Butterflies lived in my belly most of last week. I was more nervous about our upcoming race than any other race I’d ever run. The Knoxville Marathon three weeks earlier had gotten the best of both my husband and me. We finished, but it was ugly. Read about it here if you really want to.

I knew the Blueridge Marathon Saturday was going to be far more difficult than the Knoxville Marathon had been. It’s known as “America’s Toughest Road Marathon” for it’s 7,430 foot elevation change through the mountains around Roanoke, VA.

David and I had talked and strategized since the Knoxville Marathon, and we vowed to follow smart race strategies and not make the same mistakes we did three weeks earlier.

I knew this was going to be tough when the announcer said, “Welcome to Roanoke. We hope you enjoy running our mountains today.”

We arrived at the start line in plenty of time to warm up, stretch, make a restroom stop, and eat some quick carbs. I wondered what we’d been thinking when we signed up for this race. We’re not elite runners. Heck, most of the time we’re barely average runners. What were we doing running such a difficult course?

Yet, here I was facing my extreme fear of running hills. Even if I failed I needed to do this for so many reasons that had nothing to do with running.

Within the first mile of the start we were already making our way up a steep incline, and one of the mountains we’d traverse later in the race loomed ahead of us daring us to tackle it. By mile 3 none of the runners around us were running anymore. The terrain was so steep that we’d all been forced into a slow trudge up the mountain. I started to doubt if we could keep doing this for 23 more miles.

This picture doesn’t even begin to do justice to the incredible views.

By mile 6 we’d made it to the top of Roanoke Mountain.  The views were spectacular.

By mile 8 we were exhausted, and our legs were telling us this race was a big mistake. We kept going. If the uphills required determination and strength to pull ourselves to the top, the downhills required just as much determination and strength to control our descent so as not to hurt our knees or expend all our energy too early in the race.

At mile 14 we realized that we both felt pretty good – certainly much better than we’d felt at the same point during the race a few weeks ago. This came as a bit of a surprise to both of us since this course was so much harder.

By mile 18 we’d made it to the top of the Peakwood (the third mountain). It was a harder ascent than the other two because our legs were tired, but there were some great spectators to cheer us on.

Around mile 19 we’d made it to the top of another big hill. Someone offered me a thin mint cookie. It was melted and gross…..and it was the best thing I’ve ever tasted.

At mile 20 we were ready to be done, but we hadn’t hit a wall like we did during the Knoxville Marathon.

Our kids and my parents were there to cheer us on at the finish. We’d made great time considering the brutal terrain of that race.

As we rehashed the race later that evening, we were both pretty amazed at how well it had gone.

This race was far more difficult than Knoxville with a grueling course up and down mountains. Our conclusion was pretty simple. Running is a much a mental and strategic sport as it is a physical sport. Simply put, we’d run a smarter race this time. If you read my 9 Tips to Run Your Best Race, we applied those simple strategies and they worked.

Do you see that star WAAAY at the top there….

…here’s the other side of it. We ran all the way to the top.

The biggest improvement we made this time was #6.  We started out slow….really slow. At one point I was concerned we’d get picked up by the sweeper. But in the end starting out slow saved our legs for the end. And more importantly, following our plan, starting out slow, and saving our legs to the end helped us really have fun. When we look back to the Blueridge Marathon in years to come, we’ll look back with smiles at all the great memories we made that day.

Besides learning some lessons at this race about running, I learned some life lessons on those Blueridge Mountains. Catch my thoughts over here.

What are the best running tips you’ve learned during a race?