Monday, May 30, 2016

Cruel Jewel 100

                                          Cruel Jewel 106


I'm still trying to fall asleep every 2 hours. It's been 36 hours after finishing. 

The hardest part about trying to keep your feet elevated is they are located on the lowest portion of your body!

Cruel Jewel is located near Blairsville Ga. Vogel State Park which was built by the CCC in 1931 acts as the start / finish and lodging center. Participants are let loose at 12pm Friday and given a generous 48 hr cut-off. A 48 hr cut-off should heed most to refrain from registering.You will run on parts of the Coosa Bald Trail, Duncan Ridge Trail and Benton Mackaye Trail with an added 12 miles of road. 33,213 feet of elevation is engulfed for a truly grand experience. Out and back format means you have a chance to test your limits on the Dragons Spine twice. This is one of the most difficult sections of trail in the country, not to scare you away or anything.

I quickly signed up last oct. thinking this race would soon be full, still spots available on the closing of registration. We have been hiking there 2 other times and love staying at Vogel so not to hard to get my wife Jen involved. Cabin booked and lets train. My longest run after a 6 week illness was a 5 mile hike and a 40 min jog. Best start. 

Warmed up to a local 50k in early January, followed by running the Uwharrie 40 in February. I hiked all but 4 miles of Uwharrie in 10:53 hrs.  

Started hitting the gym on Wednesday doing wall sits, weighted step ups, 30% treadmill incline, gauntlet stair climber, walking with med ball overhead and many other silly looking activities.

Jen and I being newly empty nesters put a focus on training somewhere new every chance we got. We found ourselves at some great parks including Eno River, Pilot Mountain, Hanging Rock, Grandfather Mountain and Leatherwood 50k. My training plan was to hike which offered many chances for us to train together.

I landed in the Physical therapy depot of ultra running with massive adhesions on my left IT band. Luckily it was able to be taken care of while slightly modifying my training plan. Lots of new exercises to keep up with. Just as I was coming through the other side my right adductor muscle went berserk. A visit to my friend Brian Beatty at Balance Movement Studio. He asked 'What are you doing?' I told him 'What I was doing.' Did you hear yourself?, he replied. You need to stop and let yourself heal up. I'm 6 weeks away for my event. He gave a stern stare and that was all. 6 days no running or hiking and your done with Wednesday gym workouts! Sad face. List of new exercises to accomplish.

I finished my training monster week at 79 miles. Ran my last run with Cliff 'Grub' Simpson who was also training for this event. Made it in 1 piece, let's see if it all stays together.




We left Thursday from my house about 10am. Jordan 'Lynx' Stafford and Sam 'Nymph' Terry the amazing ultra couple where our adopted kids for the weekend. They would be crewing and pacing with Jenny 'Lawst' Hill for both Grub and I.

We made the 6 hour trip with a lunch stop at White Duck Taco in Asheville, without much excitement.

Lawst had a well organized menu challenge. 1-gluten free, 1-vegetarian, 1-that might kill me eater and me who came up with a massive list of trail delicacies.

We joked around while eating a supper of summer veggie pasta and managed to go to sleep at 9:15.

I SLEPT THE ENTIRE NIGHT TILL 6a!

We had homemade gluten free granola with fruit and yogurt for breakfast. The cabin was calm playing Grateful Dead. We kept getting updates from our friends wishing us the best. Let's get this started.

Go forth in Peace



Grub and I never planned to stay together, we just knew that was the deal. 12p and away. Our plan was to hike the majority of the race. We were the last 5 into the woods. I took the early lead as we calmly hiked up and down into Weaver Creek AS. Filled up with H20 and upwards toward the Coosa Bald Climb. 

We got the monster out and discussed what ifs.

We knew that staying together would be nearly impossible. We each had the goal to finish and if that meant going our separate ways at some point we would make the call then. Hike and hike fast. We got to White Oak Stomp felling energetic. We took a few extra seconds to fill up for the 8 mile push towards Fish Gap. Grub kindly took the lead.

Up Up Up!

Grub took the lead with our new mantra. The trail was wonderful, each new gap and mountain saddle had some new gem to discover be it flowers, rocks, hidden views, old road beds, trees and songs. We sang songs with altered lyrics that matched to current condition. I hope the fellow runners didn't want to kill our overly enthusiastic frivolity. 
Chipmunk cheek challenge






It's the crew


Lawst, Nymph and Lynx were the best. Lawst keep the food new, cold, hot and plentiful. Nymph and Lynx gave us very useful experience. It is hard to overstate the confidence a well honed crew gives you. Grub and I expressed our joy for them many times while rounding the mountain tops. 


Into the night!


Our first night was meet with an amazing sunset over the lake. The cooler temps were very welcoming. Grubs feet started growing blisters which began to require some trail side attendance. Our ability to predict the leads time to pass us was spot on at 1:15am. For some reason neither of us knew how long the Deep Gap loop section was. We both felt like a 3 mile loop was enough. What a joke as we neared 2 hours without finishing the loop. 

Onward to the road section. Crossing the bridge we came across someone moving the flagging. Grub asked which way? He responded with a To the right. Grub, Are you sure? Yes I am, I'm the race director!? Well then, guess we can trust him. 

Somewhere in here, 3amish-4ish, we both feel into our 'low spot'. I knew he was and he knew I was. Like a great ultra couple we never mentioned it to each other. 

The road was void of traffic and well enough lit by the moon to hike without headlamps.

It was just rain in my eyes...

We beat our crew to Camp Morganton at 5am. Grub somehow got someone to work on his blisters and get a foot message while I completely let my emotions go. My lower back had started to tighten up! This is a death sentence in my life. I was faced with the full reality of having to drop at some point.  So I did what all great ultra runners do, unleash the eye thunderstorms, open the lid dams, remove hydration from the eye spigots. My own wife, as an experienced crew member, knew what this entailed and did not feed into my thoughts on dropping out. 

No one else is gonna get you out of here. I'm not done yet. I started packing my vest. Lawst then started getting me to eat, drugged, caffeined and gear changed. I was glad to have moved thru that episode. We spent 40 minutes there. This was uncharacteristic as we always tried to pass thru AS asap! 

Headlamps and Pacers

We joked with Lynx and Nymph that Grub and I have spent so much time together that people may perceive us as a great ultra couple and they were our ultra kids. We were all reenergized with the sun rise. Lawst stayed and helped run the 50miler check-in. She is the greatest! Up Up Up we mantra'd thru the woods. Around the Deep Gap 6 mile loop which felt shorter this time. Down the dreaded Weaver Creek Road AS out and back. Many lead 50 milers passed us on the way down, few caught us on the climb back out. 

69!

We dropped the kids off in exchange for Lawst. Grubs blisters were really hurting him. He rarely complained. The occasional cuss when his foot rolled wrong.

Lawst became worried when we climbed up our first long accent and we dropped her. She said she red lined her heart rate and had to slow, no worries as she easily caught us when the trail leveled or went down.

It is with sweet sorrow that we separate...80.5


Grubs blisters. I sat in a chair next to my friend contemplating how to best approach the subject of separation. I just stared at him while an EMT volunteer worked on his right heel. He glanced over and quietly said, You have to go. Yes, I replied, Don't let go of that number until you finish, I added. A quick hug. I turned around and told Lawst he was her responsibility and I was leaving. Lawst just told me to leave and not make this a bigger deal.  I was devastated. I cried as I climbed up another massive 1.5 mile mountain. It took me an hour to get myself together. Then I was worried darkness was going to set in before they made it to the next AS. 


Surprises and Slushies

To say I was hyper aware about my wife and friend whom may not make it here before dark would underestimate the past 2.5 hours of alone time. Nymph and Lynx took care of me and got ready to go help Lawst and Grub. An Orange slushy makes the world more bearable. Lynx and I left to face the remainder of the Dragons Spine as night began to fall. My right foot was swollen and causing me great pain on decent. I was extra careful on downhill sections trying to land mid foot and instep with my pole to keep weight off. I would pass people going up and they would then roll passed me on the way back down. Couldn't find my gloves at the last AS and tried socks. Socks don't work with poles. My hands got cold as the wind ragged at 25+mph. You could barley think the wind was so loud. Lynx kept giving me updates about Grub and his progress. Experienced Pacers know just the right amount of info to give their runner. Lynx let us be quite and me completely dictated our forward progression. 

One last push


Just before White Oak Stomp AS I calculated the chance to go under 40 hrs. This math took about 15 minutes.  I asked Lynx to verify. Within 10 seconds he ran down the calculations based on current pace and projected pace over remaining terrain. Yes, we can slow down by several minutes a mile and still make it. Ankle be damned now. I ran as quick as fast as I had all race. On your left, mind if I go around you, Lynx even helped alert people ahead.We got to the bottom of Coosa Bald descent and I asked Lynx if we missed some parts as I failed to recognize the last section of trail. He reassured me we were fine.

Turn the switches off, you got this


Lawst surprises me, she said it was planned. I yelled out are you ready to go! No. I said 3 million thoughts. Just go I'll see you there. Apparently my requests for where to meet next to run into the finish together were as jumbled as the night. In my excitement I fell for the first time, uphill. Silly Galoot. Meet Lawst at the top of the last climb. She was running us in to the finish. Her night vision hadn't set in yet and she fell. We all got a laugh out of that. We turned left on the campgrounds road and turned the headlamps off and relaxed.


39:21


I finished and was handed the largest buckle ever from RD. Lynx grabbed a quick bite and went back out in the cold windy night to find Grub and his girlfriend Nymph. Lawst and I sat around the finish area and talk to many other finishers. We got into the car and drove back to get the stuff from Grubs car, Lawst didn't remember if she locked it. I was passing out randomly on the drive. We made it back to the finish line a mere 10 mins before Grub finished.A few minutes after 6am Sunday our journey ended.


As the sun came up we made our way back to the cabin. First nap. Lawst made us some great crepes for first meal around 11:30.


Ankle, Where?
After second nap 2:30-5 we all went on a walk and the feared 100 yrd dash.  Lawst wanted to capture the funny body mechanics.

Thanks to all the race volunteers of which none of us would have enjoyed the experience as much. I received some tremendous trail Karma. Huge shout out to my Trail group, Trailheads, many of whom were up throughout the night checking statues.

My eyes are up here!
    


Respect to all, Run Smooth, Peace


 









1 comment:

derscott said...

So completely awesome! What a crazy race. Now, enjoy your summer in northern Europe!