{"id":5487,"date":"2018-09-16T16:51:44","date_gmt":"2018-09-16T21:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?p=5487"},"modified":"2018-09-16T18:34:45","modified_gmt":"2018-09-16T23:34:45","slug":"i-had-the-time-of-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/?p=5487","title":{"rendered":"I Had The Time of My Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Admit it, your brain immediately went to this movie, right?\u00a0 We’re not going to be discussing the movie, Dirty Dancing…even though I love that movie!\u00a0 We’re going to revisit the past few days in Wartburg, Tennessee and the Barkley Fall Classic (BFC).<\/p>\n

MFH (My Favorite Husband) and I arrived in Tennessee a few days before BFC.\u00a0 I get super excited and anxious before a race so we try to arrive a bit early so I can work the heebie~jeebies out of my system.<\/p>\n

There are quite a few small towns in this area and we decided to play a little bit of tourist and visit all the iconic places in the documentary, The Barkley Marathons:\u00a0 The Race That Eats Its Young.<\/p>\n

From the very first time I watched that documentary, I knew deep down in my heart that I HAD to reach that yellow gate someday.\u00a0 This weekend was my chance to see the gate in real life and try my hand on that notorious course.\u00a0 Did I have what it took to maybe(?) try THE Barkley Marathons?<\/p>\n

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There’s some sort of magic surrounding that course, those trails, the entire race!\u00a0 It’s a place where legends abound.\u00a0 Victories on those trails are huge.\u00a0 Defeats are legendary.<\/p>\n

Frozen Head State Park:\u00a0 Even the location of the race strikes fear into this kid’s heart!\u00a0 I think it’s the most intimidating name of a place ever!!!\u00a0 For this self proclaimed #ColdWeatherSissy, anything with a name talking about it being chilly is an automatic “nope!”<\/p>\n

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MFH and I visited the famous prison from the documentary.\u00a0 Remind me not to do anything that will get me sent to prison?\u00a0 That place does not look like fun.<\/p>\n

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After playing tourist for a bit, it was time to rest and settle my brain for the race.\u00a0 We went to packet pickup where I met up with a few people I knew from online.\u00a0 You *might* recognize these two guys?<\/p>\n

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I tell you, I’m such a huge dork but meeting Laz was just amazing!!!\u00a0 He’d just finished his walk across the United States.\u00a0 He’d started May 10 at the Atlantic and had just reached the Pacific the evening before, grabbed a plane and Ta~Dah!\u00a0 Here he was back in Tennessee~a very tired man but having a great time!!!<\/p>\n

This other guy is Jared Campbell.\u00a0 If you’ve watched the documentary, you know he’s one of the very few finishers of the Barkley Marathons.\u00a0 He’s actually finished that race not once but 3 times!!!\u00a0 Holy Cow~that guy can run!!!\u00a0 Much respect!<\/p>\n

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I got my bib then it was time to rest up and face those infamous trails in the morning.<\/p>\n

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According to “tradition,” MFH and I head over to a Waffle House for pre~race breakfast.\u00a0 We were super close to a Waffle House so at 4:00am we were enjoying a waffle and coffee.\u00a0 I was too nervous to eat.\u00a0 Nervous is a kind of a lie~I was terrified!!!\u00a0 After breakfast, we hopped in the car and drove over to Frozen Head.<\/p>\n

Seeing as we were early enough, I was able to nap a little bit in the car.\u00a0 I did hit the porta potty before the lines got long.\u00a0 I learned at the London Marathon, get to the porta potty early.\u00a0 The lines in London were over an hour wait (that’s no exaggeration) and it was 10 minutes to gun time.\u00a0 That was not good.\u00a0 For the first time ever in a marathon, I had to make a potty stop at mile 21…but we’re not here to talk about London.\u00a0 Actually, we’re not here to talk about porta potties, either!\u00a0 Back to the race.<\/p>\n

Finally it was time to head over to the start.\u00a0 I lined up and started chatting with people.\u00a0 I met a person who immediately made it to the tippy top of my #BFF list because she thought I was only 40.\u00a0 Bless Her Heart!!!\u00a0 If you read this, you totally made my morning!<\/p>\n

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We all lined up. Listened to last minute instructions.<\/p>\n

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Then, Laz lit up his cigarette! It was time to run!!!<\/p>\n

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Eeeekkk!!!<\/p>\n

We had 1.5 miles of asphalt before we reached the yellow gate. I remember feeling the same thrill running through the yellow gate that I had running through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.\u00a0 I must have this thing for running through famous gates?\u00a0 Just. Wow!!!<\/p>\n

The views were stunningly beautiful!!!\u00a0 The entire run was like this!\u00a0 Beauty everywhere you turned!<\/p>\n

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Even though I didn’t make the entire course, I DID make it half way!!!\u00a0 I’m soooo excited about this!\u00a0 I know I posted on FB and Twitter about this so this part might be repeat for some of you.\u00a0 My apologies?<\/p>\n

Before you ask how I got such specific data (knowing that Garmin and GPS is not allowed at Barkley events), the guy I ran the last few hours with *might* have broken the rules and had his Garmin running the entire race.\u00a0 \u00a0He promised he was going to delete the map off his Garmin?\u00a0 Seeing as I’m such a huge #NumbersNerd, I was tickled to learn what we’d just done. So here’s the specifics:<\/p>\n

20 miles<\/p>\n

9,600′ elevation<\/p>\n

8 hours running time<\/p>\n

That was just the first half of the race.\u00a0 Simply too much fun!!!<\/p>\n

I learned that those tire pulling hill repeats paid off in a big way!!!\u00a0 I was very strong on the climbs.<\/p>\n

I learned that my downhill running is dreadful!\u00a0 LOL!!!\u00a0 We don’t have these kind of trails in my part of Mississippi so I need to find a place to train for this kind of stuff.<\/p>\n

My eyes didn’t give me any problems at all!\u00a0 YAY for being able to see!!<\/p>\n

I learned that I am strong.<\/p>\n

I. Did. Not. Quit.\u00a0 The thought never even entered my mind!\u00a0 #determined\u00a0 I was simply swept at the check point at the half way point.\u00a0 If it weren’t for the sweep, I would have continued.<\/p>\n

The weeds were TONS higher than I am tall.\u00a0 T.O.N.S.<\/p>\n

The hornets were being their hornet selves.\u00a0 \u00a0Good thing I’m not afraid of bees!<\/p>\n

The briers did not disappoint!<\/p>\n

The snakes were…polite?<\/p>\n

The volunteers were wonderful!!!<\/p>\n

I didn’t get lost!!!<\/p>\n

It’s impossible to think of one negative thing in regards to yesterday!<\/p>\n

I’m so excited about my attempt at BFC.\u00a0 This race was a win!!!\u00a0 So many deep down inside, little personal victories were won on those amazing trails yesterday!<\/p>\n

Make no joke, those trails are tough and I loved every. single. step.<\/p>\n

Huge thank you to MFH for coming and supporting me and today listening to me moan and groan.\u00a0 There’s no way I could to any of this stuff without his love, support and encouragement.\u00a0 #blessed<\/p>\n

Today?\u00a0 My body is hating life. It’s saying, “What in the WORLD did you do to me!?!”\u00a0 Given the opportunity, I’d do it again in a heartbeat!!!\u00a0 What a fabulous and unforgettable day!!!<\/p>\n

Do I have what it takes to toe the line at the BIG Barkley?\u00a0 Right now, No.\u00a0 I have some work to do to be able to do that!\u00a0 Then again, I’m not afraid of a little work.<\/p>\n

Thank you for cheering and your kind words of support.\u00a0 Y’all are the very best!!!<\/p>\n

#IRun4Aiden<\/p>\n

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Admit it, your brain immediately went to this movie, right?\u00a0 We’re not going to be discussing the movie, Dirty Dancing…even though I love that movie!\u00a0 We’re going to revisit the past few days in Wartburg, Tennessee and the Barkley Fall Classic (BFC). MFH (My Favorite Husband) and I arrived in Tennessee a few days before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5487"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5487"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5508,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5487\/revisions\/5508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/w0ep.us\/TM\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}