The two weeks leading up to the Catoctin 50K were unintentionally tapering
weeks. I initially planned to keep training at a relatively high mileage for
most of that time and just rest up in the final few days before Catoctin but a
busy schedule with various responsibilities kept that from happening. I
probably ran around 40 miles those two weeks.
Going into the race I felt pretty good about my fitness. I knew I had done a
lot of hill work and enough longer runs that endurance shouldn't be a problem,
but of course there is the question of whether or not I could hold up over the
rugged ~33 mile course.
Ran morning was uneventful. KS and KB crewed for me and I had a pretty basic
plan to take one water bottle at each road crossing since the foretasted high
was 81 and it usually even cooler on the mountain. I took half ”super
Gatorade" and half water in the bottles and plenty of electrolytes in the
pocket. As I started out down from the Team Room the race was relatively
uneventful. I ran with three guys who I had picked out already as guys who I
knew would be running fast and we set off into the valley. I don't like running
downhill behind someone so I slipped around and ran in the lead most of the way
to Hamburg with the three closely behind me. I felt very comfortable, and
nobody seemed too eager to push the pace so there was plenty of hiking on the
uphills.
Ran through Hamburg with a new water bottle and kept the pace relatively
relaxed. One of the group who eventually caught up took off at a very fast pace
but he said it was because he was only running to the Manor. Sure enough I
never saw him again all day. Somewhere before Delaugter the group was only I
and eventual winner Jason Lantz. We ran at what felt like a nice pace until the
manner in 2:32. Coming out of the manner Jason took off as soon as we got to
the top of the steep hill after Catoctin Hollow Rd. I was running pretty well
but he was simply blazing and I didn't see him again until the finish. As it
turns out he ran a great second half in 3:35, hardly slowing down at all.
Somewhere around Delauter inbound I started to feel my legs getting quite
tired, but it was not really until approaching Hamburg that I could feel the
wheels really coming off. I was passed about a mile before Hamburg and I was in
3rd at the time. I took 2 water bottles for the first time all day at Hamburg
inbound which ended up being a wise decision. As they typically are, those 6
miles were gloriously painful as I forced myself to run all flat and downhill
sections and resigned to hiking all uphills but eventually I made it to the
finish line in 6:02.
In hindsight if I had ran more conservatively there is probably a good
chance I would have gotten second (second ran 5:40) but I went for the win
running with Jason for as long as possible while keeping the pace pretty
relaxed and in the end I didn't quite have the legs to keep up.
The Steamtown Marathon quickly approaches in early October and then the
Stone Mill 50 in mid-November so I am looking forward to a bit of a change in
pace in the coming weeks as I do some more road specific training for
Steamtown.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
7/2-7/8
Monday 7/2 - 6 miles - Did an easy run from 355 to the Seneca Creek Greenway trail.
Tuesday 7/3 - 9 miles - Another easy run on the Seneca Creek Greenway trail from 355 to Brink Rd.
Wednesday 7/4 - 7 miles - Was planning on doing the valley from the lower parking lot today but I encountered a group of runners on the trail and I was having too much fun trying to catch all of them that I didn't notice I turned off the blue trail onto the black trail. I decided to just go with that and kept following the black trail, and then took the green trail and then the yellow trail back to the parking lot. I really enjoyed this loop since it is almost all up or down so I decided that doing three loops was plenty of hill work which would be the goal of doing the valley in the first place.
Thursday 7/5 - 9 miles - Seneca Creek Greenway trail from 355 to Brink Rd. Pushed the hills hard whenever I encountered one.
Friday 7/6 - ~2miles - Time was short today but I managed to go up and get in a little hill workout. I did the loop I discovered Wednesday once very hard in a bit of a time trials (22:16).
Saturday 7/7 - off - Traveling to Philadelphia with other students in my internship for the weekend.
Sunday 7/8 - 3 miles - Did the Philadelphia color run with some other fellow students in my internship. We ran it easy and have a great time.
Total: 36 miles
Not a whole lot of mileage but the week was relatively solid, I just didn't have time to do any long running on the weekends. Given that I only plan to take a week easy to "taper" for Catoctin considering the circumstances I am confident I will still be able to get two more solid weekends of long run in and be in relatively fit condition once I toe the line.
Tuesday 7/3 - 9 miles - Another easy run on the Seneca Creek Greenway trail from 355 to Brink Rd.
Wednesday 7/4 - 7 miles - Was planning on doing the valley from the lower parking lot today but I encountered a group of runners on the trail and I was having too much fun trying to catch all of them that I didn't notice I turned off the blue trail onto the black trail. I decided to just go with that and kept following the black trail, and then took the green trail and then the yellow trail back to the parking lot. I really enjoyed this loop since it is almost all up or down so I decided that doing three loops was plenty of hill work which would be the goal of doing the valley in the first place.
Thursday 7/5 - 9 miles - Seneca Creek Greenway trail from 355 to Brink Rd. Pushed the hills hard whenever I encountered one.
Friday 7/6 - ~2miles - Time was short today but I managed to go up and get in a little hill workout. I did the loop I discovered Wednesday once very hard in a bit of a time trials (22:16).
Saturday 7/7 - off - Traveling to Philadelphia with other students in my internship for the weekend.
Sunday 7/8 - 3 miles - Did the Philadelphia color run with some other fellow students in my internship. We ran it easy and have a great time.
Total: 36 miles
Not a whole lot of mileage but the week was relatively solid, I just didn't have time to do any long running on the weekends. Given that I only plan to take a week easy to "taper" for Catoctin considering the circumstances I am confident I will still be able to get two more solid weekends of long run in and be in relatively fit condition once I toe the line.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
6/18-7/1
Monday 6/18 - 6 miles - I was pretty tired and feeling the relatively high mileage weekend today so I decided to do an easy 6 mile "recovery run" on the Seneca Trail from 355 to Watkins Mill Rd. Some random person pulled up behind me at one point and so I wasn't about to get passed which meant I picked it up big time for the last 2 miles or so.
Tuesday 6/19 - 11 miles - Nothing too special today. Ran on the Seneca Trail from 355 to Huntmaster Rd. and back.
Wednesday 6/20 - 11 miles - The distance here is approximate. I did a big baker park look for a warm up and cool down (~ 2 miles each loop), a 1 mile warm up on the track the Steeps, the 2 mile SDS race (11:51), and the 3x800m relay with two laps in the outer lanes in-between as well as three laps with Joe Basford in the outer lanes (he's trying to come back from plantar fasciitis.
Thursday 6/21 - 11 miles - The heat today was pretty excruciating, with a high somewhere around 97 and plenty of humidity to go with it. I was still able to get out and repeat Tuesday's workout and I felt pretty comfortable in the hot temperatures to boot, which means I must be acclimating well.
Friday 6/22 - 5 miles - I did the 5 mile Jefferson loop when I got back in town. I trip to Carrabba's was too hard to resist and I have some lingering training pains/soreness that I would like to give a chance to heal before a big weekend.
Saturday 6/23 - ~0 miles - Plan was for a double valley crossing today but it only took a half mile down the trail to realize that was not going to happen. What I thought was just some training pain/soreness yesterday was now some sort of full blown injury.
Sunday 6/24 - 0 miles - Pain felt pretty bad today, but I was able to diagnose it to some extent. It reminds me of when I nearly dislocated my shoulder when I fell on a trail run, but in my hip...
Monday 6/25 - 0 miles - Rest. Height of pain.
Tuesday 6/26 - 0 miles - Rest. Pain subsiding.
Wednesday 6/27 - 0 miles - Rest. Pain nearly gone (90%).
Thursday 6/28 - 5 miles - Ran with my roommate for my internship, so the first ~4 miles were pretty brisk for me and then I split off as he did a few more to run the last mile or so easily. Leg felt good other than the expected tightness from not having run.
Friday 6/29 - 5 miles - Ran the 5 mile Jefferson loop out through the Roundtree development. It was quite hot out but I felt pretty good the whole time. Just trying to stay relaxed and watch for any recurring pain, fortunately there was none.
Saturday 7/1 - 12 miles - Ran from Hamburg Rd. to the upper parking lot and back. I wanted to make this a bit of a time trial and I made it to the upper parking lot in about 1:08. I stopped to talk to some fellow runners for a few minutes on the way back and finished in 2:18 so in reality I negative split it despite the fact that I toned down the intensity once I realized I didn't have my climbing legs.
Sunday 7/2 - 11 miles - Ran to Fishing Creek Rd. and back from Hamburg Rd. Saw Steve Dobson and Tim Hugen around the time I got to Fishing Creek so I booked it from there to Dalauter to catch up to them. My climbing legs felt much better today. Did not run in the PM as I had to go grocery shopping on the way back to Gaithersburg and couldn't let them sit in the 100+ degree car...
Total: 33 miles
Overall not a bad week considering the time off. I have made myself take it easy to avoid a re-injury. Considering this lost training time I will have to modify my training plan and aim for less of a taper (one very easy week). I am still confident I will make it to the line in Gambrill the last weekend in July in relatively good fitness.
Tuesday 6/19 - 11 miles - Nothing too special today. Ran on the Seneca Trail from 355 to Huntmaster Rd. and back.
Wednesday 6/20 - 11 miles - The distance here is approximate. I did a big baker park look for a warm up and cool down (~ 2 miles each loop), a 1 mile warm up on the track the Steeps, the 2 mile SDS race (11:51), and the 3x800m relay with two laps in the outer lanes in-between as well as three laps with Joe Basford in the outer lanes (he's trying to come back from plantar fasciitis.
Thursday 6/21 - 11 miles - The heat today was pretty excruciating, with a high somewhere around 97 and plenty of humidity to go with it. I was still able to get out and repeat Tuesday's workout and I felt pretty comfortable in the hot temperatures to boot, which means I must be acclimating well.
Friday 6/22 - 5 miles - I did the 5 mile Jefferson loop when I got back in town. I trip to Carrabba's was too hard to resist and I have some lingering training pains/soreness that I would like to give a chance to heal before a big weekend.
Saturday 6/23 - ~0 miles - Plan was for a double valley crossing today but it only took a half mile down the trail to realize that was not going to happen. What I thought was just some training pain/soreness yesterday was now some sort of full blown injury.
Sunday 6/24 - 0 miles - Pain felt pretty bad today, but I was able to diagnose it to some extent. It reminds me of when I nearly dislocated my shoulder when I fell on a trail run, but in my hip...
Monday 6/25 - 0 miles - Rest. Height of pain.
Tuesday 6/26 - 0 miles - Rest. Pain subsiding.
Wednesday 6/27 - 0 miles - Rest. Pain nearly gone (90%).
Thursday 6/28 - 5 miles - Ran with my roommate for my internship, so the first ~4 miles were pretty brisk for me and then I split off as he did a few more to run the last mile or so easily. Leg felt good other than the expected tightness from not having run.
Friday 6/29 - 5 miles - Ran the 5 mile Jefferson loop out through the Roundtree development. It was quite hot out but I felt pretty good the whole time. Just trying to stay relaxed and watch for any recurring pain, fortunately there was none.
Saturday 7/1 - 12 miles - Ran from Hamburg Rd. to the upper parking lot and back. I wanted to make this a bit of a time trial and I made it to the upper parking lot in about 1:08. I stopped to talk to some fellow runners for a few minutes on the way back and finished in 2:18 so in reality I negative split it despite the fact that I toned down the intensity once I realized I didn't have my climbing legs.
Sunday 7/2 - 11 miles - Ran to Fishing Creek Rd. and back from Hamburg Rd. Saw Steve Dobson and Tim Hugen around the time I got to Fishing Creek so I booked it from there to Dalauter to catch up to them. My climbing legs felt much better today. Did not run in the PM as I had to go grocery shopping on the way back to Gaithersburg and couldn't let them sit in the 100+ degree car...
Total: 33 miles
Overall not a bad week considering the time off. I have made myself take it easy to avoid a re-injury. Considering this lost training time I will have to modify my training plan and aim for less of a taper (one very easy week). I am still confident I will make it to the line in Gambrill the last weekend in July in relatively good fitness.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
6/11-6/17
Monday 6/11 - 8 miles - Ran on the Seneca south towards Riffle Ford Rd (sp?) which would have made 9 miles. I thought I got there as I passed under some road but I kept going. Eventually I got to a four-way intersection in the trail and I decided that was a good time to turn around. Upon looking at the maps Riffle Ford was probably a few hundred yards ahead.
Tuesday 6/12 - 9 miles - Ran on Seneca north to Wightman/Brink and back. Unbearably humid today (95%).
Wednesday 6/13 - 7 miles - Summer decathlon series today with the event being the 600m run. I didn't really want to push it too hard today, mainly just have fun and finish strong. Hopefully that would mean I would avoid unecessary interruptions in Catoctin training due yo soreness. The race was pretty uneventful. I was in last until about 300m to go until I passed about half of those infront of me with a strong finish. I also did plenty of other warm up/cool down. My calves felt shredded after the running.
Thursday 6/14 - 9 miles - Seneca north to Wightman/Brink and back.
Friday 6/15 - 6 miles - Seneca north to Brink and back. Contemplated doing this twice but decided to be conservative in my training.
Saturday 6/16 - 20 miles - Ran on the Catoctin blue trail with Tim Hugen to the Manor Area and back. Felt strong the whole time, and I probably could have gone to the Tea Room and back as well but again I want to be conservative this week. Another similar-length long run tomorrow and I will be well on pace for my rough goal milage this week. No need to overdo it...
Sunday 6/17 - 17 miles
AM (08:00) - Ran with the Steeplechasers 11 miles. The "5 miles loop" and then out and back on the Catoctin Trail to Delauter Rd. Followed up by a fun time at the anual FMO (Fathers, Mothers, Others) cookout at Mike O's house.
PM (19:00) - Ran on the Seneca Greenway Trail from 355 to Brink Rd. Legs felt quite tired after the long week but I was happy to get in a few more miles on my way back to Gaithersburg.
Total: 76 miles
This was a great week. It was by far the most miles I have ever done in one training week and at the same time this milage felt sustainable and I don't think I was overdoing anything. Next week I am hoping to get up over 90 miles, Catoctin awaits...
Tuesday 6/12 - 9 miles - Ran on Seneca north to Wightman/Brink and back. Unbearably humid today (95%).
Wednesday 6/13 - 7 miles - Summer decathlon series today with the event being the 600m run. I didn't really want to push it too hard today, mainly just have fun and finish strong. Hopefully that would mean I would avoid unecessary interruptions in Catoctin training due yo soreness. The race was pretty uneventful. I was in last until about 300m to go until I passed about half of those infront of me with a strong finish. I also did plenty of other warm up/cool down. My calves felt shredded after the running.
Thursday 6/14 - 9 miles - Seneca north to Wightman/Brink and back.
Friday 6/15 - 6 miles - Seneca north to Brink and back. Contemplated doing this twice but decided to be conservative in my training.
Saturday 6/16 - 20 miles - Ran on the Catoctin blue trail with Tim Hugen to the Manor Area and back. Felt strong the whole time, and I probably could have gone to the Tea Room and back as well but again I want to be conservative this week. Another similar-length long run tomorrow and I will be well on pace for my rough goal milage this week. No need to overdo it...
Sunday 6/17 - 17 miles
AM (08:00) - Ran with the Steeplechasers 11 miles. The "5 miles loop" and then out and back on the Catoctin Trail to Delauter Rd. Followed up by a fun time at the anual FMO (Fathers, Mothers, Others) cookout at Mike O's house.
PM (19:00) - Ran on the Seneca Greenway Trail from 355 to Brink Rd. Legs felt quite tired after the long week but I was happy to get in a few more miles on my way back to Gaithersburg.
Total: 76 miles
This was a great week. It was by far the most miles I have ever done in one training week and at the same time this milage felt sustainable and I don't think I was overdoing anything. Next week I am hoping to get up over 90 miles, Catoctin awaits...
Monday, June 11, 2012
5/28-6/10
Monday 5/28 - 6 miles -Ran from 355 to Brink Rd. and back on the Seneca Creek Greenway trail. Foot still hurting a bit.
Tuesday 5/29 - 6 miles - Ran 355 to Brink Rd. again. Foot still slightly sore.
Wednesday 5/30 - 7 miles - Steeplechasers decathlon event #1 (1600m) in 5:06. Plenty of other running for warm up/cool down. Foot felt good but not perfect.
Thursday 5/31 - 6 miles - 355 to Brink Rd. once again. Foot still somehow a bit sore but I do feel like it is healing.
Friday 6/1 - 6 miles - Thunder storms started to roll in around 5 and by the time I got to the 355 trail access point they were really starting to pick up. Most of the run to Brink Rd. and back ended up being muddy and rainy but still enjoyable. Unfortunately about a half mile out I fell again and scrapped the scabs clean off the same knee I fell on last week. This was very painful and I am sure I will have a nasty scar. Foot feels about 99% which was a good sign. I ran in the MT101's which I think somehow helped.
Saturday 6/2 - 0 miles - Decided to rest today to try and let my knee heal up so I can get in a good run tomorrow, and I figure it will be nice to make sure my foot is fully healed.
Sunday 6/3 – 0 miles – Rest
Total: 31 miles
Monday 6/4 – 0 miles – Rest
Tuesday – 6/5 – 6 miles - Felt good to be back running again. My knee had healed enough so it was not an open oozing wound so I felt fine running with it. My knee was a bit tweaked though after limping around for three days to minimize the pain to my scrapes while wearing long pants at work/around simply walking around the house.Wednesday – 6/6 - ~9 miles – Steeplechasers decathlon series #2. This week’s event was the 1000m. I didn’t really have particularly high hopes for this race as I thought it might require more speed than I have, given that I have not done any speed workouts since last summer. I did roughly 5 miles warm-up here and there prior to the race. I hung with Chad C. for the first lap but we went through in 66/67, which was a tad fast so I let him go and focused on running my own race. At the 800m mark I believe I went through in ~2:20 and I was able to finish strong in 2:54, avoiding getting outkicked by anyone and gaining a ton of ground on Chad. The workout afterwards was an 8x200m relay, which I tried to put a lot of effort into so it could help me pick up some speed. I did a little cool down around Frederick for somewhere around 9 miles on the day.
Thursday – 6/7 – 9 miles – Ran on the Seneca Creek Greenway to the Brink Rd. crossing and back. Legs felt a little sore from the previous day but not too bad.
Friday – 6/8 – 0 miles – Strangely enough my calves were extremely sore today, rather than yesterday as a result of the hard 200’s on Wednesday. This was disappointing but nothing to get too upset about. I might have been able to run through it but the key is to feel good for the weekend where I was hoping to get in some long runs.
Saturday – 6/9 - ~5.5 miles – Ran from Hamburg Rd. to Delauter Rd. and then took Gambrill Park Rd. back to Hamburg. Calves still somehow sore…
Sunday – 6/10 – 16 miles – Ran with the Steeplechasers from Hamburg Rd. to the cliffs overlook above the manor area. According to Larry they are called “Rattlesnake Cliffs”, not as I had previously referred to them. This was a good run. I definitely could have done a good many more miles and I felt strong the whole time, running all the uphills. I decided against running a few extra miles due to 1) being very dehydrated by the time I finished and 2) wanting to feel good for tomorrow so I can put together a strong and consistent week of training.
Total: 45.5
Despite a setback beyond my control (ok, so maybe I could have decided not to run during a thunderstorm…) and overindulging on 200’s this was a pretty good week. The foot soreness mentioned previously seems to have abated enough so that it is a non-issue and my motivation and confidence is strong. This next week rather than set a specific mileage goal I will just try to get in ~9 miles each weekday and then do what I can on the weekend. A Catoctin 50k course run would be nice.
Monday, May 28, 2012
5/21-5/27
Monday 5/21 - 0 miles - Rest day again today. Probably could have run but I had plenty of chores to take care of and it rained all day long.
Tuesday 5/22 - 4 miles - Cambridge Farms over to Briarcrest 4 mile loop. Hamstrings still pretty sore but they loosened up and it felt good to push through some soreness and discomfort.
Wednesday 5/23 - 13.5 miles - PM (1400): Gathland to Weverton, but decided to turn around 50 minutes out so probably around 10 miles. PM (2230): Easy ~3.5 miles with two other roommates for my internship.
Thursday 5/24 - 8 miles - Did 6 miles pretty fast with one of my roommates for my internship (Darren)and then ran until I hit the hour mark to end up with around 8 on the day. There was a nice refreshing light rain the whole time to offset the heat and humidity.
Friday 5/25 - 11.5 miles - Ran around 2.5-3 miles or so with some new people for my internship at a nice and easy pace, then went to the Seneca Creek Greenway trail off 355 and ran to Brink Rd (~9 miles).
Saturday 5/26 - ~0 miles - When I woke up this morning the inside of my right foot was sore in the area that might lead to pronation (I'm not doctor through). Which I mainly train in racing flats I do indeed still have a pretty moderate pronation, and it seems maybe the recent increase in training has stressed this area. After running maybe a half mile or so I could tell it was still quite sore and decided to call it a day. Hopefully it will be healed tomorrow.
Sunday 5/27 - 11.5 miles - Hamburg Rd. to the upper parking lot at Gambrill, but not quite all the way to the Tea Room. Fell about 5 feet into the run and scrapped up my knee pretty well. Of course 2 hours of running had the dirt nice and fused together with my clotting blood... Foot held up well.
Total: 48.5 miles
Tuesday 5/22 - 4 miles - Cambridge Farms over to Briarcrest 4 mile loop. Hamstrings still pretty sore but they loosened up and it felt good to push through some soreness and discomfort.
Wednesday 5/23 - 13.5 miles - PM (1400): Gathland to Weverton, but decided to turn around 50 minutes out so probably around 10 miles. PM (2230): Easy ~3.5 miles with two other roommates for my internship.
Thursday 5/24 - 8 miles - Did 6 miles pretty fast with one of my roommates for my internship (Darren)and then ran until I hit the hour mark to end up with around 8 on the day. There was a nice refreshing light rain the whole time to offset the heat and humidity.
Friday 5/25 - 11.5 miles - Ran around 2.5-3 miles or so with some new people for my internship at a nice and easy pace, then went to the Seneca Creek Greenway trail off 355 and ran to Brink Rd (~9 miles).
Saturday 5/26 - ~0 miles - When I woke up this morning the inside of my right foot was sore in the area that might lead to pronation (I'm not doctor through). Which I mainly train in racing flats I do indeed still have a pretty moderate pronation, and it seems maybe the recent increase in training has stressed this area. After running maybe a half mile or so I could tell it was still quite sore and decided to call it a day. Hopefully it will be healed tomorrow.
Sunday 5/27 - 11.5 miles - Hamburg Rd. to the upper parking lot at Gambrill, but not quite all the way to the Tea Room. Fell about 5 feet into the run and scrapped up my knee pretty well. Of course 2 hours of running had the dirt nice and fused together with my clotting blood... Foot held up well.
Total: 48.5 miles
Sunday, May 20, 2012
5/14-5/20
Monday 5/14 - 0 miles - Rest. Bruise on vastus medialis seemed to flare up after the Sunday trail run.
Tuesday 5/15 - 3 miles - Did the 3 mile Cambridge farm loop out through Briarcrest.
Wednesday 5/16 - 5 miles - Standard Jefferson loop out through Roundtree.
Thursday 5/17 - 9 miles - C&O Canal from Brunswick out to the AT, up to Weverton Cliffs and back. Didn't push very hard on the climb to Weveron, and forced myself to do some hiking. Wanted to be relatively fresh for the Capon Valley 50K on Saturday.
Friday 5/17 - 0 miles - Rest day. I wanted to make sure the bruise was fully healed as well as some other nagging issues going into the Capon Valley 50k the following day.
Saturday 5/18 - 30 miles - Capon Valley 50k in Yellow Spring WV today. I placed 4th overall in a time of 4:34:57. The course was apparently short but I did not wear my GPS so I can't confirm. Full race report here. Overall it was a great race on a beautiful course and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Total: 47 miles
This was a great week, starting with some solid training runs on their own and culminating with a fantastic time at the Capon Valley 50k. I start my internship next week so I will be very close to the Seneca Creek Greenway trail, where I hope to to most of my summer training.
Tuesday 5/15 - 3 miles - Did the 3 mile Cambridge farm loop out through Briarcrest.
Wednesday 5/16 - 5 miles - Standard Jefferson loop out through Roundtree.
Thursday 5/17 - 9 miles - C&O Canal from Brunswick out to the AT, up to Weverton Cliffs and back. Didn't push very hard on the climb to Weveron, and forced myself to do some hiking. Wanted to be relatively fresh for the Capon Valley 50K on Saturday.
Friday 5/17 - 0 miles - Rest day. I wanted to make sure the bruise was fully healed as well as some other nagging issues going into the Capon Valley 50k the following day.
Saturday 5/18 - 30 miles - Capon Valley 50k in Yellow Spring WV today. I placed 4th overall in a time of 4:34:57. The course was apparently short but I did not wear my GPS so I can't confirm. Full race report here. Overall it was a great race on a beautiful course and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Total: 47 miles
This was a great week, starting with some solid training runs on their own and culminating with a fantastic time at the Capon Valley 50k. I start my internship next week so I will be very close to the Seneca Creek Greenway trail, where I hope to to most of my summer training.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Capon Valley 50k
Earlier today I ran the Capon Valley 50k, a relatively low-key 50K race in Yellow Spring WV on various gravel roads, jeep roads, the Tuscarora Trail, and some pavement. Going into the race I was just starting to train seriously after a busy semester of only 20-40 mile weeks. My preparation I knew was better than for the Seneca 50k, consisting of the Mount 30, and the Mount 40, plus a nice run the previous weekend of maybe 16 miles or so with the Steeplechasers, but I knew I would have to take things in stride on race day.
I left Jefferson ahead of schedule around 4:15am, but that proved to be a wise decision as I missed several exits along the way. The race plan was to carry one water bottle packed with Endurolytes in the pocket and stick to equal ratios of Gatorade:water, which worked at Seneca.
When the race started out I didn't know what kind of competition there would be. I knew the top previous finisher from last year ran 4:52, a time I felt I could run so I figured maybe I would have a chance to win. Starting out the first mile was on roads and I hung with a lead pack of 4 guys, simply feeling out their pace. As it would turn out we went through one mile (as judged by GPS beeps) in 6:5x, which was a tad fast. I let the other three guys pull away at this point knowing that I should pace myself on top of my legs feeling flat after a rest day yesterday.
I cruised into the first aid station without much fanfare. Topped off on Gatorade:water and headed out. As my luck would have it I didn't actually fill up with water, but rather HEED, which tasted awful. I almost got lost somewhere between AS1 and AS2 but fortunately I saw others following the trail out of the corner of my eye and was able to fix my mistake before it cost me big time. From AS2 to AS5 I started to settle into a good rhythm. I ran with the eventual female winner (Meg Harnett) for this part of the race and it was nice to have someone to keep me from mentally checking out and keep the pace honest
One of the hallmarks of this race are the stream crossings. I believe the saying goes: "There is only one stream crossing... But you cross it about 30 times..." I enjoyed these crossings immensely. My New Balance MT110's drained like a well designed pasta strainer and there is just something inherently fun about splashing through streams like a kid.
As I left AS5 I hung with Meg Harnett for a while but up one large climb I simply couldn't keep the pace and I toned down the hiking speed. I tried to make up the ground at the top of the climb but it was no use, I was entering my only serious low point of the race. While I had been popping Endurolytes like an addict I do not think I got sufficient sodium, so I also started to cramp up at this point. I also mentally lost focus here and started to once again ask myself why I put myself through such an unpleasant endeavor. Miraculously I did however end up catching the 5th place runner during this stretch as he ran maybe a few hundred meters off course down a gravel road before I yelled to him he was going the wrong way. This helped to lift me out of death march mode and into a more moderate shuffling/running mode. I figured I probably had almost 10 miles or so to go at this point, so I was feeling pretty miserable.
Then things quickly turned around. AS6 is the same as AS1, and all of a sudden I had an epiphany: "Wait, I only have 3 miles left!". This was contrary to what I had previously thought: that I had much more pain and suffering to go through. My adrenaline kicked in I only took some Mountain Dew at AS6 for a caffeine boost before heading out. The 5th place runner who was right behind me asked to sit down so I knew if I could keep the engines going I was on my way to a strong overall finish. On top of that my watch read 4:11-12 or so, so I knew a fast time was almost guaranteed. The last three miles (although probably short) I ran much faster than the first three and they were arguably the miles I both enjoyed most during the race and the miles I felt the strongest. I could have ran even faster then I did but anytime I started to accelerate cramps kicked in so I just held steady. The fact that I finished so strong has me wondering what I could have done in a 50 mile race, and certainly it shows that my problems are still mostly a matter of mental conditioning.
In the end I am immensely satisfied with my result. Someone ahead of me ended up getting lost so I was actually 4th overall in 4:34:57. I finished way under my "best case scenario" time goal of 4:45. After the race my legs also left really good and I was able to do some light running without discomfort which shows good physical fitness. At the same time this was a valuable learning experience. I know that my physical fitness is not at all a barrier (especially considering my lack of training in the past few months) so if I want to continue to improve I need to work on being tougher mentally. I know that I need to look into S-caps, as an alternative way to get in more sodium and prevent cramping as races like the Catoctin 50k will be far hotter than the race today. Finally, this provides a nice motivational boost going forward into a more serious summer training phase. I can honestly say I have never had this much fun running in my entire life, and I am excited to see what the future brings.
I left Jefferson ahead of schedule around 4:15am, but that proved to be a wise decision as I missed several exits along the way. The race plan was to carry one water bottle packed with Endurolytes in the pocket and stick to equal ratios of Gatorade:water, which worked at Seneca.
When the race started out I didn't know what kind of competition there would be. I knew the top previous finisher from last year ran 4:52, a time I felt I could run so I figured maybe I would have a chance to win. Starting out the first mile was on roads and I hung with a lead pack of 4 guys, simply feeling out their pace. As it would turn out we went through one mile (as judged by GPS beeps) in 6:5x, which was a tad fast. I let the other three guys pull away at this point knowing that I should pace myself on top of my legs feeling flat after a rest day yesterday.
I cruised into the first aid station without much fanfare. Topped off on Gatorade:water and headed out. As my luck would have it I didn't actually fill up with water, but rather HEED, which tasted awful. I almost got lost somewhere between AS1 and AS2 but fortunately I saw others following the trail out of the corner of my eye and was able to fix my mistake before it cost me big time. From AS2 to AS5 I started to settle into a good rhythm. I ran with the eventual female winner (Meg Harnett) for this part of the race and it was nice to have someone to keep me from mentally checking out and keep the pace honest
One of the hallmarks of this race are the stream crossings. I believe the saying goes: "There is only one stream crossing... But you cross it about 30 times..." I enjoyed these crossings immensely. My New Balance MT110's drained like a well designed pasta strainer and there is just something inherently fun about splashing through streams like a kid.
As I left AS5 I hung with Meg Harnett for a while but up one large climb I simply couldn't keep the pace and I toned down the hiking speed. I tried to make up the ground at the top of the climb but it was no use, I was entering my only serious low point of the race. While I had been popping Endurolytes like an addict I do not think I got sufficient sodium, so I also started to cramp up at this point. I also mentally lost focus here and started to once again ask myself why I put myself through such an unpleasant endeavor. Miraculously I did however end up catching the 5th place runner during this stretch as he ran maybe a few hundred meters off course down a gravel road before I yelled to him he was going the wrong way. This helped to lift me out of death march mode and into a more moderate shuffling/running mode. I figured I probably had almost 10 miles or so to go at this point, so I was feeling pretty miserable.
Then things quickly turned around. AS6 is the same as AS1, and all of a sudden I had an epiphany: "Wait, I only have 3 miles left!". This was contrary to what I had previously thought: that I had much more pain and suffering to go through. My adrenaline kicked in I only took some Mountain Dew at AS6 for a caffeine boost before heading out. The 5th place runner who was right behind me asked to sit down so I knew if I could keep the engines going I was on my way to a strong overall finish. On top of that my watch read 4:11-12 or so, so I knew a fast time was almost guaranteed. The last three miles (although probably short) I ran much faster than the first three and they were arguably the miles I both enjoyed most during the race and the miles I felt the strongest. I could have ran even faster then I did but anytime I started to accelerate cramps kicked in so I just held steady. The fact that I finished so strong has me wondering what I could have done in a 50 mile race, and certainly it shows that my problems are still mostly a matter of mental conditioning.
In the end I am immensely satisfied with my result. Someone ahead of me ended up getting lost so I was actually 4th overall in 4:34:57. I finished way under my "best case scenario" time goal of 4:45. After the race my legs also left really good and I was able to do some light running without discomfort which shows good physical fitness. At the same time this was a valuable learning experience. I know that my physical fitness is not at all a barrier (especially considering my lack of training in the past few months) so if I want to continue to improve I need to work on being tougher mentally. I know that I need to look into S-caps, as an alternative way to get in more sodium and prevent cramping as races like the Catoctin 50k will be far hotter than the race today. Finally, this provides a nice motivational boost going forward into a more serious summer training phase. I can honestly say I have never had this much fun running in my entire life, and I am excited to see what the future brings.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
5/7-5/13
Monday 5/7 - 5.5 miles - Down college lane with DeNunzio extension. 8 x 100m strides on the track. Out and back down college lane one more time. All in VFF's.
Tuesday 5/8 - Rest - No time to run.
Wednesday 5/9 - Rest - No time to run.
Thursday 5/10 - 8 miles - Catoctin Mountain National park 8 mile loop from the visitors center.
Friday 5/11 - 8 miles - On the canal from Brunswick. I could feel my legs are certainly lacking in the speed department.
Saturday 5/12 - 4 miles - Ran from Cambridge farms out on Remsberg Rd. and then back through Cambridge farms. Had a strange bruise on my vastus medialis that was a bit disconcerting.
Sunday 5/13 - 16 miles - 5 mile loop of unknown nature with the Steeplechasers and then from Hamburg out to Fishing Creek and back (~11 miles) with Vincent.
Total: 41.5 miles
It feels nice that summer is officially rolling around and I am excited to be able to do more running.
Tuesday 5/8 - Rest - No time to run.
Wednesday 5/9 - Rest - No time to run.
Thursday 5/10 - 8 miles - Catoctin Mountain National park 8 mile loop from the visitors center.
Friday 5/11 - 8 miles - On the canal from Brunswick. I could feel my legs are certainly lacking in the speed department.
Saturday 5/12 - 4 miles - Ran from Cambridge farms out on Remsberg Rd. and then back through Cambridge farms. Had a strange bruise on my vastus medialis that was a bit disconcerting.
Sunday 5/13 - 16 miles - 5 mile loop of unknown nature with the Steeplechasers and then from Hamburg out to Fishing Creek and back (~11 miles) with Vincent.
Total: 41.5 miles
It feels nice that summer is officially rolling around and I am excited to be able to do more running.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
4/30-5/6
Monday 4/30 - 4.5 miles - Headed out to the manor area for a quick out and back to Thurmont Rock Overlook with a little extra to Gabrill Park Rd. Felt rather sluggish on my first time doing this run on back to back days in a while.
Tuesday 5/1 - 4 miles - Didn't get out until after 10PM but the weather was still quite pleasant. 2 loops of down College Ln. Some up-tempo sections.
Wednesday 5/2 - 5 miles - Another evening run. 2 loops of down college Ln. with an extended section once on the DeNunzio trail. Some more up-tempo sections.
Thursday 5/3 - 9 miles - Manor area to Fishing Creek Rd. Legs felt fatigued on the way out but then once I got warmed up they felt absolutely fantastic on the way down. Knee felt a little sore on the way up and down the mountain but I took a cool stream bath afterwards which definitely helped.
Friday 5/4 - 4.5 miles - Manor area to Thurmont Rock Overlook. Legs felt very fatigued on the way up and had to resort to some hiking on the steeper portions. Felt surprisingly good on the way down.
Saturday 5/5
PM: 4 miles (13:00) - Ran from Hamburg Rd. down into the valley, then back to Hamburg. Soreness on the lateral underside of my left foot has returned and my legs felt very tired. A fair bit of hiking coming out of the valley.
PM: 4 miles (22:00) - Felt good in the evening so decided to go out and do a nice quick run down College Ln. twice. Legs felt good and as expected the foot soreness was not a problem on the pavement.
Sunday 5/6 - Rest - wanted to heal up this foot soreness before it becomes a serious problem again and I have lots of finals week work to do.
Total: 35 miles
This was a pretty good week. I was consistent which was crucial. With finals week next the milage will probably take a hit but this should hopefully be the last low milage week before I start building up during the summer.
Tuesday 5/1 - 4 miles - Didn't get out until after 10PM but the weather was still quite pleasant. 2 loops of down College Ln. Some up-tempo sections.
Wednesday 5/2 - 5 miles - Another evening run. 2 loops of down college Ln. with an extended section once on the DeNunzio trail. Some more up-tempo sections.
Thursday 5/3 - 9 miles - Manor area to Fishing Creek Rd. Legs felt fatigued on the way out but then once I got warmed up they felt absolutely fantastic on the way down. Knee felt a little sore on the way up and down the mountain but I took a cool stream bath afterwards which definitely helped.
Friday 5/4 - 4.5 miles - Manor area to Thurmont Rock Overlook. Legs felt very fatigued on the way up and had to resort to some hiking on the steeper portions. Felt surprisingly good on the way down.
Saturday 5/5
PM: 4 miles (13:00) - Ran from Hamburg Rd. down into the valley, then back to Hamburg. Soreness on the lateral underside of my left foot has returned and my legs felt very tired. A fair bit of hiking coming out of the valley.
PM: 4 miles (22:00) - Felt good in the evening so decided to go out and do a nice quick run down College Ln. twice. Legs felt good and as expected the foot soreness was not a problem on the pavement.
Sunday 5/6 - Rest - wanted to heal up this foot soreness before it becomes a serious problem again and I have lots of finals week work to do.
Total: 35 miles
This was a pretty good week. I was consistent which was crucial. With finals week next the milage will probably take a hit but this should hopefully be the last low milage week before I start building up during the summer.
Monday, April 30, 2012
4/23-4/29
Monday 4/23 - 0 miles - Hamstrings very sore after the Mount 40. Rest days are always fun.
Tuesday 4/24 - 0 miles - Hamstrings still very sore. Lots of school work and Lab TA work to do so I didn't mind taking the day off again.
Wednesday 4/25 - 1 miles - Felt great waking up in the morning, very little hamstring soreness it seemed... Upon heading out the door to run I noticed that was not the case and I yet still somehow had persistent soreness. I didn't want to run through it an risk hurting something else so I called it a day after a mile.
Thursday 4/25 - 4 miles - Easy out and back to Keysville Rd. Felt good to be running again.
Friday 4/27 - 4.5 miles - Ran from Manor up to Thurmonk Rock Overlook. Felt smooth and strong and slight soreness in the hamstrings wasn't a problem. Some "locals" were having a campfire/party of sorts at the top of the mountain.
Saturday 4/28 - 7 miles - I spent most of the weekend running the Brunswick Aid station for the modified CAT-100 (or rather the flat-CAT). Managed to get in a run from Brunswick on the canal out to the base of the Weverton climb and back.
Sunday 4/29 - 4.5 miles - Busy day with the Honors Convocation and an Eagle Scout CoH to attend but managed to get out to the Manor for a quick up and down to Thurmont Rock Overlook.
Total: 21 miles
This was a good week. Despite not getting in a whole lot of miles I felt pretty good the whole time. Summer is right around the corner and I am looking forward to having plenty of time to run. I also think I will sign up for the Capon Valley 50K to get in a second "long training run" in preparation for the Catoctin 50K.
Tuesday 4/24 - 0 miles - Hamstrings still very sore. Lots of school work and Lab TA work to do so I didn't mind taking the day off again.
Wednesday 4/25 - 1 miles - Felt great waking up in the morning, very little hamstring soreness it seemed... Upon heading out the door to run I noticed that was not the case and I yet still somehow had persistent soreness. I didn't want to run through it an risk hurting something else so I called it a day after a mile.
Thursday 4/25 - 4 miles - Easy out and back to Keysville Rd. Felt good to be running again.
Friday 4/27 - 4.5 miles - Ran from Manor up to Thurmonk Rock Overlook. Felt smooth and strong and slight soreness in the hamstrings wasn't a problem. Some "locals" were having a campfire/party of sorts at the top of the mountain.
Saturday 4/28 - 7 miles - I spent most of the weekend running the Brunswick Aid station for the modified CAT-100 (or rather the flat-CAT). Managed to get in a run from Brunswick on the canal out to the base of the Weverton climb and back.
Start of the CAT-100
Sunday 4/29 - 4.5 miles - Busy day with the Honors Convocation and an Eagle Scout CoH to attend but managed to get out to the Manor for a quick up and down to Thurmont Rock Overlook.
Total: 21 miles
This was a good week. Despite not getting in a whole lot of miles I felt pretty good the whole time. Summer is right around the corner and I am looking forward to having plenty of time to run. I also think I will sign up for the Capon Valley 50K to get in a second "long training run" in preparation for the Catoctin 50K.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
4/16-4/22
I am going to make an effort to better log the details of my daily runs here on a weekly basis. I always log my miles but not always a description of exactly how the run went. Hopefully this will be a place where I will force myself to keep up with doing that which I know will end he end be beneficial to my running.
Monday 4/16/12 - 4.5 miles - Manor area upper parking lot to White Rock.
It was blisteringly hot out today (upper 80's) in a preview of summer. I usually am not a fan of the heat but I enjoyed the warmth today after the unusually chilly temperatures we have experienced here in MD over the past two weeks or so. I haven't ran up to White Rock in a while so my legs were definitely feeling it but I felt good for the duration of the run. I wanted to head to Fishing Creek Rd. but a combination of heat plus not wanting to overdo the foot (which felt perfect) led me to head back down the mountain after a few moments to soak in the view.
Tuesday 4/17/12 - 4 miles - Ran two ARCC out and back laps. Not much time to run between classes, SPARC Festival preparation and other things so I didn't get out until 9PM or so. The warm weather had stuck around from yesterday so it was still quite nice out at this time of night. Did some ~300m strides and it felt good to get the legs moving. Felt great overall.
Wednesday 4/18/12 - 4 miles - Ran two ARCC out and back again. SPARC presentation among other SPARC events and some errands to run made today once again a busy day where I didn't get out until later. Legs still felt good but not quite a snappy as yesterday, just took things easy.
Thursday 4/19/12 - 4.5 miles - Despite a fair amount of activities today I still managed to make it out the Manor Area for a quick trip up to White Rock. I pushed it pretty hard but my legs were up to the challenge and I felt surprisingly good at the top. I'll need to start timing myself again. That might be an effort I feel comfortable exerting in the Catoctin 50K and still have plenty for the remaining 13-14 miles or so. Descent was also very fast.
Friday 4/20/12 - 4 miles - I had to take a trip home to get ready for the Mount 40 tomorrow but had time to do an easy 4 out to Keysville Rd. My foot started to become hurt/tender on the bottom lateral side as I had an issue with several weeks back, and it still hurt a bit after running. I hoped this would be a road only issue with the Mount 40 the next day and I was right.
Saturday 4/21/12 - ~20 miles - Today was the Mount 40, the fourth of four "endurance events" put together by CRUX (the outdoors club) over this school year. The first two events were 10 miles through Catoctin National Park, and 20 miles on the C&O canal into D.C. A few weeks ago was the 30 mile event which consisted of hiking the entirety of the Catoctin blue trail. For the 40 mile version (not it totals up to 100 miles) we were set to hike the Maryland section of the Appalachian Trail. This is typically refereed to as the "Maryland Challenge" and I was excited to get to participate. We camped overnight and started out down near Harper's Ferry at ~4am. My plan as to start out slow and pick it up from there, running as much as was possible.
At the turnoff for the AT from the Canal I briefly thought that most of the group had gotten lost so I spent about half an hour running around thinking some people were lost (when they were not) but helping out a few who had turned off the C&O but missed where the AT intersects with Keep Tryst Rd. In the dark this was probably pretty hard to find if you didn't know where it was. Eventually I got back on track and hiked most of the first section to Gathland State Park where the first aid station was. It was at this point that I realized I was in the back of the pack and that nobody had gotten lost (always a good sign). While this was hardly a race I felt like it was time to start running at this point so that is just what I did. The CRUX leaders at the aid stations were scheduled to arrive if you averaged 4MPH so I knew I didn't want to run from the start lest I beat them...
I spent most of the next ten miles running, save a stop along the way to enjoy a nice overlook. Interestingly enough I knew that a group of four hikers were ahead of me during this whole section and I eagerly tried to catch them, however when I arrived at AS#2 at Dahlgren Chapel I was the first person to come in. Ooops... I guess they missed a turn somewhere. I hung around a little while chatting and eating some snacks and then headed off for the next aid station, still running, with a brief pitstop at the Washington Monument. That aid station would be at the Route 40 trailhead. This was out "lunch aid station" so I was obliged to chug down a gatorade, eat a PB&J sandwich, some cookies, and a Cliff Bar. With a full stomach like that I had no desire to run which was fortunate as the climb up to Annapolis Rocks was a long one. I was luck enough to meet a nice Ridge Runner along the way to chat with until I felt like my lunch was digested.
At that point I did my best to keep running but I was finally starting to get tired. It also did not help that this was one of the most rocky sections of the MD AT, with sections where it was nearly impossibly to run given the rocky nature of the trail. I also started to feel the heat but fortunately after a nice downhill before going into AS#4 at Route 77 helped me get a second wind. I noticed by the cuticle test heading into AS#4 that I was starting to get dehydrated so I chugged down about a liter of water and ate some pretzels. I re-applied Body Glide to my feet and headed out. The next 5 miles to the High Rock aid station were among the toughest. I ran for a while but quickly encountered stomach issues, probably from foolishly chugging all that water. Some serious climbs in this section didn't help either, but after "third and fourth winds" I managed to make it to High Rock.
I was feeling pretty low going into High Rock but the notion that I was only 3 miles away was a big morale boost. I also could see to the west that storms were moving in quickly and I wanted to finish before they dumbed on me. The first mile was mostly rock scrambling but once that was past the trail straightened out and I did some real running. I missed finishing before the rain but it only beat me by about 10 minutes. I ended up finishing around 4PM. In hindsight, if I had ran the stretch to Gathland and not spent half an hour looking for lost hikers that did not exist I would have been done well before 3PM. In peak shape I think I could definitely dip under 10 hours in this direction, hopefully much faster if I were going Southbound. But that is something to consider for another day.
Sunday 4/22/12 - Rest Day - I felt pretty good after yesterday's journey through the woods. Much better than after the Seneca Creek 50K, and really the only muscles that were seriously sore were my hamstrings but they were so sore that if I had gone for a run I probably would have aggravated other muscles by running with such an awkward stride. Rest days every once in a while are nice.
Total: 41 miles.
This was a good week. I was consistent and the weather was nice. It does not seem like we will get the same weather next week but I am hoping I can be relatively consistent and start to get ready for some serious summer training.
Monday 4/16/12 - 4.5 miles - Manor area upper parking lot to White Rock.
It was blisteringly hot out today (upper 80's) in a preview of summer. I usually am not a fan of the heat but I enjoyed the warmth today after the unusually chilly temperatures we have experienced here in MD over the past two weeks or so. I haven't ran up to White Rock in a while so my legs were definitely feeling it but I felt good for the duration of the run. I wanted to head to Fishing Creek Rd. but a combination of heat plus not wanting to overdo the foot (which felt perfect) led me to head back down the mountain after a few moments to soak in the view.
Tuesday 4/17/12 - 4 miles - Ran two ARCC out and back laps. Not much time to run between classes, SPARC Festival preparation and other things so I didn't get out until 9PM or so. The warm weather had stuck around from yesterday so it was still quite nice out at this time of night. Did some ~300m strides and it felt good to get the legs moving. Felt great overall.
Wednesday 4/18/12 - 4 miles - Ran two ARCC out and back again. SPARC presentation among other SPARC events and some errands to run made today once again a busy day where I didn't get out until later. Legs still felt good but not quite a snappy as yesterday, just took things easy.
Thursday 4/19/12 - 4.5 miles - Despite a fair amount of activities today I still managed to make it out the Manor Area for a quick trip up to White Rock. I pushed it pretty hard but my legs were up to the challenge and I felt surprisingly good at the top. I'll need to start timing myself again. That might be an effort I feel comfortable exerting in the Catoctin 50K and still have plenty for the remaining 13-14 miles or so. Descent was also very fast.
Friday 4/20/12 - 4 miles - I had to take a trip home to get ready for the Mount 40 tomorrow but had time to do an easy 4 out to Keysville Rd. My foot started to become hurt/tender on the bottom lateral side as I had an issue with several weeks back, and it still hurt a bit after running. I hoped this would be a road only issue with the Mount 40 the next day and I was right.
Saturday 4/21/12 - ~20 miles - Today was the Mount 40, the fourth of four "endurance events" put together by CRUX (the outdoors club) over this school year. The first two events were 10 miles through Catoctin National Park, and 20 miles on the C&O canal into D.C. A few weeks ago was the 30 mile event which consisted of hiking the entirety of the Catoctin blue trail. For the 40 mile version (not it totals up to 100 miles) we were set to hike the Maryland section of the Appalachian Trail. This is typically refereed to as the "Maryland Challenge" and I was excited to get to participate. We camped overnight and started out down near Harper's Ferry at ~4am. My plan as to start out slow and pick it up from there, running as much as was possible.
At the turnoff for the AT from the Canal I briefly thought that most of the group had gotten lost so I spent about half an hour running around thinking some people were lost (when they were not) but helping out a few who had turned off the C&O but missed where the AT intersects with Keep Tryst Rd. In the dark this was probably pretty hard to find if you didn't know where it was. Eventually I got back on track and hiked most of the first section to Gathland State Park where the first aid station was. It was at this point that I realized I was in the back of the pack and that nobody had gotten lost (always a good sign). While this was hardly a race I felt like it was time to start running at this point so that is just what I did. The CRUX leaders at the aid stations were scheduled to arrive if you averaged 4MPH so I knew I didn't want to run from the start lest I beat them...
I spent most of the next ten miles running, save a stop along the way to enjoy a nice overlook. Interestingly enough I knew that a group of four hikers were ahead of me during this whole section and I eagerly tried to catch them, however when I arrived at AS#2 at Dahlgren Chapel I was the first person to come in. Ooops... I guess they missed a turn somewhere. I hung around a little while chatting and eating some snacks and then headed off for the next aid station, still running, with a brief pitstop at the Washington Monument. That aid station would be at the Route 40 trailhead. This was out "lunch aid station" so I was obliged to chug down a gatorade, eat a PB&J sandwich, some cookies, and a Cliff Bar. With a full stomach like that I had no desire to run which was fortunate as the climb up to Annapolis Rocks was a long one. I was luck enough to meet a nice Ridge Runner along the way to chat with until I felt like my lunch was digested.
At that point I did my best to keep running but I was finally starting to get tired. It also did not help that this was one of the most rocky sections of the MD AT, with sections where it was nearly impossibly to run given the rocky nature of the trail. I also started to feel the heat but fortunately after a nice downhill before going into AS#4 at Route 77 helped me get a second wind. I noticed by the cuticle test heading into AS#4 that I was starting to get dehydrated so I chugged down about a liter of water and ate some pretzels. I re-applied Body Glide to my feet and headed out. The next 5 miles to the High Rock aid station were among the toughest. I ran for a while but quickly encountered stomach issues, probably from foolishly chugging all that water. Some serious climbs in this section didn't help either, but after "third and fourth winds" I managed to make it to High Rock.
I was feeling pretty low going into High Rock but the notion that I was only 3 miles away was a big morale boost. I also could see to the west that storms were moving in quickly and I wanted to finish before they dumbed on me. The first mile was mostly rock scrambling but once that was past the trail straightened out and I did some real running. I missed finishing before the rain but it only beat me by about 10 minutes. I ended up finishing around 4PM. In hindsight, if I had ran the stretch to Gathland and not spent half an hour looking for lost hikers that did not exist I would have been done well before 3PM. In peak shape I think I could definitely dip under 10 hours in this direction, hopefully much faster if I were going Southbound. But that is something to consider for another day.
Sunday 4/22/12 - Rest Day - I felt pretty good after yesterday's journey through the woods. Much better than after the Seneca Creek 50K, and really the only muscles that were seriously sore were my hamstrings but they were so sore that if I had gone for a run I probably would have aggravated other muscles by running with such an awkward stride. Rest days every once in a while are nice.
Total: 41 miles.
This was a good week. I was consistent and the weather was nice. It does not seem like we will get the same weather next week but I am hoping I can be relatively consistent and start to get ready for some serious summer training.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Seneca Creek Greenway 50K
I have started a new blog with a different focus than my previous one. Rather than seemingly rant about particular running events I will try to keep this one as a sort of journal of my running adventures for my own enjoyment.
Overall I had a really fun time and I will definitely be returning to this race again next year. Most importantly I learned what things worked well for me in terms of fueling and preparing myself to run 30+ miles through the woods which was the main goal coming into the race.
I ran the Seneca Creek Greenway 50K the first weekend back in March. I should point out that this name is misleading, as the course was known to be somewhere in the realm of 34 miles. As I have now come to realize, in the world of ultra running if you are already running 31 miles, then surely another 3 will not kill you. This was to be my first "ultra". I didn't even sign up for the race until the Monday beforehand because I wanted to see how well I recovered from the Club Challenge (10mi, 2/26/12). As I was hoping, I was barely sore the next day which was different from the debilitating soreness I had for several days following the Lewis Memorial Run (10mi, 2/4/12).
Training for the race was not great, so I tried to tell myself that I would approach the race as a "learning experience" into the world of ultras. In the several months prior my longest run was 15 miles, and the weekly mileage leading up to it were 33.5mi, 8mi (recovering from Lewis), 41mi, and 45mi. The plan was to carry one water bottle, one gel, a handful of Hammer Endurolytes, and go from there.
I carpooled to the race with my former Scoutmaster and veteran ultra runner Dave Garman, glad to have some company along the way and chat a bit about the course and some other useful knowledge. Conveniently the forecast was for low 50's at the start rising to near 60 and sunny at the finish. The rain storms overnight were also supposed to clear out by the 8am start time. Despite getting to the finish line before the last bus left for the start at 6:45am, I and a handful of other runner were pleased to find out that the final bus had pulled away as we lined up to get on. Well, that might be a problem...
We had an entire bus load still to be loaded, and here the final bus was heading away. One of the race officials radioed up the line to have them send back a bus to get us. The only problem was that there were only three buses (usually they have 4) and so one would have to make the 30 minute drive back and pick us up, then drive back. It was almost certain we would not be there before the 8am start time. Fortunately the officials were nice enough to allow us to go back to our cars (it was still raining slightly) and wait while the bus would come pick us up at our cars. Finally around 7:40 the bus pulled up, and we all hopped on. The bus nearly ran a few red lights (yellow means pedal to the medal!) and managed to get everyone there by 8am, and with the race postponed to 8:05 we just barely had enough time to get out race numbers and take a quick pit-stop...
The race started without much fanfare. I believe the race director Ed shouted something along the lines of, "Go! Get out of here!". I had been chatting with Dave and some of the fellow Frederick Steeplechasers when this happened so I was rather far towards the back of the pack. The first mile was mostly road, and it was hastily spent trying to get ahead of most of the traffic so as to not be stuck behind a bunch of people when the singletrack started. I ran the first mile in 7:54 but I achieved my objective of getting into a good position. I only had to pass a few more people before I was free and running pretty well on my own trail. I took my first and only gel about a mile and a half into the race. The first 16 or so miles were pretty uneventful, other than this fun adventure:
In hindsight the "lifeguards" on duty had suggested that we cross the creek on the (my) left hand side, but I was too far into race mode to hear them at the time so I nearly was left to wallow across on the unsteady rocks on the right side. Somewhere between the stream crossing and Brink Rd. I popped an Endurolyte. The first aid station was where the trail crosses Brink Rd. (~7mi) I made sure to drain my water bottle between each aid station, a practice that ensured I was well hydrated all day long, so I filled it up here with the usual half Gatorade/half water mix, grabbed a few honey wheat pretzel sticks (yum!) and headed out. Moved along pretty well for the next few miles until the Rt. 355 aid station (~11mi), taking another Endurolyte somewhere along the way. I was passing a few people here and there, maintaining a pretty consistent 8:20-8:30 pace until I encountered a large group around mile 9 that seemed to be moving at around that pace so I stuck with them for a while. At the Rt. 355 aid station I noticed some chafing with my shorts (I usually never have problems), but fortunately the race director Ed was there to lend me some Vasaline-like-stuff which did the trick for the rest of the day. I filled up again with half Gatorade/half water, grabbed some more pretzels, took 2 Suceed S-caps, and took a bathroom break. The search for a chafing remedy, a bathroom break, and an the water bottle fill up made for a pretty slow mile (near 10 minutes) but I was clicking off at the same old speed soon.
The next few miles went by pretty quickly. I came into the Clopper Lake aid station for the first time (~16mi) still feeling great. This is where you get to decide if you are doing the 50K or the marathon. I am glad we got to make this decision here, because I was feeling great so I was happy to take a nice 4 mile look around the Lake. I also grabbed three Nutter Butters here, and boy did they hit the spot! I was running close to 8 minutes for these 4 miles as the footing was pretty good and it was flat relatively speaking. One mile was 7:57 I believe. Unfortunately being on the lake there was a strong headwind half of the time which definitely made me work a little harder. Soon enough I was back at the Lake aid station for the second time (~20mi). I refilled the water bottle, took two S-caps, grabbed some more Nutter Butters and I was off. I think one thing I did very well was getting in and out of aid stations. There were only two on the day I stuck around more then 20-30 seconds.
I cruised along pretty nicely for the next 2 miles, then around 22 I was starting to feel my lack of training kick in. I wasn't hitting the wall or cramping up but my legs just didn't have the strength to maintain the pace I was at. I slowed down to 9:00-9:30 miles and started to loose my focus. There was an aid station somewhere in here that I don't recall well. I think I filled up my water bottle, grepped a mini-doughnut, and then head off. There were then about 7 miles until the next aid station. These were interesting miles. Apparently each year there is some "theme" to the race. This year the theme was Pringles. They peppered the race course with plenty of signs about "fun" Pringles facts such as how the race director after he retires should go onto to model for Pringles (the resemblance is striking), or, "Everyone's favorite hyperbolic paraboloid!" . At least they gave me something to look forward to as I entered a long low point in the race. There was a "minimal" aid station somewhere around mile 26 where they only had water and (fortunately!) Nutter Butters. I topped off and grabbed my new favorite snack and tried to grind out the miles until this "Pringle aid station". The signs had said it was only two miles away, but I swear the actual distance was closer to 4 miles! I should mention that the pace severely dropped between mile 22 and the "Pringle aid station" near mile 29, from OK to terrible.
Training for the race was not great, so I tried to tell myself that I would approach the race as a "learning experience" into the world of ultras. In the several months prior my longest run was 15 miles, and the weekly mileage leading up to it were 33.5mi, 8mi (recovering from Lewis), 41mi, and 45mi. The plan was to carry one water bottle, one gel, a handful of Hammer Endurolytes, and go from there.
I carpooled to the race with my former Scoutmaster and veteran ultra runner Dave Garman, glad to have some company along the way and chat a bit about the course and some other useful knowledge. Conveniently the forecast was for low 50's at the start rising to near 60 and sunny at the finish. The rain storms overnight were also supposed to clear out by the 8am start time. Despite getting to the finish line before the last bus left for the start at 6:45am, I and a handful of other runner were pleased to find out that the final bus had pulled away as we lined up to get on. Well, that might be a problem...
We had an entire bus load still to be loaded, and here the final bus was heading away. One of the race officials radioed up the line to have them send back a bus to get us. The only problem was that there were only three buses (usually they have 4) and so one would have to make the 30 minute drive back and pick us up, then drive back. It was almost certain we would not be there before the 8am start time. Fortunately the officials were nice enough to allow us to go back to our cars (it was still raining slightly) and wait while the bus would come pick us up at our cars. Finally around 7:40 the bus pulled up, and we all hopped on. The bus nearly ran a few red lights (yellow means pedal to the medal!) and managed to get everyone there by 8am, and with the race postponed to 8:05 we just barely had enough time to get out race numbers and take a quick pit-stop...
The race started without much fanfare. I believe the race director Ed shouted something along the lines of, "Go! Get out of here!". I had been chatting with Dave and some of the fellow Frederick Steeplechasers when this happened so I was rather far towards the back of the pack. The first mile was mostly road, and it was hastily spent trying to get ahead of most of the traffic so as to not be stuck behind a bunch of people when the singletrack started. I ran the first mile in 7:54 but I achieved my objective of getting into a good position. I only had to pass a few more people before I was free and running pretty well on my own trail. I took my first and only gel about a mile and a half into the race. The first 16 or so miles were pretty uneventful, other than this fun adventure:
In hindsight the "lifeguards" on duty had suggested that we cross the creek on the (my) left hand side, but I was too far into race mode to hear them at the time so I nearly was left to wallow across on the unsteady rocks on the right side. Somewhere between the stream crossing and Brink Rd. I popped an Endurolyte. The first aid station was where the trail crosses Brink Rd. (~7mi) I made sure to drain my water bottle between each aid station, a practice that ensured I was well hydrated all day long, so I filled it up here with the usual half Gatorade/half water mix, grabbed a few honey wheat pretzel sticks (yum!) and headed out. Moved along pretty well for the next few miles until the Rt. 355 aid station (~11mi), taking another Endurolyte somewhere along the way. I was passing a few people here and there, maintaining a pretty consistent 8:20-8:30 pace until I encountered a large group around mile 9 that seemed to be moving at around that pace so I stuck with them for a while. At the Rt. 355 aid station I noticed some chafing with my shorts (I usually never have problems), but fortunately the race director Ed was there to lend me some Vasaline-like-stuff which did the trick for the rest of the day. I filled up again with half Gatorade/half water, grabbed some more pretzels, took 2 Suceed S-caps, and took a bathroom break. The search for a chafing remedy, a bathroom break, and an the water bottle fill up made for a pretty slow mile (near 10 minutes) but I was clicking off at the same old speed soon.
The next few miles went by pretty quickly. I came into the Clopper Lake aid station for the first time (~16mi) still feeling great. This is where you get to decide if you are doing the 50K or the marathon. I am glad we got to make this decision here, because I was feeling great so I was happy to take a nice 4 mile look around the Lake. I also grabbed three Nutter Butters here, and boy did they hit the spot! I was running close to 8 minutes for these 4 miles as the footing was pretty good and it was flat relatively speaking. One mile was 7:57 I believe. Unfortunately being on the lake there was a strong headwind half of the time which definitely made me work a little harder. Soon enough I was back at the Lake aid station for the second time (~20mi). I refilled the water bottle, took two S-caps, grabbed some more Nutter Butters and I was off. I think one thing I did very well was getting in and out of aid stations. There were only two on the day I stuck around more then 20-30 seconds.
I cruised along pretty nicely for the next 2 miles, then around 22 I was starting to feel my lack of training kick in. I wasn't hitting the wall or cramping up but my legs just didn't have the strength to maintain the pace I was at. I slowed down to 9:00-9:30 miles and started to loose my focus. There was an aid station somewhere in here that I don't recall well. I think I filled up my water bottle, grepped a mini-doughnut, and then head off. There were then about 7 miles until the next aid station. These were interesting miles. Apparently each year there is some "theme" to the race. This year the theme was Pringles. They peppered the race course with plenty of signs about "fun" Pringles facts such as how the race director after he retires should go onto to model for Pringles (the resemblance is striking), or, "Everyone's favorite hyperbolic paraboloid!" . At least they gave me something to look forward to as I entered a long low point in the race. There was a "minimal" aid station somewhere around mile 26 where they only had water and (fortunately!) Nutter Butters. I topped off and grabbed my new favorite snack and tried to grind out the miles until this "Pringle aid station". The signs had said it was only two miles away, but I swear the actual distance was closer to 4 miles! I should mention that the pace severely dropped between mile 22 and the "Pringle aid station" near mile 29, from OK to terrible.
After the Pringles aid station I was feeling really bad. The trail also took a turn for the worse as we encountered many low-lying areas where the mud tried to suck the shoes from your feet. I didn't run most of the uphills between here and the next aid station as I fought a mental battle to want to get to the finish line as soon as possible and to want to stop running. Eventually I rolled into the aid station around mile 32 which was a refreshing change of pace. I didn't stop for anything since I knew I was close but I did feel invigorated knowing the finish line was so close. As I emerged from the forest onto a back road near the finish line I knew I had about a mile to go and I found some strange burst of energy out of nowhere. I felt like I was practically sprinting to the finish line (although I imagine that was hardly the case in reality) and I finished around 5:31.
Overall I had a really fun time and I will definitely be returning to this race again next year. Most importantly I learned what things worked well for me in terms of fueling and preparing myself to run 30+ miles through the woods which was the main goal coming into the race.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)