Stupid is as Stupid Does

Along about August 2011, my friend Sue emails me about a race that she thinks is right up my alley.  It's the Duncan Ridge Trail 30k/50k (DRT) in the North GA mountains.  She knows me well and knows how much I love trail running.  Although, I mostly run on pavement because of conveinence it is the trails that I love.  She also knows me well enough to know that I love a challenge.  This race boasts that it's one of the hardest trails in the Southeast.  Now, I am really interested.  I have never ran anything that was too hard.  In all my years of running, I always ran...I never stopped.  I hate stopping.  I have slowly ran and barely shuffled, but up until this point I have never stopped mid-run to walk.  So, I know I can do this. 

The DRT also boasts of an elevation gain of more than 8000 ft.  I have no idea what this means, but it sounds like great fun to me.  In actuality, the 50k portion of this race is more like 10,000 ft. of elevation gain.  Elevation gain is the number of feet one climbs.  But, in terms of numbers I do not know at this point what I am getting into.  All, I saw was the "HARDEST TRAIL IN THE SOUTHEAST", and I was sold!  My only concern was the distance.  I had to do the math and figured out that a 30k is 18.6 miles and a 50k is 31 miles.  Ok, so up until this point I have increased my mileage to about 13.1 miles.  I have now progressed from getting tired in mile 8 to getting tired in mile 11.  I am making progress with the long run.  So, by November surely, I can do 18.6 miles without too much of a problem, right?  So, after stewing it over for about 2 weeks, I sign up for the 30k on www.ultrasignup.com

When I hear about the DRT race, I start talking about it with Dave and Tyler who also decide to do it.  I'm starting to read facebook posts from another Ultra runner.  Up until this summer, I had never even heard of ultra running.  I was so consumed in my own running world that I never paid attention to what anyone else was doing.  I was primarily a solo runner.  Not by choice, it's just the way it was. 

The race director (RD) for DRT sends out a FB invite for a training run in Sept.  So, I reply that 4 of us will be coming.  Dave, Tyler, Mitch, and I.  This was to be around a 15 mile training out and back run.  We run about 7-8 miles out and then turn around and come back.  There would be a water drop at mile 8.  It sounds simple enough.  The RD says it'll take about 3 1/2 to 4 hours depending on how fast you are.  I thought that's really a long time for just 15 miles, but I'm excited.

The week before the training run, Lee orders me a camelback that I wanted from Amazon.com.  It's supposed to be here before my run.  This backpack holds 100 oz of water.   Up until this point, I have never drank a drop or eaten a thing on any run in my entire life.  My longest run was 2 hours and small change.  I never felt the need for water let alone food on a run.  I eat and drink after I run not during.  I will be just fine because there is water at mile 8.

Stupid is as Stupid does....and my backpack doesn't show up before the training run.  Oh well.  I'll just take a protien bar and pack a lunch.  Dave will carry my protein bar for me...lol

So, the morning of the training run we show up at Dave's house and all pile into his van for the 45 min drive to Vogel State Park.  We show up at the run and there are about 5 other runners there.  Cool!  There is one other female besides me....Jenn.  Yay!  I am not the only girl!

We meet Bobby the RD of the race and coordinator of the training run.  I have never signed up for a race that included training runs prior to the race so to me this was so exciting to be able to preview a race course.  Bobby tells us that the course is not yet marked and talks about where to go at certain points on the course.  He talks about following the blue blazes.   What the hell are blue blazes?  I have no clue what he is talking about.  I'm just going to run on the trail.

So, the 9 of us take off running and the first 3 miles are so pretty.  It's really rocky and rooty in places, and it's a little rougher than the trails I've run on, but it's fine.  We all meet up at a road and Bobby gives us some more directions on what to expect.  He talks about Coosa Bald, and it's an uphill climb for 4 to 5 miles.  Cool, my longest hill yet! 

As I start the climb, I quickly realize, that this is no hill.  It's a mountain.  For the first time in my running life ever, I am forced to stop and walk.  Every spare section that I can run, I try but my heart is in my ears, and I can literally hear every heartbeat like I have never heard it before.  I am breathing like a 90 year old man with lung disease.   WTF? is happening here?  I am in great shape.  I have already run 25 miles this week before I even started this run.  This is taking forever!  I feel like the slowest runner/walker/hiker on the planet. 

All of a sudden, as I'm climbing Coosa, I see Mitch running down the trail towards me, and I scoot to the side as I'm climbing up.  He says, something to the effect, "I hate this fucking trail, my quads are killing me!"   I'm thinkinig, Holy Shit...did he actually run to the 8 mile water spot and came back already?  Man, I really suck!  Except that I am just a tad bit ahead of Dave so I don't suck too terribly bad,  and I have no clue where Tyler is.  The trail was overgrown in sections, and it was hard to know what was woods and what was trail.  We get to the top of Coosa and Dave and Tyler have caught up to me.  I am hitting a low point because my blood sugar drops, and I am thirstier than a dog in the desert.  This is a thirst I have never experienced in my life.  I know the water drop is just a mile ahead.  I grab my protein bar from Dave's pack and drink some of his water.  Oh God, I am not too happy right now.  I am outright feeling just a tad cranky.

We get to the half way point and my GPS reads about 8.3 miles.  It has taken me about 2.5 hours to get here.  WTF?  Not only is that the longest 8.3 miles of my life..it was by far the hardest physical thing I have ever done in my entire 40 years on this planet outside of childbirth times two.  Bobby and a few other runners were at the water stop.  I drank and drank and drank.  I was never so happy to see a little Debbie in my life.  I was starving!  I haven't eaten a little debbie in years!  This was the best food I have ever eaten.  Oh Lord, I gotta go back now?  I am in trail hell.

So, a few of the runners take off minutes before me including Dave.  I cannot keep up because somehow the DRT is just uphill both ways, and I'm exhausted, and at this point, I don't give a  flying fuck where I am at in the pack.  I just keep moving forward.  I run every chance I can and just walk the uphills.  I come to a road and figure out the blue blazes are those blue painted rectangles on the trees.  DUHHH...It is now that I begin to realize that I am NOW the biggest dumass on the planet.  I'm supposed to follow the blue blazes which means I have to look at the trees for directions.  Cool, I am on an adventure run by myself in the mountains.  I can do this. 

So, I follow the blue blazes.  I come to a road which was Wolf Pen Gap.  I don't remember seeing that big sign, but I go forward.  I cross the road and off I go onto what I think is another trail.  Actually, it didn't look any different to me.  Should I mention that my biggest #1 weakness in my life is that I am directionally challenged?  Lee swears I'll be lost in an elevator when I am 70 years old.  Here, I digress. 

So, I am running down this trail, and I come across these big rocks that look like they are in a swamp.  UT OH....Houston there is a problem.  Now, I know I am not that blonde...but I really don't remember running over this crap??  So, I back tracked to the road.  I see some cyclists, and I ask them where am I?  LOL  They responded, "Blood Mountain".  Oh really?  I mean specifically where am I at in relation to Vogel Park?  They are not sure where Vogel Park is.  OH GREAT...lost runner meets directionally challenged cyclists.  The one cyclists pulls out his GPS and was of no help.  But, they were super nice guys and tried.   I call Tyler as I know he and a new guy Paul were running behind me.  I know that Dave must be miles ahead.  It's at this point that I realize I am going to let my whole group down because they are going to be waiting hours on me.  I figured they must all be close to the finish now, and they are waiting.  Tyler tells me to stay where I am at so that I do not get lost any further.  Which was probably good advice, but I know the Blood Mountain main road, so I can't be too far from Vogel.  I don't want to wait around.  I am a Runner not a waiter. 

Another group of cyclists, ride up and they think Vogel is to the left and they are pretty sure but not 100%.  To the left is downhill.  Sounds good to me, and it's on a road.  I can do this.  I start running on this curvy mountain highway.  I shout to some other cyclists, "Is this the way to Vogel Park".  They said, yes keep going you are almost there.  Shew...I think I ran those last 3 miles under or about 8 min per mile.  I was hauling ass.  I was over this run.  I was pissed. 

As I'm running the road, an older lady in a car pulls over and asks if I need help.  Man, I must really look awful.  I'm hot, I've been running for hours, I'm thirsty and I'm hungry.  I tell her no thank you, I am just running to Vogel Park like it's something I do everyday.  She says OK it's not much further and she drives away.  But, WOW, what a nice thing for her to do to offer me help.  The last thing I am going to do is "ride" my way back!  I've come this far, I can go the rest.

I get to Vogel parking lot, and I see Mitch at the visitor center.  No one has been that happy to see me in a long time...LOL  He gives me a hug and says, "Your the first person I've seen!".  I'm like WHAT???  I just knew I'd be the last person in, and they'd all be pissed waiting around on me.  I just knew I'd never live this run down if that happened even if it were in my own mind! 

Mitch and I vented our frustrations about the trail.  I was already sore and knew that the days ahead where going to be BAD.  In my frustration with myself and at that moment, I was ready to allow my $35 race entry fee be a donation.  This was not for me.  I am not a hiker, I am a runner.  I bit off more than I can chew.  People actually like this?   It made me feel out of shape, slow, and a terrible failure.  For the first time in my life, I wanted to quit.  But, this little voice says, "you are not a quitter".  You are tired.

Slowly one by one we started seeing other runners come in from our group.  Bobby comes back and says he is glad to see me as he ran back to check on us and he ran into Paul and Tyler.  He knew that I was ahead of them so he asked them if they saw me and they were like "NO".  That was so nice that Bobby tried to find me.  AS it turns out, I followed the blue blazes onto another trail that led up to the road.  I'm not sure if I vented my frustration to him about how hard this was or if he sensed it.  Either way, I'll always remember what he said, "It does get easier".  Sometimes, it's just the simplest words that can steer me in a different direction.  Now, when I'm at a low point in my long trail runs I remember those words, and I remember that going forward nothing will ever be as hard as this day was.

So, where the heck was Dave?  Where was Tyler and Paul?   An hour passes,  and I get a text from Dave that he is lost.  He is on the road...lol  I told him to ask for directions.  He eventually makes it back.  More time passes and Tyler calls to say he and Paul are on road and can we pick them up?  Thank GOD!  I'm ready to go home.  This was the first real conversation I had with our new trail friend Paul.  We became facebook friends.  Turns out he had just started running last May!  I was pretty impressed that he came so far in such a short time.  At this point, I am still thinking no way in HELL am I doing this race.  I ask the guys and Mitch firmly says he will never do this trail again.  Dave, Tyler, and Paul say they are all going to do it.  Ughh...I wanted them to say NO...let it be easy for me to cut my losses. But, I still had that nagging little voice....."YOU are NOT a quitter"...Ughhh, I hate that voice.  Let me quit one time...

I was so sore after this run.  I haven't been this sore since Gold Rush 5k in 2006, and this was far worse.  I gained 11 pounds of water weight in the 3 days following and barely urinated at all for 3 days.  I no longer had ankles and the swelling extended up to my knees.  I woke up with really puffy eyes and looked scary.  I felt and looked worse than shit.  I realized I was in mild renal failure from dehydration.  I realized I am dumb.  I know nothing about long distance running, trail running, let alone ultra running.  Worst of all....I am a nurse who spent 14 years in critical care, and I can't even take care of myself?  And...I am NOT going to a doctor to tell me how dumb I am unless I become short of breath from pulmonary edema.  I knew it would resolve and to keep drinking as much as I can to flush out my kidneys.  Finally 3 days later...I piss like a race horse...I was so relieved....as it was a scary 3 days of my life as I imagined everything that could happen.  I could end up in pulmonary edema...I could end up on dialysis....I am a MOM...how could I ever have done this to myself and to my familly?  HOW dumb am I?  I am thankful that my worst fears never came to light.

And, I've done a lot of dumb shit in my life...but running without water was by far the dumbest...