Highlands Sky 2012

How the heck did I decide to run HS again?  I’m still not quite sure how I arrived at the decision.  I’ve been at HS every year since the race began (2003), usually as a volunteer and 3 times as a runner.  I finished in 2006 and 2007 and dnf’ed at AS4 in 2008.  So it had been five years since I last completed HS and I guess I had the itch to try it again.

I was lucky enough to have some fabulous training partners over the winter and spring, Rupa, Lori, Mical and I got in many a long run on the roads at home.  None of the roads or bike paths really prepare you for the rigors of running in Dolly Sods though, so I got in a few ultras at Black Mountain marathon, Greenway marathon and Capon Valley 50k.  I also got to do two training runs on the first half of the HS course; these were key!  And there was the non-running part of my preparation, Cross Fit, going to CF 2 or 3 times a week for over a year had to help.

It seemed like the week before HS dragged on forever!  Finally it was Friday and we drove out to WV.  We got there early enough to help with race set up and filled a gazillion 5 gallon water jugs for the aid stations, sorted all the food and drink for the 8 aid stations and got the finish line set up.  Then it was off to packet pickup, race briefing, dinner, etc.  That all passed in a blur.

Finally it was Saturday morning.  I met my friends Lori, Rupa, Amanda and Lorrin at the start.  We took some pictures. We told Lorrin we hoped we did not see her since she was sweeping the first half of the course.  Any Lorrin sighting would mean we were going too slow!  Then we were off!

  

The race

We started down the 2 mile stretch of road going way too fast.  I knew it would be our fastest miles of the whole day and I wanted to not be completely last when we got on to the Flat Rock Trail.  We got to the trail and started the gradual climb up single track.  Lori, Rupa and I started off together.  Amanda was gone.  We made good progress and turned right to start up the old railroad grade full of stinging nettles.  They weren’t bad because they’d been beaten down by 150 runners before us.  The trail was really in great condition and way drier than I’d ever seen it before.  My feet were dry, which was an unusual feeling for running at HS. The stream crossing in this first section was very low, I crossed on the log.  We hit the first steep climb and I paused to let some better hill climbers pass me.  Then we hit the second steep part and a few more folks passed.  Then we leveled out and began the gradual railroad grade climb to the top.  Somewhere in all the climbing we had lost Lori but Rupa and I were still together.  We started running with Mary Ann and Jim.  The four of us passed a few folks in here.  Rupa mentioned that she was really glad we had done the training run because she had a much better idea of what we needed to run on (stuff we might have typically considered unrunnable) versus stuff we were going to need to pick our way through walking as fast as possible.  Dolly Sods trails sure give you a different perspective on trail running!

We reached the junction with the Roaring Plains Trail and plowed forward.  The 4 of us were still mostly together.  Soon we hit some of the really rocky stuff.  Somewhere in here Rupa started to fall a little behind.  Mary Ann and I were taking turns leading.  Jim fell down behind us; we stopped to see if he was ok.  He’s tough, he was fine, we started running again.  Jim fell again, still fine, we kept going.  Not long after this when I had gotten a little ahead of those guys; I stepped in a boggy section and completely stepped out of my shoe.  Here I was hovering while standing on one foot with my shoe stuck behind me in the mud.  Right then two nice folks came up behind me and a woman reached down, pulled my shoe out of the muck and handed it to me.  I tell ya, trail runners are the best.  Not many other people would pick your shoe out of the muck.  I stuck my foot in the shoe and kept going.  Soon it was just Mary Ann and me and we chatted back and forth about how we started running, family, weight training, Cross Fit, prep for the Trilogy, etc.  The miles passed quickly and soon we were at AS2 (2:43, well ahead of the cutoff).

Here I should mention one of my race “strategies” if you want to call it that.  I’ve volunteered at AS3 a bunch of times and know many of the AS volunteers.  So I would think about who was at each AS and look forward to seeing friends at each spot.  This really helped me “stay in the moment” and focus on running from AS to AS.  If I get caught up in thinking about running 40 miles and that whole distance, I can quickly get overwhelmed, especially when thinking about those awful 7 miles on the road.  So now I was looking forward to seeing Lydia, Margaret, Hilary and Lauren at AS2.  They did not disappoint, they had tons of food and encouraging words and it gave me a huge boost to see them.

And then Mary Ann and I were off down the road until we made the left onto Boar’s Nest.  We got separated in here, I ran near another guy for awhile and we quickly got to the beautiful views right before Boar’s Nest drops off precipitously down to the creek.  I briefly took in the views and then started down.  This section is really steep, rutted out, rocky and very slick in places.  You just gotta go with it and get down as fast as possible.  I reached the bottom and turned right onto the old RR grade, I could see a guy in front and Mary Ann was right behind me.  We got to the creek and I saw a guy on the other side of it.  It took my brain a minute to process, then I asked him if he was in the race, he said yes and I told him to come back over to this side of the creek, he was off course.  We kept going and he soon passed us on the first part of the climb up South Prong. He thanked me for getting him back on course and said he was really glad he had stopped to take a picture.  Good timing for all!  I completed what I think of as the second part of the climb up South Prong and reached the long stretch of gradually uphill RR grade.  I knew I had to run as much of this as possible.  I’d lost Mary Ann and was alone.  Soon I caught up with Amanda and Chris, she said she was suffering but she looked like she was going strong to me.  I passed those guys and hit the stream crossing.  I walked into the creek and washed some mud off and enjoyed the cold water before continuing on my way to AS3.

I had my splits from 2006 and 2007 as well as Mical’s from 2010.  I knew I was well under the cutoff at AS3 (made it there in 4:24, 5:05 cut off) which was a relief.  The weather was awesome, probably still only in the 60s with very low humidity.  This was my kind of weather day!  I wondered when Rupa was going to catch up with me…seemed like she might have caught me on the downhill or on the climb up South Prong.  And then I was at AS3!  It was great to see Megan, Hollis, Amanda, Jamie, Dennis and Bill!  I had been dreaming about Mountain Dew, potatoes and grapes. Of course as soon as I got into the AS, I forgot what I was going for, quickly drank some Mtn Dew, ate two PBnJs and moved on.  My goal was to try to spend no more than 30 to 60 seconds in each AS. 

Next comes the short, steep climb out of AS3.  I take solace in the fact that I know this one is short and that after this I will not really have to climb anything too tough until the ski slope.  I get to the top and start running.  There is a lot of pretty runnable stuff here, I concentrate on moving as fast as I can, which is still really slow to most!  I hit the first boardwalk and start the count to 10.  Then I hit the road, turn right and start the walk/run up the hill to AS4.  When I was almost to AS4 I got a big lift when I saw Lori’s family - Brian, Casey, Duncan and Riley waiting for Lori in the shade along the side of the road.  It was fun to stop and chat with Brian for a minute and then I had to move on.  Then I saw Mark and briefly said hello.  I told him to tell Rupa to catch me on the road.  Then I arrive at AS4 and got to see Randy and Michelle, long time HS volunteers!  I spent a little more time in AS4 than the others so I could refill my water, eat some potatoes, drink some more nectar of the gods, aka, mountain dew, and move on. 

Now started my battle with the road.  Don’t get me wrong, it was a relief to not be climbing uphill or running over rocks, but in 2006 I felt like crap and struggled the whole way on the road. Right away I decided I would not allow myself to look very far ahead; that was too depressing.  I would pick a tree, rock, shadow or bush, run to it, then take a walk break.  I tried to run as much as possible on the flats and downhills and walk fast on uphills.  It was dusty and sunny and there were a lot of us on the road.  I was passed but I also passed some folks.  Surprisingly it didn’t feel like it took too long to get to AS5.  I got to see Kelly, chatted with her a minute and moved on.  The watermelon was very refreshing!  I knew this next section was a little longer but I focused on the same strategy.  Chatted in here with a couple of guys, including Brian from CT who came down to HS with a CT group.  Before too long we came to the top of the last rise, from there I could see the tent for AS6, whoohoo, was that a welcome sight!  I knew I still had 14 miles to go of tough trail, but it was really nice to be at mile 27 and be done with the darn road.  I arrived at 7:06 and was still well ahead of the 7:40 cutoff.  Paula, Greg, Dan, and Tom fueled me up and kept me moving.  I knew this next section was a long 6ish miles in the sun and I did not want to run out of water.

I consider this next section the most beautiful part of HS, I had been looking forward to it.  It did not disappoint.  Sure I was slogging along, mostly by myself, but the beauty of the place helped me move forward.  I was really looking forward to the “boulders” section.  No, I didn’t really want to jump down them and crawl over them, but I did want to see the awesome rock formations and gorgeous views down into Canaan Valley.  There was a nice breeze most of the time and I just kept going.  I passed a couple of folks, included three guys, two of whom looked like they were out of water.  The anticipation of reaching AS 7 was growing!  I was dreaming of crossing the finish line and having a Mountain State Brewing Co. IPA (thanks Willie).  Every time I wanted to walk I would remind myself I could not get that beer until I finished.  Finally I arrived (8:47) and saw the whole Lehmann crew!  Joe took my pack and refilled my water, Lara directed me to the food table, Willie offered me a stout.  I had to turn down the beer offer, I was afraid I wouldn’t go on.  Anna, Clara, Jonathan and Matt all offered words of encouragement and sent me on my way. 

 

Next up, ski slope and butt slide!  Yeah there were still some rocks to wade through and my hamstring was starting to twinge but I knew I just had to push through it.   I arrived at the ski slope, there were 3 folks I could see up ahead of me.  There was a woman in an orange shirt behind me and she passed just as we entered the woods at the top of the ski slope, I just tried to keep her in sight and keep moving.  We got to the beginning of the butt slide and started the steep descent down from Timberline into Canaan Valley.  Somehow I thought I used to like this section of the race.  But it was not agreeing with me today.  I was fighting the front of my shin from freezing up, my hamstring still was giving a twinge now and then and I was trying to follow all the course markings – there were a lot of them here!  It seemed like we just zig-zagged randomly straight down the mountain through the woods.  I was going what felt really slowly but still managed to pass 3 people, I was still following orange shirt lady, and I was really wishing I would get to the bottom soon.  After what felt like forever, it finally ended, I crossed the little bridge, made my way up the gravel road and then hit the last bit of pavement to get to AS8.  My, was that an awesome feeling; I was almost in the home stretch.

I breezed through AS8 (9:52) with thoughts of IPA on my mind and started the mental game of running from telephone pole to telephone pole.  I could walk a little after reaching each one, but had to run from pole to pole.  Soon I came to a small parking lot on the right and there was Brian again!  It was nice to see him and hear that Rupa and Lori were doing well.  I was still surprised they hadn’t caught me.  Then, shortly after seeing Brian, I saw my friend Joe who was out for a bike ride after Lorrin got done sweeping the first half of the course.  He urged me on and helped me get motivated for the last couple miles.  I soon crossed the road into the state park, the game of run from point-to-point continued.  I saw the one mile to go sign!  Yeah!  Then into the shady, cool woods at long last.  A guy passed me just before the last little climb; I could hear cheering at the finish for the woman in orange that was just ahead of us.  I came out of the woods and ran down the hill and gave Dan a hug!  My time was almost exactly the same as I had done in 2007, 10:48, I’ll take it!

I got to hang out and see Rupa and Lori finish their first Highlands Sky 40 miler, talk to Amanda and hear about her adventures from the day and enjoy my IPA.  That was the best!

 

Epilogue

Thanks Dan and Jody and all the awesome volunteers!  It’s been a week since the race and I’m still riding high from finishing.  Thanks to all the fun folks I got to share part of the day with as well.  From the person that pulled my shoe out of muck, to running with Mary Ann, to Brian from CT, it was a pleasure to share the trail with you all!