Back Pain and Iron Mountain Trail Run

The weekend before the Iron Mountain Trail Run I planned on doing back to back long runs. I ended up doing a nice solid 22 mile run on Saturday, although hot and humid I had no issues. On Sunday morning I drove up to Pilot Mountain to do my 4 hour loop but shortly after beginning the run my lower back began to stiffen. I didn't think much of it... figuring it would loosen up and was maybe just stiff from the drive up to Pilot Mtn. It got worse and worse as the run progressed so I ended up turning back early and did an extremely slow walk/shuffle back to car. I still got in over 3 hours but quite slow. For the next 4 days I didn't run a step. It was hard to even walk on Monday. I was lined up for the Iron Mountain Trail Run 30 mile option and really didn't want to miss it but also wanted to be smart about things. The back got a little better each day and by Friday I was able to do a slow 50 min. jog. I figured I'd head up to Damascus and just play it by ear. If it bothered me too much I could always turn back early, DNF and walk/jog back to town.

I arrived at the Damascus Town Park in the pre dawn darkness... legs feeling rested but still not sure what to think. It was hot already and likely to be mid 80's during the day late in the run. Didn't get much visiting done prior to the race but did get to see Rick and Tammy Gray (Tammy volunteering) and Jenny Nichols who was loading up the SUV with supplies for the Rowland Falls Aid Station which I would miss because I was only running 30 miles (I hoped). My back was okay and was just glad to be in the race as I got one of the last available slots.

Slurping down a gel prior to the IMTR start


The race started at 7 a.m. and obviously my legs felt good (4 days of rest will do that to ya) and my back was okay. The first 5 miles are run along the Creeper Trail, so smooth and easy. Some will call me dumb but I really wasn't sure how far I'd be able to run and since I was feeling fine and the terrain was easy I decided to pick it up and catch up to Eric Grossman, the elite ultra runner from Emory, VA and founder of the IMTR race. He was just catching up to Shawn Pope, the younster from Ohio... one of the two of them were very likely going to win the 50 mile race. One of Eric's friends had a Garmin and after catching them he said to Eric "that was a 7:05". Yikes that was probably a sub 7 min mile for me. Still feeling fine I figued what the heck I'm only running 30 miles today.

I was in and out of the 5 mile Aid Station pretty quickly after a hand held bottle fill up by Jenny and a shout out from friend Beth Minnick. There were several runners ahead of me but I wasn't sure who was running the 16 mi race, the 30 mi race and the 50 mi race. I figured out pretty quickly that I could run w/ Eric on the Creeper but heading up the mountain over the steep, single track wasn't going to last very long. I passed a couple of runners and a couple passed me but we settled into the real mountain running portion of the course. Lot's of climbing and technical single track but also many portions that were quite runnable and I tried to make good time when I could. A pattern was set for the next 25 miles. Eric's high school friend, David Lawhorn from Kentucky, would catch up to me on the downhill sections, then I'd pull away from him on the climbing. I always say I'm a good uphill runner but I never knew if that was true or I was just better at uphill as compared to my weak technical downhill running.

Amazing how short a 30 mile race feels when your mind is wrapped around 50 and 100 miles efforts. We went through the FS 90 Aid Station manned by JJ Jessee and Tammy then to the Skulls Gap Aid Station and the 30 mile turnaround. I was informed that I was in second place at the turnaround. I was out ahead of David and was just happy to realize that all was okay physically and I'd be okay heading down the mountain. A couple of miles into the return trip a runner caught me. I joked with the person behind me thinking it was David saying you caught me fast. The response came from a womans voice. OHHHH okay I finally can finish a race as the first 50+ yr old and I still get chicked. We talked a bit and she was on down the trail (both runners ahead of me were over 20 yrs younger so I shouldn't feel so bad right??). There was so much down hill over the last handful of miles I was sure David would beat me into Damascus but coming into the FS 90 AS on the way back David was limping really bad and was muttering something about leg cramps. I almost waited but JJ and Tammy were there to tend to him. Okay now I'll certainly finish before David, dude was barely walking. Well with a couple of miles to go here comes David and this time flew by me on a rocky downhill. He said "I came back to life and that lady up at the last Aid Station is tough! I was saying stuff to her that indicated I might be considering dropping when she gave me a kick in the butt and said you've been here long enough now get moving!" I asked if it was the woman with the long dark hair and he said yea that was her. I think I laughed loudly as I thought Tammy only treated her husband Rick that way. Rick assured me she is "tough" when she needs to be and has been a great help to many an ultra runner that just needed that nudge to keep moving down the trail. I resigned myself to 4th place unless there was an unexpected uphill in the last mile or so. Not so fast David... after David disappeared out of sight for a bit, there he was again walking and limping. He was okay, just kicked a rock/turned an ankle. It gave me enough of a cushion and when we hit the paved road in Damascus I pushed it on in since I'd literally been slightly ahead of him for over 5 hours (except about a 1/2 mi section).

At the finish (no I didn't have to crawl up those steps)

I've looked worse but still a rough looking finisher taking a dip in the cold mountain stream

I ended up in 3rd place overall in 5:12. It was really hot and I didn't drink enough but all in all a good day. I used only 1 hand held bottle but in addition to filling it at the Aid Stations I should have downed a bunch before I went back out. Lessons learned. I also did 6 gels but that was pretty much it. I felt a bit nauseous while soaking in the creek and cramped up a bit but all was fine after downing many bottles of water with Nuun tablets to get re-hydrated. I wore my New Balance 101's with Dry Max- Maximum Protection socks. Really love the 101's. Can't wait for the NB 110's to come out in 2012 (unfortunately not in time to wear at Mountain Masochist).

Sara and I headed back home to watch the LSU football game with family but was sorry to rush off and not hang around w/ friends and see Eric Grossman set a new course record in the 50 mile race.

9 Weeks of Base Work

I am fairly pleased with how my training has progressed. For the past 9 weeks I've had between 70-90 miles per week. Several of the weeks have been over 80. I haven't taken a real serious systematic approach to the training just trying to run a lot of miles. It's been nice to just get a good solid base without scripting each day or each week. Most of my runs have been 10 miles or more, my friends Chuck and Tom like to go a little further on Wednesday mornings (12-14 miles) and then go longer and get some trail running on the weekends. During my base work phase I've been able to do some mountain running on 6 occasions. I did two runs on the AT from Elk Garden up to the Mt. Rogers summit and one of Kevin Townsends training runs on the IMT from Skulls Gap, 2 runs on the AT south of the Smokies and a Pilot Mtn run.

Not sure why this photo is so small but this is the raggedy looking group after 23 or 24 miles (well Kevin, Rick and I look raggedy, Kathleen and Jenny still looking good)


Enjoyed the IMT run a bunch. Great visits with Jenny, Rick and got to meet Kathleen Cusick. Nice dip in the waterfall on the second half was nice on a hot day.

On weekends that I didn't make it to a mountain run I've done a bunch of miles at Salem Lake as usual. The closest spot that I can get off the roads. Major Dam repairs are in progress at Salem Lake and the majority of the lake has been drained so it's not as pretty as usual but still a nice 7+ mile loop on dirt.

Before my older son went back to college this month I was able to get both my boys out for a night of music listening. We drove down to Lexington, NC to hear one of my favorite North Carolina bands Big Daddy Love.

Daniel Justin Smith doing his thing

Big Daddy Love @ High Rock Outfitters in Lexington, NC (the 5 a.m. run the next morning was tough)


In August had two good mountain weekends. Was a finish line volunteer at Jenny Nichols race, the Christopher Todd Richardson Memorial 10k (in memory of her brother). Let's just say... Jenny does things right. Highly recommend this race! And more important then the running and the good times, the entry fee and sponsorship money goes to college scholarships for deserving students. Two of the scholarship winners were present and that really showed what the event is all about. The next morning I had a nice run up Mt Rogers with Jenny and Ginger. A perfect cool VA morning.

With Jenny and Ginger the morning after the CTR 10k

Relaxin w/ the girls on the AT


The weekend after CTR I was able to visit my Mom in Hendersonville and then head to the Nantahala Outdoor Center for some white water rafting. Had lots of fun on the river but as soon as I was dry and fed I jumped on the AT and headed north for 6 miles of climbing up 3000 ft and back down to Nantahala Gorge. The next morning it was southbound on the AT for another 2 hour run. On Sunday at home it was 3 hours @ Salem Lake (7.5 hours of running in 3 days.) This weekend it was back to back 3 hour runs.

AT heading southbound out of Wesser, NC


I'm now ready to get a little more serious and begin MMTR training which will include the IMTR 30 mile race this weekend and New River 50k in Oct.

Recovery, Shakori, Phish, IMTR

Shortly after finishing the Umstead 100 and feeling pretty good about myself I came across these quotes from legendary Boston Marathon character Billy Squires who was talking about marathon runners running too many miles in training:
"He must love seeing the birds and squirrels and all that crap."
and
"Your wasting shoe leather. It's a game of speed. Now if you want to do 50-milers or 100-milers, which nobody does, and get your little medal you bought, fine. But when the gun goes off in the marathon, it's the fastest they give the awards to, not who can run all day."


I stand guilty on both counts! The recovery from my first 100 miler has been slow... aches, pains, lethargy, work pressures, family schedules, a weekend at the Shakori Hills Music Festival, bringing my younger son to his first Phish show... I just couldn't seem to get back on track until the past few weeks.

That brings me to last weekends 4th of July holiday. I felt something pulling me to head to the mountains, so I took Friday afternoon off and my wife, Sara, and I drove up to Pilot Mtn and did a 2 1/2 hour hike around and over Pilot(after a 10 mi run that morning.) I was still feeling like I needed more mtn trails so I shot Beth Minnick of Abingdon, VA a message to see if she was doing a weekend trail run. She invited me to join her Iron Mountain Trail Runners (IMTR) group on a run 4th of July morning beginning at the Elk Garden trail. I quickly did an internet search and found a room at a reasonably priced Inn in Damascus. I'd not really been to Damascus since 1978 when a friend and I hiked 722 miles of the AT as 19 yr old college students. I was all smiles as I got into town mid day Sunday remembering those hiking days so long ago. Damascus has changed a bit over the years thanks to the Creeper Trail. More eateries, bike shops and such. In 1978 there was one diner with one heck of a juke box. Before leaving home I found an old scrap book my mother kept with photos and letters I wrote home from the trail... letters? no blogging in 1978? I found a photo of me taken outside the back porch of the AT Hostel. Sara took another pic of me at the same spot this weekend. Below are photos from 1978 of me outside the hostel, a group of us below Fontana Dam, and the envelope postmarked June 14, 1978, Damascus VA (postage was .15!)

How do you like those suspenders and short shorts?!? (notice the return address... my college running nickname was "Lazlo")

Okay, now getting to the running part. Beth suggested she and JJ would pick me up in Damascus on the way to the Elk Garden meeting spot. So good to meet JJJ who I had only seen in photos and mentions in other blogs. JJ is a true mountain man with beard, ponytail and kilt to prove it!

JJ doing some pre-run activities. He fed the IMTR runners his lentil/couscous mush in a similar fashion along the trail


There were 8 of us in all... great to see Tammy and Rick G, and meet new trail running friends Sean D, Donna B, Mike D and of course JJ and Beth. This is starting to sound like the numerous AA meetings I've attended. "Hi, my name is Rob, I'm a trail runner" "Hi Rob!"

We were off on our run around 7:30 a.m. with nice temps and gentle breezes as we headed up the AT northbound (I think) with Rick leading the way.

We headed up single file as the grassy area quickly changed to wooded and here and there we all seemed to comment on the sweet smells of the changing environment. We stopped now and then to re-group, and keep us all on the planned route. If I wasn't talking and remembering races run and races missed, getting to know my new friends... I was concentrating on the trail and feeling really good inside because I was with friends once again moving my way along the appalachian trail. We turned off the AT onto the Mt Rogers trail and several others as we made our way up towards the summit of Mt. Rogers (the highest peak in Virginia.) It was great to have JJ with us to give wisdom, feed us, confirm what trail we were on, which trail we should take, and where to find water to refill drying water bottles. JJ truly knows the land and mountains so well and is at home. We were hoping Tammy and Donna would find their way when all of a sudden there they were looking strong making their way up an alternate trail to our location in a grassy bald. They headed on down while the rest of took a side trail to a water source, then decided we had to head to the summit. Very cool to be on top of Virginia in a thick wooded stand of trees, cool and damp.

We got to see plenty of ponies feeding and roaming and after a break on the summit we headed down. Beth led the way followed by Sean and then Rick and I. Beth lived up to her reputation of being a speedy downhill technical runner but I thought I did a pretty good job keeping up with Beth's 30 yr old legs using my almost 53 yr old legs... and Rick behind me with 50 yr old legs. I backed off just a bit in the last mile as I didn't quite have my trail legs back and was feeling a little fatigue and didn't want that to cause a crash. When we hit the "Sound of Music" type meadow at the bottom Rick picked it up and caught up with Beth and Sean as they hit the parking lot with me a few strides behind. The strong duo of Tammy and Donna beat us back to Elk Garden after our diversions and then Mike and JJ made it in and we were done! We all began to clean up, re-fueled and enjoyed that after run buzz and the company of old and new friends.

After run treats provided by Beth! There were a couple of red white and blue (PBR) beers under the melon and in the old days I would have pushed the melon aside to get at some brews but I settled for water, watermelon and a slushy grape drink.


Beth says Sean and I are now members of the IMTR crew but Rick says we still have to do the 42 mile night run to gain membership. Thank you so much Beth for inviting me to join you and your friends.