races

Wow. I learned so much during this race. I don’t know what it is about races that makes them so much more educational than training runs, but this trail race was way different that my weekly trail runs with the Charlottesville Trail Running Club.

I signed up for this race about two months ago, when I was first getting into trail running. Lots of my fellow CTRCers were going to be racing it and it sounded like so much fun! Combine that with a date nicely placed a few weeks after my big 10k and a beautiful location at Walnut Creek Park (which I hadn’t been to but had heard a lot about) and I was sold. The low entry fee didn’t hurt either!

Then, two weeks ago, the CTRC decided to take a field trip to Walnut Creek for our weekly group run. Whoa. Hills. Tripping. Bruised knees. Scraped calves. It was intense. We walked a lot of the hills, and for good reason – they were steep and the leaves on the trail made it impossible to look out for roots and rocks. My friend Cait and I ended up having a competition on who could fall the most. In that kind of competition, I don’t think there are any winners. But wow, the views were gorgeous, and well worth the damage.

And so I trained with trepidation as Nov 14th approached. I hadn’t really been training for this race specifically, you see. It was more of a “I’ll do this race in place of my long run” type thing. But now that I’d been on the course… could I take 13 miles of hills?

I was lucky enough to catch a ride with my CTRC friend Christian the morning of the race. Thanks Christian! I had my usual pre-race breakfast (the runner’s staple – peanut butter (chunky of course) on toast). This had served me well in the 10k and I sure wasn’t going to try to fix what wasn’t broken. We headed out at 6:35 and picked up another friend, Delia, along the way. Delia’s shoes were way cooler than mine — while she also runs in the Brooks Cascadia 4, her pair was a totally rockin lime green color. Mine are a conservative pink and grey. I think we know what color I’ll be getting next time.

We hung out at the starting line for a while and said hi to the race directors Francesca and Gill (who also run the Charlottesville Running Company) And before we knew it, we were on the starting line! Gill gave us a quick intro to how the course would be marked (I really grew to love those little orange flags, let me tell ya) and warned us of the water crossings (more on those later). And then we were off!

Mile 1 was on the road, but soon we were on the trail. At the end of the first mile we met up with the 5kers who were doing the SPCA Canine run. I can’t say I’m a fan of being chased by a runner with a dog, especially on a single-track trail, but hey, whatcha gonna do, right? Plus, the sound of the dog’s panting at my heels made me run faster. I think.

I hit the 5 mile mark in a little under an hour — the trail was definitely more technical than I’m used to, and it showed in my pace. However, my main goal was to not fall and to not get injured (don’t want to jeopardize my marathon training), so so far so good at this point. The rain helped, because it packed down the leaves for us and made it easier to avoid rocks and roots.

Mile 7 was where it got bad. Rolling hills and a huge climb… My legs wanted to quit on me. I definitely underestimated the hills – sure, I can do 12 miles on the roads easy, but a hilly trail is a different matter entirely. I took cues from the few people I could see on the trail with me and walked the hills when necessary. Around mile 8 I was all alone, and beginning to wonder how long it would take before someone came to find me if I just sat down and waited. But no! I was going to finish this race, darn it! I can run 13 miles! I know I can. Hills or no, I was going to finish this race.

At mile 9, as I was running along, I came to a body of water that crossed the trail. Sure enough, there was a little orange flag next to it, indicating that, yes, yes you do have to go through this. “But it’s too far to jump! And there are no rocks on which to step!” I thought. Well, welcome to trail racing. My Cascadias are still drying out.

At mile 10 there was a water stop – the first one in a good 6 miles. I refilled my water bottle, chatted with Gill for a few minutes while my heart rate went back down, and continued on my way. From there to the finish it was mostly downhill, and I was even able to pass some people. I finished strong – and for that I’m very proud!

I ended up finishing in 2:30:59 – definitely not as well as I think I could do in a road race, but not half bad for my first half marathon, expecially given the difficulty of the run!

Shout-out to my friends in CTRC who also ran, including Eric who won his age group, and Bob who came in second in the series! Christian and Delia also finished, although Delia sprained her ankle. :( Feel better soon!

This was a great race and one I’ll definitely do again next year. I would only say that 1) there should be no cross-over with the 5k canine run, as having dogs on the trail made things a little stressful, and 2) that there should be a few more water stops.