Race Recap: The Ascent

Race Recap: The Ascent

About time I write that quick recap from the hill climb race, The Ascent.  We arrived to the start line via the valley rather than coming in from town down the course to the start (read:  most other runners had seen the course when they drove in, but hubby and I were remained in denial).  About 150 yards from the start line the road wrapped around a blind horseshoe curve and went up.  That's about all I could tell...steep from the start.  There were only about 50 runners (this was the first year of the race) and from bathroom-line chats, it sounded like a lot of people threw this race into their training mix for marathons w/o any tapering.  So a lot of us were in the same boat-DEAD LEGS.  Chris and I jogged around for 5 min to "warmup" and realized there was nothing in the tank for our legs as it was, so we'd just take it easy at the start of the race.

Race time started and off we went, around that corner and from there on my legs were burning.  I maintained pretty well and "ran" almost the whole first mile, but the 13% grade was killing me.  Then I saw Chris up the ridge and he was hiking it.  Smart kiddo I tell you.  My hiking was about as fast as my running so I switched it up and gave some hard effort walking/hiking up the climbs with spurts of jogging. There were 2 downhills in the climb and I felt good enough to push those a bit.  People were kindly cheering the last 1/2 mile from the top which was great because the finish was around another blind corner and I needed a little extra encouragement to push it through the top.  I didn't set any time goals for this run but figured I'd fall somewhere in the 45-50 min range.  Final time: 47:08.  It was a good solid effort, but certainly not my best day of running.  Chris got 7th overall - what a beast :D

We waited for 15-20 min for a person to give us a lift back down the course to the hospitality area (my only complaint really was there was no shuttle from the finish line back to the main area).  The community where the race was, Blue Ridge Mountain Club, is just a ridge or two over from my mom's house and it had been quite a while since I had been through it.  The race was run on the main road which straddles a ridgeline, offering beautiful vistas on both sides of the road at many points along the race.  I was glad that my mindset for the day was to be in the moment and enjoy the run.  We may our way back to the start line/hospitality area in time to watch the bike race (which went from the valley up to the top) come through.  Man those guys were flying!  The top 3 were from Winston-Salem (woot!).  While the bike race carried on, we enjoyed the hamburgers / hotdogs off the grill and some cold brews.  Chris got his age group medal and then it was off to Mom's house to grab Mr. Oliver.

We packed Oliver up in the car and headed to the swimming hole in Elk Creek where I used to spend countless hours every summer.  Even in the middle of summer, the water never warms much above 60 degrees.  Oliver hasn't had much water experience yet as a puppy and we wanted to see how he'd handle some deeper water at the hole.  Added bonus:  standing waist deep in ice cold water was wonderful on our legs after the race!  Oliver was so excited by the water and tried to walk out from the creek bank to me standing in the middle when, all the sudden the bottom dropped out from under him, and - for a split second- I really thought he was going to sink!  But he popped up and started swimming (thank god!).  We left him on his 30 foot leash and let him run and splash in the shallow area and he got more and more curious about the deep area right off the boulders (probably about 10' deep).  He kept walking out on the edge of the boulder which is about 5' above the deep pool and then he'd back away.  After 3 or 4 times though, he had gotten the boulder wet and slick and WHOMP, in he slid!  He swam over to the shallow end and gave me a "are you crazy?  this is cold!" look.  Next time I'll take his water bumper toy and make sure to bring a camera.  After a few more minutes of splash play in the shallow end, we hiked back to the car, grabbed showers at Mom's and *I* grilled steaks and veggies for our dinner out on the deck with a beautiful view and mountain breezes.  I love the mountains in the summer :)

It was a low key, small race but run extremely well and the location was breathtaking.  Given the proximity to Mom's it's definitely one we'll be repeating next year and hopefully bringing a few more with us. Thanks to Pirate Race Productions for such a wonderful event!

Race Preview - The Bear!

I can't help but say the name of this race with a mountain scroungy voice "The Beeaaarrrr!"  

A bit over a year ago, Chris and I were joking on a run as I was telling him about some of the crazy races I heard about growing up in Boone including this "ridiculous race up to the very top of Grandfather Mountain.  I mean, it's like straight up, ha!  Those people are crazy."  His reply - "what about 2010?  If we were able to even finish it..." and a dream began.  Now, we know we will not only be able to finish (and not get picked up by the sag wagon) but also finish strong.  Times are not so important to us here - more of a race against one's self, although Chris wants to place top 10% of males and I'd be happy with top 25% of females and a time somewhere in the 55-60 min range.

The blog's been quiet this last month as intense training picked up after the Biltmore 15k.  Each week typically went like this:  Sunday = rest, Monday = track workout (8-10x 400s), Tuesday = 3-5 miles, Wednesday = hill workout, Thursday = rest or 3 easy, Friday = 3-5 miles, Saturday = Long run of 6-10 miles of hilly of a route as possible.

The hill workouts were a blast (well, somedays) so long as the heat wasn't too terrible.  After a 1.25 mile jog through the neighborhood to the park where the track is, there is a big ole hill with streets 1/4 mile long that go straight up it.  "Hanes Hill," as I've dubbed it, ranges from 8-20% grade with the last 150 ft leveling out which helps in the "up and over" a hill mentality and recovery training.  The first week I started with 3 laps of Hanes Hill before a recovery jog back home.  Each week thereafter, I added 1-2 laps and tried to notch my lap time down.

The real test came a week and a half ago - Pilot Mountain.  Our plan was to make it out there a few times, but schedules have been busy so we only had one chance at this.  The road from the ranger station to the top parking lot is 2.0 miles with an elevation gain of 974 feet.  The grade starts at 7% and steadily increases to 12% at the top of the mountain with many switchbacks.  It's a great analog to The Bear, being a bit steeper than the last 2 miles of that race.  The hope is that the long hilly runs in addition to track and hill workouts will give me the stamina and endurance needed to make it to the top of Grandfather.  I usually feel more confident if I can practice the course ahead of time, but this is not a public course for people to run.  I've visited Grandfather several times in the past though and am quite familiar with the famous switchbacks on the climb to the top.  

My reward for a hard earned finishers medal - a weekend in paradise!  The hubby and I will be pampered Friday morning with massages (and a birthday pedicure for me) before heading out to Valle Crucis to stay at a bed & breakfast for the rest of the weekend.  I'm quite excited about the vacation and can't wait to sneak a run or two in on the side of the Watauga River.  I used to spend summers at Camp Broadstone on the river and have many fond memories of capture the flag and catching lightening bugs.  Did I mention that I can't wait!?!?!  :D