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.