Hinson 24 – Out for a little redemption

Pre-Boston and Sugarloaf, my goal for Hinson was 80 miles.  Post-Boston and Sugarloaf, a number goal went out the window, as I knew I wasn’t going to be able to train throughout the summer like I wanted to.   I pushed slowly through the summer and was able to get back to 50 miles a month about two months out from Hinson.  I still didn’t want to set a number goal, but I had to have some sort of goal.  After running Hinson 2011, I knew I wanted my name on the leader board at least once.  That became my goal – to get my name on the leader board at the 6-hour mark.
   

The day started out early, and when I say early, you know it’s early – 3:30 AM.  We were on our way by 5 AM, and like last year, Bryan had saved us a prime time spot.  I’d have to give the award for best setup to Bryan.  He had a welcome mat AND American flag lanterns.

Bryan's setup.

Turns out we were right across from my fellow LRC’ers, Michael and Jerry.  Apparently, at some point they asked Bryan how he knew me and his reply was, “She’s part of my run club (UCRR).”  To which they said, “Well, she’s part of ours too.”  I’m a blessed girl to have be part of not just one great running club, but two!  Gay found us, so after a few pics, it was time to log some miles.

LRC'ers ready to run!

Jason took off and Gay and I settled into a nice steady pace.  I knew I had to get to the 30-mile mark by 6 hours to have a chance to get on the leader board.  I’m not sure if Gay knows how much she helped me, but she was amazing.  She kept us at such an even pace and the good conversation made the laps go by quickly.   

Photo courtesy of Emmie and Krista.

I had to take a quick break to eat, as I was feeling the effects of not eating enough breakfast.  We were knocking off the miles pretty easily, so we decided to switch to run 3, walk 1 instead of all running so that we could last longer.  Hitting the marathon mark was mentally a big deal for me, as I was coming off two horrible marathons and needed some confidence before I tackle Myrtle Beach.  I realized we were at the 6-hour mark, so I was ready to see if I had met my goal.

Top ten at 6-hour mark - goal complete.

I was stoked.  All I wanted was my name on the leader board once and I did it!  We took pics and kept on running.  I took my only long break at the 45-mile mark so that I could devour some pizza and get a massage from the fabulous Denise.  It hurt in a bad way, but it was worth it!  I knew I wasn’t trained enough to put up big mileage without really hurting myself and I have a big goal to reach in February, so with my knee on fire, I decided to wrap things up at 56.24, a PR.  Gay hit 60 and made it look effortless.  Jason was dealing with a bum foot and IT, but logged a solid 40 before waiting patiently for me to keep running “one more lap”. 

Jason and I post race.

So proud of this amazing woman!

I’m not bummed I didn’t log 80 miles, even though I will one of these days.  I was ecstatic to have consistent running for so long and to reach my goal.  On top of this, I got to see people I met last year, like Bobby and Bruce, who are rockstars, and I got to meet some new people, like Kelley and Barefoot Josh, who are also rockstars.  There were plenty of friendly MTC’ers out there too, like Tom (one bada$$ RD who tried to tempt by telling me I was almost back on the leader board) and Frank (loved seeing him at the end of each lap!).  Of course, I had a blast with Jason and Bryan, even though he tried to pull my ponytail; luckily for me, he confused me with another girl!  Other friends like Bill and Jamaar and my LRC’ers, Michael, Jerry, and Rick, were tearing it up out there.  I am so proud of them and am keeping my fingers crossed Jerry wants my help at Umstead 100! 

I love this race because everyone is so friendly and encouraging; it’s a community that I’m proud to be a part of.  As I said last year and I’m sure I’ll say in the upcoming years, Tom does a killer job with this race.  The volunteers are the best hands down, the never-ending buffet is a runner’s delight, you can’t beat the value, and you leave with memories and friendships that will last a lifetime.

Here are some quick numbers to wrap things up: Last year, I ended up running 53.2 miles in about 10 hours and 20 minutes of running/walking time.  I didn’t hit this until about the 22-hour mark.  This year, I ran 56.24 miles in about 11 hours of running and was finished by the 13 ½-hour mark.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Hebrews 12:1)