Recently, I had one of those really crummy runs. You know the ones were you just feel like crap the entire time? Some days you might throw in the towel, but other days you find a way to fight through and get the thing done. This was one of the latter.
Mile 1. Okay, not feeling so good today. But you can’t trust the first mile. The first mile is a liar.
Mile 2. Well, only half a mile to the turnaround.
Turnaround. I should have picked a route with more shade. What was I thinking. Well crap, I was so busy worrying about my route I forgot to turn around. Now I just ran an extra quarter mile.
Mile 3. You know, sometimes it just takes a little while to get into a run. I’m sure things will get better.
Mile 4. Okay, still don’t feel good. Keep going. Last mile.
Mile 5. Yea, yea, I would be done now if I had been paying attention at the turn around. Suck it up, buttercup.
Mile 5.5. Done. Glad that’s over.
Sometimes you have to lie to yourself to make it happen. And then life goes on.
When people think of hiking in the Roanoke Valley, McAfee’s Knob is one of the first places that comes to mind. It’s probably the area’s most iconic hike. And it’s definitely the most photographed spot on the 2,200 mile-long Appalachian Trail.
Somehow I have lived in the area for 11 years without ever doing this hike. After a lot of planning that started in May, my friend Charlotte and I finally came together the third weekend of August to hike McAfee’s Knob.
We met up early on a Saturday morning and carpooled up to the trailhead parking lot. I expected it to be crowded, and it was. Luckily, we timed it just right and a few runners were getting back from an early run. We grabbed one of their parking spots and headed up the Appalachian Trail.
It was a gorgeous morning to be out in the woods, but boy was it humid! I was worried it might feel crowded on the trail, given the full parking lot. However, I guess 8 miles round trip is long enough to spread people out. We passed groups of hikers occasionally, but it never felt crowded. We also saw areas along the trail that showed evidence from the recent brush fires on Catawba Mountain.
It’s around 4 miles to the top with about 1,200 feet of elevation gain. The trail climbs gradually at first before becoming more steep for the last mile or so. Charlotte and I had a great time catching up with each other during our trek to the top. However, about 3/4 of a mile from the top, I randomly got this crazy dizzy spell. I think it was a combination of low blood sugar, the exertion of hiking, and the humidity. Charlotte made me sit down on a rock for a few minutes and the dizziness quickly subsided. Onward to the top!
When we got to the top we (okay me, since I was leading) nearly missed the turn onto the spur trail to the overlook. Luckily, Charlotte spotted it. We came around a corner and were treated to a spectacular view!
The view is hard to capture. But you know how these things go. They’re always more breathtaking in person.
There were only a few other people up there when we arrived. We spent some time sitting on the rock outcropping and taking it all in. I also ate half of a PB&J to bring myself back to full life.
Shortly after we arrived at the top, some major clouds and fog rolled in ahead of the impending rain. I’m glad we got to enjoy the views a bit when we first got up there. But being swallowed up by clouds on top of a mountain was pretty cool, too.
Being out at the edge of the rock outcropping made me a bit nervous (Charlotte is much braver than me). However, after a bit of coaxing, I agreed to stand up for the “iconic” McAfee’s Knob photo.
After the photo shoot, we spent some time exploring the top of the mountain. I was surprised at how much space there was up there. On a crowded day, you could definitely find a spot with a view away from everyone else. There were also some really neat areas to explore between the giant rocks, if you’re into that sort of thing. I am not, but Charlotte was.
Once we had our fill, we started making our way back down the mountain. I was feeling much better and any hint of dizziness was gone.
About 1.5 miles down the mountain, the Appalachian Trail intersects with a fire road. For a quicker return trip, Charlotte and I decided to turn onto the fire road.
Towards the end of our hike, we got back on the Appalachian Trail and made our way back to Route 311. We finished the day with just over 8 miles.
It was a great day with great company and I can’t wait to go up there again.
There’s a very big mental aspect to timed races. In a normal race, if you run faster you’re done sooner. In a timed race, running faster will get you more miles. However, it won’t make it end any sooner.
Sunscreen should get reapplied mid-race on a sunny day. I didn’t want to “waste time” by reapplying sunscreen, but I should have. I ended up with a sunburned neck and sunburned shoulders.
I need to work on hydration, especially in hot and humid conditions. By the end of the race my calves were cramping. I was also covered in goosebumps, had a headache, was coated in salt, and had stopped sweating. Things were definitely headed downhill and it’s a good thing I was only running the 6 hour option.
I should have been better prepared. I knew it was going to be hot and humid. But other than bringing a cooler with a bottle of Powerade and putting on sunscreen, I didn’t do anything to prepare. I saw other runners who had brought coolers for cold washcloths and wondered why I didn’t think of that. It would have been nice to have a cold washcloth or even a Buff with ice on the back of my neck.
If I wasn’t afraid of the dark I would have signed up for the 6 hour night option to stay away from the sun and heat. I need to keep working on being okay with running at night. (Looking at you, Into the Darkness 4 miler!)
I finished with 21 laps / 25.5 miles. I would have really liked to get one more lap in to put me over a marathon distance. BUT, I am really happy with my accomplishment. It’s the furthest I’ve run in over two years, and I’ve really been through the ringer since then. It’s nice to be on the other side of things.
At the beginning of August, I ran my first timed race. The way timed races work is you run a set course (often a loop or out and back between 1-6 miles long) for a certain amount of time. The race is about how far you can get in that set amount of time.
Holston River took place at a campground near the Bristol Motor Speedway. The course was a 1.2 (ish) mile loop around the campground. The event started on Friday evening and finished on Sunday, depending on which category you entered. There were a bunch of options: 36 hour, 24 hour, 12 hour (Friday night, Saturday day, Saturday night), 6 hour (Friday night, Saturday day, Saturday night), and 3 hour (Saturday day). I think that was all of them. I signed up for the 6 hour Saturday day option. What possessed me to sign up for a daytime race in early August, I’ll never know.
Barry couldn’t come down for this one because he had to work, but I stayed with my in-laws overnight Friday night. On Saturday morning, my mother-in-law and I made the short drive from their house to the race site. I got checked in, picked up my “schwag” (a t-shirt, a magnet, and a collapsible water bottle), and took in the scene around me. There were runners going by who had been running since Friday evening. I’ll be honest, some of them looked like zombies. I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into.
Softest shirt ever!
After applying sunscreen, pinning on my bib, and making a quick trip to the campground bathhouse, I headed over to the start line. There was a group of about 20 of us hanging around, waiting to start. The group was a mix of 3 hour, 6 hour, and 12 hour runners. The race director gave us a prerace talk on the course, how timing worked, etc. She also explained our metal pint glass finisher awards.
Because this race was on a short loop, we would run through the aid station every 1.2 miles. In an effort to reduce waste, the RD came up with this awesome idea. Our metal finisher cups served as our aid station cup during the race. They had all of the cups marked with our race number on the bottom and they were all stored upside down on a large commercial dishwashing-type crate.
During the race, we used these cups for anything we wanted to drink at the aid station (water, soda, beer (yes there was a keg), etc.). Once we completed our race, we were to take the cup with us as a finisher’s award. Neat, right?
The start of our race was about as laid back as you can get. We were all standing off to the side (to allow runners currently on the course to go through). The prerace talk was done, so we were all just standing around chatting. All of a sudden the race time clock clicked over to 12 hours, which was our cue to go. Someone shouted “oh, GO!” and we all spilled onto the actual race course and took off. Just like that.
It was really humid that morning, and would remain so throughout the day as temperatures climbed above 90. Nearly all of the course was in direct sunlight as well, which would definitely become a big factor for me as the race went on.
My longest run going into this race was 9 miles and I hadn’t run over 20 miles total in a single week since returning to running post-injury back in May. I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this race, but I was there for the experience and to see what would happen. My loose goal was 15 miles, but Barry thought I would run 25. I would end up surprising myself and exceeding both predictions. There were definitely points where I questioned my sanity and life choices along the way. But not in the beginning.
I started out feeling fresh and happy to be out running. I decided to use a 10 minute run / 5 minute walk interval. This approach worked really well and carried me through the first 3 hours of the race with a total of 11 laps for a little over 13 miles. Then it really started to get hot. And I started feeling pretty tired.
When I signed up for this race, I thought boredom might be a factor. Six hours of running the same loop over and over? I mean… look at the map from my GPS watch. It looks like some kid went nuts with a crayon or something.
In preparation for the boredom I had already made a prerace bargain with myself. Make it through the first half of the race, and you can get your iPod. All of a sudden I found myself 3 hours into the race and, mentally, I was doing just fine. I was enjoying taking it all in, and I was also getting to run by a group of friends each lap who would cheer me on. I also kept playing a game where I was giving other runners nicknames in my head. And I wasn’t bored.
Maybe this type of race is my ‘thing.’ Or maybe it was just because all of this was a new experience. Who knows. I’ve got another one coming up in November, so we’ll see what happens there. But anyway, I decided to keep running without music and focused my sights on hitting 20 miles. The iPod now became a bargaining chip for 20 miles.
The race course was on a mixture of gravel, a little pavement, and a small grassy/muddy section. The gravel. Let’s talk about the gravel for a minute.
One particular section of the course had large, construction-type gravel. I had been warned about said gravel (thanks, Matt!), so I had on thick socks. But thick socks were not enough. I really don’t know how the runners doing the longer timed events managed it. After three hours of running, the balls of my feet started to really bother me. And then they started to downright hurt. And then I became convinced I had a blister encompassing the entire ball of my right foot. And then I was sure that said blister had ruptured and an entire flap of my skin was moving around down there. I was unwilling to take off my shoes and socks to investigate during the race. But afterwards I did, and I found nothing but sore feet. (Don’t read that like I’m disappointed – I was utterly relieved.) The balls of my feet felt bruised and sore, and stayed that way for a couple of days. But after that I was fine. Side note: Isn’t it funny how you come up with stuff in your head during a long run, and then it almost always turns out to be untrue?
During the second half of the race, I walked the big gravel section every time. My run/walk intervals were now out the window and I was just doing whatever I wanted. The race course also had a small hill that I walked pretty much every time after the first four laps.
Somewhere in the midst of hour 4, I started to feel really bad. I got nauseous, had some waves of dizziness, and just felt sick. The heat was definitely getting to me. The aid station was so well-stocked, with ice, cold water, soda (Coke, Mountain Dew, Ginger Ale, etc.), and all types of foods. They had sweet foods, salty foods, pickles, etc. They also had actual meal-type foods throughout the weekend for runners (breakfast burritos, eggs and bacon, burgers, hot dogs). And here’s one of the extra special things they had: Sno Cones! I was thrilled to see they had fired up the Sno Cone machine when I rolled into the aid station somewhere between hour 4 and 5. It was the best thing ever.
That Sno Cone definitely gave me an extra boost to continue plugging away. At this point I had my music going and even though I still didn’t feel great I was ready to keep trucking. A little while later, I started to have some issues with my calves cramping. I knew I wasn’t getting enough salt, so I resorted to drinking straight pickle juice in the aid station. It helped a little, but I was definitely in a losing battle with the heat.
During the final hour, my mother-in-law and father-in-law arrived back at the campground. It gave me a boost to see them. I was so hot and tired at this point, but I also knew I was close to hitting Barry’s prediction of 25 miles. I had to keep moving. I simultaneously wanted to just be done and I wanted to hit that mileage goal.
After lap 20 (24 miles), I only had about 20 minutes left. I had no idea how quickly I had been running laps, and I didn’t think I had enough time to run another lap before the 6 hours were over. At this race, only complete laps counted. I was actually disappointed, which is funny because a few minutes ago all I wanted was to be done. I consulted the RD’s husband, who was running the timing system, and he told me I had time for one more lap. So off I went! I spent that whole lap afraid that time was going to run out before I got back. But I made it with 5 minutes to spare. In total, I ran 21 laps for 25.5 miles and a total time of 5 hours and 55 minutes.
And then the best part of the day – I sat down! Then I laid down in the grass on a beach towel and covered myself with another towel. Even though it was still above 90 degrees, it felt glorious to finally be out of the sun even if that meant being covered with a towel.
All in all, Holston River was an awesome experience. The August heat and humidity made for tough conditions. But the race directors put on a seamless event and I had a blast! I can’t wait to dive deeper into this world of timed races.
So this year was a big year for me. In July I turned the big 3-0. For a big birthday, I wanted a fun adventure. After waffling over a few different ideas, I finally settled on a trail run at Grayson Highlands State Park with Barry. The park is gorgeous, and it’s also an access point to the highest peak in Virginia, Mount Rogers.
I spent most of our run absolutely stunned at the scenery. But the highlight was definitely the wild ponies. That’s right. Grayson Highlands State Park and the surrounding Mount Rogers National Recreation area are home to about 100 adult wild ponies. We even got to see some of them on the drive in! They weren’t shy at all, and came right up to the car looking for handouts. I should note, it’s illegal to pet or feed the ponies and they will fine you if you’re caught doing either.
The ponies are part of a grazing program maintained by the US Forest Service and Virginia State Parks. They help keep the alpine vistas and grassy balds in the High Country open and clear by grazing, which is part of conservation for the area. The two herds are actually owned by the Wilburn Ridge Pony Association. They oversee the welfare of the ponies with annual veterinary exams. The herd population is also controlled by auctioning off young stallions each year at the annual fall festival.
After our warm welcome to the park, I couldn’t wait to get started on our run and see more ponies! We parked at the Massie Gap day use area and headed out on our run. We started out down the Rhododendron Trail. About half a mile to one mile in, the trail opened up on a grassy bald in the Wilburn Ridge area.
We were about to go through the gate and leave the state park boundary, when we noticed a few wild ponies just down the way. They were so sweet and I wanted to pet them so badly, but I followed the rules.
After I was finally done turning to mush over the ponies, Barry and I got back on track and exited the state park through a gate and onto the Appalachian Trail. As we started down the trail, we encountered one of the many long horn cattle that also graze in the area.
We continued along the Appalachian Trail, which was rocky but manageable. I just could not get enough of the scenery. Grayson Highlands and the surrounding recreational area is unlike any other place I’ve been in Virginia.
After another mile or so, we came to a fork where we could either continue on the Appalachian Trail or turn onto the Wilburn Ridge Trail. I had read that the Wilburn Ridge Trail was challenging, but had some good views. So we decided to take that trail, which runs parallel to the AT.
There were definitely some incredible views on this trail and I’m really glad we decided to take it on the way out. But it was super rocky, like to the point of climbing over boulders or climbing up a rock wall, so there was very little running during this section.
I’ll trade running for the incredible 360 degree views we enjoyed on this trail, though!
We met back up with the Appalachian Trail and continued on towards Mount Rogers. At this point, we started seeing a lot more backpackers on the trail. I enjoyed seeing others, and it never felt too crowded to me. It was funny how many different people asked us whether or not we sprain our ankles running on trails.
Around 3.5 miles in, we arrived at the Thomas Knob shelter. I had a quick snack and talked to a section hiker while Barry refilled his water.
I had heard about a nuisance bear at this shelter. It was rumored the bear had stolen over 60 hiker packs during the spring and early summer. We never saw the bear, but we did see the extensive measures the forest service is taking to try and deter the bear. This included a bear box (where hikers store food at night) inside an electric fence area.
We left the shelter and continued down the trail towards our goal – the summit of Mount Rogers.
There is a blue-blazed spur trail that branches off from the AT to take you to the summit, and it is about a half mile long. Entering this area is like stepping into the forest in the Pacific Northwest. It’s crazy how quickly and drastically the scenery changed. All of a sudden, we were headed up a trail through a dense, cool, moss-covered forest.
The higher we got, the thicker the vegetation got, until we finally arrived at the summit. There is no view while standing on the highest peak in Virginia, at 5,729 feet. But it was still a really neat place to hang out.
There are supposedly four summit benchmarks at the summit of Mount Rogers, but Barry and I only found two.
We only hung out at the summit for a few minutes before heading back down the trail and making our way back to Grayson Highlands State Park. This time, we stayed on the Appalachian Trail the whole way, which made for more running on the way back. It was getting later in the morning and the trail was much busier the closer we got to the state park.
We reached the final mile of our run and made it back to the parking lot with just under 9 miles total for the day. It was such an awesome run and I can’t wait to go exploring up there again. There’s also a race there every spring that has a 50K and half marathon distance. I definitely want to check that out in 2019!
All in all, an excellent way to ring in my 30th birthday!
"I've opted for fun in this lifetime." -Jerry Garcia
Turkey Runner 