Race Report: Conquer the Cove 25K

Sunday, May 26th, was "Conquer the Cove" (as in Carvin's Cove) - the final race for RNUTS (Roanoke Non-Ultra Trail Series).  There were two options:  25K or Marathon.  I signed up back in December and since I knew I wouldn't be in marathon shape by May, I signed up for the 25K option.  

About a week before the race, I got the pre-race announcements and updates.  I looked (for the very first time, I might add) at the elevation profile.  Yikes.

Then a couple days before the race, this was posted on Facebook:

In the comments section, people mentioned the bears they had seen recently.  There were also reminders to not freak out about "stick" snakes (sticks that look like snakes at first glance).  I hadn't even THOUGHT about snakes until then.

I was staying at my parents' house at Smith Mountain Lake, and my mother tried to get me to consider not running, not just because of the bears, but because my leg has been feeling a little strange and I probably wouldn't see much of a change in the RNUTS final standings, anyway.

I confess I considered not doing it, but mostly because of my fear of the bears.  I realized this was probably ridiculous.  First of all, I have done so much solo trail running in my life and have never seen a bear.  Second, in a race situation, it's most likely that the faster runners will scare all the bears away.  

I have seen a fair number of snakes in my trail years, but most of the time, I don't see any.  So why, every night before a trail race in warm weather, is THIS what my mind envisions?

Potties are up there by the building

The race began at 6:30 AM at Sherwood Archery.  Once I was there, I forgot all about my irrational fears.  Instead I was more concerned with making sure I got to use the porta-potty before the race began.  There was quite a line, but I got through!

We lined up and ran just under 2 miles on the road before entering the forest.  This was nice, as there was plenty of room to maneuver and situate myself with people of a similar pace, without worrying about tripping on tree roots or rocks.

Shortly after entering the woods, however, we had our first big climb of the race.  It looks like it was about 800 feet of climbing in about a mile.  It was quite steep at times.  I walked quite a lot.

But what goes up must come down!  So there was a nice, long (steep) downhill, which was pretty technical.  I was in a line of people, which isn't my favorite way to run these things.  I always try to stay a few steps back just in case the person in front of me goes down, but I can't help how closely I'm being followed.  I paid really good attention today because I didn't want to be the cause of any domino effect.

However, eventually we had some uphills again and I let a bunch of people go by.  I ran alone for a while but then eventually some people caught up to me.  I heard them talking about where they live and I realized that they were also from Forest.  We chatted a while while running ups and downs.  Eventually they went by me too, when my Garmin suddenly beeped at me with the notification that my heart rate was too high (over 200 beats per minute).  So I took it a bit easier coming into the second aid station.  

At the aid station, I took a couple cups of Skratch and ate half a banana and talked with my friends Ryan and Gretchen, who were volunteering.  A young volunteer turned out to be one of my daughter's friends from elementary school whom I hadn't seen for several years.  It was nice to see them.

Then we started up the long 2-mile ascent up a fire road.  It was not terribly steep but I decided to walk the entire thing.  I am glad I did because there was a man who started with me, alternating walking and running.  In the end, I got to the top ahead of him and I am pretty sure I expended less energy.

There was still about a mile to go to the third aid station, and I alternated running the flats/downhills with walking the uphills.  By the time I got to the aid station, I was totally ready for a long downhill.  But first I ate a few salty chips, half a banana, and drank 3 cups of Skratch, since my fingers had a bit of swelling.  Obviously my electrolytes were a bit out of whack.

Tell Grandma I lived!

Then I latched onto a man who was rapidly descending the steep, technical trail.  He was obviously an experienced trail runner.  I told him he was a good leader who made good choices on where to step!  It was so steep that I also said I swore I could feel the skin burning off the bottoms of my feet.

The final aid station was just as we came out of the woods and were back on the road we ran in on.  I was so glad to see it because by that point I was feeling quite tired.  I got some more Skratch but didn't linger terribly long at that aid station.  I wanted to be done!  I ran the downhills and flats and walked the uphills.  Once I could see the driveway to Sherwood Archery, I started running again and decided I would run to the end, even though it was a bit of an uphill.  I figured I could make a quarter mile uphill, no matter how tired I felt.

I finished in 3 hours and 38 minutes.  I sent a Snap to my family with the caption, "Tell Grandma I lived!"

I was 2nd in my age group.  Based on the other races I ran in this series, I was very surprised by this result.  I had guessed I would finish 4th or 5th out of the five women who were entered.  I think I was helped today by the people around me on the downhill portions.  I definitely ran a bit faster than I would have if I had been on my own.  

They gave engraved cowbells to only the first place person in each age group, so I didn't get a special award, but I did get this very nice finisher's medal.  I think I will write the year, my place, and my time on the back.  I don't want to forget this race because I am quite proud of A) showing up when I felt afraid, B) completing my goal of doing all seven races in the RNUTS series, and C) really giving it my all today (and staying upright the entire time!)

Trail races are definitely a challenge.  Back in my twenties before I was a runner, if someone had told me I'd be doing this at age 54, I wouldn't have believed it.  This race was so challenging that I can't even imagine what it must be like to do the full marathon option.  Immediately after I finished, I told someone it was so tough that I wasn't sure I would ever do it again.  But who knows?  Mountain Junkies always hosts a top-notch event and the volunteers today were wonderful.  Special thanks to Jay Proffitt for the mid-race and finish line "high-five" photos.  I'm looking forward to the Awards ceremony and social next weekend, where I will get the jacket I've worked so hard for these past five months.  I'm looking forward to continuing my training and hopefully running a strong Steamtown Marathon in October.  Until my next trail review or race report, Happy Trails, everyone!