(Pandemic Diary - day 230-233)

[concerning our trip to Tennessee/Kentucky for No Business 100-miler]

From my journal: 14 October 2020 (Wednesday)

We leave today, and we’ll be away from home overnight for the first time since our trip to Pittsburgh back in mid-March.  We won’t be home until late Sunday night — 4 nights away.  It’s a little much to process, and I’m not sure it feels good to me.  But I guess it will be good, and I guess we can be reasonably safe while we do this, if we’re conscientious the whole way through it.

We’re going it alone, having turned down crew and pacer support that we otherwise would have welcomed, leaving Scotia behind, and lodging by ourselves.  This changes the nature of both the trip and the race for us, but it seems like the right call.

The race has safety rules that, if obeyed, should make it reasonably low-risk for C19 transmission, at least as long as everything goes well.  So while it would certainly be safer and more responsible to stay home and just wait until next year for the next race, I think we’re doing this the right way, and I think there’s a reasonably good chance that we’ll get through it without doing harm to ourselves or others.

From my journal: 15 October 2020 (Thursday)

We’ve arrived, checked in, staged all of our stuff for morning, and now we're both doing our version of stretching and yoga. I still have a couple little things to do, but for the most part I'm done, and should be in bed by 2200.  All good — I’m sure there will be issues during the race, but lack of sleep should not be one of them.

From my Facebook post of 15 October 2020:

Hitting the trails of Big South Fork NRRA through Tennessee and Kentucky tomorrow morning for a hundred miles or so. Weather looks perfect, scenery is sublime, company will be sparse but of the highest caliber — looking forward to a fine adventure. (Renee will be out there, too.)

From my journal: 16 October 2020 (Friday)

Race day!  And it’s the most humane start to a race day I’ve ever had, with time for a natural waking, a leisurely rise for coffee, and a calm final prep.  But I still do have to eventually get to that final prep, and it’s now time for that.  I’ll be back here tomorrow, post race, and I'll tell how it all worked out.  Now it's time to go get dressed and lubed and stretched and then out the door and on the road to the start.  Cheers.

During

From my journal: 17 October 2020 (Saturday)

The race is over and we're back to our comfy cabin.  Renee and I both won our age groups and PR’d.  I didn’t manage that sub-24 I was thinking about — I think I wasn’t being reasonable when I chose that as my reach goal.  Now I'm fading fast — think I’ll have a beer and go to bed.

Before and After

From Renee’s Facebook post of 18 October 2020:

I know this is old news by now as many of you have already seen it - I finished No Business 100 yesterday and it was a pretty special day. 

The Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area is amazing. The weather was perfect (high temps near 60 and lows near 30 overnight).  The massive rock formations and mountains are breath-taking (literally and figuratively).  The race director, Brian Gajus, and volunteers are top-notch.  And the race swag is pretty sweet (including the bonus buckle for having completed the race in both directions.)

(Warning - humble brag to follow): 

I finished in 28 hours and 35 minutes beating my time from last year by 38 minutes.  And, the biggest surprises: first female in my age group and 5th overall female.

Some more experienced ultra runners commented yesterday how tough this course is (102.3 miles and 13,500 feet of gain) so I’ll use that as support that my training was successful (except for the unexplained tight hamstrings that I fought from mile 20).

Oh, and Jeff had a good day, too, with a 100 mile PR by 2 hours and 20 minutes!  And, first in his age group!