Race Report: Coosa Half Marathon

Since I started training for ultras and running trails, one lesson that I’ve quickly learned is the importance of specificity in training.  If you are training for a trail race, you need to be running on trails when you can.  If you are going to be running a hilly trail race, you need to be training on hilly trails.  If you are going to be running a very technical trail race, you need to be training on technical trails.

All of this sounds obvious, but when race day arrives a lack of specificity really shows.  I ran 4 road 20-milers prior to doing the 25-mile H9 race.  What’s an extra 5 miles right?  How about an extra 5+ hours on my feet?  The “big hill” I complain about on my typical road route is nothing compared to climbing 2000ft over 3.5 miles or 750ft in less than a mile up Slaughter Mountain.  Running the smooth groomed trails out at Red Top Mountain does not really prepare me for the huge loose rocks I stumbled over on the Coosa Backcountry Loop.  All training is helpful and serves a purpose, but the closer you can manage to race conditions the better off you will be!

So in the interest of specificity, I made the 2 hour drive up Vogel State Park at 4:30AM on Saturday.  My ultra coach organized a casual “race” on the Coosa Backcountry Loop.  I ran portions of this during the H9 race but not the entire loop.  About half of this loop will be featured in the Duncan Ridge 50K, so I made it my business to get some more training done on the course.

Twelve runners gathered at the start of the race.  This wasn’t really an official race – sort of like a group fun run situation.  There were no medals or T-Shirts and I didn’t pay anything to participate.  Even though it was a casual affair, I was kind of stoked to be the only female runner.  I would be the overall female “winner” even if it took me 4 hours to cover the 12.7 miles!

We walked about half a mile to start the race at the official beginning of the Coosa Backcountry Loop.  In spite of the crazy time I had out here a few weeks ago, I wasn’t worried at all for some reason.  When the race started, I hung back instead of chasing the front runners.  Last time, I pushed myself a bit trying to keep them in sight for fear of getting lost.  This time, I actually had a clue about the physical capabilities of those runners and knew that trying to keep up with them would be an exercise in futility.

Due to the very small field, I found myself in dead last place at the start and I didn’t even care.  I fell into conversation with two men a bit ahead of me and we resolved to stick together for a while.  I remembered this part of the course from the H9 and knew that we had easy flat miles for a little while before the relentless climbing got started.  I wanted to strike a balance between making good time while it was possible and not wearing myself out for the climbs that were to come.

I think I did that.  We ran at a nice clip for a few miles – not too fast, not too slow.  I learned that my companions were actually not ultrarunners which is always a bit surprising to me.  One man will be leading the 5 hour pace group for the Atlanta Marathon (might see him in October!) and his friend just came along for the wild ride.  I laughed when one man pointed out that being in the back gave us the benefit of missing the spiderwebs since the faster folks broke them down for us.  True that!

Way too soon, we hit the part of the trail where all the climbing starts.  I found myself walking a bit faster than my companions, so I passed them and never saw them again.  This part of the Coosa trail ascends 2,000ft over 3.75 miles.  There is not one long brutal climb but a never-ending series of steep and not-so-steep hills spread out over a distance.  There are no “rolling” hills because you never descend.  You just climb and then maybe there’s a flat spot where you can run for 30 seconds and then you climb again.  I almost prefer a longer brutal climb because at least then you can see what you are getting into and when it ends.  This sort of “nickel-and-diming” action just wears me out and annoys me because I have no clue when it will all be over.

Still, I found myself handling the climb much better this time around.  I remember having to stop and grip a tree multiple times within the first 5 miles to catch my breath before.  I reached that point a lot later this time around.  Most importantly, I never hit that mental low that I experienced early on in the H9.  At this point two weeks ago, I remember thinking that maybe I should just go ahead and sign up for that nice flat Peachtree City 50K for my ultra “debut.”

The climbing finally ended and I was spit out on a road.  I noticed a wood post that indicated that I had covered 6.02 miles.  I was halfway done!  Checking my watch, I noted that 1:20 had elapsed.  Based on my typical pace, I would not be very happy with 1:20 minutes for 6 miles on the road.  But out here in the woods after all that climbing?  I was ecstatic!  The race’s one and only aid station was at Mile 8.8 and my coach suggested that we should reach that point by the two and a half hour mark at the latest.  Unless these next few miles were a total nightmare, I was making good time.

There was some more climbing to tackle once I crossed the street.  Then there was the descent.  I like downhill running, I really do.  I have big thighs strong quads and I can take the pounding.  I like to relax and go with it.  It works better if you just flow and don’t think about it too much.  If you get scared you’ll tense up, run really inefficiently, and waste a ton of energy.  The descent is the time to fly!  What I don’t like is scary downhill running.  This was scary.  There were huge loose 5-inch wide rocks all over the place and I found myself almost tip-toeing around.  Given that the other option was to break my ankle, I took the safer route.

The scary descent gave way to flat single-track on a dirt ridge.  There was no thick vegetation or anything to ruin the scene.  This was pure speed running bliss and I took advantage of it.  After huffing it up endless hills and darn near sliding down a steep ravine, my legs were ready for a stretch.  I poured on the speed and got into a real zone.  I was feeling really good.  I even started singing out loud (“Wanna Be Starting Something”).  I was so in my own head that I didn’t even notice a random hiker dude (not in the race) that was on the trail.  He was coming straight towards me and scared the crap out of me.  These trails are not heavily trafficked so I wasn’t expecting to run into some dude.  During the H9, I never ever saw anyone who was not in the race.  I shook my shock off quickly though and got back into the zone.

My concert continued with Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” (I’m a rapper!) and before I knew it, I was back to civilization again at the aid station.  I was about 1:45 in at that point and excited to be well below my coach’s 2:30 bottom-line estimate.  As I pulled into the station, a couple of other racers werel eaving.  Look at that, I’m not dead last anymore and the mid-packers were actually not all that far ahead of me even though I never saw them!

I stayed at the aide station for about 5 minutes.  I refilled my hydration pack and dropped in some more Nuun (Fruit Punch flavor is the best!).  I didn’t take any food because I had been fueling in bits and pieces throughout the miles.  I spent the most time chatting with my coach about what was ahead and some course markings that could be confusing.  I was very pleased with the course markings up to this point.  Anytime there was a section that looked confusing, he had marked the right path in pink tape.  I didn’t get lost and I never worried that I was going the wrong way.  I totally appreciated that.

Thanks to the chat with my coach, I knew that I had a hard but short (15 minute estimate) climb coming up to the summit of Slaughter Mountain.  I also learned that it was the last climb and I could more or less relax from there on out.  He estimated that the rest of the finish line was about 50 minutes away.  And just like in the last race, I was warned of wildlife danger ahead.  No rattlesnake this time but some yellowjackets a few minutes ahead.  I haven’t been stung by anything since I was a child so you better believe I turned my music off and kept my eyes peeled for those creatures.  I was not interested in angering a nest of yellowjackets!

The Slaughter Mountain climb was brief but kind of brutal.  It took me closer to 25 minutes than 15 but I was getting very tired at that point.  I only had to dodge one yellowjacket and that was the last bit of wildlife I saw on the trail (ignorance is bliss).  Once I reached the top, I could run again but this wasn’t fun running because the vegetation was really thick.  I was extremely happy that I had worn capris instead of my running skirt.  I was able to plow through the mess without getting all scratched up like last time.

I came upon another racer in the woods and ended up passing him.  The course was mostly a descent now but it was through a series of switchbacks rather than straight down.  I did a whole lot of running through this section.  This was not scary descent but the fun kind.  I felt like singing again but I had company above me so that was a no go. 

As I approached the time of my coach’s 50 minute completion estimate with no end of the trail in sight, I started to get a little anxious.  Time estimates can really boost your mental state, but they can totally bring you down too if you are over the estimate.   I started to get that “When is this going to end?” feeling.  I had to quickly check myself because my energy level was great and my legs were not tired.  There was no reason to start freaking out.

I really didn’t need to freak out because I finished in just about the time he mentioned.  It took me about 10 minutes longer to climb that hill so I was about 10 minutes off his estimate.  My final finish time was 3:14 (including that 5 minute aid station stop).  My very rough finish estimate was 3 hours.  Considering that I estimated 6 hours for the last race and it took me 9 hours, I was thrilled to be only 15 minutes “off.”  I was not the last finisher either!  Plus, I was the only first female finisher!  Double win!

This race was just what I needed.  I was happy that I finished the H9 race.  But the fact that it took me 9 hours to cover 25 miles really made me question doing the Duncan Ridge 50K in November.  The 50K has a 10 hour time limit.  Based on how I felt at the H9, there was no way in the world that I had another 6 miles in me.  This finish reminded me that each race is a different animal.  The courses are not exactly the same.  The weather will not be the same.  I am not the same.  I can do this.