Mmtr 50 weekend- adventures in crewing-

 This weekend my husband Brock completed his first 50 mile trail race. It’s held in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and called Mountain Masochist 50- it’s been held for 30 some years but unsure of the exact number. However I feel it’s a very very hard and challenging 50 given the hard 12 hour cut off and the vertical climbing this race boasts.

We drove to Lynchburg area Friday and it pouring the rain. We went to sleep early but a bus load of basketball players at 11:30pm insured we would be awoken- and tormented for the next couple hours with their obnoxiousness- I most certainly had a chat with my son jack who is going on a band trip next week about hotel etiquette once I returned home after this experience- 

Anyways we woke up at 4am got ready ate breakfast and I drove Brock to the start at the camp KoA in Monroe.

He seemed calm and confident and ready for the day!! 

The race began and I drove to the parkway bridge aid station for Brock to come through at his mile 11 - to switch hand helds and get his headlamp 

Blurry pic but he was looking strong and happy and under control- and so I met him at the next aid station at the resivoir 

Again strong looking good and on sub 10 hr pace!  This was mile 17 for him So I was thinking I suspect today will be a good day for him- I felt if he kept his efforts steady he would break 10 hours 

I then drove to the long mtn way side mile 23 gave him a turkey and provolone slider I made for him and a soda

I didn’t get any pics from there but I did at the loop mile 31

Looking so fresh and strong! I was so impressed!! So I got to stay here an hour and see so many friends! Which really was fun for me because I haven’t ran mmtr myself since 2014. 

I missed Brock at salt log gap- which it’s a long drive but even better I knew he wasn’t slowing down he was speeding up! 

So I drove to the finish and got everything ready for that 

His clothes to change into so he wouldn’t get cold- post race food and warm stuff to drink (I brought my jet boil and heated up bone broth for him to

Drink post race because I knew with the salt and protein it would be good and also it’s warm and it was windy and cool at the start) 

So finally he finishes 9:49!

He met his goal! He ran beautifully all day and it made me so happy to see him do well and be apart of his special day! 

Little salty 😜

Brock with Dr. David Horton 

Brock and I at the finish  watch everyone 


 Brock with his LUS black hole

Duffle bag  congrats Brock! I love you and so proud of you! 

Okay! So all day everyone was telling me I need to get back out there and asking me what I was doing. Which is so amazing people are encouraging and interested in what I have going on- I really tried to keep everything nice and breezy- and I am going to try to train for holiday lake in February 

However- it’s obvious to me- I haven’t really raced hard or ran well since 2012.  I ran a lot of long hard races that year and had a lot of life stress- I’ve ran ultras since then plenty of them even  2 hundreds and got finishes but I just think something kinda broke  inside me via overtraining syndrome and I keep hoping I heal- that’s why I focused on so many other things - to give myself a break from training so hard- working mar mtn sports, teaching yoga, making jewelry, I went back to school and worked on my masters teaching certification a semester —- all in the hopes I find something that fires me up like running ultras that I can love and be passionate about- alas I have not found that thing- and I still train and run daily however my body forces my mileage to be low.  I wish I could explain the fatigue and tiredness I have felt for years- on a daily basis- and I’ve really tried to

Figure it out for myself- I eat healthy I take supplements - I’ve been tested for lymes- negative- my thyroid is a little low but nothing extreme- everything else is normal when I go to the doctor I’m healthy- so I how can I explain- I can’t run long distances hard and intense anymore- he is just impressed I can go run 5 hrs even if it’s 13 min pace on a trail. So I’ve been in this limbo-

But the good news is I’m fine now- for years I can’t tell you the stress anxiety and tears about not running well and not feeling enough or my  frustration about it. Today yes I would love to run fast again for long long distances - will that ever happen for me? I don’t know and I’m okay and accepting for that - only took 6 years for me to get there - I have an appt with a new dr who is a runner nov 13 and they are supposed to do a host of tests to try to figure out what can be done if anything 

I’m just trying to be in a place of gratitude- life is not that bad for me- I have a healthy husband who is killing it at his running and happy!! I have happy amazing kids! I have dogs who love me-  I still lift and get to run and bike! Just not for hours and hours - with out terrible side effects that make me have a set back- read some of things on irunfar about over training syndrome - it’s nuts. I try to be happy at least I can do what I do and I do have some hobbies I enjoy 

This weekend I’m going backpacking again with my cousin on the AT inNC

Backpacking although it’s slow and cumbersome in comparison to trail running- it gets me out there - and that’s truly my love is to be outside. 

I also hunt and fish and really have enjoyed cultivating those skills within myself 

I eat what I kill or catch - I’ve been busy this fall with jacks band and October was very warm when bow season began so I haven’t had the opportunity to hunt much 

So yesterday after we got home I went to my parents farm- it was such a beautiful evening and I really just wanted the time with my dad and peacefulness of sitting quietly in the woods 

But after several hours a huge buck 125-130 lbs showed up but his rack was small- 4 pt. Which isn’t important to me as I’m hunting for meat and not a trophy -I was able to harvest him with my cross bow! 

Dad and I field dressed him and hung him to drain and he will be  skinned out and processed this morning!! Field to table and stream to table is the most sustainable  food healthiest form of protein. I don’t take the loss of life lightly- and harvest responsibly same as my dad selects steers for us to slaughter once a year for our family.  Its old school- but if you really think about where our food in grocery stores come from- this way for me is optimal since I’m an omnivore 

  I’m going trout fishing with my brother later this week, and very excited to get to have trout for dinner and get to spend time on the river with my brother Brian. Hunting and fishing hasn’t replaced  or eclipsed my passion for running- or trail and ultrarunning it will always be my first love but being outside and cultivating skills that I know I can feed myself(and I feel the same with herbalism and foraging and I haven’t discussed my love for that here but will do some posts on that in the future)- I find very satisfying 

 After my dr appt I will do a post as well to keep everyone updated on my journey - on how to optimize my health and enable myself to do the things I love ❤️ 

And in closing- I had an incredible weekend. I’m so proud of Brock and so happy I was able to crew him.  I’m working to get back out there ♥️ I have zero regrets as life is a journey and I just need to keep moving forward and take everything one day at a time- just like a race- aid station to aid station.