cradle to the grave 30k, pisgah forest, nc

cradle to the grave 30k trail race

pisgah forest, nc

4:48:00 

i survived the cradle to the grave 30k on saturday! so if you read this post you know that i was waffling about the race BIG TIME. saturday morning i get up and it is POURING the rain. i just laughed to myself, what else can you do?

we got packed up and headed down to brevard. we got a little lost but made it to the cradle of forestry just fine. i've been in pisgah forest before, but never this part. it continued to pour while we checked in and picked up our packets. 

the shirts for the race are super nice, columbia omni freeze, gender specific shirts (they retail for $50!). 

i don't really have any rainy day running gear, so i was just hoping that we'd have tree cover for most of the race. i wore my Earth Fare Athlete Ambassador shirt and capris, and Brooks Cascadias [ps - brooks is my favorite for trails shoes!].

the 30k was supposed to start at 8am and the 5K at 830am. i walked over to the start line and they announced that they were delaying the start by 10 minutes to wait on some people who were still coming in. that's frustrating. 

the race ended up actually starting about 15-20 minutes late. i had no way to let brad know because i had no cell service AND i didn't want to even get it out because i was already afraid i was going to ruin it in the rain.

the race itself? it was HARD. 

notable moments:

• lots of water crossings. some had wooden footbridges, some had logs that you had to balance on single file, and then the granddaddy of them all, one with just a tow rope. it was really funny because it made me think of this picture that i saw when i was reading scott jurek's eat and run of him doing something similar [stream v. river, 30k v. 100 miles of course though!]. i thought it was so cool and i couldn't wait to tell brad all about it!
• going up pilot mountain. holy hell. 
• coming down pilot mountain. i still can't run because it's so muddy and there are too many roots!
• sink holes. 
• beautiful scenery
• great aid stations. there were 3 that was stopped at two times each, so 6 aid stations. i had already been to them all once when i see a different one. apparently i was brain dead and stopped, thinking it was for us. nope, it was for a mountain bike race that was also going on, whoops! 
• strawberry fig newtons taste amazing after about 15 miles. 
• looking up around mile 18 and seeing brad on the trail waiting for me. i thought i was hallucinating. 
• mentally this race was a continuous struggle. i mean, add 10 minutes to my finish time and you have my marathon time. that'll mess with your head!

finishing was a great feeling as always. the post race party was one of the best i've seen, especially for a local race. one of my favorite local restaurants, Hob Nob, gave the all the racers a free meal, and we got a free beer from one of my favorite local breweries, Oskar Blues. not bad!

i was a little muddy :)

and some other great news? brad got first place in his age group in the 5K! so proud of him!

we came home and i made myself take an ice bath. bleh. 

then we laid on the couch for the rest of the day and watched about 10 episodes of breaking bad. great day!