ASC Greenway Trail Half Marathon

The week following my 14 mile run from hell was not so great either. On Monday, I went for my 5 mile run and just past 2.5 miles the pain came with a vengeance. My right knee had stabbing pain. I stopped and stretched my quads hoping that my muscles were just tight. I hobbled along and tried to ignore the pain. Luckily Tuesday is an off day.

On Wednesday, I was visiting a friend in Maryland and ate yummy waffles before my run, probably not the best idea, but I did. The run was uneventful though, my knee ached, but there was no stabbing pain. Thursday rolled around and my knee was rather tender on the inside, so I opted out of my run to give it some extra rest. Tuesday off seemed to help, so I'll take 2 days off this time and hopefully everything will be ok.

At last it was Friday and my knee was mostly better by noon. So I jumped in my car and headed N 475 miles to Rock Hill, SC for the half marathon I had been eyeing for the previous month or more. It was a long drive, but the weather was peaceful and NPR was great company. Just after dark I located the park where the race would start in the morning and then checked into my hotel. It was 9:00 pm and I still needed dinner.

Cracker Barrel would do the trick. I had French toast and for dessert (which I never order) I had an apple strudel. Everything was yummy and I was sufficiently full. It was bedtime :)

I slept very well, just like any other night and woke up in time to complete my rituals: stretching, eating, etc. I gathered up all my belongings not knowing if I would complete the race fast enough to make it back for a shower and I was unsure whether I would be staying a second night at this point. It would greatly depend on how I felt after the race.

I had the misfortune of waking up and realizing that I needing female supplies prior to the race. No problem, I'll just get something from my emergency stash in my car. I get to the car and find there's nothing there. Eeeks! This is not what I need. No problem I thought, I'll just stop someplace after I pick my packet. I don't want to be too late getting it.

I hurried out the door running about 15 minutes behind my desired schedule but still with plenty of time. I entered the Greenway and the attendant pointed me towards a field that had a few cars in it. I parked and got out of my car; it was freezing! I walked over to the pavilion where things were just getting set up. I was the first person to show up to register on the race day (and probably the first one to get a packet at all). I would be sporting # 124.

I headed back to the car and left in search of supplies. I was a little paniced after stopping at a couple of places. Would I be able to find what I needed before the race? Finally I found someplace that was open and had what I needed :) Now I was ready to run!

I show back up at the race pavilion and sat in my car. I was by myself and most people were with 1-4 other people or their dog. I felt very alone and these people all looked so serious and fit and .... I was a little worried and began wondering what I was doing here. What was I thinking?

At last it was 10 minutes before the posted start time; people were headed to the starting line (I didn't even know where that was). I stoped short of the start in a group with others warming in the only small patch of sun. There was less than a minute from the start and no one was lined up. Finally we mosied over and in 3-2-1, we were off.

Everyone started moving pretty much together. I knew there was a creek crossing just 0.25 miles in. I also knew there was a bridge that had been roped off that no runners were suppose to cross. I trotted along talking with a nice lady. As we neared the creek there appeared to be confusion. Many people were crossing under the rope and using the bridge. The lady beside me told me it was better/safer and much faster to run through the creek, so I did.

Upon crossing the creek, which came up to the middle of my calves I felt accomplished and ready to tackle the challenge that lay ahead. I continued on passing some goats, then cows with bells hanging from their necks. We rounded the bend, crossed a road and headed down into the woods to never see the light of day again. Ok, that's not really true, but at times I felt that way.

The path was well packed dirt, occasionally sandy, always rocky, rooty, hilly and very narrow. Most places were barely wide enough for 1 person and passing initially was very difficult. You had to plan at what place to make your move. I passed a few people early on and then I was alone.

My feet were sliding in my shoes as I was "flying" uphill, downhill and around the curves. I felt great and was having a blast! .... Until I rolled my left ankle. I got up, hobbled a few steps, cursed for having this happen so soon and wondered if I would be able to go on. I was fine, just a little shaken. I pushed on. It was still early in the race.

It wasn't long after this, I was running down a hill that ended with a sharp curve lined with a large stone and a tree. As I started falling, I reached and latched onto the tree and slid down it finally stopping with my knee on the rock and dirt/sand everywhere! I was now being passed by a runner who would take me with some invisible thread through the race. She's yelled to me I was ok, just get up. She told me she too had fallen already. I looked back at her as she approached and saw nothing but blood from the knee down. She didn't stop, but kept going and so would I.

I got up, more shaken than before, but managed to chase after her. I began to count how many times I had almost twisted my ankle. I lost count. The rocks, roots, twists and turns were almost too much for me, but I was hanging on.

Prior to falling, I was all alone for what felt like quite a while. There was no one in front of me and I wasn't going to look behind to see if anyone was there. I couldn't hear anyone. After the fall it was just the nice runner, Anna, and I. We ran and ran. Up the hills, down the hills, over one bridge and then the next. There were few water stations. Thankfully I wore my fuel belt full of gatorade. I spent most of the race feeling exhausted. My legs weren't used to the elevation change. According to my gps there was a whopping 9800 ascent total in the race and it recorded only 10 of the 13 miles. The other 3 miles were spent gaining satellite locations after crossing though tunnels.

As the race progressed, I would occasionally pass people and sometimes, someone would pass me too. To ease the pain, because there's no doubt about it this race was painful, I walked...a lot. A whole lot. I would run fast to catch Anna and then I would slow down and walk up the hills. She ran a nice even pace the whole time. My goal became to always keep her in sight, which meant I could never let her get more than about 30 or so feet ahead or else I would lose her. This is what kept me going mile after mile. It was the "invisible thread" that I felt was pulling me and pushing me to keep going.

At the second creek crossing, Anna took the bridge, I chose the creek. Besides, my feet were hot and it was refreshing. I passed her as we climbed up the bank. I told her to go ahead. She told me it was my turn to lead, but I waited for her. She was what motivated me to run and without her in front of me, I would have slowed down a long time ago.

At the last water station, Anna ran though it. I did not. She was gone. I, by this time, was ok with that. I was just too tired to keep up any longer and I needed to pee, but there was no time, nor place. Yes, of course I could have gone into the woods, but I didn't want to waste the time.

I pushed on, walking quite a bit from this point on. The final stretch of the course was uphill. What were these guys thinking!?!? Oh well, I finished in 2:20:03. I have nothing to be ashamed of and all to be proud of. I finished my first half marathon and it was a trail run and according to others who run "lots of trails", this one ranks up with the best of them: rugged and very tough.

Incidentally, I spoke with Anna following the race and she runs lots of these. She couldn't believe this was my first. Since I trailed her for almost the entire race, she predicted my time for a road race half marathon would be much closer to 2 hours. Wouldn't that be thrilling to try!

I hung around, ate some bagels, had some water and a glance at my watch told me I wasn't too late. I headed to the car and sped off for a shower before my long drive back to Florida. What a day!