A couple weeks ago, my friend and I completed an adventure that had begun as a bit of a whim. At some point mid-September, we had decided that it would be an amazing idea to run a trail half marathon. Don’t ask me why, I’m still not sure. But in that single moment of inspiration, we both signed up and spent a not-so-small amount of money on the registration…so that was that.
I’ve run two full marathons and four (now five) half marathons in my life, so I felt like I was good to go, and that I pretty much knew what I was getting myself into. I thought we’d just take it slow and have a good time. What’s another 13.1? Turns out…a lot. After we signed up, we started doing more research and discovered that we weren’t just running through miles of leisurely, well maintained trails – on the contrary, the elevation gain was 1900 feet, which is almost half the elevation of Camel’s Hump to put it into perspective. Hiking a mountain is one thing, running up one for 13 miles is quite another.
We only had about a month to train for it, and during that month we tried to squeeze in every hill we could find. Running around north campus or the tiny hills in gilbrook wasn’t going to cut it. So we found nearby trails and tried to match the elevation gain of the race as much as possible, and let me tell you – it wasn’t pretty. But I did come out of the whole experience having learned a few things:
1. POWER HIKING IS KEY
I cannot emphasize this enough. When you’re working with the kind of elevation we were, it’s just not realistic to think you’re going to be running the entire time. Some of the inclines were so steep that we were basically climbing. Our strategy was to run as much as possible, but when the incline got rough (or just kept on going…and going..) we power walked. Honestly, it saved valuable time and energy, and our running pace wouldn’t have been much faster.
2. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
I’ve never been one to drink a ton of water during a race, but in this case, I knew there were only going to be two aid stations throughout the course. There was no way I was risking going without water for that long, so I went out and bought a hydration pack! I was worried it would be uncomfortable, but I don’t know what I would have done without it. It kept me hydrated the whole time and I didn’t have to worry about when the next time I would see water would be.
3. Teamwork makes the dream work!
Above all, I don’t think I could have done this race alone. When the going got tough, my friend and I were pushing each other along and just laughing about how ridiculous the whole situation was. I mean, who gets themselves into this in the first place? Together we managed to finish under our goal time with plenty to spare, and honestly if I didn’t have someone running with me I would probably still be out in the trails somewhere.
By signing up for this race, I learned a ton about an entirely different side to running and pushed myself to achieve new goals in something I’m passionate about. I’m so happy I decided to take the leap and go for it.
I still can’t believe we finished it in one piece…but hey here we are! Same time next year?
Cover Photo: https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/trail-running-distance-endurance.html
Image 1: http://photosofvermont.com/?attachment_id=2902
Image 2: http://middleburymagazine.com/features/trail-running-101/