Race Report: Thrill In The Hills Half Marathon

I am loving this Spring (is it Spring or does it just seem like it because we’ve been having 60 -70 degree weather for the past few weeks?) racing season.  I must be killing y’all with the race reports every other week but hey – I’m a runner so that’s what I do!  I personally love digging up race reports on blogs for races that I want to run.  It helps me decide if I can handle a particular race on not.

So I headed up to Winder, GA and Fort Yargo State Park for the “Thrill In The Hills” half marathon on Saturday.  The sun was shining and the temps for race hours were supposed to start in the low 40s and hit the upper 40s.  I was honestly a little confused about how to dress.  50s automatically means a short sleeve T-Shirt for me because I get hot when I run – especially during a longer race.  Mid 40s is a grey area.  I ended up wearing my new Brooks Utopia Thermal hoodie (scored for 1/2 price!) with a short sleeve T-Shirt underneath.  I figured I could wrap the hoodie around my waist if I got hot.

I woke up at about 5AM for the race in order to try a new fueling strategy since I had a longer than usual time until race start due to the long drive.  I immediately ate 1/2 whole wheat bagel with a little ground beef for protein and some Laughing Cow cheese.  I wanted something substantial but not too substantial.  I also didn’t want to use up all the energy that your standard quick carbs would give me before race time.  I’ve been reading some interesting things about how to fuel for races so I’m attempting to switch it up a little.  Probably not a good idea on race day though – oops!

In the car about 1 hour before race time, I downed my usual race day fare of a PB&J sandwich and finished off the last of 24 ounces of water.  I drank most of the water at home before hitting the road.  In spite of 2 trips to the bathroom before leaving the house, I *still* had to stop after 30 minutes on the road and again just before I reached the race site.

At the race site on my way to the packet pickup, I spotted a short line for the bathroom and immediately joined it out of nervous habit – not because I really had to go.  I had just stopped literally 10 minutes earlier!  Nature handled, packet picked up and goody bag placed in the car and don’t you know I just HAD to go again?!?  I had asked a volunteer if there were any bathrooms on the course (sometimes you cross park roads that have restrooms) and was informed that I would have to drop trou in the woods to handle business.  The race was set to start in 15 minutes and the bathroom line was long now.  I resigned myself to just start the race late if necessary.  Who wants to run 13.1 miles when you have to pee and refuse to go in the woods?

I joined the long bathroom line and after waiting for 5 minutes realized I had forgotten to put on my Polar running watch.  Major dilemma!  Run watchless or use the bathroom?  I didn’t need the watch for pacing because that is kind of a useless endeavor for me on a trail run.  I did want it to track the miles though in case they weren’t well marked.  Knowing how far I’ve come is important for my mental game – especially if I might be dealing with a bunch of hills and trail craziness.

I decided it was more important to get my watch.  I was hoping maybe I was just nervous and could psyche myself out of that “I have to go!” feeling.  With that thought, I joined the start line.  Most of this race was a total blur for me because I was that much in the moment.  I still love trail running and this race just stoked the fire more.  In lieu of your standard race report, here are some things I learned that day:

• On a trail run, don’t start in the very back if you care about your time. Trail races are required to start on a road to give runners a chance to space out.  This race was no exception but the space out period was a short .5 miles.  When I ran the Red Top Rumble, we had a wide berth for 3 miles before hitting single track.  This race quickly led to the woods.  Single track trail (meaning no real room to pass) plus a lot of people (some of whom should have started in the back) at the beginning of a race = walking.  I was amazed to find myself walking for most of the first mile.  I commented to the woman in front of me that this was crazy.  She had run the race last year and said it was equally as congested.  That first mile took me 11:30 while I averaged 9:30 for almost all the rest of the race.  There were no hills in the first mile and I was able to run .5 miles of it fast at paved road start.  I was just forced to drag along for a very long time.  I was very annoyed.  So yeah, don’t start at the back if you can help it.
• Don’t pin your number to the front of your jacket if you tend to overheat. This should be very obvious but I didn’t even think about pinning my number to the back of my jacket.  This race had a time chip embedded in the bib so I just felt it should be up front.  I pinned it on good too – with all 4 pins.  By Mile 6 I was warm and so ready to take that jacket off but I couldn’t.  I wasn’t about to sacrifice the time necessary to fix the situation.  Doh!
• You can sometimes overcome a lot of physical stress with a strong mental game. I was unable to fool myself into losing that “I have to pee!” feeling.  It dogged me the whole 13.1 miles.  I lost myself in running for a while only to have that nagging feeling return.  I muted that feeling by recalling being in labor with Lewis who’s spine must have been rubbing up against my bladder.  I labored for a long time without drugs (until 9cm).  I had a real mental groove going on and a position where I could deal with the pain and I didn’t want to disturb that.  Walking across the room to use the bathroom was out of the question.  I was able to resist the urge to go for hours upon hours because moving was just not an option.  I used that experience to gather the strength to make it without having to go because I simply refused to expose myself to folks on the trail.
• Don’t be scared of the downhill. This is the most fun part of trail running.  I vaguely remember flying down a steep hill with Beyonce’s “Get Me Bodied” blaring in my headphones.  I was almost out of control but not quite and I felt like a kid again.  I swear I had to hold myself back from shouting “Wheeeeee!”  This is where trail running has it all over road running.  I hope I feel the same when I inevitably trip and fall and hurt myself.
• Thank you CrossFit for strength! I truly credit the lifting I do at CrossFit for helping me transition to trail running.  My years of CrossFit have given me a good base of muscle – strong core, strong quads, strong back and upper body.  I think all of these things are an asset in trail running.  I found myself really needing to concentrate on my posture and use my core to stabilize myself and avoid falling.  Racing downhills tested my quad strength.  I will never stop lifting because I need all the help I can get to develop strength.  I prefer this method to simply depending on running to gain this strength.
• A little more fuel is a good thing. I had energy for days during this run and no GI issues.  In addition to my pre-race eats, I fueled twice on the run at Miles 4 and 8 – once with Honey Stinger chews (suggested by BK) and another time with 3 Clif Shot Bloks.  I think I used to underfuel during my halfs feeling like I didn’t really need it (or the calories).  I’ve noticed a real performance difference though when I fuel twice during the run.  I’m going to keep this practice up.  I burned over 1500 calories during this run.  120 calories for some GU isn’t going to hurt!  Shoot, I’ve wasted more calories than that mindlessly eating peanuts in my car on my way home.  I shouldn’t have any qualms about giving my body calories when it actually needs them.
• Sometimes you gotta be bold. I wasted a lot of time at the beginning of this race stuck behind people moving slower than me.  This race was both a full and a half marathon so naturally the marathoners might move slower to pace themselves.  I had no such restrictions so I was often frustrated by being stuck in a line of people 12 deep on a tiny trail.  It is tough to pass on single track but not always impossible at certain points.  Eventually, I started to note good points to pass and make moves.  I would cue up the Mission Impossible theme in my head and jump right around someone with a quick “On Your Left!” and sometimes an apologetic “Sorry!”  I have no idea why I felt the need to apologize for passing someone.  I’m a timid driver and I guess I’m a timid passer on a run but I’m getting better.
• Don’t forget to stop your watch! This trail race had a timing chip in the bib but used a gun time at the start (no mat).  I started my watch when I crossed the start line but forgot to stop my watch for about a minute when I finished.  My official time is about 2 minutes slower than my actual time since I started way in the back.  That kind of sucks because I wanted my “real” time.  I had to estimate based on my watch time and how long I think it was before I remembered to stop my watch at the finish.

I didn’t go into this race with a specific time goal in mind.  In spite of my mad pre-race scramble to get my running watch, I never looked at my overall time either.  I figured that if I finished in 2:30 (~11:30 min/miles) that would be great.  You can’t really compare a trail half marathon to a road half marathon because the conditions are too different.  I just hope to maintain my mid-pack status overall – whatever that time may be for the race.

I did indeed maintain my mid-pack status.  I finished in 2:05:45.  I was surprised to see 2:05 anything when I crossed the finish line.  I felt like I ran a good strong race but it was nice to have that validated.  I was 10th out of 21 in my age group and 196th out of 420 overall.  Mission accomplished.