The inspiration for attempting this FKT came back in May of this year (2020). My friend Matt Dean and I had talked about completing an entire loop of the Rivanna. I've never been a huge fan of trail running, but this felt like a bucket-list item for a Charlottesville runner. Matt and I often meet at my apartment near the Barracks Shopping Center to run, and about once or twice a month we do the two sections of RT that spit you out at Old Ivy. That was about the extent of our trail-specific training for the RT loop back on Memorial Day, but we decided to go for it. Matt and I met up with Ben Hays and Jason Brown, and we ran a pretty leisurely, fun loop of the RT. (If you want to know more about our, uh, adventure on the train trestle on that trip, ask me in person. It's a good story) I actually enjoyed the run way more than I thought I would. Near the end, I wondered aloud what the women's FKT was. I looked it up when we finished and saw that it was actually over what our elapsed time was for that day, which included a 10ish minute stop to refuel in the Hardee’s parking lot near 5th street station and a couple of missed turns. I told the guys I thought it would be fun to go for a sub-3 hr RT loop at some point in the Fall. It felt like a good, but manageable goal, and getting the FKT would be a nice added bonus.
Fast-forward to Summer/Early Fall. I knew I wanted to do the Rivanna at some point in the Fall when the weather cooled off, but I put that goal on the backburner. Eventually, I decided on November 21st so that it could be the last thing I did in my training cycle. I didn't want to do anything quick following the RT, and I figured it would be a fun event to end the “season” on so I could take a break over Thanksgiving. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to train for or what racing opportunities would be available in the Fall, but I knew I wanted to race or time trial something in the 5k-10k range on the track or on a flat-ish road, so I tailored my training to that goal. Fortunately, Carter Norbo was up for doing the same training, so the two of us ran almost every single workout and long run together from July-November (as well as many easy runs). We did a lot of LT tempos and track reps off ~100 meter recovery even late into the season. We never did any classic predictor workouts, say, 4xmi @ 5k pace or 3x2mi @ 10k pace or anything that I'm used to doing in a standard build up. We both agreed that we were enjoying the workouts we were doing, and I felt like it was important to lean into the workouts that made us happy. I think that's generally a good philosophy, but with the stress of 2020 and no big races on the calendar, it felt like a particularly good strategy. I had run a 4-mile time trial back in April at Riverview, so I decided it would be fun to try to beat my time. I was going to do it at Riverview again for a direct comparison, but we got tons of rain a couple of days before the TT. The path was completely flooded two days before, and even the day before it looked like there was still a lot of slippery mud, so I decided White Hall would probably be the best alternative. Fortunately, it worked out that Jason Brown could help pace, as his workout called for a 4-mile tempo that was around my race pace, and Carter, though she didn't want to do the whole time trial, wanted to come out and do part as well. We went out to White Hall on the 14th and ran 2 miles uphill and 2 miles back downhill for a 23:24. My previous best from the time trial in April was 23:41, and I think Riverview is an easier course, so I was pretty happy with it.
Ok, now to the FKT attempt itself: With the time trial behind me, I knew I was in better shape than I had been in May (coming off a few down weeks post-time trial), but I was nervous that the lack of trail running and lack of longer long runs might come back to haunt me. Carter and I did 2-3 18-milers, but we mostly kept it in the 14-15 mile range so that the recovery would be shorter, we wouldn’t have to carry fuel, and because we (or at least I) was training for shorter distances. However, I was putting in some solid weekly mileage and felt pretty fit, so I just hoped that would get me through the later stages of the run. Plus, our running time was 3:06 in May, so I felt like dipping under 3 was still definitely doable. Thankfully Ben agreed to take on most (read all) of the navigational responsibility, as I have a terrible sense of direction and wasn’t familiar with the trail. After reaching out to Sophie Speidel, we realized the route we were going to do would be a good bit longer than we thought, so breaking 3:00 seemed like it might be a little tough. The trail is so variable, and I didn't want to go through the trouble of writing down goal mile splits for each mile, so I figured we would just run whatever pace felt right for each mile, and if that got us under 3:00, great.
Carter decided to do the whole thing as well. She wasn't really interested in formally going for the FKT and let me win at the very end :) but I definitely want to note that she ran basically the same time that I did. I met Carter and Ben at Riverview a little before 7am and we started at the first bench at Riverview Park (that's where Shawn and I got engaged, so it felt like a cute place to start and finish) We had done some dynamics, but the risk of gunning it from the start did not seem worth the reward of gaining a minute or so on that section. If you're trying to run the RT as fast as possible and can start wherever you want, I would suggest not starting at the beginning of Riverview so that you can fly on that section when you're more warmed up. Alternatively, you could do a more formal warmup and practice going out hard like you would for a marathon, but since we hadn't run over 18 for the season and didn't have a super strict time goal we were trying to meet, that also didn't seem like the best strategy. Anyways, we did manage to start under 8 minute pace, which is better than I can say for the first mile of most of my easy runs or warm ups!
Sean Stanford ran with us for a bit at the end of Riverview and took some pictures, and then we picked up Jason on River Road. The first bit flew by. I remember hitting 8 miles at just under 8 minute/mile pace. Granted those were some of the easiest miles (Riverview and running through some of the neighborhoods near CHS), but I was still pleasantly surprised. Even though it's the only section I run, I'm not a huge fan of the section from Barracks to Old Ivy, but when we managed to hit 10 miles in 1:21 at the end of that section, I was pretty happy. I knew there would be some slow miles near the end of the run that would hurt our average pace, but this gave us quite the cushion for trying to break 3. The section between Old Ivy and Fontaine was pretty tough, as it was one of the few sections where I felt like the leaves were an issue. I only fell once the whole run, which is actually quite good for me haha, and it was in this section. I couldn't see the ground super well and hit a rock under some leaves. Thankfully, I landed on what felt like a soft bed of leaves, so it actually didn't hurt at all.
The middle of the run is a bit of a blur, but I do remember getting my foot wet at a water crossing after Fontaine, which ended up being a blessing in disguise. I had been going over the rocks soo slowly at every water crossing trying not to get my feet wet, so after I got one wet I just ran through the water at every water crossing. It ended up being much faster and easier. 10/10 recommend.
Shawn and another friend of ours, Marylyn, managed to see us 10(!) times on the course. At most of the stops, they put out a table with drinks and gels. I took a gel at mile ~8 and mile ~13. I actually ended up carrying a handheld (one of my condiment bottles from the Philly marathon. Yes, I still have one). I do think I could have used more fuel. I have a hard time getting food down in the mornings, so 99% of the time I run before 8am, I run on an empty stomach (besides coffee). However, I’ve never run this long before (timewise...and besides the first Rivanna attempt, but that time we stopped for 10 mins so I could easily eat some solid food). I also think I could have used more fluid. It’s always deceiving when it’s cool, but I didn’t even quite finish one condiment bottle. I never felt dead, but on the back half, I felt myself fading a little more than I think I would have with a better fueling strategy.
Once we crossed over the water crossing at Azalea Park we were able to start cruising again. From Barracks to that point had been more challenging, so it felt good to open up again. We had some miles in the mid- to high-7 minute range, and I felt comfortable at that pace. We saw Shawn for the last time (before the finish) at mile 15ish and I remember telling him that we had 55 minutes to run 5 miles if we wanted to break 3 hours (that ended up being a little off because I thought we were running 20.00 miles and it was closer to 20.3, but I digress). It felt good to know we had some time in the bank, especially with some tough miles coming up. Jason left us at Avon street so he could run home and not get up to 20+ miles for the day, so the end was back to just me, Ben, and Carter.
The last 3ish miles were definitely challenging. With over 100 ft of climbing in 18 and tons of chunky rocks in 19, it was tough to keep a decent pace. If you’re looking to run the RT as fast as possible, you can definitely go much faster over the rocks than I did. Once again, the risk didn’t seem worth the reward on this go for me. Once we cleared the rocks it was exciting to know that the next big thing we saw would be the new bridge at Woollen Mills. That was a huge advantage we had for this FKT attempt that few others have had! Not going through waist-deep water was...nice. Finally, we got over the bridge and cruised into the finish. We averaged 6:30 pace once we hit the road, and though I felt like I could have kept that pace up for a while at Riverview, I was also very happy to be done and eat some donuts :) Shawn had managed to sneak off to Krispy Kreme between mile 15 and the finish and even made it back with enough time to set up a finish line, complete with cones and chalk drawings. My official time was 2:51:31, which is kind of funny because it’s less than 1 minute off my marathon PR. Also, we made one wrong turn that took us maybe 45 seconds to figure out, so had that not happened it would have been eerily close to the same.
Many thanks are in order, as I definitely would not and could not have done this without help and encouragement. First of all, thanks to Sophie Speidel for setting a time to chase. She was also very gracious in responding to me before and after the attempt. Matt Dean: I blame you for this. Kidding, but I definitely would not have run the loop back in May (and, by extension, this time) had you not suggested it and put it together. Carter Norbo and Jason Brown: thanks for tagging along and making this such a fun experience. Ben Hays: thanks for navigating and putting way more time and preparation into this than I did! There’s no way I could have done it without you. Marylyn: thanks for spending your entire Saturday morning chasing me around Charlottesville. It was a huge help to have aid stations and frequent encouragement. Shawn: to keep it short, thanks for….everything. You’re the real MVP. Though we haven’t been able to practice because of Covid, I’m always grateful for my coach, Mark Lorenzoni, for everything he’s done to help along my running journey in Charlottesville. Finally, thanks to the RTF volunteers who keep the trail nice and runnable. It looked great out there!
I know this has been a really tough year for a lot of people. I’m grateful for my health, and I’m blessed to have the time, energy, and support system to chase after running goals. Running has been an outlet for me this year more than any other, and I don’t take that for granted. While I’m hoping road racing returns in the near future, 2020 has taught me to never say never when it comes to trail running :)
I’m hoping someone goes after this FKT soon! There’s tons of room for improvement, both from a preparation and execution standpoint. I’d be more than happy to chat with anyone who’s thinking about going after it!