Umstead. 100 Miles, check. Finished, check. Injured, check.
That is about the way I feel about it at this point. Umstead is a spectacular race with the absolute best race directors and volunteers you could ever wish for. Umstead is a moderate course with rolling hills that go from slight to a few that would be considered moderate/ steep. Either way it is a phenomenal race and a great race to get your feet wet. Last year I ran Umstead and DNF'd at mile 75. I entered again with the full intent of finishing no matter what. What I did not expect was to be on a wait list and not know if, or when I would get in. I got in though and was regretfully under trained, and in fact as some would say not trained at all. I would have to agree with my wife on that one. Either way, the following is a brief synopsis of how it all went down.
Friday, April 3rd.
Jen and I both have to work until noon and will head out after that. As we start the long journey to North Carolina we both can feel the irritation in our legs from such a long car ride. We were also slowed in our travels by a number of different obstacles either on the interstate or on the detours we inevitably had to take. One way or another we were going to get to Raleigh, and we were going to try and relax when we got there. As luck would have it our new freind Anthony Portera from New York was able to pick up my race bag at the pre- race meeting. We arrived in Raleigh and checked in to our hotel, had dinner and set the coffee for the morning. Off to bed to try and get some sleep.
Saturday, April 4th. Race Day.
Coffee, check. Chicken Sandwich, check. Clothes, gear, everything I need, check.
So now we are off and driving to the race start, as we pull into park we see a freind of our Ryan Jones from Pennsylvania. He will eventualy be top 5 in this race. Amazing dude I must say. I set my gear and get ready to toe the back of the line. No need in being up front, and no need to go out fast. Afterall, I did not train and had been instructed by my wife to take it very easy and go slow. Fire works and gun go off and we all shuffle into the dark waiting for the crowd to thin out and the sun to come up. Everything is going well and I am staying back and not moving to quick, wanting to keep my energy level high cause Im gonna need it in the end. Half way through the first lap I catch up to Tony Portera and beging to run with him for a bit. His coach, Lisa-Smith has him running slow the first lap. I stick with Tony for a few miles and then pull forward because the pace is starting to hurt a bit. I move out and keep going all the while feeling stronger adn stronger as I go. Everything is great all the way through mile 50 where I hit at about 9:30. Heck even through mile 62.5 I feel great except a small bit of pain in my right knee.
Miles 75-100.
At mile 75 I was fortunate to pick up Charlie as a pacer. Charlie has done over 100 marathons and is a coach for Galloway in VA beach. Charlie kept me going through the night and had great stories to tell the entire time. This is however when the pain sets in big time. The right knee is killing me and the blisters are hurting so bad I can barley walk. But walk I did and stumble i did. Either way, I was going to get to the finish. Walk, running or crawling...it was just going to happen I said. Miles 87.5 to 100 were by far way, way harder than 85-100 in Pinhoti. I had actually never hurt that bad before that i just could barely walk. The end was near, and that is all I wanted, just to finish and be done with the race. Thank God for the volunteers, the others out there and my pacer Charlie, I needed all of you for sure. Finishing in 26:14 I was happy to finish but my inner self still wanted to break 24hrs. Well, maybe next race.
Finish Video
That is about the way I feel about it at this point. Umstead is a spectacular race with the absolute best race directors and volunteers you could ever wish for. Umstead is a moderate course with rolling hills that go from slight to a few that would be considered moderate/ steep. Either way it is a phenomenal race and a great race to get your feet wet. Last year I ran Umstead and DNF'd at mile 75. I entered again with the full intent of finishing no matter what. What I did not expect was to be on a wait list and not know if, or when I would get in. I got in though and was regretfully under trained, and in fact as some would say not trained at all. I would have to agree with my wife on that one. Either way, the following is a brief synopsis of how it all went down.
Friday, April 3rd.
Jen and I both have to work until noon and will head out after that. As we start the long journey to North Carolina we both can feel the irritation in our legs from such a long car ride. We were also slowed in our travels by a number of different obstacles either on the interstate or on the detours we inevitably had to take. One way or another we were going to get to Raleigh, and we were going to try and relax when we got there. As luck would have it our new freind Anthony Portera from New York was able to pick up my race bag at the pre- race meeting. We arrived in Raleigh and checked in to our hotel, had dinner and set the coffee for the morning. Off to bed to try and get some sleep.
Saturday, April 4th. Race Day.
Coffee, check. Chicken Sandwich, check. Clothes, gear, everything I need, check.
So now we are off and driving to the race start, as we pull into park we see a freind of our Ryan Jones from Pennsylvania. He will eventualy be top 5 in this race. Amazing dude I must say. I set my gear and get ready to toe the back of the line. No need in being up front, and no need to go out fast. Afterall, I did not train and had been instructed by my wife to take it very easy and go slow. Fire works and gun go off and we all shuffle into the dark waiting for the crowd to thin out and the sun to come up. Everything is going well and I am staying back and not moving to quick, wanting to keep my energy level high cause Im gonna need it in the end. Half way through the first lap I catch up to Tony Portera and beging to run with him for a bit. His coach, Lisa-Smith has him running slow the first lap. I stick with Tony for a few miles and then pull forward because the pace is starting to hurt a bit. I move out and keep going all the while feeling stronger adn stronger as I go. Everything is great all the way through mile 50 where I hit at about 9:30. Heck even through mile 62.5 I feel great except a small bit of pain in my right knee.
Miles 75-100.
At mile 75 I was fortunate to pick up Charlie as a pacer. Charlie has done over 100 marathons and is a coach for Galloway in VA beach. Charlie kept me going through the night and had great stories to tell the entire time. This is however when the pain sets in big time. The right knee is killing me and the blisters are hurting so bad I can barley walk. But walk I did and stumble i did. Either way, I was going to get to the finish. Walk, running or crawling...it was just going to happen I said. Miles 87.5 to 100 were by far way, way harder than 85-100 in Pinhoti. I had actually never hurt that bad before that i just could barely walk. The end was near, and that is all I wanted, just to finish and be done with the race. Thank God for the volunteers, the others out there and my pacer Charlie, I needed all of you for sure. Finishing in 26:14 I was happy to finish but my inner self still wanted to break 24hrs. Well, maybe next race.
Finish Video
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