Race Report: Green Valley 10-Miler

This race has consistently been one of my favorites in Greenville... it's always a challenging course through hilly neighborhoods close to home. It's not a huge race either, just a few hundred participants, which makes it feel more like a small hometown race than one of these giant ones with thousands of runners. 

I did a little jog to warm up before the race but didn't do much preparation, and wasn't sure what to expect results-wise. At last year's race, I had been consistently running Altamont almost weekly, so I felt well-prepared for the hills. This year I think the last time I ran Altamont was on a rainy night in early December, and before that it had been months. Obviously I'm still running and training regularly but hadn't done much specifically for this race or for speed. 

So, once the gun went off I set out and decided to just run what felt right... push if it felt good, ease off if it didn't. Of course that's relative because running hard uphill doesn't ever feel "good" but... well, you know what I mean (maybe). 

The first mile was the fastest (7:03) and it was net downhill, so that makes sense. After that I settled into a mid-to-upper 7s pace for the remainder of the race, with just one mile squeaking above 8 minutes (mile 8 @ 8:09) although the final mile was close (7:59). 

Final time was 1:16:46, only 5 seconds slower than last year! Pretty amazing year-to-year consistency in my opinion. :)

Post-race crew awaiting awards

First place age group! 🎉

GORUCK Savannah Weekend

Shifted focus to this event back in November when we started to get a little nervous about the Charleston Tough event and whether it was going to happen (turns out it did, but details were minimal and I think we made the right choice). 

In the week or so leading up to the weekend in Savannah, we noticed several changes in the dates/times of the events. Even the Friday afternoon of the event weekend, the time for the Sunday Basic kept shifting. Thankfully all got sorted out and we were able to do all 4 events as planned.

Here's how it went...

Worked from home on Friday and left midday to get down to Savannah mid afternoon. Checked into the really cool hotel (dinosaurs! geodes! old power plant!) and then met up with John for early dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

Event 1: GORUCK Light

10# plate in ruck + supplies

3-4 hours

Starting at 1900 hours

John and I packed up our gear and decided the ~mile walk to Forsyth park where the event was being held wasn't too bad, so we rucked our way to the start. It was already dark as we walked, so we had our headlamps handy and arrived at the starting area (which was on the far side of the park from the direction we were going) in plenty of time. We decided at that point we would not be rucking back to the hotel afterwards. 

We stood around as participants (called "GRTs" in the GORUCK community) gathered. Ended up being about 25 of us altogether. At the prescribed hour, Cadre Barbarossa (our leader for the event) had us stand in formation, inspect our gear, and then spread out for some stretching/yoga to start things off. After going over the logistics and expectations, we headed over to Cadre's car to collect the coupons (i.e. the items of varying weight that we would, as a team, carry around throughout the event). Coupons ranged from 25# sandbag kettlebell to a 120# sandbag to several cases of water bottles as well as an American flag that went with us everywhere. 

I won't go into all the details since some of the mystery around GORUCK challenges is what makes them fun/unique. But suffice it to say we rucked in loops around the park carrying coupons as a team, trading off as needed, and stopping as a team to do challenges (both physical and trivia-based). We had enough breaks to make it manageable, but by the 2200 timestamp when we finished, we were excited for the patches and beverages to be handed out.

the LIGHT team

One patch, one beer. 

Event 2: GORUCK BFF (Basic Functional Fitness) Test

This event was a prescribed set of 4 exercises, all known in advance, with GRT's choice of weights. I chose the BASIC set of weights, which is what I had done back in November when I first signed up for this event. I wanted to see what I could improve over the months of training. 

I'm most proud of the improvement in the sandbag burpees, although it was only by a few... those things are HARD. 

Only got one photo of John finishing the 1 mile ruck/run.

Patch #2 earned

And then it was time for the day's main event... 

Event 3: 12-Mile Star Course

10# plate in ruck + supplies

~15 or so checkpoints

Start time 0900 hours

This was a different kind of event. You had your rucksack with supplies and prescribed weight, but other than that, it's all about the miles. We were given a handful of checkpoints at a time to go out, take a selfie, and then return back for the next set. John and I teamed up and he downloaded an app on his phone that delivery drivers use to plan routes - it turned out to be extremely helpful in plotting the shortest distance to cover all the points and the most logical order in which to visit them.

Took us just about 4 hours total and we covered almost 11.5 miles. Definitely a long day on our feet, but we made it enjoyable!

The rest of the evening was dinner (fooooood) and early sleep time.

Event 4: GORUCK Basic

20# plate in ruck + supplies

5-6 hours

Starting at 1000 hours

This event was similar in style to Friday's Light, just longer in duration and distance. Same setup of carrying coupons as a group from point to point, doing various activities & PT at each stop. We were concerned there would be rain moving in towards the afternoon but we finished up right before it started to sprinkle on us. I managed to carry the 80# sandbag for the last ~1/4 mile or so, and was pretty proud of that!

Carrying a full water bladder

Flag carrier

Team!

Mission complete

Patches from the weekend + Team Leader coin with Barbarossa's logo

Overall I enjoyed it but think I'd be up for a harder challenge in the future... gotta find a Tough or a Triple Basic to do sometime!

Race Report: Snowbird (Rainbird) Challenge 50k

The Snowbird Challenge is the sister event (exactly the same style, including event site and all) to the Carolina Reaper Challenge that I participated in over the summer. Whereas I did the marathon relay in the summer event, this one I went all-in for the solo 50k.

Basic summary:

Run a ~2.6 mile loop starting every 45 minutes. Do this 12x to complete the 50k. 

When I signed up, I was thinking this one would be super cold and my challenge would be staying warm in between loops. Turns out the challenge of the day was RAIN and not cold!

I arrived and set up my chair and tote with the group of Spartanburg runners who had a huge tent/table collection. We got a pre-race photo of everyone while we were still smiling and dry. 

The first lap set off at 8:00 am and I made a conscious effort to keep at an easy pace despite the excitement of being out on the course. The first 3 laps were all intentionally held back vs. what I could have been running. After the first 3, I decided I'd just run what felt good for the rest of the event - as fast or as slow as I wanted to go. I was also fully expecting to be walking laps by the end but spoiler alert, I didn't walk once!

Green: feeling strong but holding back
Light blue: feeling strong but not holding back
Dark Blue: things feel hard now, just keep going
Orange: time to finish this thing!!

We got 5 dry laps before the rain moved in and boy did it not stop. Everything was completely soaked, huge puddles along the course, not a dry stitch of clothing to be found. I had started out taking my shoes and socks off after every loop so that my feet wouldn't be trapped in sopping wet shoes all day and risk blisters, but I gave up on that after about the halfway point because I couldn't be bothered to take my shoes on and off. 

I was able to eat pretty well throughout the race and kept a shockingly consistent pace... really expected to fade and be walking towards the end but surprised myself by keeping going, and felt pretty good doing it!

Very moist

Finishing in the downpour

Very wet and tired Sparkle City runners

I managed to snag 1st AG award despite starting out in about 6th place in my age group. Technically there were 2 others in my age group who were faster, but they ended up being 2nd and 3rd overall female, so that meant I got the honor of being top for age group awards. Super pumped with this race despite the crazy conditions! Looking forward to trying my luck in the heat this summer. 🔥

Race Report: Greenville Track Club Run Downtown 5k

This was a cold one! Historically this has been a chilly start, and 2024 was no different. It was in the mid-20s on race morning and the event organizers even had indoor spaces + space heaters placed around the start/finish area to help combat the freezing temps for participants. I definitely bundled up more than typical for a fast race, but it was necessary. We had a great group of Milliken runners for the corporate shield team, too. 

Lots of cold little Milli-runners!

I did about a mile warmup jog to get from the car to the start line. Wasn't planning on going for a super fast time so wasn't overly concerned with getting super warmed up, just enough to get the legs moving. 

The first mile took us from the Peace Center over to Unity Park. This was my slowest mile of the race since I was just getting warmed up really. Felt OK but knew it wasn't going to be a PR day. 

Mile 1 = 7:20

Got to Unity Park and knew it was going to just be a big loop up one side and down the other (kind of) - this part was at least flat, but felt very long going all the way through the park on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. This year's course is very different from the course in the past that had stayed the same for many many years. 

Mile 2 = 7:08

Last mile had a little bit of climbing, but I'd studied the course map enough to know what was coming. It was really just the climb from the trail up River Street to get to Main that was a kicker, and I knew once I turned onto Main Street it was time for the final push (downhill!) to the finish.

Mile 3 = 7:13

Finish line!

Age group award!

We stood around in the freezing cold, finding as much sunshine as possible, and the team collected several age-group and team awards. We gathered for a team brunch at Coffee Underground after the race which was super fun! 

The one with the 10-Mile Ruck

Monday

Did: 1.5 mi run + 3.7 mi ruck

Quick morning loop in the neighborhood before work, then rucked 30# on the 5k course during lunch at the office. 

Tuesday

Did: 6.22 mi treadmill run

Ridiculous winter thunderstorms all day made for a treadmill speedwork session in the morning at work. Haven't run on a treadmill in quite some time, but felt pretty good overall. Speed segments of 2mi, 1mi, 0.5mi, 2x 0.25mi and an overall sub-8 pace for the 10k run. 

Wednesday

Did: 2.3 mi pup run + 2.5 mi pup ruck

Took the pup out for a couple miles on the trail after dropping off D at school. She seems to love running, which makes me sooo happy!

Got out for a ruck with pup in the afternoon, 30# pack through the equestrian park trails nearby.

Thursday

Did: 5.12 mi @ 8:39/mi

Early downtown group run again, chilly but nice morning! Really enjoying seeing these folks again semi-regularly. :)

Friday

Did: 2 mi pup run + 60 min Power Vinyasa

Morning pup run in TR after the school drop-off routine. She gets so silly and bounces around, and then won't jump up into the car. 😂

"Mum... halp."

Got out for a midday hot power vinyasa class at Soul Yoga that was super sweaty and good!

Saturday

Did: 3.7 mi @ 9:33/mi run + 10.15 mi ruck @ 18:10/mi moving average

Started out the morning with a ~30 minute run with friends from Swamp Rabbit Cafe. Had a short break for some coffee and a scone, then set out with John for a ridiculous ruck adventure. Had 20# plate in my pack, plus water. He had a 30# plate in his pack. And then we brought a 40# sandbag to carry between us for the planned 10 miles. 

Ran into some fans as we were getting started 💜

We set out heading north on the Swamp Rabbit with the goal of Furman as the turnaround point. That way there would be no short-cuts allowed! I took the first shift with the sandbag that we lovingly named "Little Bitch". Carried her for a mile then threw her onto the ground. John took the next mile, then we team-carried her for a mile, switching sides every quarter mile. John got these attachments called Ruck Loops (https://www.instagram.com/ruckloops/) that go on the ruck straps as well as on the sandbag and man, what a difference they make!! Great way to relieve the shoulder stress from the pack as well as enable different kinds of grips on the sandbag handles. 

Me with Little Bitch on my back. 

I have to say, carrying that thing for a mile made the miles with just the pack feel SO amazing and easy! 

About 3 miles left to go and feeling good! 

We finished out the last mile with 1/2 mile each on a solo carry and man did it feel great to throw that thing down at the end. I was surprised to not be absolutely dying by the end - yes it was hard and the shoulders were feeling it 100000% but I recall feeling much worse after the 6- or 8-mile distance rucks I'd done. 

Post-ruckin' beers were well-earned

This ruck was absolutely a confidence booster for me! Feeling good for the big event in Savannah... 3 weeks!!

Sunday

Did: 6.28 mi run (last ~2 with pup)

Ran to the park in the afternoon to meet the fam, and picked up the pup once I got there for another couple of miles. It was sunny but breezy, but felt nice. Legs were pretty tired but not as bad as I expected them to be!