Last Big Training Race Before Everest

I've been doing quite a bit of trail and mountain -- hill -- running as part of my preparations for the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon.

In January, I ran the Swinging Bridge 35K along the Willis River in Cumberland County, VA. It's a pretty tough course -- rough trails and some of them not very well marked. I got lost three or four times but fell only twice. I felt pretty good at the finish considering I really hadn't been putting many miles in.

In February, I ran my first ultra, the Holiday Lake 50K near Appomatox, VA. This is supposed to be an "easy" ultra. However, we had the snowiest winter in central Virginia in a long time and there was 10" of untracked snow on the ground. It also snowed at the beginning of the race. I wore YakTrax and slipped and slided to a 6:28 finish. I've never run that far or long before but I now know that I can at least keep moving for 6+ hours which will serve me well for the race in Nepal.

March's race was the Terrapin Mountain Half Marathon near Bedford, VA. Other than the first and last miles, it's all trails and some pretty rough ones at that. We crossed about 10 streams and climbed (and descended) 3,600 feet in elevation. The descents were definitely the toughest part of the race, but good preparation for what we will face in May.

Early April was the Charlottesville 10 Miler, a hilly road race. I planned to run easy on the flats and uphills, but push hard on the down hills (again, good preparation for May). Unfortunately, I got caught up in the competitiveness of the race and pushed pretty hard for the entire last half. My time wasn't great, but I was first in my age group!

My last preparation race will be this Saturday, the inaugural Blue Ridge Marathon in Roanoke, VA. The race is all on roads, but has some significant climbing and descending, particularly in the first half of the race. I will be testing out my new hydration pack on this run as well as different energy blocks and fluid. I plan to run easy (yeah, right) and try to get a 4 1/2 hour run in. I need to put in a lot of hours on my feet. The forecast is for rain, so it should be a lovely run.

I'll post a report this weekend.