When I was training for my first half marathon in 2007 with Team in Training, my coach gave me the following picture:
At the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014, I started running on trails. It’s been a new, but welcome, challenge that has taken me months to adjust to before I felt comfortable. Trail running has been my ‘brave thing’ lately. When Barry and I rolled up to Claytor Lake for my first trail run, I had butterflies in my stomach like I get before a big race. Although trails often still intimidate me, I have begun to really enjoy them. I have learned a few lessons along the way, too.
1. You’re going to go slower, and that’s okay. Hills on trails tend to be more frequent and steeper, in my experience. That, in addition to the terrain (roots, rocks, etc.), is likely going to slow you down 2-3 minutes/mile. Sometimes you have to take a walk break, and that’s okay.
Be forewarned, running downhill can be just as challenging as running uphill. Also, beware of the false summit!
2. Plan for the unexpected. You should carry extra water/fuel in case you’re out longer than planned. It’s also a good idea to always make sure someone knows in general where you plan to run, and how long you expect to be gone. I often carry my cell phone in my pack, just in case.
3. Don’t be afraid to explore. Look at a trail map beforehand, if possible, to plan a route and avoid getting lost. Once you’re out on the trail, take note: The scenery is beautiful, but you’ll be spending more time looking at the ground.
4. Don’t get obsessed over the data. Take your specific Garmin data with a grain of salt. When you’re in the woods, your GPS watch can lose it’s connection with satellites. Also, see #1. But if you do happen to run up a mountain, enjoy the elevation profile. It’ll make you feel like a bada@@.
5. Sign up for a race. What better way to immerse yourself in the trail running community than to run a race? In my experience, the trail running community is knitted even more tightly than the general running community, and they will welcome newcomers with open arms. Trail races also tend to be smaller, and have lots of special touches. Post race buffet, anyone?
6. Have fun. Don’t avoid the mud or the icy cold creek water – charge right through them both! Even if you don’t invest in trail shoes, it won’t take long for you to have a pair of shoes that are designated as ‘trail shoes’. They’ll be the ones that don’t come into the house, because they smell like the creek.
If you’re a runner or walker and have never explored trails, I highly recommend it! It’s a great way to add a new challenge to a routine that’s feeling mundane. From what I’ve read, trails are also beneficial because they help build strength and flexibility. For me, running on trails has made running feel brand new again, filled with firsts, new experiences, and personal distance records.
Do you like to go off road? What tips would you add?
This past Sunday I was up bright and early to make the drive up to Roanoke for the Conquer the Cove 25K Trail Race. This race is the anchor event to the Roanoke Non Ultra Trail Series, put on by Mountain Junkies LLC. The race had an early start time of 6:30 AM, since it is often hot and humid this time of year. Luckily, we were blessed with temperatures in the mid-60’s with about 70% humidity.
I arrived at Loch Haven Lake, a private membership club that headquarters the race, at 5:30 AM. Parking was tight, but they had volunteers helping direct everything which made it go smoothly. It was a short walk down to the pavilion, where I picked up my packet (bib, shirt, etc.). One neat thing they had in the packet was a bandana that has the course map for both races, and the elevation profiles.
I headed back to the car to drop off my packet and pin on my bib. Then I walked back down to the pavilion for the pre-race meeting. My friend Jessie was also running the 25K, and we were able to meet up before the race. This time we managed to get a picture together (unlike last time)!
Right after the pre-race meeting I decided to take one last trip to the porta johns, which were right near the start. I waited in line briefly, and just as I closed the door on the porta john I heard someone yell “3, 2, 1!” and then I heard a gunshot and everyone started cheering. Crap! About 10 seconds later I was jogging up to the start, and was able to join in with the tail end of the group of runners. Just like that, I was off for my longest trail race yet! Side note: The race was 15.86 miles long.
We made our way out of Loch Haven and turned onto a paved road, which we ran down for about a mile. Then it was onto the trails! The course was rolling for the first little bit. A little before mile 2, we encountered our first major climb. It was about 1.1 miles long and it was very steep! I bet you can guess which way we turned to make that climb…
I was reduced to hiking, as were those around me, interspersed with very little running. My calves and Achilles were on fire, and at times I wanted to just stop and rest, but I kept moving.
Towards mile 3, we began a long two-ish mile descent. It felt good to just let gravity take over. My feet had gone numb (it happens sometimes when my calves get really tight) and I had to be careful and pay attention to the terrain to keep from tripping or falling.
Just before mile 3, I reached the first aid station. I was rolling on the downhill and didn’t want to lose my momentum so I didn’t stop. I had my Nathan hydration vest (we were required to carry water, the amount was up to you) so I was good to go on fluids. I said thank you to the volunteers and kept hammering away.
The next few miles were on rolling, single-track trails. It was a really pretty area and I tried to take it all in, while also keeping an eye on the terrain to avoid rolling my ankles. The area we were running in is called Carvins Cove Natural Reserve, which has 40 miles of roads and trails on approximately 12,700 acres (the second largest municipal park in the nation!). I’ve read that Josh and Gina, the founders of Mountain Junkies LLC, worked for years to gain permission to use this property for an event, so I knew it was a treat. The 5 mile stretch to aid station #2 felt long, but I finally rolled in just before mile 8.
The volunteers were super helpful, and offered me a variety of things upon my arrival (Gatorade, water, lots of food options). The aid stations were set up similar to an ultra. From what I can remember, they had peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, potato chips, bananas, and orange slices. I had a cup of Gatorade (which was ice cold, God bless them), and an orange slice.
I spent less than a minute at AS #2, and then headed back onto the course for the roughly 2.5 mile climb up the fire road. This was the second major climb of the race. It wasn’t nearly as steep as the first one, but it was nonstop. I alternated between hiking and running and just kept chipping away. About halfway up, I joined up with two other runners and we hiked and talked the rest of the way to the top. I never got their names, but they were great to talk to! I got some inside info on Marine Corps 🙂
There were some amazing views of the surrounding mountains on the way up, which helped distract from the climb. Finally, a little after 10 miles, we crested the top and began a half mile descent to aid station #3. At this point I had developed quite the headache and was hoping to find some Tylenol at the aid station. No luck, but the volunteers were really helpful and offered me other options. I stuck with a cup of Gatorade and two more orange slices. Then it was back to the race, for the 2.1 mile quad-busting descent on a trail called “The Gauntlet.”
The race website described this section of the race course as a “fast descent that will have you ready for a flat stretch of trail” and they weren’t kidding. All I wanted was a flat section to run, but there never really was anything flat the rest of the way. We were either going up or going down, although at times it was gradual and close to flat.
During the last 2 miles of the race, my legs and hips were very tired and had a deep ache. My calves were also seizing up on me and threatening to full-on cramp (they never did). All I wanted to do was stop, but I was going to keep moving forward no matter what. Finally, I passed the fourth and final aid station just before mile 15. With just one mile to go, I found myself back on the paved road we had started on.
I was so tired and this felt like a very long mile. We made a left turn onto a single-track trail and I could hear people cheering at the finish line in the distance. I could see the swimming area through the trees and knew I was close. I came out of the woods, ran across a bridge, and up to the finish line.
My official finish time was 3:41:57. It’s a lot slower than I run on the roads, but I’m proud of my finish time. I was only a few minutes slower than I was at the trail half in March (the one where it snowed), and I think that’s pretty good given that this race had more elevation and was 2+ miles longer. I feel like I’ve gotten stronger on trails in the past few months. Check out the elevation profile:
After finishing, I hobbled around a bit and looked for Jessie. Since the race was headquartered at Loch Haven, we had access to the lake and a lot of runners were taking advantage of that. I met up with Jessie at the lake and we hung out for a bit. We were both cold, so we didn’t go in the water.
After hanging out at the lake for a bit, we decided to head up to the pavilion and grab some post-race food. They had a great spread, just like they did at the trail 10K in Bedford last month. I realize this picture shows you next to nothing, but my brain was not functioning properly at that point.
This time, they even had the grill going and were making hamburgers (beef and vegetarian burgers were available). It was a great day for a cookout!
I filled up my plate and headed over to sit near the finish line area with Jessie and a group of people. We enjoyed some post-race food and cheered on runners as they came in to the finish. My burger was delicious, but my favorite was the crackers with the hummus. The crackers were so salty, which is exactly what I was craving after sweating for over 3 hours out on the trails.
Overall a great day and a great (and very tough!) race! The race organization and volunteers were wonderful, and I look forward to taking part in more of the series trail races next year.
This week I took it easy leading up to race day. I capped the week off with the toughest and longest trail race I’ve ever done.
Monday- Rest day.
Tuesday- 3 mile treadmill run. I played with the speed and incline a lot during this run, and ended up with over 300 feet in elevation gain.
Wednesday- 3 mile treadmill run. Pretty much the same thing as Tuesday, except I ran about 45 seconds faster. I also discovered that a pickled egg makes a good pre-run snack for me, oddly enough. I was hungry when I got home from work and that’s what I ended up having, and it worked for me. I don’t think I could eat one before a track workout, though.
And yes, Dad, I am still planning on making my own red beet eggs with the jars you gave me. I just haven’t gotten around to it, yet.
Thursday- Cross training. Level 1 30 Day Shred workout in the morning before work.
Friday- 3.14 mile trail run at Claytor Lake State Park. I figured I’d take one last jaunt down the trails before Sunday’s big race. It ended up being a pretty tough run. It was 80 degrees and very humid. For some reason, my calves and Achilles got very tight and were burning during my run. Not very pleasant. I was hoping this run wasn’t some kind of foreshadowing for Sunday’s race.
The most memorable part of the run actually happened before the run, as I was driving to the park. I had the windows down on the truck, and this hairy black spider the size of a quarter crawled onto the windowsill. Then it crawled into the truck and jumped on me! I nearly wrecked the truck swerving, because clearly that was going to get the spider away from me. It dropped down onto the floor and then jumped up into the pocket on the door. I drove for two miles before finding somewhere to pull over so that I could open the door and get rid of him. I’m putting this on the list of critter encounters while on a trail run. It totally counts.
Saturday- Rest day.
Sunday- Conquer the Cove 25K Trail Race (15.86 miles)! This was the longest trail race I’ve ever run, and it was also the toughest. But we had a great day for the race (overcast, mid-60’s, not too humid) and the race organizers and volunteers were great! Full recap coming on Wednesday.
I cannot believe my 25K trail race is this weekend! How did it sneak up on me so fast?? This will be the longest run I’ve ever done on trails, and I’m nervous but also excited. While I get my game face ready for Sunday morning, I leave you with this gem of a story.
Hank and Scout got into the chicken run the other night. This was Hank’s second time getting into the chicken run with the chickens, and Scout’s first time. But let me start by giving you some background.
I had been out earlier in the day to give the chickens some leftover lettuce, strawberry tops, and pineapple. I unlatched the gate, gave the chickens their treat, collected eggs from the nesting box, and then headed back inside. Shortly thereafter, Barry got home from work and we put the dogs outside. I was in the kitchen and Barry happened to look out the back door and suddenly shouted “both dogs are in the chicken coop!” Begin freak out.
We both ran outside, only to find the dogs happily chasing the chickens around the chicken run. Not in an aggressive way, but as if they were playing with them. Because that’s exactly what they were doing! Barry and I calmly approached the chicken run and called the dogs out of the run. Then we counted the chickens. One, two, three, four, five…. Hmmm. Someone’s missing.
First, I decided to take the dogs inside. Then I headed back out into the yard to help Barry look for our missing chicken. She was nowhere to be found. But we were pretty sure she was still alive, since there was no evidence (ahem… blood, feathers, etc.) to the contrary. Finally, I noticed the dogs had tried to dig under the chicken coop. We have hog wire buried around the chicken coop, specifically to keep the dogs from going under it. But the chickens can still fit, and that’s where our missing chicken was!
It turns out only one of our chickens (Cecilia) actually has a sense of self-preservation, and took refuge under the chicken coop when the dogs “attacked.” Once located, she was easily lured out with some cracked corn. With all six chickens safe and sound, we closed the gate to the chicken run.
Oh yea. That’s how the dogs got in this time. I forgot to close the darn gate!
So the chickens survived another potential massacre. I could have grabbed my camera and documented the entire episode, but I didn’t.
Photo from February 2014
Barry has decided the dogs are no longer a threat to the chickens, and we should let them back into the chicken run so that I can take some pictures. But I’m worried if we willingly let the dogs in they may act differently.
What do you think? Would you willingly let the dogs into the chicken coop?
I think I’ll just thank my lucky stars the chickens are still alive. Bear in mind Hank tried to bite their heads off when they were babies living in our garage.
This past Saturday, Barry and I headed down to Hungry Mother State Park in Marion for a trail run. We ran separately, since we had different distances in mind. Plus, our paces are dramatically different on trails (he’s a much better climber than me). I chose to run the 5.7 mile long trail that goes around the lake.
I hadn’t ever run here before, and I really enjoyed exploring some new trails. As per usual, the trail started off with a challenging hill and I was amazed at how quickly trail running can make my heart rate skyrocket, so early on.
My legs were feeling kind of tired and heavy, but I just focused on enjoying the scenery of the lake and woods around me. Eventually, after mile 2, they started to feel better. The trail wasn’t very technical, so I was able to look at my surroundings more than usual.
It was mostly shaded the whole way around the lake, which was nice. The temperature was in the low-60’s at the start of my run, but warming up quickly. Once again I ran with my Nathan hydration vest, so I had plenty of water.
The trail had rolling hills, with only one climb before mile 2 that I had to hike up. There were a lot of signs saying there was a beach overlook coming up around mile 3.6, so I focused on getting to that. But then I found myself at mile 4. I thought there would be a sign, but I guess they thought the overlook was obvious, so I totally missed it.
At this point, the trail spit me out onto a paved road and I got very confused about where to go. I came to a big parking lot a little ways down the road and saw a trail map at the end of it. It looked like I may have been on the trail the whole time, and possibly would have missed getting back on it if I hadn’t run down through the parking lot. It was very confusing, and I’m still not sure if I followed the trail correctly or not. I followed the paved path, which was marked with the navy blue blazes I had been following the whole way, over to the beach area.
The swimming area officially opened this past Memorial Day weekend. It looks like it would be a fun place to swim! And I would love to jump off of that tower. I bet the water was pretty chilly on Saturday, though.
I continued on, with about 1.5 miles left to go. I cursed myself for running counterclockwise and hitting this part of the trail at the end of my run, because there was very little shade. At least there was a pretty view.
I broke the last mile down into quarter mile chunks, taking a sip of water each quarter, until I found my way back where I started at the spillway.
Since I wasn’t quite at 6 miles yet, I did a brief out and back on the part of the trail I had started my run on. Of course, this added two extra hills right at the end of my run. Overall, this run was a good confidence boost for me and was much tamer than last week.
Once I finished my run, I headed up to the lot where we parked. I was done running (or so I thought…), but had plans to hike up to a “lake vista” I had seen advertised on a trailhead marker. I wanted to see this vista! (side note: Barry wasn’t back at the car, yet, so I knew he was still out on his run)
It was quite the hike to the top, but what else do you expect when you’re doing a 1 mile climb to a lake vista and the trail starts at the same level as the lake? The hike felt tough since my legs were already tired from running. But, as usual, the climb was worth it.
I really enjoyed getting a birds eye view of the lake I had just run around! I had planned on hiking up and then hiking back down, but instead I decided to run back down the trail. It was a net downhill, anyway, with just a few small climbs along the way.
When I got back to the parking lot, I found that Barry was back at the car as well. He hadn’t been waiting long, which was good! We got cleaned up at the campground bath house (we had both brought shower stuff and a change of clothes). Then we headed down to Chilhowie to meet up with Barry’s parents since we were in their neck of the woods.
We ate at The Riverfront, which is one of my favorite local/non-chain restaurants. After some good food with good company, Barry and I hit the road home. We avoided the interstate for the most part, and enjoyed driving through all of the towns and countryside along the way. It was a gorgeous day!
What did you do this past Memorial Day weekend?
"I've opted for fun in this lifetime." -Jerry Garcia
I hadn’t ever run here before, and I really enjoyed exploring some new trails. As per usual, the trail started off with a challenging hill and I was amazed at how quickly trail running can make my heart rate skyrocket, so early on.
Turkey Runner 