Lynchburg Half-Marathon

This event took place on Saturday August 13th was hosted by the Riverside Runners, a running / walking / swim store in Lynchburg, VA. This event is part of the Lynchburg Road Runners Race Series. Some of the main reasons I entered this race was because It had been a while since I ran the Conquer The Cover 25k, and July was coming to an end with no races run. Which simply put, meant that I wasnt running much at all.

I hadent run over 8 miles since the day of the Cove race, and I was concerned I would even be able to complete the Lynchburg half, and feel good at all. Of course I knew if I resorted to walking - that would be OK.

Weather was intermittent rain during the drive and prior to race start, but no noticed rain fall during the race. Temperatures were cool.

After you are done reading my race report, be sure to visit Dave's blog and read his report as well.

Circumstances surrounding this event that make it different than any other
1) My mom just got into town from Florida late the previous evening. ("Hi, Mom - going to miss you tomorrow, as I'll be running a race an hour out of town").
2) There was a suspicious police car parked on our street, like he was blocking traffic down the road on the morning before I left around 5AM. That was a real deterrent, but I locked the doors before leaving the house.
3) Most importantly... My wife just delivered our daughter 4 days ago. So needless to say, I had second and third guesses about not going.


Getting to the starting line
Leaving the house nice and early, I felt I had plenty of time to arrive at the race for check-in. I was headed to new parts of Lynchburg that I was unfamiliar with, but got there with out any trouble, parked in a decent location, took a small walk to the race check-in and it was 7:01AM. The race was to start at 7:30. My race packet consisted of them checking me off a list, and being handed a t-shirt. I trotted back to the car, avoided a short rain fall, got dressed, decided on what paraphernalia to bring. I decided on just my headphones and 2 GU gels, (deciding to trust the water stops), applied Bodyglide (which I have begun to use regularly on my long runs or just in HOT weather), Took a couple bites of a Cliff Bar (a recent pre-run habit), dropped 400mg of Ibuprofen and about half a mixed NUUN then I  hit the obligatory port-a-potty, and assessed the crowd for potential familiar faces.

Ya think I have too much of a pre-race routine? Well, it is what has been working for me, pre-run and pre-race, so I'm sticking with it.

Familiar faces are good
I saw a couple of faces I've seen before, but when I saw Courtney Griffin, I recognized her as a fellow Mountain Junkie and said "hello". she and I talked, and ended up running much of the race together.

They're off!
After some pre-race announcements that were yelled without the help of a microphone, the air horn blew, and off I ran. I was thinking that the field of runners seemed smaller than the numbers I saw when looking at last year's race results. I wondered even into the first and second mile if I had started with the 5k runners and not those running the half. Apparently we all started together.

I'm not sure where else to put this in my race report, but it was soon after the start of the race that I once again encountered it. I know I'm one to wear headphones often when I run, I enjoy music. I understand the safety concerns about running with headphones. I am conscious of this when running on the road or trail, day or night, alone or in groups. Often at races I'm overhearing someone else's headphones over top of my own headphones. That is when the concerns for using headphones becomes evident. I almost always keep the volume so low that I can hear my feet hit the ground and listen to my own breathing. That is important feedback to my own running performance that I need to pay attention to. Being able to hear another runner's music over my own makes me want to avoid running near them.

The course
The course, and the race headquarters was on an area called Percival's Island in Lynchburg, VA. The path we began our run on was the Blackwater Creek Bikeway, over which we crossed the James River. This path was a paved path with a couple of well-built wooden bridges, and then a short gravel and wide trail area. Then we were on road for 2 loops around the CVTC campus, which resembles a campus that has passed it's prime with various buildings in a sterile and abandoned presentation.

The history
Central Virginia Training Center was established as a center to serve persons with epilepsy. The facility grew rapidly taking in patients and residents with varying illnesses and changing it's name and focus of care many times. A population was recorded of over 3600 residents with various mental handicaps. The facility has a long standing history of good and bad stories, including trends and changes in the national and Virginia mental health care system. It is the largest of Virginia's 5 facilities that support those with mental handicaps. I once read somewhere that it was the largest in the nation at one time. I read that it still houses around 500 residents.

Before nursing school, I worked for a medical supply company and I would deliver items to CVTC about once a month. I have been in a few of it's various buildings. I must say the feel inside some of the buildings is very "institutional". There seems to be a lot of mystery about the place. (I obtained my sources for the above, from various websites including THIS one.)

Back to the race
The 2 loops around the CVTC campus was only slightly confusing, but the awesome volunteers were there to help. Which reminds me, that I must give credit to the volunteers, very helpful and loud and plenty of them. Some Boy Scouts were in uniform working one of the water stops, which I thought was a great service project for them! There was plenty of water stops, I would guess they were placed every 2 miles or so. I enjoyed seeing some of the residents for CVTC out there, and even stepped aside to give a high five to one of them. Thank you to the staff for taking the extra time to get them outside for some excitement!

The race was essentially flat for the most part, but there was one hill when the location transitioned from the Blackwater Creek Bikeway to CVTC campus. The hill began on the wide dirt road / trail and continued onto CVTC campus. This was refreshing to run down at about mile 10 or so.

Running the event was fairly unremarkable as Courtney Griffin and I alternated who was in front, and we talked about various races, the Mountain Junkie race series and calendar of events, running goals, etc. I sensed that Courtney diddnt have much invested in this race as she wasnt pushing her self too hard, and I have often found her on her age group podium after a race. I enjoyed the conversation and at times I felt she was making me run faster than I normally would have been. I'm glad for this.

Results
My primary goal of course was to finish having run the distance, and feeling decent about it. If I was to choose a time to beat it would have been under 2 hours. I crossed the finish line at 1:55. and the last 2 or 3 miles, I was running stronger than before. At about mile 3, I told Courtney "Dont let me hold you up, as I'll probably slow down from here" After which she replied "Oh, dont worry, I wont wait for you. I felt her pulling me along around mile 3. she took off soon after, and I never saw her again, but there was a clock at mile 1 - which meant there was a clock at mile 12.1 and I was able to see that I ran the last mile at a 7 min pace! I bet the mile before that I was at a 7:30 or 8 at least! This clearly determines this race a success! Finishing strong.

Finishers medal

Post-race
As I crossed the line and approached the post-race refreshments, the results for the 5k and some 5k raffles were occurring. After a few minutes or so to rehydrate and stretch and filter through the junk food to find a couple orange wedges. I went on a run to "loosen up" I found myself running down a quiet street in an industrial and very old area of town. I felt the need to explore and see what those buildings up the road looked like. After thinking that I was approaching running a mile out after racing for 13, I picked out a smoke stack as a turn around point. The run back to the race headquarters wasnt as enjoyable, but still felt good. It ends up I ran almost 2 miles more after the race... another boost in running confidence!

Listening to the post-race announcements, I knew to look for the guy handing out finishers medals for the half, and to pick up a raffle ticket. The event was heavily sponsored by Adidas, and one of those raffled Adidas gift bags would have been nice, but my number never came up. I hung out at the water coolers milking the last drops from some of them.... as fresh water coolers poured in, I guessed from the various water stops as they were packing up?

Race loot.

Things I did differently?
Again, "they" say to not do anything different on the morning (or days leading up to) race day. but since I dont really race these events, other than racing myself. I tend to do something different every time. and I like to end my race report blogs with this topic. Yet this time, I diddnt really do anything very differently. I diddnt carry water, and I trusted the water stops. I took a GU gel at about mile 5 and 10, which is what I would have normally done in a training run. There just wasnt much different this time. and perhaps that is why the run went so well. This race was my first road race in about a year. the last road race, I recall was the Varmint half-marathon in Burke's Garden, VA in June of 2010 which I ran in... well over 2 hours (yuck!). You can read a blog post about the events leading up to me running that event HERE.

Overall a time at 1:55, and placing 4th in my age group, only 3 mins behind the guy in 3rd was a rewarding experience and a confidence builder for sure.
 

What is next?
I am registered to run the 16 mile option at the Iron Mountain Trail Run early September. This event is a 16, 30 or 50 mile event. Again, I will tap into the ultra running community. I feel there is so much to learn from those who run such great distances. I'm glad that I all ready know a familiar face, Philip will be there. After that, I'm running the long awaited Hinson Lake 24 Hour Ultra Classic! For which registration has been long closed and full! As always, there is much to look forward to.

Race Report: Terrapin Mountain Half Marathon

Terrapin Mountain 50k and Half-Marathon. I ran the half. 3250 of elevation gain and loss over 13.1 miles. Check out the elevation profile here.

This all began months ago as I was planing out some runs and races I'd be interested in doing, I had originally planned for this weekend to run the inaugural Martinsville Half marathon, but soon switched plans. Thinking about the Martinsville race, it would be a new event and because it was in Martinsville it could possibly ensure limited attendance, and potentially an age group top 3 finish (possibly unrealistic goal, I'm not as fast as I used to be). But because I view the Terrapin Mountain half and 50k as a "special" event and one that intimidates me, I wanted to take on the challenge.

Going into this weekend, I was half dreading it and half excited. In end, I feel accomplished, encouraged and satisfied. Everything we want after a race. I must add that to know that many involved with this race are fellow Christians, it just makes it that much nicer to be there.

 The idea of camping out on the Sedalia Center property (Race headquarters) sounded like a good time, but knew it would have been a cold night, and thinking about how to organize that with Lydia and Pauly (17 months old) I wasnt so sure. Being in Roanoke, I was only an hour away from the event so I decided to drive. Of course I left later than I wanted, but got there at about 6:10. Thankfully I was able to get behind another driver heading in the same direction (I could tell by the stickers on the back of the Jeep FJ), and I soon joined a trail of cars headed in....

Here's the reason you show up to a race early... you dont want to have to stand in line to get your race number and packet, and then stand in line again to hit the bathroom. It was dark and it was cold, and my head is telling me all that I dont want to hear. but I'm trying to figure out what exactly to wear and what layers, and will it warm up at all? there was a 30% chance of rain in the forecast too. While waiting in line, I'm looking around for the 2 people that I knew I could recognize (but dont really know me) and to see if I knew any one else. I got back to the car and got dressed and soon the announcements began. I returned to the pavilion where everyone was collected and listened to the announcements, made final detail changes to what I was going to wear and was wondering if it was even going to be light before the race start? I diddnt bring a head lamp, and I diddnt want to run with one for 15 mins, and then have to carry it the entire race. Thankfully the 7AM start time was perfectly set so the daylight came in time. After announcements was a simple word of prayer (thank you), and we all headed to the starting line.

As we are all standing in front of the banner that said "Terrapin Mountain 50K and Half-Marathon" Dr. Clark Zealand, Race Director said over the PA something to the effect of. "Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Terrapin! That mountain you see just beyond the sign overhead is Terrapin Mounatin" I soon felt a rush of excitement and fear all at the same time. But I was so stoked to be taking on this challenge.

Start line with Terrapin mountain on the horizon

The course began with a GONG and a cheer from the 300+ crowd. All runners for the 50k and half started together. There is a video of the race start HERE. The first mile or so was on road and a slow steady, up hill. This changed to a dirt road, that could be driven if one really desired, but the higher up we went the less drivable and steeper it seemed getting more and more narrow. There was a creek crossing or two. The first of which, I was surprised with the number of runners that just went right through the water. hoping to stay dry for the majority of the race, I hopped from rock to rock, and the guy ahead of me mis-stepped and fell in, but I made it OK.

The first stop, and Aid Station would be an area called Camping Gap. This would be 4.1miles in. honestly I was surprised how soon it came. I was having a good time. I had my headphones and iPod Nano on me, and available, but never used them during the race, except for some video I took.

One big lesson I learned - and I was really hoping to accept this... is how much walking is really embraced by the ultra racing community. I believe in my experience as a runner, and the races I've entered in the past as well as the thoughts that are in my head - I dont like walking. I admit that to not fully run a race used to feel like a defeat to me. So, I was glad to see how many runners in this group were what I'd call "smart runners" and it's OK to walk. My friend Anita has been encouraging me with those words, and I've been accepting it. Today, it was sure nice to walk up those climbs and everyone else walked them too. (this really changes my perspective on ultra running) Looking back, I think I could have run more than I did, but not ever knowing what was before me, I was unable to assess if I could push it to run on some of the climbs or not, I wanted to run smart rather than run fast.

Once the runners made it to Camping Gap we were greeted by a huge group of volunteers and what would be my first of 2 aid stations on the course for the Half-Marathon. There was Mellow Yellow and Coke, and many bowls of various food items. Mini Reese's cups, of which I grabbed one, m&m's, some small bites of like a honey bun or danish and many other items, I think this was the stop that had small cuts of sandwiches too. I stopped a moment took some Mellow Yellow and a Reese's cup, then headed in the right direction.

The 50k runners and the Half-runners split ways at this point. I was lead to believe from reading other race reports that this was the top of the hill for the moment... Well that may be true for those on the 50k course, but not for this course. I think this is where the climb REALLY began. Honestly What I had run/hiked up to this point, was hat I would say is potentially run-able by a strong runner. but what was to come, personally was not "runnable" (if that is even a word). It got steeper, but it wasnt for long.

The first of 2 "orienteering punches" was at the very top of this last portion of the climb on a small out and back portion of the trail. It was in a hard to get to place, as I had to climb over a few rocks to find something that I diddnt even know what I was looking for. Apparently an orienteering punch is a lot like a hole punch, but instead of a hole it pokes a pattern of pin holes in a small square. i punched my number, and the pull tag from my number, cause I diddnt know where I was supposed to punch.

Fat Man's Misery

Next was a sign to tell us that an infamous part of the trail was coming up "Fat Man's Misery". I had heard of this area, and looked it up online, but the pics diddnt do it justice at all. It was more narrow than I had thought, and It's not only fat man's misery, but it's tall man's misery too. I had to drop down a couple rocks to get into the narrow gap between 2 rocks, and then squeezing through, then duck under a rock... wow! what fun. The rock was quite coarse and can easily remove skin, even from the palm of your hand.

Apparently the next orienteering punch was at this point, but I totally missed it (perhaps that is what the woman ahead of me said that I diddnt understand, something about "there's the other punch!" But onward I ran. Finally I felt that I could actually run for a while.

What goes up, must come down and indeed it does! Training for a race with such elevation change, takes training on the climbs, but training on the downhills too. So, a descent begins. and as it continued, it got steeper. At times it is controlled falling. I tend to concentrate on heel strike when running downhill and of course footing. Always on trails with questionable footing, I'm trying to read ahead 2 steps at all times. On the downhills I'm hyper-focused, because everything happens that much faster, as I dont take very long strides on questionable terrain, because I trust my footing much less. I'm passing a couple people and feeling good about it.

So I heard of the area they call "The Rock Garden" and I knew when I got there. Large rocks that shifted with each step. scary, but I tried to keep up a good pace. It wasnt long after this that I passed a woman who was limping along the way, she said help was on the way and she had apparently twisted an ankle. I learned later she was the current course female record holder, and managed to twist both ankles within a short time. I felt her disappointment.

After a screaming downhill was the second or two aid stations. I was now 7.6 miles in. I recall this station more clearly. It seemed like even more food that last time. I wanted to stay a while and just pig out on the brownies and sweets they had there, but I sampled some NUUN drink (I've been wanting to try that stuff), and ate some potato chips (for the salt). So much for the rule of "dont do anything new on race day" but I think my changes of food were minor and I was "only" running 13 miles.

The rest of the course, if you observe the elevation profile was able to be run most of the entire distance, and I had I studied the course more, I may have attempted to do that, but I still walked some on the steeper parts. but observing others and how they performed on this part, they ran it all. (goal for next year!) The trail was rolling and curved to allow you to see other areas of the trail ahead and behind you (and other runners if close.) There was a couple creek crossings, one of which I took the option instead of rock hopping, I balanced over a fallen tree... possibly not a good idea when your head is spinning and you're breathing hard. It was at one of these creek crossings that I ended up dipping my toe in as I ran over it. I felt the water penetrate and spread over my toes, but once it settled, I never knew it was wet.

I knew I had a good distance from the guy behind me. Until a different guy ended up on my heels which really surprised me. He was running very well. This to me is more evidence that I wasnt running as I could have for this portion. Additionally the guy ahead of me at the beginning of this area, was never seen again, so he ran it well also.

The last mile and a half or more was all downhill and then turned to the street. There were no mile markers on the whole trail. So, I'm trying to remember just how long this final stretch would be, and I'm picking up my pace, but then I see a sign that says one mile to go. I was thinking it was less than that, but I kept on. I slowed a little, but soon picked it up again when I felt it was only a half mile left. I finished strong and pleased at 2:31:39 which was an 11:34/mile pace. When I saw that the clock read close to 2:30, I was quite excited! That was a goal, but I diddnt know if that was realistic or not, not having been on the course.

Crossing the finish and getting a high-five from Dr. Clark Zealand

It was nice seeing the other runners come in. Especially seeing the first finishers of the 50k. The course record for the 50k was beat by 11 mins! One of my many goals with this event was to learn how ultra runners run. Which in the first 4 miles, I was able to assess this to an extent.  Dr. David Horton asked me after the race if I was planning to run the Promise Land 50k (scheduled for April 23). I made an excuse of not having run my first marathon yet, but he encouraged me that it wasnt necessary. Despite what many runners believe, a marathon doesnt have to be a pre-requesite for an ultra.

The meal afterward was pork barbecue, green beans and cole slaw. There was veggie burgers as well.

 The prizes were very high end including Patagonia and Nathan items, and race entries to upcoming events.
Of course my big goal for this summer is to run the Mountain Junkies' Conquer The Cove Marathon. but I'm still not sure if I'll be able to train enough for it, and I may end up doing the 25k... we'll see.

A couple hours after the race, I have no blisters, minimal chafing, but knees that are quite sore, the point of discomfort is on the outside of my kneecaps. I'm staying hydrated and eating frequently.

Thank you to all the volunteers and helpers that made this event what it was. Thank you also to those that provided good conversation and smiles and memories along the way.

Other Terrapin race reports:
Visit the eco-x blog and there's a whole list that I just diddnt want to repost all of them here, when you can just go there.
http://www.eco-xsports.blogspot.com/