marionthon

October is the month to begin training for 2011 adventures. If memory serves correctly, I’ve run only two ultra marathons in the last four months (a ~35 miler on the Gunnison Spur in June, and 53 miles of Hardrock in July). Post-season summer downtime, a lingering injury from SB6K, and a stressful startup of school explain the lack of runs beyond the twenty-something mark.

As always, the advent of fall weather brings a burning desire to revisit trails, mountains and great distances. In an ongoing effort to think globally and run locally, I plan to start right from our front porch in Marion on Saturday, October 2nd and run to Mt. Mitchell and back. Three quarters of the route will take me along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.

I wake up Saturday morning and glance over to the clock: 4:45 AM. There’s an hour until the alarm goes off. A decision is made to get up anyway. While brewing up a cup of espresso, I decide that a 5 AM departure is better than 6 AM. Dressing quickly, I give Lily a kiss and go to turn off the alarm, but notice it isn’t on! My unexpected awakening is quite serendipitous.

So how long exactly is a “Marionthon?” This particular route, from house to summit is 50K, roundtrip 100K. I’m out the door two hours before dawn and headed through a lit-up downtown toward the Catawba River. The arm warmers and reflective running vest feel good in the cool, crisp night. My headlamp patches the shadowy holes in front of me. One hour of road running brings me to the bottom of Betsy Ridge.

Ascending Woods Mountain, I begin to remember this long dry stretch of trail and promptly realize I don’t have enough water. I search for intermittent trickles of water to refill my bottle. No luck. It’s still relatively cool after sunup. Rationing is bearable, but still dangerous.

I reach Buck Creek Gap along the Parkway around four hours in and call in to Adam and Lily to update them on my progress. Both intend to meet me later on in the day. I hope to reach the summit of Mitchell shortly after noon, which puts me over an hour ahead of schedule. This buffer will hopefully allow me to return to Marion before 9 PM, a self-imposed cutoff time. These days, I can’t afford sleep deprivation. So far, this school year has demanded too much of my time and energy.

After 22 miles on one water bottle, I finally arrive at a trickle of a stream. Recent rains haven’t been enough to recharge these creeks, so it’s a tad tedious to refill my bottle. I finish off 750 mL before arriving to Black Mountain Campground at 10:45 AM. I refill at the campground, chug a bottle and refill once more. It’s a beautiful sunny day, yet destined to get warm out. I need to rehydrate as much as I can.

The ensuing 3500’ climb has me thinking back fondly to last month’s Matrimonial Mt. Mitchell Trail Half Marathon and the need to mail out thank you cards to all the wonderful people in our lives. I pass quite a few folks climbing from the campground to the summit. This magical transitionary trek into the enticing smell of spruce never gets old to me! Multicolored deciduous trees slowly give way to the conifers and before I know it, I’m in a different world on the crowded rooftop of the Appalachians at 12:30 PM.

After taking in the views from the summit, I jog down to the concession stand to purchase a cup of hot apple cider and bag of fritos. I air out my feet and bask in the parking lot sun while snacking, rehydrating and waiting for Adam and family to arrive. After 45 minutes, I’m anxious to start heading back towards Marion. Cell phone coverage is spotty and as it turns out, I miss Adam by five minutes. My goal is to return with a negative split, which would put my arrival home just after 8 PM.

Despite my delayed departure from the summit, I feel like I’m making fairly good progress as I pound my way back down. Lily and Uwharrie run up from the Black Mtn. Campground to meet me. Lily has brought half a subway sandwich for me to snarf down. And Uwharrie has brought energy (perhaps too much?) to pace me to Buck Creek Gap where Lily will run in to meet me once again with water. I’m grateful for this support on what was to be a “self-supported” endeavor.

As I continue along a rollercoaster section of trail towards the gap, my legs grow heavy and slow. Soon my mind and spirit become bogged down. I’m entering a low, something expected during any long trek. Herein lies an opportunity to exercise the perseverance and mental fortitude paramount to successful ultrarunning. Unfortunately and perhaps due to an aforementioned lack of recent practice, I give in to the call to quit at Buck Creek Gap after 12 hours and 44 miles.

Lily, Uwharrie and I make our way down NC-80 via car towards home, stopping along the way to get ice cream and run some errands. As always, I’m overjoyed and grateful to spend these memorable moments together. As was done this spring with Mt. Gibbes, I still wish to run from my front porch to Mitchell and back like Mad A. So the Marionthon will happen again. When it does, I’ll be ready to go the distance. I’ve got six months to continue honing my skills for summer 2011. Let the training begin…