If there was a plus side to not making it past 25 miles on the second day of the Trilogy, it was that I was semi fresh for the Half Marathon. My legs were only slightly sore.
It was nice to be able to sleep in, although it was freezing cold overnight and I didn't really sleep. Because of that temperature, I struggled with what to wear yet again. It was supposed to be warm during the day, but I was still chilly at breakfast.
I wore a light weight long sleeve shirt. I was going to put on my jacket too, but then it felt fairly warm before the start. I would've just carried a handheld for this day, but I wanted to take videos again.
I really had no idea what I'd be able to do. I didn't really think I could race this, but I at least figured I would go fairly hard. I started toward the front and began to run on our usual loop.
This race is tricky. All of these fresh people, mostly younger folks, come in just for that race. It sort of pushes you more than the ultra crowd typically does. I was getting passed by young girls that I'd normally blow away. There were people in banana costumes that were faster than me.
I tried to run up some of the short hills in the first loop. I just didn't have it though. I was able to run okay on the flats though, so I ran there when we had that. I hiked the early climbs though.
Then, we got to Cardiac Hill, but got to do it downhill. What I found is that I had awesome downhill legs. The young women were clearly less experienced on the actual trails. They weren't comfortable and I flew back past them.
There was an out and back stretch. It was runnable uphill, but I could only get myself to run in spots. I blasted on downhill after the turnaround though. I passed the young women again.
It was a back and forth game. I pass them on the downhills, they pass me on the uphills. Eventually, most of them got by me for good on the uphills. There was one uphill that seemed easy on the 50K day, but was pretty killer now.
One of the women didn't manage to pull away, so we got to chatting. It was her first trail half marathon. I found out her name was Nina. What's funny is she had pigtails and a cute young girl look to her. I thought she was one of the 20 something women. Then she mentioned doing a marathon 16 years ago. Turns out she's older than she looks.
Nina pulled away on the uphill and flat trail. This was all the section that we ran during Friday's 50K. We then got out to the dirt road. I knew from Friday that I would fly on this.
I usually catch people with ease on these road stretches. It took awhile to catch Nina. She told me earlier that she does tris. It showed. I blew past her eventually, but then I stopped briefly at the aid station.
After the aid station, there was a long gradual uphill, followed by a descent. I was warned about this section and it did indeed suck. It went on and on. I mostly just walked.
It was great to finally see people just ahead of you. I then saw Nina and joked that I was coming for her. I turned and headed down. I ran well, but I didn't quite have the strength of earlier. I probably went a little too hard in the first half of this race.
I wasn't catching Nina, so that was discouraging. I made up some ground before the road. She had stopped to stretch. We got back to the road, but this time it was uphill. I didn't have the energy to run up.
Nina inspired me though. I was about to walk, but then I thought I might as well just catch her to say hello and then begin walking. I sprinted up to her.
I didn't fall back though. We ran together and talked more. First we hit some more of the out and back. Then, we turned off to a new section. It is actually the end of the 50 mile course, but I didn't make it that far.
This section was stunning. It was an open field. Nina was having a blast. She saw my GoPro and wanted some video of herself. This section was interesting too because they had fences to climb over, to keep cows containing. I don't know how my cramping self would've made it over that at the end of 50 miles.
This section was followed by a beautiful stream along the trail. There was so mud, but the half marathoners didn't get to experience the mud like us Trilogy folks did.
Finally, it was on to Cardiac Hill one more time. This hill seemed to go up and up and up. It felt longer than earlier in the week. I hiked up ahead of Nina and also passed one of the bananas.
It was great to be at the top and know how close the finish was. If Nina was closer, I might've just run in with her. Instead, I ran in on my own. It seemed like the course was around a mile short, but I certainly wouldn't complain about that. Nina finished just after me and was a huge boost for the day.
I did about what I expected for the full Trilogy. I finished 69 of the 94 miles. Other than running 50Ks, I really didn't train much over the summer. I only did about 30 miles per week. I really need to get my foot to heal.
This was another great experience and amazing weekend. I will definitely be back again. Whenever I do come back, I will train more. I need to work on running more gradual uphill. Maybe some easier repeats. I tend to hike more than I probably should. I also need back to back long runs, but on harder terrain. All my climbing in the last year has surely paid off, as I was much stronger for this weekend.
This was an outstanding event all around. It keeps growing and I think one day it will sell out in no time. I'm just lucky that I've been able experience The Mountain Institute, the amazing West Virginia mountains and the fun people that make up this event.
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