What Am I thinking?

http://www.huntsvilletrackclub.com

I signed up to do the Mountain Mist 50K (Huntsville, AL) in October. After signing up for the Mountain Mist I thought it would be a good idea to register for a "preparatory"50K on December 31st "The Recovery From The Holidays 50K". According to some of the masters of the 50K the RFH is a cakewalk compared to the the Mountain Mist. They said: "Add 1 hour to your RFH time and that's what you'll get at Mountain Mist." I had no reason to really doubt what they told me. 

Last Saturday I took my first trip up to the Mountain Mist course. The We Run Huntsville group set up a run on the back half of the course with 62 runners meeting on top of Monte Sano at 7 am ready to tackle the back half of the Mountain Mist course! 

I was pretty excited about this opportunity to get to know the course I will be running/walking/climbing on January 26th! We started off in good groups of people some would go 6 others 9 and some 15+.  

We took off and I was running quite well getting to the 2 1/2 mile mark with no problem. That is where I promptly ran the wrong way on the trail before getting called to get back to the right part of the course! Thanks to those runners who called me back! That is where I met my running buddy for the rest of the day Michael. Michael is gunning for his 10th Mountain Mist this year! He knew the course much better than I. We ran/walked/climbed on those first miles. He was sharing with me his tips for running the Mountain Mist including that you add an hour to your RFH finishing time and that is close to what you will get here.

We got to the 9 mile cut off with relatively no problems! We stopped for a break and then off we went! Little did I know I was about to take a wrong turn and almost lose my running partner for the day. Michael jumped out a bit ahead of me going through a technical part of the course and then all of a sudden he disappeared! I wondered: "Had he fallen"... after a few seconds I thought: "I need to go back to the rest area"... I yelled out and after about 30 seconds he reappeared (to my relief). From that point forward the run was just what you would expect for a very rocky, hilly, trail run. 

Michael asked me if I wanted to finish off the run by running up to the finish line. This would add a little bit to the run, but I wanted to see where the race would finish and get the feel for 'blazing' to the finish line. We were approaching the last downhill toward a small runners/walkers bridge! I was stoked to get to see the finish line! Then, all of a sudden I hit a root and slammed my side into the bridge and my hands and right knee on the wooden bridge. I sat on the bridge for a minute feeling really stupid for falling. Michael said: "You want to walk to the finish line?" I said: "No, I can run over to the line." I was sore then and still am now from my fall on Saturday, but I really cannot wait to do the Mountain Mist. I am hoping to get to do the front half of the course before January 26th. Until then I will just stick with my very non-technical roads around my house. So what Am I thinking? I am thinking about running the toughest trail run Alabama!