Flying Squirrel 10-Miler

I did it! I did it! I almost ran into a bear!!

The Flying Squirrel is a 10 mile race that’s 5 miles uphill, then 5 miles downhill. My training has been sporadic at best, so my only goal was to make it to the end alive. The course is in a beautiful shaded mountain neighborhood around the Grove Park Inn, an Asheville landmark with incredible views and over-priced food.

I did walk a good chunk (probably most) of the race after the first 2.5 miles. The 5 mile ascent varies from gentle uphill, some flat bits, to super duper steep (1079ft in 5 miles). The entire time going up, I told myself I just needed to make it to the halfway point and then I’d get the relief of down hill.

First of all, just past the 5 mile point I heard this loud aggressive huffing and saw a mama bear and cubs just a few feet to my right almost completely hidden by the shrubbery.

Second of all, downhill is not a relief when you haven’t trained for it and you can feel all of the muscles surrounding your hips start to shorten.

Third, it was NOT all downhill. Granted, it was not as steep on the way back, but there were definitely ascents that felt deadly after climbing for 5 miles.

Lessons learned:

1) Train descents, a lot if you plan to live in the mountains.

2) If I can survive that race with minimal training, imagine what I could do with more focus and consistency!!!

3) Practice with your gear so you don’t end up chafing the shit out of your rib cage

4) I probably need to go back to wearing supportive shoes, like the brooks adrenaline. My ankles felt like they were disintegrating

5) I’m convinced strength training got me through this. Had I done the same amount of running without consistent strength training, this would be a different story.