Elevation
State 31
West Virginia- Freedom’s Run
4:01:45
 |
| Harper's Ferry |
When picking out my marathons, I tend to plan them around
seeing loved ones. I knew I could
maximize states around DC, and finally went out to cross off West
Virginia. I didn’t really realize how
beautiful and historical this run would be until the week before. The run was point to point, starting and
ending in West Virginia but we were in Maryland for a large part
of it. We went through 4 national parks
including a battle ground. We will get
back to this later but let’s back up some…
I got to DC Thursday night, had one night with Marie then went out to Virginia to see Rachel, Matt and Madeline. For the first time, I decided to do race day packet pick up. The drive from Fairfax to Harper’s Ferry, WV was likely a beautiful drive. However, I drove it at 5:00am in the rainy dark weather. There was a lot of traffic on the road for a Saturday Morning at 5am!
I looked at the course elevation beforehand and I knew part
of it was on trail but didn’t give my race plan much thought. I think this was one of those runs where I
forgot 26.2 miles is a long distance- until I got there. Once I
started thinking about it I figured this would be a “run fast and let yourself
burn out” sort of run given the fact Erin and I run fast together but no more
than 15 miles.
I got to the start and picked up my packet and shirt. I got there early because I didn’t want to
be stressed on not being able to get my race bib.
This went flawless so I had a lot of time to kill. The race director was rattling off a bunch of
information about the run- when to look for good views, when to slow down for
slippery areas etc. He also was giving
many plugs for local shops. They
brought in some coffee from a coffee shop that got started by a man who ran
this marathon in a previous year. He
loved the course and the towns so much, he decided he wanted to move there and
move his coffee shop there. He also
told us about an ice cream shop 2 miles from the finish where if you wanted to
stop it only costs $2 for 4 heaping scoops of ice cream. Then there was the historic stuff: We would be running through 4 National
Parks. We would be running through Murphy
Farm, an out and back where we would run around the place John Brown's Fort once sat. We would be running though the Harper’s Ferry
National Park, we would be running along the Shenandoah River and over the
Potomac River. We would be running on
the C&O Canal National Park Trail (alongside the former B&O Railway- you know, Monopoly!), we would be running through the Antietam
National Battlefield (Home of the single most worst day in battle in American history. Over 23,000 were killed on Sept. 17th 1862), through Sharpsburg (aka the bloodiest town) and ending in
Shepherdstown.  |
| Murphy's Farm - Old John Brown Fort Site |
The race started, no chip timer at the start, just a clock
that started. This was an honor system
sort of run. You feel you missed Boston
by 20 seconds and feel it took 20 seconds to cross that start line? Talk to the race director, he would likely adjust
your time. It was point to point, but
an option to cheat a mile or two if you stuck with the half marathoners- there
were no check point timers, they just trust that you are doing this, you mean
business- runners are honest- so- be
honest cheating only hurts yourself.
 |
| Harper's Ferry |
Around mile 4 we
started a HUGE descent. Now with such a big drop in elevation, you
ask yourself, how will you take that decline?
The best way is you shouldn’t waste energy by resisting it, you should
just let your legs pick up the speed, lean forward and go down. The problem is-
all that pounding is going to make you feel it later on in the race. I did my best to not resist the down. Part of this down included a few flights of
stairs after you crossed the Potomac River.
They warned us that with the rain we had before the race started, this would
be slick and to take it slow (metal steps).
Slow I did- I held onto the railing and walked it down. This is the point I should have pulled over
and re-tied my left shoe as it was loose and with the trail coming up- having
those shoes tightly on so I’m not overcompensating in my ankles, would have
been good. But- I just wanted to keep
on moving- so that’s what I did.
Now we had a good 13 miles of flat. I
decided I should try to slow it down for a bit to make sure I had enough fuel
left when we started to hit the hills.
At this point I was averaging about an 8:20 with one full mile of the
descent being a 7:40. Given the lack of
training, I didn’t think this was a smart pace to hold. So I slowed it down to a 9minute mile. However, I had a battle in my mind going on
as I did that. Part of me said “Well
you need to push it til you can’t anymore and just embrace a crash and burn
given your lack of high mileage running” and another part of me kept saying
“you know when you pace yourself better, you always finish feeling so great,
you should do that” but then I would go
back to “but the hills in the future are going to be hell no matter what, you
should just go fast on the flat and then walk the inclines and enjoy the
view.  |
| Steps down to C&O Canal |
 |
| C&O Canal Trail |
I finished mile 7 in
59 minutes and a fast song came on my ipod, there were also some men on my
tail, so I picked the speed up to lose them.
This mile ended up being an 8 minute mile- when I finished it, I turned
off my music and noticed these men were still with me. Now as a woman running, you could take this
a few ways- or really just one. They
didn’t want a girl to out run them- so they just had to keep up! There are a few ways to handle this and if
it weren’t a marathon, I would have let them pass, keep them in eye distance
and then when you can tell they are slowing, pick it up and pass them all the
while saying not so nice things in your head about them. (yes road rage does exist in this
form). But, this was a marathon, and
at the faster speeds, it’s harder to find the people who are willing to talk-
and all you can do is try to make conversation with someone until you find
someone who is cool. So, when they made
a comment about the 8 minute mile they just clocked so they better slow it down,
I turned around and said- yeah same here- I had a fast song and just decided to
let the energy take me away- no matter how dumb that might be this early
on. They said a few words but not many-
so I figured they didn’t want to be my friend. We ran through a water stop and I turned
my music back on- and apparently they decided they wanted to talk.
 |
| Elevation Profile from a Garmin |
I made it up the first climb, and knew I had about 3 more
real bad ones per what everyone was telling me. If it was just a roll, I would run it, if
it was one of these big hills- I slowed it down and walked it. The % grade of inclines hurt my calves even
walking. But the views were amazing, the
battle grounds, the brick and wood fences that lined the roads were beautiful,
the monuments along the way were cool to see with random signs pointing off in
directions to tell you something about the battle field. We joined up with the half marathon for a
while, and it’s always a good feeling as you pass the back runners. Where you can motivate them. I’m such a motivator not a motivatee!
Okay backing up here… I have always tried to just be
self-competitive, but with all the age group placing I have been doing in the
last year (even if it’s 3rd it’s still placing!) .. I have started to notice my
surroundings. Who I think is a
“competitor” I had already had 2 girls in my sights early
on- that I still could still see one ahead
of me and now- 4 girls who all seemed
competitors pass me as I take an actual stop to fill my water bottle at the
water stop. Now- I decided I needed to
just run- no more playing around. The
goal is to keep them in sight for as long as possible and then if possible-
pass them! (I ended up finishing 10th in my division- had I finished
sub 4 hours I would have been 5th and had I finished 2 minutes
faster than my time, I would have been in 3rd.
So, I continue to run- at this point as long as I keep a
9:45 average, I will be just fine on the sub 4 hours. However, I ended up having to walk a few
times and my legs were moving at a 9:30-10 without the walking. These walks weren’t “I’m tired”
walking- it was more like- I start to pick up the speed and get a
charlie horse like cramp and have to walk.
There was a girl I was leap frogging with and I should haves started to
talk to her to just see if that would distract me enough to get me to the
finish. We talked after the race and she finished sub 4 hours (not my age group).
I turned on my music for the last mile to 3 of my newest
purchase songs, the last one being a “Joe song”. I knew it would distract me keeping me from being upset that I was finishing just over 4 hours. We hit the turf of the football field, which
was squishy and soft, usually something so great, but once again I had to work
on not rolling my ankles and not stepping just wrong to get another Charlie
horse. I crossed the finish at 4:01:45
– never being upset or disappointed during the run- a small waive of
emotion hit me after I crossed the finish but overall ended up content. |
| Sheperdstown |
State 31 was a beautiful one. It makes me want to do more trail running,
and it makes me excited for all the other smaller states I have yet to
complete. I technically ran in 3 states,
but West Virginia is where it started and ended and it’s a the only state of
the three I had yet to run. I started
the year thinking I would run 3-4 this year and have settled on 3.
I have run 3, of those 3, two have been sub 4 hours which his a victory
from the two I ran last year, both ending in disappointment. I knew I didn’t fully train for this, so
while I decided I would end the year at 3, part of me wants to add a 4th using this marathon as the training for
another good race. I guess I will just
start price shopping for flights in states I haven’t run- and if something
comes up that I can make work- then I’ll do it. If not-
oh well. There is a lot of
other good stuff planned for the rest of this year, the rest of the states
might just have to wait.
