Whitestone 30K - Race Report

The Whitestone 30K is the 3rd and final race in Knoxville Track Club high mileage series leading up to the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon. My last go-round with the marathon, I chose to do the same distances on my own, rather than paying to do what essentially would be a training run.

This year I wanted the full experience, so I signed up for the 3 pack of races: Calhoun's 10 miler, Strawberry Plains Half Marathon, and Whitestone. $60 for all 3 races is a steal of a deal for distance racing, and the series hasn't disappointed. I've gained a lot mentally from these training races.

Kingston is almost an hour of and a half from my house, so my training buddy and I got a hotel room about 20 minutes away. Was our room number coincidence or sign from God that He loves us and wanted us to half a good race?

Okay maybe God doesn't care so much about the race. But love us? No doubt!! The next morning, some online friends I have leftover from the ABC Lost message board days pointed out this was the number of one of the failed flights in the show. Thanks ladies for the boost of confidence.

Beautiful.

Great breakfast.

Hilly

Hard.

These were the descriptions I'd been given prior to the race. Thankfully we were prepared with a plan (start slow, drink water, try not to die) and these awesome good luck bracelets made by her daughter.

Given the course elevation, Amy, Sharon, Brad and I decided to treat this as a training run. We would start slow, and run this one nice and easy. We gave lip-service to the idea of starting at a 10:30 pace, but the downhill start and our race excitement quickly over powered any plans we had.

I wanted a good idea of what I'm capable of for the marathon, so the plan was to turn on the speed in the final miles. With a 3 loop course, I bookmarked the 3rd loop in my mind as the place I'd crank it up.

Mile 1 - 10:02

We settled into a comfortable, chatty pace and began to tackle the hills as they came. The race is held on open roads, but the country setting means traffic isn't much of an issue. Save for relay racers, I think we saw more dogs on the course than cars!

Mile 2 - 10:04

Mile 3 -  10:07

As a group of 4, we tried not to run 4 wide so others could pass us if needed. Chatting about future race plans and ideas, these first miles were easy.  Talking to her later, mile 4 is where Amy started hurting. She's been having IT band issues and the downhill start made for a rough race for her.
 

Mile 4 - 10:17

Mile 5 - 10:14

These early miles were hard for me mentally. I think its the discouragement of knowing just how much further there is left to race. "Talk to me Brad!" I was getting too mental and I needed to shake it. Some chatter with him along with some aid-station high-fives and I turned it around.

Mile 6 - 10:07

Mile 7 - 10:08

I'm not sure at what point Brad and I pulled ahead, but by the time I noticed they weren't behind us it was too far of a gap to hang back and let them catch us. Brad starting pulling away a bit in the big mile 8 hill, but I caught him on the down. At this point I offered high-fives to those struggling up. 

Mile 8 - 10:07

Mile 9 - 9:46

Brad had a shoe pod tracking his cadence. Whenever our pace or turnover would get too fast, he'd warn me and I'd make an intentional effort to slow it down.

Mile 10 - 10:01

Mile 11 - 10:03

Mile 12 - 10:19

Mile 13 started the loop series for the final time. In the first 2 hills, Brad fell back. I asked if it I had sped up again, but he told me he was slowing. He tried to keep up, but eventually got to where he couldn't catch me on the downs.

Mile 13 - 10:05

Mile 14 - 10:05

Less than 4 miles to go, I tried to pick it up. Enough can't be said about those hills. They are standard country road hills. The difficulty comes in their perpetual appearance in the race. Reaching the crest of one only promises a brief down recover followed by another climb.

Mile 15 - 9:57

Mile 16 - 9:35

Mile 17 - 9:51

I passed quite a few people walking the hills in these final miles. I'd said going into this race. No shaming in walking the tough ones. By mile 17, I was too stubborn to take walk breaks. With a pace in the 9s, I just kept pushing.

Mile 18 - 9:44

For the final stretch, I made keeping a 9:XX pace my goal. Not knowing the course, I was surprised to be instructed to stay straight past the driveway. I had counted on the energy of the other runners to carry me to the finish. About half a mile of the last stretch was long and lonely. By this point the field had stretched out so much there was no one in front of me to challenge myself with passing, nor behind me to chat with.

full disclosure: this picture was taken before the race

never do i run like that

especially after 18 miles

 The last quarter mile didn't concede anything on the uphill, but at least there were people, pretty things, and the end in sight!

Final 0.6 (or 0.77 by my watch ) - {10:10}

Chip time: 3:08:15
A/G: 5/6
Overall: 84/116

I needed this race to be mentally strong. I got that and then some! I executed a strong race plan, churned out stellar splits, and still had a bit left to round my mileage up to 19 miles before heading inside for biscuits and gravy.

The 5th Anniversary Post

Last October/November was a busy season for me and I got way behind on blogging. Which reminds me - I still haven't blogged about my Ragnar Relay experience. Jay hasn't let me forget my failure to blog our 5th anniversary celebration.

Jay's parents wanted to do a weenie roast at our house for his birthday (October 24th). That night Jay & I (along with my parents) attended a Light the Night Leukemia Lymphoma walk to celebrate my cousin's first year of being cancer free. I can't say enough how sweet it was of my darling to spend his birthday celebrating someone else.

The following day, I hopped in a Van and headed down south for a Run. Then the week following his stint as our chauffeur, my dad has total knee replacement. The weenie roast was pushed to the following week - mine & Jay's anniversary.

 

Back off ladies - he's mine! 

I don't know if we bore them to tears or they just love being helpful, but so much gets done around the house when Jay's parents come for a visit. Anywho, back to the story. They'd offered to take us out for our anniversary dinner - anywhere we wanted. Jay picked a local trout house in Gatlinburg.

Our anniversary fell on a Friday, so I went to work while they worked around the house.

ring ring

Jay: You need to be sure to get home quickly tonight.

Brooke: I have a stop to make after work, but I'll be ready to go.

Jay: No. Come straight home.

Brooke: Ummm...

Jay: Mom can't eat after 7, so you'll have to get home ASAP so we can get to the restaurant.

Brooke: Ummm...I don't have a card for you yet.

Truth - I didn't have him anything. But his mama had to eat early, so straight home I went. Only when I arrived, she was still in her jammies.

Then Jay encouraged me to change into jeans for dinner. So I picked out a pair of cute skinny jeans and my awesome leather knee boots.  Only Jay expressed his dislike of the outfit. Understand that my man never comments on my outfits, unless its to compliment me. He had an agenda. 

"What about my trail shoes? Will those work?" I asked. When he answered affirmatively, I knew where he was taking me - the nature trail in our subdivision. It gets muddy and he didn't want me to ruin my good boots. I also realize why I had to rush home. In the fall, daylight in scarce after I get home from work.

Sure enough, we got in the car and turned left out of our driveway, instead of right. But half way there is had to stop and turn around. He'd forgotten his battery powered drill. What the what? After a few lewd comments, we were on our way to the nature trail.

There are 5 footbridges like the one above. We were celebrating our 5th anniversary. On each of the bridges he'd screwed a sign with the year and a picture from that year.

Our 1st anniversary trip to California.

Our 2nd anniversary trip to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

Over each bridge, as is tradition on hikes, we stopped halfway over and kissed. Dark was falling and he encouraged me to walk quickly!

3rd at the Smoky Mountain Brewery with some buddies.

4th at Hillbilly Hot Dog in West Virginia
(as featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives)

Then, at the 5th bridge, there was something a bit different...

My love,

I know you said you wanted to listen to this song live on our 5th anniversary

(baby you song

you make me wanna roll my windows down and cruise)

BUT...

Cruise on over across the bridge and look for the hidden box!

Thanks for being a gem of a wife!

Love, Jay

 

Autumn in Tennessee means lots of fallen leaves. Especially on a wooded trail. The hidden box took forever and a few hints to find. When I did find it, it was in a garbage bag. Opening the bag I found a box (he'd made with scrap wood) with bags inside. He'd tagged them with numbers.

#1 was a bottle of hard cider

#2 was a bottle of hard cider

We popped the caps, had a sip, and continued.

#3 was...

Crap. I can't remember. I know it was something that led to us dancing to our wedding song on the moonlit trail. (And now you know why he'd brought a cider for himself. White boy don't dance.)

#4 was a picture of a cruise ship, promising our 6th anniversary would be spent aboard one.

 And promised something to wear in the next bag.

#5 was a set of ocean-blue earrings. 

Some long-name for a precious stone.

Poor thing didn't consider how we'd haul all this stuff back on the trail. In the dark. We ended up taking the long way around, which was an actual road rather than a trail. We figured the risk of injury was less. Finally we got back to the house and went to the trout house for dinner. After dinner we headed up to Moonshine Holler for some samples and life music.

the dude from the TV show Moonshiners

Now for Jay's blog about our anniversary entitled All of that Work and All I Got in Return was this Stupid Blog Post 4 Months Later.

Russell Field to Spence Field Loop

Once two strangers climbed ole Rocky Top...

Okay so it was 4, and we did come down. We just haven't made it back up again. This picture was from 2010 - one of the hardest hikes of my life. I was anemic at the time, but didn't know it. We've tried to go back, but I'm starting to reckon we never will.

In the years since, we tried another trip to Rocky Top/Thunderhead via Spence Field, but failed miserably. We took a wrong turn at a trail intersection and didn't realize it until most of our day was eaten up. Once we corrected our course, it was too late to continue on to the top.

Over the Presidents day weekend, 3 of the 4 of the original crew decided to make the attempt again. The days before had brought us snow in the foothills, so it was no surprise to find the trail covered in the mountain elevations.

About 2 miles in, our fearless guide started questioning our path. Why we let her lead after the wrong turn last time, I'm not sure. Laziness? Blind trust? Grace and forgiveness? Yeah, we'll go with that.

About 3 miles in, she again started questioning the path. "We're good." I assured her. "We're encountering all the landmarks the trail description listed." But around mile 4, my confidence started to waiver. We pulled out the trusty cell phone and reread the description.

Okay so maybe we didn't notice the intersection because of all the snow, but the second description matched. We were on the right trail. Or were we? Agreeing not to make any further judgments until the 5.1 mile mark as described. We pressed on until...

OOH - the shelter!!!

Crap - the wrong shelter!

Somehow we'd missed the original turn and wound up at the Russell Field Shelter instead of Spence field. Kelly had remarked how the hike up was the toughest she'd ever done. Odd, given we'd done the trail before. Only we never had.

We ate our lunch, attempted a fake smile, and pressed on toward the goal. At first it was difficult, knowing the 3 extra snowy miles were because of a mistake. Soon we got lost in our alphabet game (movies, music, books) and enjoyed our little stroll through Narnia.

Of course by the time we arrived, we needed another snack, but unfortunately the clock and our wet feet weren't on our side. We didn't get the opportunity to head up to Rocky Top or Thunderhead.

Having to cut the trail short (after an oopsie made it long) was disappointing, but I difficult to stay that way with all the beautiful scenery around us. On the way down, we made it a point to stop and see where our big mistake occurred.

As we traveled up, the trail was snow covered. We were watching our feet and didn't see the sign. The warmth of the day melted the snow while we were up top, so the mistake seemed foolish.

If "Brooke's Folly" netted me a fun day of fitness with friends, I can't complain! But for your own sake if I say "Seriously, just trust me!" Don't. I'm begging you!!

For the Craft Impared

In the Pinterest age, it seems as if everyone is trying their hand at projects. What's a girl who's craftiness peaked at Kindergarten to do?

The turkey I made for my darling last Valentine's, when he requested I spend $0.00 on his gift

My passion is for the writing. For all of our sakes, I sure hope I'm better with words than construction paper and glue! I have 2 people to whom I hand-write letters once a month. Some months are more of a challenge than others. This past month, I struggled to find make the time to write my cousin a letter. I ended up with a one-pager, but added it in a cute Valentine's themed card.

Where does a Pinterest #Fail like me get such cute cards? The Dancing Elephant! These 3 girls (along with their parents) have a heart for Cambodia. The money they raise from their cards, magnets, and other designs go to helping children over there.

 

For the sake of transparency, I want to state outright: I'm not getting compensated for this blog. They didn't even ask me to write it. I just love the work they do, and admire the reason they do it! The rave reviews don't end with me!

Now I have a new problem - how do I confess to my cousin that middle school girls have more skill and creativity than me?

All Fancied Up - Foto Friday

This past weekend was the 13th Annual "Special Evening...A Special Cause" hosted by Cure Finders to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis research.  

 

Each year Jay & I get gussied up along with friends, coworkers, and (for the past few years) my parents in honor of my boss's 2 children with CF.

Our tasks typically include seating guests, helping with silent auction bid sheets at the end of the evening, and guest check out. As the evening progresses, we always have a good time.

As a friend of mine says, only boring people get bored. Service with a smile? But of course! 

As always, I can't wait to get the professional photo of Jay and me.

 While I got quite a few goofing with my friends, I only have 2 of BJay the couple.

Choose Your Own Adventure - Valentine's Style

For Valentine's Day my husband either choose to forgo a card/gift and instead littered  the driveway

or

I have an incredibly romantic, creative husband.

The snow is gone, but last I checked we still have spray paint and ketchup in our driveway.

Hope you felt cherished this Valentine's day - no matter how your loved ones expressed it.

My House. This Afternoon