Mount Masochist 50+ = More Virginia Hills

As one might think, doubt and strength are fighting forces when tackling something like the Beast Series.
I have been thinking how Shellygirl and Lefty felt going day after day at Transrockies, different yes but maybe similar in the mind, when waiting for the next race for a month or overnight.  Doubt has longer to sink in but also strength is gained in a little more rest in a month? I don’t really know, just often wondering.  To that point, I was nervous about MMTR until we had a storm and lost power which did not come back on until I was gone. Then I was nervous about how crazy the kids might make my mom not being able to be home and what was she going to do with them at her place all weekend and would the soccer games get rescheduled, and how would anyone know about that since I am the contact??? And the race was mostly forgotten. I packed my race stuff by headlamp in my dark and cold bedroom, and hoped I had taken along the right stuff. I did not forget my shoes nor my clothes for work on Sunday just in case we were driving all night and the guys had to drop me off at the door to work… WHEW! And off to VA we went 🙂

The ride down this time was a bit different as Forrest and I drove down with Brian Rusiecki, who I now know hates traffic more than me! We had so much traffic and one detour that I had to excuse my self to the side of the road on the edge of the highway to use the ladies room, haha… not as funny as Forrest’s bathroom stop, but I will let him tell that for himself. Brian and Forrest conversed along the way and I read my book that brought me to sniffling tears in the backseat.

We made it to the Kirkley Hotel in time to meet up with Spuds, pick up packets and eat dinner and listen to Clark and Horton talk. Horton’s quote for this year is “don’t be stupid” which I suspect we will hear one more time! Dinner was good, and I kept hoping to see my friend Dorothy Hunter. She is a BEAST from 2 years ago and has been “coaching” me through some of this via email. She was going for her 10^th finish at MMTR and I needed this finish to continue and we hoped to run together for most of the day.  I had told Horton I wanted to run with her and we would get each other through, and SURPRISE, he called me out at the dinner! I am slowly learning to go with embarrassment a little better so I stood right up and said Hi to Dorothy across the room. After the dinner I caught up with her and we made our plan for the morning.

So Dorothy and I met off the buses, and started off together. We ran the first 15 miles pretty well in step, but from mile 15 to 29 I was really struggling. I told Dorothy to run her race, I would catch her up if I could. The doubts tried to seep in, I did very well at keeping them out. I thought a lot about Cassie and how much she cares about my running. I thought about the fact that I could suck it up. I laughed a lot when we came into an aid station and Dorothy whined to her crew and they called her “Nancy” and told her to suck it up. It was a beautiful day and I got to be there, even though it hurt, and even though I might struggle. I did learn later in the race that mile 29 is more like mile 33. So the first cut off was a bit unnerving, the aid station said mile 26.9 and the cut off was at 6hours. I was there in 5:45 unaware at the time that most of the garmins were reading 30 miles!! THAT’S FAST !! Dorothy was still at the aid station, so I had not lost her after all. Dorothy’s crew took care of me, fed me salt tabs, gave me ibuprophen, made me drink…all the wonderful things crew think of but not the runners themselves! By mile “29” I was 30 mins ahead of the cut off and feeling much better. Dorothy and Mike(another runner that was with us) and I were able to run together for quite a while. We had a couple more split ups and catch ups but finished the race together in 11:22 and some seconds… The finish line crowd was great. I heard my name announced as I was running in, that was fun! Clark and Horton were there with high fives and hugs, and not far back was Forrest, waiting for me as usual!! And Brian was still there too. He had come in second place by about 30 secs he thought, not too shabby, waiting 4 hours and 24 mins for me to finish!! Toward the back of the finish line was another bit of fun. Although I did not partake in the bench press contest, I heard the female winner would be tough to beat with 40 reps at 75lbs. As all of the events put on by Clark and Horton, the race was exceptionally well run, organized and full of great volunteers!

The second half felt MUCH better than the first half. Which is a lesson in itself, after all these long races, maybe it is going to take longer to get in the groove.  So, for the next one, I should probably not expect to feel great until morning, ugh! HAHA. (Another lesson, with no power and complete loss of routine there really is no time to worry too much about a race, that might have helped too, but I really hope the power stays intact now through the winter!!) The course, although lots of road, has some beautiful views, some really tough climbs and some nice single track too. In the end strength won over the doubt in this one. But the mind is a fragile thing, it only takes one seed to plant itself too deep. So for the next 5 weeks the focus is on strength and rest and more strength.

The Highlight: All 3 CT Bimblers remain contestants in the BEAST!!