Conquering Trails...

Bound and determined to continue to work on endurance length races, I quickly signed up for my first trail marathon. I learned about this marathon when I was running the Blue Ridge Marathon. The Mountain Junkies were there handing out fliers for their race. This race is about a month after the BRM so I new I would need to have a fast recovery and some strategic workout miles between now and this race. Oh...I forgot tell...I officially have a coach! Her name is Liza Howard and she is out of San Antonio Texas. She is very accomplished and is also a NOLS/WMI instructor so she gets the whole going out to the field thing. Check out her website: Lizahoward.com, she also blogs alot!

Although it's geared toward mountain biking, here is a quick video of some of the different trails in Carvin's Cove. Most of these trails we ran during the race.

Conquer the Cover Trail Marathon---Roanoke, VA

Time: 3:33:45

7th Place overall finish out of a little over 100. 2nd Place finish in my age group.

Here's a good look at the elevation profile for the race:

Words cannot describe how I feel about this race! This is the toughest marathon that I have ran and is the last marathon before I step my game up for another 100 miler. 26.4 miles of Virginia rollings, steep short uphills and downhills, lot's of creek crossing, technical single track trails, and a 3 mile uphill climb at mile 19 that ranges between 12-18% grade.

I arrive early and check-in and receive my race bib. It's still dark outside and everyone is walking around in headlamps. The parking lot is filled with SUV's with all kinds of action-sport stickers and I can hear runners chatting about their trail running experiences and I am starting to feel like an "outsider". As the sun begins to rise, my feeling of an outsider is confirmed by the overall look of these "mountain junkies". They are all wearing compression socks, they have water bottles, most of the guys have beards, and their shoes are all the latest and greatest of the trail world. I am sticking out like a sore thumb...my intimidation level is now through the roof.

We get a race briefing and line up at the starting line. I dare not get in these crazy peoples way and line up at the end of the marathon section and right before the 25k runners. The gun goes off and we begin running. No headphones for me, I'm training to self-reflect and find strength within versus the music...sucks! 

First section of the race is a fairly wide groomed trail and I'm cruising at a 7:45ish pace. I'm trying to find folks that I feel are going to keep a cadence and hopefully follow them. We hit the first technical trail two miles into the race and we are now working the uphill section. My legs are heavy and I feel like I have no power in them. I decided to stop and walk. At this point, mountain junkies are cruising past me as if they are on flat terrain. 

I'm demoralized...I have no clue what's going on. Instead of panicking, I decide to let my HR come down (way down) and just walk to the top of the hill. We top out and I see that a majority of the runners that were running are now walking the flat. I'm quick to start running and cruise past 25-30 runners. I suffer on technical sections for the next couple of miles and then all of the sudden I begin to get my trail legs. I start getting into a rhythm and begin picking runner's off. Im focused on pushing the uphill, quick gait transition and then a push on the downhill. I keep on the nutrition and hydration and I'm no longer worried about these runners. They are just like me and I am equal if not better. 

Every hill it's the same sequence. We hit mile 13 and now I am running alone. There are no other runners around and I'm enjoying the trails. Mile 15 comes around and I begin to see more runners up front and they look strong. I keep my head focused on the trail and begin to push a little harder. I'm only focused on perfecting my technique and my entire running system. If I hear my watch vibrate, it's time to sip and eat. I cruise through the water station and only ask for cold water to pour on my face. Each time I pour water over my head, I am awakened and I refocus on the task. Before I know it, I am at mile 19 and the start of the huge hill. I've caught a veteran runner of this race and he is using negative talk about the upcoming hill. In anticipation of this hill, I slow down and put some space between him and I. We both agree that we aren't going to stop running on this hill and take turns keeping cadence. I lead the first mile at a 9:15 pace, he takes the second mile at a 10:03, and I try to take the lead but my legs are getting heavy. I tell him that's all I got and he begins to pull away from me. Im still running but I'm running at 12:20 pace. I'm still catching runners and passing them with a strong motivation to keep the pace. 

I reach the top of the mountain and see the mile 21 post. In my mantra, I planned to run in COMFORT for miles 1-9, in CONFIDENCE for miles 10-21, and COMPETE after mile 21. I knew if I could get to mile 21 then I would finish and there would be no holding back. I hit the water station, poured super ice cold water on my head and chest and took a caffeinated GU shot. At this point I saw 3:01 on my watch. I thought for sure that I could beat my Rome marathon time. I had 2.5 miles of downhill on single track. I blitzed down the mountain and averaged a 7 minute mile. I caught the guy who left me on the hill and blitzed passed him. I hit the bottom running a 6:38 pace. I ran a small flat section on trail and then hit the main trail which is an old fire road. I ran passed the 25 mile sign and check the watch...3:24. Crap! I didn't get a PR but I can beat my Blue Ridge Marathon time on trail. I pick up the pace even harder for the 1.4 mile run to the finish. I am flying passed people at a 6:15 pace. I passed the 26 mile marker and made the turn for the finish line. I could hear people cheering but I couldn't see the finish line through the trees. The last .4 miles was a small old trail that was muddy with lots of little 4-5 foot bumps. That drained the legs pretty quickly. I tried to power through knowing I had .4 miles left. In a blink of an eye, I out of the trees and running the hundred yards toward the finish line. I cross the finish line with a time of 3:34:00 on the clock. I can't believe it...I'm finished and I feel like I could've kept running.

Can't officially claim that I'm a trail runner yet but this does help with the confidence. I'm very happy with my performance. My realistic goal was to complete this course with a time of 4:30. My secret goal (if I felt awesome) was to try and finish in 4:00. Boy was I surprised...

Oh yeah…I forgot to add that I also finished in time to sign up for the Marathon des Sables race in Morocco. I doubt I’ll get in but it’s worth a shot.

Some pics from the race: 

Taking on America's Toughest Road Marathon

The Blue Ridge is no joke and since I am usually hanging out in Roanoke, VA and getting into ultrarunning what better way to start focusing on ultra's then to run America's toughest road marathon. Check out the Video:

Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon - America's Toughest Road Marathon from Pete Eshelman on Vimeo.

Blue Ridge Marathon Race Report:
Overall 18th out of 484, 2nd in age group---Missed first place age group finish by 2 seconds--LOL.
Time: 3:40:36----Lot's of improvement in distance running---beat my first Rome marathon time.

This race was a little strange for me because I really didn't have any time to do research on the race as well as develop a formal strategy to finish the race. My goals were simple:

1) Be an efficient runner both uphill and downhill

2) Get miles in at a competitive pace

3) Finish in 4 hours with enough gas to do another 26.2

Goal 1:

Running hills has seemed to be my nemesis over the years. If I ran a good uphill then I sucked on the downhill and overall my downhill sucks anyway. This was going to be a good race to practice my technique. Overall, I averaged a pace around 164-174. If I exceeded this on the uphill than I would slow down or walk. I would use this time to eat or drink some water. My pulse was quick too slow back down and I was running again within a few seconds. My pulse never exceeded 174 on the downhill which was awesome for me because most downhill sections were under a 6:30 mile pace no matter how hard I tried to push the pace. This allowed me to let my legs turn-over super fast and my upper body to rest relax. Worked very well for me. My biggest difficulty was transitioning from the hills to the flatter sections especially after a fast downhill. I need to work on this but I believe the solution for this is to anticipate the flat, slow down the legs, and almost slow the pace into the flats and crescendo back into a fast pace once the legs and body have adjusted from a physiological perspective. During the hill-flat transition, I felt like my legs were like what happens to a wave that crashes into a rock--slack water. Lot's of energy dispersed in all the wrong places.

Goal 2:

It was good to get out and run a competitive race but not run a competitive race. I felt like I got all the benefits of feeling the vibe and energy but didn't go through the race jitters of an A-race. It was pretty cool to have other things that I was focusing on versus actually racing and doing well. Turns out this worked to my benefit in the end.

Goal 3: Finish in 4 hours and with enough gas for another

I felt like I managed my body very well. I did run out of water in my hydration bladder and could feel the effects of a limited water supply in the later stages of the race. I also did not bring enough gels and shot blocks (thank goodness for the aid stations). Next race, I plan to have a full water bladder and the appropriate nutrition plan. For some reason, I thought I could go out with what I took on the Rome marathon. I didn't factor the heat challenge I would experience as well as the required nutrition for the hills.

Overall, I had a good race. I felt comfortable and I felt confident in my ability to manage my strategy and physiological changes over the miles. I feel like I am getting to the point where I can begin to anticipate how my body is going to change during the race and begin to make preparations ahead of time.

Race Mantra: Comfort, Confidence, Compete

1st 3rd of the race, run in comfort...be relaxed in your pace, drink water, and eat.

Middle of the race, run in confidence...be confident in your training, your abilities, and your mental game.

Last 3rd of the race...compete...know you're tired and establish small goals that require you to pick up the pace. Have a competitive mindset versus a fatigued and tired mindset.

This is the ugliest finish look ever.....

No clue why I still have the cup in hand from the last water station a few miles back...

Maritona di Roma--Round 2---Ding...Ding!

Rome Marathon 2014---Post-race musings:

Overall, not bad for my third marathon. I'll get it straight soon.

Time: 3:24 (on my watch). I think officially it was 3:23 and some change.

Training: My plan was a good training plan but I miscalculated and had to start into the program at the 5th week. I wish I would have had the ability to train during those first 4 weeks and get some better base miles. My fault but I'll get better at planning these races in the future.

The start: SUCKED! Got pre-race jitters, couldn't sleep and ended up arriving late to the start. This put me farther behind than last year. I was approximately 300 yards from the actual line. From where I was I couldn't even see the starting line nor could I hear the music or gun go off from where I was standing. I tried not to panic because I knew there was nothing that was going to get me ahead of the crowd. For the first 12k of the race, I spent my time trying to strategically get into places where I could sprint and make up time. My lesson is that no matter how crappy sleep is, I need to be at the starting area at least an hour and half before the start.

Strategy: Despite the bad start, I felt my strategy is good and worth trying to repeat again. I was able to maintain negative splits after the first couple of miles and regain a 7:20 pace. After 10 miles, I started being inconsistent with my time and would begin to feel the pressure of needing to increase the speed to make the time. By mile 15, I was beginning to feel a little off in terms of timing and was officially soaked (backpack, shoes, clothes). I started to feel heavy but tried to mentally blocked this out. Mile 20, my strategy for keeping pace was out the window and I naturally fell into a "maintain pace" and ironically was the average mile pace when I would do my Yasso sprints. I want to explore this a little more because I believe if I expect this for my finishing pace, then I need to tightening the race strategy during miles 13-20.

Hydration: I hydrated too much prior to the race. For some reason (maybe out of last years experience of walling), I decided to drink 32 ounces of NUUN electrolyte right before bed and then I woke up and sipped on PERPETUEM in the morning and while traveling to the start line. I also carried a hydration bladder with NUUN electrolyte drink during the race and did not stop at most of the aid stations. Around mile 13, I started to get some gastro issues and felt like throwing up for most of the race. Additionally, my stomach felt like it was on the verge of feeling 'sloshy'. I took a sip of solution every 10 minutes and then stopped once I really started feeling like I was going to throw up. 

This is completely out of the ordinary for me during my long runs and I should have kept to what I normally did during training. No major hydration the night before and in the morning. I should have only used a diluted solution for my hydration pack. I craved more water then I did anything else. 

Once I got regular water in me I felt fine. I should've remembered that I have run long runs before without doing any of these things except hydrate on course with my pack.

Nutrition: I felt like my nutrition was good because of my stomach issue, I minimized my food intake around mile 17 or so. Next time, I'm going to mix it up and have a solid or at least look for a solid non-sugary substance to take in during the race. I felt as if this may have settle my stomach a little earlier.

Equipment: Perfect. I sat at my door before I left our flat and contemplated whether to run in my Hoka's or Saucony. My biggest fear was to run in the rain and be wearing shoes that didn't drain well. My saucony's would have been the better choice. My Hoka's soaked up the water and didn't drain well which left me running with water log's on my feet. I'm still hesitant about saying this was a bad decision because I felt like I needed the comfort of the Hoka cushion to assist in my mid-stride recovery. It's a toss up.

In the end, I ran strong and managed the challenges very well. I think I'll be where I want to be with a little more adjustments and experience. I've also decided it's time to get a professional coach and nutritionist for monthly advice and monitoring. I feel like I've done everything I can for myself and now is the time to expert training.

Pictures from the race and not in any order. Enjoy