[Race Report] Uwharrie Mountain Run

Pseudo-TL;DR didn’t cry after this race, so I’ve got that going for me.

Training and Background

This was my first time doing this race. It used to be a lottery entry, and a friend and I both entered for the 20M last year (there was also a 40M and 8M option). She got in, I didn’t, so I figured I’d go and volunteer at packet pick-up since I was gonna crew her and end up waking up early anyways, and then (with another friend & her dog) we’d go meet her along the course. Because of volunteering, I got a guaranteed entry for this year (which they turned into a first-come, first-serve registration instead of lottery, but it still hit the cap pretty early, at least for the 8 and 20) and decided to go for the 40M. I was a few days post-Marine Corps Marathon and soreness was fading, I was pumped to recover and re-prep for Philly a few weeks later, recover and then hit a 26 mile training run the weekend after my 26th birthday to peak and then taper down. PROBLEM. Soreness faded but pain lingered, got a diagnosis of an adductor strain that started getting better then suddenly got worse, DNS’d Philly and then slowly started the build back up in December. Was kinda worried and emailed the race director to see if I could switch down to the 20M – she said I couldn’t, and that I would have to start with the 40’s (staggered start) and could just drop at the 20M finish/40M turnaround as long as I told someone. They have HAM radios and check off your number as you pass through each aid station, so if I disappeared without a word, they’d come looking for me. Talked to a few people on here about it, figured that since it was a pretty technical course, there’d be a lot of walking anyways, got in a slow 20M on roads a few weeks ago without the strain acting up. Should be good, right?

Race Strategy

Take it slow and be smart. I prepped my drop bag as if I was doing the full 40M, and planned to reassess at the 20M finish and make a game-time decision on stopping or continuing. The main aim was to run smart and not get injured. GPS strategy: GPS on, auto-pause off, auto-lap off, and manually split at the aid stations. Gotta get that data.

Race

Drove out with two friends, the one who did the 20M last year and was doing it again this year, and then our other friend (and her housemate) who came to crew us – now known as Running Friend and Driving Friend. Got to the hotel, heated up the dinner stuff we had brought with us, laid out clothes for the morning, did some schoolwork, and had the lamest slumber party ever.

5:00am wake-up, dressed, and drove the half hour (no, there are no closer hotels) to the check-in/race shuttle. It was pretty cold, maybe 20F, and was supposed to warm up to mid-40s by mid-day. Had the brilliant idea to grab a pack of warmers from Target for the three of us, so I stuck handwarmers in the palm of my gloves. We parked and I split from Running Friend and Driving Friend to book it from the car, quickly check in and hop on the last bus, since Running Friend had an extra hour before she started. Almost ran into a barbed wire fence that was invisible in the dark, but luckily a car parking turned it’s lights on and I saw it when I was about a foot away. Checked in, hopped on the bus shivering, got to the start, and stood by the bonfire with all the other 40M registrants to hang out until the 7:00am start, which was 15 minutes away. Felt a tap on my shoulder – Driving Friend was here! He caught the next shuttle to the start to see me off and informed me that Running Friend had not been so lucky and got a puncture wound from the barbed wire fence and was being treated by first aid and then would take a later shuttle over since she still had time. Everything was fine, though it ripped her coat - she was more mad about that than she was about the gash it left on her. Got shouted to the start around 6:59am and headed to the back of the pack, was told to follow the “white blazes” and with a 3-2-1, we were off!

Mile 1 to 5 [GPS says 1:08:01 for 4.62mi]

(side note: splitting the distances here based on where the race website says aid stations are). From what Running Friend told me about this last year, she said you run a tiny bit and then funnel onto the single track and basically walk the first mile uphill. Cool. I can do that. I did do that. Fell into line and just kept with the folks in front of me. Shortly into this, I realized it was more technical than I expected. I knew it was technical, but… woof. Not sure how long it took for this to happen, but I straight up WIPED OUT sometime before hitting that first Aid Station. Landed on my knee and could almost feel the bruise appear, though luckily it wasn’t bad. Need to pick my feet up higher – noted. The people around me stopped and asked if I was okay, and I said yes, and we carried on. I think by that point we had spread out a bit more and I was trailing three runners who were friends (Dude, Blue Shirt Lady, and Pink Shirt Lady) and then there were a few more guys behind me. Pink Shirt said she was surprised she hadn’t fallen yet but it was only a matter of time, and she had already caught herself once or twice, I could hear others behind me tripping and catching themselves (we’ve all know that tripping sound of the thud and stutter steps and given the “you good?” shout without looking behind us, right?), and I saw at least one other person fall before I did. Ate a gel around 53 minutes when I realized I hadn’t eaten yet and was worried I’d already fallen behind the fuel game. I had no concept of time or distance, and it was still chilly, so remembering to eat and drink from my hydration pack was tough.

Somewhere before hitting that first Aid Station, I realized that I was unprepared for the technicality of the course, and that there was no way I’d make it through 40 miles uninjured. I mean, I’d already fallen once, and I know that my form falls apart when I’m tired and that I don’t pick my feet up as high when I’m tired – both of those individually are recipe for injury, but combined… nope. I have never in my life felt so underprepared for anything. They usually say it’s better to show up to the start undertrained than overtrained, right? FALSE, SO FALSE IN THIS CASE. Struggle City… population: me.

Mile 5 to 8 [GPS says 0:53:58 for 3.6mi; 2:02:00 for 8.22mi]

Let me be real, here: this entire race is just a big blending of aches and falling and questioning all of my life choices that led me to signing up for the 40M. Other than a few memorable things, I don’t really know what happened when because I was avoiding looking at my watch and just wanted to live, so the rest of this is pretty approximate.

I think I took my headband off and clipped it to my belt during this segment. I took the handwarmers out of my gloves and shoved them in my pack, but kept the gloves on. Hit the next aid station, which was the 8-mile finish and had room for spectators. Saw Driving Friend!!! Mugged for the camera and he got a series of silly pictures. Was feeling good but tired, gave him my vest and told him that I was definitely calling it at the 20M (which I’m sure he and Running Friend were glad about not just because of worrying that I’d get re-injured, but also because it meant they wouldn’t be stuck waiting another bazillion hours). Ate a fig netwon somewhere in here.

Mile 8 to 11 [GPS says 0:42:02 for 2.81mi; 2:44:02 for 11.03mi]

I wiped out… again. I think it was in this segment, at least. I don’t think it was before I saw Driving Friend, but I know it was relatively early. Caught myself on my forearm this time. Ow. Another fig newton, maybe a cup of heed at the aid station. Left the AS before Dude, Blue Shirt, and Pink Shirt, but they quickly caught up because my creek- and mud-crossing game is super weak. Those “white blazes” I mentioned earlier? They were white paint marks on trees. Some were fresh and close together and easy to follow. Others were faded and farther, and kinda just looked like mold. Between that and having to constantly look down and up, I led us off course. We realized pretty quickly, though, and got back to the trail. I apologized profusely, and they were really nice and told me not to worry about it – Pink Shirt told me they had come out to the course a few weeks ago to do a long run and that they had the same problem and it was really easy. Then we shared names, and talked about where we were from, what we did, race history, all that jazz that you talk about when you’re in the woods with strangers.

Mile 11 to 14 [GPS says 0:49:33 for 2.29mi; 3:33:34 for 14.32mi]

Probably fell again during this bit. I know I fell three times. Was feeling thankful that Running Friend suggested I get a pair of gaiters the week before – they kept the leaves and rocks out of my shoes and when going through mud (which wasn’t too terribly often, but when it was there, it was legit) kept the muddy grossness from sopping in over the top. Wetness got in through the shoe mesh, but no actual debris. More creek crossings, kept (successfully!) trying to avoid plowing through water. Glad to be tall, it helped me stretch and leap across rocks. I think this is probably when the gloves came off. Departed from Dude, Blue Shirt, and Pink Shirt again at the aid station. Another fig newton and more heed, and maybe a bite of an oatmeal raisin cookie and three or four potato chips?

Mile 14 to 17 [GPS says 0:55:46 for 3.22mi; 4:29:20 for 17.54mi]

Was really starting to get tired, my quads were hurting and my ankles were tired and I could feel my Achilles. I wouldn’t say my Achilles was (were? Both feet) hurting, just… I was aware that it existed and was being used more than usual. Another fig newton. Realized I should be eating and drinking more, and I was overheating. Just kept moving.

Holy cow. Mile 16 was the biggest hill of my life. I didn’t think it would ever end. I just kept looking up and could see people still climbing up ahead of me. All I wanted was for them to disappear into the abyss, because that meant it either flattened out or went down… it just. Didn’t. Happen. Quads were burning. So many choice words were being screaming in my head. Just kept thinking of the cookies I’d eat at the end. At this point, I think I started seeing some of the first 40M runners on their trip back, flying. Was also getting passed by some fast 20M runners. Lots of cheers, encouragement, and passing courtesy between everyone.

Mile 17 to 20 [GPS says 0:43:11 for 2.35mi; 5:12:32 for 19.89mi]

Was so happy at the AS. Drank some more heed, some water, a few more chips, and rolled out towards the end. Eventually, Dude, Blue Shirt, and Pink Shirt caught back up to me. I was reeeeeally moving slowly at this point. I let them pass, and kept moving. Was just focused on cookies. Oh, and finishing, I guess. Heard one of the returning 40M’s say “you’ve got about a mile” to someone who was a bit in front of me. Put my head down and kept grinding. Ran across the finish, hugged Driving Friend, then found a volunteer to tell her that I was finished. She was really nice and asked if I was sure, and if I wanted to take a few minutes to eat soup and PB&J and rehydrate and decide. LOLNO. DONEZO. I told her no thank you, that I was sure I wanted to drop because I was coming back from an injury and wouldn’t be able to finish, and that the RD told me that I should just be sure to tell a volunteer I was DNFing so that they didn’t send a search party out for me when I didn’t get marked off as passing through any more aid stations. Wished Dude, Blue Shirt, and Pink Shirt luck before moving to the side to wait for Running Friend.

Post-Race

Finish time was 5:12:32, with the Garmin giving me a distance of 19.89 miles. I’m really surprised that it was so close to the full 20 considering that the GPS typically shorts you on trails… though I did add that minor detour. Elevation gain of 2662ft total. Running Friend finished shortly after me, and absolutely crushed her previous year’s time by half an hour. We got cookies and food, sat and stretched for a minute, took pictures, and then went to the car to change into non-sweaty clothes and eat the snacks we had pre-bought for ourselves. Driving Friend’s car got stuck in the mud, so Running Friend and I had to push the car while he navigated out. Seriously?!? Then we felt super awesome because we ran 20 miles on trails and still had the strength to push a Rav4. Come home, washed my muddy clothes, ate an awesome dinner and drank hot chocolate, passed out, then had a lazy Sunday before going back to real life.

Feelings. I have so many. But no crying this time! I’m really disappointed and feel like a quitter for not doing the 40M as I had originally intended on registration day. However, I believe I made a smart decision. I’d rather be bummed and uninjured with a voluntary DNF than bummed and injured with a forced DNF (or a pain-filled finish), especially from a non-goal race. It wasn’t worth risking a DNS for any of the other long races planned for this spring – DNSing Philly was absolutely devastating, and I didn’t want to repeat that. I was definitely sore when I crossed the 20M… had it been a marathon or maybe a 50K, or not as technical, I might have kept going and struggled through it. But to run double the distance, when you’re already hurting at the halfway? Those uphills were brutal, as were the downhills… and I’d have to take them in the opposite direction going back. There was absolutely no way that I’d be able to finish without getting hurt – my general lack of coordination + tiredness + sloppy exhausted form would be a recipe for disaster. I’m relatively happy with my performance considering I’ve been pretty low-mileage since the strain, and was really not trained up for trails. From race reports of others about this course, people have said that you can estimate your 20M finish time by taking your marathon PR and adding half an hour. That came out to exactly what Running Friend finished in last year, so I had that in the back of my mind as a “goal” for the race. Definitely didn’t happen and felt mehhhh about it at first, but in talking to a friend who asked how the race went, I had a big reality check. I think because the past few races I’ve trained for as goal races have been marathons and 50k’s and I had originally had my eyes on 40M for this, my perception of distance is totally distorted, making 20M seem like it isn’t a big deal... but it definitely is.

What’s Next

To be honest, I don’t know that I would have been prepared for the 40M even if I had been 100% healthy. I had trained on some single track trails elsewhere but they were nowhere near as hilly and as technical as this. I knew it was a tough course, but I think that I just figured I’d go slow and would be fine. WOOF. After the race, Running Friend said she wants to try the 40M next year. I said no. Well… maybe said a few more choice words than just “no” but that was the gist of it. However, 24 hours later, I’m already thinking about how to better prepare for the race next year so that I can destroy my 20M time. Not quite ready to tackle the 40M. Marathon in a few weeks that I’m taking as a training run, ultras later in the spring, and planning on running by feel the next few months with one workout and one long run per week, aiming to maintain 35-40mpw. When it starts to get nice, maybe after the marathon, I’d like to up the mileage to hover around 50mpw again like when I was following Uncle Pete’s 12/55 for Marine Corps. I might let weather dictate distance on different days and run by feel rather than following a set plan, and maybe throw some short doubles in there. I got a deferral for Philly in the fall since I had a doctor’s note about the strain, so I’m thinking that in the summer I’ll transition to a more stringent plan, probably Pfitz 12/55 again (or maybe 18/55) and make another attempt at breaking 4:00 for the marathon.

TL;DR: Technical trail. Smart decision to stop at 20 miles. Slow and with a few solid falls and scrapes. No injuries. Pushed a car out of mud. Cookies were delicious.