Mountain Goat Battle of Allatoona Creek 9 Mile Trail Race

After last weekend’s Dirty Spokes race at Rope Mill park in Woodstock, I found a flyer for the Mountain Goat Trail Run Series under the windshield wipers on my car, as is common with most road or trail races. Normally, I say ‘hey I should do this race it sounds cool,’ then I completely forget about it shortly thereafter. Howevah, while Amanda and I were checking out the Woodstock/Kennesaw area we saw a poster with all the series race dates on the wall at and REI and low and behold the next race was a mere seven days away on April 14. I decided to see how my training went over the next couple days and if I was feeling it I would jump into the race, with the mindset of worst-case scenario I get another tempo run in. Fast forward to Thursday afternoon’s run…I was debating doing this race all week, but made the decision to go for it on Thursday. I had a solid workout on Tuesday and my legs felt pretty good, due to the fact that time constraints have forced me to run a lot of shorter doubles lately.

 

 

I woke up extra early Saturday morning (5:00 am) to get news clips for work done before making my way out to Acworth, GA. My GPS had some issues finding the actual location of the park that the race was at but I ended up noticing a couple cars with all the familiar signs of trail runners (26.2 stickers, USA Triathlon stickers, etc…triathletes love trails) around me and followed them to the parking lot. I parked, signed up, and since this was my first official race as a Saucony Hurricane I threw on my newly minted Vizi-Pro gear and headed out for a quick 1.5/2 mile warm up on the first part of the course. I ran into fellow Hurricane Mitch Novy, threw on my racing gear and we headed over to the starting area.

 

 

The race started out with a 5k in open grass fields before crossing the street and hitting the Turtleback mountain bike trails. Before starting a guy running in the five mile gave Mitch and I a quick rundown of what to expect on the mountain bike trails. He said they were fairly flat with one section that had a couple of switchback hills. Switchback hills seem to be par for the course in this area of Georgia. The gun (err…cowbell) went off and we started running down a gravel road that stretched out about 200 yards before hitting the grass fields. As I always try to do, I got out to the front to escape and carnage and since Mitch and I were wearing bright orange everyone else decided to settle in behind content to let us set the pace.

 

 

After letting things shakeout over the first quarter mile or so I decided to take advantage of the fact that the early part of this course was right in my wheelhouse and put in a small surge to see if anyone was going to respond to any early moves. The one thing that I still struggle with in these trail races is racing with a group on tight winding trails. I thought a little bit of a surge would stretch things out and by the time we hit the woods I’d know who the contenders where. My overall race plan was similar to how I approached the half, stay relaxed early, don’t get in over my head in the first few miles and then work the flats and down hills once I got through 5k.

 

 

My surge worked perfectly. Mitch and a few others stayed within contact but they started to let me drift away after about a mile. I felt absolutely great for the first 5k. I was running effortlessly and used the courses turns to continue to stretch my lead by surging out of them. This section of the course reminded me of the Tufts cross country course in Grafton if it were dead flat. I think my comfort on that type of course helped me run well without feeling like I was running hard. Thinking about running well at Tufts in high school and then winning ECAC cross country there as a sophomore in college only fed my confidence.

 

 

After rolling through the first 5k and building a solid lead we ran back through the starting area, across the street and into the trails. I used the first section of trail as a spot to continue to build my lead and try to make sure I was out of sight once we got into the tight, twisting single-track. Most of the race was actually fairly uneventful. It reminded me a lot of the Xterra half marathon. I was running in no man’s land for a long time and I alternated between worrying about whether I was getting caught and just trying to keep pressing to run away from everyone. One problem I ran into in the woods was the lack of mile markers. Mountain bike trails are tricky because the amount of twists and turns can not only slow you down by make it difficult to judge the distance you’ve traveled. No mile markers left me in a tough spot when I got deeper into the race. I knew there was a water stop at six miles (or 10k I’m not sure), but other than that my only other marker for distance was the finish line. I also never wear watch in races, which left me with no clue of how far I’d run and about mid-way through the race I started looking for the water stop around every turn.

 

 

Eventually I hit the water stop, took a little bit of GU and tried to refocus and close the race out over the final three miles. It’s funny, I’ve taken GU exactly twice. Once in the Xterra half and once last weekend, for about 60 seconds it’s like Popeye’s spinach, I absolutely hammer. Then, shortly after, I want to boot because it’s nasty. Although, the mandarin orange flavor wasn’t as bad as the strawberry banana. Anyway…after the water stop the course continued to have a few ups and downs but overall it was fairly flat. With about two miles to go I started passing lappers from the five mile race, which helped me keep pressing the pace as I tried to catch them. I scared the life out of one woman, who was running with her headphones in (grrr…) I yelled ‘on your left’ twice but she still didn’t hear and then when I passed her she let out a blood curdling scream. I felt kind of bad for scaring her, but like I’ve said before, headphones in a trail race when you might get lapped are not a good idea.

 

 

Shortly after that incident I passed through the section where the trail originally had split at about 3.5 miles, so I knew I only had about a half to go until I hit the finish. I tried to stride it out and drive through to the finish, I had a little hitch in my giddy up with some slight hamstring tightness but I was able to finish strong and hit the line at 55:08.

 

 

Overall I was really happy with the race. It was uneventful but I got in a really good rhythm through the first 5k and separated from the pack without using a ton of energy, then I was able to roll through the single­-track really well. I felt strong for most of the race, despite a little bit of hamstring tightness. As far as time goes, I generally equate these trail races as running a mile longer than their actual distance. What I mean is, I feel like whatever I run for the trail distance I should be able to run a similar time for a race that’s a mile longer on the road. For example, running 55:08 for nine miles on the trails, to me, means that I should be able to run a similar time for 10 miles on the road. That might not be 100 percent accurate but that’s my belief. This was a good long workout that should help set me up for next weekend’s Dirty Spokes trail race.

Training April 2 - April 8

Monday, April 2: GEHC Trails + Ivy Creek Greenway – 8 miles – Started the week off with an eight miler around the GEHC trails and then out and back on the greenway. I actually worked from home today, so I probably could have run further, but my legs were still feeling the 14 miler and the day of paintball from the last couple of days. I decided to get in a quality eight vs. a slower 10.

Tuesday, April 3: AM – GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Amanda and I had originally planned to go to trivia tonight and I wanted to get in 10 miles but didn’t think I’d have enough time to get it in after work. I woke up at 6:15, did my 45 or so minutes of news clips for work then headed out on the GEHC trails for five. It’s really nice running in the mornings right now. The temperature has been in the mid to high sixties everyday making it a little more comfortable than the afternoons.

PM – GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Got out of work and both Amanda and I seemed to be really tired. I headed back out for a quick five on the same out and back that I’ve been doing lately and then came home for dinner and an early bed time. Ten for the day.

Wednesday, April 4: Chicopee Woods – 11 miles – 8 sets 30-60-90s – I wanted to get another workout in on the tough terrain at Chicopee before Olde Rope Mill this weekend. I ran the same workout as last week, Coyote loop to Tortoise and White tail trails for 11 miles with 8 sets of 30-60-90 repeats. This week was much better than last week’s workout. I ran my repeats and my rest much better and finished my final set when I reached the creek crossing at the bottom of Granny’s climb, which means I fit in a whole set more before the creek than last week. I was hoping this would be a good confidence booster going into the weekend’s race, but after finishing, I just kind of felt okay. I was tired and I ran hard but I am still uneasy about how Saturday is going to go. I think I need to find something to mix my training up, whether it’s more miles or a couple of days of longer singles instead of doubles or finding a new place to run once or twice a week. I feel like I’m in a little bit of a rut after I ran the Running the Rocks race slower than I did last year. Made a road 5k is in order to see where I’m at in terms of fitness.

Thursday, April 5: AM GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Woke up early to get in another morning run. This is an old Keene State standby, double up on recovery days. I used to love doubling up on the day after workouts to get good mileage in but give my legs some extra time to recover.

PM GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Second run was the same as the first, but a little bit faster. I got 10 in for the day and let my legs recover a little bit, but still stayed on the hillier trails to try and keep my legs used to the up and down to be ready for Saturday.

Friday, April 6: GEHC Trails – 6 miles – I really wanted to get up and get my run done in the morning but ended up sleeping an extra 45 minutes and running after work. I changed it up a little bit today and went with two loops of the GEHC trails starting with the homesite trail to the creekside trail, up onto the paved section of the Cherokee trail, past the tree top adventure course and on to the sweet gum trail. My legs felt heavy, but that’s to be expected the day before a race.

Saturday, April 7: Dirty Spokes Olde Rope Mill Trail Race – 9.5 miles – Amanda and I left a little bit later than I had originally planned, so we missed out on parking down at the trailhead/starting area…this did not turnout well. After walking down to the registration area I realized I needed to hit the portos, the line was wicked long and by the time I got back to our picnic table staging area to put on my singlet and shoes I had about 10 minutes before the start of the race. I warmed up for about 90 seconds and then headed over to the start. I settled down after about two miles and ran in third where I ended up finishing. The course actually wasn’t as bad as I remembered, in terms of the number of switchbacks but it was still pretty rough. I wasn’t pumped about my race but then I realized I ran about a minute faster than I did on the same course last year, so that was positive. I cooled down three miles and ended up running another three when we got home. After the race I saw a flier for the Mountain Goat race series, which has a 9 mile race in Acworth, GA next weekend. I’m not sure yet but I think I might drive out and jump in it just for spits and whistles.

PM – GEHC Trails – 3 miles – Due to the fact that I didn’t get a chance to warm up and with the ruggedness of the course I decided to do a three mile shakeout after we got home. 12+ miles on the day.

Sunday, April 8: Ft. Yargo State Park – 14 miles – After yesterday’s race I wanted to get something nice and easy in on Sunday, so I went to Ft. Yargo and double looped the hiking trail for 14 again. I actually felt pretty good despite the tough race, but I think the fact that I did a short shakeout when we got home helped. Stopped at Krispy Kreme for some Easter donuts before getting home then cleaned up the kitchen and bathroom. Hit Mellow Mushroom for lunch (they have the best BBQ chicken pizza I have ever had) then just laid low for the rest of the day.

Weekly Totals: 71 miles on nine runs – I feel really good about this week. I hit 70 miles, which is right where I want to be. Looking back on Saturday’s race, I feel good about that too. Granted I got steam rolled by the eventual winner and ran some of the early part of the race a little soft and ended up leaving myself with too much work to do I still made the podium and ran faster than I did on that course last year. I have accepted the fact that there are going to be days that I only have time to run 5 in the morning and 5 in the evening so I am hoping to make sure that I am running at least 10 a day even if its split up with some longer runs on the weekends. I think that is definitely doable for the next couple of months until it starts to get really hot and I have to move to just AM runs. Next week, I’m looking to hit 70-75 miles and maybe throw in a race on Saturday (maybe not), I’m kind of on the fence but I figure I’ll make a decision on Thursday. I’ll also plan on throwing in another 30-60-90 workout. This time I’m going to run at Gainesville State to prep for the next race in the Dirty Spokes series in two weeks.

Training March 26 - April 1

Monday, March 26: Zero – I had another late day of work and didn’t end up finishing until around 7:30. At that point I was too tired and hungry to get out the door, but I vowed to make up for the missed miles by running in the morning on Tuesday and Wednesday to make sure I still hit between 65-70 miles this week.

Tuesday, March 27: AM – GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Woke up a little early to get in a morning five before work. It was slow going but really nice out, overall it was a great morning for a run. I ran out on the sweet gum trail to the GEHC trails down to the bottom of creekside and then back the same way for five.

PM – Chicopee Woods – 10 miles – After work I went back to Chicopee Woods to run on the mountain bike trails. I ran the coyote, tortoise and white tail trails, which total a little more than 10 miles. It is starting to get hot, mid to upper 80s every afternoon so I need to make sure I stay on top of my hydration during the day. I should probably look into either getting a hand-held water bottle or structuring my runs with the ability to stop for some water if necessary. I was dead tired when I got home and passed out on the coach while reading. I woke up completely disoriented and confused. It was 8:30 pm, but I thought that I had slept through the night in the recliner in the living room. It was a bizarre minute or two.

Wednesday, March 28: AM – GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Ran the same morning run as yesterday, so that after this afternoon’s run I will be caught up on my mileage for the week. This afternoon I’ve got a 30-60-90 workout planned, but we’ll see how it goes since I just found out that I’m playing golf around 11.

PM – Chicopee Woods – 10 miles – 8 sets of 30-60-90s - I warmed up on the coyote loop (2.7 miles), which was a little bit long of a warm up but I wanted to run the workout without running the tortoise trail twice as it usually has high mountain bike traffic. About five minutes into the warm up I knew it was going to be a long afternoon. I tried to stay hydrated while golfing but that clearly didn’t work. I started my repeats with the idea of doing six sets but figured that if I could manage eight sets it would probably bring me closer to the end of the run. My first few sets were a little rough. I had trouble recovering after the 30 second periods, even though I was trying to run a similar pace for each one. I battled through three sets and felt like I should do eight total because my rest was a little suspect and I knew that if I didn’t do those extra sets I would end up dogging it back to the car for the last two or three miles. I managed to work in a couple of good 60 & 90 second reps but continued to struggle with the rest and maintaining my pace the whole way through. I am definitely chalking some of that up to the heat and the fact that I spent the whole day in the sun. Mercifully I reached the creek crossing at the bottom of granny’s climb (a three or so minute climb out of the bottom of a little valley back up to the parking lot level). At the base of the climb I stopped and dunked my head in the water then hit my watch for the final set of repeats up the hill. I made it to the top and back onto the tortoise loop with one final 90 second repeat left. After finishing that I took the rest and then tried to run the final 1.5-2 miles with a decent pace back to the car.

It wasn’t a great overall workout in terms of the pace of both the repeats and the rest but I am glad I got in a hard effort day on difficult terrain (Chicopee is one of the hillier runs around with a lot of ups and downs). And that the end of the day that’s what I wanted a hard day on tough terrain because the Olde Rope Mill race coming up is tough terrain.

Thursday, March 29: GEHC Trails – 10 miles – This was a little bit of a weird run but man did it feel good to get it over with in the morning. I woke up a little early again because we have a seminar for work all day downtown. I ran out and back on the GEHC trails for five then out and back on the greenway for another five to get in 10. It’s really nice to be done with running early. Now I just have to get through this seminar.

Friday, March 30: AM – GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Amanda worked early today so got up and got an easy five in this morning before work. This is becoming my go to morning run. It’s a little bit nicer than just running the greenway because it’s got a few more hills in it, well actually it has hills and the greenway is completely flat.

PM – GEHC Trails – 5 miles – Same run as this morning. Nothing special, but I do run it two or three minutes faster in the afternoon than I do in the morning. It must my muscles a little time to wake up. Ten miles for the day.

Saturday, March 31: GEHC Trails – 5 miles – I ended up dialing it back a little bit today. I’ve been feeling pretty tired the last couple of days and decided to just run five to get something in and then I spent the rest of the day out in Canton, GA playing paintball. I was running around in the sun for four or five hours so I’m fine with only running five this morning.

Sunday, April 1: Ft. Yargo State Park – 14 miles – After taking it easy yesterday I decided to close out the week with a solid long run. I drove over to Ft. Yargo and ran two loops of the hiking trail to get 14 miles on the day. I left a little bit late this morning so by the time I got to the park it was starting to warm up. This run, unlike the 13 mile mountain bike trail, has a couple of places to stop for water which I had to do on the second loop. Other than getting hot on the second loop this was a solid run. It was aa little slower than last time I was out here but only by a minute or two and I think that had a lot to do with the heat. After the run I went to Five Guys for a burger and cherry coke.

Weekly Totals: 69 miles on nine runs – This was my highest week mileage-wise since around this time last year and I got in 253 miles in March, which is a little bit low but still my highest month since last April. I’m happy with the mileage (I should have added a mile to get 70 but 69 works) but I would prefer to do it on fewer runs. I like doubling but if I’m going to double more than two days a week I want to get one longer run so it breaks down to something like 8 and 5 or 7 and 3 instead of 5 and 5, but that was kind of the hand that I was dealt last week. I don’t really have any kind of strict training plan; right now I am just kind of running and trying to stay consistent. In that respect I’ve done pretty well. Next week, I’m aiming for another 65-75 miles with a workout before the Olde Rope Mill trail race (race three of the Dirty Spokes series). I will probably do another 30-60-90 workout at Chicopee to simulate the terrain for that race.

Side note: Before posting this I was reading a couple of fellow Keene State alum blogs and saw mentions of arm warmers, gloves and half tights because of the cold. I guess I should complain about how hot it is just yet.