River Valley Trail Run Festival - Half Marathon - Manchester, MD

The last race of the season is always a bitter sweet experience.  On one hand you are tired and beat up from the long season before it.  On the other hand you are excited to race but also looking forward to the rest and recovery following it.  I would be lying if I said I was as motivated as any other race to train for this one.  But in reality it was a real struggle to stay on track.  I was cutting workouts short and skipped three workouts in the weeks proceeding the race.  Two of the three skipped workouts were due to an infection in my foot from my last race, otherwise a scouting camping trip prevented the third.  Regardless, I was ready to race because I had a lot of fitness built up from my season and I was still confident to do my best on the day.

The River Valley Trail Run Festival offered a 5k, 10k and half marathon.  I raced the half marathon in 2017.  I finished fifth overall in that race and loved every second of the challenge.  I knew I would come back to this race one day.  The course this year was very different in route, but not different in challenge.  The terrain was very hilly and the footing varied from fire road, grass path, corn fields, rocky, and to rock scramble.  It included three river crossings and was as technical of any trail running I have done.  In many ways, it reminded me of the varied terrain of the Maryland section of the Appalachian Trail.   According to my elevation corrected Garmin files from the two versions, in 2016 there was 1,245 feet of climb and this year we climbed 1,676 feet.  Below is a comparison of the two courses (2021=red, 2017=blue).  

The race start time was 8 AM.  I woke at 4 AM and executed a run warm-up around the neighborhood to get the body going.  I had my customary pre-race breakfast of an oatmeal mix that I eat every morning.  Breakfast by far is my favorite meal of the day!  I packed my gear and left at 6 AM to drive 35 minutes to River Valley Ranch.  River Valley Ranch is a really special place!  It is a faith based camp for kids that is built to look like an old western town.  The race starts inside "Fort Roller" which is a square made of the amazing bunk houses and a chow hall.  It really takes me back to being a kid and dreaming of summer camp!  The atmosphere at the race was amazing and you feel surrounded by God's creation!  

Parking for the race was in a grazing field for the horses and sits way below the race venue in elevation.  I learned from the previous race to pack all my gear and utilize the gear check at the venue so you don't wear yourself out going up and down that hill (not to mention completely soaking your shoes in the dewy grass!)   I arrived before sunrise and was one of the first folks to hike up the hill and find a good place to get staged for the race.  I hunkered down and just listened to some tunes while the rest of the racers arrived.  This is always one of my favorite parts of racing.  I really enjoy watching all the different approaches to getting ready to race.  Quite honestly, I prefer to keep to myself and just soak in the atmosphere.  

At 7:30, I drank my pre-race nutrition of corn starch, peanut butter powder, beta alanine, caffeine, and almond milk before I began warming up.  I am so thankful to Sierra in sharing with me a warm up routine that starts right after I wake up because it always makes the warm-up right before race start so much easier.  As I am getting older, I have found that it takes a lot longer to get loose and feel good.  Because I already completed a solid warm up a few hours before, I feel fresh and ready with very little warm up just before the race.  Thankfully, this was the case because they had organize into our corrals twenty minutes early.  I waited until the very last call to enter the corral.  They had an organized warm-up which was very entertaining to say the least, sang the Anthem, and most importantly led a prayer.  

The start of the race was finally here and I was in the first corral to get started.  I toed the line and we prepared to start.  As we were waiting for the gun, the gentleman that mapped out the course indicated the first mile or so was suggested by a runner that was standing right next to me.  I immediately knew this might be someone with whom I should tag along.  Fortunately he was wearing all orange and was easy to keep an eye on all day.  The first half mile of the course was straight down hill to the river and I knew we could just let the legs go and try to be in the front pack by the time we reached the first single track of the day.

They counted down and we were off!  As expected, the guy who suggested the first part of the course set a fast pace and he clearly knew where he was going so I slotted in behind him.  His pace was strong and comfortable for me so I was very satisfied to be with him.  To my surprise, only two others really went with us.  We were flying down the hill to the first hard left turn into the horse fields and down towards the horse barn.  The grass was thick and wet but the footing was good.  We had to check our speed as the hill became fairly steep and we were entering another hard right turn to go through the horse barn.  We navigated that section cleanly and were off through the barn down the last part of the hill to the river.

We reached the first part of single track which was a rocky section with a fairly technical flow to it.  I was holding tight to my guy in orange and could hear another individual running slightly behind me.  I was very satisfied to be in second and in the front pack from the beginning.  I could tell the pace was slightly high for me but I was feeling good and wanted to see how this would go for another couple of miles.  We reached the first switch back and climb for the day and could see that the three of us were way ahead of the rest of the race.  I anxiously watched our leader to see how he would treat the up hills and to my relief, he dialed back and just short-step chopped at them.  The climbs were short but always punchy and provided no recovery all day.  The real recovery was just letting your legs fly downhill to let the heart rate come down.  

The first mile clicked away at 7:39 and I knew we were flying over the trails.  This pace was pretty unsustainable for a trail race like this but we were descending back down to the river and continued along a single track that followed the river to mile 2.  It remained very technical with a ton of rock and jumps to truly keep your flow.  We made a right turn and entered our first real climb of the day up a fire road towards the paintball fields.  I was pleased at this point as our leader and I had stretched our lead on the rest of the race to the point that we could not see third place or beyond.  I felt strong up the entire climb and knew by this point I had found my rhythm.  

We reached a sharp left and turned downhill snaking between the paintball barriers and really had to focus as the grade was steepening.  This is always the best part of trail running.  Your focus must remain high throughout which makes the miles just tick away.  Time seems to fly as you are just trying to remain on your feet and glide over the terrain as smoothly as possible.  We descended again down to the river and made our way towards our next climb.  This climb started at mile 3 and was split between single track at the beginning where we had a few switch backs and then emerged into a corn field.  I was very pleased to continue tracking along the leader up the hill and around the cornfield.  We turned left back into some single track areas that emerged again next to another corn field as we made our way to the first hydration area just before mile 4.  

I elected to carry my own hydration with a light Ultimate Direction vest which held two 500 ml flasks.  I had one filled with water and the other with SIS Beta Fuel.  I went with this vest over my Salomon Sense Pro 5 due to the potential of the river crossings.  The Sense Pro has a padded back and storage area in the back that I thought might carry extra weight if it ended up wet.  The Ultimate Direction ended up being fine although it does not fit as snuggly as my Salomon.  I stayed pretty disciplined with hydrating and fueling throughout.  The duration of this race was just over what I was comfortable with not having fuel.  I have learned the aftermath of a race without fueling is not worth the savings in weight.

After mile 4, I started to notice I was slipping behind the leader a bit more and it seemed like he was definitely starting to surge (or I was slowing down).  We climbed up a couple of switch backs and emerged onto a gravel road that included a steady decline.  I knew I had to close the gap.  I surged and clawed my way back towards the leader by the bottom before we turned sharply right into the largest climb of the day.  I was winded but happy to be back in touch.  This next segment of the course was very similar to the last time I raced here.  It featured the most technical rock climb / scramble on the course and it did not disappoint.  It included two forks where you could choose your path.  Unfortunately, I chose wrong at both forks!  Both paths were far slower and confused me more than helped me!  At the second fork I literally had to stop and look around as I had lost the course. It was at this point I lost the leader and had a feeling I might not see him again.  After the scrambles, we had a straight climb to the highest elevation of the race.  We passed mile 5 and also the mile 11 marker which meant we had to do this one more time!  I will not deny that I thought about that for a few minutes and realized I had to settle in and keep pushing.  

Knowing we reached the highest elevation meant we would have a long descent back down to the second loop of this course.  I did my best to negotiate the hill and take a gamble to see if I could make contact again with the leader.  I reached my fastest pace of the day at 5:11 on that downhill, it was very exciting!  We snaked our way around and back to Fort Roller to start our second loop.  As I emerged out of Fort Roller and back into the horse field, I caught a glimpse of the leader whom had already made it to the bottom through the horse barn.  He was gone!  I let loose and felt the recovery of flying down the grass field and through the barn to our first river crossing.

This crossing was tame as it was a submerged road bed so the footing was perfect and you could leap step across with confidence despite the flow of the water.  It was here that I found my shoe selection may not have been the best.  I invested in a pair of Salomon Wildcross 2 Goretex trail running shoes.  These are fantastic for keeping rain and dew out but I have learned that once water gets into them, it does not get out easily.  My feet sweat a ton and I figured this out on my long training runs so I knew this might be a problem in the race.  The shoes filled as expected and of course it took for ever to really get the water out.  My feet immediately felt like lead getting out of the water and I just kept pounding away hoping they would squirt out eventually.  Unfortunately, the next two miles required two more river crossings and they just refilled.  We reunited with the previous loop around mile 8.5 and by mile nine, my shoes had finally started to feel normal again. In the past I have actually drilled holes in the soles of my shoes for quicker draining, this might end up being the future for this pair.

At this point of the race, I had not seen the leader at all and third place was still fairly far back as I could see him occasionally when we were on some switchbacks.  We also started to overlap with some of the 10k runners whom started around 9 AM.  This wasn't a problem at all as most of them were very considerate of faster runners and moving off to the side way before we would pass.  I thanked them each time and also benefitted from the words of encouragement from a few of them.  I continued to listen for any sign of third place making up time on me as I knew I was starting to fade a bit.  I tried not to think negatively and stay focused on the course ahead of me and not behind me.  Easier said than done.  

After mile 10, I reached the long cinder road where I had made up time on the leader before.  This time, I wanted to simply run as confidently as I could yet recover enough for the climb I knew we had remaining up the rock scramble.  I made the right hand turn and onto the technical rocky single track.  There were far more people racing and spectating the race at this part of the course which was a huge benefit!  The cow bells and cheering was awesome and really helped pick my spirits up.  I elected to go the opposite ways at both forks and successfully flew through the scramble.  As I made the climb to the highest elevation, I caught a glimpse of third place and he was a lot closer than I had imagined.  I knew it was time to put the rest on the line!  

As soon as I reached the peak of the climb, I knew I had to let it all go down the hill and put whatever pace out there that I could.  In the first loop between mile 5 and 6, I averaged a 7:31 pace with a max pace of 5:11.  I didn't nearly come close to that in the same segment of mile 11 to 12 where I averaged a 8:12 pace with a max pace of 5:51.  However, that is all that I had and at the end of the day it proved to be enough.  I kept my perceived hammer down all the way back up the climb to Fort Roller where I rounded the fort and back towards the finish line.  

The finish line atmosphere was awesome as so many people were there to cheer the finishers.  The cow bells, music, and yelling was fantastic and filled my empty soul up!  I crossed the line to my familiarly mispronounced last name in second place overall!  I finished in a time of 1:48:30 and within 3:19 of the leader.  I met Josh Ferguson at the finish and give a good fist pump and accolades for a job well done!  Third place finisher Christopher Sufczynski came in 0:38 behind me and we were all wiped but satisfied with a great race!  

Overall, I am obviously very satisfied with my performance at this race.  This was an amazing celebration of a season of solid running.  I really learned how to suffer on a run but maintain pace to lead me to some of my best performances ever.  Compared to the last time I raced here, I beat every possible metric from my four-year younger self!  I know at 44 years old, my time is limited in making improvements and getting faster so I am going to continue enjoying being faster than I was yesterday until I can't be any longer.  My inspiration to race is still to compete, but every year I gain a new appreciation of what it means to be able to compete.  I am blessed to have a healthy body, a family that supports me, an inspirational coach, and a luxury of time to train for such things.  Racing continues to be a celebration of all these amazing blessings and to provide glory to God who grants them!

  

2020 Year in Review

Are you sick of hearing 2020 was NOT the year we expected... well, I am.  However, it was probably just fine and has been lined with many blessings.  At least that is what I am trying to do with this post.

On the training and racing front, there were zero "real" races.  I mocked up my own races, participated in a whole host of virtual events, and enjoyed virtual racing on Zwift including team time trialing.  I would have never considered some of these things if not for COVID.  Here is the list of virtual events and challenges that I took on this year:

I was fortunate to stay healthy and set a few new personal records for multiple distances and disciplines.  I set a new 5k, 10k, and half marathon personal record.  I set and then beat my 40k time trial personal record.  Granted, I had never done a stand alone 40k, but out of the five attempts this year (standalone or part of the Ironman VR series), I improved over five and half minutes from my slowest to fastest effort.  Last and certainly not least, I beat my 10 hour goal time to tackle the Appalachian Trail from the Pennsylvania border, through Maryland, West Virginia, and to the Virginia border.  Both my half marathon and AT efforts were supported by my dad.  I really enjoyed the extra time with him, especially now due to quarantine keeping us separated.

As expected, every in-person race I registered for was cancelled and immediately deferred to 2021.  The only exception was the ITU Age Group World Championships in Edmonton, AB.  That was a roller coaster of developments from July to December.  At first it was all moved to Bermuda, so I declined my position on Team USA.  Then, it was back on and moved back to Edmonton, so I quickly emailed wanting to change my decision.  When it came to register, low and behold they did not have me on the list because of my initial response.  Therefore, I acted swiftly and was reinstated.  Therefore, we are trying to go back to Canada again next year!  We'll see!

On the home front, life with my wife and kids has been very eventful trying to manage virtual school and maintain our health.  Fortunately to date, we have not caught the virus and continue to self quarantine and follow as many precautions as possible.  It is very difficult socially because everyone has such divergent views.  We are managing our responsibilities to my employer (thankfully I still have a job), our family members, and the family members which are relying on us to keep our kids safe and healthy so they can still participate in some social activities.  It is quite the juggling act and I know feelings have been hurt.  Hopefully, we can all repair our relationships when all this is over.  

Lastly, and not as much along the lines as blessings, my older brother was diagnosed with ALS this past summer.  This has been a big blow to the family and we are certainly doing our best to rally around him.  It is difficult because he lives in California and none of our family lives there.  With all the COVID restrictions on travel and quarantines, it is a delicate balancing act to provide support.  Maybe the blessing is we are all trying to work together to support one another in this crisis.  2021 will have a lot to say about this situation.

Anyhow, no need to prolong this 2020 recap... it has already been a long year!

AT Four State Challenge - My COVID Challenge

Like so many of us committed to racing this year, our dreams of personal records and new events were squashed by COVID-19.  My season had one focus and that was representing Team USA at the ITU AG Standard Distance World Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  Unfortunately, like all my other races, it was cancelled.  As of mid-June, there was still no word from Team USA as to what they are going to do with us who qualified.  Will we be the 2021 team or will they make us re-qualify?  So with all my motivation thrown out the window, I needed another challenge.  For the past sixteen weeks of COVID quarantine, I have struggled to find something that would inspire me to train hard.  I have maintained my training discipline, but it has just not been the same.

While hiking on Memorial Day (May 25th) with my family on a trail near my house, the inspiration hit me.  I decided to attempt the Appalachian Trail Four State Challenge on June 20.  My goal was to do it in under ten hours including breaks.  This is an average of twelve minutes per mile for the anticipated 42.5 miles. 

Prior to setting out to do this, I have never run more than seventeen miles in a single effort.  However, I have built up a ton of mileage over the past five years of racing so this was not outside of the range of possibility.  Fortunately, for the several weeks prior to making this decision, I had been logging between ten to fourteen miles on my Sunday long runs so I had some distance under my belt and just needed to continue to build.  With only four weeks to prepare and log some serious mileage, I knew this would be exactly the challenge I was looking to do! 

My father, John, agreed to support me along the way.  He and my mom, Ruth, have been amazing supporters for all my races in the past and they both stepped up big time again!  He was as excited as I was because he is very familiar with this part of the AT.  Many moons ago, he did the solo challenge unsupported over the course of a weekend backpacking his way.  He had never backpacked before at this point in his budding passion for hiking and it was indeed a challenge for him. In a way, I wanted to relive that story with him.  Below is the breakdown in how we approached the effort and planned our rest/refuel/reload stops.

This was my packing list of nutrition and gear:

During the work week, my training remained much the same although I added volume to my Tuesday / Thursday rides and reduced their intensity.  These were steady zone two for 1:30.  My Wednesday runs ranged between 1:15 and 2:00 and were all trail specific runs.  I would run these efforts faster than my target pace for the challenge.  On the weekends, I ramped up my bike volume on Saturday and attempted to find hilly terrain.  I kept the rides fairly easy, rarely venturing more than tempo and mostly aerobic.  Again, I just wanted to build endurance. 

Sundays were all focused on trail runs at my target pace, testing my equipment, and practicing my nutrition plan.  I did all my Sunday runs on the Merryman Trail at the Loch Raven Reservoir.  Each week was either two or three loops of the trail.  These efforts were 18.3, 19.5, and 17.5 miles, respectively.  I simply did not have enough time to ramp up higher than this without risking injury.  I am not necessarily going for a record here, so all of these efforts were at a zone two heart rate.  During my final long run the Sunday before, my lower left leg below my calf and above my Achilles tendon started aching in a weird way.  Taper week was devoted to rest, repair, and praying that this tenderness would not impact me on the big day.  I alternated ice, heat, and electric stimulation to the area all week and I am happy to say it did not pose a problem!

The day before I was energized and feeling the pre-race nerves that I have so longed for this year.  Albeit to say, they were a bit higher for this effort than my last few races!  I was hardly able to sleep like usual before a race and I was wide awake long before my alarm at 4 AM.  Dad arrived right on time as always and was ready to go.  We loaded my gear box and cooler in his truck and headed off to Pen Mar.  I was pretty much packed for a weekend of camping for a single day effort!  The weather forecast in the morning was predicting scattered storms all day long.  I certainly prayed that it would hold off until late afternoon giving me a chance to finish before the heavy stuff started.

 I chose to start on the Northern side because it is a net elevation loss.  Although, there was still over 7,000 feet of elevation to climb.  The drive to Pen Mar was routine and took about an hour and a half.  We arrived around 6:30 AM.  As we pulled in, I began drinking my pre-workout shake of UCAN with protein, caffeine, and oat milk.  I did a bit of a warm up to loosen up and pulled my gear together.  We did the obligatory "selfie" at my starting line which was about 0.1 mile from the Mason-Dixon Line to be sure Pennsylavnia was logged properly on my GPS.  This also allowed an opportunity to be sure my LiveTrack was working and that Dad could see me on his phone as I circled back to Pen Mar Park.  I officially started at 6:52 AM, about 8 minutes ahead of plan.

My research on the first segment really had me concerned that this would be the hardest part of the run as I would be climbing to the highest part of the trail in Maryland called Quirank Mountain.  Despite being about 608' of climbing over 1.2 miles (9.0% grade), the climb was far easier than I was anticipating although it was populated with large boulders and a lot of slow scrambling.  The vast majority of this segment was rocky but still comfortable in finding decent footing and a good rhythm to my stride.  I was feeling good and all indications was that the taper treated me well and I was ready to go!

The last part of this segment had a variety of terrain including farm land, stream crossings, and interesting rock outcroppings.  I am happy I brought my phone/camera along as it really helped to pace myself and not go out too hard.  You'll notice as this report goes on though, my pictures become less and less, I wonder why?

I finished the first segment of 9.66 miles in a time of 1:59:54.  My plan was to finish this segment and start the next in a total time of 2:31, so I was pretty far ahead of schedule.  I was not concerned as I knew I really took my time to pace well and just benefited from easier terrain than I originally anticipated.  My rest stops were all pretty much the same.  Dad had my chair and UCAN shake ready to go when I arrived.  On this first stop, I had to change my shoes and socks as I was soaked through.  I had hoped not to have to change shoes this early, but I did the right thing to keep my feet dry.  I had four 500ml water bladders, so two were in my vest and two were filled, chilling in the cooler for the next segment.  This worked well.  I took one GU Roctane tablet at each rest stop.  In hindsight, two might have been better than one.  Otherwise, the Honey Stinger Gluten Free Waffles were a great solid food option on the trail.  Occasionally, I would mix in a Science in Sport gel for added boosts of electrolytes or caffeine.

The next segment was one that I was looking forward to as I was going to take a small detour to witness the view off Annapolis Rock.  My wife Tammy and I visited here when we camped at nearby Greenbrier State Park.  Overall, this section was fairly tame with mostly rocky terrain with decent foot holds.  I felt fairly good during this segment as it was essentially in my training wheelhouse.  However, as I knew from training, running downhill is far more strenuous and this segment concluded with some large earth steps for nearly three quarters of a mile and my legs were talking a bit heading down.

I texted the above photos to Tammy and she replied, "Lookin' good! Hope the heat is tolerable!"  Indeed it was!  Additionally, she sent one more text telling me I forgot to bring my Dad's Fathers Day gift.  I remembered his card though.  Can you imagine my eye roll!?

Segment 2 went down in 1:34:77 for 8.77 miles.  I completed the segment at 10:35AM which was still ahead of my plan and I was feeling fairly strong.  This part of the trail dumps out at Route 40 and I-70 and was really the most exposed area of the trail to the sun and it was hot.  At just over 18-1/2 miles, I was approaching the longest distance I have ever run in a single effort.  I knew I was about to journey into the unknown of what my body was able to do. 

My next segment highlighted Washington Monument in the last few miles.  It was also the shortest segment of the day.  It featured a series of punchy hills venturing up and down in quick succession.  I was starting to get hot during this segment and felt like hydration might be lacking.  I squeezed in an electrolyte and caffeinated gel and was feeling better rather quickly.  I only stopped at the monument for quick photos and moved quickly out of there.

I finished segment three in 53:56 and arrived at Turners Gap at 11:46 AM.  My total elapsed time at this point was 4:53:04.  I was just over half way home and I texted my coach Sierra at that point, "More than half way.  Feeling ok, getting tough now."  She encouraged me with, "Nice.  It's mental now.  You got it!!  Praying."  Little did I know...

I began the next segment from Turners Gap to Crampton Gap with optimism that I would start trending downhill from here (literally, not figuratively).  I failed miserably to research what I was in for over the next 7.2 miles.  This segment started off with some reasonable ups and downs and I was able to keep a decent pace initially.  I was excited knowing that I was going to log my first marathon ever and clocked it at 5:44:07.  Obviously not a Boston qualifying time in the slightest, but I doubt many people would use a course like this to qualify. 

"Lambs Knoll" is a climb that I renamed, "Soul Crusher".  This was a 755' climb over 1.52 miles which is an average 9.0% grade.  It had many grades steeper than anything I had seen all day and I felt it.  On top of that, any flat section was littered with large rocks and there was no where to step with flat footing.  Every step felt like a lottery that I would lose with a twisted ankle!  Amazingly, I only stubbed my left and right big toes twice each and went down to my hands twice and left this section with my confidence in tact (tongue firmly in cheek).  I was convinced that I had done that section so slowly that all the the time I was ahead on my plan was lost.  Not to mention, I was starting to doubt this was a good idea. 

As I completed that segment, I forced myself to stop and take a picture of an old ruined building and regroup.  As I trotted down the hill to the car my dad asked me how that section was and I said, "It sucked!"  I was tired and beat down.  This rest stop was the most critical to get my head on straight.  To my surprise though, I had lost little time on my overall plan and that helped to raise my spirits.  Dad also helped me focus on the next segment.  I finished in 1:35:27 for 7.12 miles and I was still over twenty minutes ahead of my plan. 

Crampton Gap started off with a small climb up a road past a monument to the "Press" and to return to the trail.  I was immediately greeted with a sign that read, "6 miles to Weverton Cliffs" defining what I had next to do.  I knew the descent after the cliffs was going to be steep and slow so I was hoping to plod along smoothly along the flatter sections towards the cliffs.  Fortunately, the terrain was more reasonable and my tired legs were holding up.  Unfortunately though, the rains came!  A steady downpour drenched the trail and I was running through inches deep of water for several miles.  Mentally I was beginning to struggle to remain focused and worked hard to remain in the moment.  Knowing I only had two 10k's left helped.  I run that distance and more every single training run, so I know I can manage it.  I started having to walk a fair amount to navigate the deep puddles and rocks.  At this point, every step was forward so I remained calm. 

I reached the top of the switchbacks of Weverton Cliffs and I was immediately greeted with super weak legs trying to hold my position climbing down.  Fortunately the rain had stopped as this portion would have been treacherous with water pouring down it.  It is hard to describe these switchbacks.  They were not flat except for the mid-sections.  At the sharp turns, it would drop five or six feet and you had to ease your way down.  My quads wanted nothing to do with this!  To add insult to injury, mid-way down I wanted to take a picture of the upper levels to show how far I had traversed down.  I pulled my phone out, started repositioning it for the shot and it flew out of my hands and off the side of the switchback!  I stood there and watched it tumble thirty feet down the embankment which was nearly vertical.  I deliberated with myself for a moment before I decided to try and slide down and get it.  The adrenaline rush that ensued was nice for a brief moment.  Amazingly, the Spigen Armour Case it was in held up and there was zero damage to the phone.  The waterproof bag it was in was a different story as the bottom had torn.  I did not notice this until later though and fortunately my phone did not suffer any water damage from here on out.  I climbed back up and proceeded to inch my way down.  As I approached the bottom, I came upon two hikers and one was sitting on a rock and clearly in pain.  I paused and asked if she was alright and if she needed first aid.  Fortunately, her hiking partner had a kit and they said they were good to go.  The switchbacks at Weverton Cliffs descend 807' in 1.38 miles which is a 10.8% average grade!  This was as hard as the majority of the climbs of the day.

I recorded the 6.7 miles from Crampton Gap to Weverton Road in 1:30:48 and I only had 5.5 miles left to the finish.  My total elapsed time at this point was 8:45:00, I had more than an hour to reach the finish and my sub-ten hour goal.  As I was getting ready to head out of my rest stop, Sierra texted me "go jay go", then another "go".  I sensed urgency in her text as I began to realize that she was right!  I have one more big climb to do.  I headed out and fortunately was on flat road for the first 3.3 miles of this segment.

Due to a train incident last year, the pedestrian bridge over the Potomac River on the AT was damaged and closed.  This required me to plot a detour and run along Route 340 across the Potomac.  The night before this challenge I realized I never looked at aerial photography to see if the bridge was even cross-able on foot.  To my surprise, it looked like the walkways were blocked off with steel cribbing holding the jersey walls in place.  So unfortunately, I was planning on not being able to cross on foot and arranged with Dad to pick me up on the MD side and drive me over and drop me off immediately afterwards in a scenic pull-off lot.  As we approached the bridge in the truck, to my surprise you could walk across as evidenced by the hiker I witnessed crossing.  Dang nabit!  We pondered for about half a second of turning around and having me run, but I just said, "no way."  In the car though, I was able to set personal records for the 400m, 800m, 1k, and 1 mile that would probably break world records!  Ha ha! This unfortunately disqualified me for the Fastest Known Time segment that I had registered for online.  The record was never in danger though.

Anyhow, after being dropped off I proceeded to run along the shoulder of Route 340.  This was the DUMBEST part of the entire day!  This road is extremely busy, the shoulder is almost nothing, and it was sloped with gravel.  I was already in pain and it was extremely exposed and sunny.  I was baking!  I finally reached the West Virginia line and snapped a picture from across the street.  Amazingly, I kept plodding along at a reasonable 11:00 per mile pace and reached the bridge into Harpers Ferry where the AT connects.  I hopped the jersey wall and went down the steps to cross back under Route 340 and begin my last ascent.

The climb up from Harpers Ferry to the Virginia border includes the overlook called Loudon Heights.  This climb was 834' in just over 1.34 miles which is an average grade of 11.4%.  Again, ignorance was not bliss in this case as I did not look closely at this prior to doing this challenge.  Step after step was excruciating at this point and I simply just kept hoping the VA border sign was just ahead.  Not to mention I was trying to think about what it would be like walking the 2.5 miles back to Harpers Ferry where Dad was parked.  Halfway up, I crossed Chestnut Hill Road and I knew I was going to ask that someone pick me up there because there was no way physically that my legs would make it down that first part.  It did not get easier from there and I simply just kept trying to keep moving.  Things started leveling out and I was looking at my watch as time was ticking away and my sub-10 hour goal was looking like it was in danger.  I clicked my watch over to my route map for the first time all day to see how many miles left and I nearly gave up when I saw I still had over a mile to go.  I found some energy to try running again and surprisingly when the ground was flat it felt better than walking but my heart rate was maxing out and I just could not sustain it.  I was teased by a sign that was pointed the opposite direction on the trail as it was for announcing the border of the Harpers Ferry Historic Park.  However, this encouraged me that the Virginia border had to be just ahead.  About 200 yards down the trail, I reached the Virginia border.  I had nothing left and just simply raised my hands up to celebrate alone in the woods. 

 

Unfortunately, it was at least twenty minutes before I had a phone signal to get any contact out.  I texted my mom as I slowly descended back down the trail.  My mom and her friend Ted drove up for the finish and I asked if she could pick me up at Chestnut Hill Road.  I sent her the dropped pin using Google Maps and made my way back.  Shortly after that, my dad had made it up the climb from Harpers Ferry to join me.  We had hoped to do this portion going up together but he was delayed while parking and was not able to make the rendezvous point in time.  Despite missing him going up, I was so appreciative of his company coming down as it lifted my spirits and distracted me from the pain.  I had never wished for a stair railing more than that hobble down.  After a wait of some time, Mom arrived and it was the best taxi ride I have ever had! 

The stats:

Total miles: 42.8

Total time: 9:55:52 (13:54 / mile)

Total moving time: 8:36:52 (12:04 / mile)

86,117 steps

7,434 feet in elevation Gain

7,470 feet in elevation Loss

746 floors climbed

1,843 feet in maximum elevation

323 feet in minimum elevation

5,375 estimated calories burned

3,158 estimated calories ingested

7,478 ml estimated sweat loss

7,500 ml estimated water ingested

Average heart rate: 138 bpm

Max heart rate: 171 bpm

Average temp: 76.0 degrees F

Max temp: 89.6 degrees F

Total training stress score of 381

Link to my Relive Video of the Run

 

During times like the ones 2020 has brought so far, I am so blessed to even have the opportunity to do such a challenge.  Many people in this world are not afforded the time, resources, support, or health to do even a portion of this trail.  I thank God for every blessing given to me and owe it all to HIM!  The AT Challenge was a symbolic gesture that connected me from the North (PA) to the South (VA) and represented my own personal commitment to work on bridging the gap between our communities.  I am committed to improving my outlook and vision of the bigotry and racism that exists and not to stand silent when I witness it.

A huge thank you to all my support in this endeavor including my patient and tolerant wife Tammy, my adorable and loving children Andrew and Natalie, and my amazingly supportive mother Ruth, and father John.  They have always supported my adventures and I am forever thankful for the guidance, prayers, and love they have provided me in life.  I would have no clue how to even try and attempt such a challenge without the wisdom of my coach Sierra.  She always knows when to prod just enough to make me move!