Terrapin Mountain 50k Race Recap

Race: Terrapin Mountain 50k
Location: Sedalia, Virginia
Date: March 22, 2014
Gain/Loss: 7000 ft
Time: 6:00:22

Standard pre-race briefing from Clark Zealand (Race Director)

The Terrapin Mountain 50k, the 2nd race in the Beast series.  It wasn't too complicated: get started on a flat road, after about 2 miles, start going up, and up, and up!  Refuel, and go down, down down... A lot of this was on gravel or jeep roads so it wasn't technically challenging and you could actually run downhill, but the uphill parts required walking for the most part.

The climax occurred about 20 miles in, when we summited the rocky Terrapin Mountain lookout, then quickly made our way down to squeeze through "Fat Man's Misery".  Here runners need to drop down between 2 giant boulders with only about 2 feet of space between them.  FUN!

Runners punch their bibs at the Terrapin Mountain overlook.

Just check out the below topo-map for the course, that provides most the details!

The real tale of the tape here is the elevation changes, with lots of sustained climbs, relatively short flat spots, and long downhills.  The toughest part was actually the extreme downhill between miles 22 and 25 where we descend Terrapin Mountain.  After this though things got more manageable. We hit the last aid station, turned around and headed back to the finish.  This was at least on terrain runable in some sections, and as the trail leveled out I did less and less walking.  Some creek crossings provided a refreshing change of pace!

The, approaching the final creek crossing I fell!  You never expect it, but somehow you stop paying attention just enough to catch an edge - as I felt myself begin to tumble I consciously rolled onto my right side before falling, managing to do an almost graceful barrel roll.  Horton was on the other side of the creek and saw the whole thing play out - he seemed to congratulate me on it.  "This is how we roll!"

Once I finally broke out of the forest onto the last section of gravel road I was able to pick up the pace to around 7 minute miles, and pound out the last mile on pavement in close to 6 minute pace.  I passed 2 more people in the final mile and my real goal was to break 6 hours.  It didn't happen, as I came in at 22 seconds beyond the 6 hour mark, still very happy with my time though! ON-ward and UP-ward with the BEAST!

After conquering the mountains off in the distance!

Slipping and Sliding over the Shenandoah Mountains

Slow, Steep Miles up to Skyline Drive and over Old Rag

Last Saturday my buddy and I headed out to the Old Rag area of Skyline Drive, one of the best hiking spots near the DC area.  Though its only an hour away it feels like a whole different world out there.  I haven't been feeling great lately.  My energy levels seem normal, but its been tough to be motivated with winter dragging on for so long.  The main issue is with my left knee - something just feels funky in it and I really don't want to push through the pain.  Most of my recent weeks have not seen a lot of miles running, in favor of swimming, spinning, yoga classes, and even speed walking up a steeply inclined treadmill (this is actually a legitimate training strategy for mountain trail running).  I had also been feeling just really "dead-legged" in both lower legs but that seems to have subsided with some rest and generally taking it easy.

As an aside, Old Rag is an absolute "must-hike" for any nature or fitness lover in the DC/VA area; I have been hiking around Old Rag since I was a kid and its still so fun scrambling around on the rocks there!  Its 8.8 miles round-trip so plan a whole day around it.  I recommend hiking up the "Ridge Trail", which starts off unassumingly but about 2/3 of the way up has you scrambling around boulders, squeezing through crevasses, and climbing up rock walls! Make sure to stop and take in the gorgeous views.  Pack some snacks, a lunch for the summit, and plenty of water to drink.  While it may feel warm at the bottom, the top can get cold and windy in a hurry so be sure to bring a hat, gloves, and extra layers of clothing.

"Shouldn't we be over there?"

We started off on a fire road, but even that was too steep to run in some sections, then veered onto the trail to Robertson Mountain.  Trail running quickly turned into speed hiking uphill through snow, though for every 2 steps we took it felt like we were sliding back 1.  Once we were close to the summit there was about 6 inches of snow in the shaded areas of the mountain.  While I was dripping sweat on the way up, after things leveled out I put on my extra layers to stay warm.  The views from here were spectacular and reminded me of the barren, treeless peaks of the Rockies.  We soon scrambled back down the other side of the mountain, and while still snowy at least we were able to run down.

Panoramic view off Mt. Robertson.

Back on the Old Rag fire road we headed up to Skyline Drive, turned around and ran back down.  This brought us to a cross-roads: head back to the car to refuel, or attempt Old Rag?  We both still had some water in our packs so we opted for the latter.

My friend Andrew, descending back into the snow.

Hiking up the backside of Old Rag was slow going but steady.  At this point my feet were already wet and cold so I didn't mind walking through the melting snow.  After a quick visit to the summit we headed back down the infamous Ridge Trail.  This is tough enough to climb up when dry, but descending it while dealing with snow and ice provided a new (albeit dangerous) challenge.  There were a few scary moments, like having to lower yourself off of a boulder, with nothing to hold onto, and oh yea - you are landing on ice so you better keep your balance!

Down we went, until the snow dried up and the terrain turned into runable switchbacks.  Closer to the bottom I couldn't believe some of the people starting out were only wear a t-shirt and shorts, but its deceptively cooler down there.

From the summit of Old Rag.

All in all a super fun day.  18 miles in just under 5 hours, and I set a new record for my slowest mile ever: 41 minutes!  Very happy to get in all the climbing and elevation in preparation for Terrapin Mountain!

RRCA Club Challenge 10 Miler: Race Recap

Just a quick little recap of the...

Race:  Club Challenge 10 Miler
Date:  Feb 23, 2014
Location: Columbia, MD
Finish Time: 1:11:36

The Club Challenge 10 Miler is an annual 10 Miler race put on by the Howard County Strides.  It felt like a small race but with over 700 finishers its more of a mid-size one.  When I think of "small" I think of like 300 participants.  This race was a haul to get to and started at 8:00am so that meant an early morning, but I'm glad I met up with my running club for a good hill workout!

This event is really about camaraderie among runners and seeing which clubs bring out the most participants.  The course was challenging and hilly, but I still knew several people who posted PRs that day.  Decidedly taking it easy, I was able to enjoy myself, get a good workout on the hills, and progressively push harder through the race.

DC Road Runners group shot!

Sitting at work on any-given-weekday, I'm surrounded by inactive people who think running is either crazy or just plain stupid.  Sometimes you start feeling weird, like you are out of place.  It was such a great feeling seeing so many runners that are active participants in area clubs, and so many fast runners!  In fact, there were over 40 sub-60 minute runners, and almost 400 who finished in 80 minutes or less!

Club numbers.

The weather was perfect out.  High 30s at the start, and even though it felt cold then one we started hitting the hills I had sweat dripping down me.  I went out at a conservative pace, maybe 7:30s, to warm up and get a feel for things as I haven't done much road racing lately.  The hilly terrain helped warm me up, and while the effort level felt high I was probably only hitting 7 minute miles.  A few more bursts of energy later and I was passing people with a couple miles to go, pushing 6:45 miles.  I happily finished in 1:11:36, though not before looking at the clock and remembering what it felt like to finish a 10 miler in much closer to an hour on a similar effort level.  Ultra specific training starts to make you slower, but you can't train for everything and I am at least retaining some of my speed at the shorter distances!

Looking a bit distorted pre-race.