Mnt Mitchell Heartbreaker and the 1st Three Month of Tahoe Training

"It's not what you are capable of, it's what you are willing to do." - Mike Tomlin

2024, the year of the Tahoe 200 (hopefully).  After a massive build up over the first few months of 2023, only to have Tahoe postponed, I have been anxious to hit the ground running again (pun intended).  On January 1st, I kick started my 2024 campaign with 50 miles with a 2am start and have barely taken my foot off the gas since. 

I managed to clock 396 miles in January which included 2 work trips, one to Germany, and another to San Francisco, complete with 2 red eye flights. I figured Tahoe was going to be as much about training the mind to endure as training the body, so why not start early (pun intended again).  

Over the first two and half months of the year, in addition to the New Year's day 50 miler, I knocked out another five marathons and three 50k+ runs. I reached a peak week of 116 miles and total of 328 miles over three weeks ... and I have never felt better.  

I even got in another work trip and family vacation (+ 2 more red eye flights) which included a trip down and back up the Grand Canyon South Rim.  

My first true test came this past weekend, when I went down to North Carolina and competed in the Mount Mitchell Heartbreaker 50 miler.  

I knew this race was going to be tough, but hell, I am in the best shape of my life.  If I am going to be able to survive the Tahoe 200, then I better be able to make it through this without too much whining.

The race started / ended in Old Fort, NC, about 30 minutes east of where Amy's relatives live in Asheville.  We hadn't been down there since 2015, when I did the Mount Mitchell Challenge, and were long over due to go visit (looking back to that time, my longest race was 50 miles, my run streak was barely a year old, and Amy was pregnant with Nat.  How times change).

After a short flight, drive, and packet pickup, we arrived in Asheville. We had a relaxing evening and it was great to catch up with our relatives that we hadn't seen in so long (Jane and Terry, Sara and her son Carl, and Eric and his son Finn). 

The Race

Race day began with a 4:10 wake up and after a failed attempt at Dunkin's (which contrary to Google's belief, was closed) we arrived at the race site at 5. After quick race briefing, we started right at 5:30.  

The first 6 miles were uneventful as we made our way through a little bit of single track, then dirt roads and then the only paved section of the course.  At mile 7, it got real, real quick as the ascent up Green Knob began. This section included over 3000' climbing in just over 4 miles and while I just hiked it, there really is no way get through something like that without taking some level of a beating.  

Next up was a 4 mile / 2000' descent across some gnarly single track.  Going into this, for some reason, I was a bit optimistic that these sections would be a little easier and I would be able to find a better rhythm.  Even with the downhill, it was still taking me 12-16 minutes per mile.  I quickly came to conclusion that this race was going to be more about time on feet and simply enduring what ever was going to be thrown at me then going for a "fast" time. 

Mile 16 to 20 was another 2000' climb followed by a brief reprieve (or what should have been a reprieve) on a horse trail.  After all the rain, the trail was about 6'' of mud and I had to dance from rock to rock just to keep my shoes from being pulled off.  

Finally, by mile 24, I reached the summit of Mnt Mitchell, highest peak east of the Mississippi.  Still 27 miles to go, but I had done 8500' climbing, the vast majority.  

24 to 34 was probably my best part of the race.  It had 3000' of descent and I was even able to get a handful of those miles under 10 minute pace.  Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), the honeymoon didn't last forever and I was greeted with another 4 mile, 1800' climb.  During this death march, I just tried to channel my inner David Goggins.  

At mile 38, I began to taste success and felt really good (minus the pain in my quads from all the downhill) over the next 7 miles.  As I reached the final aid station (44.7), I tried to confirm that we had "5 miles" left and rudely found out there was actually 6.8.  

The next 4 miles were rolling hills on a dirt road, but up with each roll.  Thankfully, another runner, Sarah, caught up to me, and we chatted and ran the final miles together.  I quickly learned that she put my experience to shame having done the likes of UTMB, Monte Rosa and Tour de Glacier (look them up).  

Finally, with 3.5 miles to go, we began our final descent and even clocked three sub 9 minute miles. 

I crossed the finish in 11 hours, 52 minutes, good enough for 16th overall out of the 97 finishers.  All and all great, hard race, and was an eye opener for how much work I still have to do before Tahoe.  

Top of Mnt Mitchell with Amy

What did I learn at the race?  

I really need to increase my vert training, both ascending and descending.  While I feel like I weathered the terrain pretty well, it was hard to imagine continuing on like this for another 150 miles.  Tahoe will be significantly less technical, but still is a really hilly course (35k' total).

So, with 11 weeks to go, its about to get real and I am quickly going to find out "what I am willing to do."

- Scot