Lance's Mystery Mountain Marathon recap

This picture is Lance right after he crossed the finish line! YAY Lance :)

First off, if you ever get the opportunity to run this race, take it! The views from the tops of the mountain are amazing and unforgettable. This race embodies all that is wonderful about running, especially trail running.

From the start of the race, I wanted to make sure I did not go out too fast. This was made more difficult by having the 12-mile racers run the first 11 miles with the marathoners. Instead of racing people, I took the approach to just race the course, push my body the way I thought it would respond the best, and to use ultra running logic where if you cannot see the top of the hill then walk up it. The first 11 miles were rather effortless, I tried to focus on putting in enough fluids, and taking gels at regular time intervals so that I would have plenty of energy for the second portion of the race that I knew would be more demanding.

As we broke off from the 12- mile racers, there were some significant climbs, but the most demanding part was a steep, rocky descent that took all the strength out of my quads that lasted from around mile 16 to mile 18. After that, there was another climb back up the mountain around the most relaxing waterfall. After reaching the top one more time, a steep but short power line descent was waiting. I knew if I could make it down without falling, that for the remainder of the race I could run and finish under 6 hours.

After reaching an aid station at 22 miles and eating some real food (PB&J squares) that tasted so good after eating gels all afternoon, I knew I was just about finished. I took off down the trail and before I knew it, I had finished my second marathon distance race. This one was nothing like the first marathon I ran (Country Music Marathon in Nashville) and my time was significant slower as one would expect when climbing mountains but I felt crossing the finish line that it was my best overall race to date. This was the first race farther than a half marathon that I felt as though I competed to the best of my abilities. By not going out too fast and taking food and water at very regular intervals, my body did not crash as it has done in long races in the past. It was nice to have enough energy left to run the later stages of a trail race and finish with a respectable time. It was a wonderful day with my 29^th place finish in a time of 5:47 and the guy I went with, Eric who I thought had a good chance to win, finished 2^nd with a time of 4:15. I will definitely try to get up there and run this race again next year. Now it is time to focus on the next six weeks of training for the Atlanta Marathon where I hope to run with Lacey the entire way and for both of to set personal best of 3:30.