Race Review - Fountainhead Off-Road Half Marathon June 2013

One thing I love about traveling is that it allows me the opportunity to run in places I otherwise would never have visited.  I look for events in places I will be traveling on the off chance that I may get to run a race in a new (new to me, anyway) land.  This last week I was in Virginia for a tradeshow, and it just so happened that the Fountainhead Off-Road Half Marathon was being held, and I likes me a good trail run.  So sign me up!

I was nursing a foot injury...a leftover gift from the Salt Lake City Marathon that I ran in about 6 weeks ago,  a distance I was far from prepared to run.  I have some recurring tarsal tunnel syndrome from this race (which is like carpal tunnel, only in your ankles/feet) and so my runs have been limited and painful.  I know that to properly heal this thing I need to rest, go about 6-8 weeks without running at all, but right now it is too nice outside to stop running...it's prime running season!  The other Trail Monkeys are running quite a bit and making me feel like a sled, so it may be hard to get any real rest in.  So until I am practically unable to run I plan on getting out and feeling good for the first three or four miles, then feeling horrible about my pace and upset that my body isn't keeping up.  Plus, I've already registered for a few upcoming trail runs, so I'll keep giving it a go to see how my tarsal tunnels hold up.  If I have to walk a bit, no one I know would see me walking or moseying along, right?  Not in Virginia, anyway.  My dirty little secret.

After an incredibly late dinner the night before the race (at the Dog Street Pub in Colonial Williamsburg.  The Salmon Burger is phenomenal, if you are ever there) I made it to bed about 1:30 AM, and had to wake up at 4:30 AM to drive 2 hours north to get to the race venue in time.  That's 4:30 AM Eastern time, which means on my internal clock the wakeup bell rang at 2:30 AM.  Awesome.

My Selfie at the starting line was photo-bombed by some high school kid.
This 16 year old in the hamburger and fries shirt took 4th in his age group (29 and under)

A few notes about the race:  The website describes this course as "Fountainhead Regional Park is situated along the banks of the Occoquan Reservoir in Western Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The 10K and half marathon race courses are beautiful and consist mostly of hiking trails (including the Bull Run Occoquan Trail), horse trails, and old dirt roads. Competitors will run over rocks and roots, through several streams, and up some hills." 

The Occoquan Trail.  Rocks, roots, streams, hills...and even
a chainsaw obstacle at one log jump.

The trail was soft, muddy, and nice, very different than the harder and drier trails that I'm used to seeing in the Wasatch Mountains.  There were only a few hundred runners, so you never felt crowded.  The photographers from Swim Bike Run take some of the best race photos I've ever seen (check out their work here).  It felt more like a big group of friends getting together to run rather than a stuffy and/or nerve racking race event (in other words, it was fun rather than competitive).  The trail was never flat, you were always either going up or down, but never level.

I learned a few things during this race as well:

Sleep the night before the night before race day is just as if not more important than sleep the night before the race.  Nerves or travel or kids sometimes keep you from getting much sleep on the night before a race, so make sure you get good sleep the night before the night before the race.

Humidity kills - I hydrate quite a bit before a race, but in this type of climate, coming from an arid desert, you should really overkill the hydration.  I felt like my sweat had sweat.  By mile 6 or 7 it looked like I had just gotten out of a pool.  The forest cover kept out the sun, but trapped the humidity under the canopy, and I was drenched. Humidity is more challenging for me than elevation. Pictures to prove it:

HUGE head shot.  sweaty.
Taken at one of the many old graveyards along the trail

Trail Runs are so much more fun/engaging/challenging than road runs.  I hadn't run a trail in a while, and this was just what my psyche needed, and my knees, and my foot.  It engages you differently than road running.  You can get into a groove and sort of check out while running on the roads, zone into a trance and not really think at all.  Trail running is a different kind of zen, in which you must be one with the trail, bouncing over rocks/logs/stumps/roots and changing every step to reflect your trail.  Pay attention or pay with a sprained ankle.

IT Band issues suck.  I was content to run mile after mile thinking that increased mileage increased my strength enough, but as I was compensating for my foot pain and ended up with my first ever IT Band issues.  I did some of the strength exercises from Strength Runner (Video link here, these exercises are GREAT when it comes to overcoming IT Band issues) and built up some strength that kept the IT Band pain from becoming a long term problem.  The IT band pain wouldn't have just gone away with more running, but I am certain the Tarsal Tunnel Pain will.  Or at least I hope it will.  No?  whatevs.

Running in new places where you don't know anyone just reminds you that we're all friends on the trails.

Can't wait for the next trail run, or the next road trip, or possibly both.  Hopefully there will also be a Salmon Burger in your future, wherever you are.