The Chase on the Trace: Chickasaw Trace Trail 15K Race Report

I ran a fun race in Columbia, TN this morning.  The Columbia Cycling Club put on a trail race at the Chickasaw Trace Park on a 9-mile mountain bike trail.  Just after the trail run, they held a 9-mile mountain bike race on the same trail.  This race was a BARGAIN!  Only $28!  That is rare, my friends.

My alarm went off at the lovely hour of 4:25 a.m., and I met up with my friend Andrea at 5:30 a.m. to hit the road.  We had a smooth trip about 1 hour and 40 minutes south.  

The park was pretty, and check in went smoothly.  We got our bibs (no chip timing) and shirts and went back to the car for a few minutes.   The shirt is nice.  There is something about a hill on there???  Wait, there are hills?  :-)

We discussed our strategy for the day.  There was some confusion about what pace we must maintain on the trail to avoid the sweeper.  Our race was to start at 8:00 a.m.  Apparently, since the bike race started at 10:30, the cut off was somewhere less than 2:30.  We were confident we could finish under 2:30, but we didn't know if the cut off was actually 2:15 or even 2 hours.  We probably could have asked an organizer.  We just knew the event page specified NO WALKERS and that all runners must be off the course before 10:30.  

This was a small event, and looking around before the start, we noticed most of the field looked fit.  Very fit.  I saw at least three Ironman hats and shirts and probably less than 100 runners.  There were many more men than women.  We knew we definitely didn't want to be last!  I ran an 18-miler last weekend, and I was afraid fatigue would slow me down.  We knew there would be at least one biggish hill (according to the shirt).  I had found this elevation profile online a few days earlier.  It doesn't show the full 9 miles, but some of them.

Andrea and I take a VERY laid back approach to trail running generally.  We just relax and enjoy nature and take pictures and chat.  It is very relaxing.  Not today. 

Today, we were all business once the horn sounded.  We ran scared.  We rarely clock 11-minute miles on technical trails, but today we clocked the first three miles in the 11's.  We did notice early on that our frequent trail runs gave us an advantage on the muddy and steep uphills and downhills.  We weren't afraid of them, while many (new trail runners maybe?) would come to a full stop to try to navigate the least-muddy path and hike very carefully down.  We passed a few people in the first few miles on muddy slopes.  We've learned that sometimes, you just have to run right through the mud, and it's actually pretty fun!  I know I used to do the same thing.  I guess after you fall on trails a few times, the thought of it is less daunting!

The trails were just starting to green up--we've had a LONG winter here in Tennessee.  Pictures from past races show more spring foilage than we had today.  These are two I borrowed from a blog called Ravine-ravings courtesy of Google Images.  I didn't want to pause long enough to take any!

  
This was a neat area where we ran through bamboo.

We were able to estimate how many people were behind us at any given time due to many, many switchbacks.  At one time, we thought there were only three behind us, but there were several others farther back on the trail.  But thinking we were 3rd from last??  That kept us running, actually racing, rather than relaxing.  (They do call it a "race," I suppose.)  I was struggling though.  My breathing and heart rate were higher than normal for the pace I was running.  My legs definitely had some residual fatigue in them.  The good part was we kept picking off one runner at a time.  It felt like we were chasing them down. We'd see one up ahead and reel her in.  By mile five or six, we could breathe a little sigh of relief knowing there were 6-8 behind us at least! (There were many more than that, we just couldn't see them!) We ran a steady, but pushing, pace.  We were chasing runners and the sweeper (on a mountain bike) was chasing all of us!  

The trail was overall very runnable.  It was rocky in places, very muddy, and somewhat narrow in places where it went through a grassy field (to fit mountain bike tires better than human size 10.5's)

We still didn't know the time cut off, but we estimated we'd finish the 9-mile trail race around 2:00-2:05 if the "big hill" wasn't too bad.  There were many inclines and declines throughout, but The Dump Hill was the one pictured on the shirt.  We found it in mile 6 or 7.  It was a tough climb. It was a lung and leg burner, but not all that long or all that steep, AND there was only ONE of it, so that helped.  (Tick Ridge had about 6-8 of those!)   We train regularly at two local trails that have a similar hill to this one and on a long road hill, so it didn't seem all that bad.

Around mile 8, I picked up the pace to try to finish under two hours.  My breathing was ragged (it had strangely been all day-- I think it's called "racing"), but I pushed with what little I had on those miles.  I'm not a fast road or trail runner.  Slow and steady is actually my favorite pace.  

Much of the last .25 was uphill in the grass heading back to the start.  That was tough.  I felt a little nauseated. It had gotten really warm (40 at the start, 62 at the finish), and I was ready to be done!  I crossed the line in 1:56, according to my Garmin, about a 12:56 pace.  I was 7th  in the 40-49 year old age group out of 19.  We had the biggest female age group by far!  Other female age groups only had 2-5 runners.  The overall winning female (30-39) ran a 9:00 minute pace for comparison!  She killed it, and I think it was her first trail race.  

Sooo...... Andrea and I finished.  We weren't last (by a long shot!).  We made the cut off. We got really muddy.  We had an adventure.   Road trip 5:30 a.m. adventures are the best.  

The Journey into Unknown Territory: Ultramarathon Training

Unknown Territory is a frightening thing.  

In two weeks, I'm running my first trail 50K the day after my 44th birthday.  That is Unknown Territory for me.

I've run 4 trail marathons over the last two years, and in each one, I was seriously DONE at mile 26.  The feet- hurting, hip-flexors-failing, quads-burning, hamstrings-tightening kind of DONE. Trails are HARD!! Running thirty-one miles on a trail will definitely be a challenge.

But just as 5K runners find themselves signing up for that first 10K and half marathoners sign up for their first full after they have a few races under their belt, I felt ready for the next trail distance challenge when I registered a few months ago. Unfortunately, my trail training hasn't been going great.  About 6 miles into trail runs lately, my left ankle starts aching, but it's fine on road runs. My longest trail run this month was only 10 miles (yikes!).  However, I've had a 49-mile week and a 42-mile week that included a mix of roads and trails and running and hiking.  Have I put in enough trail miles to survive the unknown territory of a trail 50K? There is only one way to find out!  Between now and the race, I plan to just run on roads and hike on trails for short distances to let that ankle heal. With just two weeks until the race, the training is in the bank or it isn't.  Starting on fresh legs with a healed ankle seems to be the smartest thing I can do right now.   I'm really starting to get excited about this challenge.  Pain is probably inevitable in a trail 50K, but as they say, "suffering is optional."

Then in 10 weeks or so, I'm running my first 50-miler.  I must admit that I feel like I'm "training scared."   It's hard to comprehend almost doubling the marathon distance!

This month, out of respect (fear?) of the 50-mile distance, I've trained pretty hard.  I've alternated high mileage (for me) weeks with moderate mileage weeks.  I've experimented with back-to-backs runs of 21/8 and 8/20 on weekends at the end of the heavy mileage weeks.  I've run when I was tired and didn't feel like it.  I've run when I was sick.  I've run on no sleep.  I've persevered in the misery of Tennessee August heat and humidity. (Somebody slap me if I try to register for another late summer/fall ultramarathon knowing what our summers are like!)  I can definitely say I know what it's like to run on tired legs.  But I've also run some WONDERFUL miles.  I've relished spending hours running and talking with friends.  I've had time to think.  I've seen some beautiful trails and even some pretty nice roads.  I've explored new places. I've come back renewed more than wrung out many times.  I ended August with 166 determined miles after 124 in July.

Despite the rather large increase in mileage, I will say I'm training GENTLY overall. With my autoimmune condition (Hashimoto's), I'm being careful not to overtrain.  I'm not running fast very often.  I'm not trying to increase endurance and speed at the same time.  I do add in some interval training or a tempo run when the mood strikes (rarely).  I had the pleasure and surprise of running a random 8:40 mile the other night (my 5K pace on a good day).

I think three weeks after the 50K, when my legs have come back to life, I will run the Southern TN Power Classic in Winchester, TN and just see what happens.  I need a 25-26 mile long run anyway.   I've had three marathons in the 4:30's and 4:40's, but the last couple of marathons have been in the 4:50's.  Will all this endurance training allow me a faster finish?  I don't know, but I'm sort of excited to find out.  I may even run it on feel, without my watch.

I think the toughest of my 50 miler training may be over, honestly.  The weather is cooling. My legs are recovering faster.  My upcoming 50K and marathon will be exciting-- full of people and in new places-- plus give me the long runs I need.  One more weekend with back-to-backs should get me there, don't you think? The weekend of Oct 25, I'd like to get in 40 miles over Fri/Sat/Sun. I'm planning 25 miles that Saturday (also my anniversary). My husband will join me for 10 or so, and my friend Michelle will finish up the last 15 with me. (What a way to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary!)

Then I'll taper the next three weeks and start that 50-mile run into unknown territory with fresh legs, excitement, and hopefully, courage.    

After that, I will take it easy through the end of the year.  Then I hope to focus on non-ultra distances for a while.  I haven't run a 5K in a year and a half, and it's been two years since my last 10K.  I want to just have fun for a bit and maybe build some speed in the process.  A fast marathon or half marathon would be nice.   Yes, I'm already planning 2015!

What a View from the Top of a Mountain! Chuckanut Mountain Half Marathon Race Report

Last week, I flew across the country with my 13-year old son to visit some wonderful friends and former next-door neighbors, who now live Tacoma, Washington.  My friend was one of the inspirations for me starting to run seven years ago, and she happened to be signed up for the Chuckanut Mountain Half Marathon during the time we could visit.   I jumped at the opportunity to run in the Pacific Northwest with her!

It was my first visit to the PNW, and I made the most of the five days I had there.  After a few days of seeing the sights in Tacoma and Seattle, we headed to the beautiful town of Bellingham, Washington, home of Chuckanut Mountain.  We drove the two-and-a-half hours north on Saturday afternoon, checked into our hotel, picked up our race packets, and then spent the evening visiting shops, walking around, and enjoying dinner at a fabulous restaurant on the water.

The Chuckanut Mountain Marathon is billed as the "toughest marathon in the Pacific Northwest," so I was glad we signed up for the half!   After I signed up, my  high school friend Stacy, who lives in Bellingham, also signed up.  We met up with Stacy and his wife for dinner on Saturday evening.  We had 26 years of catching up to do!

Race morning arrived, and Rebecca and I found the mountain.  I spent a few minutes wandering around while she was charging her phone.  I found a sign that said Beach, and hiked down for this view:

A few minutes later, we ran into Stacy and his wife and kids.  His kids did the 1K race just before ours.  Here we all are just before the start:

To prepare to run up a MOUNTAIN, I tried to train on as many hills as I could, but Clarksville, TN just doesn't have any mountains.  I had a pretty good amount of elevation change in two 13-mile trail training runs at Beaman Park and Rotary Park though.  I also ran the Jackal trail marathon (no big hills really though) in June.  I practiced power hiking.  Oh, and I did lots of squats!  

The first four miles of the race were not what I expected.  They were down a gravel road, which kind of reminded me of my training spot, the Cumberland Bicentennial Trail.  I suppose I expected views of lakes and mountains right away.   This is around mile 4, when we had to cross a road to enter the real trail.

Soon after mile four, our climbing began and the scenery changed dramatically.  Now, this is what I was imagining!   Ferns were everywhere.  Huge old growth trees dwarfed us.  

Some areas of the trail were smooth, others were rocky and rooty.  Once, I had to climb up a huge, flat boulder.  My training paid off.  There were only a couple of really steep sections that stole my breath.  At the top---this view was amazing.  We stopped for many pictures.  This might have been a 24-minute mile on my Garmin......  Worth it.  

How crazy is it to be ABOVE the trees???  And these weren't any little trees, either!   I was a little apprehensive of being so close to the edge of the rock I was standing on.  I did peer over the edge for just a sec!  That's Mount Baker in the background, I think.  

Two crazy climbs and then we started to descend.  My two trail-running, Washington-living friends were BOMBING down the trails at full speed.  I was mincing down them.  I just haven't trained for technical downhills enough to let go.  For me, letting go on a downhill equals about a 98% chance of falling! 

Not that my run was completely free of falls!!  At some point around mile 10.5, a huge tree had fallen over the trail.  We couldn't go under it, so we had to climb across it.   My 6ft tall friend did this with ease.  I wound up sort of straddling the tree awkwardly (both feet dangling off the ground) and sort of slid over to the other side.  My right foot landed on solid ground.  Unfortunately, my left foot landed on a big, wet, mossy, slanted rock.  The second I put my weight on it to take a step, I went DOWN on my left side.  Hard.  Water bottle flew out of my left hand.  I was stunned for a second, but hopped back up.  The damage wasn't too bad.  The side of my knee was bleeding from slamming into the rock, and I had trail rash on the back of my thigh and palm of my left hand.  

About a half mile later, though, my left ankle was really hurting.  It definitely twisted at an awkward angle as I was slipping off that slanted rock.  I just tried to ignore the pain. We didn't have any more climbing after mile 11, just net downhill.  Mile 13 was a steep downhill (again, not my forte), and I just tried to be careful.  I tripped once on a steep section and went flying briefly, but landed on my feet.   13.1 came and went.  Stacy and I crossed the finish line at 13.9 miles, around 3:40.  My friend was just a few minutes behind us.  WE represented the LCHS Class of '88 well!  

The next morning, my sore legs and I flew home to Tennessee.  I loved my trip to the PNW!  If it didn't rain 9 months of the year, I think I could live there.  

I cannot wait to climb my next mountain!!

Mom Vs. Trail: Backside Trail Marathon Race Report

My sixth marathon and first trail marathon was quite eventful.   It was like a trip to Crazytown from the start. 

I was filled with dread and fear all week preceding the race.  On Saturday morning as I was packing, I was not in an excited mood, I was very much solemn.   I knew I was unprepared and was in for a difficult race,  I just didn't know HOW difficult it would actually turn out to be.   My longest trail run had been 11.6 miles plus about 3 on the road.   My longest road run had been 17 miles.   Both were about 3 hours long.  I figured I could just hike after I exceeded my training point. 

My friend Donna and I drove to Louisville.  The first challenge was finding packet pick up.  We drove around and around, fighting heavy Saturday-night mall traffic.  It was as if we couldn't get anywhere.  We finally got our packets.  We had dinner at Logan's near by and were off to find the hotel.

The Quality Inn had ok reviews, but when we got there, it was immediately evident that this was a really rough part of town.  There were people on the street corner in front of the hotel, and they were not waiting for a bus.   One guy just paced up and down the sidewalk.  There was a wrecked car parked out front.  We kept hearing sirens in the 10 minutes we spent there.  The back parking lot adjoined the parking lot of an empty, abandoned, broken down hotel.   Most of the rooms were outside entrance.  There were rooms padlocked, rooms standing wide open.  We finally found ours  in the corner behind the stairwell.  That was disconcerting.   It just felt like a really dangerous location for our room.   We put the key in, and the door handle was loose and flimsy.  We walked in and only one lamp worked.  I had a sick feeling.  We had already checked in and my credit card had been charged.  We had no other reservation on a busy night in Louisville.  But we knew we could not stay here.  It was the kind of place where people cook meth.  

Thank goodness, the clerk let us check right back out and refunded my credit card.  I started searching for another hotel, and we found refuge at the Southern Baptist Seminary's historic Legacy Hotel.   Here is a pic of the abandoned hotel adjoining ours and the seminary hotel for comparison:

Finally, about 9:00 p.m., we got settled into our room.  It rained all night long, unfortunately.   We were up at 5:30 a.m., quickly got ready, and checked back out.   Here we are at the start:  (I am on the left.)

I went with my Run Under the Stars 10-hour endurance event shirt and Land Between the Lakes trail race hat, which were both great conversation starters.   My biggest issue was shoes---my Brooks Cascadias tend to hurt my feet after about 8 miles.  I had purchased another pair of trail shoes--Merrell Mix Master Glide, but hadn't gotten to try them out on any runs.   I decided to stick with the Cascadias on the wet trails.   I packed the Merrells and some road shoes in my drop bag so I'd have an option to change into if needed after the first 13.1 mile loop.

The race started with about 100 people.  Only 34 people finished the full marathon.   Most people chose to only do one loop of the course.   (Smart people!)

The first 5 miles were not bad at all.  It had stopped raining, and the mud was still pretty hard packed.   Around mile 6, however, we had a DOWNPOUR.   Suddenly, there was standing water on the already saturated trails.   I had never trained in these conditions!  I had difficulty getting my footing on the trail.  Walking/hiking was tough, running was nearly impossible!

 

In the race I learned there are four types of mud:  nice hard-packed mud; deep, sucking mud that tries to steal your shoes; caking mud that comes along for the ride;  and slippery, slimy mud that is like trying to SKATE across a sheet of ice.  

 

At times, I would be trying to just walk, and my left foot (trail was slanted to the left) would just slide down the embankment with every step.  On a few muddy, slippery climbs, I used trees to hoist myself up a hill.  One time, no tree was available.  I tried and tried to walk up this hill, but kept sliding back to the bottom.  So I CRAWLED.   Once in mile 15, the mud sucked the shoe right off of my foot. 

 

For the first 11 miles, all of this seemed like a fun adventure.  Then around 11 miles, we came to an area where if you slipped to the left, you'd fall about 10 feet into a fast-moving river.  That was the first time I felt fear for my safety.  After 11 miles, the trail conditions detiorated considerably.   By 13, I wasn't really having a lot of fun.  I could have dropped to the half distance, but I was determined.    At 13.1, I stopped at the aid station with my drop bag.  The AWESOME volunteers got me a chair, filled my water bottles, and helped me change shoes and socks.  They really took care of me.  I was exhausted and not thinking clearly.  They even switched my chip to my new shoes.  These were all trail runners themselves.  This race had the BEST RACE VOLUNTEERS I've ever experienced.  At every aid station, they chatted with me about my race shirt and hat and were just amazingly helpful and encouraging.

 

Let me just say--- EXHAUSTED at 13.1 is not a good way to start the second half of a marathon.   At that point, I was over three hours---  every step was a step beyond my training and my current fitness. 

 

I had a second wind around 15, but it was short lived.  I think it was because I finally turned on my music at mile 14.  I was alone for the whole  second13.1, so I was singing at the top of my lungs:  "I am Ti-tan-i-uuummm!" and "Don't stop be-liev-iiiiiiing!"    It was both a bit scary, but nice to be alone over 3 hours on an unfamiliar trail.  

 

My body held up fairly well.  Left hip flexor stopped cooperating in the second half.   Both feet and ankles were in great pain from 21 on.  But my knees and hammies and quads all felt great!   My endurance struggled though.  Around mile 16, I told an aid station volunteer, "The running has left the building."   I planned to hike the rest.  But, I found new energy for a while around mile 20 and then again in miles 23-26.

 

I am not an inexperienced trail runner, but I sure felt like one in the Backside Trail Marathon.  My legs tired from struggling with the hills and the mud by mile 10.   The trail was marked fairly well, but I ran alone for the majority of 26 miles.   About every 10 minutes, I'd realize I hadn't seen a trail marking in a while.  Then I'd panic briefly until I came upon one.   Once, I backtracked to the last pink marking to make sure I hadn't veered off course.  I was so paranoid about getting lost.  Then in  mile 25, I ACTUALLY GOT LOST.   The pink tape had blown away, and I missed a left turn.  Luckily, I had the forethought to put the race director's cell number in my phone.  I called him, and he jumped in his car and found me on the road (there were short sections on the road), and got me back on the trail.  I had gone about .3 or .4 out of the way.   I ended the race with 26.96!

 

BY FAR THE TOUGHEST THING I'VE EVER DONE!!