All you really need to know: Shuffle, ouch, mud, shuffle, walk, ouch, ouch, ouch, blister, walk, mud, shuffle, mud, ouch, walk, mud, exhausted...
If you're really bored:
I would advise you not read this, as it is VERY long. Apparently I had lots to say. I think Chris M’s work is more interesting than this (see "Personal" section). When you finish that, (it'll never happen…) come back to this.
This race is what made me decide I wanted to start upping my mileage a bit. I ran 2-3 miles 2 or so times a week. Nothing special. I often walked, and as always, was slow. I love the outdoors and have always enjoyed hiking. I knew of longer trail runs from friends (I’m talking 50k+) and wanted something shorter. Well, McKay Hollow Madness is as short as it gets around here for trail races. 14.2 miles. Okay, I can do that. I just needed to increase my mileage a little. I started running more right around the holidays. Of course, with that mileage increase came a painful IT band injury. After taking several weeks off and easing back into running, I registered for McKay, very VERY unprepared.
Luckily, beautiful Monte Sano State Park is in my hometown. A quick 20-minute drive to town and I could be there to run the course. My friends and I ran it several times prior to my IT issues. That injury happened and they started training for the New Orleans half which meant no more trail runs for a while (unless I wanted to go alone). So, going into this race, I had only seen a little over half of the course. They ran the back 5ish miles twice and both times I was out of town. No big deal though.
5:05AM – My alarm goes off. I shower, dress, and drive to Monte Sano arriving just after 6AM for a 7AM start. About the time I arrived at the park I realized I left my “hat” at home. Leaving just my hat at home would be no big deal as I have extras in my car. But, inside my hat were body glide, my Garmin, and my camera; all at home. I try not to look at my Garmin while running (don’t want to look at my pace and get depressed about how slow it is), but I like to have it with me so I can look at my total distance and possibly look at my splits after the race. My Type A personality didn’t like that I wouldn’t be running with something that I always have for races. Oh well, moving on… I socialized with my friends for a while when I arrived. It was supposed to be a nice day out, but man was it windy and chilly that morning. Did I mention the wind? Wow. About 10 minutes before the start I stripped off my sweats and very warm jacket and put on an extra hat I had in my car. Some of my friends had been standing around in just their race clothes for an hour. I don’t see how they did that!
7AM – And we’re off! We start in the parking lot and run about a mile or so (probably less – no Garmin, I don’t know for sure) down the road in the park until we drop off onto a trail. I got at the back of the pack and didn’t even here the RD say, “go” to start the race. I just followed everyone. I started off with 2 girlfriends that I run with on a regular basis but I left them before we even dropped into the woods. I had been debating for a while about if I should run with them (likely a little slower than I could do) or if I should run my own race and not worry about them. I literally decided to run my own race when I pulled away from them on the road. I figured I had nothing to lose.
We dropped into the woods and immediately were on a very runable, single-track, downhill section. A lady about 5 people in front of me was walking. WALKING! It was like a conga line behind me because we could’ve definitely been moving faster than that. It was like this for probably a half mile before she finally moved over and let us pass. That frustrated me quite a bit. I knew I’d be walking a lot during the day but I sure didn’t want to be walking that early on; especially on a section I should be cruising down. The girl right in front of me was running with what I assume was her dad. She looked young (17 or so) and had on brand new road shoes. Big mistake. She was still in front of me when we encountered our first bit of mud. Her shoes were ruined. She was trying to tiptoe around it as I was splashing right through it. This is a very muddy course. Very muddy. In my opinion, the mud makes it more fun though. It wasn’t too long before I passed her and her dad and I could tell she was struggling already. (They ended up being some of the last finishers, but I'm proud that she fought to the end. I honestly thought she'd drop from the way she looked at that point.) I stayed with the same core group of women for several miles; all of us leap-frogging one another throughout the course. I was in the front for a while and was gaining a lead on them but then I lost my shoe in the mud, twice. It was thick and sticky and the kind of Alabama mud that suctions to your shoes. I HATE having my shoes tied tight and actually rarely retie them. I just slip them on and off all the time. I decided after having to stop for the second time to fix my shoe and get passed by my group of 7 or so women that it was time to suck it up and double-tie them. I took a moment to do that and was off to catch back up with them. I had caught all but 3 of them when I got to aid station #1. 5.1 miles. I looked down at my watch, (just a regular old Timex – not my Garmin) 1:10 had passed. That’s much faster than I normally run when I’m with my friends. I was pleased to say the least.
To get to aid station 1 you have to climb the first big hill of the day. And although most would argue that it is not the toughest, it is by far my least favorite. Leaving the aid station, I went ahead of all those women except for 1. I had 3 pretzels at my stop (and actually ate them on the run) and that was it. It’s nice and flat for about half a mile or so. Then, we drop back down into the hollow. Right before we drop off onto Rest Shelter trail, the main trail keeps going straight. 2 people in front of me kept going. I almost said something to them about going the wrong way. But, then I figured they were dropping, as this was the best place to do that if you felt you couldn’t make it. I know that I certainly wouldn’t want to hear “hey you’re going the wrong way” if I were quitting. So, I decided to mind my own business since the course was clearly marked. I had a blast going down Rest Shelter! It’s a downhill section that I normally just about walk I’m going so slowly down it with my friends. We’re all a bit apprehensive about letting gravity take over and just running on these rocky downhill sections. I was right on the lady in front of me heels and I liked chasing her. I moved much faster than I ever had before and thought to myself during this downhill section that I could maybe make a halfway decent trail runner if I could increase my stamina and not suck so much at the uphill portions.
You are officially in the hollow once you reach the bottom of Rest Shelter. This now becomes “slush mile” because it is wet and mud and deep and cold and mud and mud and slush and mud. Thankfully, it is flat! This is my favorite part of the course. Mud really isn’t too bad; actually, I’d say its fun. I lost the lady I’d been following in this section as I stopped to walk for a minute and she kept on trucking along. I never saw her for the rest of the day. You wind your way through the valley for quite a while until you reach a Y in the trail. To the right is the final climb to the finish. To the left are the 5 or so miles of the course that I’d never ran. Okay, here we go…
The 5 miles really weren’t too bad. We had a long, but gradual climb to the next aid station. This was a bit wider, more like an old jeep road. I walked the entire uphill, as I didn’t want to waste any energy on it although it is a very runable section for people that are in shape. Once at the top it flattens out and really has a slight downhill angle for a half-mile or so until the next aid station. At this point you’re also passing people who are headed back to the single-track trails to the finish. Seeing other people and hearing a million “good job” or “you’re doing great” comments really lifted my spirits. I moved through this section pretty quickly (for me) and really wish I had my Garmin so I could’ve seen my pace. It felt like it was in the high 8’s/low 9’s, but I guess I’ll never know. Oh well. My favorite comment was from a guy that told me I was almost there, referring to the aid station and the turn-around point. I was glad to hear it. To get to the aid station 2 you have to cross a huge ditch. I lost my balance here and caught myself with one hand in the mud. Muddy hand… nice! I am proud to say that was my only "fall" of the day and I caught myself. That is unusual for me as I am normally clumsy. At the aid station I got 3 more pretzels and headed back out (to cross the ditch again!).
Aid Station 2 – 9.3 miles - 2:20. I could tell that my pace had slowed a bit, but I was still really pleased with how I was doing. I did a run/walk combo back up the slight downhill I had just cruised down. It wasn’t as much fun going the other way… At this point I passed my 2 girlfriends I normally run with. They seemed to be struggling a little, but perked up when I cheered for them and told them it was less than a half-mile to the aid station. Turning off the jeep road, it was back to single-track trails. These were downhill for the start too and I was glad. I had never run these before and made pretty good time down them as well. I even passed a few people through this section that never caught back up with me. I like that!
Somewhere through this section I wasn’t familiar with I was thinking about how awesome my time was. I couldn’t believe I was going this quickly since I only 3 miles to go from aid station 2 to the finish. WRONG! It was 5 miles! That hit me during a walk break in the middle of the woods. I loved the solitude and being able to think to myself. I kept thinking the whole day it was a 12 miles race rather than 14 miles. Why? I know the RD very well and knew a lot about this race going in. I guess its just games your mind plays on you. Anyways, I realized this and it was a very depressing moment for me. I realized I wasn’t doing super-duper awesome although I was still on track to beat my goal. So, all was good. I pressed on…
I caught up with 2 guys that were moving s-l-o-w. I stayed behind them for far too long. They were walking the entire time; even the flat sections. It was a slow walk, too! After probably close to a half mile I finally said, “do you mind if I get by” to them. I didn’t want to seem rude and that is why I waited so long to say anything. But, I was in a race… not a Sunday stroll. I wasted so much time behind them. When I think about it now I should’ve said something much sooner; I just didn’t want to seem mean. Oh well…. Moving on. I got past them and finally picked up the pace. I got back to “death trail” which is the final climb to the finish line. I knew it would be all walking. I looked at my watch for the 3rd and final time for the day (other 2 times were at the aid stations). I had exactly 20 minutes to get to the top and make my “in my dreams” goal. Oh boy! It’s a tough climb, but I thought it was doable. I knew I would walk the entire thing. I just had to keep moving. I passed a guy right at the beginning of this. He was nice enough to move over and let me by when he saw that I was going faster than him. Thank you! I trudged up that hill slowly. But, I kept moving. They had funny signs posted along the way. I remember laughing at all of them, but the only one that I remember what it said specifically was “ain’t this a b***h?” or something along those lines. Yes, it was indeed!! A big one! After about a half mile climb (maybe a little more…), death trail finally somewhat flattens out for probably less than .10 to go to the finish line. I knew I had to run to meet my goal. So I tried… and my calves started cramping like crazy! I’ve never had a pain like that before. My right one did it first and after 2-3 steps my left one joined in. OUCH! It was painful, but I still tried to “run” at that point because I knew the finish line was so close. I could hear the music and people cheering for other finishers. I said to myself, “suck it up, Kristen” and kept moving.
I crossed the finish line in 3:45:05. My goal was to finish somewhere between 3:45-4:00. Needless to say, I was thrilled! I learned that my calf cramping was from a lack of salt. Apparently 6 pretzels and only ¾ a bottle of water for the whole race wasn’t enough. I’ll learn about hydration/nutrition while running one of these days… I had a delicious piece of pizza and cookie cake after the race and hung out with my friends. I enjoyed watching my other friends finish including my 2 girlfriends who came in around 4:10:xx (still waiting on official results to be posted…). A friend was taking pictures of everyone as they crossed the finish line. If mine isn’t too horrible, I’ll post it up here. I’m not making any promises though…
Okay... The pic is so bad and made me laugh so much that I had to share. Here I am in all my glory. Please notice how muddy I am from the knee down: 
I drove home long enough to take the following pics, take a 20-minute shower, and hop back in the car to go back to town for the after-party. I think I need to iron my skirt... 
Some of the mud aftermath:
Next year the race is supposed to be a 25k, I’m definitely looking forward to it! A friend of mine races for team inov-8 (trail shoes if you aren’t familiar with them…). The inov-8 rep came and did this race. I don’t know him personally, but I’m thinking to be a rep for an elite trail running brand you are probably a pretty good ultrarunner. Here is his quote about the race: “Most difficult course I’ve ever raced. Only way to make the course tougher would’ve been to add elevation.” The race used to be known as the toughest half marathon in the SE. Since it is no longer a half, it doesn’t get that title anymore, but it’s still tough. My aftermath is one gnarly blister that is so bad it popped itself while running! You know what that means? Mud got in it. So, it's now brown. Sweet! I'm also a bit sore today as I didn't have the time nor the desire to take an ice bath. Yoga tonight was a bit challenging, but I feel it was helpful in my recovery.
Great race! Great volunteers! Great course! Great weather! Way toooooo long of a recap…
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