Flatlanders Canyon Crash HM

Had the unique opportunity to run a trail run in south Georgia.  We don't have many trails (like hardly any) and don't have a lot of elevation changes, so it was a unique opportunity.  A couple of local ultra-runners set it up and picked a neat place (Providence Canyon State Park).  It is an old farm site with extreme erosion that created a fairly large canyon-like system - sounded cool and I like to support local stuff when I can, especially a couple of guys that are trying to promote trail running to beginners (such as myself).  We had just ran the Albany half the week before and really didn't know how to pace something like this at all. I have virtually NO trail running experience, so couldn't let it pass by.  There was a 5K/10K and HM option - I ran the half.  No sweat, right?  It's only 13 miles, how bad can that be?  I was about to find out the hard way! 

First of all, huge props to the volunteers and people that set up the course - great job marking it and only a few people got off track - even me with no glasses while running could find my way around, so I thought it was outstanding.  We gathered up near the starting line to hear our instructions and, with 10 miles to go one of the crossfit people there started doing pushups.  Not off to the side, mind you, but right in the middle of everyone to show how strong he was.  I'll never understand that, but hey, it's all good.  Because I hadn't been running much (not long, not much speed work and not really consistent) before the Albany half (niggles, nothing major), my legs were a little stiff after last weekend - had a good warmup spin around in near-perfect weather and gathered up to start the race.  Ready set go! 

Off we went - felt so good to run the first 1/4 mile on a road and the next 1/4 mile on a very level grassy trail!  Then, we got onto the real course and it got interesting.  I had no idea how to pace myself, so I naturally went out too hard - any real trail runner would of probably been laughing at me, but so be it.  One kid passed me after about 2 miles in on a steep decline but nobody else did (it was a small field of about 80 people or so).  Most of the race was run totally by myself, and only saw a few people on a couple of turnaround places.  I noticed (when I could see people) that the strong runners FLEW down the hills where I was really really tentative.  I remember hearing trail runners talk about walking the uphills.  Now, we live in flat country and these elevations are probably laughable to those that train in hills, but I didn't walk the uphills, they walked me!  Whew.  My pace bled pretty badly into the race and I actually had to completely stop twice to stretch calf muscles that were cramping pretty bad and threatening to lock up on me!  We had a neat stretch in the middle of the race and in the bottom of the canyon where we ran for maybe 1.5-2 miles in a sandy creek bottom with about an inch of water - makes the feet heavy and certainly slowed me down.  I actually stopped at an aid station at about mile 8 to eat a GU, drink some water and regroup for a few seconds - something that I would never do during a road HM.  At one point, I stepped into a hold in the creek bottom and twisted my ankle - nothing major, but I limped for about 1/2 mile before it loosened up a little and I was able to finish.  Of course, I twisted it about 100 more times it felt like before I finished, but that's just part of it I guess.  It didn't detract from the fun I was having.  At the finish line, people were cooking hot dogs - how cool is that?  Ate a hot dog and chips and felt great (and humbled). 

Finished officially in 1:54:36, although my Garmin said 1:53:39.  Why the discrepancy I haven't a clue, but it doesn't matter and the time was sort of irrelevant anyway.  Finished 6th overall, although that doesn't matter either.  I am just happy to say that I've run a trail race and now I want to do more!

Long story short, I had a blast, am really appreciative of the work the organizers put in, got some good work in, got humbled, learned a little about pacing yourself, now understand a teensy bit what trail runners face and have gained a new appreciation for their accomplishments and know that if I ever wanted to "really" run a trail race it would take a little bit of training, at least for me.

My splits
mile 1 6:46 (stupid right?)
mile 2 7:29
mile 3 8:44
mile 4 7:40
mile 5 8:10
mile 6 8:10
mile 7 9:24
mile 8 7:28
mile 9 9:56
mile 10 8:52
mile 11 9:43
mile 12 9:43
mile 13 11:07 (last hill got me - hard!)

Total time (official) - 1:54:36

Elevation map


Course map


A flat running pic and a walking and slung out pic  .  Thanks to a friend and awesome runner/crossfitter/mountain biker Josh Fix who was kind enough to take pictures and share them even after tearing his hamstring while running his first marathon last week in Albany (although he still finished on a badly internally bleeding and vertically torn hamstring in 3:2x).  Josh has finished just behind Hal Koerner in his first couple of 50 mile races and was set to run the Georgia Death Race last weekend - instead of staying home and pouting (which would of been understandable), he came out to support us.  Local math teacher and very cool guy...





Having done one now, I can say they are nothing to be scared of and it was a heck of a lot of fun - I hope I can do an ultra some day!

As for now, my Louisville Ironman training is underway.  Cheers!

jk

Thanks for posting John.  I'm thinking about trying my first trail half later this year and your experience will be helpful.

Glad you enjoyed it.

Congrats John on a great run and fun experience!  Hills on trails can kick anyone's butt - so no worries there!

Let's see...

Going out too fast, check.

Racing the uphills, picking your way on the downhills, check.

Whanking your ankle, check.

Stopping (!) at an aid station, check.

Chowing down afterward, check!

All you needed to do was get lost, and this would have been the complete trail experience. Congrats!

Nice time, too!

Can't wait for your next adventure. Once you've touched dirt, it's hard to go back.   

wow - you actually made that sound like fun.

Congrats!! What a great experience! And great finishing time. Well done.