Back to Mt.Pisgah

It has been awhile since I have felt anything I thought was blogworthy but, here goes. This past weekend I returned to run the Shut In Trail Run from Asheville to Mt.Pisgah. This is 18 miles and 5000ft of gained elevation during the race. I ran this race for the first time in 1989 and was humbled by the race, finishing in 3:20 after going out very hard for the first half. A running friend won the thing that day and I was shocked. No power gels, hydration belts or the like existed then. Just take in a few sips of water at the stops. Road shoes did not work so well. I came back the next couple of years and one of the years it
 was shortened to 11.5 due to the Blue Ridge Parkway being closed. I came back in the late 1990's and attempted it again. Dropped at 10 miles or so. Another few years went by and I came back to run a 3:41ish. Damn, the thing never gets easier does it. The next time I dropped out at 14 and was sick as a dog. So far, 4 for 2 at Shut In. Nothing worth remembering but, I love this course. Beautiful and pain- searing.
  Along comes years of stiffness and arthritis in my knees. On a whim I asked my friend Joanna if she wanted to do the race. We entered via mail and got in. Dang, now I have to do this thing. I had been running about 10-15 miles a week but, doing biking, swimming and yoga.
 Here is the big difference. For about 6 months I have been working on centering myself. Calming the energy, listening more, trying to reset my expectations of others, myself and athletics. I felt more positive about this race than I had a right to. The race started at 10:00 at the NC Arboretum. The first 3 miles went by easy. I was near the back of the pack and had a strategy of energy management. Both physical and mental. I took care of myself knowing I had no base miles of running. Drinking water and taking gu's every hour. Thanks to yoga my legs felt great until 12-14 miles then they started feeling the effects of little training. By then the finish line was pulling me in. After crossing Hwy 151 at mile 16 and starting up the last 2 miles with little energy, I trudged through. Thoughts of turning around and going back to Hwy 151 entered my head head but, knew the only way was up. The last 2 miles took 44 minutes of determined effort. I crossed the line in 4:28ish and was more at peace with my finish than most races I have done. I watched  Joanna finish with the realization of what Shut- In is only after you have done it. It is hard to explain the suffering and wiill power needed. It made me happy to be around others enegy at the finish and enjoy the efforts of my labor.  It was time to go back to Shut-In, sometimes you can go home again.