David Wright's Report

IMTR 2011 16 Miler Report from a Newbie

Wow! I couldn’t imagine a better introduction to trail running and the Damascus area trail system. Thanks to Kevin and the many volunteers for putting together such a great event!

I discovered IMTR during a casual early morning run when we were in town last Labor Day to bike the VA Creeper Trail. I took a couple runs in Paris Mountain State Park to prepare, hoping that my road running and cycling fitness would combine with my love of hiking to make this a good event.

My prep runs brought a few lessons. Oh man. Darn roots and loose rocks. Steep and loose hills are almost as slow going down as they were going up. Aaarrrggghh. This is way slower than road running. I did one outing in trail runners (my current hiking boots) and the other in my road training shoes. The road shoes won.

We got to Damascus in the nick of time to get the packet Friday evening. I used the typical pre-race system. Reduce training mileage and intensity the week before, get to sleep early, lean my diet heavily toward carbs the last couple days, and put on an extra pound or two.

After picking up weekend groceries at Food City it was back to the room to prep. I normally use only aide station nutrition during running events, but with the wide station spacing I added the fuel belt I use in training, 4x7 ounce bottles, each with 100 calories of Infinit Endurance. I would be taking in about 800 calories and half a gallon of fluid during the run, which is barely enough for the 16 miler and would have been ridiculously short for the longer events.

The next morning it was great hanging around the start area as the crowd grew. What a super bunch of people! This is a nicely laid back sport. No edgy crowds like road races. Fewer fashionistas than at rides. Just good people relaxing and chatting before a pleasant jog in the woods. And they’re off!

Having ridden the Creeper I knew it would be a nice warm-up. My plan was to run 10:00 miles on the Creeper, have the average degrade to no worse than 12:00s at the turn around, and finish with an 11:15 average to do it in 3 hours. I planned to drink one of my bottles every third mile and slam down a couple cups of energy drink at each aide station.

The first section went very well. There was great conversation on the Creeper with the other runners. I went out a little faster than my target pace, but the HR was OK. Succeed energy drink at the aide stations worked well, offering the right osmolarity and ingredients for event use.

Heading up the hill the run quickly changed character. No more crowd. Heavy breathing instead of conversation. Everyone soon found their pace and often there was no one to be seen in either direction. The climb was a mix of walking briskly on the steep parts and jogging in slow motion when the grade softened.

I got to the ridge in decent shape and good spirits with my average pace slowed to around 10:40. That was not as tough as expected. I spotted a group ahead and pushed a bit to fall in with them. Running the ridge is work, and my average pace stayed about the same, but it was well worth the effort. What a beautiful section of trail! At the turn-around I gulped down three cups of Succeed and headed back. Thanks volunteers!

It was on the way back that I figured out the only negative part of this race. 16 milers get the dubious pleasure of squeezing past in the opposite direction everyone else who is running the 16. Of course this is awkward at speed on the tight rocky trail. Fast runners get most of this on their way back. More leisurely runners deal with it on the way out. Keep a count and you’ll know how many 16 mile runners there are. It could have been worse…I suppose…the trail could have been lined with poison ivy. I guess I’m an old dude, because one polite runner greeted me with a cheery “Good job, sir!” Love it. Another nice runner gave me the count, 14^th at the time.

Mostly running, a little walking, and many howdys later I was on the drop into Damascus. Unless you’re going to walk, the only way to take this is like a slalom ski run. Chunky gravel in the middle of the trail is too loose for footing at speed. You basically have to sweep back and forth from trail edge to edge making best use of available footing and avoiding taking more than a step or two at a time on the loose stuff.

You are soon at the stream crossings and flatter trail. If you’re going to twist an ankle, the long stream bed section is where it will happen. Back on pavement I finally got some normal pace. Happily turning 8:00s I cruised past the barking beagle, into town, left/right to get back onto the Creeper, and into the park to finish. What a great outing! Gotta do this event again. 30 next time? Hmmm. Maybe not. I think that’s an entirely different event.

Many thanks again to Kevin and everyone who worked so hard to put this on!

Dave Wright

Greenville, SC