Yesterday morning started way before the sun was up (5:30 am). Chris made me some coffee and hearty oatmeal to start the day right. Mom came in the night before to help with race support because Chris had to leave a few minutes before the race started to go to a mandatory Saturday workday for his job (bummer!).
The drive to the race was uneventful, but scenic as the sun started to rise over the foothills of the piedmont. Uneventful, that is, until we arrived at the entrance to the Yadkin River Trail area of Pilot Mtn State park. The event directions said to "drive through two streams" and park on the left. These streams were more like swollen creeks after the rain we had this week and nearly came up over the hood of the car (and took off the undercarriage of several cars that came through). With temperatures barely above freezing, the steam coming off the bottoms of the cars was a bit startling to see after the week of 80-degree temps we've been enjoying. I was thankful for the *sweet* PMPB marathon arm warmers we got in our race packets because I was going to be a little cold in a tank top without them.
At 9 am we toed the dirt and were met 50 yards later by the first of 12 water crossings. At about 6' wide and 6" deep it wasn't one to be tiptoed across (water crossing #1). But not to worry - there was no time to fret over wet feet because around the corner from the water crossing was a well placed steep hill (~350 yds and 5% grade) to over a distraction. I'm not a fan of running uphill on loose gravel but it definitely kept me from running out too fast at the start. The course left the dirt road 0.75 miles from the start and we began running a more technical portion of the Corridor Trail which looped back around to the entrance dirt road just after the 2nd stream crossing of the park. We headed north on the dirt road to run through the 1st stream crossing (water crossing #2) which resembled the 1st one. Before reaching the end of the road we hooked left and caught the trail again to find a shallow stream (water crossing #3). Up a short hill and we came to Hauser Rd, running across the road and into the woods for the next 6 miles.
The next 6 miles are a blur except I know there were three more water crossings and a LOT of long, steep uphills followed by long, steep downhills. Around mile 4.5 there was a beautiful vista of the Pilot Mtn summit when we came around the corner at the edge of the woods. Somehow, it didn't seem any closer than it did at the race start. We crossed a few more roads, popping out of the woods and then back into them, which broke up the distance nicely. At mile 8 we go to the base of the summit which was the turnaround point for the half marathon. The lead runners were long gone back down the trail (and flying!) but I was glad to get to the turnaround because Mom was waiting with a 2nd Clutch Bottle of gatorade for me to trade my empty one out for. After a quick dash to the restroom (seeing as how I didn't have finish time in mind), I was back on the trail and heading home. The route back was only 6.5 miles so I knew I was already past the halfway point. Thankfully, the worst uphills were on the first half of the course, but there were still plenty of ridges to traverse to get to the finish. My legs were burning, but my mantra was to "not stop running." There would be no walking for me!
With the goal finish time gone even before the race started, I felt like I needed some kind of goal for running the race. Smile & Push it were my pre-race thoughts, but as the race wore on I saw more and more people start walking. They always say slow and steady wins the race and while I knew I wouldn't win the race, it would help me win my goal of not walking. Granted, I was like a tortoise slowly trucking up the hills. Runners would come up on me in flat/downhill stretches and start walking 50 feet up the hill. I would slowly truck past them at what seemed like a snails pace but each hill I gained more and more distance on them because their run/walk was not as speedy as my "tortoise run" overall. At mile 11 I was met by the last aid station where the group I was with stopped to grab water/food but with my Clutch of Gatorade and Clif bar I brought with me I did not have to stop at all - it was a fantastic plan to bring along my own fuel/nutrition and having trained with it for 5 months I knew I could count on it to get me to the finish. As I was nearing the end of the main Corridor stretch I started looking at my time. My legs were dead and I knew I was closing in on the last 1.5 miles of the 14.5 total distance. It was 2 hr 32 min and I had a mental check with myself. Do you have enough? Can you push it? Is it crazy to try for 2:45 at this point? "What the hell! Let's do it!" I caught a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) wind and pushed on. I'd already done the hard part - 10 water crossings and about 1600' of the 2000' elevation. A few more hills and I'd be back to Hauser Road (14.0 miles). I popped out of the woods at Hauser and checked the watch: 2:41 and change.
Push it! I tore across the road and made it back to the final stretch of trail. The trail was soft pea gravel/sand and traction was difficult. I came around a corner to the low stream crossing and skimmed over it to the dirt road. Now I just had to make it through the two streams that the cars had to go through and down the final, flat stretch to the finish. I caught sight of a shallower area of the #11 water crossing and went down & up its embankment. One more! The water was icy and cool but some runners who had finished were coming up the course to cheer us in. I came to the last water crossing (and by far the worst). At this point, I'd run over 14.25 of the hardest miles I could have ever prepared for and I just plum didn't care. I plowed through the creek without a thought. The water came up to my knees and I splashed a spray of muddy water behind me. I came up out of the creek embankment and could see the finish at this point. The watch read 2:44:30ish and I had about a 100 yard dash to push through. As I started to kick it in, I realized that my legs were numbed by the creek water and my feet were lead, heavy with water. I pushed and threw a smile up as I saw the finish clock.
2:44:55!
I was able to set a difficult goal mid-race and achieved it in addition to not stopping for the entire race. Yes, it was much slower than my "goal half marathon time" (1:55 for a flat, road course) but this was a time I could be quite proud of given the course. And hey - the elevation change, water crossings, and extra 1.4 miles can only mean a great PR on my next half marathon! The weather was a beautiful 65 degrees and I revealed in my personal victory while stretching out in the open field by the finish line, cheering on the others coming in.
With only 100 half marathoners and 60 full marathoners, this was a small well-organized race. It's great to have it so close and I will definitely be back out on the Corridor Trail logging some miles this summer. I hope the race doesn't grow in size as I loved the small intimate feel of the trail race. For many miles I was by myself in the woods on a spring day reveling in the peace and quite while I uncomfortably pushed my physical limits. I l-o-v-e-d it through and through and can't wait to do it again!
Pics will be posted w/ official results soon.
