West Virginia Trilogy

Well it seems pretty crazy to be looking out the window and see clear blue skies right now given that we drove to and from WV in pouring rain and spent most of the weekend in drizzle and fog, but I'll take it. Really after 3 years of fabulous weather at Trilogy, we were bound for one year to not have perfect weather. And really I can't complain, it almost never outright rained on us, it was really a mix of heavy mist to light drizzle and temps in 40s and 50s. That is pretty much perfect running weather for me.

WV Trilogy 50k

I ran the 50k on Friday and was really missing having some of my usual trail running buddies. I knew I had to get over that though and figure out how to get through 31 miles on my own. As usual, it helped to just focus on getting from AS to AS and think about volunteers I knew along the way and  how it would be fun to see them. And I could also look forward to my favorite ultra drink, Mountain Dew, and eat some quesadillas, yum!

I was doing great through the first two AS and barely remember the first 11.3 miles. I was looking forward to getting to AS#2 and seeing Megan and Katie. And I knew I'd be 1/3 of the way through the race! They hooked me up with everything I need and I headed out quickly. I was pretty close to hitting splits for my best time at the Trilogy 50k, 8:09 in 2011. I survived the dreaded climb up Leading Ridge Trail after AS#2 and then on the descent of Swallow Rock Trail I took a really great fall into a mud pit that some might recognize as being the actual trail. I knew I was close to the bottom of the descent and close to a crossing of Seneca Creek so I picked myself up, made sure all the parts were ok, and continued running without touching anything since my hands, arms and one whole leg/hip were coated in mud. I practically took a bath in the creek to get as much mud off as I could and then tried to make up some time on the gradual run down to the Judy Springs AS for my first visit of the day (AS#3, mile 16.9). It was great to see Paula, Greg, Dennis, Jamie, Nathan, Jim Stemple and the rest of the volunteer crew at Judy Springs.

Then came the climb up Bear Hunter Trail to Allegheny Mountain again. I made it up the second big climb of the day and then tried to run as much as I could on Allegheny Mountain. The right turn down the Horton Trail finally came and I did the best I could to make time on this downhill. The trail is really skinny here and you feel like if you take one wrong step you'll go tumbling off trail and down the side of the mountain. So honestly I was really probably not going very fast for a downhill. Finally made it to the bottom and got to enjoy the spectacular views of waterfalls on the way up Seneca Creek. I saw no one on this whole section of trail until just before I got to Judy Springs again (AS#4, mile 22.6).

I got a boost seeing the Judy Springs folks again and took off out of there as fast as I could. I passed 3 runners on the way up the Judy Springs Trail and just tried to climb as best I could. Then I hit the dreaded Lumberjack Trail. It is almost flat but the challenge is that you can't get into a running groove. You have 20 feet of rocks and mud and then 40 feet of clear, runnable, single track trail. Then 30 feet of rocks and mud, then more runnable trail. For about 3 miles this seems to go on and on. I vowed to be patient and run where I could and walk where I had to. I fought temptation to just walk the next runnable section since I could see another rocky section coming up shortly - made my self run as much as I could. I passed one more guy in here that was walking pretty slowly and had a wool cap and jacket on. I asked if he needed anything, he said no. I found out later he had fallen in the creek and gotten completely soaked but was able to slog it out to the finish. I finally got to the end of Lumberjack and made the right turn onto the road. I knew it was about a 1/2 mile on the road to the last AS (AS#5, mile 27.7)where I'd see Megan and Katie. I tried to run as hard as I could, all those XMP long runs and track workouts were paying off and I made really good time.

I blew into the last AS and got some needed fuel and encouragement from Megan, Katie and all the other AS folks. And the best part is I came into the AS just as Tim and Pete Daly were about to head out for the finish. I  had seen them a couple times early in the race but had not seen them in awhile. We took off out of the AS together and blasted those last several miles of runnable trail. We were all really energized to be in the last section of the race and we were ready for a beer! The climb up Cardiac still sucked but I followed those guys up the trail bound and determined to stick with them if I could. We hit the top, passed through the fence and started the final run to the finish. The three of us crossed the finish line together in 8:13!!! Yeah, I was only 4 minutes off my best time of 8:09 in 2011!

Volunteering for the 50 Miler

For the 50 miler we got to sleep in and left for our AS at 10:15 am. Katie, Ray, Megan and I were volunteering at the Horton AS (AS#4, mile 33.6 with a 3:30 pm cut off). We had everything setup and ready to go pretty shortly after getting there and then it was just a waiting game. It didn't rain on us and the sun actually came out briefly for a few minutes before getting lost in the clouds again. The first folks that came through didn't stop for long and we had pretty steady business all the way up to the cut off. We ended up having 6 runners dnf at our AS and were out of there shortly after 4pm.

1/2 Marathon and 5k

Last day at the Trilogy, bummer! Got to sleep in again for a 9am start. Megan ran the 5k and got first in her age group. Katie and I ran the 1/2 marathon. It continued to be overcast and a little drizzly but no rain. We were able to take our tents down and get stuff loaded right after having a really great lunch. Then we got to watch the awards ceremony for the 5k, 1/2 marathon and the Trilogy. Amazing, I think there were 23 Trilogy finishers this year, that is 94 miles over three days. Glad to see Michele Harmon and Joe Clapper finish it as well as Jennifer Lipscomb. It is inspiring to see the Trilogy runners complete this weekend of running, way to go all!

Here are the pictures from the whole weekend and a link to race results on the Trilogy site.

Capon Valley 50k 2013

Yesterday was the Capon Valley 50k. As Amanda and I were running we were trying to figure out how many years we've run this race. I didn't have the answer yesterday but thanks to ultrasignup, I have that info today. This was my ninth year running it, the first year I ran it was in 2004 with Megan and Josh. I dnf'ed in 2009, missed it entirely in 2010 and have now completed the race eight times. Of the ultras I've run, this is the one I've run the most often and I think it's because of the beautiful terrain and the fact that the volunteers and organizers of this race our outstanding. I expect to be back again!

Now about the race. Carolyn and I headed out the door at 4am to drive out for the 7am start. We picked up Amanda along the way. We made it by 6am in plenty of time to check in and get ourselves organized. In the week before the race it had rained a lot and we were expecting more during the race. As the race began there were heavy clouds overhead and mist and fog in the air. It felt really humid, temps were in the 60s.

It didn't take me long to realize my legs felt like lead and that today was going to be a struggle for me. We made it to the first AS at the Goleman barn and it was not long after that that Rupa and Carolyn were putting distance on Amanda and me. I knew I couldn't pick up the pace and keep up with those guys. Rupa had recently knocked off 5 minutes from her PR 10k time and was having a great year so far. Carolyn had run her first ultra at Greenway in March and had also been having a great training and racing year. Amanda had already knocked out her 3:36 at Boston and had done six 20 milers leading up to Boston so she could have taken off with those guys but decided to stay with me and get more time on her feet for Highlands Sky.

Amanda and I had a great day of catching up after not seeing much of each other for a couple months. We enjoyed the slog up the mountain from AS3 to AS4 as well as much shoe sucking, slippery mud along various parts of the course. It was not raining at the start but it did rain for about 2 hours in the first half of the race. It felt good to me and I was glad it kept temps down. Sometime after noon the skies started to clear, temps started to climb and the gnats came out. That sucked and I was wishing for a pop-up storm. We didn't get one but it did get a little overcast again and the bugs weren't as bad. Sometime around mile 25 or so the inside of my leg started to spasm on downhills which really sucked. I had to slowly hobble down the hills which meant I was losing time where I shouldn't be. We were able to pick it up in other places though and I was only 2 minutes behind last year's time as we hit the last AS at the Goleman barn at about mile 28.

But then I lost some serious time because we had two great downhills that I couldn't take advantage of as well as one really long climb. AND they changed the last segment of the course from last year which added about 0.5 to 0.75 to that last segment and the total race distance from last year. From AS6 to the finish last year it took me 32:40, this year it took 48:48. Finish time 2012 was 7:23:38, this year was 7:41:56. That is way slow and I was disappointed that it took so long! I'll get over it though and today I'm just happy I finished on a day my legs didn't feel great!

Congrats to Rupa and Carolyn for their kick-butt time of 7:02! You guys did awesome out there!

Hope we're all back next year for Capon Valley 2014!!  Here are a few pictures from the day.

Black Mountain Marathon, 2013 edition

Training:  I’ve primarily been doing CrossFit since May, and almost exclusively since September.  Aside from the occasional sprint in a CrossFit workout, I think I’ve run 4 times since the Grand Canyon R2R2R (Trilogy 50k, 2 5ks, and part of Maryland Challenge).  I am a little stronger than in the past and probably about as fast at shorter distances, but not really long distance trained these days.  So, this was a bit of an experiment.  I think CrossFit training for running works, especially if you still get in a long run, as I did for R2R2R.  For this, I think I just coasted by on previous experience and training, plus this course favors strength with all that climbing.  I do miss running, especially with my friends, but time constraints are keeping me from it, and I’ve found something to stay fit that I enjoy equally, though it’s different.

Weather:  The forecast looked terrible.  The course was reported to have mud at lower elevations and ice/snow up high.  It had rained a ton overnight and a lot during the week.  It was predicted to be 30s and rain but turned out to be 40s and rain to start, then close to 50 by the end with no rain.  No sun, but it was perfect running weather, and we both overdressed.

History:  This was my 6^th Black Mountain Marathon!  I’ve run this with Lorrin, Michelle, and/or Paul over the years.  A lot of pure trail runners complain that there is too much pavement (probably 7 miles are not on trails) but that doesn’t bother me.  I love this race and hope to keep coming back.

Course:  As covered in previous reports, you run up a mountain (marathoners go only partway to the summit of Mount Mitchell; 40 Milers run to the summit) and then back down.  It’s a pretty rocky course, and we did not expect it to be a mudfest since it seems it would drain well.  It was a mudfest.  Runnable but slick in spots and definitely slower than in the super-dry years of the past.  No YakTraks needed, though there were about 2 miles of snow/slush/ice at the top.

Company:  I have not run a race with Paul in a long time!  It was really fun to run with him!  We ran together for about 5 hours and didn’t get tired of each other, even though we spent 8 hours together in the car the day before.  Most couples probably wouldn’t plan a marathon weekend if they had babysitting for 4 days but it seemed like a fun idea at the time.

Nutrition:  Since last April, I’ve mostly cut out grains (except beer) and processed sugars from my diet.  During the summer training, I noticed that unless it was really hot, I didn’t need as much fuel on long runs as in the past.  And when I did take a gel, it provided a much more noticeable boost than it used to.  For the 8 weeks leading up to this race, I was eating pretty clean- no grains, added sugars, dairy and even beer.   Interestingly, I found I didn’t need much fuel—I took one gel, had a bit of trail mix, and a small cup of coke.  I used to chow down at aid stations and at least half the time, my stomach would have issues in races.  The nice thing about not eating much is that my stomach felt great all race and afterwards!  And my energy level never faded.

Race:  Paul and I stayed together til mile 17.  He set us a nice uphill pace but let me know that he wasn’t having any fun after about mile 9.  I was very happy to hit the singletrack on the way up and can honestly say I really enjoyed the trails and being back in the woods running.  I went ahead on the way down as Paul’s knee issue cropped up, as expected, and he smartly opted to walk it in.  I absolutely hate the last steep downhill but I clocked about 9 min miles for the last 5 (mostly pavement) and was pleased at how strong I felt.  I finished in 6:13 and Paul in 7:15 and got the traditional fleece finisher awards.  I was hoping for around 6 hrs but I’ll blame the course conditions. 

Beer:  This area has amazing local beers!  We had some of Asheville Brewing Co.’s Ninja Porter waiting for us back at the cabin and thoughts of that kept us going at times!  Over the course of the weekend, we hit up the Black Mountain Ale House and Pisgah Brewery and also drank beers from Asheville Brewing and Highland back at the cabin.  Beer in the hot tub after a race really a great thing.