- It is time for the obligatory post marathon blog. This one was the Grandfather Mountain Marathon.
- The marathon was on Saturday. It was preceded two days earlier by The Bear Run. I decided to run both. It was good.
- The Bear is supposedly 5 miles long. Maybe it's a little short. But it's a lot steep. In 2009, I ran 42 something. In 2010, I ran 41 something. I'd like to run under 40 minutes. But this year I ran 40:36.
- Crazy Legs rocks. Some of you might not know what Crazy Legs is. Too bad.
- Unfortunately Jinnie couldn't run The Bear this year. She was registered, but she felt it in her best interest not to risk it with her current injury status. I miss running with her.
- Friday was the rest day. So we went for a couple short hikes. I was really tired and sore. Oh boy, this bodes not so good for a marathon the next day.
- But the marathon wasn't so bad I guess.
- The marathon starts at App State and goes to the Highland Games at Grandfather Mountain. This particular marathon was 26.2 miles.....
- It was cool to see Charlotte people and mountain runners at the same place. Always good to see Beth and Ageless Doug.
- From the start I didn't feel good at all. But hey I can run through that. Except when walking. I walked through every water stop.
- Anything is better than a DNF. The last road marathon I attempted was a DNF, at the New River Marathon in May. Another DNF would have damaged my psyche.
- So just run a steady pace and maybe you'll feel better, I guess. It was really humid. The real feel must have been 435 degrees. Heat index of 642. Actually the temperature wasn't so bad I guess. Just really sticky.
- The first half of the marathon might be hardest. It's cool to leave Boone and immediately run past some nice streams and cascades. We somehow ran through the edge of the Moses Cone park and popped out on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
- I felt good at the halfway point. Then I had a bunch of peeps to run with while on the Parkway. Then we got off on some gravel road and went up a monster hill (mountain). I walked a little bit on it.
- After that I started to open up the pace. No more potty breaks; I think I took 3 total during the race. TMI?
- I passed a lot of people. A lot of people were bonking or not feeling their best.
- I knew Rick Spencer was up there somewhere in his bright yellow singlet. So that was a target. He was running with one of his athletes who just graduated high school. For her first marathon. Wow, that is impressive. And she finished great; 5th place female I believe??
- But as we got within 1.5 miles of the finish I spotted that yellow singlet. Never wear something flashy or that stands out. People will notice you and want to catch you. Rick and Shannon were actually passing a lot of people. But I was rolling along and gave 'em a shout out as I passed.
- The finish is at the Highland Games track. With old-style Scottish competitions on the infield. By men in kilts. Playing bagpipes. And they're probably pretty drunk. Or is that the Irish? Maybe if you live on the border. Is that politically correct?
- So I got done. It was 3:49:19. Not what I would have predicted. "They" say to add 30 minutes to your typical marathon time at Grandfather. So maybe I would have thought I could run 3:30....
- But I had run The Bear a couple days earlier. So that's my excuse. Actually I'm happy with the time.
- So that's 7 marathons or ultra marathons this year. One in each month. Only 5 more to go.
- I'm happy that I have August and September set up now. Claude Sinclair has accepted my entry into the Laurel Valley 35 Mile run. Did I mention it's in August? In South Carolina (and a little bit of NC) on the Foothills Trail? And up and down through endless gorges and hills? With no support at all? One way in and one way out? Carry all your stuff with you? Well this will be a new experience. I've been warned that it's tougher than Mount Mitchell 40 Miler. So I guess it'll be an all day epic adventure survival-fest.
- And I missed the sign up for Hinson Lake 24 Hour Run in September. But I'm volunteering for 4 hours at the event. And so the Race Director is letting me run. I only plan to run somewhere between the marathon distance and 50K. And then go home. I hope it will be fun.
- This post is done. My apologies for its shortcomings. My bad.
