 minutes. Luckily, a runner (Jim) found me and we were able to keep pace with each other until sunrise.
I came to the first aid station, and was so relieved to see Pete after 15 miles of running in the dark. He had everything laid out for me, let me know I was in second, and was concerned that I seemed "off". I told him that I just lost my rhythm when I lost the congo line, and that I was sick of running in the dark. I gave him my headlamp, ate a PB sandwich, chugged down some nuun, and left within two minutes.
I was a little concerned that Pete was concerned that I seemed "off", so I decided to pick it up. Miles 14-21 were pretty relentless. The climbs were constant, and there didn't seem to be any downhill. I was dealing with a lot of switchbacks, and also dealing with frozen water. I was making up ground though, and liking the pace that I was at with the hills. I ran into Jim again around mile 20, and our paces seemed to match perfectly. Plus, he was amazing company, so our conversations also made the miles seem to fly by. I realized that I was beginning to get raging hungry, which concerned me greatly as I knew I might be dealing with dehydration. I decided to stop running for a minute and deal with my water situation. I finally got my cap unscrewed and chugged down the water that wasn't frozen. I could not get the cap back on, but luckily, I was about to see Pete again and I could switch out handhelds.
I switched out handhelds with Pete around mile 26, and he let me know I was still in second and looking much better. I was in really good spirits at this point in the race. I was enjoying the course and the other runners. I wasn't dealing with any aches or fatigue yet, so I was trying hard to keep my pace. We got to the next aid station, and it wasn't until I got to the porta potty, that I realized my stomach was turning again. I puked twice but felt fine to run afterwards. However, my stomach was turning more and more after every mile, and my pace had slowed down greatly. I tried my best to ignore the pain, but nausea has a way of taking over you completely. Jim stayed with me the whole time, and I had let him know that I was dealing with some pretty bad physical stuff and that he should take off as my pace was horrible. He refused to leave me, and even waited for me while I puked my guts out in a porta potty for about 10 minutes.
I have never gotten sick before in a race. I've dealt with stomach issues, but not to this level. I saw Pete again at mile 38, and he I could see his concern all over his face. He was trying to convince me to eat something, but I knew I would just puke it up. He said "I know you aren't going to quit, but you need some energy as you have some climbs ahead". Jim found some "hot" chocolate (not hot) and that seemed to settle down the nausea for awhile. I didn't want to hang out at the aid station, as doubt was creeping in my mind, so Jim I left after about 3 minutes.
The next few miles were all road, which is my absolutely least favorite thing to transition to. Pete had checked out this portion for me, so I knew I was entering a mental shit storm. I was so relieved to have Jim with me at this portion, as he was able to just talk and tell me funny stories without me having to respond. My stomach was still being jumpy, so I tried my hardest to focus on Jim and not what my body was doing. Jim saw that I was feeling defeated when we finally hit the trails, and he began one of his epic pep talks. He reminded me why I was even running in the first place... because this is pure love for me. I am truly in my element with the trails and distance running. I may not have the finish I was planning, but we were going to finish it.. and that's what it is about. This amped me for the rest of the race, and my mental war began to stop.
We saw the most amazing views from miles 40-45. We were running through canyons, and through extremely narrow trails with the frozen waterfalls in our view. I was able to see the whole city of Chattanooga when we got to the top of the mountain, and was really excited to get back down to be closer to the falls. We finally got to the last Out-and-Back and I realized now why the runners were warning me about "the stairs". All I could see was stairs for miles. I already knew before being told by the volunteer, that I would be going down all of them and going back up. I silently cursed out Sean in my head and began the trek. After the stairs, we had about 2 more miles to the aid stations. These climbs were the steepest, so we began to do some power walking to save energy for the way back. We reached the last aid station and I still had not eaten anything. The volunteers convinced me to put food in my pockets, as I had about 600 stairs to climb on the way back.
Thank God for stairmasters... as I didn't find the stairs to be that difficult. Relentless.. yes. But I viewed it as a nice break. Jim and I finally reached the top of the stairs, and decided to push ourselves for the last two miles to the finish. I was beyond queasy and weak at this time, but felt the energy from finally being able to finish. I saw Pete watching at the last mile with a huge smile on his face, which made me so relieved to see the finish line. I crossed the line, gave Michelle a huge hug right away, cursed at Sean, and collapsed on Pete.
I was not expecting to start the season this way, however, I'm glad I did. I got a huge lesson on humility, and this race brought me back to my core reasoning of why I love ultra running. This may have been my worst time for a 50 miler ever, but I couldn't care less. I love the battle, I love pushing through doubt, and I love just having to have faith in putting one foot in front of the other. Jim is one of the best people I have ever met, and I'm so blessed to add another ultra runner in my family this year. He saved this race for me and taught me so much about myself. I was also really grateful and happy that Pete was able to come along and see why I love doing this so much. I had the most memorable race, which has excited me greatly for the upcoming 2015 season.
GP:5th
Overall: 20
Time: 11:08
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