Apres Moi Le Deluge

This isn't really running related besides the fact that it's interfering with my running. But I think we all understand how the weather can affect us and our communities and bring unexpected disaster. The last few weeks my tiny town has been drenched by heavy rains and thunder storms. Despite living near the river we rarely have flooding but this summer it's not the river that's the problem.

It's the sheer volume of water that's been dropped on such a small area.

Driving out to the main road.

 

The road to our house.

 

Water shooting out from the underground lines

 

End of the road

 

The creek under our running trail

 

The drainage ditches can't handle it

 

Playground or pool?

 

Even the trees can't handle any more

 

Storm damage on our trail

 

 

I'm not really sure what the point of this post is besides wanting to share my sorrow. I've lived in this town for about as long as I've ever lived anywhere now. Our family is here, our friends are here, our running trail is here. Everything safe and familiar has been turned upside down. Every time I hear a clap of thunder in the distance I shudder and wait for the next downpour that will bring more devastation. I honestly don't understand how the surrounding towns are escaping with little more than wet basements while we are bearing the worst of every storm but the rain can't last forever. And so we wait for the sun.

 

Laurel Highlands Ultra Relay

A couple weeks ago my friends posted on Facebook that they were looking for a few more runners for the Laurel Highlands Ultra Relay. The Laurel Ultra is a 70.5 mile race on a wilderness trail with difficult footing, steep grades, logs, rocks, and mud. There are 8 aid stations along the course, four of which are checkpoints and relay exchanges. So of course I volunteered!

Friday night I drove out to Seven Springs and found the condo where our teams would be staying. We had ended up with enough people to form two teams. John, Kam, Alisa, Sunshine, and I were to make up Team 1. Mike, Steph, Kelly, Rob, and Michelle were to make up Team 2. Relay runners who were not currently running were going to volunteer at the 26 mile aid station.

When I arrived at the condo I found out that Michelle had not been able to make it. Some quick restructuring led to the decision that Mike would run leg 1 and 5 for their team. We also decided that I would be the transport person since I was the anchor runner for my team.

So after an awesome potluck dinner and some beers I hit the sack around 10PM. Mike and John woke me up around 4 or 4:30am and I dressed in my Altra tank, INKnBURN shorts, and Altra Torins. We headed out to drop off Mike's car at the first relay exchange point (mile 19.3) and then I drove them to the starting line. I picked up the bibs and shirts for the rest of our runners and then watched the 5:30am race start. I saw a couple friends and chatted for a bit before heading back to the condo. I picked up coffee on the way which was surprisingly okay for gas station brew.

The coffee did the trick and everyone was up and moving shortly after my return to the condo. Alisa and Sunshine loaded our van to set up the 26 mile aid station while I followed Kam and Steph to the second relay exchange point (32.3 miles) to leave their car and then drove them back to the first checkpoint to wait for John and Mike. Thankfully I got them there just in the knick of time! John crushed the first leg, finishing at about 10am. Mike wasn't far behind coming in around 10:30.

view from the road to Laurel Mountain summit

Leg 1 elevation profile

I rushed back to follow Kelly to the third exchange to leave her car and then drive her and Alisa to their starting point. Once again our runners were rocking and their relief didn't have to wait long. I drove back to the aid station where Mike asked if I would run two legs instead of one. I agreed and we decided Rob would run my 5th leg for Team 1 and I would run legs 4 and 5 for Team 2.

Leg 2 elevation profile

 

I was suddenly out of time now that there wasn't another leg between me and my run. I rushed to the exchange point and then helped patch up incoming solo runners until Kelly arrived. I grabbed two handhelds, one with Gatorade and one with water, and headed out to tackle leg 4.

 

A runner I helped out at mile 46

 

Leg 3 elevation profile

 

The trail is almost entirely single track and technical. I took one good tumble about a mile into my first leg. The runner behind me let out a little curse and hurried to make sure I was okay. It must have looked pretty epic but I was okay aside from some scrapes. I averaged right around a 13 minute mile and arrived at the last relay point in around 2:20. My team had dumped my bag at the checkpoint with a headlamp in it so I quickly stuffed my arm warmers and one handheld in the bag and took the light with me. I talked to Rob, who was waiting for Sunshine, quickly and then headed out again.

 

Scraped up

 

Leg 4 elevation profile

 

I once again maintained about a 13 minute per mile average until it started to get dark. As the shadows lengthened it became harder to see the rocks and I began twisting my ankles more and more. I let fear get the better of me because I'm not willing to get injured before Burning River 100 so I slowed to a walk. A couple times I tried to run again but I'd quickly slip or trip and decide it wasn't worth it. I averaged about a 19 minute mile over the last 4 miles.

 

Beautiful and brutal single track

 

Leg 5 elevation profile

 

I finally popped out at the finish line where I found Sunshine waiting for me. We ate some chili and chatted with other runners until Rob finished about 15 minutes later. All total I ran about 24.5 miles in 5:52. Sunshine drove Rob and I back to Rob's car at the last exchange point and then Rob drove me back to my car. I was a little sad to say goodbye to the last of my teammates but I was ready to go home.

 

Finding this on the back of my Jeep this morning did help though:

 

Overall, I'd say it was a good day. I had about 50+ miles on my legs going into this relay and I only expected to run about a half marathon. Being able to handle the unexpected bonus miles made me feel really good about my current fitness level. And I have to say my first relay experience has left me ready for more. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again!

 

Shirt

 

I am a warrior!

I'm a little late getting this up but I was waiting for the amazing (and over priced!) photos to go up from the Warrior Dash in Logan, Ohio on June 4, 2011! My husband and I both took a stab at our first obstacle course race and both did pretty well (34:07 for him and 39:19 for me), coming out in the top 25% or so for our age groups. So on to the good stuff!

We made the four hour drive out to the race site in good time! Can I just say that I LOVE my new 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara! It is a blast to drive and did pretty freakin' awesome on gas for a huge 6-cylinder sport wagon (averaged almost 22MPG)!

We ate Wendy's about an hour out from arrival but thankfully that not-so-bright idea didn't backfire on us! Thinking that signing up for the 2PM wave so we could drive there and home in the same day was another story!

Once in Logan we parked at some fairgrounds that looked like they were undergoing renovations. Thankfully they had buses running constantly to shuttle us from the parking to the race. The temperature was rising quickly and was close to 90*F by the time we checked our gear and did last minute potty stops. We found the starting line in time to watch the 1:30PM wave start with fanfare and flames!

We baked in the sun for another half hour and then it was our turn! Boy were those flames hot running underneath them! The first mile or so was all uphill. I wasn't brave enough to wear my Garmin so I don't know the exact distances or elevation gains but it was brutal trail. The 300 or so runners in my wave were all bottlenecked in and it was basically a nature hike. Not so warrior in my book! BOO!

Finally, we came to the first obstacle which was just tires swinging from ropes. According to the website the first obstacle was supposed to be Tornado Alley, a wind tunnel. Guess they wanted to surprise us? I dodged the tires pretty easily and managed to break away from some of the people slowing things down.

The next obstacle was an over-under. It was under barbed wire, over a wall, under more wire, over another wall, and under one more set of wire. I flew through that pretty easily as well. Thank you CrossFit! Next I believe was the lake! And that was HARD but mostly because I had 30 or 40 other people in front of me kicking me, splashing me, and dragging me down. Going over the four rolling logs in the lake was the easy part! For some reason the girl in front of me had on a rubber glove? Not sure if she had a broken hand or what but more power to her!

Next was the junk yard. Three sets of destroyed cars to climb over or through. I chose over to save time. Next was highstepping through tires which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I passed quite a few people who seemed afraid of the cars and tires.

Soon after was a crawl through mud under a black tarp. I was amazed at the number of people that refused this obstacle saying they would have a panic attack or whatever because it was dark and confined. It was advertised as part of the course so what gives with that? And if any of those people are ahead of me in the rankings I hope they feel ashamed! ;)

Finally nearing the end was a cargo net climb. I believe it was about 25-30 feet and a lot of people froze on this. I really didn't think it was that bad overall but I guess I'm not as afraid of heights as I think I am? I managed to pass a few more people here. Almost immediately after we made a sweeping right-hand turn and had to traverse several thin, angled planks. I really thought I was going to fall off and bust an ankle at a few points. Guess I need to do more balance work!

A VERY steep downhill run/slide/jump brought us to the last few obstacles. A wall you had to use a rope to climb up and a knee-high (thigh-high on me) creek we had to run down. I hit shin first into a rock sliding down the hill into the creek but the cool water soothed the burn almost instantly.

A quick pull up some ropes to get out of the creek and I could see the finish! However, there were two fire pits and a barb-wire covered mud pit to traverse first. I leaped the fire fairly easily and was happy that my skirt didn't catch fire! *Hint: Don't wear a running skirt to an obstacle run!*

The mud pit was fine at first. I slid in and got on hands and knees. It was relatively soupy at the start but got thicker and thicker as we went along until it was hard to move at all. Finally I clambered out the other side and made a dash for the finish where I happily collected my medal.

At the end there were guys with fire hoses to clean us off. It was refreshingly, shockingly cold but got the job done. However, my shoes, along with many others', were toast. Shane and I dropped our shoes in the growing pile and headed for the car. We even wore our warrior helmets the whole way home!

All in all it was a neat experience. Not sure if we'll do it again but it was definitely worth doing once!