So last week while working as a course monitor for a local 10-mile race, William and Emily Ansick, a couple of friends from Auburn (one of whom is also planning on running the Pinhoti), mentioned that they were heading up to Nashville for the 2nd annual Nashville Ultramarathon as the last big training run for Pinhoti. I had completely forgotten that this race even existed, but, since they had race-day registration (an oddity among ultras), I decided to head up there to try to remember what it's like to be on my feet for a while. I showed up at the race site about 35 minutes prior to the start and got registered, and I must say, it is always somewhat gratifying to register for the 50-mile event when there are three shorter ultra options available (50k, 60k, and 70k). Shortly after that, while waiting in line for that all-too-important pre-race ritual of the porta-potty, I met up with Will, and we both realized that it was going to be a long day. The race got underway a little after 7, and Will and I went out pretty fast for a 50-miler, hitting several 8 minute miles during the first 7-mile loop. After this preliminary loop, Will had to hit the head, so I mosied on along. Shortly into the second part of the course, we got to cross a long pedestrian-only suspension bridge, which thorougly piqued the interest of the structural engineer in me. Once across the bridge, I descended a rather large, spiralling hill to an intersection that had arrows pointing in every direction, so I picked the lowest number (figuring that an 8 next to an arrow shortly after seeing the eigth mile marker was no coincidence....) and followed it down a path that made an out-and-back with a loop at the end, so while coming back, I got to see the rest of the runners going out. I hit the confusing intersection again and went another way through it (later getting confirmation of the correctness of my choices through correct mile markers). While in this portion of the run, nature came a'calling, and I felt ever-so obliged to answer, so after taking care of business and making my way to the next aid station, I was pleased to see Will at the station with his crew (wife and dad); apparently our...um...time-outs had been of about equal length. Will and I then set out for the next part of the course, which took us into downtown Nashville, right next to Titan Stadium, and over a marvelous pedestrian truss bridge. At some point I got ahead of Will, and before I knew it, the course had taken me back out of town, along the Tennessee River to the turn around. While heading toward and coming from the turnaround, I got to see who all was ahead of me, and quite a few people that were not so far behind me, including Will, who was still plugging along, looking strong. While on the Tennessee River bank trail, I had the pleasure of meeting Luke, a guy from Indiana running his first ultra after being a half-marathon guy for a while. He seemed like a great guy, and after getting ahead of me for a while, falling off for a while, and generally oscillating in his speed, he ended up finishing only about 6 minutes behind me for 50 miles in his first foray into ultra territory. Impressive. In any case, as I made my way back along the course, I began to feel those fast first few miles around mile 30 or 31 (I think I hit the 50k mark in around 4:33 - not bad considering the 10 or 15-minute break...), and so began the mental fight against the slowdown of the ultra. I kept plugging away, passing a person or two along the way, ran the out-and-back with the loop at the end again, but this time, not nearly as many people were around...I wonder why....and then got to climb back up to the suspension bridge, a quick traverse, and I was back at the start/finish line. This is when you start questioning your sanity, because I was then at 37 miles (the 60k finish line), and had to do the first short loop again, followed by another out-and-back across the bridge and into the woods...I love ultras... While on the next 10k loop, I saw Will on the trail, about 2 or 3 miles behind me, apparently having some IT-band trouble, but moving nonetheless. I later found out that he (probably wisely) opted to stop at the 70k finish. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. Once again, I had to pass the finish line and keep going, which I guess is good mental training; I mean, I only had 6 miles left, anyway, and really, a 6-mile run should be easy, right.... So back across the bridge, down the hill, and into the woods for what seemed like a long time, I did see the winners on their way back, and they looked strong; I can only hope that I ever look that strong at the end of an ultra. In any case, I got to the turn around, and made my way back to the finish, arriving at 7:53:28, which was good enough for eighth place (I think it would have won it last year...that's the second time I've done that in a few months...). And for those wondering, yes, I did jump and click my heels together at the finish, much to the amusement of everyone around (except maybe some of the other runners, who appeared to be somewhat confused and/or upset that I still had the ability to do so...)
This race served as an excellent training run, both physically and mentally. I needed to reacquaint myself with being on my feet for a substantial amount of time, and I got the added benefit of toughening up mentally by crossing the finish line four times before I actually got to stop (three of which were legitimate finish lines when I could have stopped and still gotten an official finish). I also used this race as a chance to go through the mental exercise of making myself run (as opposed to walk) late in a race on tired legs, which can improve your times tremendously in ultras. If anyone is ever in the Nashville area in October and is looking for a good race with excellent volunteers and a very runnable course (about 99% paved, so no technical "bushwacking" skills required), I would definitely recommend this one. With a generous 12-hour cutoff (and even a 2-hour early start for those who needed it), and multiple distance options (50k, 60k, 70k, and 50-mile), I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was a good first ultra for many of the runners. Supposedly, there will be pictures on the website later, so if I can get my hands on some of them, I'll post them up.
For what it's worth, my apologies if this report is somewhat incoherent, seeing as it's 1:18am, and I've been in my office since about 9:30 this morning (trying to make up for a whirlwind last week or so). If it is a little unintelligible, then I hope you enjoyed the humor in it... Happy trails....
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