Juliana Moves

Author’s note: My brain is still a little cooked and I am so sure this is going to be full of grammatical errors. Forgive me!

Good morning and happy Monday! I hope you had a really nice weekend. Patrick and I spent ours out near Harrisonburg, VA for me to run the Hone Quarry 40 Miler as my MMT tune up race! I always love the idea of writing race recaps but very rarely follow through for whatever reason. I decided to give it a go this time while it’s still fresh!

Friday

We packed up the car and the dogs and headed out of town on Friday afternoon. Harrisonburg is only ~2.5 hours away and there was no pre-race check in, so it was easy to just journey over there later in the day. Our Airbnb was only 10 minutes from the start/finish line of the race, though it was a little bit further west of Harrisonburg than I realized. It also had a ton of stairs (oops), so we (Patrick) had to carry the dogs up and down anytime we needed to take them out!

After dropping the dogs and our stuff off at the Airbnb, we headed back into town for dinner. We did bring stuff from home, but… we wanted to make the weekend an experience! We ended up having pre-race pizza at Bella Luna and it was delicious! Afterwards we stopped by a Walmart to grab some peanut butter for the dogs and candy for Patrick. When we got back to the Airbnb, I started organizing my drop bags for the race. Patrick had to go back to Walmart because he had planned a big bike ride for Saturday and left his bottles at home. Classic! 

I was feeling a little nervous so I was glad to go to sleep as early as I could!

Saturday/Race Day

The race began at 7 am at a church and it was open for us to all gather and get ready in before the start. You’ve got to love access to real restrooms pre-run! At 6:50ish we all headed outside to the start and then we were off! Patrick went home to get ready for his big ride, and I started running.

The first few miles were along the road to Hone Quarry Recreation Area and then we jumped onto trail. I was immediately pleasantly surprised by how smooth the trails were! MMT is so technical that I never know what to expect on other “technical” trails. We did a little lollipop with 819 feet of climbing and then popped out on the road again to get to the first aid station ‘Campground’ at mile 6.23. I refilled my bottles, grabbed some fruit gummies, and headed out for our first big climb.

The climb was long, but the trail was relatively smooth and not too steep. It was really fun to see the peaks and valleys around us too. When I reached the top of the climb there was one more short but steep section and then we got to cruise downhill or pretty grassy single track until the Union Springs aid station at mile 12.7! This section had 1,980 feet of gain. At this point I got my first drop bag, refilled my bottles, grabbed Cheetos (that I didn’t eat) and a banana (that I did miraculously eat), and headed out to climb back up the descent I had just enjoyed. This section of course was yet another lollipop. It was starting to feel pretty warm at this point so, despite drinking my bottles and from my hydration bladder constantly, I was beginning to struggle with staying hydrated.

After hiking back to the end of the lollipop, I remember cruising a bit until reaching the “Mile 16 Wall”. I had studied the course map and elevation profile, but somehow didn’t realize just what this climb was. There was a sign that said it was the steepest grade climb on the entire course. I took out my poles, kept my focus on the trail right in front of me, and tried to breathe calmly as I could feel my heart rate climb on the ascent. As I reached the top, I took a gel, another deep breath, and decided to refocus on hydrating. The descent down from this ridgeline was pretty steep and I couldn’t go too fast. The views were stunning though. I could tell my blood sugar was dipping because I felt weirdly sad and lonely out there. I don’t know why this is my emotional response, but it is a good warning sign that I need to eat more! So I did!

The halfway point aid station ‘HQ’ is at mile 19.6 and is a relatively short out and back to get to after the descent. I had 1,655 feet of climbing between Union Springs and HQ, so I was pumped to get there. I also knew I had the biggest climb of the course coming after HQ. I picked up my second drop bag, refilled my bottles and hydration bladder, ate some pretzels and a Powerade popsicle, and took off! I decided to listen to music and podcasts at this point. I think I played Defying Gravity twice in a row before switching to a podcast – LOL. 

The next aid station ‘Flagpole Knob’ was only 5.3 miles away at mile 24.9 but I had to climb 2,505 feet up the Red Diamond climb to get to it. Trust me, I took my poles out for this again. Fortunately the trail remained pretty smooth but it was very long and decently steep at the beginning. I focused on not stopping and just moving forward on the trail ahead of me. I’m pretty proud of how I handled that climb! I was also so psyched to reach the top. At one point I saw a sign that said:

Cruel! 

At the top I hit a forest road and then climbed a tiny bit more to the aid station. I refilled my bottles, ate a pickle and a slice of quesadilla and was off again! At this point in the race I was probably behind on nutrition and hydration. As I got dehydrated I started feeling a little nauseous and was eating less than I should’ve. That said, I only properly skipped eating one time, which is pretty good for me! I have a bad habit of not eating. I still should’ve been eating more though!

The distance to the next aid station ‘Big Hollow’ was only 4.3 miles but it felt so much longer than that LOL. It only had 332 feet of climbing and 904 feet of loss, but again the descents were pretty steep and I was trying to get rehydrated and remotivated! I chugged along and enjoyed seeing other runners as it was yet another out and back to this aid station! This course had a lot of that. At Big Hollow I grabbed my final drop bag, refilled bottles, and headed out for the push to the final aid station. I ate Cool Ranch Doritos as I hiked out of Big Hollow. Good vibes.

Big Hollow to the last aid station ‘Campground’ (again!) was the longest unsupported chunk on the course and it was torturous. It was 8.37 miles and had 668 feet of gain but 2,458 feet of loss. I thought I’d be cruising downhill the whole time! No. There were sneaky mean climbs tossed in that definitely felt like more than 668 feet of climbing. I had to take my poles out one last time for one of them.

The sign at Big Hollow had also said it was 9.something miles to Campground, which did not jive with what was on the website and on my pacing chart. I decided to lean into delusion and just pretend that my shorter distance of 8.3 was correct and I’d just have to run another mile if it came to it. Fortunately, I was right and it was only a little over 8 miles! The final descent to this aid station was, I thought, the most technical portion of the course. It was steep and rocky and reminded me of Signal Knob out in the Massanutten Mountains. 

When I arrived at Campground, mile 37.57, I refilled my bottles for the final time, ate a few more pretzels, and focused on the fact that I’d get to finish the race on the road! Only 4 miles of downhill road miles to the finish. I am super proud that I ran the whole section (except one minor climb, sue me)! Patrick was waiting for me at the corner right before the finish and I was so glad to see him.

I turned onto the church property and crossed the finish line!

Yay! My Strava clocked it as 42.17 miles with 8,091 feet of gain in 11 hours and 46 minutes. I’ll take it! My legs still felt pretty good at the end, but my energy was flagging big time. I have more practice to do with hydration!

We went back to the Airbnb, I showered (pain free! no chafing! I love KT Tape), and we headed out to dinner. I was pretty stiff and moving pretty slow, but I felt shockingly decent. I focused on drinking as much water as I could. We ended up at a place called Clemetine’s in Harrisonburg and had very delicious fried chicken sandwiches! As we sat down to eat I realized I hadn’t eaten anything post-race. Oops! I even brought a post-run protein shake and totally forgot to drink it. I think I was more focused on getting to sit down.

After dinner we headed home, finished watching Glass Onion (Patrick had started it earlier in the day), and then went to bed shockingly late. I did not sleep well!

Sunday

All things considered, we woke up pretty early, took the dogs out, and then left to go have breakfast at a small dinner in town called The Little Grill. This place doesn’t look like much from the outside, but it was excellent! We got there early enough to get a table no problem, but we drove by it on our way home later in the morning and it was packed. There were probably at least 20 people waiting outside. I had eggs and sausage and cheesy grits and unexpectedly delicious focaccia. 

We thought about hanging around to go to some shops in town, but we had to check out by 11 am and we didn’t feel like driving back and forth too much more. We packed up and decided to head home a little early. It was a beautiful day yesterday, so we got ice cream and spent the rest of the day hanging outside when we got home!

Dinner al fresco? Can’t complain!

Today

My body is still feeling pretty tired as expected, but I am looking forward to the next few weeks of training before MMT! I was remarking to Patrick that I felt fully in control during the race, even when my nutrition and hydration fell off a bit. Rather than panicking, I kept trying to problem solve and continue moving ahead. I also didn’t let myself get psyched out by the people running around me and whatever they were doing. I just ran my race and took care of myself as much as I could and it all paid off! I practiced my mental training and smiled as much as possible.

Now I am looking forward to enjoying a wonderful, if not rainy, week ahead!

Love,

JN