Sweets, Sweat & Finish Lines: That time I went on a road trip with "Flat Mary".....

VA-TN Adventure

The History
Anyone who knows Mary Podbielski knows she's the most amazing, supportive woman you'll ever meet. So when she told me she was going to be an Ironman in Chattanooga, TN in 2016, there was no option, I would be there. So I booked a campsite (partially because I enjoy camping and partially because hotels were just crazy expensive) & started to plan my "sherpa/cheerleader" duties. About 2 months before IMCHOO I received an email from colleagues about a 3 day cycling trip, organized by a VP from a division of Thermo Fisher located in Middletown, VA the week before IMCHOO. Of course, I could not pass up a chance to not only cycle on company time (ok not really I did take PTO), but to also network with some really incredible people within Thermo Fisher. Not to mention, these guys are incredible cyclists! And so the plan was hatched. I would schedule some work meetings to/from the events, cycle, attempt to hike solo for the first time, cheer Mary on to her IM finish and try to make it home in one piece.

Flat Mary is ready for her road trip.

Introducing "Flat Mary"
This is "Flat Mary". I saw this photo of Mary almost a year ago at her annual Halloween party. With the help of her daughter Summer, I obtained a scan of the original photo taken around 1980 and had a good friend blow it up and mount it on foam board. And thus......"Flat Mary" was born & we were ready for our road trip! Mary rode the entire way to Chattanooga strapped into the front seat as you see in the photo. I'm sure some of the truckers were entertained! It was kind of fun to take photos of Flat Mary in different locations and then explain why on earth I was toting around this picture. It definitely made this trip just a bit more fun.

Day 1 - Tuesday 9/22
"Flat Mary" and I packed up the car and headed to Virginia to do some work for the day. I had customer meetings in Winchester and Middletown before the fun began. We were staying at the Wayside Inn, a bed and breakfast that was built in the 1700's. It was incredibly neat and the owners were so attentive. They made some delicious breakfasts for us before our big rides and the history in the building was really interesting to see.

Day 2 - Wednesday 9/23
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/9609669

Today we start our ride. As part of our ride, the team exceeded our $10K fundraising goal. Part of my fundraising efforts included carrying the initials of those who we've lost to cancer and also those who've beat it. The picture below is a powerful image of all the work we still have to do. Today we have 7 riders Marc, Andrew, Peter, Alex, Tom, Kevin, and myself. We headed out for a 60 mile rolling ride starting about 30 minutes from our bed and breakfast. We stopped for coffee or (hot almond milk cocoa) at Haymarket Bike shop, which was really neat, a coffee shop and a bike shop in one. Genius! Then we rode another 10 miles or so before stopping in Middleburg for lunch. I had a delicious roast beef sandwich and chips before we headed for home. Note to self: Try to eat something a bit lighter or with less aftertaste when you still have another 20 rolling miles to go.

Thank you! For those of you who donated & allowed me
to take your loved ones on these rides! We have LOTS
more work to be done to fill that left leg!

The group was really great, we mostly rode together but the boys sometimes wanted to "play" with Strava segments and we would then regroup at the next turn. I am going to blame Andrew, Peter and Marc for introducing me to what Strava really does. It was fun to look at comparisons of my ride versus others. And let's all be honest, who doesn't want to be Queen of the Mountain even if for just a day before someone else comes and steals it away! One day, one day I'll get there. For dinner we visited friends of Marc's at Glen Gordon Manor. We enjoyed a 5 course meal, and there are no words to describe how incredible each and every course was.

Day 3 - Thursday 9/24
http://ridewithgps.com/routes/9911637

After only a slight discussion, Suzanne and I decided to forgo our original plan to split this ride in half. We were going to push through and make it up Blue Mountain one way or the other. Blue Mountain is a 5.5 mile climb that averages about 5% grade, however according to other riders computers it varied from 5% to 14%, not to mention about 2.5 miles of it was gravel road. This was probably one of the toughest climbs I've done to date. First, because my mileage hasn't been super high recently, I'd never done a solid climb on the new gearing on my bike and gravel is just tough! But I made it & I finished it about 10 minutes "faster" than I anticipated. Let me tell you, I've never been more excited to see a paved road in my whole life! We enjoyed an amazing descent with only one small crash along the way. One rider thought he saw loose gravel on a very sharp u-turn. He was able to slow down, but drifted a bit too far right and caught the guide rail.

He and his bike went over the side, but luckily at a rather slow pace and everyone was ok to continue. We had lunch (and some AWESOME donuts) at the bottom of the mountain and then headed home. I was simply amazed at how great my legs felt on day 2 (after the mountain). I wasn't moving super fast, but still had something left to kick up a few little hills and felt like I could've ridden further if I needed or wanted to. After 125 miles in 2 days, I was so tempted to stay and finish out the 85 mile skyline ride with them on Friday, but I decided to stick to the plan. So after a quick shower, I headed south on I81 to Staunton, VA where I camped for the night and would begin my hiking adventure in the morning.

Day 4 - Friday 9/25 Crabtree Falls & Apple Orchard Falls

I woke at 6am to break camp, make oatmeal and get on the road. My first hike was about a 30 minute drive away according to GPS. It's a good thing I actually printed my entire trips directions out before I left because for most of the rest of my trip I had no cell phone signal to use my maps. Hike #1 for the day was Crabtree Falls. It was 1.7 miles up and out to the top of the falls and then back. It was raining the entire way. The hike ended at the top of the falls. It was a bit foggy, so it was hard to see much beyond the falls. I met a man on the trail who was out hunting bears with his dogs. While everyone knows I love dogs, I'm not sure how I would have felt meeting 7 hunting dogs on the trail chasing a bear up a tree. However when I got back to my car 3 dogs came out of the woods, they must have gotten separated from their pack. They were super friendly and sweet. I gave them quick pets before they trotted off to find their pack. I allotted myself 30 minutes per mile while hiking. I figured I would need to take it a bit slower than usual, because I was hiking alone and had no idea if there would be anyone else out on these trails. And other than the hunter, there was only one other couple out there.

Next I drove just over an hour to hike #2, Apple Orchard Falls.

This hike was longer and encompassed both a connector trail and a second trail to complete the loop for a total of 5.5 miles. The first half of the trail was really cool. It followed the waterfall all the way to the top. There were some stairs on the steepest parts of the trail and a few cool overlooks built as well. This was a really well maintained and easy to follow trail. I saw absolutely no one on this trail while I was out there for about 2.5 hours. After getting back to the car and following my printed out directions, I was on the road again for a 3.5 hour trip to the next campsite in Bristol, TN. It was still sprinkling and was supposed to rain again that evening, so I grabbed a cabin instead of a tent. I made dinner on the camp stove, sat by my fire for about an hour before heading to bed early. Good move with the cabin as it POURED that night.

Day 5 - Saturday 9/26

I was really slow to get moving this morning. I was a bit sore and really tired. I considered for a moment bailing on the last hike, but knew I would regret it. This one was supposed to be really cool. Plus, it wasn't very long or steep so I decided to go for it. Hike #3 was The Devils Bathtub. This trail could either be a 4 mile out and back or a 7 mile loop. I opted for the shorter option, knowing I still had a 3.5 hour drive to Chattanooga that afternoon. This trail was really neat, with 10 stream crossing on the way out to the swimming hole & bathtub. There were 2 folks heading out right before me from the parking lot, but on the way out, I didn't see anyone else until I reached the swimming hole. When I arrived a man was swimming in his red underwear. I chuckled a bit, as he apologized and his son looked embarrassed. The swimming hole and waterfall were incredible.

The Devils Bathtub

Crystal clear water and gorgeous rock formations. If you continue up the trail a few hundred feet you reach The Devils Bathtub. It's a pool in the oval shape of a bathtub that's deep and clear and super cold! I stuck my feet in, but completely forgot to pack my swimming stuff. But probably a better idea to not swim alone in the middle of the woods anyway. As I was heading back down the trail I ran into 3-4 more families as they were heading up. I enjoyed a crunchy peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the car and continued south to Chattanooga. I'm not sure why but PBJ's just taste so much better after a hike! I arrived at the campsite around 3pm, got set up in the rain, got a shower and then headed to dinner with Mary, Lisa, Jackie & their significant others before their big day. I'm glad I put up the 10x10 canopy over my small tent, because it rained ALL NIGHT LONG. But better to let it rain Saturday, instead of Sunday when everyone was racing.

Day 6 - Sunday 9/27

Ready to cheer!

I was up EARLY to get into Chattanooga for race morning! "Flat Mary" and I arrived at 6:30am and had no problems getting into town, finding parking and walking down to the swim exit. We staked out a spot on the hill heading up to transition and waited for Mary and our MMTC athletes to emerge from the Tennessee river! The current was pretty great and everyone had super fast swim times, which gave them a bit more cushion for the bike which is 116 miles instead of 112 AND because they also started at 7:30! Once we saw everyone off on the bike, "Flat Mary" went to nap in the car while Dave, Jayde's daughter and I went for brunch!

By the time we ate, it was time to report to our volunteer duty in the T2 tent at noon. T2 is an interesting place. People are so happy to be off the bike, but now the exhaustion is really setting in. Some folks are happy and excited, others are tired and defeated. As volunteers we try to encourage, assist and just get people out the door if we can.

Heading into T2

I spotted Mary's helmet from across the transition area! I was so excited to see a smile on her face! I KNEW at that moment she was going to crush it, although I'll be honest, I never really had any doubts. She headed out onto the run, looking strong and ready for a marathon! After our shift ended, Dave and I grabbed some food I had pizza in the tent, he got a sandwich box. We decided we wanted to go for a run, but I didn't have a clean sports bra, so over to the IM gear tent I went to buy one. But first, we both needed to recharge, both our bodies and our phones so we headed to our cars for an hour to relax. I think I fell asleep for about 30 minutes and it was glorious! I got up, put on my running shoes, packed my hiking pack and met Dave for our run. We decided to run the course backwards and look for his friend Jayde who was having a rough day. We found her around mile 11 and knew she was EXTREMELY close to the half cut off. So Dave, Jayde's daughter and myself tried to will her to get to the mid-point before the cut off. Unfortunately she did not make it, but after a trip to the med tent and 2 units of fluids, it was probably a blessing in disguise.

Mary You Are An IRONMAN

I checked the tracker and knew Mary was moving right along, so I looked at the maps (by the way the IMCHOO run course is really confusing in the dark) and realized I could cut Mary off at mile 21 on the Veterans Memorial Bridge. So I ran up the on ramp the wrong way (it was closed) and waited for her, in the pitch dark in the middle of the bridge. When she arrived she looked AWESOME again! I ran with her to the bottom of the bridge around mile 22 and then cut off to head to the finish. "I'll see you again when you're an Ironman!!!" Then I caught up with Pat and George MacNabb. Pat had just raced Augusta 70.3 that morning, won her age group, crushed a 29 minute PR and qualified for Worlds in Australia. Now she and George had arrived in Chattanooga to cheer on Mary. Those are some pretty incredible friends, I'd say! Pat went out to find Mary in the last mile and George and I parked on the fence right before the finish. Second only to your own Ironman finish, there is nothing like watching your friends cross that line for the first time. Mary danced her way to being an Ironman and it was incredible!

Day 7, 8, 9 - September 28-30
I'm combining these days because they're not that exciting. I broke camp, packed everything up and met Mary and her hubby for lunch. Then I made the drive to Asheville, NC for a work meeting and spent the night. Next day work meetings in Radford, VA and Christiansburg, VA then an overnight another meeting and a drive home, which included a quick pit stop ride on Skyline Drive. My plan was to ride 30 miles, but the fog was really thick and my front light battery died, so I cut it short at 15 right as it started to pour. It took me almost six hours to drive home after getting lost coming off Skyline drive, but I was happy to be home.

Continue scrolling for all the photos!

Day 2-3 Cycling Photos