Xterra Thrill in the Hills 42k

Xterra Thrill in the Hills 42k
Feb. 22, 2014 - Winder, GA

Distance: 42k (26.2 Miles)
Elevation Gain: 1,760 ft.

Time: 4:09
Place: 30th / 108 finishers
Finishers Percentile: 72nd Percentile

I had been eyeing this race since November. After the crazy elevation in the Georgia Sky to Summit, I wanted a break and this was the perfect race. They did a great job with the race. It was two loops around Fort Yargo Lake. My 1st half marathon loop was 1:57 and my 2nd was 2:12.

When I got there, I saw this awesome Muscle Milk Jeep. I wouldn't mind having one of these.

I grew out a beard for this race because I was training in the coldest of the cold. Many of my training runs were in the snow. So my beard was my permanent ski mask. 

The race felt good. I had two goals. I wanted to get 4:30 or below and the second was that I wanted to see how close I could get to 4 hours. So I was pretty happy with 4:09 considering it was trail. I loved running along the shore of the lake and as I have mentioned before, I love running in tall pine trees. Georgia has plenty of that. I got 30th overall and 3rd in the 25-29 age group. There were only like 7 people in my age group, but hey, it felt good to get another medal.

Jason pulled in a little later and I was very pleased when he wasn't crossing the finish line cursing me. He said he enjoyed it. We got medals AND sack lunches AND they served us pizza at the end of the race. I think I ate about 7 pieces. That was awesome. NO SHAME, I just ran a marathon.

I felt really good at the end of the race. Although, at mile 24, I got really light headed. I am not sure why. I have been thinking about that ever since. I think I may not have fueled enough. I did have some food, but maybe not as much as I should have. Overall, the race was awesome. I love being able to fly through trails in the woods. 

Georgia Sky to Summit 50k

Georgia Sky to Summit 50k
Nov. 9, 2013 - Dillard, GA

Distance: 50 Kilometers (31 Miles)
Elevation Gain: 6,900 ft.

Time: 7:16
Place: 30th / 72 finishers
Finishers Percentile: 58th Percentile

Jason and I were looking for a 50k to do. The Stumpjump 50k was sold out so we found this one. It looked so appealing with the views and the climbs. It was the inaugural race for the GS2S 50k. Runbum did a great job putting the race on. We climbed the summit of Rabun Bald (the second highest peak in Georgia) twice. There were three major climbs in this race as you can see by the elevation profile. The last one did about kill me. But we got to end with a nice two mile downhill.

The night before, we met up with Run Bum and the other runners at a lookout point that overlooks Clayton, GA. It was beautiful. A ranger told us all about the area. Then we found this italian place to eat pasta. Zeppelin's Pasta House. It was AWESOME. The lady that ran the place was the chef and everyone called her Mama.

The morning of the race was FREEZING, about 26 degrees F. Don't worry, it got warmer throughout the day. I always like to wear my BYU beanie and I found two other runners there wearing BYU apparel. Madison did the 8.5 miler that summits Rabun Bald once. She did great.

The race started and we climbed 4.5 miles up to Rabun Bald. Then descended about 7 miles down to a turn around. At the turn around there was an aid station with lots of warm food and a fire. I loved that aid station. Jason caught a video of me leaving the aid station.

Then we climbed back up to Rabun Bald. On the climb, my socks were falling in the back and the shoe was rubbing on my heel. LESSON: Wear good socks. I changed socks when I got to the tower at the summit, but that didn't help much cause I just changed into the same junk socks, just dry ones. I made sure to drink electrolytes at every aid station. A guy at the top gave me some electrolyte caps which were great too. In this video, I was 18.5 miles in.

Then I started my second decent down from Rabun Bald. It was pretty steep, I couldn't run for about the first quarter of a mile because it was steep and technical. Then we went through a gorgeous area on the back side of the mountain.

We got down to a gravel road where the next aid station awaited us. It had TONS of food. I literally had 2 slices of pumpkin pie. They had the music blaring and I did not want to leave. But I did. and I headed up the gravel road.

After a mile or so on the gravel road, we popped onto more single track and I passed by this sweet waterfall.

Before the run, I had studied out the course and thought that the 3rd and final climb would be the easiest. I was WRONG!!! It was the hardest. At times, I was grabbing onto roots above me to help me pull myself up. It was rough. I thought there was an aid station soon, but there WASN'T. I ran out of water  because I didn't fill up at the previous one and didn't have any for about 2 miles. After 27 miles, you need to constantly have water with you. It got hard. Another LESSON LEARNED. Fill up at every aid station. The last aid station was at 29 miles. I had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, m&ms and lots of Gatorade. Then the last two miles were pavement all down hill. Not bad at all. I pulled in at 7:16. I changed into dry clothes and had the post race pasta.

Jason finished a little later yelling "I hate you Sam!!!" as he crossed the finish line. I guess I had coerced him into the race. I am so persuasive without even trying :)

Anyway, Georgia Sky to Summit 50k was everything we had hoped and dreamed...PAIN and BEAUTY!!!

Big South Fork 17.5 Mile Trail Run

Big South Fork 17.5 Mile Trail Run
Sept. 28, 2013 - Oneida, TN

Distance: 17.5 Miles
Elevation Gain: 1,887 ft.

Time: 2:48:27
Place: 60th / 168 finishers
Finishers Percentile: 64th Percentile

Besides getting stung by bee's, I loved this run. Starting the race with a downhill is the best thing in the world. You get warmed up, your joints loose with not much effort. I MADE sure to have water with me this time, so I bought a pack. The purchase was well worth it. I made sure to start off the race slower than I wanted to and that made all the difference in the world.

The run was very scenic. We ran under these big rock overhangs a few times that were awesome. Then my other favorite part was running along the ridge with a cool view of the river. Tennessee is awesome. The scenery is a very motivating factor believe it or not.

So as I was running, I heard this girl about a 100 ft. in front of me yell one of my favorite swear words and I was thinking, oh man, I hope she didn't fall and twist her ankle. Then about 10 seconds later, I felt two stings on my leg which make me shout out. It DID make me run faster when I realized I was being stung by bees. Then about 15 seconds later, I hear the guy behind me yell in pain. When the race finished, everyone was talking about how many bee stings they had. It turned into a bragging fest. It made me wish I was stung by more when I had to say "only two bees stung me."

This was meant to be a training run leading up to my first 50k. It was only an hour away and I needed the distance, so I said why not AND I am sure glad I did because they served us BBQ at the end!!! Ohhh yeah. Awesome event.

Still Hollow Trail Half Marathon

Still Hollow Trail Half Marathon
Aug. 10, 2013 - Chattanooga, TN

Distance: 13.1 Miles
Elevation Gain: Unknown

Time: 2:18:43
Place: 64th / 159 finishers
Finishers Percentile: 60th Percentile

This race was 7 months ago, but I will try to remember some details. This was my FIRST trail race that I participated in. I didn't get any sleep the night before because I was so excited for the race. The 10k runners did the first 6.1 miles with us and we kept on going. Some things that I learned were: 

1. Don't start the race off too fast
2. CARRY some sort of water (this was my first event, I didn't know anything)

I probably learned more, but this is all I can remember. I was SO tired at the end of the race, which is funny now because I can run 30 miles and feel less tired today than I felt after that half marathon in August. I thought the trails were very fun, I loved running through the tall pines. It was a very hilly, up and down course, which I did not train for very well. Overall, it was a great first race to get my feet wet.