Summary

I was exhausted from a long week of work, but I lined up, ran, struggled just a bit in the late stages, but enjoyed most of the day and finished in 6:27 and change, blah blah blah (the blah blah blah is below).

Course Details: http://www.sweeth20races.com/

Blah blah blah (long version)

A 50K is still a long way. Longer than I remember. At least the body still knows how to get it done. I had wanted to run this race for a few years, ever since I ran here on New Year's day of 2010. I was down in Georgia visiting my sister that year for the first time since she moved. I couldn't believe my good fortune when less than 10 miles from the interstate exit to her home I spotted one of those brown state park signs and it had an icon for hikers. I was googling the trails the next day and planning a run with the dogs sometime during our holiday visit. We ended up going out there on New Years Day that year, in a day of steady rain, with temperatures in the mid 50's. For a northerner this was fantastic weather for a January run. The dogs and I splashed around the trails in the early part of our run listening to the rapids of the Sweetwater creek and had the back part of the loop to ourselves. A few wrong turns and temporary disorientation just added to the fun that day. Well, that was 2010. Not that many years ago but in terms of fitness it seems like ages. I was probably at my peak of fitness then in terms of endurance and speed. I could run 50k most any weekend, still had some marathon speed, and well was just in good shape. The end of the 2010 things spiraled downward and I've never been the same but I've still been out there running just not as strong nor as fast. I just have to adjust my expectations I suppose.

These thoughts came into my head as I stood out there waiting to run with a bib on again. The morning was perfect. Maybe 40 degrees. Clear and sunny, highs only forecast in the 60's. It felt good, familiar, to be waiting to run log again though frankly the night before I wasn't so sure. I felt tired, exhausted from an 80 hour work week supplemented by dining on pizza hut and bacon cheeseburgers. I thought to myself on the drive down to Atlanta from Nashville that maybe this race idea was better on paper than in reality. I was so tired and ready to be home and had a feeling of being a bit selfish trying to fit in this race with my schedule. So much to do at work and at home. My mind was spinning all week.

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law from my wife's side came to see me off in the morning as they also live in the area and that was nice. A sense of family before I disappear into the woods for a quarter of the day. I felt better about things with the new day and figured at least I could forget about life's pressures for awhile. The runners gather on the road just before the start and heads bow as a moment of silence and a prayer is said for those who were killed, injured, or affected by the Boston bombings. There is no reason for me to complain today. I get to run in the woods on a perfect day and should be thankful. That is my mindset.

The course starts out on pavement that loops around a reservoir before hitting the single track. An easy way to start off the day, stretch out the legs, and spread out the field before hitting the trail. Garmins chirp out around me and I see the first easy mile is 8:09 pace by my watch. That's about the only mile split I will record today. We hit the single track maybe a half mile later and say bye bye to the pavement. A few goofy spots during the first couple of miles of trail, including a traverse of a concrete drainage culvert. It is nearly straight down and there are ropes provided to help one descend and climb back out on the other side. The culvert is full of water so it looks like a day of wet feet running. It's a trail run. No matter. A couple of other short but steep and tricky descents first down a trail lined with pointy rocks and then a washed out trail down a steep embankment with roots that help as handhelds. The runners queue up here to make their way down the "obstacles" safely.

After a few miles I pass the first aid station but there is no need to stop. My bottle is still full as the morning is cool and the next aid is only 4-5 miles away. The running opens up here as we are in the main part of the park and the trail is wide and easy. It's here where the beauty of the day hits me hard. A green forest, blooming dogwoods, wild azaleas, birds chirping, and the rapids of the Sweetwater creek flowing swift and fast for sound effects. It's hard to explain but it felt really good to be out here at this point in time. I almost got a little choked up but of course I feel good as it's only 3 miles into the race. Still, it was a tiny moment of magic and a great feeling. I cruise through this section feeling great and am in my happy place but of course it's very early in the run and I chuckle to myself that I will probably feel much different 3 hours from now during my second loop. The trail climbs and twists in and out of a few feeder stream gulleys and valleys before descending again to the riverbed. The roar of the river is a constant companion here as the trail closes in on "the falls" section of the creek, which is a strong gushing rapid.

After descending a long flight of wooden stairs the trail flattens out and runs directly beside the creek again, though after the falls the flow is more gentle and not as loud. Hills surround me on each side, and the trail has changed to a sandy path intermixed with a few rocks. Wild azaleas are in bloom everywhere and runners can be seen heading down the trail far downstream along the bank. In a half mile or so, we exit the state park trails and enter a set of trails they call the Tributary. These trails follow the creek as well before turning slightly away, inland so to speak. They roll gently up and down, up and over small creeks, and are well maintained. I've never been in this part of the preserve before. I just sort of float about here, not really racing, just running. It's like I have no race mentality today. Just out running long again with no serious race time goals. It's hard to pinpoint a goal time on a 50k trail course anyway as they can be so different.

I reach the Tributary aid station, pop a salt tab and a gel, have some water, and top off the old handheld with some Gatorade. Finally a race with just normal sports drink. Hurray for small club races. I look at my watch and it says 1:13. I have no clue of the distance I've just run and it seems no one else does either. No matter. I thank the volunteers and make my way along a huge wall structure that seems oddly placed in the wilderness and then make my way into an exposed powerline or utility cut through the woods. The trail here is open to the sun but thankfully it is cool. On a humid 80 degree day this part could have been awful but it's pleasant today. I'm heading towards the TOTW (Top of the World) powerline/gasline sections which is sort of the ugly but signature part of this course. Picture an open swath of land cut through a thick forest heading uphill. Now picture a path or trail running straight up this swath. Now imagine this swath goes up and down 8 or 9 times in little stages before finally reaching the top. This is the TOTW trail. You go up 50-100 feet (well once maybe 200+ feet), drop down 3/4 of this elevation, and repeat over and over to you finally reach the top. The hill in the middle, the steepest longest one, looks like a wall staring you in the face. Yes, it's sort of hard here and yes I paid to do this and yes I will have to do it again later in the day in a more tired and exhausted state.

Once at the top, you think you are done and will get to turn around but a long mile of and dirt and gravel roads remain to the aid station and the turn around. I am sort of happy to be up here as I sort of now know what lies ahead to the finish of the first loop as soon we will be back on the Sweetwater Park trails. But first of course there is the back part of the out/back to finish up and the descent from TOTW. The descent takes us down a different trail and of course this time it goes down then up then down and up again and again. The downs here are very steep with questionable footing. So steep that I sort of jog down sideways to protect myself from having total quad failure. Eventually I crest the final hill and see the Sweetwater Creek down below. Later in the day, on the second loop I understand the name of this waterway. Seen from here, and after all the ups and downs, it surely is a sweet site indeed as it means the TOTW section is nearly done.

Back on flatter ground now I head back into the main park and make my way up towards Jack's Hill. The Jack's Hill trail is something I can wrap my mind around. It's more regular forest trail and the grade is not too steep. Something I am used to at home. Many walk up Jack's Hill which makes sense but after TOTW it seems sort of easy to me and I just jog up in to mutterings of "good work/nice job". There is an aid station at the top and I just snag a gel and sip of water and move along. It's a pretty easy mile or two to the end of the loop or so I think. I really have no clue how far I've gone to be honest, but looking at my watch it seems that 6 hours is a doable time today.

A gentle dirt road and pine needle trail lead me back to beginning of the course and more goofiness. Now while this course is 2 loops the second loop varies just slightly. We get to cross the signature Sweetwater Creek today and run the yellow loop on the opposite bank. However, before running it we have to cross the creek and this year they had the ropes setup so we would make the 100-200 yard crossing smack dab through a set of small rapids instead of over the bridge. It was slow going, and the river had some current in the middle that tried to push you downstream, so the ropes were a good thing.

I've ran the yellow loop with my dogs before and I just love it. It starts off with a flat section along the riverbed, then climbs steeply up out of the river valley. Once on top, there is a mile or so of sweet gentle downhill that is very fun to run as it twists and descends back down to the riverbed following the hilly topography of the land. So I was looking forward to this section most definitely and I did run the downhill with some gusto. On the return trip across the river, I slipped on a rock and dunked myself completely in the creek. It felt pretty good actually, and I should have sat there for awhile soaking my legs in the cold water but there were other runners preparing to cross behind me.

Once back to the other side the Beach aid station awaited and we were back to running the rest of the original loop again. I guess this was 17 or 18 miles into the race but I didn't really know it at the time. Felt more like 20 at least! I grabbed a pbj, thought I'd walk and eat but decided a moment later to run since the trail here was so easy. Bad plan. I still had pbj in my throat and gagged and practically choked myself. I am really out of practice with this stuff. Eventually I hacked some of it out and swallowed the rest and was on my way again.

The rest of the run was pretty uneventful and I won't belabor the course details again. I mostly settled in with a few folks. Green shorted gal, who ran with me most of the day but went ahead of me for good after my pbj choking incident. White shirted skinny Florida man who was running this course without a handheld, fuel belt, or pack, and suffered some towards the end I think. Birthday boy red shirt man who stuck to me like glue most all day grunting and muttering about wishing he was in better shape but knowing he would get through it and to that beer at the finish. Cute pink singlet gal, who knew the red shirt man and was running very well and oddly enough was doing a birthday run too and duh, was also looking forward to a beer. The red shirt man was sort of annoying but only because he was echoing the exact thoughts I had in my head. Yep, I am not in shape either and yes with some more long training runs I would be coming down that TOTW section much sooner, just like those dudes we are seeing already on the way back.

So the second loop I went back and forth with my trail "friends", but once we hit Jack's Hill again finally I felt ready to bring it home. I jogged halfway up it this time, then joined the walkers for the final part of the climb. They had a funny trail gnome up there holding a little basket. It said "deposit toenails here". Haha. I kept all mine today. I grabbed a cup of cold water at the last aid station then took off running. Not super fast, but faster than I had run in awhile. I passed a couple of runners rather quickly like they were standing still so I guess I was moving ok. They told me "that's how you do it" and I mumbled "we will see if I can hold it to the finish". Maybe I can keep it up. I might have started my "kick" too soon as halfway to the finish my legs were running on empty and while I spied a few runners ahead I could not get the leg turnover to reel them in. I was pretty much ok with that at this point. Finally the trail dumped me out on a paved park road and I cursed a bit as it headed up hill towards the finish but a quick left up some steps and just like that 6 hours and 27 minutes later I am done.

Initially I was sort of disappointed that I wasn't closer to 6 hours but in retrospect this course probably falls into the medium/hard category for a 50k trail course so hitting 6 hours or under would have been a stretch. So I'll take it as a good training run, and move on towards the Laurel Highlands in June but must admit I am a bit daunted about the prospect of running more than twice as long in a few months.

Overall I am glad I ran this event and was pleased with the low key nature of the race. No huge sponsors, no crazy sports drinks, just a beautiful well marked trail through a gorgeous state park, with ample aid and support provided to get you through the day.

Congratulations, great time! Sounds like a tough course (I have been on some gas pipeline cut-throughs, and while they are a great training ground, I still hate them), but you just nailed it!

Thanks for the RR, it is almost soothing to read because of your marvellous descriptions of the nature and the trails out there.

Sounds like a really nice event.  I liked your description of being "choked up" by the moment...that's what it's all about.

Any chance you got to sample anything from the Sweetwater Brewery?

Great to see a report from XT !!!!   Nice to see you are mixing it up out there.

Also great job on the run, sounds like you managed it very well.  I also liked that part where you said you got a little choked up, I sometimes give out a yell in the early miles of a race, just to loosen things up a bit and remind myself (and perhaps others) that this is the greatest,  because it seems there are people who are too tense around me.

Congratulations.