Re:New Years Resolution Rendevous Run!

Some impressions of our rendezvous...

Run Around the Gorge: One Skinny B in Double-U Vee

Photo credit: Matthew Eluk (thanks Matt!)

My wife and I headed over several mountains and deep into the heart of (former) coal country this weekend to celebrate our anniversary by doing the second annual Run Around the Gorge.

I’ll put the punchline first here: Do it next year.

Mark Lattanzi, an accomplished adventure racer and unbelievable host, has set a course in and around the New River Gorge that is an awesome mixture of rail to trail, shag trail, contouring rollers, uphill, downhill, and country roads (total breakdown is 46 k of trails and 16k of country roads).   The weekend is more “running retreat” than race, depending on what your mentality is.  It is 100% the most beautiful course I’ve run to date and is a fantastic bridge weekend for those looking to move to longer distance (ask my wife Heather who had a blast this weekend) and a killer training weekend for those of us who love to go real long. 

The weekend centers around the opossum creek resort, which *you run back to each day* after starting at two different trailheads.  The resort is quiet and the accommodations are beautiful  and nestled privately in the woods (our cabin had its own hot tub, yes, you read that correctly).  

Heading in:

This weekend was the apex of my high mileage week, and it was a test to see if I could maintain a steady, quick pace after the several months of much higher turnover workouts (including the potentially infamous Skinny B workouts).   I also wanted to check in with myself mentally before I toe the starting line at the Lithia Loop trail marathon in two weeks which sees some serious trailblazing (2:40 was Max King’s winning time last year).   In other words,  I had set myself to run fast and see how it would last.

The Weekend:

Friday night kicks off with a pizza party, friendly outgoing runners, beer, wine, and a very laid back race brief (the best kind).   We headed out the trailhead Saturday for a 24 mile run, beginning with some flat rail trail spiced with a dash of technical downhill.  Yes, please, I’ll have seconds.  We then climbed up a country road into old mining territory and along contouring trails with a full sweeping vista of the gorge as we ran through miles of shag.   We then dumped back onto an impossibly switch-backed country road leading up a wall of pavement too steep to be believed.  The last quarter mile was a rip-roaring trail back to the cabins.  I ran out in front after the first couple of miles and very narrowly edged out two awesome (and very fast) adventure racers & ultra runners Kristin Eddy and Scott Pleban.   Day 1, 24 miles, 3:05.  Recovery included a massage from a therapist on site, hot tub, and smores.  Yes, indeed.

Sunday was a little colder at the start, and it was staged so that the last runner from Saturday started first.  It was awesome to see everyone  over the first several miles of the course and kiss my wife on the way down into the gorge and then the steady hard climb up Beauty Mountain.    It was a technical climb at points, but steady, and I was ready to turn it on so I blasted it up the mountain and out onto a connector gravel road.   The second half of Sunday presents a runner with a choice of the “adventure trail” which has bouldering and ladders, or I guess what could be called the “bobsled run” a very fast, spectacular trail along the rim of the gorge and plunging through rhododendron on your way back to the cabins. Day 2, 16 miles, 2:14.

Photo credit: Kristin Eddy (awesome running!)

The Skinny:

This run is a blast, and a HUGE value when you add up all meals, aid, marked course, transport to start, accommodation  (refer to hot tubs above) , beer, wine, sodas, water, fleece, finisher medal, prizes…it is really amazing.   Add that to the camaraderie of a small group of runners, running back to your cabin site, and the fall colors it is an awesome experience.  There is a ton to do in the area with mountain biking & hiking galore, and most everyone was there with their spouse (though we were the only couple that both ran).

Interested?  Mark your calendar now!

Next year's race will be 26-28 October 2012. Saturday will be a full marathon and Sunday will be 12-13 miles.  Check the website for results and info for next year will be posted in several months time…

http://www.runaroundthegorge.com/

Byrom Park Inaugural Run Sunday, August 21st

I've gotten final word that Byrom Park will officially open Friday, August 19th! 

If you are interested, I'll be "hosting" an inaugural run out there Sunday, August 21st at 7a. 

There will be a map posted in the kiosk and there *should* be 8.5”x11” maps at the kiosk as well.  There will be a 5-6 mi loop and a couple of 1-2 mile long "dead ends" that should hopefully whet your appetite for what is to come.  We can run every bit of it and then if some of you would like to double the loop, I'd be game.  Expect a run (with climbing) of about 8-12 miles, though you could always triple the loop for 18-20 mile run.

As usual, you will be responsible for your hyrdation (Bring a handheld or two) and navigation (grab a map at the start).

I have put directions at the end of this email, and it should take about 45 minutes driving from Greenberry's if y'all would like to meet up at 6:10a there to carpool.  I'd love for someone to bring an accurate GPS as well so we can figure out how close we can get to SNP/AT. 

I hope you will be able to join me, and I'm looking forward to it!
-Mike

Directions to Byrom:

Byrom Forest Preserve Park

6610 Blackwells Hollow Road

Crozet, VA 22932

Directions from town (takes approximately 45 minutes):

1.       Follow Garth Road to the Piedmont Store

2.      Go around the curve to the right onto Rt. 810 (do not go straight up to Sugar Hollow)

3.      Follow Rt. 810 for 7.8 miles and parking area is on the left

Sophie's Summer Death March (SSDM)

This past Saturday Sophie Speidel hosted a group run at White Oak Canyon in the Shenandoah National Park.  The course was a slightly changed version of the popular VHTRC event  Vicki's Death March that takes places in the winter. Of course, if VHTRCs' ambassador calls, many cool trail peeps come together because they know that this will be a guarantee for a fun and good organized run.

Shortly after Drew, Nick and I arrived at the lower parking lot of the White Oak Canyon trail many others followed so that we soon filled up the parking lot and had about 45 (!) people gathered. People came from a multitude of places: Lynchburg, Harrisonburg, D.C., Richmond, Charlottesville, Morgantown WV....

Quickly we came together for the obligatory "before" picture:

45+ Runners of at least three clubs (VHTRC, CAT, WVMTR)

Sophie gave out maps and turn sheets that looked very straightforward and manageable. We took a quick look at the info and off we were....

Lots of climbing shortly after we started...

oh yeah, did I mention climbing?

 Little pace groups formed pretty quickly, the fastest being lead by Sabrina Moran and Neal Gorman. The weather was moderately warm in the beginning and trails were mostly shaded. Later in the day it got hotter and more humid, carrying a 70 oz plus a 21oz hand bottle was a good choice. The trail offered stunning views and varying terrain..

Who would want to run roads if you can have this?

...off course towards Fishers Gap

Marc Griffin, Jack Broaddus and Jared "from Lynchburg" and I were cruisin' down the mountain enjoying the technical trail, stopped briefly to verify our direction and kept going.... until we ended up on a Fishers Gap parking lot - not where we should have been (5mi north on Hawksbill Gap). Oh well. After looking for trail markers, consulting a hiker and the map we took the AT north towards Hawksbill. About 3/4 of the way at another intersection we ran into Matt Bugin and Holly Baker who also got lost.
We had hoped to make it to Skyland Lodge in time to meet at least some slower runners of our group but didn't. Upon asking an older lady at a cash register if they had seen runners she just replied "Runners?.... oh yeah, I've seen runners.. lots of them! But that was about 30mins ago." Anyways, after re-fueling we decided to take a short cut on White Oak canyon fire road to be back at base in time for the party. ...and we made it! We actually ended up with the same mileage as the planned route:
Distance: 25.53 mi | Elevation Gain: 5,572 ft | Moving time: 5:08hrs

Tailgate with lots of good foods and tales from the trail

It was a fantastic day with many old and new friends and good times on and off trail. Thanks again Sophie for hosting this great event, I am sure many of us will make it a regular event to attend to.



Q's pictures of the VHTRC trifecta:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/qhubbard/sets/72157627137419294/

Sabrina Moran's blogpost:
http://notallergictoadventure.blogspot.com/2011/07/sophies-death-march.html 

Phil Turk's blogpost:
http://philipturk.blogspot.com/2011/07/death-marches-loops-and-appalachian.html

Harry Landers Memorial Trail Run

The gang before the run

Report from David and Christian
(see links to other reports from the day below. All pictures are by Sophie Speidel).

Last Saturday was Sophie's "Harry Landers Special/Wildcat-Rip Rap run 2011." This 21+ mile loop begins and ends at Sugar Hollow Reservoir and takes you over and down the west side of the Shenandoahs along a beautiful path to a "super secret swimming hole" before returning. With 20+ signups on her FB page for the event, and talk of a post-run picnic that included Knob Creek, Sophie's plan promised an exciting day. And it did not disappoint.

Christian and I rolled in to the Sugar Hollow parking lot at 6:45 am. The parking lot was already teeming with runners awaiting the exciting day. The crowd included folks from different corners of Virginia and beyond, including Jenny Nichols from down in Bristol, lots of VHTRCers and WUS runners from DC, Marc Griffin from Waynesboro, and Neal, Quattro and Gary from the Richmond area. Sabrina Moran was there too, hailing from as far away as New Jersey(?)! From Charlottesville, we had both CAT and Boston Bound runners, including the run's namesake, Harry Landers.

Sophie & Jenny at Chimney Rock

The weather was overcast and mild as we started off. The runners quickly broke into groups by speed and Christian was nice enough to hang back "in the middle" with me. The climb up the North Fork Moormans River trail included knee-deep creek crossings and lots of beautiful glimpses of the Moormans River. At Blackrock Gap, VHTRCer Marlin Yoder join the group after coming up the west side of the mountain from Harrisonburg. The only downer for me for the day was I didn't appreciate that we still had a 2.5 mile uphill jaunt on the AT south before getting to the RipRap trail. From running this section of the AT before, I had this vision that the Rip-rap trail was right across the road from the Blackrock Gap clearing. Wrong!

Once to RipRap, it was smooth and beautiful running, first along the ridge looking out over the valley, from Chimney Rock and other great vantage points, and then down the "hollow" trail, past the 20 ft Waterfall, and finally to the swimming hole. On the way, we began to pass larger and larger stands of mountain laurel in full bloom. The flowering laurel were remarkably beautiful, creating this sensation of being in a popcorn forest, but with a much more pleasant smell than popcorn (five years at popcorn-crazed Indiana University made me hate the smell of popcorn).

Like a trail from a fairy tale, Mountain Laurel in full bloom

Meanwhile, Sophie -- splendid event hostess that she was -- had busied herself running back and forth to the different speed groups to make sure everybody was OK. By the time Christian and I arrived at the swimming hole, Sophie had set up shop as the pool photographer, snapping pictures of each of us as we dunked our heads in the crystal clear, but chilly, water.

"Super secret swimming hole" cool-off

The day's excitement came as Christian and I continued down the Riprap trail from the swimming hole. Coming towards us via a heavy rustling in the bushes was . . . Gary Knipling, all sweaty, scratched, and smiling. Confused, since we thought Gary was behind us, we learned that, "It's a long story, but I got separated from the group, and I am OK, so please relay that message." After chatting with us a little longer, Gary headed back towards the swimming hole in search of the rest of his party, but not before saying, "Watch out for the flourescent orange salamanders. I saw a couple and they are beautiful creatures, so please be sure not to step on them!".

Shortly after meeting Gary, we arrived at the Wildcat trail for the 2.5 mile run/power walk back up to the AT, where Sophie and husband Rusty had the night before stashed water. From there, it was all familiar territory, with the fun downhill segments on Turk Branch Trail and the South Fork Moormans River Trail .

We arrived back at the parking lot to find Neal, Gary from Richmond, and Jenny Nichols hanging out; the faster crew and others had already left, while the large group of VHTRCers behind us had stopped to swim at Blue Hole. We shared fried chicken and good stories (but no Knob Creek, unfortunately) with Jenny, Gary, and Neal before heading out.

All in all, this was a wonderful, wonderful trail day. Big thanks to Sophie for doing such a great job!

-- David

Christian adds:

I think David's report covered the day pretty well, so just a few remarks. This was my return-to-the-mountains debut after a stress fracture in February and it couldn't have been better. Being "off" running makes you appreciate the trails and mountains a lot more and thankful for being able to do this. It was awesome to run with so many different peeps from all over VA and a few other states.

Other Harry-Landers-run links:

Garmin output from Christian and David's run:
Harry Landers Memorial Run by cdahlhausen at Garmin Connect - Details

Sophie Speidel's report:
http://shiningsultra.blogspot.com/2011/06/if-you-build-it.html

Sabrina Moran's report:
http://notallergictoadventure.blogspot.com/2011/05/sophenator-et-al.html

Jennifer Nichols' report:
http://jendenichols.blogspot.com/2011/05/rip-rap-wild-cat-21-mi-run.html

Ultrarunnergirl:
http://ultrarunnergirl.blogspot.com/2011/05/loveliest-trail.html

Monalto Saturday, Three Ridges Sunday: good climbs, good times

I posted a report of our adventure at Three Ridges, as well as the Montalto Challenge 5K, on my blog here.

We had a great time and hope to get back to Three Ridges in June or July---it is a 14 mile loop, perfect distance for someone looking to increase their mountain trail miles gradually and get some good climbing in. Plus the swimming holes are awesome! Afterward we can go to Devils Backbone or Blue Mountain Brewery for brunch.

Thanks for joining us, Drew and Nick! Hope you had fun running with the big dogs!

Western Albemarle Gravel Roads Run

While Sophie and other were climbing up Montalto on Saturday, Kendall and I took a nice tour some gravel roads in western Albemarle County. Smaller loops on these roads would make for a nice weeknight training run. Kendall and I would love to get a group run together out here in the fall with lunch at the Batesville Store following the run.

We started out at the Victory Hill Church of God off of US 250 at the Crozet exit of I-64. Heading east, the road  quickly turns to gravel as we encounter the first hill of the day. I knew we were in for rolling hills all day long, but as soon as we got to the first one, we knew we were in for a hard day of running. The first 2/3 of the run are nicely shaded by trees lining the road. Occasionally the view would open up as we passed by a field to spectacular views of the Blue Ridge. At any given time we could see from south of Humpback Mountain to well north of Calf Mountain and Jarman Gap.

Turning onto (the popular with runners) Dick Woods Road, we quickly picked up a pair of four legged running companions. Hoping they'd turn around after a few house, we kept running with our new canine friends in tow. Well, a couple of houses soon turned into several miles miles. Our golden retriever friend latched onto a couple walking in the other direction (that had managed to pick up a traveling canine friend of their own), but the Boxer wouldn't let us out of her sight. As we ran up and down White Mountain Road, the conversation turned to who was going to have a new playmate for their dog at home. Let me tell you, this was one fit Boxer. She kept up with us for 12.5 miles only stopping for water twice. Now before you accuse us of dog napping, we flagged down several cars and stopped at an Episcopal church to ask for help in getting "Buddy" back to her home. Our plan became to make it with her into Batesville where hopefully some one at the Store would be at least king enough to watch her until we got back to the car and could drive her home. She turned out to be a good running companion only causing trouble on the paved sections of Batesville and Craigs Store roads where we'd have to shoo her out of the way of on coming cars (the leash we fashioned for her out of twine didn't last very long).

As we rounded the corner and walked across the one lane bridge into Batesville and made our way towards the Police car managing traffic for the Batesville Day Parade, a guy with a Golden Retriever calls out, "there's my dog." So that concludes Buddy's story, but our run was still 8 miles from being done. We stopped in the Batesville Store, to refuel (lemonade and ginger snaps for me) but didn't stick around for the parade or "Legendary Folk Singer Rusty Speidel." The next part of the run was more exposed to the sun as it  took us behind the Miller School on a nice long leg-stretching downhill on Pounding Creek Road. With every downhill comes and uphill and we had several more rolling hills before topping out on Midway Road. One last drop down to a stream, almost getting bitten by a not-so-friendly dog, and back up again, the gravel turned back to pavement and we were back at the car.

A good day in country side. A short drive from Charlottesville and miles and miles of low/no traffic rolling unpaved country roads.

The details:

24 miles / 2400' of climbing / 19.5 miles of gravel road

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4487682

written by Blake

Sunday Training Run This Week (May 8th)

In addition to Sophie's mountain run -- meant only for runners with extensive mountain mileage and races under their belts -- Christian and David will be back at the Park for a more "traditional" RT run that starts at 8 am.

The run will be a relatively short run of 4 to 6 miles, with opportunities for varying speed groups. This is a perfect run for those CAT members who have been dormant these last months because of injury, time pressures, or other conflicts.

So longtime friends that have felt left out because of the long mileage runs: Please come rejoin us this Sunday!

We also plan to invite some new runners to this run and maybe meet up at Greenberry's for coffee and food immediately after the run.

Hope to see you at the Park parking lot at 8 am!

Rip Rap/Wildcat Loop 1.5 times

Yesterday, Rebecca and I got to enjoy the extremely nice weather on a tour of the Riprap/Wildcat trail loop that branches off the AT inside the Shenandoah National Park. The loop was Rebecca's idea. I had never done it before and couldn't believe how beautiful it turned out to be, especially the rocky ridge run that then descends down to the gorge, waterfall, and swimming hole.

Our goal was to do the loop twice for about 19 miles, but time constraints and some tired feet and butt (mine) gave Rebecca the idea to stop at the swimming hole on the second go-around, soak sore extremities/trunk, and then head back up the way we came.

So we ended up doing just under 16 miles with 3,788 feet in elevation gain.

By the way, haven't we seen pictures of this swimming hole before via Sophie? It is heaven!

Rockfish Gap to Turk Branch Gap Out and Back- Sunday Run

For this week’s edition of the CAT Sunday run, Joey and I met at Rockfish Gap at 8a.m. We were looking at blue bird skies, and hopefully a morning of great running…or, at least great running weather. Joey was coming off 18 miles on Saturday on the Rip Rap trail, while I had done a more modest 12 at Walnut Creek. Either way, we were thinking we would be feeling a bit heavy legged, especially on the immediate climb from Rockfish Gap to McCormick Gap.

Given our tired legs, we both agreed that today would be a nice relaxed pace. With that in mind, Joey started us off towards McCormick Gap. While I enjoy running this section of trail, I never really care for running it right off the bat. I would certainly prefer having a nice warm-up before the double whammy of climbing and technical trail, but be it as it may, this route doesn’t give one that luxury. Aside from a catching our feet here and there, this section was nice and smooth. It was great to be moving along the trails as Waynesboro, to the west, started waking up.

* * *

I always take great pleasure in runs such as this one where you start in a high traffic area (literally starting from Hwy 64 with Waynesboro within ear shot) and hearing the sounds of cars slowly give way to birds chirping, trickling water and wind blowing through the trees. I feel this transition period of entering a more tranquil environment helps me slip into a more relaxed mindset and excites me for the day’s run.

* * *

By the time we arrived at McCormick Gap, we were warmed up and decided to keep moving towards Beagle Gap. It practically seemed like the next thing I knew, we were at Turk Branch Gap. Once at Turk, we refueled and took a look at our watches- 2:06. Joey sarcastically remarked, “Negative Split?” which was laughable because we both were really starting to feel the effects of the weeks’ mileage. The more immediate goal was to make it back to the cars before the wheels came completely off! And with that, we started the slog back to Rockfish Gap.

The return trip was difficult, but again, it just sort of went by, and like that we were again back on the section between McCormick and Rockfish Gap. We were both ready for the run to be over and were met with great relief when the intersection with Skyline Drive appeared. We plodded down the parkway and back to the cars. I stopped my watch and was quite surprised to see 4:07. We apparently got our negative split, which we laughed about. I certainly didn’t feel like I was running too strong, so I’m going to chalk this effort up to some lingering effects from the super moon the night before.

It was a great day to be running up in the mountains!

Congratulations to Neal for his BQ

Congratulations to fellow CAT(R) Neal Church for getting his Boston Marathon qualifying time in 3:28 at the Shamrock Marathon!

Neal is a tough dog CAT who deserved it well and worked hard for it.

Way to go Neal!

Sunday Group Run 03/20/11: Rockfish Gap to Turk Branch Gap

For anyone looking to get out into the mountains this weekend, I'll be running on Sunday at 8:00 a.m. from Rockfish Gap. My plan is to run from Rockfish to Turk Branch Gap and back. Round trip, this should be around 24 miles, I believe.

Please don't feel like you can't come out if you aren't going to run 24 miles. Instead, look at it that I'm willing to run up to 24 miles with anyone! If you'd like to run less, you can turn around earlier. This section of the Appalachian Trail offers a great variety of trail and some great views. Not to mention, it looks like it's going to be a great day to be up in the mountains on Sunday.

If you are planning on running, please comment on this post or email me directly, so I know how many runners to expect.

Drew

Sugar Hollow Loop Group Run 03/13

Rebecca, Drew, David and I met up at Greenberry's at 7.30 to carpool to Sugar Hollow. Since my injury wouldn't be happy running, I decided to join them by mountain bike. It was a gorgeous day and you definitely could smell and see that the spring is just around the corner. After getting ready for the trail we took off on the North Fork Moorman’s Trail up to Blackrock Summit after the Skyline drive. The rain a few days before made some parts of the trail look like a creek. So we had to run on the shoulder a bit. The Moormans river had a refreshing temperature and cooled us off up to the knees each time we crossed it. Mountain Biking was not as fun as running but was a good mountain time.

Some pictures:


David adds: After Christian turned around, Rebecca, Drew, and I continued up the trail to Blackrock Summit. The weather was spectacular, making for great views of the Shenandoah Valley, Massanutten, and surrounding scenery.

From Blackrock Summit, Rebecca headed back down the North Fork trail to minimize potential IT problems that day. Drew and I continued south on the AT, with Drew being so gracious to stay with me at my -- hopefully improving -- speed. We passed lots of dayhikers and weekend backpackers on our way and it was overall a perfect running day, with temps hovering in the low to mid 60s. As we neared Turk Branch Trail -- our return trail -- we came across a giant doe (deer from Amazonia?) that jumped in front of us on the trail. No bear, although there are signs up this year warning that the area near Turk Gap is very bear-friendly.

We finished by returning on the South Fork Trail to Sugar Hollow -- with a few more refreshing Moormans crossings -- at about 1:15 pm for 20.4 miles in about 5 hours. Overall, a great day of mountain running. Here is my Garmin report:

Training Group Run Sunday, 03/13

This Sunday we are thinking of heading back to the mountains for a Sugar Hollow Loop run. The plan is to run north on the North Fork Moorman’s Trail up to Skyline Drive, then north to Blackrock Summit, before turning around and heading south on the AT to Turk Branch Trail down to the South Fork Moorman’s trail back to the start. The roundtrip would be about 20 miles (The route is approximately 2 miles longer than the one mapped above because we are adding a climb to Blackrock summit.).

We will meet at the main parking area just west of the reservoir at 8:00 am (Remember the time change to Daylight Savings!) to start the run. I believe Drew, Rebecca, and I are in. Who else would like to join?