2015 West Virginia Trilogy 50K Race Report

To date my favorite race ever is the West Virginia Trilogy 50K.  Last year, I had a blast, even with 7 hours of running in the rain.  The trails are tough, but fair and the scenery is gorgeous.  The race takes place at the Mountain Institute near Circleville, West Virgina.  It takes close to an hour to get to the race location from town (which isn't even a town).  TMI has a few yurts and they normally host educational programs.  This weekend, they host us too.  You can camp there all weekend and they feed you meals as well.

I drove in on Thursday.  I stopped at nearby Spruce Knob (WV’s highest point).  The scenery there was breathtaking, as was the drive in.  I love this area.  The leaves changing made it even more incredible.

My mileage hasn’t been great this summer and my training wasn’t what I wanted.  I almost skipped this race, but it has been calling me all year.  I thought of maybe doing a shorter race, but opted instead for the full Trilogy (50K on Friday, 50M on Saturday and Half Marathon on Sunday).  I did get three straight days of 30 miles, 15 miles and 15 miles on Labor Day weekend.  That was much easier terrain though.  I’ve done races with more gain and more technical stuff, but this race definitely has a good amount of both.

My whole plan for the 50K was to take it easier.  I got out of bed after little sleep and barely made the start, with all the prep I had to do.  We run a loop around the property.  That was beautiful, as the sun was rising.  There were some sheep nearby.  Last year, I started near the front and finished 13^th.  This year, I opted more for the back and slowly picked off some people.

I ended up following a woman, Sarah I guess, in the early going.  Someone called out her name out as we finished the short loop.  I was actually following two women for the bit.  Their pace was a little quicker than I’d like.  I eventually passed them out of the first aid station, on the roads.  Those are still my strength.

I really hated the one high weed section last year.  It was a little better this year, but still terrible.  I ended up catching a group of women.  They pulled away on some of the creek stuff.  I had to keep telling myself to take it easy.  I ended up running with one woman.  She was from Harrisonburg.  I never did get her name.

We ran quite a bit together and I was telling her about the course.  Knowing everything was definitely an advantage today.  She took less time at the second aid station and pulled ahead.  I probably wasn’t drinking quite enough, but my fueling was okay.  

I got passed by a guy on the long climb.  I can’t recall his name, but we chatted a bit.  I then caught back up to the woman near the top.  We ran together for most of the downhill.  This is a fire road type trail that is just awesome.  I cruised on in to the Judy Springs aid station.

Following this, is one of the most frustrating parts of the entire course.  It is another 1,000 foot climb, followed by a descent.  The descent is tricky because it is a narrow ridge.  I found it more runnable this time.  Still, I was slow.  A woman and a guy passed me.

There’s still quite a bit of trail along the creek.  This part was slightly uphill and frustrated the hell out of me.  I ended up hiking it and cursing.  This loop took forever.

It was great to get back to the aid station.  I took forever to put my Tailwind in my bottles.  I ate a bunch of food too.  The woman caught up to me again, but I left the aid station before her.

Up next was the worst part of the run.  There is a pretty meadow on this 800 foot climb.  However, after that is some terrible trail.  I took a bunch of photos of the views in the meadow.  I had taken off my jacket, but then I was cold.  The temperature changed too much and I had my jacket on more than I probably should’ve throughout the race.

The tough trail was called the Lumberjack Trail.  It is a ton of rocks and mud.  It is flat, so it should be runnable, but it hardly is.  I was determined to beat it this time.  I ran the beginning.  I went about 1.5 miles on it.

I was proud of myself, as I passed 3 people.  Then, I got frustrated.  It was like Groundhog Day, the same trail over and over again.  It never ended.  One guy passed me back.  I mostly just hiked.  The other problem is you can’t tell when it will end.  Finally, it did and came out to a back road.  I ran all along the road into the final aid station.

I joked with the aid station people about how much the previous section sucked and the next one was fun.  I took a bunch of snacks and was off.  This section is so pleasant.  It goes largely downhill and has a lot of woods road.  I was able to run a lot.  I hiked here and there too.

I was so pleased to see the “1 mile to go” plate.  Of course, there was a climb of several hundred feet there.  This was a struggle, as my lower back had been bothering me.  The aid station had told me it was 3.8 miles to the finish, but it seemed to be more like 2.8 miles.

I came to the top of the climb and to some tents.  I knew we ran around the open fields to loop back to the start/finish line.  I ended up finishing at 7 hours and 25 minutes.  Last year, I ran 6 hours and 53 minutes.  I’m very happy with how I ran.

Since I was on the conservative side, my body doesn’t feel too bad.  My legs aren’t that sore.  My problem foot area is still a bit of a problem.  My lower back is the worst part of me.  I put some cream on it.  I have on compression socks to try to recover.  I’ve been carrying a camera and GoPro to make a video.  I might have to go without the weight of those tomorrow, or maybe drop it at the halfway drop bag area.

Tomorrow will surely be a test.  I’ll have to see how recovery goes.  I’ll give it my best, maybe I can push through.  The cutoff times might be tough.  I love the challenge, no matter what happens.  We start at 6 AM tomorrow.  I am ready.