Back to Holiday Lake 50K...and paying it forward

David Horton gets very excited at his pre-race talks, especially at Holiday Lake 50K. The race is made up of about 75% new-to-ultras entrants, and he loves to celebrate the excitement that we all felt the night before we ran our first ultra. Remember that feeling? Butterflies, nerves, fitful sleep, and the questions: What do I wear? How do I get my nutrition right? What if I'm last?


David Horton gave a very helpful talk to the first-timers

At the pre-race dinner, Horty was in rare form. Excited, happy, sometimes flip but full of wisdom gleaned from his years on the trails, he talked about his own failures--and warned that "everyone makes mistakes, and you will tomorrow." Afterward, he held a meeting just for newbies, and he did a great job of answering questions, reassuring those who were anxious (pretty much everyone), and erasing doubts. I wish he had held this meeting the night before my first ultra, Holiday Lake 2002. If he had, I would have walked more uphills, paced myself more carefully, and eaten more!


Mark and Harry listen as Horty gives his talk to the newbies. Mark is thinking, "this guy can't be serious...!"

My friends from Charlottesville, Harry Landers and Mark Hampton, were running their first ultra at Holiday Lake. Experienced marathoners, they are in the midst of their Boston training but were curious about trail ultras, so with some tweaking of their Boston training plan (and a course preview run two weeks ago), they arrived at HL ready to experience what ultra life is all about. Horton certainly gave them plenty to think about: "I've pee'd blood in ultras and had my arms swell as big as sausages...but this 'shouldn't' happen to you!" HA!

Race day we had perfect weather: 20s at the start, deep blue winter sky with bright sunshine all day and 40s at the finish. The "new" course, changed in 2009 with more trail and measured out as 33 miles, was dry, fast, and had no snow in sight. Horton predicted records would fall, and he was right. Many PRs for the 50K+ distance were set, and 96% percent of the runners finished. Holiday Lake is truly a perfect first ultra--where else can a newbie get personal advice from one of the sport's great legends and race directors, as well as excellent aid stations, course markings, and a runnable, beautiful trail?


Along a new section of trail

My race plan was to take the first, 16.5 mile loop at an "easy" 50K pace, which is about 10-minute mile pace for me. I started out with Jen Nichols, and we ran a bit with Kerry Owens, Marlin Yoder, Jen Davis before settling into our own comfortable rhythms. At one point I was greeted along the trail by Carter, who introduced himself as a reader of this blog and could not have been nicer...hope you had a great race, Carter! I was happy to pace off of Marlin until we hit the lake trail, where he waved me on. Here we saw the front runners starting their second loop, and they were hammering. Inov-8 teammate and friend Sabrina Moran was in second for the women in hot pursuit of Jennie Belt, and I was in tenth place for the women.

Bill Potts was in charge of the chaos that was the turn around, and he did a great job of getting the 300+ runners in and out quickly.


Potts paying it forward at the turn-around

I was hoping to run a 2:35ish second loop to match loop one's split and to see if I could hold on to a 5:15 finish time. This would be a huge PR on any Holiday Lake course for me, as my best time of 5:17 was run in 2002 and I ran a bunch of 5:20s, :30s and :40s over the next few years. I ate about 750 calories per loop which made a huge difference in my pacing, and I never had a bad patch, except in the last few miles...but I forced myself to eat two Clif Bloks every 10 minutes and this worked like a charm to get my mojo back. I hammered the last half mile of road with no cramping and finished at 5:14:02, a PR by three minutes! The icing was the hug I got from Horton as he shouted, "first old woman!!" which meant I won the Masters age group, which is always a tough thing to do in a race with more than 80 women.


Horton and me at the finish

Many celebrations took place at the finish line, including Sabrina's second place female, and PRs by Martha Wright (first in over-50) and Jen Pharr Davis, who is preparing for her assault on the AT speed record this summer.


Jen, Sabrina, Horty, Martha and me

The best moment, though, was when Mark and Harry ran in together in 5:58, looking like they had only run 10 miles, and Horton yelled, "Mark Hampton and Harry Landers, First Ultra!" Loved that.


Harry, Horton, and Mark at the finish

When Mark and Harry signed up for Holiday Lake a few months ago, I warned them, quite seriously, that their lives would never be the same when they finished. Ultras have a way of getting under our skin whether we like it or not. Case in point: in 2002, as I lay on the wooden bench at the Holiday Lake finish line and moaned "never again!" little did I know what life-changing adventures and friendships were in store for me. Holiday Lake opened up a door to a quirky, obscure sport that I love so much, and especially love to share with others.

Thank you, David, and all the Holiday Lake volunteers, who make it possible for that door to be opened, year after year!

**photos courtesy of Brock Nichols and Mark Hampton

New Year, New Trails, New Goals

2010 brought celebrations of life...



and reminders of nature's incredible beauty...



incredible feats of endurance and perseverance...



...shared with the next generation



anaerobic suffering...



...and long runs in the mountains



new trails, adventures, and challenges to explore with my family...



...and with new friends


A few goals I have for 2011:

Welcome change
Seek out adventure
Take a chance at failure

"Because we are never so alive as when we put it on the line." --Lazarus Lake

December rituals

I love December. The cold weather means great running weather for me, and the anticipation and preparation that comes with Christmas, and spending time with my family, make me feel at peace regardless of how tough a year it has been. My favorite day, other than Christmas, is the second Saturday in December, when I join my good friends for 66.6 miles in the Jefferson National Forest...otherwise known as Hellgate 100K. It is a race that has gotten under my skin, and one that I have written about for the past five years. This year, I chose to watch from the sidelines and crew and support my friend Stephanie as she went for her first Hellgate finish.

I love Stephanie's sharp wit, sense of humor, and the fact that she is a devoted mom to two boys, trying to balance the ultra life with everything else. She is also a very talented ultrarunner, and it was a privilege to watch her hammer the last three miles of the 66.6 mile course, attempting to break 17 hours, only to miss it by 41 seconds...all with her trademark smile on her face. Thanks, Steph, for letting me tag along on your Hellgate journey!



Here are two excellent and entertaining reports from the women's winner, Helen Lavin and fourth place female, and 8-time Hellgate finisher, Rebekah Trittipoe.

Another December ritual is the Winter Solstice Trail Run, now in its fifth year. It is held on the third Saturday of December, and when it was canceled last year due to blizzard conditions, I really missed it. The Solstice Run, as Bill and I call it, started with as just a few friends running the trails around UVA and has grown into a 45+ person trail run on the Rivanna Trail. Most of the runners are road aficionados, and the Solstice Run is the only time all year when they run on the trail; but for others, the Solstice Run is on their running bucket list, as they attempt (trail conditions and course closures depending) to run the entire 21-mile Rivanna Trail loop that encircles our city.



This year we had perfect Winter Solstice conditions: 2 inches of fluffy snow, cold temps, and 12 runners who finished the loop! It was a wonderful celebration of our local running community. Jen Nichols came all the way from Abingdon to join us, and she wrote a great review of the run here. Thanks, Jen! Q's photos of the run are here.

Finally, it wouldn't be December without my first run in the snow with Jack. Being a smart Aussie, he knows that Mom loves to run in the snow, so when he sees those first flakes start to fall, he gets very excited. We ran in the gorgeous snow of December 17 and loved every minute. The clear skies, cold air, bright snow...bliss.



Simple rituals tell our story...what are yours?

There's nothing like nothing to lose!

Cruising along Sugar Hollow, trying to keep it together (this and all photos by Andrew Zapanta)

Last December, I volunteered at the Three Bridges Marathon, a new local marathon held in White Hall, Virginia at the base of the Shenandoah National Park (SNP). The course is USATF-certified and a Boston qualifier, perfect for those marathoners seeking a late fall race and a BQ on a *relatively* flat course. It is a 6-mile loop done 4 times with a 2 mile spur at the start, on a road that parallels the Moormans River and crosses three bridges as it winds through Sugar Hollow.

Low-key and a labor of love for the folks at Ragged Mountain Running Shop, 3B benefits Meals on Wheels and the Ragged Mountain Racing Team, a post-collegiate Olympic training and racing team coached by my friend Mark Lorenzoni. The ultra-like vibe, the beautiful course, and curiosity about how I would fare 9 years removed from my marathon PR (3:28, set in 2001 in Richmond), sold me once I decided to take a break from my usual December challenge, the Hellgate 100K. I waited until I felt recovered--somewhat--from Masochist, and filled out the last entry before it closed two weeks ago!

A wise man once said, "the hardest race distances are 100 miles and the marathon." No kidding. There is a reason I had not run a road marathon since 2002: pain and suffering. I finished my first marathon at Marine Corps in 1990 in 3:40 after a long day struggling with ITBS. After taking about ten years off of racing to have children, I ran my PR at Richmond in 2001 and attempted to top that in 2002 at Marathon in the Parks, but fell short with a 3:32. In 2002 I also ran my first trail ultra, and after experiencing the beauty of aerobic pacing on trails, racing another road marathon didn't make sense. It took me 8 years to find one that did.

My top-10 reasons to love the Three Bridges Marathon:

10. The setting. Beautiful Moormans River, the SNP looming above, the loop course for cheering others...and only 20 minutes from my house.

9. The vibe. With 70+ half-marathoners sharing the course, it was awesome to see runners back and forth and give and take the good kharma.

7. The schwag. At the finish, I was handed a schwag bag with a homemade chocolate chip cookie, a coupon for deals at RMRS, a RMRS water bottle, and Three Bridges cotton gloves. The winners got a 100.00 gift certificate to dinner at the Clifton Inn (sweet!).

6. The entry fee. My 40.00 entry went to Meals on Wheels and supported the young bucks on the Ragged Mountain Racing Team. For an additional 15.00, I could have gotten a great looking adidas technical T.

5. The vibe...and the pacers! Did I mention the vibe? At 3B, one can have a pacer jump in at any time. I had pacers during loop 3 (Rick Kwiatkowsi) and loop 4 (Quatro and Erin Boyles) who blocked the horrendous head wind we encountered every 6 miles heading west. During the last 4 miles, Q and Eric Magrum, my PT who has kept me healthy for 8 years of ultrarunning, kept me in good spirits when my spirits bonked. Thanks, guys!


Quatro handing out water at the AS

4. The aid stations and support. Every 2 miles there was a rowdy group offering water, Gatorade, and assorted soup and yummies. Ultra celebs Bill Gentry, Quatro Hubbard, and Bill Potts manned the turn-around point on the east end and I was able to swap out bottles and gels. Where else can one have the best PT in Virginia cruise up and down the course on his mountain bike looking to help injured or cramping runners?


Eric Magrum, PT extraordinaire

3. The music. It wasn't the Rock N' Roll Marathon (thankfully...) but it was just as fun to hear songs we had requested that had been burned into a race-day CD, playing at each AS. I heard my song "Two Step" by Dave at least twice. Nice.

2. The distance. I have HUGE respect for my friends who are devoted to their marathon training. The marathon distance is a great challenge, and running 11:30 mile pace for 50+ miles for 9+ hours at Mountain Masochist was a lot easier than 7:45 mile pace for 3.5 hours!

1. Speaking of my marathon peeps...the absolute BEST thing about Three Bridges is, of course, the people behind the scenes who make it happen. From course measurement, parking logistics, aid stations, the fabulous finish line brunch (thank you Mike Gaffney!), the cheers and energy...this race has fabulous support. Thank you volunteers!


Bill Potts, Aid Station Chief

Bill Gentry, Aid Station Party Guy

As for my race...I was not sure what to expect four weeks after running Masochist, but I figured I had nothing to lose. Two weeks ago I ran a solid track workout with AJW coaching me (in person!), and felt great. Andy told me that, given my track times, I could run a fast race, but my goals were varied: first and foremost, I wanted to finish without any injury or issues. I also wanted to run close to 3:28 and see what my 47-year-old body could do with eight years of ultra training effect.

I was on pace for 3:28 after a conservative first half (1:44), but the wheels started falling off on the fourth loop as I was climbing into the headwind and losing energy. Q and Erin did their best to block the wind, but when Eric cruised by on his mountain bike, we started chatting about ultras, families, and friends and I realized I was cruising along at 8:50 pace...and liking it. So much for racing...I managed to hold on for a 3:37 finish time and first place female. It was so much fun to break the tape! Yay!

However, I was NOT proud when I discovered at the end that my full Hammergel flask was only 50% consumed...which meant I had only taken in 470 calories (counting 270 from my bottle of PERP) for the entire 3.5 hours. DUH. No wonder I felt like crap those last six miles. Another lesson learned: Nutrition is everything!

Many thanks to all the wonderful folks at Ragged Mountain Running Shop for dreaming up this fabulous race. We are so blessed to be able to live in a town where the running community is so strong, vibrant, and supportive. I was totally humbled by the marathon distance and honored to be part of such a fine event...now I will go quietly back into the woods and mountains, where I belong!

"It's worth it all learning at last
The future begins with the past
Step out of the shadow it casts
And let the sun shine on your shoes
Kick 'em off in the rain if you choose
There's nothing like nothing to lose

We traveled so far
We traveled so far to be here"

MCC, from The Age of Miracles