2013 Trail Nut 10k

I have always heard that it didn’t really matter what you ate the morning of the race, as long as you ate something that wasn’t going to upset your stomach in the next few hours. I have read that what you put in your body the day before a race is far more important. So in the past, I have always tried to drink plenty of water and eat a high carb dinner the day before races. For some reason, I decided that my pre-race dinner this time would consist of fried catfish at Mama’s in Montvale. This turned out to not be the wisest decision I have ever made (mistake #1). I will explain this more when the time comes.

I was looking forward to the Trail Nut race this year, just because I enjoy running on Bedford trails and I really like Falling Creek Park. Having run this race last year, I would have the opportunity to compare finishing times. This race would be my 5^th Mountain Junkies race of the year and the last RNUTS race I would take part in this year. I am going to skip the last RNUTS race at Carvins Cove in June. The only race distances for that race are 25k and a full marathon. Having backed off my long runs over the last few months, there would be no way I would be able to get ready for distances like that.

 

So, I started my morning with my usual bread and banana breakfast. Although my Nutella was out of date, so I had to use peanut butter on my bread. I chased that down with a nice hot cup of black coffee and some water. Once I was showered and dressed, I headed to Falling Creek Park. It only takes me about 15 minutes to get to this park, so this is one of the closer races I will run this year. I got to the park about 20 minutes before race time. I had just enough time to do some light stretching, listen to the pre-race talk, and head to the starting line. I probably should have run a little bit to loosen up my legs because later in the race (mistake #2). My legs would began to tighten up later during the run.

After giving the half-marathon runners a 10 minute head start, the 10k runners were sent on our way. Even though I live fairly close to the park, I had not run on the trails there since last year’s Trail Nut race. Somehow, the course was still pretty familiar in my head. I had decided to push my pace early to get in front of some of the slower runners before we got into the wooded single track portion of the race. So I had about 200 yards to make a move. Once we ducked into the woods, I joined a group of runners moving at a pretty good pace. I wanted to average sub 8:30 minute miles for the entire run and after glancing at my watch, I realized I was going much faster than I had planned. The first 3 miles went by quickly while I was running in a group averaging around 8:00 minute miles (mistake #3).

"don't puke, don't puke, don't puke..."

 

After mile 3, I began to get very nauseous and my thighs started to get really tight. This is about the time I realized I had made mistake #1 and #2! I had to back off the pace I had set in the first few miles to try and make my stomach and legs feel a little better. This did improve my legs, but my stomach would never improve. It was the sickest feeling I have ever had running a race. At one point, I started looking for large trees to hide behind while I puked. I tried to concentrate on the trail and the next turn, in order to get my mind greasy fish sloshing around in my belly! I told myself that if I stopped, I probably would still feel awful. So there was no use in stopping at this point. The damage had already been done.

During the two miles of my worst issues, I clocked 10:00 minute miles. This would really hurt my goal to average sub 8:30 miles. Although at that point, I was just happy to not see my dinner again! Before I knew it, I was passing the 6 mile marker and I knew the last 0.25 mile was going to be a climb out of the woods. So I pushed myself to the finish in order to shave a little time off my time. Once I popped out of the woods, there was a nice 50 yard trot downhill on a grassy surface. I spotted Anna and the boys up on the hill cheering (that always makes it easier to finish strong). I came across the finish line with a time of 56:20.48. Since the course was actually 6.5 miles, that made my average pace 8:40 minutes/mile. So, I didn’t make my goal, but I did beat my last years’ time of 58:59.43 (9:26 minutes/mile).

 

After eating some food and drinking some fluids, my stomach and legs started to improve. This race turned out to be one of the more mentally challenging races I have run, due to my stomach and legs. I am definitely lying off the fried foods for pre-race dinners and warming up better next time. As I mentioned before, I am not running in the last Mountain Junkies RNUTS race this year and I do not have any scheduled races in the near future. I think I am going to run in the Lynchburg 10 Miler in September and I would like to run another half-marathon in the fall sometime. I guess I will figure out those races after I enjoy the summer with my family.

This coming weekend, my beautiful wife will be running in her first 5k ever! I can’t wait to stand on the sidelines and cheer her on for a change. I am so proud of her for putting in the difficult treadmill runs late at night, in preparation for this race. I will be writing another post that will cover Anna’s race, so stay tuned.

2013 Mill Mountain Mayhem 10k

This is an another post for a recent race. This one took place at the beginning of April at Mill Mountain. I really need to get better about writing these race follow-up posts sooner. I guess late is better than never...

 

The idea of running to the star on Mill Mountain and back down made me nervous. That is the basic layout for the Mill Mountain Mayhem 10k race (6.35 actual miles) that the Mountain Junkies put on every year. Since I do not live too close to the Mill Mountain trail system, I had never run any of these trails. So I was definitely going into this race blind.

Anna and the boys were going to the race with me that Saturday morning, so that always adds to the stress of getting to the race. I love having them at the finish line for races. There is no one else I would rather see than their smiling faces after a long run. But in order for that to happen, we have to get the boys up, dressed, and in the car by 7:30 a.m. Since Anna stays home with the boys now, we do not have a lot of practice in these exiting procedures.

On this morning though, everything went pretty smoothly. After we got on the road and making the 40 minute drive to the trails, I continued to stress about what shoes I would wear in the race. For the past few months, I had been taking all my trail runs in my New Balance MT10 minimalist shoes. But not having run on these trails before, I wasn’t sure how many rocks would be out there. I had some thicker shoed road running shoes in the car too. But by the time we had made it to the race meeting area, I had decided to just stick with what I had been doing and use the New Balance.

 

Since the boys hadn’t eaten breakfast, Anna just dropped me off at the starting area and took the boys to get something to eat. I didn’t have a lot of time to warm up. But after the pre-race talk, the runners had to hike up a ½ mile trail to get to the starting line. So, this walk was enough warm up for me. This course had over 1,300 feet of elevation gain and I was going to need all the energy I could keep. The first mile was up a paved section of road. There nothing like starting your first mile with a hill climb. This paved section had me concerned with my choice of shoes, since I had not run with these shoes off the trails at all. I was surprised how comfortable they were during this part of the race though.

After the first mile, the path turned into the woods and onto a single track trail. Just a little while into the trails, I realized that I had made the wrong shoe choice. The trails were littered with thousands of rocks, ranging in size from gravels to basketballs. This would not have been such a big deal if I wasn’t trying to go as fast as possible. I had to carefully pick my foot placement to avoid sharp corners of rocks and having to concentrate on every step definitely slowed me down. I really believe my New Balance have strengthened my legs during my non-race running. Maybe I will get more used to racing in them, but now they seem to slow me down a lot.

So after a grueling 4.5 mile climb, back and forth up Mill Mountain, I finally reached the star. The views of Roanoke from a top the mountain were very impressive. I had a great sense of accomplishment when I made it to the top of the mountain. At this point, I knew that the remainder of the race was going to be most downhill (although I didn’t realize how downhill it was going to be). It took me 46 minutes and 39 seconds to climb the 4.85 miles to the top of the mountain, but only 14 minutes and 20 seconds to cover the 1.5 miles to the bottom. The 1.5 mile track to the bottom was through some of the rockiest terrain on the course. There was a constant struggle between my feet, rocks, and the laws of gravity (the rocks won!). My jarred body finally pasted the finish line with a time of 1:00:59.

I don’t know if it was because of being on a new trail or the uniqueness of the elevation gain, this was my favorite Mountain Junkies race of the year. I am definitely going to run this race again next year and I can’t wait to try and better my time. I have already been searching for some better “rock” shoes, so I will be ready for next year!

2013 Montvale 5 Miler

It has happened again. I have totally been slacking on my blog posting. I am getting ready to run in my third race since my last post, so I decided to start writing about my past few races. Here is my race recap for my second Montvale 5 Miler that took place in March.

I have been looking forward to this race for quite some time. Not only are these trails practically in my backyard, they are also the trails I run on the most. When I decided to race all of the Mountain Junkies’ RNUTS races, I had planned to run the longer of the possible races at every event (except for Carvins Cove). But as the weeks lead up to the Montvale race, I had not been able to get as many longer runs as I needed. I was really stressing about running the 10 miler for several days leading up to the race day.

I got up and ate my normal pre-race breakfast of a banana, as slice of wheat bread with Nutella, and a cup of black coffee. I was still worrying about completing the 10 mile trail race and still being able to enjoy the rest of the weekend. I had no doubts that I could finish race, but I was really starting to worry that I would be so tire and sore afterwards, I would end up not being able to enjoy playing with the boys. So, while in the shower (yes, I take pre-race showers for some reason) I had a moment of clarity. I started running to improve my physical health while at the same time improve my mental health by reducing stress and anxiety. Why was I letting myself be stressed out about running? I knew I would be disappointed with myself for not sticking with my original plan, but it wasn’t worth the extra stress. So I decided that I would show up a little early to the race and switch to the 5 miler.

I was sort of glad that I decided to change my race distance because it would give me a chance to compare my time to last year’s race. Even though I have raced quite a few races over the past two years, I have only repeated one race. So I do get an opportunity to better my course time too often. Once I made the long 1 mile trip to the race, I was able to switch distances with no resistance. I had a little time to go for a short warm up run. Although I run on the Montvale trails right often, I usually park in the lot off of Quarterwood road and run the top portions of the trails. Since the race starts near the 460 entrance to the park, I was able to take a warm-up lap to the creek. There has been a lot of work done to the creek area. Thousands of trees had been planted and each one had a protective plastic casing protecting the small saplings. It was a very surreal sight to see all of these plastic tubes. The area resembled a graveyard more than a nature trail.

Although a lot of work had been done the surrounding area, the bridge was again the biggest obstacle. Recent storm flooding had once again washed away the small footbridge. So, in its place was a large log cut in half lengthwise. The bridge had a lot of bounce to it, even with only one person walking across it. I could only imagine how it would perform with several people running across it. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about that for a while. The race started on the other side of the creek and the crossing was encountered during the last 0.25 mile of the race.

Once all of the runners had made it across the bouncing log bridge, the race was about to begin. After giving the 10 milers a 10 minute head start, we 5 milers were sent out our way. I knew the first 0.25 mile was on a wide access road path, so I took advantage and ran faster than my planned pace to get in front of some of the slower traffic. Once on the single track, there was not a lot of room for passing, so I settled in for the next few miles. I was surrounded by a group that was running at a good pace; therefore there was no need for me to risk passing anyone. It was nice actually racing on trails that I am familiar with. I knew exactly what was around the next turn and I could plan accordingly.

After making up to the top of the main hill at just over 2 miles, I knew the last 3 miles were going to be mainly downhill. So I let gravity take over and just tried to maintain my foot turnover rate. The next couple miles were really uneventful and passed by fairly quickly. The next thing I knew I was approaching the bridge. I was all by myself at this point, so I didn't have to worry about the extra weight bouncing across the makeshift bridge. I took my time and tipped toed across with no issues. The last 0.25 mile was on nice soft grass, so I tried to use my last bit of energy to finish strong. I made it to the finish line in 43:58.55. I was very happy with my finishing time. It was my fastest average pace for a race longer than 5 miles and it was almost 1 ½ minutes quicker than last year’s race (45:26.55). I later found out that I was second in my age group, although I think most of the faster guys ran the 10 mile distance (but I will take it).

 Overall, a great day of racing in the great metropolis of Montvale! Since the race was so close to home, I was still able to go to a neighborhood Easter egg hunt that with the boys. This was another reason I wanted to run the shorter race. I would have still been in the woods running the second 5 miles otherwise. So until next time, keep on runnin’.

Trail Nut 10k

On Saturday I ran in the Mountain Junkies Trail Nut 10k at Falling Creek Park in Bedford. This was the second Mountain Junkies race I have taken part in, the other being the Montvale 5 Miler earlier this year. They are very well organized events and all volunteers and runners have been great. If anyone is thinking about getting into trail running, I would recommend checking out one of their races. I don't think you will be disappointed.

On to the race details. Well, I am actually going to start with my pre-race experience. I usually wake up a couple of hours before running in races. That way, I can get something to eat and let it setting for at least an hour before I have to run. Having to start the race at 9:00 AM, I got up at 7 and fixed my normal oatmeal breakfast. Then came the hard part; getting the boys up and out of the door. Our plan was to leave the house by 8:15. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the park from our house. That would leave me 10 minute to pick up my race packet and 15 minutes to stretch and warm up.

That was the plan. But after struggling the get the boys up and moving and having to take short pit stop myself to take care of pre-race upset stomach issues, we finally got to the car at about 8:25. We got Eli strapped in the car and while Anna was putting Coy in his seat, she came to the realization that he must have had some pre-race stomach issues too. So she ran inside to perform a quick diaper change and then strapped him in his seat. We were finally off, but we the time was 8:34. I started to panic a little at this point because packet pick-up was suppose to end at 8:40. At this point, it started raining too. We decided, since it was now raining, that Anna would just drop me off at the park and then take the boys to McDonalds for breakfast. After getting to the park around 8:50, I rain down to the registration table to get my bib. Luckily they didn't pack everything up yet and I was still able to get my packet.

This gave me just a few minutes to try and stretch and warm up. They did a staggered start for the two race distances. The half milers started at 9 and the 10k runners started at 9:10. I headed down to the start line right after the half milers started, to try and get a spot near the front. I had big plans of getting off to a good pace and sticking with it the entire race. I was going to be very aggressive and push myself during the race. I had run the majority of the course the last Saturday and I felt very comfortable with the course. I set a pre-race goal for myself to run a sub 55 minute 10k. When the 10k runners were sent on the course, I tried to work myself towards the front during the first 1/4 mile. This section was in an open field with plenty of roon to make passes.

I got to the woods and the beginning of the single track course with only a few runners in front of me. I was very pleased with my start and I was happy to not have to dodge a lot of traffic in the woods. I had my iPod Shuffle to help me keep track of my mile splits and after my first mile split came in at 7:55, I got a little scared. Did I really just run the first of 6.25 miles at that pace? I made myself back off a little during the second mile. My second mile split was over nine minutes. Then I thought to myself that I slowed down too much. It was during my third mile that I realized that my race was not going to be my best performance. My legs felt like two logs. I just couldn't run at the pace I wanted to. I am not sure if it was my rushed pre-race or the humidity, but my energy was just shot.

I decided that I would listen to my body and not try to push myself too much. I didn't want to be out of commission for the rest of the weekend because of a early Saturday run. So, I didn't even check my splits after the second mile. I yielded to many runners during the next few miles. All of those runners that I forced myself by during the first 1/4 mile were now passing me back. I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed for running such a fast pace at the beginning. At the beginning of the race, I really didn't fell like I was running too fast. My legs were just not on the same page on that day. I guess everyone has those days, but this was my first bad day that was actually a race day.

My legs felt very tight the entire race. They never loosened up like that normally do after a few miles. So, I just set a comfortable pace and set my goal on finishing the race to the best of my ability. The last 1/4 mile was over a very hilly section of the course and I pushed myself up this section pretty well. When I popped out of the woods, I saw Anna and the boys about 50 yards up the path, about half way to the finish line. I started to wave and motioned to Eli to come give me a high five. During my recent Blossom to Bottle 5k, I was able to give Eli a high five during the half way point and it was such a good feeling. I really wanted to do it again, but he was acting shy because of the other people around the finish line. So, I decided to go to him. I ran of course just a little and gave him the high five and made sure to re-enter the course the same spot I had left. I hoped they wouldn't disqualify me! I actually gave up a few seconds on my finishing time, but it was well worth it.

I was mildly surprised when I saw the clock at the finish line. It was started at the beginning of the half mile race, so I knew it would read 10 minutes faster than my actual time. It was showing 1:08:50. So, I was still under an hour. That surprised me because I backed my pace off so much, I just knew I was going to be over an hour. My official time was 58:59. So, I didn't get my pre-race goal time. but since this was my first ever 10k, it was a PR!

I guess I should mention that I was able to reach a second goal I set for myself on Saturday. I had dealing with a stomach bug for must of the week and I actually ran the race with toilet paper in the pocket of my running shorts. Just in case I had to duck into the woods and that care of some business! Luckily, I didn't have use the toilet paper and my stomach didn't get upset at all during the race. I guess I need to be thankful for the small victories for my run!

All things considered, I had a good time on Saturday. The Mountain Junkies put on a great race with plenty of good food and drinks for after the race. I enjoyed some bagels and fruit while hydrating with some Gatorade and water. I got to hang out with Anna and boys afterword too. That always makes my body heal quicker. I definitely learned some important lessons during the race on Saturday. I definitely need to take my pre-race preparation more business like if I want to feel better during the race and I need to do better with my early race pace. Hopefully I can learn for these mistakes and make my next race better.