I debated on doing this race for months, due to my heart being set on doing Kettle 100 again. Kettle was six days after Quest, and as much as I love to push limits, I've learned to respect my body. It was impossible for me to measure the two against each other. One race had the difficulty that I crave, and also had a ton of great friends attending who I rarely see. Kettle has my heart and allows me to reconnect with the local running community. It is also flatter than what I'm used to... which is not easy for me. I was looking forward to the mental challenge of focusing more on miles, rather than terrain. I made the horrible mistake of asking other ultra runners on what I should do, and without a doubt, they all said I was able to do both. How did I get into such a crazy community?
After a few months of debating my race schedule, I decided I couldn't say no to Crest. It just had everything I love... elevation, great competition, great friends, and my favorite RD. Plus, all my races are out west this year, and I've never experienced mountains in NC. I made my final decision, and started living on the stair master. I admit I didn't have the miles that I'm used to having, but I did train every day with hills, stairs, and leg workouts.
Pete and I decided to roadtrip down, which sounded like so much fun, until we reached Chicago... at 4pm.. on a Friday. This traffic caused us an extra 2 hours, and a lot of impatience. We arrived at the Nuwray Inn at 5 am Saturday morning (we left at 1 pm on Friday). We entered the room, to find out that we scored the "Elvis Room". We were too exhausted to laugh.. we instantly crashed until 11 am in our little full size bed.
We spent Saturday exploring the town and the trails. I didn't have any race nerves, as I was more captivated by the beautiful scenery. Pete and I explored Mt. Mitchell, saw beautiful waterfalls, and caught up with great friends. It was the perfect way to relax and enjoying my surroundings.
The next morning I woke up at 3 am, ate some oatmeal and a muffin, chugged a bottle of tailwind, and drove to the shuttle that would take us to the starting line. Pete and I parked and talked a little before I got on the bus about the game plan. I finally got on the first round of buses, and sat in the way back to avoid talking to anyone. I knew I was in for a wild ride, and it was starting to finally hit me. I didn't know how the day was going to go. It was one of those races where I had absolutely no idea what to expect. We finally got to the starting line, and were told to wait for about a hour for the next round of buses to come. Luckily, I found my good group of friends, and we finally were all able to catch up and go over race strategies. I really enjoyed just getting to hang out to people I talk to every day, but rarely get to see.
The other runners finally came, and Sean gave a brief meeting about what the race day was going to be like. I already knew from hiking the other day, that this was going to be a race full of DNFs. As soon as I passed Sean, he yelled "You're going to hate me so much Frayah". I silently chucked, and immediately began to climb. And boy.. did I start to climb. It was the type of climb that instantly took your breath away. I knew the first aid station was 7 miles away, but I honestly had no idea how long we were going to be climbing for. I met my first friend of the day, Wendy, who let me know that it was a 3 mile climb. As I looked at my watch, we were scoring a 30 min/mile pace. And we were top of the pack! I felt shaky, my legs were instantly in shock, and my confidence slowly dwindling as the mountain didn't see to let up. Luckily, Wendy gave great conversation, and was able to distract me on how awful I was beginning to feel. This was mile 3.
I finally got to the crest of the mountain, and saw the most amazing views of the mountain range. Wendy kept commenting on how she was from the area, but never realized how amazing the views were. After about a mile of flat running, we started to descend. And I began to fly. I lost Wendy, and started passing people left and right. I was flying, and finally loving this run. I came into the aid station 4th female, and knew I had to go up the hill that I had just flown down. Luckily, the hill wasn't as sharp as the first climb, and I could shuffle a little to get more momentum. As I got up on the crest of the mountain, I was finding it hard to run. There were random boulders in the middle of the trails, and i took a hard fall which made me land into a rock headfirst. I was very shooken up and couldn't seem to get it together. I was relying heavily on another great descend to catch up.
The second descend was nothing like the first. Random boulders in the middle of the trails, slippery rocks, low trees, etc... i've ran on anything this technical in my life. I was now beyond frustrated, as I knew I was going super slow and couldn't find a rhythm to get my mind to chill out. My leg was also bleeding, my head hurt, but all I could feel was how awful my toes felt. I was in a deep pool of pity for myself. This is when my mind started to go in the "quitting mode". I was contemplating on telling Pete at the crew station that I was done. I mean, this was the perfect race to have my first DNF. I was bleeding every where, I could barely run, I was a complete mess. Yep..I was done. This somehow gave me a second wind to move a little faster so I could quit.
I saw Pete right at the trail head, and I could see his look of shock when he saw my condition. He instantly moved me over to the side, and start cleaning up my leg. I told him that I didn't think I could go on. I didn't want to do the last climb, I just wanted to go back to the hotel. I could hear my whining, and instantly hated myself, but I didn't care. Pete just kept nodding my head, and was stuffing me with fluids, and completely ignoring my whining. I knew I was way ahead of the cutoffs, so I spent a lot of time at the aid station, afraid to finally pull the DNF trigger.
"Frayah, I understand this is getting insane, but I really don't want to deal with you in the car ride home if you quit, I just don't think you will be able to handle a DNF, just finish it.. its only a half marathon left, and nothing like the first two climbs".
I put on my camelback when I realized that no one was going to let me quit easily and peacefully, told Pete how much I loved him, and started back on my journey to the finish line.
I now knew that cutoffs were chasing me, which made me laugh. I've never been in that position before, and I couldn't believe how quickly this race had turned on me. I was by myself for three miles, and I was just constantly laughing at myself. I saw two hikers on the other side of the trail, and started laughing that they will probably pass me too. For some reason, this just made me laugh out loud, and I realized how loopy I was. I slowly lost my sense of humor, as I began to slowly climb back up the mountain.
"Frayah, OMG, I can't believe I caught up to you"
"Andrew, I think I'm dead last right now, I wouldn't get too excited"
I was so relieved to see Andrew, and a little embarrassed. I knew he puts me on a pedestal with ultra running, and I knew we all expected me to finish at a great time in this course. But I didn't care, I just wanted someone to talk to besides my bipolar mind. He started to fall back a bit with the climbs, and I decided to wait for him, because there was no point of me to try to turn the race around. I knew my feet were done, and there was nothing I could do about it. I promised Andrew I would wait for him, if he would wait for me on the downhills, because my toes were unable to handle them.
We finally got to the last aid station, and saw our friend Justin who was volunteering at the station. He was instantly making us laugh, but that quickly changed when we realized Sean put a surprise 1 mile out-and-back climb.
"That Mother'fer"
I knew Sean would do something like this, as he does at EVERY race he has. I started laughing again to prevent the tears from coming. I was so done with climbing, and as much as I always tell myself "the finish line has to come eventually", I started to not believe it.
Andrew and I went up the climb in silence, as I was pissed, and I knew the cutoffs were getting pretty close to me. We went up to get our stamps, and I started to get frustrated with the downhill. My toes were just killing me, and my leg kept hyperextending. Regardless, I knew I had to go. We got back to the aid station, where I demolished about 5 more kit kats and Oreos (just HEAVEN), and began our 6 miles left to the finish line.
Andrew made great conversation the last stretch of the race, and it went by very quickly. Around mile 30, he said something that I'll never forget.
"You've really inspired me to do this and I absouletly love reading up on you and seeing all your adventures. You really are a huge role model for me and it's been beyond an honor to run this with you".
When he said this, I realized what this race was about. It wasn't about placing, it was about crossing the finish line. I looked at Andrew and saw a lot of me in him. This was his first ultra, and he picked one of the hardest ones in the United States. To think I inspired him to do that, made me thankful to have given him confidence that he could cross the finish line. I would have picked to cross the finish line with him than to place over anything.
We finally crossed the finish line and Sean and Pete were there in open arms with huge smiles on their faces.
"How much do you hate me right now Frayah"?
"Sean, you are such an asshole"
I gave him the biggest, sweatiest hug afterwards. I love Sean with all my heart and has been one the biggest mentors I've had with ultra running. He was there at my first ultra, and really raised the bar for me to do things that are "Epic". I've been so blessed since the day he entered my life.
Pete walked me to the car and stated "Frayah, I am so proud of you". I finally started crying. Hearing him say that, was worth everything. He saved the race for me, and luckily he knows me better than anyone so he wouldn't let me quit. He knew exactly what I needed before I ever said anything to him, and I don't see myself being able to cross finish lines without him.
So.. I got dead last female finisher. My first DFL. Never saw that one coming in my career, but man...... what a race. I crossed the finish line at the hardest race I've ever done. I now know exactly how to train and how to be a better runner because of this race. I'm not embarrassed or ashamed of my finish. I feel myself really progressing into a different kind of a runner. One that never quits, and one that will cross the finish line no matter what obstacles are in my way.
I'll always finish what I came to do.
Top 5 mistakes
5. Not bringing Hiking Poles
4. Changing my pace in the beginning. As usual, I went too fast, and was too concerned about not finding a rhythm.
3. Wearing loose clothing. My shirt was getting caught on everything, and it made it uncomfortable to run.
2. Camping out at the aid station for a hour. This one I go back and forth with, because I did need to clear my head. However, I knew better.
1. My SHOES. The fells were AWFUL in this race, and I will never wear them again in a race with a lot of elevation. My toes were banging against each other too much, and really cost me a good performance
Top 5 Pats on the back:
5. Staying consistent on the first climb. My breathing was off, I felt like death, but I kept moving forward with no breaks.
4. My nutrition. I felt pretty good the whole race. I are oatmeal for breakfast and snacked on Sport Beans, crackers, and tailwind for most of the race.
3. My gear. My camelback was amazeballs. It could fit over a gallon of water and still felt extremely light on me. Thank you Pete!
2. Bringing Crump beer. I love bringing WI people WI beer. It's like they struck gold :)
1. Crossing the finish line.
Pete and I decided to roadtrip down, which sounded like so much fun, until we reached Chicago... at 4pm.. on a Friday. This traffic caused us an extra 2 hours, and a lot of impatience. We arrived at the Nuwray Inn at 5 am Saturday morning (we left at 1 pm on Friday). We entered the room, to find out that we scored the "Elvis Room". We were too exhausted to laugh.. we instantly crashed until 11 am in our little full size bed.
We spent Saturday exploring the town and the trails. I didn't have any race nerves, as I was more captivated by the beautiful scenery. Pete and I explored Mt. Mitchell, saw beautiful waterfalls, and caught up with great friends. It was the perfect way to relax and enjoying my surroundings.
The next morning I woke up at 3 am, ate some oatmeal and a muffin, chugged a bottle of tailwind, and drove to the shuttle that would take us to the starting line. Pete and I parked and talked a little before I got on the bus about the game plan. I finally got on the first round of buses, and sat in the way back to avoid talking to anyone. I knew I was in for a wild ride, and it was starting to finally hit me. I didn't know how the day was going to go. It was one of those races where I had absolutely no idea what to expect. We finally got to the starting line, and were told to wait for about a hour for the next round of buses to come. Luckily, I found my good group of friends, and we finally were all able to catch up and go over race strategies. I really enjoyed just getting to hang out to people I talk to every day, but rarely get to see.
The other runners finally came, and Sean gave a brief meeting about what the race day was going to be like. I already knew from hiking the other day, that this was going to be a race full of DNFs. As soon as I passed Sean, he yelled "You're going to hate me so much Frayah". I silently chucked, and immediately began to climb. And boy.. did I start to climb. It was the type of climb that instantly took your breath away. I knew the first aid station was 7 miles away, but I honestly had no idea how long we were going to be climbing for. I met my first friend of the day, Wendy, who let me know that it was a 3 mile climb. As I looked at my watch, we were scoring a 30 min/mile pace. And we were top of the pack! I felt shaky, my legs were instantly in shock, and my confidence slowly dwindling as the mountain didn't see to let up. Luckily, Wendy gave great conversation, and was able to distract me on how awful I was beginning to feel. This was mile 3.
I finally got to the crest of the mountain, and saw the most amazing views of the mountain range. Wendy kept commenting on how she was from the area, but never realized how amazing the views were. After about a mile of flat running, we started to descend. And I began to fly. I lost Wendy, and started passing people left and right. I was flying, and finally loving this run. I came into the aid station 4th female, and knew I had to go up the hill that I had just flown down. Luckily, the hill wasn't as sharp as the first climb, and I could shuffle a little to get more momentum. As I got up on the crest of the mountain, I was finding it hard to run. There were random boulders in the middle of the trails, and i took a hard fall which made me land into a rock headfirst. I was very shooken up and couldn't seem to get it together. I was relying heavily on another great descend to catch up.
The second descend was nothing like the first. Random boulders in the middle of the trails, slippery rocks, low trees, etc... i've ran on anything this technical in my life. I was now beyond frustrated, as I knew I was going super slow and couldn't find a rhythm to get my mind to chill out. My leg was also bleeding, my head hurt, but all I could feel was how awful my toes felt. I was in a deep pool of pity for myself. This is when my mind started to go in the "quitting mode". I was contemplating on telling Pete at the crew station that I was done. I mean, this was the perfect race to have my first DNF. I was bleeding every where, I could barely run, I was a complete mess. Yep..I was done. This somehow gave me a second wind to move a little faster so I could quit.
I saw Pete right at the trail head, and I could see his look of shock when he saw my condition. He instantly moved me over to the side, and start cleaning up my leg. I told him that I didn't think I could go on. I didn't want to do the last climb, I just wanted to go back to the hotel. I could hear my whining, and instantly hated myself, but I didn't care. Pete just kept nodding my head, and was stuffing me with fluids, and completely ignoring my whining. I knew I was way ahead of the cutoffs, so I spent a lot of time at the aid station, afraid to finally pull the DNF trigger.
"Frayah, I understand this is getting insane, but I really don't want to deal with you in the car ride home if you quit, I just don't think you will be able to handle a DNF, just finish it.. its only a half marathon left, and nothing like the first two climbs".
I put on my camelback when I realized that no one was going to let me quit easily and peacefully, told Pete how much I loved him, and started back on my journey to the finish line.
I now knew that cutoffs were chasing me, which made me laugh. I've never been in that position before, and I couldn't believe how quickly this race had turned on me. I was by myself for three miles, and I was just constantly laughing at myself. I saw two hikers on the other side of the trail, and started laughing that they will probably pass me too. For some reason, this just made me laugh out loud, and I realized how loopy I was. I slowly lost my sense of humor, as I began to slowly climb back up the mountain.
"Frayah, OMG, I can't believe I caught up to you"
"Andrew, I think I'm dead last right now, I wouldn't get too excited"
I was so relieved to see Andrew, and a little embarrassed. I knew he puts me on a pedestal with ultra running, and I knew we all expected me to finish at a great time in this course. But I didn't care, I just wanted someone to talk to besides my bipolar mind. He started to fall back a bit with the climbs, and I decided to wait for him, because there was no point of me to try to turn the race around. I knew my feet were done, and there was nothing I could do about it. I promised Andrew I would wait for him, if he would wait for me on the downhills, because my toes were unable to handle them.
We finally got to the last aid station, and saw our friend Justin who was volunteering at the station. He was instantly making us laugh, but that quickly changed when we realized Sean put a surprise 1 mile out-and-back climb.
"That Mother'fer"
I knew Sean would do something like this, as he does at EVERY race he has. I started laughing again to prevent the tears from coming. I was so done with climbing, and as much as I always tell myself "the finish line has to come eventually", I started to not believe it.
Andrew and I went up the climb in silence, as I was pissed, and I knew the cutoffs were getting pretty close to me. We went up to get our stamps, and I started to get frustrated with the downhill. My toes were just killing me, and my leg kept hyperextending. Regardless, I knew I had to go. We got back to the aid station, where I demolished about 5 more kit kats and Oreos (just HEAVEN), and began our 6 miles left to the finish line.
Andrew made great conversation the last stretch of the race, and it went by very quickly. Around mile 30, he said something that I'll never forget.
"You've really inspired me to do this and I absouletly love reading up on you and seeing all your adventures. You really are a huge role model for me and it's been beyond an honor to run this with you".
When he said this, I realized what this race was about. It wasn't about placing, it was about crossing the finish line. I looked at Andrew and saw a lot of me in him. This was his first ultra, and he picked one of the hardest ones in the United States. To think I inspired him to do that, made me thankful to have given him confidence that he could cross the finish line. I would have picked to cross the finish line with him than to place over anything.
We finally crossed the finish line and Sean and Pete were there in open arms with huge smiles on their faces.
"How much do you hate me right now Frayah"?
"Sean, you are such an asshole"
I gave him the biggest, sweatiest hug afterwards. I love Sean with all my heart and has been one the biggest mentors I've had with ultra running. He was there at my first ultra, and really raised the bar for me to do things that are "Epic". I've been so blessed since the day he entered my life.
Pete walked me to the car and stated "Frayah, I am so proud of you". I finally started crying. Hearing him say that, was worth everything. He saved the race for me, and luckily he knows me better than anyone so he wouldn't let me quit. He knew exactly what I needed before I ever said anything to him, and I don't see myself being able to cross finish lines without him.
So.. I got dead last female finisher. My first DFL. Never saw that one coming in my career, but man...... what a race. I crossed the finish line at the hardest race I've ever done. I now know exactly how to train and how to be a better runner because of this race. I'm not embarrassed or ashamed of my finish. I feel myself really progressing into a different kind of a runner. One that never quits, and one that will cross the finish line no matter what obstacles are in my way.
I'll always finish what I came to do.
Top 5 mistakes
5. Not bringing Hiking Poles
4. Changing my pace in the beginning. As usual, I went too fast, and was too concerned about not finding a rhythm.
3. Wearing loose clothing. My shirt was getting caught on everything, and it made it uncomfortable to run.
2. Camping out at the aid station for a hour. This one I go back and forth with, because I did need to clear my head. However, I knew better.
1. My SHOES. The fells were AWFUL in this race, and I will never wear them again in a race with a lot of elevation. My toes were banging against each other too much, and really cost me a good performance
Top 5 Pats on the back:
5. Staying consistent on the first climb. My breathing was off, I felt like death, but I kept moving forward with no breaks.
4. My nutrition. I felt pretty good the whole race. I are oatmeal for breakfast and snacked on Sport Beans, crackers, and tailwind for most of the race.
3. My gear. My camelback was amazeballs. It could fit over a gallon of water and still felt extremely light on me. Thank you Pete!
2. Bringing Crump beer. I love bringing WI people WI beer. It's like they struck gold :)
1. Crossing the finish line.
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