Juliana Moves

Well, I didn’t run the whole 100 miles of MMT – yet again! Dang flabbit! However, I am extremely proud of the progress I made, both mentally and physically, from my 2024 to 2025 attempts. I DNF’d at mile 76, 28 hours into the race as I missed the cutoff into the next aid station! Put simply, I felt physically very good during the race and was consistently pleased with how well I was holding up on my mental game, and adjusting and persevering during low moments. In the end, I developed gnarly blisters on both of my feet that made it practically impossible to actually run and going downhill (think: feet slipped forward in shoes) was unbearable. Thanks to this, I was moving too slowly to keep up with the cutoffs. But now I know that 100 is in reach!

You better believe I’ll be trying again, but we’ll get to that! Let’s go through the weekend.

The Week Before

I spent the week preparing my nutrition, packing up all my stuff, getting the logistics very organized for my crew, and eating lots of carbs! Sabrina arrived to DC on Thursday and we ended up going out for pizza with my brother Luke who was also randomly in town for work. 

It rained A LOT the week leading up to the race. Unfortunately, it rained even more out on the race course! I heard people saying that it rained 5 inches. There are lots of rivers and areas where water pools out there, so I knew it would be wet. I had deluded myself into thinking that it might dry up a bit before (or on) Saturday because the weather had improved and it was going to be sunny and hot. Spoiler alert: the trails were not dry.

Friday

I did some last minute packing and we lounged around most of the morning. I was feeling nervous in a good way! We left for our Airbnb just after lunch, dropped the dogs, and headed to the start line to get my race bib and listen to the pre-race briefing. It was incredibly windy and apparently a short, but intense storm was forecasted to come that afternoon. I don’t think we ever saw this additional rain, but it sure was ominous!

Our Airbnb was next to a Walmart, so we bought stuff to make dinner, ate, and I went to bed early. I had a 3 am alarm set! I did not end up sleeping well that night, but it’s the week of sleep leading up to the race that is more important.

Saturday (Race Day #1)

My alarm went off, I drank coffee and had a bagel with cream cheese, sat around for a bit, and then put on the running clothes I would be wearing for the next many many hours. Sabrina, Patrick, and I headed to the start. Guess what? It was raining! Classic! Actually, author’s note: last year at MMT it rained for 9 hours, but it was the first time it had rained all month. This year we got an extremely wet May. Maddening! Before I knew it we were lining up and I was off! Let’s break this down aid station to aid station, shall we?

Start to Moreland Gap (4.1 miles cumulative)

This section was nice because it is almost entirely paved or gravel roads. I was able to relax, warm up, and generally settle in. I was a little worried about getting my feet wet really early, because I knew from a training run last year that some of the bridge portions of the road will flood when there’s been enough rain. As I progressed on though and crossed a few of these areas, I figured the water had receded enough! I thought that too soon. Just a half mile or so later I came across two ankle deep water crossings. There was genuinely no way to cross that wasn’t just straight through.

Moreland Gap to Edinburg Gap (12.1 miles cumulative)

I continued to focus on taking it easy, especially up the first real climb of the course. Fortunately, things were a bit drier on the Short Mountain ridgeline and it was so green and beautiful! I focused on hydrating early while the weather was still cool and trying to make sure I was eating according to plan. My feet got wet again as I descended into Edinburg to my crew, but my shoes were still draining decently well so I wasn’t worried!

Edinburg Gap to Woodstock Tower (20.3 miles cumulative)

The climb out of Edinburg can be brutal for me, I think because it’s just long and steep at points, but I kept my cool and carried forward. This section of course is pretty runnable and pleasant, so I just had fun! I was psyched to come into Woodstock Tower to get my drop bag and refill on some stuff. At this point the day was starting to heat up pretty significantly!

Woodstock Tower to Powells Fort (25.8 miles cumulative)

Between Woodstock and Powells is where my stomach started to take a turn. I maintain that I was hydrating well, but I just got an acidic feeling in my stomach that made eating unpleasant. It wasn’t normal nausea, which I expected to happen. I kept thinking that if I could just throw up I would feel better. No luck! Nonetheless, I am proud that I did still continue to eat and drink – just maybe less than what was ideal. Old Juliana would’ve just stopped eating for a bit and that never ended well, so I’m proud!

At this point, the heat and wet feet started to cause some hot spots on my feet. I’ve had this happen before and it normally went away, so I mistakenly pushed it out of my brain. Training for ultras makes you good at ignoring certain discomforts (rain, minor aches, etc), but this time that was my downfall!

Powells to Elizabeth’s Furnace (33.3 miles cumulative)

At Powells, I snagged watermelon and a kind volunteer put ice into my water bladder – a delightful treat when the temps are getting to 85 degrees! There was a decent forest road section that I moved well and ran on a bit before the climb up near Signal Knob. (I think this climb/summit has a name, but I can never remember it!) The descent to EF is one of my favorites, so I enjoyed it as much as I could. At this point my stomach was still sort of sour and I was really looking forward to using a bathroom!

Elizabeth’s Furnace to Shawl Gap (38 miles cumulative)

My crew and our friends/neighbors were all at EF, which was such a fun surprise! We changed my socks, refilled my pack, and I ate a few pieces of quesadilla before heading out. This chunk of the course is where I really fell apart last year so I was a little nervous to reconquer that section. I took the climb up Shawl pretty slowly and then tried to enjoy the descent as much as possible. It was so wet and muddy. SO WET AND MUDDY. Nonetheless, I came into the Shawl Gap aid station in significantly better spirits than last year!

My feet were probably still bothering me a little at this point, but again I wasn’t worrying about them. Oops!

Shawl Gap to Veach Gap (41.1 miles cumulative)

This is a relatively easy road section and I liked it. Patrick had sent me off with watermelon and a big handful of grapes, so I focused on eating those and getting my stomach sorted. The fruit did seem to help! At the Veach Gap aid station I refilled all my hydration, ate some chips, and headed out for a long section.

Veach Gap to Indian Grave (50 miles cumulative)

This section of the course is tricky. There’s a big climb up Veach, though it’s not too steep, just long! At the top, the ridgeline is pretty runnable, though rocky in some spots. The descent off to Indian Grave is quite steep at first and then smooths out. I knew all of this, anticipated practicing patience, and focused on moving forward.

This is when the blisters started to take a turn, I think. At this point I was well aware of some discomfort beneath my feet, but didn’t know what to do about it beyond ignoring it as much as possible and addressing it the next time I saw my crew. The ridgeline was less wet, so I was just relieved to not get my feet wet again! I did have a low moment up on that ridge and cried to my crew about my feet.

Actually, I called Patrick and heard him say “someone needs to take this phone from me.” LOL. Erica took over and coached me to get it together and that we’d fix everything at Habron Gap. Good job, Erica! (And Patrick, for the self awareness of not being able to tell me ‘tough shit!’.) 

My stomach still felt bleh, but I continued eating and drinking. I do think I neglected to refill one of my nutrition bottles while on this section, which was a dumb choice and I knew it. I just wanted to get off the ridge!

Probably around mile 45 or so, when I was descending and moving towards a smoother section, I took a step with my left foot and felt something underfoot pop. I could feel some sort of liquid seep through my sock and into my shoe… Gross, I know. I had figured I had a blister of some sort, but didn’t realize it had gotten so big! After it popped, it felt pretty painful. Oddly, at first it hurt more to walk than to run, but this changed later in the race.

At the Indian Grave aid station I had a pickle and a SNOW CONE!!!! Best aid station treat ever. 

Indian Grave to Habron Gap (54 miles cumulative)

This section of the course is all road, though it is long and a bit hilly. It also got dark! I wanted to get to Habron so badly, so I tried to run as much as I could. My feet were hurting pretty badly at this point too, and I had planned a full outfit change (shoes and all) at Habron, so I was incentivized to get there.

Habron was also where I picked up Erica to pace me (and where I dropped last year), so I tried to stay focused.

Saturday Night into Sunday (Race Day #2)

Habron Gap to Camp Roosevelt (63.9 miles cumulative)

I was in a low point when I came into Habron and I think whined/cried a bit to Erica and Sabrina. I completely changed my clothes and told them my feet needed some serious help. They assured me that it didn’t look too bad, so they put Chamois Buttr all over my feet, put on some new socks, slightly more comfortable shoes, and sent Erica and I off.

At some point while I was changing, I asked Sabrina to put some Chamois Buttr on some chafing on my back. Well, I had forgotten that putting that cream on active chafing is so painful. The pain was brief, but so intense that I got down onto my knees to breathe through it. Sabrina said it looked like I was praying LOL.

At first I was worried I wouldn’t be able to walk in my shoes with the blisters, but eventually my feet sort of adjusted (and I think I mentally filed the pain away). Erica and I started up Habron Gap, which is the hardest climb of the course. From here on out, we were moving very slowly. It was fully dark, very buggy, and I was trying to not make my feet worse.

Up on the ridge I went to eat some applesauce and triggered my gag reflex. I think my body saw this as an opportunity to finally clear the system, so I threw up a bit. My first ever puke and rally! Honestly, my stomach felt better for the rest of the race! I also told Erica it was like a shot of espresso. Woke me right up!

Not much else to say here other than that it was slow. My feet hurt when I was running and the skin/blisters felt even more terrible when we were going downhill. I was just psyched to be running in the night!

Camp Roosevelt to Gap Creek (70 miles cumulative)

My least favorite section of the entire course. It was relatively short, but I knew we were going through Duncan Hollow, which is notoriously wet even on a drier year. We were moving slow, but also our feet got so so wet again. It was unavoidable. We went through thigh deep water at one point. I could feel the dirt and sand get into my shoes and then rub against the blisters. It was horrific. 

We the climb up Duncan Knob was also longer than I remembered, which was frustrating, and I couldn’t run the descent because my feet were (excuse my french) fucked. I did, however, do my Duolingo for the day during that climb.

I thought we had plenty of time coming into the aid station because a volunteer at Camp Roo mistakenly told us the cutoffs were an hour later than I had thought. He was wrong. When we arrived at Gap Creek, I had like 13 minutes to get in and out. We changed my socks and shoes again, and then Derek and I were off to do Kerns. 

Gap Creek to DNF (76 miles cumulative)

We had four hours to get to Visitor Center, but I was confident leaving Gap Creek that we weren’t going to make it. Kerns takes a while on a good day, and I knew the rockiness would kill my feet even more. It was excruciating. I think the lack of sleep was also getting to me at this point, because I was seeing things that weren’t there. Mailboxes, cat litter, a little toy-sized man on the ground. It was weird, y’all.

Most of the blistering was toward the balls of my feet and on my toes, so I think I had been compensating by putting a lot of weight in my heels. By the time we were halfway through on Kerns, my heels were killing me. It hurt to stand, let alone walk or try to run. Derek was a saint and was very patient with me. When it became absolutely clear that I wouldn’t make the cutoff, I asked him to call Patrick and Sabrina to pick us up on the next fire road. I couldn’t even stomach the idea of walking 2.5 more miles down a road.

In Summary

And that was it! Obviously, not the finish I wanted, but still one I am proud of. The thing I love about training for ultras is the training itself. The constant demand for endurance and resiliency feels good for me. I love the process, and the time outside, and the community that comes with it. Make no mistake, I will do 100 miles someday, but the joy of running is not tied up in the actual race completion for me. Thank god!

When we got back to the Airbnb I wiped down with a baby wipe and then slept on the ground for a bit. Patrick brought me McDonald’s to eat! Once my chafing settled a bit, I took a proper shower and we treated my feet. I was not walking well! 

We all went out to Mexican food for dinner, and then I spent the rest of the evening watching New Girl.

What’s Next

Last year after MMT, I was ready to take a break from ultrarunning for a bit. I had gone into the 2024 race with an ego, I think, and was very discouraged afterward. I remember thinking during the 2024 race, “I’m worried I’ll never want to trail run again.”

This year was so different. I thought to myself, “yes! I am right to love this!” Don’t get me wrong, there were some sections of trail that I swore off running for a while – looking at you, Kerns. But, ultimately, the love of running and ultrarunning is still very alive. 

I want to give myself a break from the intensity on my body and brain, but then I am ready to go again! I think I will not do MMT next year and may choose a 100 next fall. I love the idea of doing a 100k this fall, maybe?! But also, I love doing the Richmond Marathon and having a relatively low-key road running block. I can’t decide! I need to do some thinking. I just want to do it all!

Regardless, I am so grateful for this body and for my own discipline. I am grateful to everyone who has supported my running and my wild ideas. I hope that everyone can find a sort of movement that they love as much as I love to run.

MMT 2025 may be behind us, but I am just getting started!

Love,

JN