Stamina on Sunset

This past weekend I joined 74 other runners in a 10 mile foot race over Sunset and Town Mountains. Yes, only 75 of us signed up and that little number is a reflection of just how difficult the course was, even for hardcore Ashevillians. I don't really know why I chose to spend my Saturday morning sustaining prolonged stressful efforts up the side of a cliff. Maybe it is because Theodore Roosevelt once said, "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." Or who knows? Maybe I just enjoy a challenge.

Standing at the start I line I glanced around at the other 74 participants and their huge quadriceps. The girl next to me said, "This is like, all real runners." I told her, "We are real runners too! We wouldn't have signed up for this if we weren't." That, was at least what I said out loud. Silently, I was thinking this may be the first time I finish a race in last place. Here we are,

The gun went off and I hit play on my Ipod. I had carefully crafted an excellent playlist. Starting off with The Distance by Cake. I listened to the lyrics, "Reluctantly crouched at the starting line,engines pumping and thumping in time. The green light flashes, the flags go up, churning and burning, they yearn for the cup. They deftly maneuver and muscle for rank, fuel burning fast on an empty tank."

We hit our first hill 1/2 a mile in and continued up hill the next 5 miles. Here is an elevation map of the course,
I was completely in the zone heading up that 5 mile assent into the clouds. I thought about all sorts of things and listened to the music. I chugged along at an easy pace and felt completely fine. One by one the people around me began walking and I continued on. My brain started playing mental tricks on me. I began thinking," If they are walking I must be tired, maybe I should walk? What if they are all resting and I am wearing myself out over here? " Running is so mental. Once you are beat mentally you may as well sit down and call a cab. I started telling my brain to stop it. The reason I wasn't tired yet is because I run these hills all the time, I swim, I bike, I work-out 6-7 days a week! I DESERVE to be here and I am gonna keep going. And that's what I did for about 4 more miles. When I reached Crowning Way I felt like I had been climbing forever and I didn't know when it would end. My legs couldn't take it anymore, so I walked. And honestly, I didn't care. I gave it everything I had and didn't walk one second before I had to. I was enjoying the view and catching my breath when a group of firemen came running up beside me. One of the guys started walking and the other 4 continued on. About 10 seconds later the firemen came running back and grabbed the walkers arm. He said to them, "Go ahead" and they replied, "Not without you." and he started to run. I began to run too, choking back tears. Maybe it was the adrenaline or the rush of endorphins but I felt like I had just witnessed real life heros being, well, heros. It was the highlight of the race for me.

I hit the 5 mile mark and the dirt road 58 minutes in. It occurred to me that this was the time the guy won the race in last year. I imagined someone 5 miles down the road breaking the tape and I was still so far away on the dirt road of death. Thankfully, we had begun our descent back into Asheville. I enjoyed the downhill and literally took off. I past mile six and mile seven in 16 minutes 20 seconds, an 8:10 mile. From miles seven to nine I chatted with Cindy, the girl who made the comment about "real runners" in the beginning. She told me about running the NYC marathon and living in San Fransisco. She was really cool and thankfully made me forget I was running for a short time. At mile 9 she left and I cranked up Time Bomb on my Ipod. I only had one mile left and I was going to enjoy it. My legs were slightly numb, but my lungs and head felt fine. How amazing that I just ran 9, soon to be 10 miles! AND I have had 2 babies in the past 2 years!!! One that I am currently breast-feeding!! I am woman hear me roar! That last mile I was having a party the whole way to the finish line-with myself. Runners high? Maybe. I felt great. This lady was trying to pass me at on the final stretch,
But I did NOT let that happen. I finished in 1:43:01. Meaning I ran the last 5 miles in 45 minutes. That's pretty good. I averaged 10:05 pace for the race and I am extremely happy with that. My high eventually wore off leaving me with a hurt body and an empty stomach. But I will put the stampede down as one of my greatest days out for a run so far... It is days like that, that make you go back for more.