Race Recap: Rock/Creek River Gorge

Rock/Creek River Gorge, my first goal race of the year. This was supposed to be my first big race of the year where I dropped a fast time on a tough course and came home with a win, but with my hamstring struggles of late I went into it hoping to salvage something rather than punish. Regardless of my training, I'd been waiting for this weekend since I crossed the finish line in last year's edition.

Setting the Stage
In 2014, I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and step up to the challenge of racing against some of the guys in Tennessee. Chattanooga is an outdoor destination city and with 50 trail heads within 30 minutes of downtown, the place has some has some really good runners. When I looked at the race and saw the course record was 1:08 for 10.2 miles I thought I was going to have a chance to set a course record and win. I did not have enough respect for the course. At all. It's a really tough 10 miles, very different from what I've grown accustomed to racing on in Georgia. It's rolling, but has a lot of very technical terrain and some really punishing short steep climbs.

The last time out, I blasted from the get go and struggled with some of the terrain, then I completely blew up in the final three miles, which included major struggles in the rock garden. I ended up finishing third losing out to a college runner and a one of the top local runners. My time was solid, given the course, I finished in 1:13:49...the 10th fastest time ever run on that course.

When setting my goals for 2015, I kept coming back to this race. I was arrogant going in and I got what I deserved for that, but I still felt like I could have run better if I had run smarter. Flash forward to this weekend. I keep harping on my training, but the fact is it's not where it needs to be. Armed with better knowledge and more importantly, more respect for this course, I still felt like I had a shot at redemption. I figured I wouldn't be able to run as fast, but I still felt like I could be in the mix for the win or at least a podium spot.

The Course
The race takes place on the Mullens Cove loop trail in the Prentice Cooper State Forest/WMA about 15/20 minutes from downtown Chattanooga. It starts out on a dirt access road at the trail head and climbs up a short hill. From there you make a left onto an ATV/Jeep road and descend until you hit the single track about 400 meters later. After dipping into the single track you continue to descend, hitting the first big feature of the course very early, a giant boulder split in half with a set of wooden stairs wedged in between.

After that the course rolls along the cliff's edge until Snooper's Rock around 5k. At that point the course turns left deeper into the forest, but continues to present challenges with rolling hills and technical sections of rocky outcroppings. Just before seven miles the trail spills out onto Haley Road, another Jeep road, and throws it's toughest climb at you.

Haley Road is a grinding climb that brings you to the second aid station, after that you head back into the woods for a steep section of switchbacks that really hammers the legs. Once you reach the top things level out a bit before descending into the rock garden. A about a mile long, the rock garden is basically a boulder field along side a small creek. It's very technical and very slow going. Once you make your way through it though you have a gradual climb on nice smooth single track to the finish.

It's a challenging course but it can really tempt you with sections that are not just runnable, but fast. You have to stay focused though because those sections can quickly give way to quick creek crossings, rocky terrain, and sharp turns right along the edges of cliffs. It really is a great course, constantly taunting you and asking 'how long can you red line it before something on the course pushes you over the limit?'

Rock/Creek River Gorge 10.2 Mile Trail Race - Prentice Cooper WMA - Chattanooga, TN

The map above was provided by Rock/Creek a couple days before the race. It may not look like much but I promise you I studied the distances between each landmark/aid station and the contour lines very closely before the race to make sure I was as prepared as possible.

The Race

Amanda and I drove up to Chattanooga on Friday night. We each got out of work a shade early so we were able to hit the road around five. To avoid sitting in traffic and turning a 2.5 hour drive into a 3.5 hour drive we took the back roads. This route added some mileage and time but we were in Tennessee around 7:45 despite making a quick stop at Target about half way for some snacks and water. We grabbed dinner and then settled into our hotel room for the night.

I woke up at 6:30 and knocked out the news clips for work (the least favorite part of my job) and had a cliff bar while Amanda got ready to go. It was unexpectedly cold when we woke up. When I say unexpectedly, I mean that it had been 70 all week and it was 28 when I woke up. I know that's not really all that cold, but the 40 degree temperature swing is no fun. Fortunately, I had checked the forecast the before leaving and packed a hat, gloves, arm warmers, and extra layers for before and after. 

We left the hotel around 7:15 and made the short drive in about 30 minutes and got to the trail head about 45 minutes before the start. I grabbed my number from the registration tent and did a short warmup, probably about a mile and a half total. I would have liked to have done more but I got talking with my cousin Greg and one of my adversaries from last year, Nate Holland (who was out with an ankle injury he picked up in the 68 mile Georgia Death Race). The warm up worked well enough though as I was warm and my hamstring was feeling nice and loose. I was little worried about the long drive, but it ended up feeling about 80-90 percent for most of the day.

The race starts on the gravel access road before hitting the trails. photo courtesy of True Speed Photo

With the race starting with a short climb on the dirt road, I grabbed a spot on the front row but settled in behind the four or five guys that surged to the front at the gun. When we reached the top of the climb and made the left hand turn onto the Jeep road, I moved my way to the front, but there were about six of us running all the way across the road from one side of the other. As soon as I hit the Jeep road, I gave it a little gas and then let gravity do the bulk of the work pulling me along as I glided down the washed out road. Zak Noles (Athens, Ga) was quick to cover my move and settled in along side me. This was essentially the same strategy I used last year, but the difference was that this year I was just looking to get out of the traffic. I figured if someone was going to pass me early that was fine, but I wasn't getting bogged down on the single track. 

rolling on the jeep road before hitting the single track. Photo courtesy of Rock/Creek Race Team's instagram

Zak and I actually talked a little bit early on and we agreed it would be best to put a little distance on the group at large to avoid any entanglements. We were rolling pretty good on the descent, but I could tell that we were both trying to stay controlled. We hit the single track and I took a the lead. I was a little reluctant, but I was nervous about the split rock. I wanted to get through that in front and if he wanted to take over after that, no problem. The trail drops pretty sharply and is littered with roots early on. After about 20 yards of picking my way through the roots I heard Zak say "good, you're a trail runner. Nothing worse than getting stuck behind a roadie on this stuff." That made me smile. I liked this guy. All I could think of was the time I nearly ran off the trail running with Ferenc and Greg Hammett and Greg made a joke about not being good on the technical stuff. He was 100 percent right, but when Zak said that, in my head I was thinking 'how do you like them apples Greg?' 

side note: I'm still not very good on the technical stuff

We continued to run together for the first three miles or so and for most of that time we were running at a conversational pace. That was a little weird for a race, but since my plan was to run smarter and a little more reserved early on, I figured that if I was talking I was doing that, so what the hell. I also think we were both testing each other a little bit to see if the other guy was for real. 

I was thinking 'shit, this guy is chatting it up about races in California with handicapped starts like the Dipsea, this is going to take a turn at some point.' Little did I know, he when he said 'good, you're a trail runner' what he meant was 'Shit, this guy is a trail runner and I've got to worry about him.'

Shortly before we hit the Snooper's Rock aid station, I missed a turn. Totally my fault, it was marked well we just came in a little too hot and I blew right past it. I tried to signal to Zak that we needed to back track a couple steps and turn but my sudden stop caught him of guard. We avoided disaster as he wrapped his arms around me to prevent us from going off the cliff to our left. 

"My bad. We were supposed to go up to the right there. I came in a little too hot."

"No worries. It's trail running. I hope you don't mind the hug. I know we are still early on in our relationship for that."

We both had a good laugh at that as we scrambled up the rocky outcropping and back onto the single track after my misstep. As we climbed, I noticed the two guys behind us had closed things down and both Zak and I seemed to feel a sense of urgency. He moved to the front and hit the gas as soon as he got back on level ground and I did the same doing my best to keep pace. We quickly opened up a gap on the two runners behind us, but after that injection of pace it became clear that Zak had better climbing legs than I did. He opened up a gap and while I could bring it back a little on some of the downhills I decided that it was better run my race than go into oxygen debt trying to close the gap. With the third and fourth place runner still close behind, the last thing I wanted to do was blow up in the last three miles from hammering myself early on.

Wild Endurance p/b La Sportiva

From talking to him after the race, I think Zak had a similar plan to mine last year, which was hammer wherever the trail would allow it. He opened up a decent size gap early but I was able to keep it around 20-30 seconds for most of the race. I told myself not to worry about what was going on ahead of me or behind me. I knew going in that I needed to run smart and run my race no matter what. That was my best chance at getting on the podium. Oddly enough, being in no man's land was probably the best thing for me. 

Once we got through the Snooper's Rock aid station, I focused on running a good tempo and using course. I opened my stride and let it fly on the downhills, pushed whenever things flattened out, and just tried to survive the climbs by maintaining the same effort level. It was slow going on the ups, but I felt like I was making up for it on the flatter sections and the downhills. I also tried to focus on my feet in the technical sections. Trying to be quick over the rocks and avoid selling out for one normal stride only to end up going down or blowing out my ankle.

Snooper's Rock

Things worked out pretty well for me in the middle section. I was mitigating the damage that Zak was doing up front and opening up a good size gap on the guys behind me and the miles seemed to be rolling by pretty quickly. The one negative about this race is that there are no mile markers. Fortunately, my GPS was pretty close this time around and I knew that I was in for 1:15 or possibly longer, so I was able to budget my energy a lot more efficiently. I also carried water, as this is a cup less race. It was kind of a pain to carry water for a 10 miler, but I felt like taking a quick sip from my hand held bottle helped calm me down in a few of my crisis of confidence moments after climbs or technical sections. 

Somewhere between 40 and 45 minutes into the race I tore into an Untapped Maple packet for an energy boost. I cannot recommend this stuff enough. It's the perfect endurance fuel and I found out after the race that a bunch of people had issues with their GU's and shot blocks due to the cold weather. Not my pure, 100%, Vermont maple syrup. Liquid gold. 

I got a nice little moral boost from the Untapped packet and was rolling well when I came out of the woods and onto Haley road near the second aid station. You'd think that I'd be stoked running on a road with my name, that I would want to make it "my road" by running awesome on it. You would be right, unfortunately, my legs weren't really feeling that and things came to a grinding halt as I slowly clawed my way up to the aid station. Haley road was steeper than I remembered and after you dip back into the woods you face the toughest climb on the course. The climb really isn't that long, maybe 400 meters, but it's steep and switchbacks its way back up to the gorge's ridge line. I caught a quick glimpse Zak up ahead as I slugged my way through the climb and the aid station volunteers told me he had less than 45 seconds on me.

On the one hand I was excited because I was still in striking distance and with the rock garden looming I was still in the race, but on the other the fact that I was struggling on the climb made me feel like I was letting the race slip away. I told myself not to panic and just get up and over the damn thing. I had a brief mound conference with myself at the top of the climb and tried to refocus as this was where my race plan needed to kick into gear. Last year, the top of this climb was where things fell apart. It's where I lost the eventual winner and where I started to give back ground guys behind me. This year was going to be different. I settled myself down and focused on running as fast as I could on the mile down to the rock garden.

I was really trying to force the issue on the flats, but I had a brief moment of concern when I went a few minutes without seeing any course markings. I was having flashbacks of earlier in the race when I blew through a turn. I quickly made the decision that it didn't matter. If I went off course, my goals were going to be out the window, so I shouldn't bother wasting any energy worrying about it. There was a little bit of comfort in the white blazes on the trees, since most of the course is on the white blazed Cumberland Trail, but going off course was still in the back of my mind until I saw a yellow piece of ribbon clipped to a branch just ahead of me. A wave of relief rushed over me and I stepped on the gas again. 

Now I felt like I was really bombing down the trail. Knowing that the rock garden was going to be slow going but I felt like I had budgeted my energy well and would have a shot at catching Zak in the final mile. The trail begins to drop sharply as you get close to the rock garden and the forest changes from hardwoods to lush evergreens and hemlocks. As I descended rapidly my eyes started to water from the cold air and bright sunlight showing through the trees. I picked my way over the rocks on the technical switch backs that serve as the entrance to the rock garden and it instantly reminded me of another Ferenc run.

Last summer, Josh, Greg and I "ran" up and down Ascutney on a hiking trail that was remarkably similar to this one. Each step was a gamble with your life and limbs. I'd made it through unscathed and fairly quickly, hung a right at the bottom (big thanks to the volunteer pointing us in the right direction) and made my way into the rock garden. I've probably made this thing out to be worse than it really is, but it's the signature feature of this race. It's essentially my version of the fire swamp from Princess Bride. Instead of lightning Sand, Fire Bursts, and R.O.U.S. it has rocks, rocks, and more rocks.

The Rock Garden

Once I got into the rock garden I focused on quick feet, trying to keep moving forward without stumbling. The most difficult thing about navigating this section of the course is figuring out what line to take. I feel like you could run the rock garden 100 times and take 100 different lines. It would be slow going if you were hiking, never mind trying to run fast through it. You have to keep one eye on the the rocks and one eye on the blazes, otherwise you start drifting and zig zagging which wastes a tremendous amount of time and energy. Last year, I was all over the place, panicking and clumsily fumbling my way through. This year, I was much more confident and I was able stay calm. I still don't think I ran it terribly fast, but I definitely felt like I was moving better than the last time.

More rock garden

I tried to focus on quick feet and short, quick strides, picking my way over the rocks and trying to drive my arms to keep a good tempo. At this point, I sort of forgot about who was ahead or behind me and just kept working on getting through it. I really wish I would have been able to spend a little time on this course before the race to get a better feel for how long the rock garden is, but I actually felt like I got through it relatively quickly. After you get past the rocks, you are treated to a steep climb back up and out of the small ravine.

Once you pull yourself out of the ravine, you cross over another jeep road then begin the gradual climb to the finish. The race closes with about a mile of well groomed single track with a slight uphill grade. Despite the fact that you're 10 miles into the race, hitting that single track might as well be dead flat pavement. I crossed over the road and immediately went to work trying to grind my way to the finish. After the excitement of getting through the rock garden wore off the fatigue hit me like a ton bricks. I think if I had been able to see Zak ahead of me on the trail I might have been able to summon a little more but I ended up running out of gas about a half mile from the finish.

Rock "steps" in the rock garden

At that point, it became clear that I had second sewn up, but I wasn't going to be able to catch Zak so I just cruised into the finish. I crossed the line in 1:15:09 (7:22 pace), which was right about where I figured I would finish. I ended up losing a little more time to Zak over the last couple of miles as he took the win in 1:13:48, which was one second faster than what I ran last year for third. Obviously, I would have liked to have win, but all things considered I was pretty happy with my finish. This was a big goal race for me and I was a little disappointed that my trailing wasn't up to par in the weeks leading up to it. For me to come away with a result despite those struggles was pretty exciting.

After the race I cooled down with Zak, John Wiygul (3rd, 1:18:02), and John's wife Molly (2nd female finisher (1:31:13). While cooling down I found out the Zak was from Athens and often trains at Ft. Yargo State Park, so we exchanged numbers to hopefully get together for some runs in the future. After that I went back to the finish to root for my cousin, who finished in 2:16:31.

Exiting the rock garden about to cross the jeep road

I ended up winning a pretty cool Hyrdo Flask water bottle and a backpack, both of which have the River Gorge RG logo on them. After the race Amanda and I headed back to Chattanooga to grab brunch at our favorite coffee shop, Mean Mug. They have amazing biscuits. I've lived in Georgia for almost five years now and while I don't really care for country music or NASCAR there are two southern things that I do enjoy...sweet tea and biscuits. We spent the rest of the day walking around Chattanooga, which I think was good for my hamstring since it felt pretty good the next day. Amanda was totes jelly of my hydro flask so we had to pick one up for her at Rock/Creek then we met up with Greg for dinner.

L-R: John Wiygul, Zak Noles, Me

Overall I was really pleased with the race. It wasn't as fast as I wanted at the beginning of the year, but being able to stay relaxed and run my race and still get a good result made up for the uneasiness I was feeling going into this one. The one bummer about the way things shook out was that Zak bumped me out of the all-time top 10 on the course by one second. This race is going to be fast next year. Next up for me, a couple of Dirty Spokes races and then possibly the Tuck Fest 1/2 Marathon in NC (part of the La Sportiva Mountain Cup).

Here's a look at the final results (top 10 overall):

Place	Name	Gun Time	Pace
1	Zakary Noles	1:13:48	07:14/M
2	Matt Haley	1:15:09	07:22/M
3	John Wiygul	1:18:02	07:39/M
4	Fynn Glover	1:18:59	07:45/M
5	Cullom Boyd	1:21:05	07:57/M
6	Neal Hanley	1:22:15	08:04/M
7	Mitchell Kohlmann	1:23:20	08:10/M
8	Baker McCool	1:25:11	08:21/M
9	Nathan Helton	1:25:24	08:22/M
10	Sam Linhoss	1:27:39	08:36/M

Shout out to Fynn Glover, one of the founders of RootsRated.com finishing fourth.

Here's what the race looked like on Strava:

Race Recap: Dirty Spokes Univ. of North Georgia 5.5 Mile Trail Race

Editor's note: This is a little overdue, but necessary.

Winner, winner

I got my first win for Wild Endurance at the Dirty Spokes University of North Georgia 5.5 mile trail race on March 14 in Gainesville, Georgia. It's always nice to get a win but it was especially nice nabbing the top step on the podium for WE and to do it on what has become my de facto home course down here in Georgia. I've won this race the last four years with Josh Ferenc taking the win in 2011 back when he was all Unicorned (BAA) out. This year's race wasn't a particularly fast version due to muddy conditions and my so-so fitness, but hey, a win is a win.

The Gainesville UNG campus is only 18 or so miles from my apartment, which might sound far but everything is so spread out down here that's actually super close. It's also 17.5 highway miles, so that helps. I got to the campus around 7:30 with about an hour to kill before the start of the race. Because it was so wet, Tim Schroer moved registration and the finish into the parking garage, so I was able to stay relatively dry before the gun. He also moved the start from the big lower field to the road next to the field, which was great for me. Those big open field cross country starts have never been my strong suit.

After jogging around for a bit and trying to find a bathroom (no campus buildings were open...portos...woof) I found Mitch Novy doing the same and trying to stay loose in the rain. We chatted a little bit about our race plan and stretched out while we waited for everyone to make their way to the start. Mitch is contesting all of the short courses in the series, so for him this was a 2.5 mile race. His plan was to run together until we hit the split just after the mile then try to finish off anyone that stayed with him in the final long flat before the finish. Having someone to run with for a mile or so sounded good to me, so we made our way to the start to get things fired up.

The new start presented a small challenge, a narrow concrete bridge about 20 yards from the starting line, it was a little unfortunate for some of the people further back, but there was really no way to avoid it. Even if they pushed the start back, it would have been a downhill sprint and that would have been mass chaos. Mitch was a little nervous about the bridge, but I assured him that we'd be fine. I've run enough of these races and so have most of the rest of the field that everyone has a pretty good gauge on the early pace, with the exception of the occasional froggish high schooler.

At the gun, Mitch took off like Chip in that Chappelle skit. I was a few yards behind and the aforementioned froggish youngster when by me like I was standing still and instantly opened a small gap on Mitch. I my head, I said 'I'm either going to catch him before the mile or he's going to run away from everyone, so don't panic...but I kind of hope he's running the short race'.

I quickly settled into a good rhythm and started eating into their advantage on the flat double track that traces the outline of the campus along a set of rail road tracks. The double track makes a left past the track and less than a half mile into race you pass a set of tennis courts then a makeshift outdoor amphitheater. I caught Mitch at the tennis courts and the young buck shortly after the amphitheater. Despite a couple of slips on a few of the off camber turns, I pulled into the lead as we made the turn to head back towards the start where we would dip into the woods.

Mitch came around me to keep the pace high in a effort to distance the kid behind us. We rolled stride for stride through the mile and all the way to the split. I don't get to run with people and a lot of these races are single track so that was pretty cool, to be side by side rolling. I felt like I was back in college hammering back from a workout at Keene High. Mitch went on to win the short race by a solid margin over 17-year old Alex Peacock (the young kid behind us).

I broke left over a small bridge and into the woods. I was cautious over the wooden planks and in and out of the corners due to the mud but it became clear fairly early that I was out to a good lead. Once you get into the woods on the UNG course there are a lot of tight turns. It's pretty flat but the twists and turns make keeping up a rhythm difficult. I focused on trying to open up my stride were I could and trying to be quick through the tight sections. This added up to a lot of speeding up and slowing down but it worked out pretty well, since by the time I came through three miles there was no one in sight behind me.

It's always difficult to keep pushing the pace when you are in no man's land. It's a little easier when you are out front because there's always that voice in the back of your head that's worried about getting caught, so I tried to tap into that and keep pushing. I was moving well on the long down hill that takes you from the back section of trails back to double track access trail and figured that I'd start to catch the back end of the 2.5 milers before finishing the climb back up to the mountain bike parking lot. I grinded my way up the hill then started working on the few people I could see up ahead of me.

Once I was back down on the double track about a half mile from the finish I tried to open it up again. To my delight, my hamstring actually felt okay and wasn't too tight, that would change at the finish. I knew I had the win sewed up, but I still tried to catch all of the 2.5 milers ahead of me. The change in finish location left us with a nasty little paved up hill back to the parking garage, which was a little tougher than I thought it would be, so making the right hand turn into the parking garage was a relief. I strided it out and crossed the line in 34:23. That time is a little slow, but given the change in course and sloppy, muddy conditions it was right about where I thought I'd be.

After a lot of travel the week before, I was happy that my hamstring felt okay during the race. It still tightened up afterwards, but I think I am getting to the point where I can start upping my mileage as along as I stick to my work in the weight room. Right now, that's my big struggle is my lack of mileage. It's difficult for me to race well on low mileage. If I'm doing good workouts, I can run alright in the 50s, but right lately I've been in the 30s, so I need to work on that.

After the race I caught up with Mitch for a two mile cool down. We finished up and made our way to the awards where I took home a specially made Dirty Spokes Merlot from Chateau Elan winery. I'm not a big wine guy (or a wine guy at all really) but I thought that was one of the cooler prizes I've ever gotten at a race. I also got a coupon for a free VO2 Max test which I'm interested in checking out. I will keep you posted if and when I make it to the lab for that.

Mitch and I hit the trails for another three miles, which gave me 10 for the day. All in all it was a good day and a good start to the spring for me. I'm a little behind where I wanted to be, but if I can keep my hamstring in check I still think I can run well later in the spring and summer.

As always, here's what it looked like on Strava:

Rad Run: Are You Afraid of the Dahhk

I feel like this is the most appropriate way to start off this blog. I don't know the origin of the image, but I had seen it somewhere before and it was the first thing I thought of when I sat down to start writing about my night time mountain adventure with Josh Ferenc. If that doesn't set the scene for you...try this one on for size.

That's the text I got from Josh on Sunday morning as Amanda and I made our way up to Vermont from my parents house in Massachusetts. As it says, Josh proposed a night run up Magic Mountain on Sunday night. Sometimes I regret going along with his suggestions, but I thought it sounded fun, so I agreed. After spending the day hanging out then consuming a higher than recommended amount of chicken wings Josh picked me up from the Grafton Inn  at 9 p.m. where Amanda and I were staying and we made our way to Timber Ridge, a defunct ski mountain in Windham, VT.

I know this was set out to be a night run, but it was wicked dahhk dude. Josh promised an "almost full moon", but on the drive it looked more like some sort of eclipse. We parked the truck at the base of Timber Ridge and each polished off the remainder of our Red Bulls. Despite not being able to see the moon, the stars were incredible. That has always been one of my favorite parts of the New Hampshire/Vermont/Maine experience, the stars are awesome. We don't get that in Georgia. There's a cul-de-sac every 20 feed and Atlanta has got some serious lightblubs. You get the star-filled sky a little bit in the North Georgia mountains but it doesn't compare to rural New England.

We fired up our headlamps and made our way from the parking lot up to the base of the mountain on a well packed snowmobile trail. While Timber Ridge doesn't operate as a ski mountain any more it is open to snowmobiling thanks to the Vermont Association of Snowmobile Trails (VAST). We followed the VAST trail, which from what I could tell (because it was dark) used to be a groomer that wrapped around the edge of the mountain. A green circle, with a couple of steep sections, that was probably more fun to ski down or snowmobile up than it was to run.

We slogged our way up the VAST trail but after a couple of minutes I was able to settle into a climbing gear and just grind my way up the slope trailing slightly behind Josh and way off the back of Ellie and Lena, who were setting a blistering pace. The snow was actually pretty good. It was softened a little bit by a warmer day but considering we were running on top of a couple of feet, we only dealt with minimal slipping. One of the great things about this being a night run was I couldn't tell how steep the trail was in front of me. I could only see what the headlamp was lighting up and it was all snow so it just looked like a white wall.

Here's an old image of when Magic Mtn owned Timber Ridge. Our route up is in red and the way down in black 

After 20-25 minutes of climbing things started to level out a little and we came to a snow bank on top of Timber Ridge. We followed a small break in the bank made by a snowmobile and things leveled off nicely. Following a few minutes of gliding we reached the summit of Magic Mountain. We pretty much ran right up to the chair lift before I realized we'd reached the top. It was a cool feeling to be at the top of the lift at night like that. They don't have night skiing, so we were the only people on the mountain and it was a combination of eerie quiet and peaceful serenity. With the stars and a slight wind, it felt like we were miles away from another human being. Then a guy came flying up lift trail on a snowmobile and ruined it.

We studied the trail map for a minute and even Josh, who is normally pretty relaxed when it comes the possibility of getting lost suggested that we should stick close to the lift. I agreed. It was really dark and while our headlamps light up the path in front of us, it would have been really easy to miss a trail sign and end up biting off more than we wanted to chew. We ended up doing a couple of short laps under the lift. It was awesome watching the girls bomb down the trail. Lena legitimately might have been going 40 mph down the trail.

It's tough to see but we ran down White Out and up Upper Magic Carpet

I don't know if it was that I was running with Josh, the cold night air, or the Red Bull but I felt like I could have run that loop 10 times. It was awesome! While we were doing our summit loops, the moon finally started to show itself through the trees. As promised it was epic. Nearly full and with a slight pink tint it lit up the trail on our way back. I wish I could have take better pictures, but even with my GoPro set to night mode it was too dark. I've got a couple of video clips that I might try to salvage some highlights from but I haven't had a chance to check them out yet.

After enjoying the sights for another minute or two at the top of Magic Mountain we made our way back down the connecting trail to Timber Ridge. We decided to head up to the summit of Timber Ridge before heading back to the car, which was a short climb from where the VAST trail connected with Magic. We shut our headlamps off for a few minutes and let the moon light the trail as we climbed up the gradual incline along a ridge line that led to what I thought was the decommissioned lift house at the top of Timber Ridge.

As it turns out...(according to NewEnglandSkiHistory.com) It was a cabin built on the footing of the former double chair that was featured in a 2014 episode of National Geographic's Building Wild. Yup, I found the episode. I haven't watched it yet but I'm looking forward to it. From the preview it looks like it give a good view of some of the steep terrain that we were dealing with. Also Josh needs to befriend these people immediately if not sooner.

Here's the link to the video. I couldn't get it to embed.
Top of the World

From their we bombed down the well traveled snowmobile tracks that led down Timber Ridge's main trail to the base lodge, which has been converted into a cabin lodge for the people that own the mountain. We finished our run on a small section of road before dropping back down into the snowmobile parking lot. Unfortunately, as soon as the car was in sight my heart sank.

"Did you really leave the dome light on?"

"Oh shit."

I left the dome light on in Josh's truck and was 1000 percent sure it wasn't going to start. It wouldn't be the first time we've been stranded without transportation, but at 10:30 on a Sunday night in the middle of nowhere it's not exactly an adventure that I wanted to go on. Thankfully, the 1992 Forerunner proved to be the modern marvel that it is and she started right up. The girls jumped in and were passed out before we pulled out of the lot. Josh dropped me back at the Grafton Inn where I slept like a rock after the Red Bull wore off.

The next morning Amanda and I were treated to an awesome country breakfast complete with pure VT maple syrup from right down the street...highlight of the trip. We hung around the next day and drove to a couple of covered bridges and checked out Rudyard Kipling's house (did you know he was a 4:30 miler? At least that's what Cassidy said) to do a few New England things before heading home.

It was great to get to spend a few days up in Vermont with Josh. It's like hitting the reset button on my soul when I go up there. I can't wait to get back up in the summer. I know New England has been pounded with snow this year, but some times I really miss it.

Here's what the looked like on Strava:

Lookout Mountain Trail Run

As promised, here's my second attempt at a GoPro running video.

A Weekend in Chattanooga

Chattanooga, Tennessee has quickly become a favorite weekend getaway destination for Amanda and I over the last couple of years. It's close enough that it doesn't take us all day to get there, but far enough away that it feel like a getaway. It's a small city with a great vibe and an outdoor-centric mindset. I guess that's what happens when you have 50 trail heads within 30 miles of downtown, access to couple of mountain ranges and the Tennessee river flows through downtown.

We stumbled upon Chattanooga a few years ago when I saw that Outside named it one of the "Best towns ever". When I realized how close it was, I knew we had to check it out. We've been a handful of times, four or five maybe, and we enjoy it so much that anytime I run a race on the northwest side of Atlanta a day trip to Chattanooga is usually on the list of possible things to do with the rest of our day.

This particular weekend trip was a result of both Amanda and I just needing to get away from everything for a few days. We needed a little re-boot, so we packed everything up on Friday and made our way up to Tennessee that night. Our base of operations for this winter weekend getaway was the Chattanoogan hotel, it's a really nice spot and we've moved up in the world from staying at the holiday in. The Chattanoogan is a little more expensive that somewhere that we would typically stay, but we had stayed there for one night during the fall and decided that it was our favorite hotel. This turned out to be a great call, because we got a chance to explore the city's southside, which we'd previously neglected.

This is a running blog, so I'll get to the point, Chattanooga is an amazing trail running destination. I haven't been to Boulder or Bend, but I still believe that the Scenic City is a must see for any trail runner. From Stringers Ridge (a personal favorite) just two miles from downtown, to Lookout Mountain towering 2,389 feet above the city, it features a ton of great places to get out an log some awesome miles. Chattanooga hosts the Salomon/Rock Creek trail series with everything from 10k trail runs to a three day stage race and the newly minted Thunder Rock 100. The trails range from rolling double track to steep mountain ascents, and technically challenging rock and root gardens. The place really has something for everyone.

Despite taking a few days off last week, I wasn't going to miss a chance to get out on some of the local trails while we were in town, so I planned a long run on Lookout Mountain on Saturday and a shorter downtown tour for Sunday. My plan on Saturday was to get up and head to Craven house about half way up the mountain to run the Big Daddy Loop, a trail run that combines seven trails, including the bluff trail that is cut into the side of the mountain high up with amazing views of the Tennessee River Gorge.

I slept in a little bit on Saturday morning and then knocked out the news clips for work (I have to do these everyday and they are the bane of my existence). This process took a little bit longer than I would have liked and I started stressing out about getting a late start, but I had to remind myself I was supposed to be on a weekend getaway vacation and slow my roll. This is something that I've talked to Josh Ferenc about at length and I'm sure we aren't the only ones who do it. Because work and life can be so stressful whenever we have a weekend or a few days off, I feel like I have to cram as many fun things as humanly possible into that free time, otherwise I am wasting it. Then I end up stressing out about not taking advantage of every second that I can.

It's sad, but it reminds of this quote from the Scientology episode of South Park

"It's Saturday! we have to have as much fun as possible."

That's exactly how I feel on the weekends or really whenever I'm not at work. I took a deep breath and decided to venture out to one of the many local coffee houses to grab some breakfast. I scoured Roots Rated (the best website/app for things to do outside and places to eat after) and Amanda and I settled on Mean Mug Coffee, a relatively new spot just a couple blocks away from our hotel in the southside neighborhood. It was a nice morning so we decided to walk over, which was cool because we got to take in some new sights. When we walked in the Mean Mug, I knew that we'd hit the jackpot for Amanda. She's a sucker for a good cup of coffee and this place was awesome. It had a really cool vibe, just coffee house enough without being all douchey and pretentious.

They had really cool decor, wood everywhere, vintage bikes above the door, and a chalk board menu with all of their drinks. Amanda got a mocha and some steel cut oats and I had a bacon and egg biscuit and a green tea. I'm not a big coffee guy, but it was nice to order something not coffee and not get stared at like I had 16 heads. More importantly, the biscuit was freaking amazing. The best biscuit I've ever had and I live in the south now so I eat biscuits. We relaxed at Mean Mug for a bit then walked back to the hotel. On the way back we saw a bunch of people in town for a comic convention. It was pretty funny. We saw like 14 Indiana Jones.

Once we got back to the hotel I jumped in the rad wagon and drove up to Craven House to start my run. There was a "ton" of snow on the mountain, ton being southern for 4-6 inches, but there was a decent path that had been tramped down by hikers and other runners, so I set out to get 10-12 miles in. Originally my plan was to run the Big Daddy loop, but based on the snow I was a little concerned with what kind of shape the bluff trail would be in. It's cut into the side of the mountain and in some places it can be a little sketchy when it's 100 percent dry. I decided to run an alternate version of the run that only had about 2 miles on the bluff trail instead of 4 or 5.

The run starts out descending from Craven House on the rifle pits trail down to the upper truck trail. After leveling out on upper truck, I dropped down a little further on the lower gum springs trail to the skyuka trail. This is a nice long winding trail that rolls it's way through the forest along the side of the mountain. This was probably the most fun part of the run. Since I'm not in great shape, I just let the trail dictate my pace as gravity pulled me down the descents and I grinded my way up the rolling hills. The other thing that makes this part of the run cool is that you cross into Georgia about half way to the spring. When I reached skyuka springs I stopped and tore into an Untapped maple packet. I needed the energy boost because the John Smartt trail is a lung and leg buster. It switchbacks it's way back up to the upper truck trail over a mile and on a true Big Daddy loop it climbs another mile up to the bluff trail. When I got to the next trail intersection, I noticed a distinctive lack of footprints continuing up John Smartt and decided to play it smart and take upper truck. At this point, I also started making my way back to Tennessee.

Upper truck was really nice after the tough climb. It's a double track trail, a lot like a jeep road or old rail road bed, with a couple of rollers. I saw a few people out on the trail hiking, so that made me feel like I made the right call. After a few miles on upper truck I reached the split for upper gum springs. This bad boy is another leg and lung buster and it was especially tough in the snow. I did a lot of slipping and sliding and after more than an hour I was definitely feeling a lack of fitness. When I finally reached the top where gum springs meets the bluff trail I was treated to some awesome views of the Tennessee river valley.

The bluff trail was in a little better shape than I thought it would be, with a six inch trench trail that had been tramped down. There were still some harrowing sections as the trail flirts with the edges of cliffs for pretty much it's entire length. I'm still trying to get the hang of the GoPro, so I didn't get many great shots, but I did put together a video that I'll post below.

The bluff trail is what really makes this run worth it. Even if you feel like you are taking your life in your hands at times, the views are awesome and it's a big rush to be picking your way along the side of a cliff. By the time I got back to my car I was pretty gassed. The run clocked in around two hours which was probably a little excessive, but I was stoked that my hamstring felt good and I had an absolute blast.

After finishing the run, I headed back to the hotel and grabbed Amanda. We hit the Terminal brewhouse for a burger and a beer then went back up to Lookout mountain for a short hike. We wanted to checkout sunset rock but by the time we made it up there we weren't sure we'd have time so we went about a mile and half then turned back for the car. We went to Rock/Creek to check out all the sweet outdoor gear, but didn't leave with anything.

After our trip to Rock/Creek we headed back to the hotel then walked downtown for dinner. More beer was in order at World of Beer which had a live band and some good food. We hung out for a bit then made our way back to the hotel to call it a night.

Day 2:
Sunday kicked off with a short run downtown, across the Walnut Street Bridge and into the park below then I headed back to the hotel. I would have liked to have gone up to stringers ridge, but I didn't want to push my hamstring too far so I kept things nice and short. Nothing local is open on Sunday, so we hit Panera for breakfast then walked around downtown for a bit. We decided to check out the aquarium and that turned out to be a great idea. We wanted to see the Otters and last time they were napping, not this time. They were out running around, climbing and swimming. It was really cool and that was worth the price of admission.

We walked over the Walnut Street bridge (seriously one of my favorite things in the world) to Whole Foods to grab some lunch then walked back downtown to the car. It was starting to rain, so we called it a day and made the 2 hour drive back to Atlanta, ending our weekend with a pizza and some cookies from Whole Foods.

That was a great mental health weekend. It was awesome to relax, get outside, and just clear my mind for a bit. I needed that after having a stressful few months at work and being frustrated with my running. Now I'm looking forward to our trip back to New England even more.

Race Recap: Thrill in the Hills Trail 1/2 Marathon

Better, but still not great...

The Thrill in the Hills 1/2 Marathon marked the sixth race in the 2014/15 XTERRA Georgia Trail series and the first of three races in the series to be held in 2015. This race is held at one of my favorite spots to run and ride, Ft. Yargo State Park in Winder, GA. The course has changed a couple times over the last few years but the 2015 version was the exact same as the 2014 course. Unfortunately for me, my 2015 fitness and my 2014 fitness at this time of the year are markedly different. 

The race begins at the main mountain bike parking lot and starts with about 3/4 of a mile on the road to stretch out the field before dipping into the woods for 12+ miles of single and double track. For the most part the course follows the park's outer loop mountain bike trail (seen below in blue). The only deviation from the out loop comes when you reach the western end of the dam. At that point the course hugs the lake shore on the inner, yellow loop until you reach the six mile mark. Then you climb up a powerline trail and re-join the outer loop for the remainder of the race. This is done to avoid the "Monster Mile", which is no fun to run as it's got a bunch of steep U shaped drops designed for mountain bikers.

The race starts and finishes at the mountain bike trail head marked with the star.

The course is challenging because of it's constant elevation changes. It gains 1,200 feet, which doesn't sound bad but it's a lot of short punchy climbs with a couple of longer sustained climbs mixed in. Saw tooth is how I would describe it. After re-joining the outer loop there is a nice long descent then you are back in the hills for the final five miles.

The elevation profile from RD Tim Schroer

Going into this race, I figured I'd be able to run somewhere under 1:28, which is around what I ran for second on a super muddy course two years ago, but not much faster than 1:25, which is what I ran last year after starting slow and dropping a great last 5K. My expectations were definitely tempered since I've been working to correct my hamstring issues and the longest run I'd done in the two weeks leading up to the race was seven miles. I gave some thought to skipping the race after spending three days in Indianapolis for work earlier in the week, but I figured it would be a good long run at a faster tempo and whatever I finished I would pad my lead in the overall point standings.

My gear for the race:
Singlet: Wild Endurance
Shorts: Saucony 7in (fat kid shorts till I'm in better shape)
Socks: Darn Tough no show merino wool
Shoes: Scott Trail Rocket 2.0
Fuel: Untapped Maple

At the start of the race, I settled into a comfortable rhythm letting Jesse Rappole and one other guy go hoping that I'd be able to snag the third and final spot on the podium. I hadn't seen Jesse in a while, but the way the race started I knew he was in good shape and would chase down the kid that blasted the road section. Last years race started exactly the same way and I was eventually able to move into second in the final 5K. That wouldn't be the case for me this year, but it's what I kept telling myself early on.

I focused on staying in a rhythm and running the course, rolling the downhills and flats while surviving the climbs and not losing that rhythm on the climbs. Things were going pretty good early in the race. The two leaders were gone, but I was running comfortably in third. I got through Three Step Hill (the first named climb, even though it's rolling and has no net elevation gain) and was feeling okay, not fast but I felt like I could hold the pace. By four miles it was clear the runner behind me, Evan Dare, was going to catch me. When he did I tried to stick with him, but given my hamstring issues I didn't have the ability to change gears and stay with him as we climbed up to the dam just after five miles.

At that point, I knew I was going to be in no man's land the rest of the race, except for when I was passing marathoners (the marathon starts 30 minutes before the 1/2), but I still held onto a sliver of hope that I'd catch someone that blew up later in the race. Things took a turn for the worse on the inner loop potion of the course. This section is double track, relatively flat, exceedingly, and runnable. It's one of my favorite sections of this course and really of the trail system in general and when I felt like I couldn't change gears there I knew it was going to be a long second half.

Coming off of the inner loop, I grinded my way up to the top of the race's biggest climb. I used the marathoners to help pull me along and when I reached the top I popped open an Untapped maple syrup packet, but even that sweet delicious nectar of the gods couldn't save me from the sufferfest that was about to ensue.

side note: Untapped is amazing. If you haven't tried it I strongly urge you to. I've tried nearly every GU, PowerGel, ShotBlock, and most of the other energy gels and Untapped maple is the best. It goes down easier since it's just all natural maple syrup and it's easier on my stomach. I couldn't recommend it more. Check it out: Untapped Maple

After the long descent, I was fully on board the struggle bus. I felt like I was having a tough time catching the marathoners and every step seemed a little harder than the one before. In retrospect, I probably should have had the maple shot a little sooner. I was able to take a few minutes to recover and when we crossed the road at the B entrance with 5K to go I put my head down and tried to grind my way to the finish. The marathoners definitely helped, but I was also lucky that I was out in front of fifth place as much as I was. I don't know that I could have fought anyone off at that point.

I rolled into the finish in fourth at 1:26:49, so about where I figured that I would be. I won the 30-34 age group, but missed the podium for just the third time in a Dirty Spokes/XTERRA race since I moved to Georgia in 2010. That was a little tough to swallow, but I've had to re-adjust my goals and expectations while working on this hamstring issue. Below is my Strava data from the race. My GPS lost a full mile in the woods.


Overall the race was what I expected. I struggled with the distance but still got a good long workout in. Originally, I wanted this to be a good build up race and barometer for River Gorge coming up at the end of March, but the injury has changed things a little bit. I'm still going to run River Gorge, but my revenge plot may not work out as planned. Post race, I got a chance to catch up with Jesse, who had the whole crew out to the race. It's always good to see them. We've built up a good friendly rivalry over the last few years, always pushing and testing each other. I was happy to see him get the win (1:19:12) even if he stomped me harder that he ever has before. He is rolling right now in preparation for the Rock and Roll marathon in Nashville next month. Based on that time, he should be all set for a PR. Jesse also beat the kid that sat on me for seven miles at the last race. He told me the kid tried to do the same thing to him but he was able to drop him after a few miles, so that felt like a moral victory. Despite the fourth place finish, I held onto my overall lead in the points standings and baring disaster, I should be on my way to a third straight XTERRA Georgia title.

After the race I stopped at Barberitos for a much needed burrito then headed home to grab Amanda. With the cold temps in the area we thought it would be fun to go up to Helen and try and see if we could find some frozen waterfalls. Closed roads due to ice and downed trees kept us from the waterfalls but we still got a cool snowy hike in around Unicoi lake and saw some Loon's chilling.

Next up for me is a recovery week with some easy running and work in the weight room. I'm hoping to get a good trail run in up in Chattanooga next weekend, then I'll be heading home to Hoth/New England to spend some time with my family and hopefully get in a little Wild Endurance time with Ferenc and Greg.

Here's the race day video from Dirty Spokes:


As always a huge thanks to Dirty Spokes for all the work they do. Tim and his dad along with Johnny Garner (Outdoor Mafia) did an amazing job clearing the trail of all of the downed trees and limbs from the ice storms that we had earlier in the week. It must have taken them hours to clear the trails. Thank you to YABA, they do a great job maintaining the trails year round. Last but not least, thank you to the Wild Endurance sponsors for helping make this team a reality; La Sportiva, Untapped, Darn Tough, and Julbo USA.

Race Recap: Dirty Spokes Heritage Park Trail Race

That did not go according to plan...frustration and aggravation.

Saturday was the second race of the 2015 Dirty Spokes Trail series at Heritage Park in Watkinsville, Georgia or Oconee county as they say down here. They love counties down here. This is a really nice course with a good amount of up and down and a mix of single track mountain bike trails and double track equestrian trail. The course starts with a loop around the gravel road that circles the equestrian show arena thing, which is about a half mile before hitting the entrance to the equestrian trail and getting into the trails. After a short stretch of double track the course turns right onto the mountain bike trails and descends until the 2.3 mile mark, which was the split for the short course (2.8 miler) and the long course (7.85).

At the start a group of four shot out to the lead with Mitch Novy at the front again. I was a little off the back but by the time we got into the woods I had worked my way up to the lead group of four. This is were the frustration started to settle in. As I said in my last race recap, I'm not in good shape right now, and I knew that I wasn't going to run particularly fast, but I figured 'what the hell'. Around 1.5 I felt like the lead group was just sitting on the kid in front and I don't like to race that way in a race like this. My goals in these races are to run hard and get in a good workout, so when I saw a little bit of room to the side of the trail I made a hard move to the front.

My move split the lead group of four into two duos with Mitch and the other guy in the short race falling off and myself and the other guy in the longer race taking a 10 or 20 yard lead. Okay this is actually were I started to get frustrated. Once we hit the three mile mark it started to become apparent that the dude running behind me was just hanging out there. I threw in as many surges as I could but I just couldn't manage to shake him. After we hit the five mile mark, I started to get pissed. It was clear he had no intention of doing any work and was planning to just sit on my shoulder and out kick me. Which is exactly what he did.

I don't have an issue with losing the race. I was fully prepared for that going in. There's usually one or two guys from UGA that come down from Athens and tune me up in this race every year, but I did take issue with the way this guy ran. I appreciate tactics as much as anybody, but in a race like this to sit and kick, I think that's bush league and a shitty was to compete. To be honest, the guy probably could have run a minute faster if he would have just gone. The fact that I knew he was going to sit and kick took me out of my race too, I started yo-yoing, running fast then slowing down trying to get him to go around.

When he finally did go around with about 200 to go, I tried to kick with him, but I just didn't have the gears. I said 'you waited long enough' when he passed and he told me 'I didn't know who you were', it doesn't matter dude just race. I was pretty salty after the race but I just walked to my car and tried to cool down. This has actually happened to me at this race before and I'm not going to make a scene and look like a sore loser, I just think it's bush league. Maybe I need to wise up and I should have just stopped and let him go, I don't know maybe it's foolish but part of me said maybe I can out sprint him.

I was pretty hot about it for a about 15 minutes, but once I talked to Amanda and Mitch and got my frustration out I settled down and got over it. I still think it was a shitty way to race. If this was a championship race or there was money on the line I wouldn't have cared as much, but I think the guy could have run faster but decided to go the easy route. I'm not wired like that. I know we all have a tendency to put it in cruise control when we can get away with it, but I also think you owe it to yourself to give it your all. Maybe that's dumb, but that's just how I feel about it.

After the race we headed back to the house and met up with our friends Eric, Joanna, and Tyler and headed down to Atlanta to check out Monday Night Brewing and Sweetwater for Eric's birthday. Monday Night was the winner. I was a big fan of their Fu Man Brew. After that it was off to Cheekys for some tacos. I went with a couple different varieties but their Pork Carnitas tacos are amazing. Amanda and I passed out shortly after that. Not a great race, but a good, full day.