Fall Creek 100

Race: Fall Creek 100 Miler

Date: November 18, 2023

Finish Time: 29:28 hours

Distance: 102 Miles

Elevation gain: 11,000 ft

I trained SO amazing and attempted a 100 in September... but ended up with the flu :( I recovered and found another race to signup for but I couldn't fit one into my schedule until November... and was so busy I stopped training after the September 100. BOY WAS I SO undertrained for this race but determined to finish!

"Fall Creek 100 takes a tour of Fall Creek Falls, one of the biggest and most visited parks in Tennessee. All distances take a suspension bridge over Cane Creek, skirt right by the overlook for the 256-foot namesake of the park (spoiler: it's a waterfall), spend 3-5 miles running right along the shoreline of Fall Creek Falls Lake (depending on race distance) before going right up to a firetower on their way back to the finish. The 50 and 100 milers also go over the suspension bridge at Piney Creek Falls and get to see Milikan’s Overlook.
It's a really wonderful park that's a lot of fun to run in. Pine forest; mossy, fern-lined tracks running along creeks; bridges; gentle, chill trail...it's really cool. We've included as much as we can on the course."

It started hard, I rolled my ankle pretty good around mile 9 and had a pain shoot into my knee, top 3 most painful events I've experienced! Turns out I had a grade 2 tear in my meniscus. OUCH! As an ultra runner does, I continued pushing trying to block out the pain. The course was pretty cool, you started at the START/FINISH line and run down the paved road less than a mile turning onto a pretty tough trail section. This section was about 3-4 miles long. Once you got through it, you hit the "FireTower" road aid station. From there you ran 1.5 miles down fire tower road and hit a turn around running back through the same aid station and through the same trail system back out to the road. Once on the road you ran for about 1/2 mile and cross the street entering another trail system. This one was a LOT easier, but still had plenty of rolling hills. They had a tornado come through last month and had over 1300 trees come down on the course so the course was changed last minute. It was insane seeing a the downed trees.Once out of here there was an unmanned water stop, then back into another trail system. You ran around the lake and hit the "Gilbert Gaul" aid around mile 15.5. Continuing from there you ran through the pine tree forest (very runnable) passing through "piney falls" aid station and heading toward the nature center where you would turn around at mile 25.5. Once you hit that aid station you ran back to where you began. The trails surrounding the nature center were TOUGH! Lots of rocks and roots, and a couple suspension bridges. The water fall view was WORTH every second of hike.

The trails were SO AMAZINGLY well marked. Even covered in 4-6 inches with leaves and in the dark I never got off course (which I'm notorious for). The trails were very technical, lots of rocks and roots hidden beneath the leaves which added a different kind of agility challenge that I wasn't quite ready for. Mile 40-50 were some of the hardest miles mentally. At mile 50 after I changed into dry warm clothes getting ready for the night hours, I asked Justin to tell me not to quit. He did while also reminding me how bad i wanted to finish, and it helped. I got a 2nd wind here and ran my fastest 25 mile portion of the trail. The night time was FREEZING

I think the overnight low hit 28° and with my body shutting down from exertion it was hard to stay warm... but we planned for that. Lots of hand warmers tucked into my gloves and pockets, and I ended up running with my puffer coat for awhile.

My rockstar husband was my ONLY pacer/crew and he is so amazing. He came out and joined me for 20 ish miles during the overnight and as always, knew my needs and was there for all of them. I dropped him off at Gilbert Gaul and had 15.5 miles to go. We made an ALMOST critical mistake here and I forgot to take another Ibuprofen. It had wore off completely and my knee was ACHING. I got about a mile from that aid station realizing that I forgot it. I wasn't sure I could struggle through the last 15 miles. I cried A LOT. Every step that I didn't land flat on my foot, every up or down hill, wow. SO much knee pain.

3.3 miles to go and SO EXCITED

I pushed through and blocked out the pain to the best I could and kept moving forward 1 step at a time. This race was the best I've done with fueling, I stayed on top of my calories and am so proud of myself for that. It is usually my biggest struggle. My watch died around mile 75 which was a super bummer. I've never ran without being able to track my miles and pace ect that was tough. Also zero phone service the whole time so I couldn't check in with anyone or text Justin in advance if I was going to need something. All in all, I'm so thankful I pushed through and finished. I will say, I'll never attempt to run a 100 mile race again without training. I am sore today!!

3rd place female overall. Also made the all time top 5 fastest females for this course! Can't wait to run this course again next year so I can really give it my all!

85 miles in and getting tired!

That finishline beer was the best I've ever had!

H9 Baby Dragon 40k

Race: h9 Baby Dragon Egg 40k
Date: August 12, 2023
Finish Time: 7:07 hours
Distance: 25-26 Miles
Elevation gain: 6,883 ft

The BD Dragon Egg 40K is a 40 kilometer race that makes an out-and-back to Mulky Gap. This race started at 7am on Saturday morning near the pavilion (lake area). Runners have 13 hours to accomplish the 40 km. The cutoff time at Mulky Gap is 2:30pm on Saturday; with a final cutoff of 8pm on Saturday evening. This race has no nighttime running ... or walking.

The start was low key. Perry, the race director watched his watch and said "3, 2, 1, it's time to go!" And with that, we were off.  The first couple of miles were up Hill and got sleeper and steeper as we ran. I got stung by the first couple of hornets around mile 4 or 5.. Ouch!  There was a crazy steep climb at mile 6 my watch said 30% grade... Wow! It lasted forever. We climbed close to 2,000 feet in about 2 miles. Rough! I thought that was thw worst, until we peaked the top and had to go back down... have you ever tried to run a 30% grade downhill on a wet slippery, rocky trail?? Yikes!! It was crazy!  Once we got to the bottom, we went straight back up. This continued until we reached the turn around point... then we got to go back and do it all again backwards. 

The first aid station we crossed between mile 8 and 9. It was a beautiful site!  The family that was there was so helpful In helping me fill my pack and getting me anything I might need. They had a great variety of snacks, water and tailwind. We continued up and down for another 5-6 miles where we hit our turn around. Before the race start, I had asked about bringing my trekking polls. I have only ever used them for my 100 mile race never for a short distance and didn't think they'd be necessary.... The advice I was given by every single person that answered my question was to bring them so I did.. Let me tell you how thankful I was to have them and be able to pull them out at the turn around!!  I was able to give my legs just a little break and continue on to finish strong.

That aid station had PBJ sandwiches, granola bars and coke! Hit the spot!! We left that station to go up a steep long hill back in the direction we had come from. We went back through the original aid station... then made our way back to the start/finish.  I was counting down the miles I had left, I was coming down the last big Hill singing a "6 miles left to go" song I had made up and saw a sign that told me to tu4n down a forest road (rather than continue on the trail I'd originally ran up)... this beautiful sign said "3 ish miles to finish" 🎉 I thought I had 6!! I only had 3!! This gave me such a moral BOOST! I was SO excited!!  Ran about 2 miles on the forest road and then entered Vogel State Park and continued on a trail and in the campground there for another 1-2 mile's before finishing! 

This race was by far the hardest trail I've ran. It was awesome!! The only thing that sucked were the bees! I ended up with 7 stings on my right calf and 2 on my left. Brutal!! I saw a bear up in a tree around mile 16 ish. It shimmied down the tree so fast and dropped into the brush where it disappeared. Scary moment alone in the woods! I finished the race strong, feeling pretty good overall minus my blistered and bruised toes from the steep downs, and those darn stings!! I reserved myself too much during the first 6 miles. I wish I'd pushed a little more earlier on but I was nervous and held back. 

I finished 2nd place female and 5th overall. 

Last thing I want to say. Is what a funny, light hearted group of crazy people that run this race series. I highly recommend joining their Facebook groups, very entertaining! You won't get anything real useful from them, but it's worthwhile for sure! 

GA Jewel 100

Georgia Jewel 100 mile

Race: GA Jewel100 Mile Ultramarathon

Date: September 16, 2022

Finish Time: 32:56 hours

Distance: 100 Mile

Elevation gain: 14,478 ft

About 6 weeks before the race, I got Hip Bursitis which stopped my training. I missed critical strength training and my last several peak weeks of running because of this, but ultimately I had to make a choice - keep training but stay injured which would likely hinder me during the race from the start. Or, stop everything and try to heal, go into the race undertrained (but well rested! LOL) and hopefully un-injured. I chose to stop training and allow my body to heal. I had been doing 30-60 minutes on the stair stepper every week after my weekly long run for strength training, one day of week of strength training like plyometrics or HIIT drills ect. all in addition to my weekly miles.This race started at noon which a lot of people thought was crazy, but I thought it was perfect! I was able to sleep in, eat a huge breakfast and start hydrating early. I was able to get dressed, adjust everything, change my clothing choices, and get dressed again with plenty of time to kill. We got to the start line around 11:30am, picked up my bib and listened to the prerace information from the race director. I had a tentative goal of a 30 hour finish, but really, I just WANTED TO FINISH. I needed to prove to myself that I could do this again, and my one 100 mile finish wasn't some fluke.

 The first 1-2 miles took us down Mt Baker, and through a neighborhood (mostly downhill). Miles 3-4 were up the Power Lines where we encountered our first aid station. Then we continued going up on pretty rocky trails for several more miles (this was known as the Rock Garden). On my way through this area was so pretty, neat terrain to be bouncing off rocks through the ridgelines. We summit 4 mountains from miles 2-18 (Dug Mountain 1800 feet, Hurricane Mountain 1550 feet, Middle Mountain 1500 feet and Mill Creek Mountain 1800 feet). The first 18.8 miles you basically run 1 mile up hill, 2 miles along a ridgeline, and 1 mile downhill. Then at Mile 18.8 we hit "Snake Creek Gap" aid station. This is a large aid station where I could access my crew for the first time. I was way ahead of pace here coming in at 4 hours 20 minutes (an hour earlier than I anticipated). I ate, drank and carried on pretty quickly not stopping for too long. The next stretch was to Keown Falls. This stretch was hard, long rocky ups and downs but ended with a mile around the ponds that was pretty run-able. We came into the Pocket Road Aid station here and went up into the falls. It was about a mile uphill hitting 20-30% grade climbs until hitting the waterfalls. 

We passed 2 or 3 of them in a short spacing then summited Johns Mountain. Johns Mountain was beautiful, I summited it right at sunset and had some spectacular views. Leaving here was roughly an 11 mile stretch into Dry Creek. We ran down Johns Mountain which was long not steep section of down hill, then we ran some service roads eventually coming through a pretty big water crossing, then coming into Dry Creek.

Mile 36! My husband and crew didn't make it to dry creek by the time I got there, so I carried on in my wet shoes. Fortunately the weather was beautiful and I had fueled well so I wasn't cold, just annoyed to be in my wet gear. I had so looked forward to "banking time" in the Dry Creek loops, but I HATED these 2 loops (which we run twice each). They were rolling ups and downs not steep, but very boring, secluded in the woods, and scary at night time! I picked up my brother as my first pacer at mile 50 around 1:30am and he ran the1st/ 3rd loop of 6.5 miles with me. I was so grateful to have his company. At this point I was hours ahead of my 30 hour time goal and holding 2nd place female. My husband joined me for the 2nd/4th loop of 7 miles next. I focused on eating during this time and getting fueled back up for the crazy climbs that were going to come upon me leaving dry creek. 

Mile 64 5:38 am heading out of Dry Creek with my mom! We brought a small dish towel to dry our feet off, and ran through the water crossing together but taking the time to take off our shoes so we could keep our dry feet. Then we proceeded to climb the long steady uphill to Johns Mountain Summit. I was using my trekking poles off and on at this point, trying to jog some but mostly hiking. We ran past the waterfalls again and came back into Pocket Road Aid Station where my mom took a short break to eat and hydrate and my sister came to run a few miles with me! I didn't remember this section being SO hard, but I decided this was a very hard section. We basically just hiked all of it. Steep long ups and downs and so many rocks. I didn't love this section as much on the way back lol. Having all the different people to keep me company made for a really nice mental breakup of the race. 

Mile 82.2 Snake Creek Gap I made it to the final section. As I came into this section, I was overwhelmed by emotion. My quads were starting to get weak and I was getting a little uncertain of my leg strength being able to make it. I felt amazing mentally, this was absolutely my strongest mental race I have done of any distance. Cardio was great, but my legs were shot. My mom joined me for the last 18 miles (she is a freaking rock star). We hiked 100% of this. My legs had no "go" for running anymore. I was so frustrated about not being able to run. This 18 mile section was brutal. The whole thing is SO rocky and rooted. I really struggled with all the rocks. We hit mile 90 and I just kept crying. My mom helped rub my quads some and get me loosened up and shaken out. I could go a little more, then would have to stop and stretch again. By mile 95 we had a long stop. I was unsure I could walk on my legs anymore. 5 miles to go! I was picturing having to be carried out on a matt, or left overnight until my legs would regain some strength. Mom gave me a great pep talk, and helped me get moving again. I depending on my trekking poles at this point. It was almost like I had a spinal tap done and couldn't feel anything from the waist down, which seems like it'd be great, but it meant when my brain said walk... nothing happened. I never had any cramping during this race, or pain, or soreness or fatigue... my legs just tried to quit working on me! Next time I will certainly be focusing much more on leg strength training!

 We FINALLY hit the last aid station, the power lines with about 3.8 miles to go to the finish line. I was PUMPED. We got off those god-awful rocky trails and were able to start running again once we hit the pavement! Unfortunately, the last 25 miles took me SO long, we had to wear our headlamps again because the sun had set. We approached mount baker, and having my mom by myself meant the world to me. As we (slowly) climbed up the 40% climb of Mount Baker, I could see my husband at the top. We were almost there! The emotion, excitement, it was all so overwhelming in all the right ways. Finally made it through the parking lot, into that beautiful finish line. I was so relieved to get off my feet! 

What no one talks about is after the race, we went to the hotel and I showered while husband picked up food, I couldn't lift my legs to step out of the shower, couldn't lift them onto the bed once I sat on the bed. They stopped working completely. My husband had to move them for me, adjust them and help me in and out of bed all night. He is amazing. 

I'll be back next year with strong capable legs, ready for this race!