I know there are loads of trail runners out there who are in love with trails and just don't understand why anyone would run on roads. But for me, making the transition from road to trail has been rough. My first trail run I spent just aghast looking at my Garmin and focusing on JUST HOW SLOW I was running, combined with dodging roots and rocks. After a bit, I found a little bit of stride, however, and there was just a little bit of amazement in this entirely new kind of slow running, where I was focused on the terrain rather than my speed. And there was something pretty cool about being in the middle of the woods, with no people, cars, or bikes. (Well, eventually there were people and dogs, but that's another story).
It's not that I don't enjoy the outdoors - I do, very much. It's just that as a former triathlete and marathoner, my focus has often been on how fast I can do whatever I'm doing. It has only been in my ultra journey, which started last June, where I started to learn the power of slow.
The trail I've been practicing on is about 3 miles from my house and is a relatively small loop - I figured out a way to do this figure 8 that gets me about 3 miles, some of which I am running on the same terrain. In each loop, there is kind of a nasty hill at the beginning that leaves me huffing and puffing, a moderate one in the middle, and 2 iterations of the same really short steep section that is pretty much like going up stairs. Although I know the trail ultra mantra is "walk the hills", in my training runs I've been trying to run them all, when possible, just to see if I can.
The first long training trail was rough - both mentally and physically. The day after the run, my left ankle was so stiff I could barely go down my stairs. I still managed to get out for a recovery run, which to my great surprise and relief eased up the ankle issue. Each week in March got easier until I found all of the hill training really improving my road speed and endurance.
The week before NJ Ultrafest I started receiving e-mails from the race directors that were getting me nervous. I learned that 1/3 of the course had been cut off due to the property not being available - this was going to result in more, shorter loops - but the loops were the ones with all of the major elevation, so overall the race elevation was going to increase. I also learned that there were 5 stream crossings per 5.75 mile loop, and so because I was going to have to cover about 5.5 loops, this meant over 25 stream crossings. The race director indicated it was "possible" to try to keep your feet dry, but noted that it would probably be easier to just plow through the streams. This thought did not make me happy. I reached out to my running friends desperate for advice - and got it. Wool socks. Phew. OK - ready.
The race was scheduled to start at 9:45 and was in Hardwick NJ. One of the decisions I needed to make was whether to go down the night ahead of time and stay overnight in a cabin, or head down morning of. I ultimately decided that heading down that morning would serve me best by allowing me to sleep in my own bed and get the best night's sleep, and only have to get up about 30 minutes earlier than I'm used to getting up anyway. I was in my car and on my way by 4:45 and drove through hours of pouring rain to arrive with plenty of time to spare.
Met some great people even before the race began starting with Mike, who drove the shuttle from the assigned parking lot to the race start, Jeff - first time 50K trail, Andrew and Kevin who all shared my ride over. Big deliberations about how much to wear... it was cool (mid 40's) and rainy, and I HATE to be cold - so opted for running pants over my shorts, along with long compression wool socks, short sleeve tech top, arm warmers, and windbreaker.
And the race began...
Not sure if this really happened or if it's just my perception, but it seemed to me that pretty early on I was pretty much toward the rear of the pack. Eager runners went bounding off ahead of me while I set out at a pace that felt comfortable and that allowed me to not trip over obstacles. Of which there were many. There were a couple of other runners in my pack space - I spent a bit of time chatting with Andrew who seemed to have a pretty similar pace as mine, and I'm afraid I don't remember the other runners at that point. Finding my comfortable pace on a trail is new to me and it took a while to get in a groove where I wasn't out of breath. I tried to follow other runners' lead in terms of what hills to walk - I knew I should do that regularly and early in order to ensure I had enough gas in the tank for the rest of the race.
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| Modified course loops |
The 5.75 mile loop was really made up of 2 mini-loops: the first (Woods Loop) was about 3+ miles and was where the lions share of the elevation lay. On paper it looked significantly more difficult than the second mini-loop (Lake Loop). And, from an elevation perspective, it was. Right before the end of the Woods loop there was an incredibly rooty, rocky, streamy section that only the most fleet footed were making any attempt to run. I was just attempting not to fall down. We were to hit that section 11 times in the whole race. At the end of the root mass was the steepest elevation of that loop - essentially a set of steep stairs built into the hillside, with a rope handrail with which you could help pull yourself up. The handrail was key. That loop ended in a very short runnable section culminating in another short steep climb before getting to the Aid station right before hitting mini-loop 2 (Lake loop).
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| Rooty section. You don't really see the full depth of the roots and rocks here. |
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| The deceptive elevation map (Woods Loop left, Lake Loop right) |
On my first go-round I was relieved at getting to the Lake Loop knowing the elevation was significantly less. My relief was short lived. The early part of the lake loop was relatively flat - yes, but just chock full of ground obstacles just waiting to kill me. Rocks and roots, mostly, and downed trees you had to hop over or climb under. It was pretty highly technical terrain - with which I have pretty much zero experience. I experimented with tentative jog hopping around the rocks and roots until I got to sections that were more runnable. Which, it turned out, were uphill. On that first loop I was still with Andrew who rejoiced over how runnable that section was and he just dodged forward while I huffed and puffed thinking that I was now going a bit faster than my comfortable pace.
Somehow I lost Andrew at the aid station and started on my own around loop 2. I had to keep a closer eye on the trail because during loop 1 I had relied on my companions to keep me on the trail. I almost made a wrong turn once but quickly found my way back to the trail. I followed advice I've heard from other ultra runners - run when you can - walk when you have to. And, I'd say, on each loop I'd try to experiment a little bit more with what I "could" run.
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| Killer rocks |
The Dreaded Stream Crossings.
So anyone who was following my Facebook posts knew I was pretty nervous about how to handle the stream crossings. Lots of suggestions for Wool socks, Drymax, etc... - and my online buddy Joseph commented "enjoy it - it will be just like an ice bath". Have to say Joseph was right. On the first stream crossing I made I very minor attempt to keep my feet dry by using rocks - realized pretty much immediately that it would be WAY easier to just wade right through, and voila - my feet and shoes were soaked. Got onto dry ground moments later, shoes sloshed for about a minute, and then feet were just mildly damp and not at all uncomfortable. One of the stream crossings that was described as ankle deep really wasn't - it was up to my knees at least. I discovered on later loops that in order to get the ankle deep crossing, you had to aim further over to the right. But my buddy Joseph was right - there was at least one loop where I actually aimed for the deep part to get all of the benefit of the cool water on my legs that, by that time, were a little bit achey! End result of stream crossings? Socks that were pretty awful from a scent perspective (had to wash them twice and still not quite right), but no blisters and no discomfort.
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| Shin deep water. I did see someone trying to use the rope ladder... |
My new friend Amy and some other friends
So - one thing I am learning about ultras, and this is now my third, is that the best part of them are the people you meet on the journey - either online while training, or at the race itself. Somewhere between mile 10 and mile 13 or so, I met Amy. Amy is a runner from Staten Island - unlike me, she was signed up for the 50 miler - (her first). Just like me, she was finding the terrain tougher than anything she had trained on - and she was at the same point in the race in terms of total loops completed as I was. Amy and I stuck together for close to 10 miles, I think. It was wonderful. We ran together, walked together, slogged through streams together, and compared running stories and history. I briefly got to meet Amy's husband and son who had accompanied her to the race, and thanks to them got the only pictures that actually exist of me out on the course. I also got to run a bit with Scott, and ran into the finish line with Rudy, who I also shared a ride with back to the car.
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| Hiking up the hill right before the aid station |
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| Trails in the woods |
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| Pretty much the only flat runnable section of the course
The End
So - somewhere around mile 22, I left Amy sipping her chicken soup at the aid station while I headed out for my last loop and a half. I felt strong - and I felt like I was getting a bit more of a handle on how to tackle the different sections of the course. I became a bit more aggressive in terms of attempt to run on sections I might have been more tentative about earlier with the end result being that I think my fastest Lake Loop was actually the last one. I climbed up that last hill knowing I was close to the end and still was feeling just find.
At the finish line I learned to my great delight that I was the 3rd woman in. Felt pretty good for my first trail 50K. The race swag is shown below - the jacket is just amazing, and has reflective piping in a couple of spots.
I'm pretty sure this will not be my last NJ Trail series event. Many thanks to Rick and Jennifer McNulty for making this happen, and for all of the amazing volunteers.
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| The amazing race swag - FABULOUS jacket |
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