Race Report: Race For The Fallen Trail Half Marathon

The early morning heat of summer is pretty much a thing of the past and my race calendar is full of Fall running events.  The majority of the races that I am running will be trail races because weekends are prime opportunities for me to hit the trails.  With the Duncan Ridge 50K coming up in two months, trail time is mandatory.  I like doing races because if you have to go on a long run anyway, why not do it with 300 other people?

I considered the Race For The Fallen Trail Half the kickoff to my Fall running season.  My coach told me to give 100% effort on this one and I fully intended to make that happen.  I’d been running out at Red Top for the past few weekends so I was familiar with most of the trails out there.  Success at this race (whatever that means) felt like a sure thing.

I should know that there is no such thing as a “sure thing.”  The good thing about the amount of running I’ve done since May is that I feel like a half-marathon is an easy task distance-wise.  The thing I forgot about is effort level.  I’ve been doing long runs at an easy pace for so long.  I forgot how hard it is to kick it up to 100% level for an extended period of time.  This race kicked my butt!

I ran the Red Top Rumble back in early February on the same trails and finished the 11.5 miles with a 9:36 min/mile pace.  I ran the Thrill In The Hills Trail Half in late February and managed the same pace.  I set a base goal for this race of 2:15 minutes (10:17 min/mile), a reach goal of 2:11 (10:00 min/mile), and a stretch goal of 2:08 (9:45 min/mile).  I felt like those were reasonable goals now that the temperature has settled down.  I also gave myself some wiggle room because I’ve gained at least 10 a few pounds since February (must discuss in another post).

This was an inaugural event and that was fairly obvious by the way the race was organized.  An announcer told us to gather at the start line and was quickly questioned (heckled?) by the good-sized crowd with the question of “Where’s the start line?”  Good question!  I wasn’t quite sure where the aid stations would be located and no one mentioned that.  I think some runners were even unaware that this was going to be a trail race!  We were assured that course directions would be clear or volunteers would be present to assist.  The (imaginary) start line was established and we were off and running.

The first mile was on the road and I tore it up.  When I glanced down at my watch, I saw a pace in the low 8:00 min/mile range.  I decided to just go with it while I could because I knew that I would slow down on the rolling hills.  We turned into the Visitor’s Center loop and it felt good to be on familiar territory.  I was sort of happy because I figured that starting with the Visitor’s Center loop meant that we would cover the Sweet Gum Trail first and I feel like the 3.5 mile Sweet Gum Trail is harder than the 5.5 Homestead Trail hill-wise.  I’d rather tackle the harder effort while still fresh.

In the name of giving 100% effort, I ran the few hills at the beginning of the trail and kept an aggressive pace.  I didn’t even look at my pace actually, I just knew I was working very hard.  From the Visitor’s Center loop, we cut off onto Sweet Gum and were spit out from the trail near the park ranger’s lodge.  From there we turned onto the White Tail trail which I knew was .5 miles out and back and almost totally flat due to some exploration during one of my weekend runs.  I still kept up a good pace but once I was on the “back” trip of White Tail I started to get tired and took a walk break.  Feeling the need to take a walk break on flat trail less than 5K into a half-marathon does not bode well for a strong finish!

I walked some of White Tail and then walked the steeper hills out to the access road.  I started to feel the weight of starting out too fast as soon as we hit the first aid station at Mile 4.  As we crossed the street past the aid station and started onto the Homestead Loop, I really had to rally my spirits.  I should have reigned in my pace from the start and allowed myself to really warm up first.  It was kind of dumb for me to go hard from Mile 1 knowing that I never really warm up until Mile 3 or 4.

I didn’t feel miserable and my legs didn’t hurt.  I just felt like I was putting in a lot of effort and not getting as much in return from my body.  It was sort of like my runs in the height of summer when it was 95% humidity and 80 degrees outside at 5AM.  You feel like you are sprinting and then realize you are going 2-3 minutes slower than your easy pace in cooler conditions.  It is a real letdown.

I kept alternating between a fast run and a power walk on the Homestead Loop.  I was that annoying runner who would pass you and then get passed by you 2 minutes later.  I hated being that girl.  However, I was unable to find a good comfortable pace so I had no choice but to be her.  I am so feast or famine with my running sometimes!  There really is a happy medium pace and you can ease up on the speed without walking.  I find that zone during most races but I couldn’t find it during this race.

I finished the Homestead Loop and asked the aid station volunteers where we were on the course.  They said they were stationed at 6 miles and I was dismayed to see my watch read 6.75 miles.  Ugh!  No one likes to look at their mileage and see it over-estimated.  That just screws with your head in a really negative way.  I don’t really expect my watch to be completely accurate on the trails because it is not GPS based.  I wear a footpod and it was calibrated based on a track mile run.  With all of the elevation changes on trail and the “abnormal” stride I use to accommodate the hills, I don’t expect it to be 100% accurate.  I just hate to see it be so off.  Since there were no mile markers on the course, I couldn’t help but to check my watch and wonder how off it was.

The next 5 miles were the longest miles of my life.  It sucked because the trail was an absolutely beautiful path around a lake.  It was flat too with the exception of a few walk-worthy hills.  I started to get passed by folks who I had never even seen before and I wasn’t even upset.  I continued my run fast then walk strategy.  I couldn’t help it.  It was physically unable to catch a running groove that lasted more than .5 miles.

I gradually fell into a small pack of ladies with what seemed like a few miles to go.  We passed each other back and forth for a long stretch.  I ran up beside one woman and we both wondered aloud how much longer we had to run.  I glanced at my watch again and did some rough math thinking we had a mile to go.  I remember telling myself that once my watch hit 13.25 we would be done.  I held onto that number to keep it together.  Again, my legs felt fine but I just felt like I was putting in so way more effort than my pace dictated.  I also felt disappointed in myself for walking so much on flat trail.  Physically I was alright but mentally I was not doing well.

If I close my eyes maybe I can pretend I'm done.

Mile 13.25 came and went and the finish line was still not in sight.  We turned a sharp corner and I saw a volunteer and hoped this was it.  Nope.  He directed us up a nice long incline and responded to my query of “How much left?” with a vague “Not much.”  I couldn’t help it and I cursed out loud in front of people.  I rarely do that.  I’m a secret private cusser, not a public cusser.  That tells you how annoyed I was with the whole situation.

A woman behind me gave me so much encouragement telling me I was strong and that I could do it.  I got a charge out of her encouragement and tried to let Rihanna’s “Please Don’t Stop The Music” propel me to the finish line which was surely nearby.  But as we crested the long incline I couldn’t hold on anymore and had to walk again.  I hate walking at the end of a race.  It feels so weak.  Spotting the turnaround back down the hill pepped me up a little and I started to run again.  There was another volunteer indicating a turn at yet another blind corner.  I asked how much longer and he said 1/4 mile.  I could handle that but man I was ready for this freaking race to be over!

The finish line was finally in sight and I was happy to see the time clock reading 2:10 something.  I really hadn’t paid attention to anything but the mileage on my watch.*  The fact that I met my stretch goal after having what felt like a super crappy race was amazing to me.  My official finish time was 2:11:02 which is 10:00 min/miles on the nose.  This was good enough for 4th out of 15 in my age group (30-34), 19th out of 77 for my gender, and 61st out of 351 overall.  Hey!  I moved on up to the upper mid-pack!  Props to the woman in green who was so encouraging for mentally pushing me across the finish line.

The race had a spread of high quality fast food available – Chick-Fil-A biscuits and CiCi’s pizza.  I went with the Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuit.  Protein+carbs (plus deep fat frying) = an excellent recovery meal.  That’s what I told myself anyway.  Am I the only person in the world who had no clue that Chick-Fil-A made sausage biscuits?!?  In addition to the biscuit, I got a free chair massage.  The massage therapist worked out my sweaty arms and legs.  What a treat!

Thank you massage lady! I will be giving you a ring in the near future.

So all’s well that ends well.  I did just about what I thought I could do and better than my personal bare minimum.  I think I am capable of doing better, but I know I gave 100% of what I had on that day.  Tomorrow was another day and another race (literally!).  Every run is truly a case by case, race by race story.

* The final mileage reading on my watch was 14.0 miles.  A lot of Garmin people said the course was under.  I’d rather have under than over any day!