Dirty Double Trail Marathon

I came into this race with the mindset of just using it as a prep race for Thunder Rock 100, testing out gear, and enjoying some picture perfect Spring weather. At the end of the day all of those boxes were checked and then some. Dirty Double is one of the best trail races I've ever been a part of. From the volunteers to the variety of the course, everything was top notch but still very low-key and laid back. Unlike many courses which may be held in one park/natural area, Dirty Double utilizes about six different parks located throughout South Knoxville collectively known as the Urban Wilderness. This makes for a mix of singletrack, doubletrack, dirt road, and suburban neighborhood throughout the whole course with around 2,500ft of elevation gained primarily through countless "micro" hills.

1st across the line, 3hr54min

If you'd like a little beta for the course you can check out my garmin info for the day here.

Full Results

Gear List:

Generic Tech T

Camelbak Octane LR 70

TNF Better Than Naked Short

Smartwool PhD Graduated Compression Light Cushion Socks

Salomon S-LAB XT6

Straw Plains 10k Race Recap: The importance of pacing

This race served as a final fitness test and speed building session for the upcoming Biltmore Marathon on March 3rd. My goals for the 10k weren't linked to a specific placement or finish time, but were focused on running equal or negative splits for the entirety of the race, meaning running the same speed or getting faster throughout the race. As a general rule, you will run your best time if you have paced yourself  to maintain the same speed or increase it slightly during a high intensity run, i.e, race. This sounds easy, but it is really hard to do, especially if you're like me and get really caught up in racing the people around you early on instead of racing within your means.

Picking a pace isn't especially easy either. To make the process smoother I used the race times predictor from runners world, a tool that can fairly accurately predict your race time based on other recent races. Based on my most recent race, a 17:52 5k on new years day, my predicted pace came out to six minutes per mile for the 10k distance. I lowered the pace slightly because my training has gone well since then and no one is really on top of their game on the morning of new years anyway.

Having a plan is good, but actually carrying it out is better. The final piece of the equation was making sure I stayed on pace. To help with this, I set my Garmin to alarm every half mile with the hope of looking down and seeing something in the neighborhood of 2min55sec for every half mile run. Surprisingly, I actually came really close to nailing that time for every half mile split. Here's the feedback from my watch.

My chip time for the race came out to 35:56, placing me 5th overall. Which for a Knoxville Track Club race ain't half bad. The rest of the TN Spine team also fared really well too, in team competition we landed in 2nd for the open division and 3rd for women and co-ed.

Trying not to get chic'd
Photo Credit: Knoxville Track Club

I feel a lot more confident coming out of this race than I did going into it. My overall speed is quite a bit better than I would have guessed at this point in the season. It's also really surprising to see how far a well researched race plan can have on your outcome. Planning can take a little of the spontaneity out of race day, which can be either good or bad depending on your personality, but ultimately helps you run a better race. Devising splits and target paces may not be for everyone, but no one is opposed to running a little faster on race day.

Kicking the New Year Off Right-ish

A new years day race seems like a reasonable moderation mechanism for the holidays, until the holidays actually start to happen and the thought of pushing yourself plus all of your indulgences through three miles is supremely unappealing. This year made my second running of Knoxville's new years day 5k, and despite being more than a little worn out from the holiday grind I actually had a really good time. Meaning that I both had fun and ran fast.

I scooted through the course in a personal best time of 17:52. Pr's are always satisfying , but this one was especially so after the year of injuries and inconsistencies that marked most of my running year for 2012. No part of me would have guessed in October, a month where I accumulated a total of 9 miles, that I would set any kind of PR on January 1st.

Through Schwenk's inspiration, I decided to go back to plan based training this year. For the new years day race, I worked through Hal Higdon's Advanced 5k plan. I'll also be using a Higdon plan for the Asheville Marathon in March. Later in the year, I have plans by Matt Fitzgerald that I'll be using for different races. My goal in all this is to see what happens when I train specifically for something, versus running how and when I feel like it, and jumping into races last minute. Also, I'd like to maintain some consistency in my running and avoid another year of the boom and bust cycle.

My general success at this race is also exciting because I'm running for a team this year, Tennessee Spine has assembled a group to compete in KTC's team competition. For our debut we placed second overall, not bad in an environment as competitive as running in Knoxville can be.

Wanderers' Trail Race: An ultra-runner's nightmare

With unseasonably warm temperatures Sunday it would have been the perfect day for a nice long run. This wasn't a perfect day though, I was toeing the line for a 4 mile trail race. For me, races this short are mostly comprised of awkwardness, heavy-breathing and being over before I know what happened. I came to trail-running by way of backpacking and hiking, comfortable with the idea of long days and distances. These short races terrify me. They are the domain of track club members and former collegiate cross-country runners. People with more speed than I'll ever have.

The race began peacefully enough. Getting pinballed around only a little at the start, I jumped out front to keep from running into/over somebody. This would be essential  in not getting boxed in once we left the initial pavement section as well. The first mile, maybe less, went ok. I knew I was going a little too fast, but I told myself that it would work itself out. Snaking through the woods and mud was a blast, I thought I might have a really good race.

Out front early, but not for long...
Photo: David Simpson

Soon, very soon, things started going to pieces. My thoughts shifted from encouragement to confusion. Initially my legs felt smooth and fluid, but now on every flat section when I anticipated speed I had slow instead. I saw Brian not too far behind me. First place runner Travis Wilson was running away and Brian was rapidly closing in behind. Dammit. A part of me wanted to dig and pull myself together, try to finish as strong as I could. The biggest part of me wanted to quit. I wished misfortune upon myself, "maybe I'll sprain an ankle" "You know I could really puke right now, maybe I should just go ahead and do that" "I wonder where Cody is?...surely not far behind... I could just stop and wait for him" I kept going though, albeit slowly.

My bearded brothers,
Cody " I ran ten this morning" Zurhellen and above, Brian "You let me win" Williams
Photos: David Simpson

With maybe a mile to go, I tried to put some space on Brian to see what he had left. He had plenty and I'm pretty sure I did more damage to myself than him. He reeled me back in and we were step for step through the final circuitous sections of trail and popped out onto the paved finish side by side. With maybe a quarter mile left, all I wanted was for this stupid race to be over. I desperately hoped Brian would just want to run it in together. No luck. I would speed up, but he'd speed up more until finally with maybe 50yds left I was forced to watch him run away.

The rest of the day my legs felt wobbly and my throat burned from breathing so hard. I was pleased with my time and placement, but everyone that asked about the race assumed I won, obviously, because anyone that can run 50 miles can run 4 miles as fast as their heart desires. I assure you this is not true. When I answered third I just got confused looks and statements, no congratulations. "You sick?" "Bad day?" "What happened?"..... Man I hate short races.