958.36 miles run My lowest mileage year since 2016
I started the year with a hip injury that kept me from running for almost two full months. It actually turned out to be degenerative damage so I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to run pain-free again. I was so relieved when after a couple of months of rest and physical therapy, I was able to run again. The pain eventually went away too. Now it’s just like my knee pain: it comes and goes. In addition to my injury, it was just a stressful year in general. Brian and I moved from Charlottesville, Virginia (which had been my home since 2005) to Athens, Georgia. The actual move was a nightmare that had us paying rent for a flea-infested house while living in a series of hotels and Airbnbs with our three cats for more than two months. Those months coincided with me not being able to run (my primary form of stress relief) and us having to have our beloved cat Pippi put to sleep. Once I was able to, we did a lot of low-key running while exploring the Georgia mountains, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I love spending hours out on the trails but I’m not as interested in actually training as I used to be. Lately, I prefer the runs where we spend some time at the overlooks and stop for a swim along the way.
Georgia mountains:
Bartrom Trail in AprilAppalachian Trail in AprilAmicolola State Park in MayBartram Trail in MayBartram Trail in JulyBlood Mountain on the AT in AugustPanther Falls in August (a great swimming hole!)Chatsworth, GA in OctoberChattooga River Trail in OctoberRabun Bald in NovemberYonah Mountain in DecemberAppalachian Trail in December
Two Races in 2023:
Marigold 10k (May 13, 2023)
Mystery Mountain Marathon (October 8, 2023)
Despite the low mileage, 2023 ended up being a pretty decent year for running. How can I complain when we got to spend so much time exploring the mountains of our new home state?
The Oboz Trail Experience is a challenge to hike or run a certain number of predetermined local(ish) trails within a month. With only seven locations this year, I was surprised that Charlottesville made the cut (among the likes of Bozeman, MT, Burlington, VT, and Fort Collins, CO.) I’m assuming it’s because a new Public Lands just opened here.
Total distance varied by location. For Charlottesville, there were 22 trail segments totaling 101.52 miles to be completed within the month of October. It’s free to sign up and all you have to do is connect an Activity Tracking account and the website updates automatically once you complete a segment. The trail segments ranged from 1.76 miles to 13.29 miles. Some are flat and relatively easy and some are mountainous and technical. The combined elevation gain for all 101.52 miles was 30,516 feet.
I was worried about the technical aspect (figuring out how to connect and sync my Garmin) because it’s not something I’m great at, but it was easy and everything went (relatively) smoothly.
I can’t upload (download? I’m clueless.) maps to my Garmin, and the challenge did seem to assume that you could do that. I had to put some effort into figuring out where I was actually supposed to go once I was out there. Luckily, I was familiar with all but two of the trails. But the exact route I needed to take for the challenge often differed from the one(s) I usually take. I ended up with a few bonus miles as a result, but that just added to the challenge.
It was fun to monitor everyone’s progress on the Oboz Trail Experience website. There is a map of all of the included trail segments that switch from red to green once you complete them. You can click on each participant’s name and see their map and which trails they’ve completed. There’s also a Facebook page where you can share pictures, ask questions and interact with other participants.
Oboz and Public Lands donate $10 to local nonprofits (Ivy Creek Foundation, Rivanna Trails Foundation, and Shenandoah National Park Trust for the Charlottesville one) every time someone completes an associated promoted trail segment.
There are also several promoted trail segments that you get prizes for completing. I think you pick them up at Public Lands, but I haven’t done that yet. I’m trying very hard not to accumulate things I don’t need. One of the prizes was a pair of Farm to Feet socks that I could actually use, so I may try to pick them up at some point.
I ran most of the segments but did some hiking too. Running isn’t allowed at Ivy Creek so I had to hike that one. Once I started the challenge, my competitive edge took over and I wanted to finish as quickly as I could. Since I don’t usually run every day and was worried I would end up injured if I did, I hiked some of the segments so I could complete more of them each week.
The only bad thing about this challenge is all of the driving involved. I’ve cut way back on how much I drive for environmental and economic reasons. I typically only need to fill my gas tank once a month at most. I was filling it weekly during the challenge.
Getting out on so many trails did wonders for my mental health though. I may need to let go of some of the guilt and drive to more trails. Trail running makes me happy.
The challenge got me back to some of my favorite trails that I haven’t been to in a while. I loved watching the sunrise from Turk mountain.
Walnut Creek used to be my favorite place to run and I hadn’t been there in over a year.
It also got me out on trails that I love but tend to avoid running on because they’re so technical (Three Ridges and Riprap/Wildcat.)
Three RidgesRiprap/Wildcat
I always try to run Riprap/Wildcat in the spring when the Rhododendrons are blooming but it is equally spectacular in the fall.
Overall, I didn’t run more miles than I normally would have during the challenge, but I did run more trail miles. I also did more hiking and a lot more climbing.
The sections of the Rivanna Trail included in the challenge made me realize that I really should take advantage of it more than I do. The Rivanna Trail is a twenty-mile singletrack loop around Charlottesville. It’s a great perk that I tend to take for granted.
Rivanna Trail
There was an afterparty at Public Lands with free food and Oboz shoe giveaways. I was in Montebello getting ready to run Mountain Masochist that night, so I wasn’t able to attend. Although if I’m being honest, I wouldn’t have gone anyway. Social things are hard.
The Blue Ridge Double Marathon has intrigued me for years.
I registered for it in 2018, but wasn’t able to train much that winter and ended up dropping down to the marathon. I registered again in 2020, but Covid happened and it was canceled. I deferred my entry to 2021. The race was held in 2021, but I still didn’t feel ready to attend such a large event in person, so I deferred again to 2022.
This time I finally made it to the start.
The logistics for the double are weird. You are essentially running two separate marathons and you need to make sure you finish the first one in time to start the second one at 7:35 sharp. You have the option of starting the first marathon at either 1:00 a.m. or 2:30 a.m. They recommend the 1:00 start for runners who plan to finish in about 6 hours and the 2:30 start for runners who plan to finish in less than 5 hours. I figured I would be somewhere in between. I had run the marathon three times before with finishing times of 4:15, 4:40, and 4:53. I was anticipating 5:00 to 5:30 would feel like an easy, sustainable pace for the first lap. I’m in much better shape than I was the last time I ran the marathon, so I was actually thinking a 5 hour pace would feel pretty easy. I definitely didn’t want to be stressed out about not finishing in time to make it to the start of the second marathon though, so I signed up to start at 1. It’s a good thing that I did. I wouldn’t have made it back in time if I had started at 2:30.
One o’clock in the morning is an odd time to start a race. I decided to treat it like a normal morning start and wake up two hours beforehand for coffee and cereal, and to (hopefully) use the bathroom. From reading other race reports, that’s not the way most people did it. Some stayed up all night, others slept for a few hours, but didn’t wake up early for coffee and breakfast.
I got into bed at 7 p.m., probably fell asleep around 8 and our alarms went off at 11. I didn’t feel as horrible as I thought I would. Our Airbnb was on the top floor of an old three-story house less than a half-mile from Elmwood park (where the race start/finish was). It had a cool little window nook that overlooked the city, which was a great place to sit and drink my coffee.
Starting in the wee-est hour of the morning meant there was no line for the port-a-johns and they were sparkly clean. I’m pretty sure I was the first one to use mine. I know I was the first to use the toilet paper.
Getting ready for marathon #1
The first lap is self-supported (meaning you have to carry all the food and water you will need.) There were a few people along the course checking bib numbers to make sure everyone completed the entire course, but there wasn’t anyone giving directions and the roads weren’t closed. Even though we were told it was completely self-supported, they ended up having a few places where we could fill up on water and grab a banana. I was carrying two liters of watered-down Nuun, two Clif bars, 1 Clif nut butter bar, a Health Warrier chia bar, and a Lara Bar.
I had downloaded the RunGo app that was supposed to give us turn-by-turn directions along the course. I’ve run the first 15 miles of the course many times over the years as training runs and know it well, but 2018 was the last time I’d run the entire course and I had zero confidence I would know where to go. I had looked at the map, but the course is confusing and I hadn’t come close to memorizing it. I was actually pretty worried that I would get lost.
I met up with George (and Marie) who I had spoken with briefly about the race via social media but had never met in person. It was their first time doing the double, too.
First lap:
It was a humid but comfortable 58 degrees as we headed out for our first marathon. During training runs, and every time I’ve run the Blue Ridge Marathon, I have run almost all of the way up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, but this time I started taking walking breaks much earlier. I wanted to be very conservative for this first marathon.
George and Marie were running nearby and we kept passing each other. Generally, I would pass them on the inclines and they would pass me back on the downhills.
It was so nice and peaceful up past Mill Mountain. I had been really excited about being up on the Parkway and seeing the stars. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the mountains at night to see the stars. But it was cloudy, so that was not to be. There was a bright orange glow in the clouds from the nearly-full moon, though. And the cloud cover was high enough that the view of the city was pretty spectacular.
View from the top of Roanoke Mountain
I was fully enjoying the sound of the wind in the trees, the heady smell of flowering trees, and how good it felt to finally be doing this thing that I’ve been thinking about doing for years.
I was having trouble with my RunGo app, though. I thought that I had started it at the beginning but apparently, I had not. I eventually got it turned on and calibrated, but it kept telling me I had gone off course. I knew I was not off course. I was with a bunch of other runners on the part of the course that I knew well. When it didn’t tell me to turn left to go up to Mill Mountain, I pulled out my phone and realized that the app had turned off. Maybe from being jostled in my pack? Maybe it had given up on me because it thought I’d been off-course the entire time? I turned it back on. From that point on, it told me my pace every mile but never once told me when to turn. I had to rely on the course markings, which were smallish arrows painted on the road.
This stressed me out because I was heading into, the second half of the course which was the part I wasn’t sure about. There were a couple of places where I wasn’t sure where to go, but I always guessed right. For the most part, the course was pretty easy to follow as long as you paid attention. It also helped that I had run the marathon three times before and had a general idea of where I should go.
I had also really been looking forward to running by the Mill Mountain star all lit up, but it was turned off when I went by. The volunteer who was up there said she’d been disappointed when she realized it wasn’t on, too. I later learned that the lights shut off at 11 p.m. every night.
Brian found me a few miles before the finish line.
I could usually see at least another runner or two, but there were a few miles where I was completely on my own. I kept my pace slow and energy-wise I felt great the whole time. About 4 miles from the finish line, the inside of my left knee started hurting, though. The pain wasn’t terrible. I could still run, but it worried me.
About two miles from the finish line, I drank the last of my Nuun.
I didn’t feel too bad when I crossed the finish line. I was worried about my knee, but I’d kept my pace easy enough that another marathon seemed reasonable granted my knee cooperated.
Between the marathons
I had just over an hour from the time I finished the first marathon until the start of the second one. Brian was at the finish line with my bag of clothing and snacks. First, I gave him my watch to charge. Then I used a port-a-john. I had to wait in a (very short) line this time! I was a little surprised by how many people were already there for the other races an hour before the start. I decided to walk over to the conference rooms the race had reserved for the doublers.
I did a complete change of clothes: shirt, shorts, bra, socks, and shoes. I had worn my older shoes for the first marathon and saved my newer ones for the second one, thinking the extra cushioning would probably be good. I ate a banana, an orange, and part of a bagel with hazelnut butter. I also had some hot coffee, which tasted amazing. I wanted to drink so much more but knew I probably shouldn’t. Brian filled my hydration pack halfway with water and added two Nuun tablets. I had filled it up completely for the first one but figured there would be a lot of water stops for this one, so I shouldn’t need as much. I would have fared much better if I had gone ahead and filled it all the way up again, though. And I probably should have been drinking Skratch or Nuun instead of coffee.
About 15 minutes before the start of Marathon #2, Brian and I left the hotel. It felt like the temperature had dropped significantly and the wind was frigid. I decided we could go back and wait a little longer inside the hotel.
Marathon #2
I was giddy waiting for the second marathon to start. Full of nervous and excited energy. I was also freezing. It was so cold!
Starting out on the second marathon felt like doing something new and a little terrifying; like riding a roller coaster for the first time, or jumping into icy water from a really high rock.
My knee still hurt, but other than that I was feeling really good. I made it to the top of Roanoke mountain faster than I had the first time. The knee pain actually went away for a while near the end of the first climb but came back on the way down. It bothered me for the rest of the run, but never got any worse.
There were a lot of spectators along the course this time and my double marathon bib earned me extra attention. I heard lots of “Double, Double!” and “Wow! You go, doubler!” and my favorite, “You are a true badass!” I have to admit it felt good.
I was not feeling as great on this lap, though.
The temperature rose quickly and I soon realized I hadn’t been drinking enough. When I finished the Nuun in my pack, I had to rely on the aid stations and by that point, a small cup of water every couple of miles just wasn’t enough. My stomach felt a little queasy and I tried to choke down some pretzels and pickles, but wasn’t having much luck. I couldn’t even think about eating anything sweet, which is why I was also sticking to water. After the first 10 miles, I wasn’t really able to get many calories in at all and the sun had come out and was beating down on me. I finally decided to try some Skratch and was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t taste too sweet after all. I wished I had tried it earlier, but I had been afraid the sweetness would make me sick.
I usually can eat whatever I want during races and rarely have stomach trouble. It only happens in the heat.
I had really hoped to run negative splits. Besides just finishing, that was the only goal I had. If I had stayed on top of my hydration, I know I could have done it.
But I did not. I finished the first marathon in 5:26 and the second one in 5:35. I slowed down less than most people did, but there were some who managed negative splits.
I was so excited when I found out that I placed second in the female master’s category. The awards are running figures made out of recycled railroad spikes. I’ve always thought they were so awesome and never imagined that I’d ever actually have a chance of winning one!
Such a cool award! They’re welded by local high school students.
I loved this race and even with the stomach troubles and hurt knee, I was ready to register for next year before I even had a chance to shower.
Although honestly, that’s how I feel after just about every race. I think I just love running.
Like Smith Mountain Lake State Park, this one was about an hour and a half drive from Charlottesville.
I was in a better mindset though and the drive didn’t bother me as much. It was actually really pretty with all the fall colors. But warm, it was not. I was very comfortable in the car with the heat on, sipping my hot apple cider tea.
The weather forecast said it was going to be mostly cloudy with a high in the mid-sixties, so I was pleasantly surprised that the sun was out for most of my drive.
It was cloudy by the time I got to the park, though.
The swimming area is on Goodwin Lake, so that is where I parked. I used the restrooms (which were spotless and smelled as though they had just been cleaned) and then went down to the beach.
The lake looked so pretty with the colorful trees lining the bank on the other side.
I headed out on the Goodwin Lake Trail, which encircles the lake. There were some cute little bridges and a lot of fall color.
Just about a mile later, I was back where I started. I crossed the road and headed out on the Between the Lakes Trail to Otter’s Path Trail, which makes its way around Prince Edward Lake. This trail was a little more technical and hilly, but much less so than the trails at Smith Mountain Lake State Park. A layer of fallen leaves was covering the trail though, and ever since I sprained my ankle twice within a couple of months, leaf-covered trails make me really nervous. I just took it slow.
I did the short jaunt down to the lake on Beaver Point Trail and continued on Otter’s Path, finishing my run with about 5 miles. I did not see another human on any of the trails.
Back at the beach, there was a family with several children. None of them seemed to be having a good time.
I tried to tune out the crying and fighting and scolding as I slowly made my way into the water. The lake bottom was sandy, but had a film of darker brown sediment on top that floated up and muddied the water as I walked. In front of me was a smooth reflection of trees and sky disturbed only by the ripples I made as I moved forward. The water was cold, so I took my time. The initial plunge was definitely brisk, but it didn’t take long to get used to. I swam around for a while enjoying the water and tranquility (the noisy family had left).
As soon as I got out of the water, the sun peaked out from behind the clouds, so I had to get back in. I couldn’t miss out on those few precious rays of sunshine!
This was the last state park on my list, so my challenge is complete! I had fun exploring some new-to-me state parks and doing some wild swimming. I hope to do a lot more wild swimming when it gets warm again. Some people do it all year, even breaking the ice to get in for a dip. I won’t be doing that.
*I had originally thought that Pocahontas State park had lake swimming, but there is a pool there and swimming in the lakes is not allowed.
A couple of years ago I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Since I’ve gotten that under control, I no longer have the constant horrible feeling of my insides being frozen, but I still hate the cold. I mean I really hate it. Almost as much as I hate goat cheese.
I’ve started over-dressing for runs on purpose. I’d rather roast for the majority of the run than freeze for even a little bit.
I also don’t like the snowy, icy, muddy, frozen slop that makes winter running treacherous.
Definitely needed the Yak Trax today.
I’m dreaming of sweaty summer runs and swimming holes.
I asked Brian if he’d mind if we left the house a little early again so we could see the sunrise on our run. The Blue Ridge Parkway was closed to traffic and I’d gone for a walk up there earlier in the week and had been thinking ever since how nice the view of the sunrise would be.
It was a much easier sell than I thought it would be. There was hardly any protest or grumbling at all, which I’m still a little suspicious about.
The weather forecast almost convinced us not to go. There was an ice storm warning that night, but the temperature was supposed to climb steadily after midnight and be close to 50 degrees by 7 am. I hoped that was enough time to melt the ice.
It was foggy and 34 degrees when we left Charlottesville.
By the time we parked at Rockfish Gap, it was mostly clear and 47.
The moon was bright and the horizon was already pink and orange. It was light enough that we didn’t need our headlamps. The wind made it a little chilly, but not bad at all.
There was a group of about five people with cameras set up at the first overlook. We didn’t see anyone else until we got back to the car at the end of our run. It was so quiet and peaceful. The only sounds were the wind in the trees and birdsong.
And Brian complaining about the climb and telling me that his legs hurt from his 14 mile run yesterday. My hamstring and butt weren’t feeling great, either. I’m pretty sure I strained my hamstring again and I hadn’t run at all for a week.
I thought we were doing 5 miles, because Brian had told me the day before that he needed five more miles for the week. He thought we were just running up to the second overlook to watch the sunrise, then going back to the car.
We compromised and did three miles. Well, a little more than that because I didn’t tell him when my Garmin hit 1.5 miles. He called me a fart potato.
We saw a pile of bear poop that looked like a small volcano.
All in all, it was a really nice morning.
I love it when the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline drive are closed to traffic. I went back in the afternoon hoping to do a bike ride without having to worry about cars, but they had already opened the gate back up. I was disappointed, but went for a walk in the woods instead.
I only ran three races: WazUPwidis 5k (February 1, 2020) Hashawha Hills 50k (February 29, 2020) Yeti 100 Miler (September 25, 2020)
Photo credit: Samantha Smith Taylor
Despite running my first 100 miler, my mileage this year (1374.5) was not very high.Â
Brian and I did explore a couple of new trails in 2020, though. And the very cool Blue Ridge Tunnel Trail finally opened.Â
Everything Else
Running wasn’t the only thing that was different this year.Â
We didn’t travel at all.
I was unemployed for several months and had time to do some things that I’ve been meaning to do forever:
I finally got around to learning how to knit on circular needles.Â
And read some classics that I’ve never read. I Googled “classic literature that isn’t boring” or something like that for recommendations. There were plenty of articles to choose from. I’m obviously not the only one who wants to be well-read, but not bored.Â
I give thumbs up to:
“Rebecca” by Daphne Du Maurier “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte “Picnic at Hanging Rock” by Joan Lindsay “Peyton Place” by Grace Metalious
And thumbs down to:
“Go Tell it on the Mountain” by James Baldwin (I didn’t hate this book. The story was interesting, the style of writing just made it a really difficult read for me.) “Love in the time of Cholera” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (this has replaced Moby Dick as my least favorite of the classics I’ve read).
I’m planning to read more classics in 2021. Do you have any recommendations?Â
2020 had it’s moments, but I’m not too sad about saying goodbye.
We parked on the Afton (east) side and ran to the Waynesboro (west) side and back for a total of 4.5 miles (my longest run since the Yeti 100 back in September!)
Running through the tunnel was fun. It felt like we were in a cave. I loved hearing the water dripping from the stone all around us. Be forewarned: the light at the other side looks much closer than it actually is! Definitely bring a headlamp or flashlight.
The trail on the Afton side is pretty flat, but the Waynesboro side is quite hilly.
I ended up with a stress reaction in my foot after Yeti. I’m slowly building my mileage back up, so 4.5 was a perfect distance for today, but this trail can easily connect to Dick Woods road for many more miles.
The Running Nemophilist 