My friends Lauren and Charlotte brought this virtual event to my attention. Jason Green, the founder and leader of Yeti Trail Runners, put this event out in response to requests for a challenge for us runners during the COVID-19 pandemic. I don’t really think virtual races are my thing – I certainly won’t seek them out in the future. But sometimes, when life is throwing a lot at you, it can be nice to find a challenge to focus on.

Last fall I did a training weekend to prepare for the Crooked Road 24 Hour Ultra, where I ran 4 miles every 4 hours for 24 hours – the “4x4x24.” It went pretty well. The hardest thing about it was the sleep deprivation – especially for my last two runs at 11 PM and 3 AM. I intentionally did not nap at all during the 24 hours to practice for Crooked Road.

This time, the Yeti Challenge would have me doing 5 miles every 4 hours for 24 hours – a total of 6 runs and 30 miles (except we made it 5.2 miles per run for 31.2 miles total to hit the 50K mark). Since I’m not preparing for anything, I fully intended to nap this time. I also didn’t think it would be a big difference to add on one more mile. I was wrong on both accounts.

I roped Kim into the Yeti Challenge, and honestly it didn’t take any convincing at all. I’m pretty sure she said “yes” before even knowing the full details of the event. Our friend Ashley also joined in last minute. Kim and I would run the first five runs together, but all of us started at the same time so we were all running together virtually. I enjoyed knowing we were all out there getting it done at the same time, making us feel more together while we have to stay apart during COVID-19.

Run 1 – 6 AM / local park / 40’s windy and raining

Kim and I met up at a nearby park where 1 lap is 0.7 miles. It was still dark, and with the rain and chilly temperature I wasn’t feeling super jazzed. The run felt like a harder effort, so I was surprised to see we ran a pace that was slower than normal. I was soaking wet and freezing, but the first run was done.

Post-run food: Peanut butter and honey oatmeal and coffee.

Run 2 – 10 AM / New River Trail / upper 30’s, cloudy, and very windy

The time between runs throughout this event felt pretty short, and before I knew it it was time to run again. The first half of this run was on a gradual uphill and I still felt just “blah.”

The second half of this run was a gradual downhill and I felt like I cruised more.

Post-run food: Greek yogurt and a turkey sandwich

Run 3 – 2 PM / New River Trail / 40’s, sunny, and breezy

Kim and I started from a different access point on the trail to mix things up. I hit the restroom before we got going and found my first ever painted rock! Finally! Of course, it would be in a bathroom.

This run had the nicest weather yet and that definitely gave me some pep in my step.

We continued our trend of running each run progressively faster, and this run was the fastest yet – a trend we did not expect to continue!

Post-run food: Half of a Luna bar, a dill pickle, some plain potato chips, and a ginger chew.

Run 4 – 6 PM / New River Trail / upper 40’s and sunny

We ran this one in the same spot as run number two. I think I was getting a little loopy, as I kept mistaking things like tree branches for deer or a rabbit and orange flagging in a tree for a cardinal.

My legs were definitely starting to feel fatigued and I was starting to feel sleepy. Despite that, this run was even faster than run 3. The extra 0.2 miles we were tacking on to each run started to feel silly at this point.

When I got home, I was excited to find an envelope from Yeti Trail Runners in my mailbox with some new stickers! What perfect timing.

Post-run food: Tailwind recovery shake and a ginger chew. My stomach was starting to feel really rocky at this point.

Run 5 – 10 PM / local park / upper 30’s and cold

Barry came with me for this run and we met up with Kim at the park where we did our first run of the day. This one was really tough for me. My stomach was cramping and I just felt like crap. It was colder than expected and I was shivering pretty hard for the first part of this run. I definitely did not have enough layers on!

Normally, Kim and I talk our entire run. But we barely spoke at all during this one. What little conversation we had revolved around slapjack, sharks, and counting down the laps from what I can remember. I was so glad to get this one done!

Post-run food: Dill pickle, a few crackers, and half of a Luna bar.

Run 6 – 2 AM / treadmill

I thought I would nap between runs 5 and 6, but didn’t end up doing so. I was tired enough to, but I felt too crummy to sleep. This run was really tough and my legs felt stiff and tired. Even though I was tired and sore, I was really happy when this one was done because I had completed the Yeti Challenge!

Post-run food: Chicken noodle soup, and it was SO good!

Here are the stats from all six of our runs:

Overall, this was harder than I expected and it challenged me both mentally and physically. When I find myself in the middle of something hard asking “why do I do these things?” I know I’m taking on something worth while, and this was one of those things.

I randomly decided to take a “zero week” the week of Monday, April 6, meaning I didn’t run the whole week. I’ve had weeks where I haven’t run, due to injury or because I was recovering from a big race. But I don’t think I’ve ever intentionally taken a zero week. I figured why not give it a try while things are fairly static due to COVID-19 pandemic? Here’s how the week looked… (this is going to look like a Jillian Michaels advertisement)

Monday – Rest

Tuesday – Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, level 3 workout.

Wednesday – Jillian Michaels Killer Buns and Thighs workout.

Thursday – Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred level 2 workout, followed by a 20 minute indoor bike session. We also picked up baby chicks to add to our flock!

Friday – Jillian Michaels Six Week 6 Pack workout.

Saturday – 25 minute ab circuit and 3 minute mountain legs routine in the morning. Then a 6.2 mile hike at Claytor Lake State Park in the afternoon. Luckily, the trails have not been very crowded at our local state park and so far they remain open (lots of trail systems are closing due to overcrowding, which prevents adequate social distancing).

Sunday – Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown.

Overall, I think this was a pretty good experience and experiment. I came out of the week sore, but in a good way because it was from doing lots of different cross training. I always feel like I don’t do enough cross training, so it felt good to focus on that. But I was also itching to run all week. Running is definitely my favorite! In the future, I think it might be worth doing a “cross training week” two to three times a year.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, races are being canceled. Some of them are looking to postpone to the fall, while others are simply canceling and offering runners deferrals to next year. There are a few who are offering a virtual race option. With this option, runners usually have a date range to complete their virtual race and they submit their results to the race directors by sharing their GPS data. My running buddy, Kim, and I were registered to run the Hungry Mother 25K on April 4.

As expected, the actual race was canceled but the organizers did offer a virtual option and Kim and I decided to participate. I’m pretty sure this was my first true virtual race.

About a week and a half before the race, Kim and I planned to go down to Hungry Mother State Park and run the actual course for our virtual run. Then it became clear that traveling two counties away to a different community wasn’t the best course of action in the midst of the pandemic. So Plan B was to run locally at Pandapas, where we could run a course comparable to the Hungry Mother course. However, most of the trails in the Jefferson and George Washington National Forests got closed the week of the race, including Pandapas. After that, Kim’s friend ‘A,’ who lives nearby, provided us with a Plan C: Run a loop from Kim’s house up the mountain, along the ridgeline trail, down the mountain, and loop around on the roads back to Kim’ house. Barry has run up there a lot and he said we would love it. Sounded like a fun adventure to me!

We decided to run our virtual race the same day as the originally scheduled race, and headed out from Kim’s house at 8 AM that morning. It was a gorgeous day, sunny with temperatures in the upper 40’s.

Kim’s friend ‘A’ met us on our way up the mountain so that she could make sure we didn’t miss the trail at the top and show us the way along the ridge line. I was grateful for her help!

We had a steep climb up the mountain. It was tough, but not awful as I was fearing. With the good company, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves done with the climb and on top of the mountain.

We got on the trail at the top of the mountain, and this was definitely my favorite section! It was really pretty running up there and ‘A’ showed us two really great overlooks along the way.

The two overlooks were so cool. We spent a little time at each overlook just taking in the view. I’m so glad we had such a clear day! We marveled at how small and close together things looked from up on the mountain – things that normally feel very spread out when you’re down there driving from one spot to another. We could see the whole loop we would run and the roads we live off of from up there.

‘A’ accompanied us until we hit the gravel road that would bring us back down the mountain, about 5 miles into our run. This was the steep downhill part that you can see on the elevation profile above. My left knee has been giving me some intermittent trouble, and I was worried it would hurt a lot coming down this hill. Luckily, it felt fine the entire run.

Once we got down the mountain, we began the road section of our loop. The roads were curvy, two-lane roads that don’t have shoulders and this part was definitely not our favorite. There seemed to be a lot of people out and about, since it was such a gorgeous day. We had to deal with a lot of cars and several dogs.

I really started suffering the last third of our run, and I walked more than I should have. The ball of my left foot had become pretty painful. I have a callus there that really starts to bother me when it gets too thick. But mostly, I was just feeling really tired and not enjoying the road section. I was relieved when we finally turned back onto Kim’s road, as the traffic decreased significantly.

From there, we had a little over 2 miles to go. We weren’t sure exactly how long this loop would be. But it was here that I started to realize our mileage was going to work out perfectly! Trail races are never exactly the distance they advertise – they’re usually just close to that distance. I had figured since this was a virtual run for a trail race, as long as we were in the ballpark it would be fine. But it looked like we were actually going to hit the nail on the head.

I sprinkled in a few more walk breaks before we finally turned onto Kim’s driveway, with about 0.8 miles to go to our finish line. We had one more mean little hill to conquer, before finally finishing our run with 15.66 miles by my watch (a 25K is 15.5 miles). How about that!

Kim’s husband forgot to throw us a virtual race finish line cookout – probably because he was busy chasing their two small kids around 😉 . So instead I just took up residence in their driveway for a little while until I recovered.

All in all, it was a fun adventure. Kim and I agreed we would definitely love to do the first part of this loop again in the future. Instead of running the actual loop, with the road sections, we would just do it as an out and back from her house, up the mountain, along the ridge, and back. We may not have had reason to explore up there had it not been for our current circumstances, so I guess that’s one little positive to this whole COVID-19 situation!

It seems like it’s been awhile since I wrote one of these. To be honest, I had my doubts that this race would even happen since we are in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. And I can’t believe I just wrote that… how is this real life? Anyway, major kudos to Josh and Gina of Mountain Junkies for managing to pull this one off. They had some added precautions both pre- and post-race, at the aid station, and for the runners. But it was nice to sneak in a little normalcy and find some peace in the woods at a race event before further tightening of the belt occurred.

Kim and I carpooled up to Montvale early on Friday morning. I was excited to be headed up to run my favorite Mountain Junkies race, but also a bit apprehensive. Due to some other circumstances going on, I hadn’t gotten a long run on trails in three weeks.

We arrived at the park and picked up our shirts and bibs. Then we hit the bathrooms, grabbed a few photos with our Trail Sisters group, and listened to the pre-race announcement. From there we had about a quarter mile walk to the race start. I was happy to find large rocks in the creek this year – as I think I’m still cold from wading through the creek before the race start last year!

The 10 mile and 5 mile races have a staggered start, so the 10 milers gathered for our start while the 5 mile runners waited to cross the creek. It was a great day for running! It was partly cloudy with temperatures in the mid-40’s. Before I knew it, we were off and running!

The race starts off flat for about the first half mile before starting to climb. Then it’s primarily uphill until the first water stop around mile 1.8ish. Overall, the course has about 1,000 feet of gain, but it truly feels like rolling hills. The trails are also very twisty turny singletrack, which makes it fun because everywhere you look there are runners in the woods. They might be right in front of you, or they could be a mile ahead or behind you.

Pretty early into the race, I settled in with a group of three: Lauren, Lacy, and myself. As it turned out, we ended up running the whole race together. I enjoyed the company and the camaraderie kept me moving.

About two miles in, we started getting passed by the front runners of the 5 mile race which had started 10 minutes after us. The trails are pretty narrow, and it was hard to constantly step to the side of the trail to let them pass. I was so glad when we finally hit the split around mile 4 where the 5 milers headed for the finish and the 10 milers started on our second loop.

We hit the halfway point and I started voicing out loud how I was just not feeling it. I’m usually pretty good about not being negative during a race and not giving a voice to those negative feelings. But I just felt so sluggish. I’m so glad I had my little group to keep me moving! Before I knew it, we were making our second pass by the water stop at mile 7ish (??). I’m not sure exactly what mileage we were at by then. But from there we got to enjoy another downhill.

We hit the split again and this time we got to go left towards the finish! Around this time is actually when I started settling into the run – nearly two hours in! Go figure. I actually felt good and really enjoyed the final two miles.

We rolled along the last two miles and it wasn’t long before we were back down at the creek. Lauren went through the water, but I opted for the large rocks. Then we ran down the grassy area and the paved path to the finish. This stretch always feels a little longer than it actually is. We crossed the line in 2:13 and change.

Almost immediately after crossing the finish line, I was called for third in my age group. Talk about quick turnaround service! Hah! Then I met back up with Kim, who totally crushed it out there. So far this year, she has run two races and both of them were trail races. I think I’ve almost got her converted.

We enjoyed some post-race food and then hit the road to head home. Overall, it was a fun day. I’m so thankful we were still able to participate in this event, as I think it’s going to be awhile before any other races can be held. Time will tell.

The Frozen Toe 10K trail race in Roanoke was the first race of the year for me, and an excellent way to kick off the new year if I do say so myself.

My friend Kim decided to sign up for Frozen Toe as her second trail race ever (her first one was a 12 hour trail race, because she’s all in like that!), so we carpooled up to Roanoke together on race morning. We arrived about an hour before the start time, with plenty of time to pick up our race packets and attend the pre-race meeting. I also met up with my Trail Sisters. Our group had a great turnout for the race!

Just before 9 AM, we lined up to start the race. I think this was one of the warmest Frozen Toe’s on record, with temperatures in the mid-50’s. I chose to run in capris, but I definitely would have been comfortable with shorts.

At 9 AM we were off and running. We did a short section on the road before heading onto the singletrack trails of the Chestnut Ridge Loop. Things spread out a bit, but Kim and I still encountered a bit of a bottleneck when we got onto the trails. Neither of us minded, though. We were out there to have fun and kick off the new year.

It had rained in the days leading up to the race, and we hit some significant mud on the trails during the first mile. I was glad I wore my most aggressive trail shoes, as I was able to run straight through the slick mud without any problems. From there, the trail got rockier and was much drier.

Around mile 2, my feet went completely numb. I think I had my shoes tied too tight. It made running on the rocky trails really tricky, as I couldn’t feel my feet at all. I rolled my left ankle several times, but somehow managed to stay upright.

A little over halfway, we came into the water stop on the course. I drank some Skratch and also tried to loosen my shoe laces. My feet were still completely numb, and I couldn’t run the downhills as fast as I would like. I’m such a slow hiker on the uphills, so I need those downhills to make up time!

A little past mile 4, we arrived at the main climb on the course. In total, the race has about 800 feet of elevation gain. For me, the course has two hills that stick out the most, and the second one past mile 4 is the biggest one.

We switched to hiking and after about half a mile we made it to the top, with roughly 1.2 miles to go to the finish. Kim and I had stuck together during the whole race, and even though I was on the verge of destroying my left ankle I was having a blast running with her.

My feet finally started to wake up during the final mile. But instead of feeling normal, they were a mix of pins and needles and feeling like rubber. It was a really weird sensation to run on. We encountered another section of very sloppy, muddy trail. Once again, my shoes did their job and I was able to run straight down the trail through the slop.

We came out onto the road, hung a right and made our way up to the finish line. We finished in 1:19 and change, which is a 4 minute course PR for me. After the race, Kim and I enjoyed the traditional Mountain Junkies post-race food spread. Always a treat!

So that’s a wrap on my first race of the year. My next race on the schedule isn’t until April. I’m looking forward to spending the next few months running and hiking with friends and exploring some new places.