Terrapin 50km Race Report
The Terrapin 50km is a wonderful, classic early spring race in Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains. I ran it for the first time two years ago and was looking forward to coming back. I had a decent race in 2019 with an excellent first 20 miles before fading at the end to wind up in 10th place in 5h18min.
This year I really needed a win. Well, not actually winning. I’m not that fast! 2020 was a rough year for racing. Even apart from the Covid situation, I had a bad string of luck in the second half of the year with a strained MCL during my record attempt on the Shenandoah Appalachian Trail followed by nutrition issues at the next few races.
For 3 months I switched up my training, focusing more on speedwork and Vo2 Max with a bit less volume and vertical. I completely changed up my nutrition and fueling. I was curious how this would translate in a competitive race and hoping for a good one after training hard for a full year without much to show for it!
It was a sunny day with cool temps at the start (30 degrees down in the valley). The start was staggered based on your preference, and a small group of us overexcited, overly ambitious runners took off at 7am.
The first 4 miles climbs 2,000 feet up the mountain. I was laser focused on not getting caught up in racing and not going out too fast. I settled into 12th place and just enjoyed the morning. Our feet got nice and soaked at the higher than usual creek crossing, and we turned up the steeper part of the trail. I forced myself to hike the steeper parts and got to the top in 43 minutes feeling fresh. Nailed it!
The next section is just too much fun. You descend 2,000 feet down 5 miles on a mostly dirt road. At the top I soaked in the stellar early morning views of the surrounding mountains. Then I turned back to the business at hand and let rip, comfortably running 6:40s down the mountain. Wahoo!
I felt fresh but still focused on holding back. The next section was 10 miles almost all uphill with 3,000 feet of climbing, and I didn’t want to even start racing until after that point. The 1-2 hilly road miles were uneventful except for dropping my just opened gel in the dirt. Doh! We turned onto the technical single track stretch with a few steep up / downs and popped back onto the road we descended earlier.
It was 3 miles up the mountain to the 4-way intersection and halfway point. I managed to run the whole thing without walking, again enjoying the big views as we got towards the top. I came into the aid station in 6th place moving well and feeling like money. The legendary David Horton spotted my bright orange Hokas and said “it must be the shoes!”
Next up was a 5-mile lollipop out and back to the highest point of the course. I started going into a low point around mile 17. My uphill legs were shot and energy was low. I felt on the verge of cramping. My thoughts started turning negative, and I was worried it would be a repeat of 2 years ago with a struggle to finish and losing places at the end.
But I made sure to stay positive and knew I could turn it around. I had fueled well so far but figured I was probably still a bit low on calories / electrolytes. I tried pumping in more fuel and hoped for the best. On the bright side, we surprisingly had fresh snow on this next section. That’s been the theme of this winter – snow never melting on the higher trails and ridges!
I got passed by someone for the first time all race and heard more runners closing in fast behind me. But I was starting to turn it around and moving well again. The next section was the steepest and most technical of the race, and that is my territory!
We passed the 4-way intersection and aid station again around mile 21. Orange lightning coming in hot! I was a few minutes behind my splits from 2 years ago, but I was still hopeful I could close hard and dip under 5 hours.
The trail turned vertical as we went up the steepest climb to Terrapin Rocks. I started to reel in the guy who passed me on the dirt road a few miles back. He was super fast on the road, blowing by me even though I was hitting 7:30s. I knew my only chance would be to put a good amount of time on him in the next steep, technical section and then hold on for dear life for the last 3 miles that are super runnable!
I kept focusing on fueling well and realized I was still behind on salt as my legs kept seizing it. I turned to the Roctane caps I fortunately remembered to bring, and they did the trick. I opened up on the steep, super technical descent and finally got by the speedster who passed me before. This descent is a blast, and I pushed hard here trying to get a bit of a lead.
We hit the short out and back section, and my adrenaline spiked as I saw there were 6 us all bunched together. Everyone looked super strong, and I knew that at least 2 of them would have more legs than me in the last 2-3 miles. Oh man, this was going to be a very painful last 5 miles …
I summoned whatever I could to try and open a gap in the next few miles on rolling, occasionally steep trails. The way this trail hugs in the side of the mountain, you can see quite a ways behind and ahead, which I guess is a blessing and a curse!
For a while I had two people breathing down my neck, and I couldn’t seem to open up any gap. I summoned another gear and turned it up to 11. I finally opened a bit of daylight on the runners behind me, and I was slowly reeling in one more guy ahead of me. This was my chance to create a gap, and I poured it on, going by the guy I had been catching up to. As I passed two runners in the half marathon they told me I was in 5th! I had a rough idea where I was but had guessed 6th place, so this was a nice motivator and helped me keep cranking.
I crossed the river (wet shoes again!) and turned onto the fast 2 mile downhill to the finish. I really hoped I had enough of a lead from the last 3+ miles, but I knew I had to push hard this section to not get caught.
Man it was a struggle! I was running 6:30s as we approached the road section with a mile to go. I glanced back occasionally and didn’t see anyone closing – phew. We had a bit less than a half mile left, and I could see the finish line arch. Then I looked back and saw my fast friend closing on me – at this rate he was going to catch me. Gah! My body was done, and my mind tried to talk me into phoning it in. I mean how much do I care about 5th vs. 6th? What does it actually matter? Sigh, I do care for some ridiculous reason.
I dug deep and unleashed everything I had, dipping down to 5:40-5:50 pace. I didn’t bother looking back because it didn’t matter – this was as fast as I could go. I held on and collapsed across the finish line in 4h53min. My legs were shaking, and I was wrecked, but it felt so good to have a real race again and lay it all out!
Hilariously (in the laughing & crying sort of way) the guy I held off at the end actually started a few minutes after me so ended up beating me anyway! Oh well. That’s what I get for being too competitive. At least I can say I truly gave the race everything I had. I ended up in 6th place and shaved 25 minutes off my previous time.
This race was a blast and couldn’t have gone any better. Pacing, nutrition, and fitness finally all came together! I look forward to coming back to this classic spring race and giving it another go. Now onwards to Promise Land 50km in 5 weeks!
