Mountain Mist Trail Run 2017

Elvis, Dr. Nick, and the Mist

 

 

Prologue

 

A couple of weeks prior to Mountain Mist, I went out for an easy 10 mile run.  When I came back, I noticed a twinge in my back, but dismissed it and proceeded an hour our two later to go over Cecil Ashburn Drive, to get a little more elevation for the day. For those not familiar with Cecil Ashburn, it is a pretty steep road that connects Huntsville proper, with the quaint little town of Owens Cross Roads. 

 

On Monday, prior to the Saturday start of the Mist, I went out for a 13 mile run on Redstone Arsenal, when I got back home, I experienced some acute back spasms.  I've never experienced anything so painful, and I've broken my hand on a run, but nothing touched this kind of roiling pain.  The next day on an 8 mile run, I had to stop and walk for the last 3 miles because the back spasms hit again.  

 

I was at a loss as to what I did to mess up my back, but more importantly, Mountain Mist was only four days away.  So now, the Elvis Presley connection. As you may recall, Elvis never took illegal drugs, he just took an incredible amount of prescription drugs, administered by his personal physician, Dr. George Constantine Nichopoulos, or Dr. Nick.  Now, I did not have a trove of amphetamines, barbiturates, narcotics, etc., but I did recall that I had a bottle of prescription muscle relaxers (Robaxin 750mg)  that I had from a few years ago, and my go to bottles of Aleve, Advil, and Tylenol. I also had my handy heating pad, and a bottle of gin -- which by the way, is a great recovery drink given that it is made from a variety of botanicals, coupled with tonic water, which contains quinine, a known leg cramp remedy; it's the perfect elixir.  So, in effect for the next few days, I became Elvis and Dr. Nick rolled into one.  The patient and the physician.  To say I was, at times, a little loopy is an understatement, but I was going to do everything I could to prevent back spasms on the trail.  

 

The morning of Mountain Mist, I started the race with a muscle relaxer, two Aleve, and some aspirin for good measure. The ensuing result...I was slightly uncoordinated -- just a bit.  So, let the race begin....

Start of the Race through the O'Shaunghnessy Point Aid Station (6.4 miles)

(Flying out of the gate!  I see Riddle!)

 

 

The race started with a rendition of America the Beautiful, followed by the Star Spangled Banner, and the traditional big ass rifle shot...I don't know if that thing is a musket or a buffalo rifle, or what, but it's big, and it's loud, and it is an attention grabber. 

 

I was running pretty well through the early stages of the race, but things were going to change.  Somewhere along here I took a fall, I can't remember where, but it was nothing serious. So, I picked myself up and kept going.

O'Shaughnessy Point to Goat Trail Aid Station (11.9) miles

I could feel my back tightening, but I wasn't experiencing any spasms.  I was concentrating on keeping well hydrated, with my bottle of #nuun, and every time I was on the edge of a cramp, I would take a hit of my Base salt.  My friend, Tim Pitt suggested I start using salt after an unusually warm 2015 Rocket City Marathon. The conditions that day resulted in me having terrible leg cramps. I've found taking a pinch of salt immediately calms leg cramps, as opposed to electrolyte caps or pills, which take longer to work.  Anyway, I digress.  I headed down Warpath and made my way to the Powerline section of the race. It had sections of thick mud, but for the most part, it was in pretty good shape this year. I headed up K-2 at a slower pace than I wanted, but I kept moving -- Relentless Forward Motion -- I kept running that mantra through my head.  When I topped out on K-2, I headed towards Stone Cuts.  Call me crazy but I always enjoy this section of the race.

  (Slicing my way through Stone Cuts -- like a danged ol' Ninja.)

 

After I got through Stone Cuts, I headed towards the Sinks trail.  I usually head down this section of trail at a pretty a good pace, but today it was slower.  I could not get in a rhythm.  At some point, as I headed over to the Fearn Drive Aid Station, I heard Dana Overton coming up behind me, I fell not once, but twice in this section of trail. After my second fall, Dana said, "Shar, I can't take it. You've got to stop doing that." (That's a close facsimile of what she said.)  Anyway, I didn't realize at the time that I was running in rarefied air! Dana was going for her 10 year jacket. (Spoiler alert: She got it!)

 



 

 

Fearn Drive (mile 17.1) to Land Trust (21.1)

 

After refilling and dropping a nuun tablet in my bottle, I was ready to go.  Oh yeah, I saw a couple of Advil on the table, so I took them. (Keeping count: 1 muscle relaxer, two Aleve, a few aspirin, and two Advil.)  My back was hurting, but no spasms!  I made my way across High Trail and used this runnable section to make up a little time, because I knew what was ahead.  As I turned onto Bluffline, I knew that this section had been my nemesis in the past.  Last year, I made it to the Land Trust aid station with no problems, but the year before I had taken a nasty fall.  Needless to say, my luck from last year did not hold.  The closer you get to to the aid station, the more technical the trail becomes...rocks and roots.  Anyway at some point when I was running at a pretty good pace, I toed a rock or something, and went head over heels and landed in a puddle facing backwards. 

 

Three nice ladies that were running behind me helped me out of this mini wading pool.  As I got up, the leg cramps immediately hit, so I salted.  One lady asked me if I wanted her to walk with me for a while.  Apparently, when I fell, I also hit the back of my head on a log, and they were concerned.  I assured her I was fine and I encouraged them to keep running and I would walk it off. Amazingly, I think the hit to my head, improved my vision.  Like little Ruby in Christmas Vacation.  "She falls down a well, her eyes go cross. She gets kicked by a mule. They go back.  I don't know." -- Cousin Eddie. 

 

I picked up my pace and made it the Land Trust Aid Station.  I think it was here that they had Advil, it could've been another aid station, anyway I took two more.  So, the count now is 1 muscle relaxer, two Aleve, some aspirin, and 4 Advil.

 

Land Trust to Monte Sano Boulevard Aid Station (25.1)

 

I moved at a descent pace down Old Rail Road Bed and Toll Gate, as I made my way over to Alms and to the base of Waterline.  As I was making my way up the steepest section of waterline, I hear a voice from behind say, "Get your ass moving!"  I look back and realize it's my friend, and world traveler, Christian Griffith.  I'm thinking, great I've got to pull this big lug up to the top, and he's probably thinking, great I've got to push this tub of goo up to the top.

 

 

Now, I was convinced it was a 6 hour cutoff at Monte Sano Boulevard, and so when I get to the top of waterline, I start hustling over there as best as I could at that point.  I make it to the aid station with 3 minutes to spare, only to find out from a laughing Kathy Youngren that it's a 6 and half hour cutoff.  So, I was in good shape.  I told Kathy, I was saving up for a sprint up Rest Shelter starting at Kathy's bench. I think she started laughing at me...again.

 

Monte Sano Blvd. to Rest Shelter Aid Station

 

I don't know what happened to me through the final stages of the race, but I could not muster a respectable pace at all.  Christian Griffith was long gone, I came across Brad Ryder who was nursing a bad knee, and said he was going to walk it out.  I think he found another gear because after I passed him, he caught me and finished ahead of me.  Casey Fritz and her band of women warriors overtook me after cry baby hill.  During the slush mile Suzanne Erickson tried to cheer me up by saying we didn't have that far to go...as she passed me.  It wasn't a good climb up Rest Shelter, and no, I didn't start sprinting at Kathy's bench.  I started swinging my arms to mimic the motion of a run.  When I got to the Rest Shelter Aid Station, there was concern expressed about the way I looked, but I found out that my brother had come through about 30 minutes earlier.  That was good news, because he was convinced that he was so undertrained that he was going to have to drop at some point.  Again, I was convinced that I was bumping up against the race cutoff.   I was having a serious case of runner's fog. I was reassured by Kim Holmes, Mona Parker, and Chelsea Schiavone that I had plenty of time to finish the race.   I downed a cup of beer, got some pretzels and headed for the finish line.

 

Rest Shelter Aid Station to the Finish Line

 

I picked up my pace on the South Loop and headed for the finish line at the Monte Sano Lodge.  At this point, my sad, sad, goal was to go under 8 hours. I finished in 7:57:53.  As I sat on the wall at the Lodge, one of the ladies that helped me out of the pool I fell into on Bluffline came up to me with her hands on her cheeks, she said, "Oh my, I'm so glad to see you finished.  I wasn't sure you were going to make it after that fall you took."  I thanked her profusely for her help, but man was that embarrassing.

 

The silver lining is this:  It was a great day to run on Monte Sano.  The conditions could not have been better.  I got to run with, and see many of my running friends.  David Holliday and I crossed paths at about the same spot we see each other every year...at the bottom of Sinks.  My back held out. It hurt, but it held out.  Finally, I finished my 8th Mountain Mist.  I DNF'd in 2008 and 2010.  In 2009, the year I finished for the first time.  The ultrarunning legend David Horton spoke at the pre-race dinner.  His words that night summed up my race this  year:

 

 "It never always gets worse."

 

 

 (8 Mountain Mist Finisher Plagues)