Tough Dirt Chicks

This is the year of the tough dirt chicks.

First, in late February, it was Jenny Anderson, mother of three and Spanish teacher, who took on the 506.8 mile Camino Del Santiago in Spain. With the support of her family and school, she took two weeks away to run/hike and experience the rich history of the trail and set a women's speed record in the process. She endured snow storms, rain, cold, no sleep, and injury to complete her pilgrimage in 9 days, 5 hours, and 29 minutes.


Jenny at White River 50

Then it was Anne Lundblad. Anne is a mom and full-time counselor at Warren-Wilson College, and a previous JFK 50 course record holder and World Cup 100K podium finisher. She took on the 77-mile Foothills Trail in South Carolina in April and set the women's Fastest Known Time (FKT) in 20 hours and 47 minutes.


Jenny, the legendary Rebekah Trittipoe, and Anne after setting the women's FKT on the South Beyond 6000 summits in 2009

Next, it was Jennifer Pharr Davis. I followed Jen on her quest to set the FKT on the Appalachian Trail this summer by reading excellent blog updates written by her hubby, Brew. Jen had previously set the AT women's speed record of 57 days in 2008, and this time she beat Andrew Thompson's 2005 record by a day to finish in 46 days, 11 hours and 20 minutes. Jen sums it all up in a very moving and personal tribute to the trail and her husband here.


Jen and me (with Rebekah in the background) at Holiday Lake 50K, 2011

Finally, just last Saturday, my blogger buddy Ronda Sundermeier (also a mom) fulfilled her dream of becoming a Leadwoman, which means she completed both the Leadville 100 Trail Race AND Mountain Bike Race, as well as the Leadville Marathon, 50 Mile trail Race and the Leadville 10K, all within a span of 7 weeks. And did I mention this was all at altitude? What is really impressive is that Ronda had no previous endurance biking experience, so she went way out of her comfort zone to learn the basics of endurance biking in order to achieve her goal.


Ronda, all smiles at the Leadville 50

I am in awe of these women. They looked their respective challenges in the eye and took them on with grit, grace, and guts. One of my goals for 2011 is to take a chance at failure, and these women took that risk, and then some. In fact, I was so inspired by their feats that I decided to take on a little multi-day challenge of my own in the next few weeks, just to see if I had a fraction of what they have in guts and perseverance.

My next blog post will report the answer!

p.s. It is fitting that Rebekah Trittipoe shows up in two of the pics. Rebekah is one of the toughest dirt chicks I know. She is a previous FKT owner of the Allegheny Trail and SB6000, as well as being a consistent source of wisdom for female ultrarunners as well as her high school cross country runners.

photos from the blogs of Jenny Anderson, Ronda Sundermeier, and SB6000

Summer training

Yesterday was the annual Catherine's Fat Ass 50K, which is run on parts of the MMT 100 course as well as on lesser known trails and gravel roads in the southern Massanutten mountains. "Cat's" is a favorite summer training run for the VHTRC folks and friends. You get a free, fully supported run and a festive party in the parking lot organized by Jeff Reed with the help of many volunteers. For me, it is a fun reunion of friends and a great training run in the "cooler" environs of the mountains.

"Cooler" is a relative term, of course. Keith Knipling told me that the thermometer at his house in Alexandria read 90 degrees at 5:00am. Jeff told the runners that it was "cooler" on Friday as he was marking trail than it was last year at the same time, when Cat's was held in 105 degree temps. With heat advisory warnings blasting the print media and airwaves, and knowing that running a 50K in this heat and humidity was basically stupid, I was curious to find out how I could minimize any heat-related issues. I had read about an Australian study that proposed a simple method for increasing running endurance on a hot day: drinking a slushie (or, in 7-11 parlance, a Slurpee). So, as I drove the Charlottesville gang up to the mountains yesterday, we stopped off at the Elkton 7-11 where I got a large Fanta grape Slurpee. No one else in the car was interested in participating in my little experiment, so I had a control group of one. Not very scientific. Whatever.

We arrived at Cat's with plenty of time to meet and greet in the parking lot. I was actually a little chilly after slurping down the Slurpee, and gathered my frozen bottle of Perp and hydration pack for the run. Given the heat, I decided to run my version of Cat's again this year, which was a 25-ish mile version of the course that included the pink trail, which is my favorite. Every aid station had plenty of ice and water, and we had special trail magic in the form of Jack Kurisky's ice pops and Dave Yeakel's electric fan and watermelon. So as I ran along, I felt surprisingly cool and comfortable. We had lots of shade and a nice breeze, and took a lovely dip in Cub Run before heading up the Purple Trail.


Gary Knipling climbing the Purple Trail

The Purple Trail is the stuff of legend among the VHTRC. It has claimed many victims with its long, exposed climbs, dead air in the hollows, lack of water, and never-ending switchbacks amidst the rocks. It came at about 18 miles and 4 hours into the run for us, so we all needed to tank up well. I started the climb with Gary Knipling, and new friends Jim and Chris after indulging in ice cold water provided by trail angels at the trailhead. I was climbing well and feeling really good after the dip in the river, and loved bombing down the pink trail. Hmmm...was the Slurpee making a difference in my attitude? Perhaps. I do know that I totally suck in the heat but was moving well. The overcast skies and taking the time to get wet and hydrate well at each AS certainly helped, and knowing that the party was waiting in the parking lot didn't hurt either...


C'Ville gang...me, Drew, Mike, Chris, Christian, and Joey

The fast guys in the Charlottesville gang are making a name for themselves...despite the heat, Drew, Mike, and Joey all finished the 50K in the 5:30s or faster. It was a great day in the mountains!

Running through history

Yesterday I dropped off son #2 at a lacrosse recruiting camp at Gettysburg College. Since the middle of May, daughter and son have been either studying for exams, traveling to and from Richmond for lacrosse practice, or attending lacrosse tournaments and/or camps in Baltimore, Virginia Beach or Gettysburg. Mom has been either working, writing comments, or driving said children back and forth from their respective activities. And training has taken a well-timed back seat...but now it's time to get back at it!

After dropping off son #2 and making sure he and his roommate had plenty of Gatorade and water in the fridge, I was off. I had not run much in the month of June and was feeling itchy to do something new and cool...but I was also not psyched to run alone in the Catoctin Mountain woods or SNP on the way home...guess I just don't like looking over my shoulder for ax murderers or bears too much. But I was intrigued by the idea of running through the Gettysburg Battlefield (officially known as the "Gettysburg National Military Park") and was eager to get a history lesson along with my endorphin fix. I parked at the visitor's center, picked up a map, and noted the "trail" that wove in and out of the park---a horse trail used by the Gettysburg Equestrian Club and open to walkers and runners as well. Sweet!

Early on the the run I was overcome by the memorials to the various armies, infantries, and regiments.

 

The weather was perfect---overcast, cool, and breezy. The gray sky added to the mystique of the day...I had heard about the "ghosts" of Gettysburg and it twas a bit spooky in places. The horse trail wound through fields and woods, and at one point passed a barn with a hole in the side of it---a hole caused by a Confederate cannon ball 150 years ago (according to the history marker in front). I ran by places with famous (to Civil War buffs) names such as Devils Den, Big Round Top, and Little Round Top. Nothing seems to have changed here, except for instead of tens of thousands of dead and wounded soldiers and animals, all that is left here are the (preserved) remains of houses and barns, many memorials, and the sound of the wind blowing across the fields.

 

I ran the entire horse trail loop in about two hours, and saw one runner and one equestrienne. Both were polite and friendly. When I got back to the visitor center, I was rather pleased with my choice: instead of worrying about ax murderers and bears, I had plenty of reminders of the brave young men who died a century and a half ago... and I never felt alone.

If you build it...

...many will come!

Harry Landers is my Charlottesville running buddy who is a Boston Marathon regular,an aspiring ultrarunner, and overall good guy. Last May he joined me and some friends for the awesome Rip-Rap/Wildcat Ridge circuit run, complete with the Super Secret Swimming Hole. This was his first long run in the mountains and he was a rock star! No whining, totally in control of his pace and cruising comfortably after 4+ hours...until he snagged his foot on the trail and took a tumble. No worries, though! Harry brushed it off with style and continued down the trail for the last hour of the run...with a broken collarbone.


Harry at the super secret swimming hole

Of course, the fact that he didn't mention this little detail to anyone until he pulled his shirt off at the finish endeared himself to the ultraunners present---what a tough dude! So, I named the run after him.

Thanks to Facebook, the 2011 Harry Landers Special brought together VHTRC, CAT, IMTR, Richmond Road Runners, and Boston Bound members for a wonderful day in the mountains. I enjoyed watching so many of my friends from different places meet one another at the start, run together on the trails, and exchange contact information after the run. I loved that! I especially loved seeing my friend Linda run her first 21+ miler in the mountains with nary an issue. Woop! So proud of you, Linda!

I also must send a shout out to Kirstin and Tom Corris for braving the 30-foot rope swing into Blue Hole, the fave swimming hole of the UVA student crowd. They were like kids in a candy store, swinging from that rope into the cool waters of the Moormans River below. Very impressive---that is one high leap!!

The CATs, Sabrina, Kirstin, and Jenny wrote awesome reports. Thanks for joining us, everyone!