I absolutely hate looking at my results after a race, typically I know if I raced well or not by the effort and focus put forth on the course. The results are just numbers and often leave me feeling disappointed and playing the "would have, should have, could have game" that I despise. The way I see it, whatever you do on the course, you need to OWN IT. What I mean by that is if you have a crappy race because you went out drinking beer with your buddies the night before then you should not be disappointed in your inability to perform. Of course there are days when you race and your body just does not seem willing, if you have a lot of mental focus you can often push through, although you might not be looking at a PR performance. Then you have unfocused races where body and mind are not working together and those races usually are not pretty, but you learn from them. The most important thing to focus on going into a race is your mental prep, because the physical preparation is done and there is nothing you can do to change it, but how you focus and use your brain to help your body to perform can be a true game changer.

Since I have raced for years I have some pretty good routines down. I do a ton of visualization for races. I think through how I will feel, what I will do, how bad the pain will be, what will my thoughts be, what I will eat and drink and how to keep tabs on it. For my recent race I actually visualized finishing with a dislocated shoulder because the risk of falling on ice was so high. It was my worst case scenario visualization which is just as important as best case. I had incredible INNER motivation to run my first 40 miler. My training wasn't perfect, but then again it never is, but mentally I was in a good place and could not wait for my chance to face the mountain. At the race meeting the night before all racers were informed that due to the extreme ice and snow on the top of Mt. Mitchell we would not be allowed to go all the way to the top. Instead we would all be running the marathon which goes part way up the mountain, which I had done before in 2009. I tried to hold on to my excitement and motivation. I was still happy to get to go on a beautiful trail run but I would be lying if I told you my motivation hung around. What I realized is that I like a challenge and I need that in my training and racing to help keep me focused and motivated. As I get older I will not likely get any faster, but testing my endurance limits is becoming interesting. 

A quick overview of the actual race, this is as close to a race report as I will ever do! The race starts in downtown Black Mountain with the white covered 7 sisters looming over the small town. There are no rest rooms at the start of this race, but no one complains because if you finish the race you get a North Face fleece jacket. You run a few miles on the road before you hit the single track. I was overdressed in a long sleeve smart wool top and a light shell jacket which was not easy to remove due to wearing a hydration pack. Thanks to Dane from Run In for holding my pack so I could take it all off and we could keep moving! It is always nice to see familiar faces at races. Once on the single track I was on my own for the next 10-11 miles up. It was good to be focused on finding the best footing. On the steep rocky sections covered in ice I usually had to walk in order to pick the best line. The higher we got the more snow was on the ground, the views were amazing but I didn't dare to take my eyes off the ground for long. At the top/turnaround I ate some chips and headed back down, it was cold up there so it was best to keep moving. On the way down I was having fun, I LOVE to run down hill! I met up with a girl named Julie around 16-17 miles and we started talking since we were running about the same pace. It made the miles go so much faster. We stuck together till the end. The race seemed to be over very quickly. When you plan for a 7-8 hour race and you are done under 5 it makes it feel that way. Even though I hate looking at the results I went ahead and checked because I know how everyone is..you have to know the TIME. In 2009 I was in pretty good shape when I did the race. It was an icy cold day and I ran a 4:44 for 5th place OA. This year I was obviously much more focused on endurance for my training for the 40 miler, I did not feel as agile as I used to on the trails either. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the marathon vs. the challenge. Either way 7 years later I am came back and ran a 4:49 for 24th OA and 2nd AG. Looking at those times actually made me feel pretty good, maybe it means I am not loosing as much ground as I thought I was. No matter how the results make me feel, I know I have work to do. Triathlon season is around the corner and it is time to start training!