Looking Glass Training Weekend
A weekend in Pisgah scouting and training on the Looking Glass 100K course.
I spent the weekend in Pisgah National Forest scouting the course for a race, the Looking Glass 100K in November. My wife took the kids to her parent’s house, and I packed my bags and headed for the mountains. I booked a site at the Davidson River Campground outside of Brevard, NC, bought a bunch of food I was never going to eat, and made the drive west.
My primary goal was to scout the climb from Gloucester Gap to Black Balsam Knob on the Art Loeb Trail. I expect the first 20 miles of the race course to be similar to the 2023 version of the event. If this is the case, there will be about 6,500 feet of vertical gain in that first 20 miles and I need to be able to do that, not get cut off, and then still be able to run 40 more miles.
The bulk of the 6,500 feet is between Gloucester Gap and Black Balsam. 1,800 feet stand between the gap and the summit of Pilot Mountain (not the state park) and 1,400 feet of climbing is required to get from Farlow Gap to the Blue Ridge Parkway, with the whole seven-mile climb totaling about 4,000 feet of vertical gain.
In 2023, Looking Glass 100K participants had three hours between cutoffs at Gloucester Gap and Black Balsam. I expect to be running up on cutoffs all day, so I wanted to see how I measured up with three and a half months until race day. Unable to find a loop with a reasonable amount of mileage, I settled for a simple out-and-back.
With climb happening about 14 miles into the race, I did not want this test run done on fresh legs. The day before, I chose a route of 10 miles with 2,500 feet of vert that would preview the first four miles of the expected course. I planned on it being an easy day that would fatigue my legs but would also not leave me stranded in Farlow Gap the following day.
After spending the entire night before getting rained on, my brain did not make the connection that if it rained at the campsite, it might also have rained on the trails surrounding the campground. I picked my trusty but blown-out Altra Lone Peaks because I needed to save my Altra Timps for the following day. This turned out to be a mistake. I spent the entire run (hike) slipping on every root and rock my feet touched. At one point, my feet rode a root off the side of the trail and I thought I was going to slide off the ridge and I started wishing I had an ice axe to self-arrest.
During the early miles, Coach Aaron Saft and his pacer passed me as he was starting his attempt at a double traverse of the entire Art Loeb Trail. While listening to his podcast on the drive to western North Carolina, I learned that he would be attempting the double, but I did not know when, so it was fun to see him start. This would not be my last podcast interaction of the weekend. We exchanged pleasantries and I wished them luck as they ran ahead.
On Saturday afternoon, I was well recovered but started getting in my head about the big day. I recognized this anxiety as something I dealt with the year prior before a big, solo day in the mountains. I began negotiating with myself: “you’ve done enough” and “maybe you can just go run the greenway.” I decided what I needed was to start closer to sunrise and that would help with the anxiety. After making sure everything was ready for a quiet exit in the morning, the rain started as I climbed into my hammock to go to sleep.
When my alarm went off at 5:00 am, I turned it off. The rained had not stopped all night and I knew the trails were going to be a soupy mess. I decided not to go and went back to sleep. At 7:00 am, I woke again. The sun was up, and I asked Barry for a forecast via text. He said it was it was clear after 9:00 am. With that, I got up and got ready. I would, at minimum, start and see how the day played out.
I started the climb up Pilot Mountain. I slid back down a couple of inches with every step up, but I put my head down and kept pushing up. I made it to 1,000 feet gained and figured, “what’s 800 more?” and made a push to the summit. The summit treated me to a view of several yards in all directions. At the summit, I decided to drop into Deep Gap so I could get at least 2,000 feet for the day. This continued to be a trend throughout the morning. I would hit a milestone and decide I could go to the next one. The next big decision point was Farlow Gap. It was a 1,400-foot climb to the Parkway, but I was feeling good and forged ahead.
Once I reached the Parkway, I knew I was close the Black Balsam and mailed it in mentally. This turned out to be a mistake. There are nearly two miles of the muddiest bullshit between the Parkway and Black Balsam Knob summit. The upside is that it is also not marked well, and I took a wrong turn where the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and the Art Loeb diverge after joining briefly. This is also when I saw the first people of the day since you can drive almost to the top of Black Balsam. For a day with no views, it was quite busy. Before reaching the summit, I ran into three runners that I assumed were doing the entire Art Loeb and mumbled a hello.
After popping out of on to the bald, I got cold for the first time. I had been wet all day, but the climbing warmed me up. The wind on the exposed bald cut right to the bone. It reminded me why it was worth carrying the extra weight in the form of a rain jacket and emergency bivvy. After taking a brief look around (I don’t linger, as Barry once said), I turned back and started plotting the fastest way down.
I knew I could cut off the bullshit section if I ran down the road and took the Parkway back to the Art Loeb and that’s what I did. There is no shoulder, so I ran against traffic with my red carbide tipped trekking poles out to the side. A driver might be willing to hit me, but they stay clear of the poles. As soon as I hit the Parkway, I saw it was closed and had to make a decision. It was a mile to the trail and there very well could be a landslide between me and trail. If that was the case, I would have to backtrack and climb back up and get back on the Art Loeb from Black Balsam. I decided to risk it and quite enjoyed running a 14-minute mile with no traffic. It felt almost apocalyptic in the dense fog.
The road was clear and once back on the Art Loeb, I was making good time as the trail had dried. I thought I heard voices and started catastrophizing. Scenes played in my head about getting run down and attacked. I had to tell myself that no one was out here waiting to attack me as we were at least three hard miles from a parking lot. I convinced myself that I was hearing my pack rustle as I moved.
While climbing out of Farlow Gap to Sassafras Knob, I learned where the voices had come from as the three runners I saw earlier were running up behind me. I wondered how I had passed them because the shortcut I took was not really a shortcut. I asked and they confirmed that they were running the entire Art Loeb, and I thought that was impressive considering the conditions. Upon reaching Deep Gap, I started to look for my shortcut to the bottom. I am like a truffle pig for a mountain road and the map showed a road that, not only cut off the Pilot Mountain summit, but also excluded the switchbacks. After finding it and weighing the risks, I decided to take it and try out my running legs again. The risk paid off as it was the plushest mountain road I’ve ever seen, and it was an absolute pleasure to run down for the final miles of the day.
Back at my car, I heard the voices again and I offered the three runners aid, since I was prepared to run 100 miles out of my car. The only thing they asked for was to take their trash. We stood around and introduced ourselves. Raven, Emma, and Brad wondered how I beat them down the mountain and I divulged my secret road. After a few minutes, I recognized Raven’s name from a Facing Vert podcast episode after she finished Hellbender this year. I also found out Emma is running Looking Glass as well. I wished them luck on their last ten miles and headed back to Brevard to get some lunch.
This weekend was my biggest training weekend since Umstead, and I’m pleased how it went. I faced and overcame some adversity and anxiety and still managed to do everything I had planned (except Tennent, but those were junk miles anyway). In nasty conditions, I did the climb from Gloucester Gap to Black Balsam (the road where the aid station should be) in 3:16. I have a lot of work to do but I’m hopeful I will get there by race day.
My strength training in the four months since Umstead is paying dividends. I never felt weak and felt I could climb another 5,000 feet if I needed to. I was able to run downhill with ease on the smoother, less muddy terrain. I also was not sore or tired from the first day. The quad I hurt at Umstead held up all day. Along with these revelations, I was reminded of the importance of shoe choice. After trouble on the first day, the Timps stole the show and I was only sliding in mud, which crampons wouldn’t have stopped. Hopefully, I’ll get a few more chances to practice in the mountains prior to race day.
Never linger.