The Ultra that Wasn’t

I’ve been putting off this post for just over a week now. Well, to be totally honest, I’ve been putting it off for a lot longer really. See, I had registered for a race, that I hadn’t talked about it much. Part of it was it was a bit of a crazy goal that I was trying to wrap my own head around. Part of it was that if  didn’t talk about it, then I couldn’t get talked out of it. Instead I mainly just vaguely referenced a crazy race I was preparing for. If I did happen to mention what it was, most everyone, with the exception of my craziest running friends reacted the same way – WHY?!

See I registered for a Trail Ultra… in February. Cause apparently it wasn’t enough for me to be running a crazy distance, but I had to do it the worst part of the year as well. In the woods. On a very technical trail. Go big or go home, right?

Well, if you haven’t guessed from the title, the Ultra didn’t end up happening for me. I trained, I was ready, I still think I could have done it, but alas, the universe decided otherwise. So here’s the short, disappointing story of my first Ultra attempt. 

I honestly cannot remember how it came up in conversation. Two of my friends signed up for the Millstone 50K, an Ultra that was held each February at Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill. I am very well acquainted with the ASC Greenway, I ran the Ragnar Relay there in the Fall. But I had no interest in the Millstone. First of all, I had strongly proclaimed I’d never do another marathon even, and this, this was 6 more miles. On trails. Technical trails. Plus, if you know me, you know that I HATE HATE HATE being cold. Like really hate it. And I still had pretty awful memories of last winter when I was marathon training and doing long runs in the cold and rain. No thank you, not interested,

And then… I started thinking. Could I? Maybe… I mean, why not? 

First I floated the idea past a few of my regular running/Burn crew. “You’re crazy.” I heard and expected. I didn’t even bother with my family, I knew what that reaction would be. So for the ultimate test, I ran the idea past my craziest running friend. You know that guy who is game for anything? Who will say yes to any dumb idea you come up with and have a few of his own even? Well I asked him and his response was… a bit lukewarm to be honest – up to you if that’s what you want. Then, about an hour later I got a message from him – You know what, go do it. Sounds crazy but you can totally do anything and I fully support you. So with the blessing of my craziest friend, I registered.

… and was put on the wait list. Apparently, the Millstone 50K was chosen as the SC State Ultra Championship race so there were more registrants than in past years. So I decided that it were up to the fates if I’d run it. If I made it off the wait list, I’d do it, if not, it wasn’t meant to be. Either way to help prepare, I changed my annual New Years Day Trail 5K race to the 20K distance thinking the extra distance would be good training. 

My Friend pointing out we are on the Most Difficult Trails

And train I did. First couple of weeks I ran the Baxter Trails that the 20K would be on. I’ve run these before, but not 20K on them (12 miles) and not some of the sections the race covered. They were hard. Really hard. Way more technical than the Anne Springs Trails even. The average climb was about 100 ft for each mile. And the first/last 3 miles were the hardest. I met up with some friends and did a preview run of the course and we promptly got lost. A few times. In fact everyone who ran the preview run that day got lost. But surely race day they would be well marked. 

Cheers to an Extra K

So yeah, on race day, I was doing really well actually. I’ve found I am more comfortable on trails when I am not in a group so I didn’t mind running alone. I felt pretty great actually. Until… in the last mile I came to an intersection that had multiple signs. I chose poorly and my 20K became a 21K (luckily, the way I choose looped back so I didn’t get too lost). But I was pissed. And I’ll admit, I cried a bit. But I drank some beer, had some BBQ and sucked it up. After all, Anne Springs Trails were much easier to run than these. 

This became a common sighting

Shortly after this race, I got an email. I was off the wait list. I had an official registration for Millstone 50K if I wanted it. With only a little hesitation, I confirmed. I had just over a month to train. That mean every weekend until Feb. 8th, I got to spend hours in the woods training the Millstone Loop. See the race consisted of three 10.5 mile loops. I didn’t yet know the route very well, so I was meeting more experienced runners to help me figure them out. Unfortunately we had the added challenge of part of the loop being closed when started training, so we had to be creative with putting in the miles. One day we’d start on the Lake Hagler side and run that portion, plus some add on and visit the Horse Farm. 

Horse Break!

Then we’d go to the Adventure Center side and run over there, plus add on Paradise (ugh) and some other trails. One day, we ventured over by the closed section and low and behold, it was open! We had already run some add on miles so we didn’t do the full loop, but we did run new portions and upped our mileage. 

This happened a lot. Map break to find some add on miles

It was now 3 weeks before the race and I had not run a full unbroken loop yet. I made arrangements to meet up with 2 friends who knew the loop really well, both who were doing the race and we were going to run not 1, but 2 loops full through. 

You may have noticed I haven’t mentioned much about the weather. Well, part of my “official training” was that I couldn’t complain about the cold. But it was. And wet. For the last month of training, there was a steady weather pattern. During the week, it would rain and get the trails all sloppy wet. On the weekend, the temperatures would drop below freezing for the days I would train. This day was no exception. I believe it was 31 degrees when we started. There was frost on the ground for sure. 

You can see the frost on the tall grass of the Prairie Loop

We started slow, but steady with the me and another girl waiting at trail change overs for the girl in the rear to catch up. She seemed to be struggling a bit, but we were doing pretty good I thought. The lead girl, who knew the trails best and I kept steady pace and conversation. On the Prairie Loop there is a place to take a bathroom break. We took it. We passed the Millstone around mile 5.5. You gotta touch it, or else. At mile 7, the worst part of the loop starts, 3 trails back to back that climb up and have the roughest terrain – Trestle, Billy’s Walk and then Wild Azalea. I always joke that one day, I am just going to quit trails all together and it will be because of Wild Azalea. I’ll just stop randomly on it, sit down and wait for a horse to pass by to take me back in (it’s a horse trail as well). We got past those rough 3 miles and just had a bit of flat around the lake before the climb back out to the Rush Pavilion and loop 1 would be done. 

Finally made it out to the Grist Mill!!

Taken near the end of my 2nd, solo loop

We we finished the first loop, one of the other girls told me she was done. As in DONE. Not just not doing another loop, she wasn’t going to do the 50K any more. She had decided to drop down to the 8K. The other girl said she was quitting the race as well, but completely. I tried not to take it as an ominous sign that both my partners decided to quit the race during my first ever completed loop, so I pressed on and did a second one alone. Again, I actually enjoy trails alone so it seemed to go by fairly fast. 21 miles done, 2 loops and I was feeling good.

It was now the week before the race. I met a friend who was still actually running it, but hadn’t put in a full loop yet and another friend who was volunteering for the race and just along for the run. The plan was 1 loop. I was lead since by now, I knew it. We stopped a lot, a bit to play around and a bit due to my friend having some hip issues, but it was a good loop. Time had run out, next weekend was the race so we were as prepared as we could be.

Last visit to the Millstone before race day… so we thought…

Except… That Thursday, a massive storm system swept through the area. Schools were cancelled for 2 days. It POURED rain nonstop for 24 hours. There was thunder and lightening, and tornadoes! On Friday, when the storm had moved on and the trail was evaluated… the call was made to postpone the race. Millstone 50K was cancelled. 

Mood like…

Fingers crossed I anxiously awaited a decision on a new date. They picked March 7th, the day that I was registered to run the Myrtle Beach Marathon, out of town, with me providing lodging for some other runners. Long story short, I couldn’t run the new date. My Ultra adventure had come to a crashing halt. 

Let me say real quick, while I was DEVASTATED that I couldn’t run the race I had trained for, it was the right call to cancel. The trails were a MESS of flooding and downed trees and were in no way safe. Not to mention, it SNOWED on the actual day the race would have taken place. Rock Hill Striders did the right thing. They gave us a chance to transfer our entries (which luckily my one friend who trained with us who was going to volunteer did take my entry so it didn’t go to waste) or defer till the next year at a discounted rate.  

And with a few more weeks before the new date, this weekend, I was back on the trail with my friends to help them train for their race, no longer mine. Ironically, the trails were in amazing shape yesterday, just a week after the race-cancelling storm. In fact, with a few exceptions, there were better than they have been in months. Less mud for sure. (Though we did have to remove a small downed tree from across the trail on Billy’s Walk). 

So, here’s the big question for me know I suppose. Will I try again. I honestly do not know. Training was hard. It took a lot out of me and was super time consuming. Trails are MUCH harder than road. The elevation changes and switchbacks and running over rock and root hit your body in a different way. I was cold, and wet a lot and hated that. But there is part of me that still thinks I need to prove that I could have done it. Maybe, when the weather is nicer and I am through my insane Spring racing calendar, I’ll pick a day and do my own Ultra. 

Until then, I wish those still doing the Millstone 50K good luck. I can honestly say I now know the trails out there really well and I will for sure be back on them again, even if it’s not for 31.5 miles!