Inaugural Asheville Marathon on the Biltmore Estate:::: Recap & Review

inaugural asheville marathon on the biltmore estate, asheville north carolina

3.3.13

my first full marathon

time:  4:58:42 (PR)

overall:  646/1004

age group:  55/96

.:expo:.

the race expo was held saturday at the double tree hotel in asheville. 

it was one of the smallest expos i've ever been to. i was hoping that iFitness would be there because i want an attachment for my belt, but no such luck. i was also hoping that i could get a 26.2 sticker but no one had those either. i did purchase this shirt from recover brands:

all their shirts are made from recycled cotton and plastic bottles and they are so soft! i liked the design too, i'm pretty dang proud to show off those hills i ran!

i wasn't really impressed with mizuno's race apparel. the shirts were cute but the tech material was practically see through. no thanks. i did chat with the sierra nevada rep and am now totally excited for their brewery to open this fall. 

i was trying to figure out where to buy a spectator ticket [spectators had to purchase a ticket to watch the race since it was on the private estate, $32] for brad when i saw a woman with tickets. i walked up to her and asked for a spectator ticket. the tickets she had were actually for runners and we needed them to get onto the estate. it was total dumb luck that i stopped to ask her! i'm not sure why the weren't with our bibs or why we weren't directed to get a ticket from her. 

other cool things at the expo::

• balega designed a special sock for the race and the proceeds went to the race charity [leukemia and lymphoma society]
• the biltmore estate put out two special edition wines for the event. 

.:packet pick up:.

packet pick up was a bit unorganized. i got my bib okay but then everything got confusing. there was a wristband stapled to our bib and we were told we had to have this on to get onto the west side of the estate during the race. i thought this was super weird. if we have a bib on, we're obviously racing, so why do we need a bracelet? [side note: no one ever checked this bracelet so i'm still unsure of the point]. 

after i got my bib i walked over to get my shirt. i was told that they were out of the size i registered for. this is one of my racing pet peeves. if you're going to give away shirts first come, first serve, announce it before hand. when i pre-register for a shirt, i expect to be guaranteed the size i chose. i know this might sound silly, but this was my first marathon and i paid good money to race it. i wanted the shirt to prove it and i wanted said shirt to fit. [later the volunteer got my attention and let me know that they'd found some more shirts so i actually did get a shirt that fit.]

when i went back to get the correct size shirt i saw another volunteer giving out gloves [i hadn't been offered any]. i went and asked for them. i thought they were a wonderful idea and a great thing to offer considering the weather forecast for race day, but i'm not sure why they weren't being given out to us all. 

this is the shirt. i was really impressed with all the graphics on the website so i thought the shirt would be really cool. while i really like the graphics, i was bummed by the lack of color and once again, the mizuno shirt is practically see through. even in the picture above you can see the sponsors on the back of the shirt. 

.:race morning:.

i got up around 430am and started getting ready. i had some natural jif on a slice of ezekiel toast. i coated myself in body glide and got dressed. 

i was having a worse time that usual figuring out what to wear! i wasn't sure if it was going to be snowing or raining so i had to prepare for everything! here's what i ended up choosing:

brad and i left the house around 545a and got down to the biltmore at 6ish. the line was backed up out of the gate. i took a detour and got us inside the gate a little quicker, but once we got in the line it traffic was creeping! i immediately start freaking out because i knew i'd be cutting it close to get to the start line on time. after about 15 minutes traffic started moving more quickly and apparently it was because they quit checking tickets [so much for the $32 spectator ticket we purchased]. 

after that traffic moved pretty rapidly and we made it to the parking lot. i took the shuttle to the start line and brad stayed in the car to try to get a little sleep. when i arrived at the start line i joined the restroom line. 

i cannot even express to you all how cold it was!! my fingers and toes were numb within a matter of minutes (with gloves on!). when i exited the restrooms around 655a i knew the race had to have been delayed. no one was even heading to the start line. i kept my jacket on and tried to get close to a furnace. start time was delayed to 715a. i waited until the very last minute and ran over to drop off my jacket and bag at the bag check. it was all i could do to get my playlist up on my phone [i had a second when i considered pitching it across the field because i couldn't get it to work and my fingers were so numb!]. 

.:the race:.

i just tried to tell myself that i would warm up when i started running. the first two miles i couldn't think about anything but how cold i was! i even stopped around mile two to check my shoe. i felt like i had a rock stuck in the tread of my shoes or something. thankfully it went away after about a mile. 

as you can see, the first  part of the race was pretty hilly. i didn't want to walk at mile 2 of a full marathon, but you know what, sometimes you've gotta do what's smart for you, and this was smart for me. 

i struggled to find my stride during this race. it took me about 2 miles for my body to warm up, but it took me FOREVER to feel like i was warmed up and ready to run if that makes sense. i didn't feel warmed up and ready to go until about mile 7 or 8. 

at the aid stations the water cups had frozen over on the top so you had to bust through the layer of ice to get to the water. my gu's had the consistency of peanut butter! all the aid stations were stocked like crazy. i saw Gu gels, chomps, roctane, brew, water, pretzels, coke, and cookies. it was great!


i was really excited to get to mile 10 because i knew i'd see brad and that it would help me. but i got to the cheer stop and i couldn't find him. i'm not going to lie, i had a small mental breakdown at that point. i'm not all co-dependent or anything, but i had it in my head for 10 miles that i would see him. at mile 10 we crossed a bridge over to the west side of the estate [not open to the public]. i tried to tell myself to enjoy it because i had never seen this side. i tried to enjoy the sights and sounds, but part of me was bummed because i knew we wouldn't cross back over to the spectator area until mile 20.  that was my first mental hurdle. 

around mile 12.5 we started down a hill and it was a crappy hill. it seemed like a dried out creek bed and it was full of loose rock. i couldn't look up at all because i was too busy watching where my feet were landing. so many people were biting the dust. to make it even better, it was an out and back so you couldn't pass. yuck. this was one of my slowest miles.

miles 15 and 16 weren't bad at all. i felt like i had found my stride and i was cruising along. mile 17 sucked a little because you entered a loop that you had to run twice. as i entered the loop i could see people who were on their second loop coming up a very steep hill, so i knew i had that to look forward to. luckily the loop was pretty nice. other than 'dam hill' which was aptly named. i was so happy to finish that second loop and head back toward the east side of the estate.

at mile 21 we crossed back over and i finally saw brad. i was so excited, and he said only 5 more miles! boy did that seem like a lot!! i start to it and then i heard someone holler my name. it was krissie! she asked how i was doing and i told her that i was trying not to die! :)

this was one of the hardest parts of the race for me. an out and back at mile 21. when i could see the finish line but i had to run away from it. right along the river = crazy wind. and in case you were wondering, it had not warmed up. so i felt like this was really a test of my mental and physical health. i just keep telling myself that i can do hard things. and i prayed. A LOT.  

once i turned around i was pumped. i knew i could do it. but dang it was cold! also i almost got hit by a car around mile 24 or so. the estate was open at this point so there was a little bit of traffic. the volunteers were directing it and as i was approaching they were letting some cars by. the volunteer was trying to let one too many cars by and told me to 'hold on don't get hit by a car.' i don't think that dude understood. if i stopped i was going to be done! so i kind of skimmed the car and went on. 

i saw brad again around mile 25 and he even ran with me for a bit. i loved it and he did a great job of encouraging me. it meant the world to me. he broke off as we entered antler village and told me he'd see me at the finish that i just had one little loop left. that last loop sucked! i could see the finish line but i had to run all around to get to it! 

there was an icy paved hill during this time and everyone was walking it, and i reluctantly did the same. i was afraid to stop but i was more afraid to slip. i knew i wouldn't have a quick enough reaction to catch myself! 

after that we looped around and ran downhill the the finish. i surprised myself that i had a kick left! i could see the clock and i wanted to beat 5:00:00. i knew i hadn't started right when the gun went off but i wasn't chancing a repeat of the hot chocolate 10K. 

i can't even describe how i felt when i crossed the finish line! elated. proud. blessed. thankful. excited. cold. tired. grateful. 

i got my medal and a finisher's blanket and then i saw my friend linsday and some of the other lulu girls. i tried to talk but i couldn't even put a complete sentence together! i think i was a little delirious. she snapped this pic of me:

i made it to the beer tent for my free sierra nevada, then wanted to go home. i honestly couldn't think straight and all i could think of was getting warm. i stretched a little while waiting on the shuttle and then again when i got home. normally i'd take an ice bath after this kind of mileage, but that was just not happening. i knew i'd hyperventilate. 

so i took a hot bath with epsom salts and dressed in some warm comfy clothes. 

here are the splits from my garmin:

definitely not the prettiest chart i've ever seen. i'm encouraged by several things on in though, mile 10, mile 19, and mile 22. and i'm proud that i had a little kick left in me at the end. 


and lastly, i have to include this... the volunteers made this race. i was blown away. the only reason i was out there in that crazy weather was because i had trained for this race for 18 weeks. they were out there to support and encourage us and it was totally selfless. they were AMAZING. so if you were out there cheering, working those aid stations, wrapping us in blankets after the race, handing out medals.... THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART. you all rock. 

Tsali Frosty Foot 30K Recap

disclaimer::: this recap is going to be a change in format from usual... if you're looking for the details of the race without my rambling and personal nonsense, scroll to the bottom and you'll hopefully find exactly what you're looking for. 

on saturday brad, riley, and i loaded up and made the trip out to bryson city for the tsali frosty foot race. i'm so horrible about signing up for these random races that are kind of close to home, but not really close enough to drive the morning of, and i was very grateful that brad came with! i don't like to feel like i take over his whole weekend [pretty much his only time off], but it calmed my nerves to have him there.

we got into bryson city around 7pm and checked into our motel. we stayed at the ridgetop motel at the suggestion of microtel bryson city [the host hotel, but it was booked by the time i called]. they matched the discounted race rate that microtel was offering and it was only 9.99 extra to bring riley. it was an older motel, but it was clean and we appreciated being able to bring riley and also the owner told us not to worry if we needed to stay a little longer than the normal check out because he knew we were racing.

after we checked in we headed out the the nantahala brewing company. we watched the football games on their big screen and brad tried a bunch of their beers. he was really impressed with the flavors and i just loved the whole feel of the place. it was super outdoorsy/natural and you can even bring your dog [always a huge selling point for me if you haven't already noticed!].

i can't wait to come back here in the summertime! it would the perfect hangout after a day on the river!

sunday we got up around 7 and brad drove me out to tsali [about 15 minutes from the hotel]. he dropped me off and i picked up my packet then gave him all the extra stuff i didn't need. he headed back to the hotel to lay around and i got ready to run!

this is a picture of the start line and you can see the race director, aaron up front (in the black facing us) giving directions. aaron owns foot rx in asheville, which is a great local running store. they are the ones that put on the black jack 5K that i did in december [which resulted in me running this race in the first place].

after a short run up that paved street you can see in the pic, we hit the trails. words can not even do justice to describing how wonderful these trails were! they were a little muddy from all the rain we've had, but they were totally manageable. and the views!! i only stopped to take one picture, but i thought it was a pretty good one, just to give you an idea.

we ran all around fontana lake, it was hard to keep my eyes on the trail instead of all the beautiful scenery. as far as the trail went, it was mostly technical, single track... but it was very runner friendly for  the most part. some climbs, and some rutted out biking grooves, but very rolling for the most part.

here's the elevation chart [which can i just mention how PROUD i am that after having my garmin for almost 2 years i figured out how to upload my data]:

there were 3 aid stations along the course [i think] and the volunteers were amazing. they refilled our handhelds and offered to help in any way they could. i chose to use the nathan quickdraw handheld and it worked really well. i filled it with water and refilled it at every aid station. i also drank 2 cups of whatever sport drink was available at each station.

in addition, i had 3 gu's along the course, at miles 6, 11, and 15. that seemed to work pretty well for me, although i noticed a couple of times that i felt 'empty hungry' like i needed some solid food.

this race was a mental one for me, but any time i started to feel down or think negatively i just reminded myself that i GET to do this. God ALLOWS me to do this. and it was just what i needed. in the past month 2 past classmates of mine have passed away in car accidents. such terrible tragedies that are hard to wrap your head around. it's a somber reminder that nothing is promised to us in this life and we need to soak up every minute, so i tried to do that.

i mostly ran alone during this race, however i followed a group of 4 women for much of the middle. we ended up talking at one of the aid stations and two of them were actually in the pace group i ran with for my first half! such a small world! one of them is trying to get accepted to pace the biltmore marathon in march, how great would that be!?

it was a long race and it hurt. i had to stop several times to attempt to stretch out my hips, they were what gave me the most trouble. as with any new race distance, my goal is just to finish with a smile on my face. so when i rolled in and saw my boys there waiting on me, i did just that. one of the volunteers even made a comment to me when she was giving me a water about still smiling and that's one of the best compliments she could have given me!

there was a lot of great food after the race, a local cafe, The Green Sage, even had chili for all the runners. i was really excited about that because i love their food, but after the race i just couldn't stomach the thought of eating it. do you ever get like that post race? i've been doing it more and more lately. nothing sounds good and sometimes just the thought of eating upsets my stomach. it usually goes away after about an hour or two, but it's weird.

this was right before we loaded up the car to head back to asheville. i'm pretty dang proud of myself for running this race and really like that i can always look back on my 30th birthday and know that i accomplished something to remember!

when we got home i MADE myself take an ice bath. i didn't even wash the mud off before getting in.

then i showered and got ready so we could go eat and see zero dark thirty [it was great, and jessica chastain was wonderful]. check out our sweet shirts from the race:

.:race details:.

date: january 12th and 13th (50K on saturday, 30K and 8K on sunday)
race organizer:  foot rx asheville
race day pick up? yes or you could pick up the night before at the host hotel
start time:  8:30 (30K)
did race start on time? yes
adequate restrooms?  yes, i think there were 3-4 port-o-potties
aid stations:  3, stocked with water, sports drink, GU chomps and roctane, bonk breaker bars
course spectator support: i actually saw more people than i thought i would considering it was a trail race
course terrain:  technical, single track. several tough inclines but mostly rolling
shirts:  30K runners received Mountain Hard Wear half zip technical shirts (each distance got something different)
medals:  none
would i race again?  absolutely
any complaints?  my only complaint is that the finish line is right in the middle of the post race area. i literally was dodging children and adults to finish. it would have helped to have it roped off. i know that most everyone was finished already, but it sucked a little.
what you need to know:  you'll definitely need a hydration plan for this race, most runners carried their own (handhelds, belts or backpacks), parking is a little difficult so get there in time to park and take care of whatever you need). sign up early!!! the 8K and 30K sell out, i was only allowed to sign up because someone else dropped out!

2012 race awards:::: my favorite races, bling, swag, courses, etc.

i LOVE recaps, reviews, year in numbers, etc. i've had this one on my mind for a while, and seeing as how i'm finished with non-virtual races for year, i figured i'd go ahead and do this one!

without further adieu i present to you the 2012 race awards, as judged by me::::

best bling::::
lots of nice bling to choose from. i loved the flying pig medal because it was double sided and there was a pig tail on the back. too cute! i also really liked the clay medal from the cherokee harvest half. it was hand made and you've gotta appreciate that. my least favorite was the xterra harbison half... sticker on a lightweight piece of metal, thin plain white ribbon. yuck. 

but hands down, run the bluegrass was the winner for this category. the ribbon was thick and double sided, i like how it loops through the medal instead of ending with a jump ring like most. i love how the ribbon looked like racing silks so it actually stood for something. the medal was heavy and i love the horse shoe. my fave. 

best swag::::
flying pig half marathon. in addition to women's specific asics tech shirts, we also received duffle bags and posters. 

best course for a pr::::
downhill at dawn. the name is not misleading. the first 3 miles are out and back, so you have about 1.5 miles of slight uphill. from that point you sail down the mountain. SAIL. 



most scenic course::::
this was a hard choice that ultimately ended in a tie between run the bluegrass and RnR savannah.  run the bluegrass is run all around keeneland and horse farms. beautiful farms, horses, fences, i loved it. RnR savannah was another beautiful course that was full of history. this course was changed from 2011 because runners complained that they didn't see the pretty parts of the city. RnR did a great job fixing that problem, i really enjoyed this course. 

honorable mention in this category has to go to the cherokee harvest half marathon. beautiful creeks, streams, woods, lots of nature!

best spectator support::::

flying pig half marathon. if you want people cheering you on the whole way and lots of signs and costumes to distract you, this is the course for you. i have never seen so many people along the way, and this was the first time i truly understood how much spectator support can help you!

best course support::::
i ran a lot of races with adequate course support, but the one that stood out to me for the year was the xterra harbison half. i think anyone who's ever done longer trail race can tell you how important those aid stations are, and this was no exception. a guy jogged out to run me into the station then refilled my camelbak while i had some gatorade. SO HELPFUL and MUCH APPRECIATED!

best shirt::::

this is hard to decide. i've gotta do sub categories.
best short sleeved shirt:::: run the bluegrass [nike drifit, women's specific, great blue color]
best long sleeved shirt:::: three way tie between strawberry plains, downhill at dawn, and cherokee.

best small race::::
cherokee harvest half marathon. they did a wonderful job with this race. great course support, great finish line, raffles, adequate bathrooms, great shirts, great food after the race. 

coolest race experience::::
of course this goes to RnR las vegas. if you're on the fence about this race let me push you over... DO THIS RACE! yes it's expensive and yes it's huge, but IT'S SO WORTH IT. running down las vegas boulevard in the dark, seeing all the costumes, seeing all the lights, AMAZING. 

all the above links will take you straight to the event website for 2013.  click here to go to my race review pages. 

what was your favorite race of 2012?
what award category would you add?

also, check out kiley's Christmas virtual race!

Cherokee Harvest Half Marathon 2012:::: Race Recap & Review

cherokee harvest half marathon & 5k

half mary # 8

race# 7 of 12 in 2012

time:  2:16:21 

overall:  140/185

age group: 9/13

expo:

to my knowledge, there was no expo for this race. race day packet pick up was available (always a plus in my opinion). 

race morning:

i got up early to make the drive to cherokee. this guy was super excited about my race!

more like he was super excited to get fed :)

 cherokee is about an hour outside of asheville and i'd never been there before so i wanted to make sure i'd have plenty of time to get there. i had trouble finding the start line/packet pick up area. i would have definitely appreciated some signs! parking was great, packet pick up took 5 minutes and the volunteers were super friendly and helpful. there weren't a lot of port-o-potties, but the lines weren't long, so i'd say there were plenty. 

personally this race morning was a little different. typically my race morning breakfast is a clif bar and some G2. with my new eating plan i was up in the air as to what to eat. i typically eat egg whites, a slice of ezekiel bread, and a half a banana. for race morning the only thing i changed was that i added about a teaspoon of natural PB on my bread. it seemed to work pretty well for me. i didn't have any stomach upset and i wasn't hungry immediately. 

goals:

my goals for this race were pretty broad. i really wanted to finish in under 2:30. but i wasn't going to be crushed if it didn't happen. i'd shared it with you all... august and september have been VERY LOW mileage months. 

the race:

if i could describe this race in one word... it'd be BEAUTIFUL. talk about beautiful scenery. rivers, streams, leaves, trees... beautiful! the volunteers were amazing. so helpful and friendly! as you can tell from the pictures, it was dreary and rainy during the race. those volunteers were out in the rain with us with smiles on their faces. you've gotta appreciate that! 

there were water stops every 2 miles, they gave out hammer gels around mile 8, they had water and gatorade and pretzels at some stops. great course support!

the race measured a little short on my garmin, coming in around 12.65 miles. the course was mostly flat aside from one BIG hill around mile 6 (i think). and you better believe i walked up that baby!

my race:

this race went amazingly well for me considering my low mileage. apparently all that cross training has been very effective at keeping me in shape! the first five miles went really well, and i was able to follow my usual fuel plan and took 1 shot blok every mile starting at mile 7. i didn't take any gatorade during the race [i usually do after mile 5 or so] and i feel like it affected me. i'm going to experiment with salt tabs because i felt a little crampy after the race. i also got that dehydrated feeling towards the end so i started taking 2 waters at the stops. 

swag:

we received awesome handmade medals at the finish line. 

we also got a long sleeved technical shirt that i'm loving, but it's a little big on me. brad is trying to steal it like none other. i told him absolutely not! because i was in the first 300 racers to register, I also got some extra swag:  a Nike N7 shirt, a drawstring bag, and a fleece toboggan. All extremely nice, especially for such a small race!

i am really looking forward to doing this race again next year. it was a great time, a beautiful course, and it was very well supplied. 

Run The Bluegrass 2012::: Race Review

Race #2 of 12 in 2012

Two weekends ago (I am such a procrastinator) I ran two half marathons in two days. On Saturday March 31st I did the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon in Lexington, Kentucky. 

Our basketball team had a huge game against U of L to advance to the Final Four so I experimented with iron on letters and made what I thought was a pretty bad ass shirt!

Brad was my official photographer, so I actually have some pictures from the race!

My thoughts going into this race we all about getting through it fairly conservatively so that I would be able to walk/run the next day. I had heard horror stories about the hills so I was nervous but I was excited to be racing in Kentucky and I was super excited to meet several blog friends!! 

I picked up my packet the morning of the race and was REALLY pleased with the shirts. Nike Dri Fit and women sizes!!

The temperature was perfect for running, cool and a light mist. The race started right on time [with George "Bucky" Sallee playing the bugle like he does at Keenland!!!] and sure enough, there were plenty of rolling hills [the Asheville Citizen-Times Half was way worse though]. I quickly adopted a walk the hills, run the rest plan. 

The course was BEAUTIFUL! Horse farms, bluegrass, beautiful homes, horses everywhere... LOVED it. The course support was amazing and there were plenty of water stops.

Around mile 10 I realized that I was way ahead of my normal time, so I decided to bust it and try to get a new PR. Brad was waiting for me at the finish line and got these pics:

Starting to kick and this guy in the yellow came up and was trying to pass everyone!

Time to dig down deep!

I'm not usually this competitive but I did not want to let him beat me!

I'm too busy trying not to die sprinting to smile!

Not smiling now, is he?!? CHICKED!

I might look like a hot mess in these pics, but I was not about to let him beat me!! 

FINISH TIME:  2:22:25 **NEW PR**

Overall:  1039 of 1500 (69%)

Age Group:  94 of 146 (64%)

I am SO PROUD of my new PR. Couldn't be happier! 

After the race we were in a huge hurry (I didn't even have time to shower before we had to pack up to head to Knoxville to pick up my packet for the Covenant Health Half Marathon) but I did get some ice cold chocolate milk and of course my medal. 

This is by far my favorite medal so far!!! I love the blue and white ribbon and the horseshoe! 

I would definitely run this race again, I'll actually be really sad if I don't get to next year! I was originally supposed to run with my friend, Becca, but a foot injury sidelined her. Next year I hope we can run together!!

The organizers did a great job with this race and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a challenging but beautiful course!!

Showing off my awesome double pouch iFitness belt. This thing is a lifesaver and truly the best running belt I've ever used. iFitness is sponsoring 12 in 2012 and gave us all single pouch belts. I bought the double right before my first half. 
I love both belts but like the single for long training runs and the double for long races. Just because it holds more and I like to have my phone to take pictures!

Spartan Sprint Carolinas 2012

They are so right, you do know at the finish line! I'll never forget the rush I got after I finished my first half marathon, but the one after this race dwarfed it! I felt like a BAMF. :)

So Matthew and I left Asheville around 6:15 am on Saturday morning to drive to Charlotte. The race was held at the US National Whitewater Center. We both had protein shakes for breakfast then Matthew switched to water and I had G2. We got to the site around 8am. Matthew took this pic on the way in:

I was about to pee my pants already. We got parked easily (they charged $5 to park) and started towards the check in. Check in was pretty deserted, we got our packets (timing chips, bibs, free drink ticket) and went to get marked up. They put your bib number on your arms, hands, calves and cheeks. They also stamp your forehead with this stamp:

So beautiful! We looked around for a little while, I made myself eat a Clif bar (what I eat before every LR and half), and checked out the merchandise. We both got Spartan tech shirts and stickers, and the guy who was helping us threw in a water bottle also. Here's the finish line:

We walked back to the car to put all our stuff up. They did offer a bag check but it was another $5, so we just took everything back to the car. We made our way back to the start line and waited. We got to watch to heats start before ours and we actually got to see a couple of guys finish in the elite heat. They were finishing right under an hour, so that was intimidating. We had been told the fastest course time was about 35 minutes. I had to make about 3 bathroom runs. The CLIF bar was not a good idea. I guess I was too nervous!

Finally around 10 our heat got to start. We ran about a half mile (trails) to our first obstacle: dive under and crawl under these net things, then jump over a small wall. Repeat. Then we took off up into the mountains on single track. We obviously weren't trying to win or anything but looking back I wish we'd started off faster. We got stuck behind so many people on that single track and it was early enough that our shoes weren't covered in mud yet! So we lost a lot of time, but oh well. Oh and as we were starting into the woods there was a girl in the crowd and I hear her say to her friend about Matthew, "Dang he looks like a Spartan!."

It started to get slippery quickly. We have clay in NC, not dirt. When it's wet it's crazy slick and it cakes to your shoes. Running the next bit was a HUGE core workout. And like Matthew said, we didn't run 4 miles, we tried not to fall for 4 miles! I couldn't stretch out and run because I'd slip. And you did not want to fall. Tree stumps, roots, and rocks awaited if you fell. 

I don't remember all the obstacles and honestly the terrain was just as difficult as the obstacles. At one point we had to run across this mud pit. You could see people stuck all throughout. Matthew went first and hollered back to just pick up your feet as soon as they went down. I take off across and make it but I lost a shoe. Luckily my brother is awesome and went back and got it for me (You'll notice this trend throughout:  My brother saved my butt!!). After I get my shoe back on we look ahead to start running and notice there are ropes hanging down in another pit. THE ROPE CLIMB WAS THE ACTUAL OBSTACLE. Oh dear. I completed my first set of burpees. 

Other obstacles:  set of walls probably 4 foot high (over, under, through middle, over, under), carrying sandbags up a hill and back down, a set of walls one 6 foot and one 8 foot, tractor pull (rope tied to cinder block to pull down and up a hill), monkey bars, a huge hill that you had to rappel up, two more walls 8 foot each (the girls could use the side with a foot hold), a bucket on a pulley that you had to hoist to the top then let back down, a traverse wall, a climb over hay bales, a cargo net, barbed wire crawl, a type of rowing machine that you had to go 200m but you were pulling down instead of rowing, a spear throw, an incline wall they had coated in dish soap, fire jump, gladiator pit, and a swim to end it.  

I know I'm missing a bunch of stuff and like I said this does not include all the crazy terrain, we even had to run in the river for a good quarter to half mile.

It was so amazing to complete the last obstacles: fire jump, gladiator pit, then swim. That swim was so refreshing, I wanted to stay in there forever! After crossing the finish line you get your medal and your shirt. 

The red shirt is the tech shirt I bought, the black shirt is cotton and it's the finisher shirt. And the medal is definitely my favorite!

We made our way to the showers after the race:

They were actually really nice, Dial for Men sponsored them so there was this new soap they have. It comes out of the can like shaving cream and foams up but is a body wash. 

After rinsing as best we could we headed to the car. 

Official Results:  2:11:45

Age Group:  120/195 (62%)

Gender:  527/1018 (52%)

Overall:  2456/3397 (72%)

Among all racers on Saturday. 

PROS:

• This was an unforgettable race. It was challenging, painful, and fun. 
• It was well organized. 
• Plenty of bathrooms.
• We got good parking but we also got there early. 
• The volunteers were great.
• **Edited to add** The race photographers Nuvision Action Image allow you to download your race pics for FREE!!! And they're pics are great, I'll be sharing mine with you soon. 

CONS:

• I understand wanting only people who completed the race to get shirts (Brad paid for entry then couldn't race, he didn't get anything), but the shirts don't say finisher anywhere on them. Also, they're handing you these shirts right after you finish and even though the last obstacle was water we were still covered in dirt. So I just got my new shirt muddy, great. Lastly, they're cotton shirts. When you pay such a high registration fee, I think you should get tech shirts. 
• Only one water station. Yes they told us ahead of time, but what were we supposed to do? Can't use a handheld because you need your hands. Some people were wearing Camelbak's but I just think they'd be ruined. 
• I thought it was crappy to charge for bag check.
• That damn tattoo would not come off!!! Matthew has a scab on his forehead from trying to get it to come off! 

Would I do this race again? ABSOLUTELY! I'm signing up for the 2013 race later today with the promo code 'NC50'. It takes 50% off your registration, but it's only good until Tuesday night. 

Like I said this was an unforgettable race. My brother was amazing as always. He definitely could have went ahead and finished way earlier but he stayed with me. He helped me (and a few other girls and guys) over the walls and even came back on the tractor pull to help me pull that big rock. He's always looking out for me and I love him so much for it! 

I was given one free entry to this race in exchange for blogging about my experience. All opinions are my own. Thanks to Spartan Race!