2017 Laurel Highlands 50K

Tackling the Big Climbs Again

Most trails races I've looked at have climbs much bigger than what I have readily available to train on regularly. Finding a workable training routine to prepare for these races has been a big challenge and one I have yet to solve. Despite having made some great strides since running Hyner 25K last year, I'm still not where I need to be if I'm to continue running trail races that have even moderate climbs of 500 ft or more.

Training leading up to the race was split between trying to get in some longer runs, run more hills, and regaining some of my lost speed. They don't work well together, at least not the way I could do it 45 years ago in my mid-20s. It was a rarity to get in a two hour run and that only got me to 9 miles. I was getting in more runs at Valley Forge, mostly on Mt Joy. I could see improvement there because I was running sections that last year I had to walk. My speed was picking up on the shorter intervals, but mile repeats were still a struggle to get anywhere close to what I needed to run. In the middle of all this I had a 10K scheduled in April and my annual 50K race at Dawn to Dusk to Dawn in mid-May. I comfortably met my goal in the 10K, though it wasn't that difficult and challenging, but it was encouraging and seemed to trigger a breakthrough with my easy run paces. D3 was a tough race and I did not meet my goal, but I was able to regroup and finish strong, a good indication that at least some of my training was having a positive effect.

Leading up to Laurel Highlands I tried to plot my expected and required paces based on the course profile, my previous experiences in trail races, and my training paces running Mt Joy. I made some assumptions about the trail conditions and how they would affect my pace. As I discovered during the race my assumptions were not valid. I expected to slow to about 30:00 mile pace on the climbs, 14-15 minute pace on the descents, and otherwise hold about a 16:00 pace. These turned to be overly optimistic for the most part.

As usual I barely slept the night before and was up before the alarm went off. I grabbed breakfast minus my usual coffee, checked out of my motel, and drove to the finish area where I would catch a bus ride to the start. (Could I blame everything on not having my morning coffee?) I was quite early which gave me a chance to chat with a few other runners also waiting for the bus. Several said they would be chasing the cutoff as well, so I hoped I'd have company for at least part of the race. It was about a 45 minute ride to the start which left us with about 15-20 minutes to check in and take care of any last minute needs.

The call finally came to gather for the start. Even for an ultra trail event this was informal. I almost missed hearing the start, but everyone started moving so I went with the flow. We started up an unpaved road to where we turned onto the trail. This was my first surprise. We took a left turn onto what might as well have been a steep, narrow stairwell. It was single file and there were places where grabbing the trees or a rock outcropping helped. This was already throwing off my Garmin measurements as well as my pace. I had anticipated being able to run this approximately 150 ft climb this early in the race at about a 15:00 pace, but it was a slow scramble. Even with the short section on the road where I was moving quicker, this already put me a little behind pace. There had been enough rain recently including that morning, that the trail was muddy. With enough rocks that I had to be very careful as well as slower than expected I was falling further behind on the flatter portions. Then we came to the first big climb, about 650 ft over about a mile followed by a drop of around 500 ft. The climb wasn't that bad considering what I expected but the descent was so steep and muddy, not the mention the rocks, that I couldn't make up any time at all. I was already 10 minutes behind my worst case scenario and hadn't even reached the second of the three major climbs.

When I did reach the second climb, about a 700 ft ascent, I actually made up time on it. Then lost all I had gained and more navigating short switchbacks, more mud, and very steep downhill sections. I was 20 minutes behind and still had the biggest climb ahead of me, about 1250 ft of gain over 1.5 miles. Around this time I noticed a runner with a yellow Massanutten Mountain Trails shirt on but no number. He was the sweep runner which meant I was dead last as I had suspected. The third climb turned into walking for a short while, stopping to catch my breath, then repeating over and over and over again. A couple times I had to stop and sit before I could continue. While I distrust my Garmin on the actual distance, it was certainly indicative of my progress when it said I was moving at a 45:00 mile pace. By the time I reached the top I was a half hour behind pace and would have to run 15:00 mile pace to the cutoff to beat it. That simply was not going to happen, especially knowing there was another 300 ft climb just before the 19.3 mile checkpoint. I wasn't so exhausted as I had been last year at Elkhorn because I was still moving at paces varying from 25:00 to 17:00 depending on the footing and whether I could jog or had to walk, but that wasn't getting me there in time. I said as much to Tim, the sweep runner, and he texted ahead to let them know I would be dropping at the 11.6 mile aid station. Since they would be breaking it down and cleaning up, I could get a ride back to the finish with one of the volunteers.

Much to my surprise Jim ran back to meet us with a couple of ice cold bottles of water which were very welcome after drinking lukewarm water for miles. He took over escort duties while Tim ran ahead to catch up to the new back of the pack runners. I reached the aid station in 4:25:25 where I was welcomed like a celebrity. A little quick math shows I would have just over an hour and a half to cover 7.7 miles on single track trail with at least one 300 ft climb. That's 11:40 pace or so. I couldn't run that on a flat road course. Since they were cleaning up I could help myself to as much as I wanted of the food and drink that was already prepared since there was no one behind me. The watermelon, cantaloupe nuts, Coke were all welcome. I did have to take it slow instead of stuffing myself. I think if I had tried some of the cookies and other offerings my stomach might have objected. Once everything was broken down and packed up I got a ride back to the finish with another volunteer, Jason. He was kind enough to drive to the finish line where I could get some more substantial food, e.g. pizza, then drove me back to the parking area for the bus where I'd left my car.

The whole race, from the mail-in entry form to packet pickup to the race itself had an old time feeling about it. I want to go back and run it again for redemption, but not until I've solved the training problem on how to prepare for the extended climbs. I can't say enough about the race and how well I was cared for by the volunteers. It's a race I would recommend for any trail runner as long as they are prepared for that type of course. I'm hoping that, if nothing else, it will aid in my preparations for Powderface 21K in three weeks since I'll have more trails and hills to face and conquer there. The next two weeks will be a lot of trail and hill running. After that it's focusing on lots of time on my feet for North Coast 24. I can't think or plan beyond that at this point.