2014 Terrapin Mountain Race Report

The verdict is still out.  To run or race an ultra?  That is the question.  For me, I have very little experience with the latter, having only "raced" my first ultra at Holiday Lake, but running Terrapin Mountain this past weekend was SO much fun that I have trouble believing turning myself inside out for 4+ hours of misery "racing" could beat it.  That being said, it took every ounce of self control I had to not race or at least run hard this weekend.

When I signed up for Terrapin Mountain, I knew that it would be my last long run before Umstead 100 two short-weeks later.  I was also very aware that I would not be running hard but instead would be out for an extended effort getting time on my feet in the gorgeous hills of Virginia.

Friday began with the "semi-simultaneous" publishing of a synchroblog with Ultra VT.  The posts were awesome and I think it helped everyone get super excited about the weekend ahead.  If there was a buzz word that stood out reading all of the posts, it was INSPIRING!  However, I decided to do a little experiment and copy and paste every post (twice) to create a Wordle and confirm:

Sure enough, Inspiring appeared although not as large as I expected.  During the car ride to Holiday Lake, Jordan Chang and I were discussing how awesome it is to have a group of friends that can just jump into a marathon or ultra for a fun weekend adventure.  I digress.  

After dropping Gillie off at Michelle's parents (Thanks again Marvin and Cindy!), I headed north toward the Sedalia Center in Big Island, VA, which served as the race start/finish and location for camping/packet pickup.  The drive is super easy, something I'll miss living in Richmond come this fall, and gorgeous to boot!  I arrived a little before 7PM and quickly spotted the Ultra VT crew who were "tailgating" the race.  

The caravan left Blacksburg around 4PM and by the time I had arrived in Big Island the group was in full team bonding mode. Somehow...the idea of a sleeping bag race came about.  What ensued could only happen when you put 10+ ultra runners together who can't run and have an excess amount of energy. Most of the other campers...who...erm...were less boisterous than our group found the event amusing and can even be seen taking photos of the event unfolding in the video below (0:59 in the right of the frame).  Yes,  I documented the entire thing and put together the four clips to make a little video, Ultra VT Shenanigans:

eVenTually all of the excitement died down and I began preparing the Outback for bed.  About half of the team camped under the stars but my 50+ deg. summer bag would've made for a cold night.  Holiday Lake was the first time I camped in the Outback and I managed to figure out a pretty good system for a decent nights sleep.  The rest of the evening was spent stargazing and identifying constellations.  Seriously.  It was pretty awesome!  I busted out the Sky Guide app that uses the accelerometer in the iPhone to determine which way the phone is being held and then shows the constellations/planets in view.  I felt I upheld my teacherly duties for the evening.  The constellations identified included: Gemini (with Jupiter!), Orion, and Ursa Major.  I headed off for bed around nine and quickly dozed off after an exhausting week of student teaching and training.

I awoke early on Saturday (after several snoozes of the alarm), emerging from my warm car around 5:30.  There was coffee available at the pavilion, which I indulged in and then quickly headed off to find the restroom to take care of business for the day.  Around 6:50, we decided it was time to head toward the start and ditched all of our warm clothes in the cars.  I debated for a good five minutes as to whether I felt like carrying a camera for the entirety of the run.  In retrospect, I suppose I could've given it to Kristen or one of the other Ultra VT folks who were not running but were cheering at aid stations if I decided it was too cumbersome.  I somewhat regret not having a camera to document all the fun that was had but without a vest the heavy camera would've been a nuisance.  

Keely, Trevor, Nelson, and I on the descent down
from Camping Gap (mile 5.5ish).
Photo courtesy of Kristen Chang

The race begins on a road and then quickly begins to climb to the first aid station (mile 4) Camping Gap, which we would see twice more before the days end.  I found Hannah and Keely, two talented freshman ladies who have awesome ultra running futures ahead of them, on the climb up to Camping Gap and spent most of the climb with them chatting it up.  We would run the first 13ish miles together before separating climbing back up to Camping Gap for the second time.  On the climb up, I was talking about teaching and another runner who I would spend a good part of the day with joined in.  Trevor, just earlier in the week was offered a position to teach at Virginia Tech in the education department.  Small world!  Awesome to welcome another Hokie to the Virginia Tech family and continue to grow the awesomeness that is Ultra VT!  We were also joined by Nelson (right in neon) who now resides in Greensboro and was a FSU Seminole, I told him we wouldn't hold it against him as long as he didn't start tomahawking!

Upon arriving at Camping Gap, I grabbed a few orange slices, gave my number to the volunteer, and began the sustained 5 mile descent down the other side of the mountain.  The miles were quick here (9:00, 8:12, 8:45, 7:53, and 8:05) but I thought running slower would've been more detrimental to my legs than letting gravity take me down the mountain.  About halfway down the mountain we hit the second aid station (which also serves as the fourth) and continued on after grabbing a few chips.  At the bottom, we hit the third aid station that marks the start of the second sustained climb on the course.  The climb begins on road before jumping onto single track and going up and over a little peak before dropping back onto the second aid station we had just run past.  This meant that we were then going to go back up the long sustained climb we had come down earlier to Camping Gap.  Confused?  I drew you an awesome map to clarify!  Red arrows are outbound and blue are inbound.

Good? Good.  Until this point, I had been running with Keely and Hannah but they felt like hiking and I wanted to make it up to Camping Gap so I continued on (slowly) but still jogging with a soft J. On the way up the hill, I met Kathie Colling who was having a tough go of it and was ready to quit.  I stopped and chatted about everything and anything other than running.  I was super pumped to see her come across the finish-line later in the day despite being getting physically sick multiple times in the race.  #Grit.  Further up the climb I met Shannon Howell, who was running her first ultra and was taking a photo of the gorgeous view across the valley.  She rocked her first ultra!

I came into Camping Gap aid station happy and smiling and high-rived Rachel Corrigan who had just run the half-marathon and Mike Jones who was cheering everyone on.  Horton came over and yelled at me telling me that it was a race to which I replied "I'm running Umstead in two weeks" and he said "oh.  Okay." but in true Horton fashion then added "but why would you run that race?" I grabbed some food and headed out onto toward the WOR (White Oak Rim) loop section of the course, miles 17-22, that overlaps with a portion of the Promise Land course.  Its during this section that we hit the peak elevation of 3720' feet!  Along the long climb up to the peak (just below the Blue Ridge Parkway) I ran with Shannon some more and also met Bob Clouston who knew Guy Love.  I took it pretty easy on the way up but let myself have a little fun on the way down and caught up with Trevor and Nelson from earlier in the day.  We chatted about Umstead and they both gave their input on running a 100 (much appreciated!).  We ran together back into Camping Gap aid station for the third and final time of the day and I made the stop a quick in-and-out grabbing food, thanking volunteers, and heading UP the trail toward the summit of Terrapin Mountain and Terrapin Rocks.  Clark, the RD (race director), likes to have runners use a punch to mark their bib showing they were at certain points on the course, perhaps an homage to orienteering roots.  Their were two punches on Saturday, although one was broken before even the first 50k runner arrived, darn half-marathoners!  

Terrapin Rocks - Photo courtesy of Clark Zealand

Fat Mans Misery - Photo courtesy of Clark Zealand

I caught up with the runner ahead of me on the way up to the summit of Terrapin Mountain, who offered to let me through, to which I quickly responded "you look so familiar" and then quickly placed him as Kevin Townsend, the race director of Iron Mountain ultra, which we ran back in August.  Kevin and I chatted and ran together for the next four miles and I heard all about his recent trip to Hawaii (sounds awesome!) and also picked his brain for advice on finishing a 100.  The half-marathoners really destroyed the course below Terrapin Rocks, the outcropping of rocks near the summit of Terrapin Mountain that has an outline in the shape of a turtle - hence the name of the mountain, which made the descent a little dicey.  After Terrapin Rocks, and finding a broken and useless punch at Fat Mans Misery, we descended off the mountain down toward the final AS of the day.  The last aid station is at the bottom of an out-and-back descent, which means after the aid station there is a little half mile climb or so before turning onto one final section of trail.

Red Arrows toward AS 6.  Blue are after visiting AS 6 out-and-back.

Right about the time I got to Terrapin Rocks, the temperature began to become noticeably warmer and although I wasn't pushing hard being active out in the heat takes a noticeable toll, compounded by the relentless and steep descent off Terrapin Mountain.  When I came into AS6, nothing looked appetizing but I grabbed an Oreo, some chips, filled my bottle with half-water-half-Gu/Clif?, and took my first cup of Coke.  It continues to amaze me what Coke will do.  I let Kevin run up the trail and enjoyed taking my time eating my food as I walked back up the hill to make the final turn onto the trail that would take us back to the start.  I reasoned that I had held back all day and that a few miles of fun wouldn't hurt me.  I started jogging with the only objective to catch and beat the Naval Academy runners ahead of me.  After passing them, I opened it up and just had fun cruising the downhill into the finish.  Turning back onto the road after seeing the 1-mile left sign I could see four or five runners strung out in front of me and decided I would put down a solid mile to see how the legs felt.  I passed four or five runners in this short section.  So much fun!  I rounded the turn toward the finish to cheers from Ultra VT who had staked out prime spectating location.  The best part was feeling good and knowing I had A LOT MORE in the tank.  "Used but not used up" as the Umstead 100 runners packet puts it.

Photos courtesy of Kristen Chang

The race was a total blast and I had a ton of fun.  It's awesome to reflect back on the number of awesome runners I met during the run and the camaraderie that surrounds the Horton/Eco-X events and larger ultra running community in general.  After crossing the finish line and receiving my finisher shirt, I grabbed some awesome BBQ that was brought in on-site, (wish I had grabbed a picture), and cheered on the rest of the Ultra VT crew as well as the other runners I had met out on the course (Kevin Townsend, Bob, Nelson, Trevor - our new VT professor, Kathie, and Shannon).  Of course, the vuvuzela was in full force and we made a tunnel for the later Ultra VT runners that finished.  I snagged this photo on Kristen's phone that I thought appropriately captured the atmosphere:

Daniel (bottom left) WON the half-marathon in a time of 1:55:02!  Also of note is that the Hokies had 4 in the top ten: Rudy 2nd, Darren 3rd, Jordan 5th, and Guy 7th.  One interesting thing about the result is that the top 5 finishers were all 25 or under.  Look out old guys!

Photo courtesy of Kristen Chang

George Wortley uploaded a 10 minute video with a bunch of snippets of Ultra VT runners and a neat opportunity to check out the course including Camping Gap aid station.

Finally, as always, the Strava run details are below for those curious to check out splits and stats like elevation.

As my first Eco-X race, Terrapin Mountain set the bar pretty high in regards to course and fun factor. Will I be back next year? Definitely!  Will I be racing or running?  The verdict is still out on that one!

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2014 Holiday Lake Race Report (Hypothetical vs. Real Life)

**One of the main instigators of this whole Ultra VT group-thing, Rudy Rutemiller, decided to create hypothetical Holiday Lake tweets on Saturday afternoon to make up for the lack of race coverage due to zero cell service at the Holiday Lake 4-H center, below are some of the tweets that ensued.**

Hypothetical Version:
As I slowly exited the fog from my deep sleep, I sat up in my hammock to witness a glorious sunrise dancing across the lake at the 4-H center in Appomattox, VA.  I had opted to forgo sleeping in a tent, and sleeping bag for that matter, because of the unseasonably warm temperatures we had been treated to for the 19th running of the Lynchburg ultra series opener, Holiday Lake 50k.  As I got dressed for the day, I half-smiled as a looked at all the cold weather gear I had packed and threw on a pair of shorts and a short sleeve shirt I knew I would discard at the first aid station.  The forecast predicted record high temperatures and the lack of rain over the previous couple weeks meant the course would be dry and fast, creating perfect conditions for a course record attempt.  After a delicious breakfast feast prepared by the 4-H staff, 400 runners set out for an awesome day on the trails where every participant set a personal best.  Once the last runner had crossed the finish line, Dr. Horton broke out a guitar and we all sang camp songs including Kumbaya.  It was a picturesque day and a Holiday Lake for the memory books!  The entire way home we continued to rave about how awesome of a time we had and couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces, ready to sign up for next years race, the 20th running.  Maybe we'll get lucky and get a little snow!

Real Life Version:



Race Morning: As I slowly exited the fog of my not so deep sleep to the sound of rain beating on the roof of my car, I hesitantly checked my phone and breathed a sign of relief to discover it was only 2AM and that I would not have to exit my sleeping bag cocoon of warmth for another couple hours.  I had opted to sleep in my car, the free option, compared to the $15 equally cold unheated cabins that remained for those of us who were foolish enough to not reserved a heated cabin in advance.  I awoke again a little after four in a panic, afraid my phone had died from the cold and that my alarm didn't sound resulting in me completely missing the start of the race.

Around 4:30, I admitted defeat and crawled out from under the pile of blankets that had kept me relatively comfortable throughout the night.  I began mentally preparing myself to emerge from the relative warmth of the car into the dreary dark February morning.  I dodged muddy puddles by headlight as I trudged toward the distant lights of the lodge with promise of warm water and hot coffee.  I was greeted by an energetic group of Liberty students who were fulfilling their duties of morning check-in for the runners and headed toward a table already half-surrounded by my fellow Ultra VT runners.  We shared laughs between sips of coffee and joked about the adventures that lie ahead of us for the day, curious as to what the unknown conditions would bring.  

Friday Evening: Jordan and I arrived at the 4-H center around 5 on Friday evening, quickly completed bib pickup and then mingled as runners arrived over the next hour.  At six, we gathered in the mess hall for a delicious pre-race dinner prepared by the 4-H staff that included salad, lasagna, spaghetti, meatballs, and choice of apple or cherry cobbler.  We were in great company at dinner sitting with Graham Peck, the race winner, and his family as well as John Robinson who won the male masters award on Saturday.  After dinner, Dr. Horton gave his always entertaining pre-race "briefing" that is questionably more standup comedy than actual "race briefing."  A little after eight, I headed off for bed excited and slightly apprehensive about the challenges the following day would bring.

Runners waiting around pre-race!

After finishing my breakfast, I headed off to do my normal pre-race routine including the very important pre-race restroom visit.  I was forewarned about the long line for the men's restroom (Thanks Kristen!) and unlike Promise Land, I made sure I got in line early enough to make it through the line and back to the start before the race started.  I arrived at the start line just in time for Dr. Horton's prayer and found a spot about 20-30 feet back from the banner.

At 6:30AM promptly, we were off and running!  The first little section of the course, about 3/4 of a mile, is up a paved hill on the road that leads to the 4-H Center.  The course then turns onto single track that winds along the lake for a mile or so before paralleling another road on more single track.  The image to the left is the first five miles of the course where the start is indicated by the green dot and the selected dark blue section is the fifth mile.  The course is comprised of doing the same big loop twice, first in a clockwise manner and then turning around and running counterclockwise along the same loop.  Essentially the course is one giant out-and-back.

A big topic of discussion at the breakfast table was what footwear folks were wearing and whether or not to wear Yaktrax.  It baffles me why we think it's a good idea to try something new on race day and even more so that I continue to do it again and again - enter overused Albert Einstein cliché, "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  I digress.  Long story short, I opted to wear the Yaktrax after running in them maybe a handful of times (with relative success I might add) but quickly decided a few miles in they were not going to work.  I opted to leave them hanging on a road sign a little over 5 miles into the race and eventually picked them up on my way back (mile 25ish) to drop them off at the last aid station of the day.

I need to be more confident in my ability to run hard and be competitive.  I noted to Jordan on the ride to the race that this would be the first ultra that I didn't wear a vest...or bring a camera...and actually intended to run hard.  I started too far back in the field and quickly discovered that I was with folks who had different goals than I did for the day; not worse of unworthy...just different.  Perhaps running with these folks kept me conservative and allowed me to run well later in the race but I wonder how my race would have unfolded had I been further up.  One monumental difference in this race than other ultras I've done was the time I spent in aid stations.  I would say in total I spent less than 4 minutes in aid stations during this race compared to other races where I've easily lost 20 or more minutes in the aid stations.  I started with a half-full handheld and took water at the first aid station and ran directly through the second aid station, which is roughly the half-way point of the first loop.  I also carried all of my own fuel, opting to bring 7 Gu's with me for the race.

The Powerline Section:  When we previewed the course two-weeks ago, I distinctly recall Jordan and I discussing the power line section and how in the race it seems to go on forever.  Two weeks later and add 2/3 of a foot of snow and the one and a half mile section was THE most difficult section of the race.  There was a hard crust on the snow that had formed from the cold rain overnight and freezing temperatures causing each step to suck all momentum and made finding a rhythm impossible.  The best way to describe it is that instead of your legs running along two parallel lines moving forward and back on those lines, your legs are doing an "eggbeater" motion and running along a single line because each foot slid as it contacted the snow toward the middle of your body.  Eventually, we (another runner and I) reached the end and turned onto a fire road where we could stretch our legs and recover from previous grueling section.  We both agreed that we were grateful to have that section behind us.  It's interesting to note that it didn't just feel slower but that it actually was considerably slower, evident in the above splits.  Mile 10 is the dark blue highlighted section in the image above that encompasses most of the 1.5ish powerline section as well as small portion of mile 11, both considerably slower that the pace for two miles on either side, mile 9 (9:24/mile) and mile 12 (9:28/mile).

I don't recall the third aid station (perhaps because I ran right through it?) and eventually I began recognizing the section that runs around the perimeter of the lake, indicating we were close to the turnaround point.  It was at this point, mile 14ish that I caught up to Wyatt, another Ultra VT runner who went on to finish an impressive 11th on the day.  We made good time through these couple miles heading into the turnaround and eventually caught Jordan just before we entered the aid station.  I was a bit concerned when we caught Jordan, as he has always been someone I admire as a runner and someone who is considerably faster than me.  Because the course is an out and back, we had the opportunity to see how the race was unfolding upfront as the lead runners had begun making their way back toward us.  Just after mile 15, we saw Graham heading back and then 13 other runners before entering the aid station.  

Splits through the first 16 miles.

I spent maybe a minute at the turnaround.  Enough time to allow an aid station volunteer (Thanks again!) to fill my bottle, grab a handful of Cheese Its, and give Mike Jones a high-five before heading back on course.  I had been listening to music for most of the race but right at the turnaround I put in my second earbud and cranked up the tunes and felt awesome for the next 4 miles or so.  This section was really great because you have all of the folks who are on their way to the turnaround giving you encouragement.  I tried to tell every runner that I passed Good Work! but I was in the zone and certainly missed a few.  

I had been doing well with nutrition, taking a Gu every 45 minutes or so but around mile 21 the wheels began to fall off.  Again, the power line section was challenging but the temperature had risen and with the rest of the field having already run through that section once, it was easier to find better footing.  

During the power line section, I noticed a decline in energy and recognized that I wasn't taking in enough calories.  I filled my bottle with Gu Brew at the next aid station (mile 24.5) and also took my first...and second cup of Coke, which I discovered too late into Promise Land 50k++ gives me a HUGE boost in energy.  As I entered the the aid station, Wyatt came in right behind me as did Jordan, and we all made it quick stop before heading down the trail.  Shortly after the aid station, there is a knee-high creek crossing, Jordan had sprinted past me giving me some encouragement and disappeared around the corner just before the creek, by the time I had crossed he was already several hundred meters up the hill and I wouldn't see him again until the finish.  We later found out that a seasoned ultrarunner was seriously injured crossing the creek and had to be carried to medical help by fellow runners, she is now doing well and recovering from surgery, but it speaks to the AMAZING crowd that takes part in these events.

Splits 17 to the finish.

Between 25 and 28.2 were the toughest miles for me.  I picked up my Yaktrax just before 26 and ran with them until I reached the next aid station where I entered dazed and feeling weak.  However, Frank Gonzalez was at the last aid station and his enthusiasm is CONTAGIOUS!  I handed him my Yaktrax, obviously out of it and said "I don't want these anymore" as he handed me a cup of Coke.  As I walked out of the aid station toward the trail, he was counting down for me to start running and when I began "trotting" before he got down to zero he burst out yelling and encouraging me.  He. Is. Awesome.  Again, I have met some of the most amazing and positive individuals since I started running ultras.  Inspiring.  I did ask how far to the end and was somewhat unhappy with the response, although Frank was dead on about the mileage (4.1) to the finish and it was nice knowing how far I actually had to go.

The scene at the finish!

The last section winds along the lake and then along singletrack next to the road before the 3/4 of a mile downhill finish on the road we began on.  Around mile 30, I walked for a bit and was super lightheaded bracing myself on trees and trying to keep myself upright.  In the future, I need to eat more but it was good that I realized what was happening and that I learn from the experience.  Once I hit the road, I gave one final look over my shoulder and started to open my stride allowing gravity to take me home.

Pace breakdown via Strava for the race.

It felt pretty awesome to come across the finish with Dr. Horton announcing my name and shaking my hand, noting that he had "seeded me wrong."  We had a brief chat and I mentioned how difficult the power line section had felt, which was seconded by the runner who had finished immediately before me and was still in the finish area.  I collected my awesome finisher shirt and grabbed a few cake batter Oreo's (who knew?) and attempted to walk off the pain in my feet.   I hobbled over to the lodge where I found the rest of the Ultra VT group and immediately started replenishing calories with a bowl of Chili, a few more Oreo's, and several glasses of orange juice.  

Link to full results HERE

I was very happy to have a solid run and see the hard work I've been putting in over the past couple months pay off.  I was pleased to have finished 16th overall out of 281 finishers and 314 starters.  What is really awesome is that Guy Love had another impressive finish, taking 3rd overall and that two other VT triathlon students finished in the top ten, Dylan taking 6th and Jonathan, running his first ultra, 7th!!!  Further, Wyatt took 11th and Jordan 12th, meaning we had 7 Hokies (alumni and current) in the top 16!

How bout them Hokies!?!

Participant shirt left and finisher prize right.

Strava Details:

Of course, it wouldn't be a race report without the obligatory post run burrito/food picture.  Michelle and I had our Valentines Day on Saturday evening because I spent the actual valentines day sleeping in my car...in the cold...to go run 50k...in the snow...hrm?  

Maybe next year it'll be dry and fast and perfect for setting a course record...or maybe not! #HypotheticalHL

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Promise "Have Fun" Land 50K++ Race Report

I'm not exactly sure what you say to a runner when they head off to a race.  Good luck?  Apparently, saying "good luck" is bad luck just like in showbiz.  As an athlete and runner, no one wants to hear break a leg, especially after what happened to Kevin Ware in the NCAA tournament a few weeks ago so I suppose that is out too.  So what exactly do you say then?  I had roughly eight hours to think about just this scenario on Saturday during the Promise Land 50K...

I signed up for the Promise Land 50K on April 3rd, just twenty-four days before it was scheduled to start which seemed to be just enough time to get myself motivated to train but not enough time that I got burnt out 8 weeks into a 16 week training plan.  I debated for nearly a week whether I should sign-up or not, mainly because of self-doubt in my abilities to complete such a challenging race.  Ultimately, an email from one of the guys on the VT Ultra listserv convinced me to register, well...his email in addition to the looming price increase.

March and April Milage (Dark
blue indicates a 50 mile week).

Once I registered, with a such a short timeframe to train, I mapped out how I would prepare for the race.  My weekly mileage leading up to and after the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in mid-March was around 25 miles (at best) but once I registered for Promise Land my weekly mileage increased significantly, as seen to the right where the dark blue bar indicates my peak mileage of 50 miles during the second week of April.  I made a conscious effort to train on the trails and really fell in love with running in Jefferson National Forest.  I now find myself dreading heading out for a road run.  My weekly mileages for April were 44, 50, 24, and 42 for weeks 1-4 respectively, with 34 of the 42 during the last week being the race itself.  Looking back, I would not cut down as significantly during the third week but it also does not include the Race To The Top stair climb "effort."  I made every effort to get out on group runs with the VT Ultra gang.  Unfortunately, the standing Tuesday evening group run conflicts with one my classes but I made it to several of the Thursday night outings in Pandapas.

One aspect of the race that was totally different from other runs I have participated in was the fact that the night prior to the race everyone camps at the race start, which consequently eliminates the morning of stress of driving in/missing the race start etc. or so should be the case.  This does mean that in addition to packing everything you would normally need for a race you also have to pack to camp which includes thinking ahead for breakfast the next morning.

Initially, I prepared my race day bag (what I planned on wearing, on the right) and a drop bag (left) but there were not drop bags for this race (and turns out I wouldn't have needed it anyways). 

On Friday morning, I laid everything out that I would need for camping that night and for the race on Saturday.  This is something I started when I was racing with the VT cycling team during my undergraduate and found it helps prevent forgetting something really important, not foolproof by any means but keeps things organized.

I left around 3 on Friday after packing a cooler with food for Saturday morning and brewing some coffee that I put in my Stanley thermos I received for Christmas (Thanks Mom!).  I made a couple stops on the way out of town including a bagel run at Panera as well as picking up a few Clif shot Bloks (which I forgot to put in my pack race morning...oops!) at RunAbout sports before finally getting on the road.  The drive was supposed to be rather short, around an hour and forty-five minutes but an accident on 81 added a good half hour to the trip.

The parking lot that was I-81 on Friday afternoon.

The countryside in this part of the state is absolutely gorgeous.

I arrived at the race location, Promise Land Youth Camp, in Bedford, VA a few minutes before six to an open field full of folks hanging out and some of whom were setting up camp.  I quickly found the registration table and received my bib and race T-Shirt, the real motivation for completing any race, and went about setting up camp while it was still light out.

I think I'm going to have to invest in a two person tent.  This one has worked but getting dressed in it is near impossible.

I had included $5 in my registration fee for pizza the night before and I have to admit was somewhat worried about having enough to eat but hoped for the best.  Lets just say...they knew what they were doing!  This was the sight as I pulled into the camp:

...and was there pizza.  SO much pizza.  A decision I would regret the next day.

Could not ask for a more beautiful location for a race.

The main pavilion where the race briefing took place.

Everyone was super friendly and inviting.  I think somewhere in the neighborhood of 100+ pizzas were eaten.

The Aid Station had nutrition and other "trail runner" stuff for sale.

The below photo I had to include.  A little after the first round of pizzas were devoured this MONSTER rolled into camp.  Now, I can't lie.  I was kinda jealous.  I mean, these folks were living in luxury at the race site.  But in a way...I'm glad I slept in a tent the way EVERYONE else camped; I think it's part of the experience...although had they invited me in because they had an extra bed I would have definitely said yes!

Trail racing "Luxury Style."

The community is SO different from the marathon crowd, it makes me wish all groups of runners shared the same sense of camaraderie and family, and also makes me consider why I really run marathons in the first place?  Ultras are where it's at!

A little before eight everyone gathered around for the pre-race briefing which involved the race director, David Horton, providing an informational while comedic rundown of the events the next morning.  Everything I read leading up to the race, including lots of race reports on blogs, emphasized how eccentric and fun Horton was.  He didn't disappoint.  Just listening to how he interacted with everyone during the race briefing and the following day at the finish, it's easy to see how he has created a community of ultrarunners that return year-after-year.

The race director - David Horton. 

By the time the briefing finished it was dark and the temperature had dropped a good 10 degrees.  There was a campfire for those who choose to stay up, no campfire songs here just a fun chance to mingle and hang out before heading to bed.  I turned in for bed sometime between 9 and 10 and did my best to fall asleep, although it was a bit like trying to fall asleep as a kid on Christmas eve.

My alarm went off at 4:05.  Why on earth do I do this again?  I was super proud of how easy it was to get dressed because I packed everything in my "race bag" including bandaids which I forgot at the Rock 'n' Roll marathon.  Well...finding everything to get dressed was easy, the actual act of getting dressed in a little tent was slightly more challenging.

As I mentioned above, I brewed coffee before leaving and put it a thermos that claims "to keep things hot/cold for 24hours" but it was really lukewarm by 4AM the next morning.  My breakfast consisted of a couple cups of coffee, greek yogurt, and had a bagel with peanut butter and banana.  Unforuntately, the entire idea of packing coffee was too...erm..."get things moving" and usually coffee is VERY effective.  Of course the one morning it needed to work...it didn't...until about 15 minutes before the race start when the lines were long and there was no way I would have made the start.  I decided to suck it up and figure it out as I went.

My goal going into the race, having only completed the 50K distance once before and knowing the race was actually 34 miles, was to HAVE FUN!!! When I ran the North Face 50K last June, I went into the race with a "hoping to complete it" attitude and had the most fun I've ever had running.  I just wanted to enjoy being able to run and that I am healthy enough and able to participated in such a cool event.  I have found that in races when things aren't going my way or when I'm not living up to my own expectations I begin this cycle of "coulda, shoulda, woulda" and lose sight of the entire reason I'm participating to begin with.  I decided to write myself a reminder so that every time I looked at my watch I'd remember the real reason I was running.  To HAVE FUN!!!

Remember.  Just.  HAVE.  FUN!!!

Around 5:20 I headed over to the start line and found a place near that back as my plan was to follow what everyone else was doing (i.e. if they were walking I was going to walk too).  The energy at the start line was pretty awesome and there is something totally badass about starting a race with headlamps on and running off into the darkness.

After a few words and a brief prayer, we started promptly at 5:30 and headed out of the camp and made a left on the gravel road which was the first climb of the day.  I tried to take photos on the first climb but the lack of light made them all come out blurry:

So I need to work on my nighttime running photo-skillz.

Remember.  Have Fun!!!

I can't exactly recall why I took the above photo, it may have been after reaching aid station two, but I wanted to remember that it was roughly 53 minutes to do 3.36 miles, a distance I would cover in roughly 20 minutes at the end of the race.

While I was hanging out on Friday, I introduced myself (again) to a guy, David "Sniper" Snipes, that I knew I had met before but couldn't place where we had met.  It bugged me all day Saturday.  We talked for awhile about how this was my first "real" 50K and he gave me some advice for the following day.  I saw him on Saturday morning near the start line and he invited me to "run" the start with him.  We wound up spending the first half of the day together until we reached the Colon Hollow aid station.  This is why ultras are awesome.  The sense of community and camaraderie is unequaled.  Sniper has completed 250 ultra marathons and Saturday was his 11th Promise Land.  Impressive.  He gave me lots of advice and let me know what to expect during different parts of the course.  It made the day much more enjoyable.  As a side note, I was right.  We had met.  At the Richmond Turkey Trot last November when I was dressed as a Turkey.  PS - Sniper, if you're reading this. You talk A LOT.  And I enjoyed it.

Just out for a morning jog.

Once we "reached the top" of the first climb, we turned onto a nice open grassy fire road just as the sun was coming up and it made for a picturesque morning jjog (the first j is silent).  It was on this grassy road that I had a good chuckle as I realized I left ALL of my shot Bloks I had stopped on the way out of town to pick up in the cooler in my car.  Whoops.  The first ten miles really went "pretty fast," as in seemed to go by quickly...not fast pace wise.

A shot of the group on the grassy fire road up to aid station two.

Sniper on the right.

Around mile 11, I decided I needed to "make a pit stop" which brought me back to my days of being a scout and camping and leave no trace.  I felt much better after.  I ran alone for awhile until I caught up with some folks and we chatted as we approached the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It made the time go by faster.  Eventually, I made it to the Blue ridge Parkway and crossed over onto a gravel road that paralleled the parkway for a little before hitting the third aid station, Sunset Field (mile 14ish), where I met back up with Sniper.  Sunset Field is actually an overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway (milepost 79) and has an elevation of 3472' and one helluva' view!

I wasn't exactly sure what this was?  It was on the right shortly after we first crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway but I decided to take a photo just in case someone knew?

The gravel road that paralleled the parkway.  The guy on the right had a #RunForBoston bib on the back of his pack.  Awesome.

Coming into aid station 3, Sunset Field.

I wasn't too sure about the distances between aid stations and how much water I would need so I filled up at most.  I really would have been okay here to have grabbed a few snacks and headed on down the trail but I'll have that knowledge for next year.  Right after this aid station was a fun semi-technical descent that is exactly like what we have in Jefferson National.  I wanted to blast it but Sniper kept me within myself.  Thankfully.  There were still many, many miles to run.  Once we reached the bottom, we ran along a creek for a little bit before hitting the Cornelius Creek aid station at mile 18.  At most aid stations I grabbed a few potatoes, pretzels, saltines, banana, and the occasion quarter bologna or ham and cheese sandwich and ate as I ran.

I tried my best to stay with Kevin after we lost Sniper and kept him sight until we began the hike up Apple Orchard Falls.  He went on to finish ~9 minutes ahead of me.

The only pavement section of the race?  A short pavement section between Cornelius Creek aid station and turning onto a trail (not sure of the name).

One shot of me along N. Creek Road.

Once we turned off the pavement we hit some single track sections and a few small climbs before coming into Colon Hollow aid station.  The name says it all.  This aid station was talked about at the race briefing Friday evening, mainly because of the name and how the sign had been stolen but also because there would be ice cream sandwiches and ice-pops waiting for us.  They hit the spot.  Mine was green.  They must've looked at my outfit and decided it was appropriate.  We left Sniper at Colon Hollow and headed down the trail in what became a massive conga line until we reached Cornelius Creek for a second time.

...ugh.

A creek crossing right before we returned to the Cornelius Creek aid station for the second time.

This section for me was the worst of the day.  It just seemed to drag on and I was getting slightly bored but made small talk with a runner about my dads age and we talked about our silly hobby and the dangers involved.  My opinion is that if I were to die running, at least I would be doing something I loved when it happened.  It was dark.  I was glad to get to back to Cornelius Creek.

Nothing looked appetizing.  My stomach was furious.  I had been dreaming of burgers all day and had only given it strawberry-lemonade Nuun and Superbowl finger food.  I had to give it a stern talking to.  And three or four Tums.  Maybe more.  There was a short out and back to get to the aid station that we had to rerun after visiting the aid station.  I walked the entire thing while doing my best to keep down a quarter of a bologna sandwich and a few potatoes.  Everyone passing me gave me lots of encouragement.  It was the only time all day I was embarrassed to be walking.  I saw Jan sitting down at the aid station.  I asked him if he had already finished, I thought it was a reasonable question.  He said he was just sitting down because he "knew what was coming."  Dagger.

Trisha and Austin (Austin ironically was from Dallas).

After my shameful walk leaving Cornelius Creek aid station, I mustered up a trot and latched onto the back of a group of five or six runners.  It was slow moving.  Two runners from the Norfolk area, Trisha and Joe I think(?), were playing a game where they went through a category from A-Z and had to name something from the category that began with the letter.  I was crushing it.  The categories included famous people, breweries/distilleries, and body parts.  Anything to keep my mind off the task at hand which was cimbing Apple Orchard Falls.  There were stairs.  167 of them.  Or 173.  Either way,  they were not the 1,192 I climbed the previous weekend during the Duke Energy stair climb but I also hadn't just run 26+ miles before that.

Apple Orchard Falls.

Austin and Trisha admiring the falls.

The stairs.

The falls made the whole day worth it.  Gorgeous.  Then there were more stairs.  The last section of the climb before we hit Sunset Field aid station for the second time was the worst because you could see the people on the switchbacks WAY above you moving along like little ants.  I was so glad to be done with the climb.  The sun also decided to rear its' ugly head.  It got HOT.  I took three cups of coke and a couple cookies and walked across the parkway for the last time nearly losing the contents of my stomach for the second time of the day.  I didn't.  Small victories.  The coke was amazing.  I should have had some at Cornelius Creek but maybe the effect would not have been as significant for the final push in.  I knew it was "roughly" downhill after Sunset Field but once I hit fire road and the folks said it was three miles downhill I took off.  I was super proud of how I finished.  I did the last 2.8 miles in 19:16, with the last two miles at 6:25 and 6:15 respectively.  When I hit the gravel road at the top of the descent, I caught Jan who had been ahead of me, I put over 7 minutes on him in the last three miles and passed 10 other runners.  I felt good.

After crossing the finish line, I grabbed my AWESOME finisher prize.  Sweet Patagonia shorts with the race name on them.  Way better than any finisher medal.  I'll wear them with pride.

Sweet finisher shorts...in my size...a prize in-and-of-itself for finishing early enough that I was able to choose the size and color I wanted.

After the North Face Endurance Challenge last June, I tried to to prevent post race soreness by putting my legs in the ice bath but I couldn't handle it for more than a minute or two...probably less.  However, at the finish of the race was a creek that I would argue was probably pretty close in temperature, probably slightly warmer but still pretty chilly, that I took full advantage of!

I finished in 7:49:49.  I have to be happy with this.  I finished my second 50K and "ran" a new personal longest distance of 34.4 miles with over 7000' of elevation gain.  But I'm not happy.  I wanted to run it. I played it safe and finished but with how I finished I obviously had more in the tank.  I did gain valuable experience and had fun.  Most importantly, I had FUN!!!  My gorgeous fiancé was there at the finish and the entire VT Ultra gang was there to congratulate me.  An awesome experience.  I will be back.  Can't wait.

So after close to eight hours pondering what to say to a runner before they head off to race, I decided on Have Fun, because in the end your time is a number that will quickly be forgotten, but your attitude and how others remember you on that day, that will last.  Have Fun!!!

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