Ohhhhh, Uwharrie. I'm sure every one of us has some sort of love/hate relationship with this trail. It is treacherous, yet beautiful. Difficult, yet exhilarating. Never-ending, yet addicting. For me, running the 20 meant facing a section of the trail that I hadn't attempted since fracturing my knee "out there" on a training run in 2008 -- an injury that took me away from running for over 6 months and set me back in innumerable ways. Damn you, Uwharrie.
To be honest, I did myself a pretty big disservice by not attending one of the Uwharrie recon runs in the past few months. On one one of them, of course, the same trail gnome that got me 3 years ago reached out and pulled Spinz to her Uwharrie-demise (I was supposed to go on that run, but chose to sleep in with my boyfriend instead...) This only further perpetuated my dread about the race. I had nightmares where the elevation profile appeared like the sharp teeth of a formidable monster, waiting to gobble me up. I started getting butterflies in my stomach a good week before the race. And I'm only making SOME of this up!
Shawn and I arrived Friday night at the lake-front house we rented with Schnzl, Qwyk, Nova, Kyle, Tim, Anna, Menaka, and Armond. It was freaking pouring. Shawn relinquished particular pleasure in driving his trusty Volvo through gigantic puddles on the side of the road, thus freaking me out even more. On Saturday morning, as we were walking out of the door into
the relentless freezing rain, Tim turned around with a look of dread and said: "Seriously. Why are we doing this? I mean, really." After getting turned around several times, we finally arrived at the race.
By the way, the 20 started like a half an hour late, apparently because one of the shuttle drivers decided to take a joy ride with the other shuttle driver, leaving a bus full of people at the gas station. I just thought this was funny.
POW, the race starts. I immediately feel like I'm going to throw up (still of nervousness). I had previously decided to "take it easy" for the first half of the race, so I let a bunch of people pass me on the first rocky steep climb and tried to settle into my own groove. This is actually hard to do in the first 8 miles of the race, as everyone is trying to do the same thing. I got stuck behind some particularly timid people who felt the need to run around every littlemud puddle in their midst. HAHA, suckers didn't know what they had coming. Another highlight of the first half of the race was when I tromped through a stream crossing, only to slip on a mossy rock which hurled me into the freezing running river. Like, my entire body was submerged. There is no other feeling like this in the entire world. [Photo credit: Shannon Johnstone, 40 mile winner!]
I was feeling good. Like, really good. But my fear was still getting the best of me, so I held myself back, probably too much. At the 11 mile AS, I saw Shawn for the last time, and decided this was the time to turn it up. I started chatting with a guy behind me, only to find out later that it was a fellow-Trailhead, Stretch! His company was much appreciated. Also much-appreciated was the sight of the front 40-milers. OMG, Badasses! Seeing them gave me an extra surge of energy. And, to validate Stretch's comment in his race report, stair master training is seriously where it's at.
Before I knew it, I was at the last aid station. It was time to hit the gas pedal. My quads were barking quite a bit at this point, but I felt like I was flying. Some 40-milers commented as I passed: "you don't even look tired!" HAHA, deception. When I saw Goofus wandering around like a hobo, I knew I was almost there. I sprinted in to the finish, posing for my winning photo, only to hear the hillbilly volunteer say: "I cayan't see yo- numbah!" -- even though it was totally visible. I had to turn around and give it to him, thus completely cramping my style.
I got my mug, dry clothes, hugs from the THs, and a shoulder massage from Martha, and I felt on top of the world. The rest of the evening involved foam rolling, ibuprofen, trying to nap unsuccessfully, make-your-own pizzas by Schnzl, and a cake for Anna's birthday!
So there you have it. Another Uwharrie has come and gone. My shoes are muddy, my legs are still pretty sore, and I don't want to eat another Espresso Love Gu for at least 6 months... OH, and I don't even have a t-shirt to show for it, because I don't think it made it into my drop bag. So if anyone has an extra...?
Endless gratitude to Bull City Running Company, all the volunteers (both front-stage and behind the scenes), the Trailheads, and all of the people who came out to run. I will never forget this beautiful day!
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