#34 Company > Rain

Hello Digletts!

From the picture above, one could gather that I decided to run along with Travis in the Pilot Mountain to Hanging Rock 50k rather than spectate as I said I was doing in the last entry. Also, you can see that I made it onto one of Harper's famous signs. But the race is the main entree, first comes the vegetables that I personally believe should remain where they came from; the ground.

Since my last entry I logged 51 miles in 7 days and 62 in 6 days, though literally 50% of those 62 miles came in the 50k Saturday. So the pedestrian mileage continues, it will continue because I am in an extremely great place with my running right meow. I would argue with no one that this is the most content I've been with my running ever. I have the drive that I possessed as a teen and the knowledge to not take myself too serious. That combination has led to a few very fun weeks. I've made sure training has been fun more than serious of recent, because if you're not enjoying it what are you doing? I feel like I don't need to be super serious with my approach because I have nothing to prove to anyone. I'm just trying to stay happy. Last Sunday (10/5) Travis and I hit up Barkcamp again and had a fun run. The previous day there was a 10 mile looped course marked out for a 10/20 mile race. We just hit that loop once, returned to the car and then headed back out for some uptempo miles. We discovered a short loop by the lake that provided excellent land for hill work. Anticipate seeing a hill workout taking place there in the near-ish future. Here is a short video on our run on that day. There will be plenty more Barkcamp footage to come moving forward in our training.

liquid candy

Thursday morning I left WV for an October vacation to North Carolina. The three objectives of the trip was to run through some fun Appalachian trails, catch up with my favorite pole vaulter, and use the 50k as a long run on Saturday. One of my joys in life is people watching, especially when I travel. I made a comparison of what I believe to be freshman at Wake Forest and West Virginia University. Wake Forest is super pretentious; you can't even get on to their campus after hours without a student id. So after we went on campus to grab some pizza and while settling the vanilla porters stirring in my stomach, I took an interest in a booth of tools in my sight. Three freshmen males: hats on backwards but behind their hairline, frat clothes from backwards sunglasses (at 1am) to their stupid boat shoes. Their conversations varied from classes to girls, typical. Now, there's your generic students at your generic school that believes they're special, but are just as lame as the next institute. Let's time travel back a few days to Morgantown, WV; from a bench I've become friends with outside of Summit, a freshman dorm, waiting for my dinner company and saw just the greatest thing. Close your eyes for a moment. And read this at the same time. Two of the whitest girls you've ever seen. What's a white girl? UGG boots, leggings to hide young cellulite, baggy sweater to hide true form, and over-sized sunglasses that makes them look like stupid flies. The larger of the two was 'singing' Big Poppa while they walked down the stairs to my left. Then as they pass in front of me, in kicking range, she threw her arm around the other and after an extended exhale she semi-shouted "We Made It!" As you can imagine, I was on the edge of the bench now and seriously contemplated canceling my plans to follow those two ridiculous people around for the rest of the night. It made my night. To know that some people are as dumb as I think they are. It was...brilliant.

RACE DAY:

After camping out in Pilot Mountain state park, in the pouring rain, I was up at 6:00 to head over to the start line. The host family at the campground were extremely helpful with unlocking the gate for me, wishing me luck, and checking in later that day to see how the race went. I feel like they were the definition of southern hospitality. NC is about as south as I'm comfortable going on this coast. Here is my race recap for Saturday's run:

Pilot Mountain 2 Hanging Rock 50k Recap/Review

Listening to instructions or thinking about how I could be sleeping?

Some of my greatest times in life have come from spur of the moment decisions; PM2HR 50k must be added to that growing list of moments. Travis and I decided to make our long run this past week a 50k because Trivium Racing provided one of the rarest perks that a race could offer: a point-to-point run! With slightly over a year of trail running experience there is one reoccurring theme that has deflated the air in my tires: loops. Trails races, being very difficult, can drain a lot of mental energy when you survive one loop only to realize that every step you've already taken, must be taken again. It was hard not to jump at the opportunity to run a point to point, especially after I enjoyed the Pilot Mountain Payback trail marathon earlier this year, if you can't remember that race- refresh yourself.

Within a few miles it was already just Travis and myself out by ourselves. Which was cool because neither of us are in racing form, but both would have spilled blood to beat anyone out there. The second of many perks this race had was an abundance of aid stations. When you are carrying a somewhat small bottle with you and the humidity seems to be 400%, you're going to need to refill your bottle half a dozen times at least. For those of you who have never run a trail race in North Carolina- to my knowledge the one ingredient that distinguishes NC races from others are creek crossings. I cannot stress the plurality of crossings. I lost count around thirteen crossings. And by crossings I mean, no rocks or chance to leap it: you have to get wet. Luckily both of my trail experiences in the area have been on incredibly humid days so there was no hesitation; for a few of the crossings I would even jump in with both feet to splash some cold water on myself. The first ten miles were on 'moderate' trails that didn't provide too much technicality, but plenty of mud since it had stormed pretty hard the night before. Though I wished it was at a later aid station, I decided to swap out shoes at the drop bag station ten miles in. I have no NASCAR knowledge, but this pit stop would not cut it I'm sure. I unpinned my bib from my shirt and placed it on my shorts because I couldn't take running anymore in my sweat drenched shirt. And I swapped my muddy/heavy HOKA Rapa Nui out with my Clifton. During our last trail long run, I made the exact same swap during the run and felt completely rejuvenated then and during the race. The girl at the aid station questioned why I changed shoes and pointed out that my Clifton were just going to get wet and muddy, too. "Temporary relief" I claimed was the motive.

A little advice for those who buy HOKA Clifton (so this should apply to literally everyone), go ahead and put those ortholite insoles that come with the shoes in before using them. I hadn't done so and after one creek crossing, my insoles were bunching up and really getting on my nerves. Travis was a good bit ahead of me around this point but still in distance to hold a conversation. I told him that I was going to rip out the insoles at the next aid station as we started winding down the course's first switchbacks. Thankfully they were few and far between because I HATE switchbacks. This was probably the comedic highlight of the race. There was a leap-able creek right after I said that the insoles were coming out and when I attempted to jump the creek, my left leg went into the mud well passed my ankle and in my next stride felt like someone yanked my leg out; I would've face planted had I not caught myself with my hands. I turned around and my left shoe was out of sight. I had to reach comically deep into the mud to find it and then had far too hard of a struggle pulling it free. At that point I decided to just pull the insoles out and bareback the rest of the race. This section of trail was beautiful, even in the muddy condition.

Like always, here is a peek into what song was playing most often in my head during this race:

Around 17 miles Travis and I made our first mistake, his only, of the day. We crossed the road and headed down the trail that was originally the course, but had to be cut out of the race. And we wasted five minutes before turning around. Ten minutes of irrelevant running later, we were back on the course. And in trail running if you're not within seconds of someone you have no idea how near they are. Naturally we assumed not that someone had closed in on us during those ten minutes, but that we were no longer leading. Neither was the case really. The next section was my least favorite. One of the hardest, definitely the longest climb came on the road. This road wound up and up forever and Travis and I have clashing mindsets about roads during trail races. He said that he always thinks he's going to feel good when he hits the road in the middle of trail races, but never does. I know that I am going to feel like hell on the road and always do. I think trails mask the fatigue in your legs somewhat and then when you hit the road, every little pain you've accumulated is exasperated. And Trivium didn't pick the most forgiving two-three miles of road for us to run. A long steep climb led to an even steeper decent before climbing a double decker hill that brought me to my first and only walk that I felt was used productively. Halfway up the hill I started walking, caught my breath and took in two GUs and downed my bottle. I decided then that I just needed to weather the storm, keep Travis in sight, and prepare for the last ten or so miles back in the woods.

Good little climb after 24 miles.

The race was actually a huge progression when it came to technicality which was pretty awesome. I like that the first dozen miles weren't too strenuous, but when we were going through the aid station at mile 23, the race hadn't been super technical yet which was friendly to those out of shape like us. When we re-entered the woods with eight miles to go, I caught a second wind. Unsure of how long it would last I decided to run for home, eight miles out. And with my luck being how it is, the technicality of the course sky rocketed within a mile of running away from Travis. I instantly regretted the decision when I looked up at the extremely intimidating creek bed that seemed to be at an unfair incline. I talk to myself a lot in races and at this point I vividly recall saying- well shit, you've already committed to the move. So I had the hardest, but best climb of my young trail running career. I had such a burn going through my legs and back, but was convinced that Travis was going to reel me in so I kept digging. I was focusing in on my breathing because I knew that if I let that get out of control during the hardest climb that I would be crawling home once I topped it. Eventually the climb ended and I felt like collapsing, but instead I decided to pick up the pace and took off at the top. Pretty sure at the time that I was ripping my hamstrings by doing so, but my legs came under me in a mile or so and I was flying. Then just as intimidating as the climb Hanging Rock dished out came an equally if not more scary descent. I took the first few steps too fast and didn't have the strength in my legs to slow my roll at that point. Thankfully the Clifton can absorb a lot of the blows that comes with bombing rocky descent because there were several sections where you had no choice but stop out rocks and I would have loved for there to have been a photographer on that decline. I was flailing hard and must've had an epic fear face going because I was convinced that I was going to go down and being surrounded by a dry, but terribly rocky creek bed, going down wasn't one of the things I necessarily wanted to do.

One of many incredible post-race views.

That descent gave me a shot of adrenaline, perhaps from being happy to not have fallen and I knew that I had to be getting half way done with my eight mile kick, but back at the parking lot in Hanging Rock the sign was either tossed by rapscallions or the storm blew it down. I went right initially, turned back, went left, turned back and wasted a solid ten minutes. Then, completely distraught, stormed back up the scary decent that I had just made when I ran into Travis head on. We came back out of the woods and guessed right again. A few steps after the point where I initially turned around we saw the 27 mile aid station. He said that he was toasted, but I still felt good so I took back off again. The last four miles were almost entirely downhill. And not a gradual descent. Annoyingly, a bus full of tourists, incapable of speaking or comprehending a lick of English unloaded and were taking to the trail that we were running for the next mile or so. Now after four hours of running through the mountains I'm not the nicest person. Especially when people don't move when I ask them un-politely to do so. After weaving through all of the disoriented orientals for awhile my patience was dissolving and I decided that I was done slowing down. Slowing your roll down hill takes an amount of energy that I simply couldn't provide. So when I said on your left and little chubby cheeks hops right in my path, his little chubby behind hit the dirt as a result of taking a forearm. If I were to take in the sights in a foreign speaking country I would at least learn what left and right meant in their language so that I wouldn't catch a flying forearm.

Mile 28 of the race.

The final few miles were very enjoyable. I passed a group of hikers and they said "Woah! You're winning, how do you feel?" I thought that was odd, and I responded honestly- pretty tired. Just like with every fireworks show, this course had an awesome grand finale. There was probably one of the deepest creeks that we had to cross and we crossed it four times in the last mile. Completely unnecessary creek crossings, but it was fun because I knew how close I was to being done and I enjoyed every one of them because even with the feeling that your legs are going to never forgive you, when you run through creeks it's impossible to not feel like a kid. The finish line came soon after the fourth crossing and I was happy to be done, but happier to have run the course. I chatted up a local running store owner working the chute who loves him some HOKA Stinson which led to a lengthy conversation about our favorite shoes. Travis came through next with Harper, which is a ridiculous feat. If someone put a twenty pound weight in my arms, my arm would have fallen off quicker than Spongebobs when flipping through the channels for a workout. The rain held off throughout the entire race, but began sprinkling shortly after we finished. Enjoy these pictures of pain that came after the race:

First time sitting down since the race. Which is hard when your legs cease to exist.

Harper telling us that we are wimps. And that we kept her waiting way too long. Gots things to do.

50 K

                                                                               
    Place    Name                              City                         Time  
      1    Dayton McVicker                   Fairmont  WV                4:44:26.86
      2    Travis Simpson                    Weirton  WV                 4:50:58.19

That's my recap, but here is my review:

Relaxing after the 50k on Hanging Rock.

These are some of my favorite east coast trails that I've run. And just like I keep returning to Joe n Throw in Fairmont for my coffee and lunch fix, I will return to Trivium Racing events. At Joe n Throw the owner/manager takes great pride in making delicious coffee and food. He really cares about the customers and their satisfaction. Plus, everything there is damn good. After the race I drove back to the campsite at Pilot Mountain, ate a Ron Swanson approved Chipotle burrito, showered and headed back to Hanging rock to hike up to the rock with Katie. When we were on our way back to the car I ran into the race director. He was the coolest guy. I love that he and his wife put on hundreds of events together and he seems to really care about what he does. I mean, the guy was out on the course running a 50k of his own just to make sure that everyone was enjoying the race and knew where to go. You can tell when someone is genuine and he cared about each of his events. That makes me and should make everyone care about his events. This was the inaugural year for this 50k/50 mile and it was brilliantly put together. I've been to races larger in attendance that were absolutely terribly constructed. This course provided a little bit of everything NC has to offer, my personal favorite race director, an abundance of very friendly aid stations, and awesome goodies for those who do races for goodies. Top three got a really slick jacket, a makeshift/awesome horseshoe medal, and for winning I got a bitchin Ultraspire vest! Also, when I got home I went to throw my, what was believed to be generic race day shirt on, and found out that it was an awesome long sleeve and hooded shirt. I've worn it on and off around the house every day since. Coolest shirt. Coolest people. With my two mishaps and being very early in my training, I know that my inaugural course record is soft, but I intend on bettering and defending it next year. I certainly plan on hitting up some of Trivium's other events. One event that the director sold me on was their Moonlight Bootlegger 5k. Who wouldn't want to run a dark 5k and throw back some moonshine afterwards? When I am looking to add some fun races to my schedule in 2015, I will be making reference to Trivium's race calendar.

HOKA filled closet, with my award resting on the two pair of shoes I destroyed in NC

Check out Trivium and all they do here: http://triviumracing.com/events.html
Also, the pretty pictures of the course, I stole from another runner's instagram. Here's who took them- http://www.tronchin.com   meow it's not stealing...

 

Saying my goodbyes to my newest dog girlfriend

Next on Tap:
 

• Canary in the Cave 25k.  The plan is to muff up this local race pretty good. By then I should be fit enough to do a good bit of destruction. Winning was fun. Plan on making that a habit. 
• More trail running videos. 
• WV HS CC State Championship November 1st for Mr. Van Horn. Trying to get him to the podium.
• Big block of training, but some tales are bound to be told.

Like always, thanks for tuning in and giving me your support. If you want to follow my doings on a more consistent basis, my twitter is always going off- https://twitter.com/mintburrycrunch  
If you have raced recently comment in the section below and tell me where you ran and how it went!
I constantly have digletts asking about my running and keeping me motivated. Nows the time to hop on to the bandwagon. 2015 is going to be a big year for us.

ONE LOVE!