Lovin' the hills, but not the weather

I awoke Saturday morning at 6AM to find the ground covered in about 3 inches of snow with still more coming. I arrived at the star finish area (Horine area) at about 7:40 and made it there with little problem, save for some sliding on a turn into the park. The parking lot already looked decimated so I knew that the trails could not be that much better- the problem was last weekend Louisville had gotten 5inches of snow that had just finished melting when this storm hit. So not only were the trails covered in about 3 inches of snow, but there was also mud underneath it. Great, snow with mud under it, and 16,000” of elevation change. Despite the bad driving conditions the race started on time, from what I would hear later several people ended up starting late. I was a little worried I had not brought tights and just shorts and when I saw everyone around me wearing tights I decided to put on my pants at the last minute. I had been standing outside for awhile waiting for the race to start so I grossly overestimate the amount of clothing I would need and I started to sweat profusely on the first loop. The race started with a 5.5 mile loop which I completed last year in 43 minutes, this year I came through in 50 minutes, great, I already knew it was going to be a long day. Aside from realizing I had way to many clothes on, I also noticed the caliber of competition this year was vastly superior to last years. Last year I came through the first loop in first place, ahead of all of the 15 milers there, but this year I came through in about 10^th. Anyways I finished the first loop and ran to the car to ditch my pants, jacket, and mittens in favor of shorts, a long sleeve tee shirt, and a thin pair of running glove.\

I took off on the next 7.7 mile loop and immediately felt better. The snow had finally stopped and I was able to catch and pass the three people that had pulled away from me after I stopped for about 5 minutes to change clothes. The 7.7 miles passed quickly and before I knew it I had completed two parts of the course in in 2 hours and 7 minutes. Last year the two sections combined took me 1 hour and 35 minutes, to give you an idea of the course conditions this year I was going about 2 minutes per mile slower.

I headed out on the 18 mile out and back section and I learned I was in 3^rd place and about 5 minutes behind 1^st place. Before I knew it I was already at the bearcamp rd. aid station and from there it was only 3.75 miles to scotts gap, a distance that would seem forever on the turn around. I made it to bear camp rd. in 2:45 and then to scott’s gap in 3:25. The trail from bearcamp to scott’s gap was mostly on the ridge and it was not too bad hill wise, the snow was even fresh up there and there was no mud to deal with, however the wind was brutal along the ridge tops. In the first two sections of the course I had practically sprinted on the ridges in order to get out of the wind, but scotts gap was a continuous ridge for ~3 miles so I would have to endure the cold. Anyway I made it to scott’s gap before I thought I would which was a pleasant surprise. Up till this point I had seen the entire course from last year but I was about to start on the newly added scott’s gap loop of 3 miles. I had no clue what was in store but I heard that scott’s gap was a pretty hard section. I figure it would be hard, but I did not figure it would take me 39 minutes to do the 3 miles. I made it back to the aid station in 4:04 and now I had a straight shot to the finish line, a straight shot of 7+ miles that included thousands of feet of elevation change.

On the way back to bearcamp the snow along the ridge was no longer fresh but was beginning to get packed down due to all the foot traffic behind me. I passed quite a few people on the turn around and it was nice to see other people for once. I hit bearcamp in 4:45 and took the trail to Tom Wallace. On the way out tom Wallace to bearcamp was pretty easy, at least from what I can remember, but on the way back it was awful. It was only 2 miles but those 2 miles seemed to stretch on forever. Most sections of the trail had extreme uphills that I had no problem walking but the section from bearcamp to tom Wallace was 2 miles of gradual uphill. It was gradual enough that I could not really justify walking it, yet it hurt so much to run it. I knew that if I started walking, I would be here all day so I run I must and run I did.

One thing that sucks about LLTH is that the finish is a mile uphill so there is almost no adrenaline rush to run the last mile, instead you end up walking most of it. When I crested that last hill and saw the welcome center I breathed a sigh of relief.

Despite a temperature around 30 degrees I was never cold except along the ridges. At one point mine hands got cold because I had been holding onto some of the trees for support along the switchbacks and had gotten snow all over my gloves which had melted. My feet were never cold although they were continuously wet. I always tried to find a way to cross the streams without getting wet but often times it was simply impossible.

I finished the race in 3^rd place in 5:30. I am confident that under good trail conditions with moderate temperature I could run the course is 4:30. While I’m disappointed with my finishing place and the fact that I never really was in the race for 1^st or 2^nd, I’m still glad I finished the race in such bad conditions , which is always something to be proud of.