Pre & Post Race Plus Scenes From While We Were Away

We had a noon flight out of Portland on Wednesday. I had originally booked our flight for Thursday but once we got closer to the race, I decided that might too tight of a timeline for comfort, given that we were flying into Nashville and had to drive 2 hours out to Pickett to check in and pick up my packet by 7:00 Thursday night in preparation for an 8:00 am race start on Friday. Changing our flight turned out to be a great decision and made the travel feel much less stressful! 

Our flights went pretty much as perfectly as they could, with only a slight delay into Charlotte for flight #2. One thing I have to say is that, wow, I can’t imagine traveling without a mask! How and why did we do that back in the before Covid times, and now?!?  So many people, so close, ugh! I felt much better with a mask on and plan to continue masking while traveling even if Covid subsides. I’ll avoid all the germs I can, thank you very much!!

We weren’t picking up the car until Thursday morning so we took the shuttle to the hotel, checked in and then pretty much immediately ordered an Uber to Tennfold, a brewery nearby that also had wood-fired pizza. Definitely a win as both the pizza and beer were delish!!

Bacon, goat cheese and fig jam & dill pickle and bacon pizza- so good! 

It was nice to not have to set an alarm on Thursday but I woke up early anyway 😂 We had breakfast from the very mediocre hotel breakfast buffet and made our way back to the airport to get the car, finally setting off for race packet pick up around 10:00.

I found a local coffee place with what looked like decent sandwiches in Cookestown for lunch. Shout out to Poets South! One of the few non fast food joints I could find en route with yummy coffee and egg sandwiches for the win!

Then it was on to Pickett State Park for race packet pick up. It was such a nice day, and since we couldn’t check into our VRBO until 3:00, we decided to do a bit of exploring after the quick race check-in. 

Obligatory pre-race photo near the start/finish arch 😎

We headed down to the Visitors Center and looped around on the Natural Bridge Trail, part of which was on the course. The natural bridge was so cool, the woods were beautiful, the sun was bright and it was so nice to move a bit and explore a new place. (1.1 miles walked)

At the river 

Swinging bridge 

Atop the natural bridge 

Tons of these cool big leaf magnolia trees! The leaves were huge!! 

Huge leaf!! 

And then more neat rock formations as we were walking back on the loop to the car 

Ryan wanted to check out another spot on the course, the Twin Arches, which was actually in Big South Fork Recreation Area. To get there, we took a gravel road that rolled for miles out through pretty forest to a nice trailhead with bathrooms and everything. The short loop we did wound through the woods until we actually traversed atop the first of the arches before dropping down a big staircase to the base. The pictures don’t do this area justice. The arches were enormous and just incredible. We could see how the course wound around and beneath the two arches and it was nice to be able to stop and enjoy the spot in a more leisurely way which I knew I wouldn’t do mid-race. Again, so nice to get out into the woods and for Ryan to have a chance to see some of the area. One of the reasons I was so intrigued by this race was the photos of some of the natural features along the way, and so far, even in just the little bit we’d seen, it was living up to the photos!! (1.3 miles walked)

A set of steep stairs down to the bottom of the arches

The foliage was lovely!

So big and so cool!

Hard to capture the immensity of the arches, they really were huge!

And once again, more cool rock formations on the return trip back to the parking lot

Then it was back on the road to the VRBO! Such a cute, comfy little spot with a view and access to a small lake in a tucked away residential neighborhood in Jamestown. We checked out the view down at the dock and dropped off our bags before heading into town to hit the Walmart for race supplies and to get some dinner.

Although the natural features and recreational opportunities in the area were pretty cool, I must say the food scene was pretty grim. Pretty much the only places to eat in Jamestown were fast food joints and the restaurant we ate at was only a small step above. Ah well. Can’t have it all and the chicken parm sub made with chicken tenders did the trip for some carbs and proteins the night befor the race. After a quick dinner, we retreated to the cabin to pack, organize and get some sleep! It was almost time to race!!

Skipping over the race here and will do a separate report, so onto Sunday post-race!

It seems that being a rather religious area, almost everything is closed on Sunday. Our options for food were limited. Ryan went out and got hashbrowns and breakfast sandwiches from Dairy Queen for us to eat before we packed up and headed out. Since we were headed back to Nashville and the hotel and weren't in a rush, we decided to take a detour and drive out to Blue Heron so we could see it in the daylight. It was a fairly long drive out there but very pretty as the road wound up and down and around the hills. Blue Heron was a mining community which closed in the early 1960s, and they've made the site an outdoor museum with paths that wind around to different exhibits at the base of the train tressle. I will readily admit that my feet were killing me, but I know it was good for me to move my legs a bit and it was really cool to check out Blue Heron. We walked around and checked out the mine and walked across the bridge which used to be the railroad bridge in to the mine, and which had a huge span across Blue Heron and the river. It was neat to see in the daylight, as I had no idea what I was running across in the darkness during the race! What a fascinating spot. (1.1 miles walked)

The aid station was set up under that tent, which was right below the bridge

Walking across the bridge

Bridge view

The mine

Black racer?

Then it was a long drive into Nashville, with a stop for lunch at Wendy's, which was the best option, and a lot of traffic. We picked up salads and pizza at Tennfold before arriving at the hotel, and then it was to bed! The alarm went off at 3:30 am this morning and about 10 minutes later the hotel fire alarm went off, so that was a nice fun start to the morning, especially walking down 4 flights of stairs with our suitcases. Aie! But at least the alarm ensured we didn't oversleep 😂😂

Thankfully, the flights home went smoothly as well and we didn't even have to walk to another terminal or even another gate in DCA, which is a good thing as I was wiped and I could not move very quickly with my mangled feet. Ah, ultrarunning is so fun 😆😏

We got in at noon and both agreed we needed something healthy and green and fresh for lunch. Poke bowls hit the spot - sooo good!!

We got home in time to shower and get most things put away before Sam got home from school, and with that, the trip was done! Even though it was a fun trip, it is good to be home.💕💕 A million and one thanks to Mom for staying at the house with Sam and not only taking care of her and the cats but also Dad, who was still testing positive as of this morning. Ugh! We couldn't have done this trip without help, and we so so so appreciate it! 💗

In amongst all the typical day to day stuff like school and swim, Neenie and Sam had some fun while we were away too, getting in a few nice walks, enjoying pho and getting the first of the season pumpkin pie gelato! Yum! 😋🍨

Walking at Widgeon Cove

Always love an ocean view!