Stomping Around My Old Stomping Grounds

I graduated from the University of Virginia in 2000, and this weekend I returned to run a 10-mile race. I was not a runner in college. I didn't even enjoy walking to classes-- I always opted for the bus if possible. At the time, the notion of running a mile would not have been appealing. I was not even aware that this race existed, even though the course goes right by the places I lived. I would typically go to sleep at 2:00am on the weekends, waking up at around 10:00 or 11:00. 

Once I started running, this race was not on my radar. I had written Charlottesville off as too hilly and I assumed any races would not be near the University. But I recently learned that the course goes through central grounds and all of the places I used to go when I went to school there: the Corner, Rugby Road, and the Downtown Mall. Sure it was hilly, but it would be good preparation for Boston. 

I also "retired" from trying to set a PR in the ten mile distance back in 2021 when I ran a time of 1:07:47 on a flat course. I worked so hard to run that time and I assumed I would never run as fast again. After running a 1:29:50 half marathon in 2024, I do think it's possible to PR in the 10-miler, but it's not something I am actively chasing. 

My intention was to focus this training cycle on hills. Hill sprints, hills at 5K effort, hilly long runs, hilly races, etc. But we got hit with a huge snow storm towards the end of January it was three full weeks before I found an area that was clear enough for hill training. The storm was historic in terms of how long the snow stayed around on the roads and I did more treadmill running than I had in 15+ years. Sure, you can adjust the incline on the treadmill, but whenever I do that, my Achilles tendons immediate start hurting. So ironically, the one season when I wanted to focus on hills was the snowiest, most treadmill-oriented season I'd had in ages. 

Once the snow cleared I was able to run hill repeats and hilly long runs, but not as much as I had planned. 

Race Weekend
Greg and I drove to Charlottesville on Friday for the Saturday race. We hadn't been to Charlottesville in 7 years and a lot had changed. We went to the bookstore and that was surprisingly very similar to how it had been back in the 90s. Everything was still in the same place although the merchandise itself was obviously updated. The weird thing was feeling like I could actually afford what I wanted to buy. As I was browsing through the UVA apparel, it hit me that "hey- I can actually buy this!" I settled on a UVA running tank, a hair scrunchie and a hair bow. The hair bow would be super cute to wear during the race.

We then drove the race course so I would know what to expect. The race website has a very detailed description of the course including where the hills are, but I wanted to check it out for myself. Even though UVA looked the same, the students did not. Literally every student walking around grounds was wearing headphones. About half of them were also looking at their phones while walking. It was depressing to see them immersed in their own little worlds, not paying attention to their historic surroundings or appreciating where they were. I vividly remember walking to class, seeing people I knew along the way, paying attention to the different buildings, and engaging with others. That world is gone now.

We drove the course and as expected, it was hilly. It was good to know what to expect and when, and also where to position Greg for photos. Greg setup a new photography site, where he posts race photos. Not just of me, but of other runners too! (If you were there, check it out to see if he snapped a picture of you.)

After driving the course, we picked up my bib and then went to dinner. I had my standard pasta with chicken and a beet/goat cheese salad. We ate dinner at Vivace, where my friends and I used to have dinner before our formal sorority events. Charlottesville restaurants are the best!

Before the Race

I didn't sleep very well because the hotel had one of those AC systems that kept turning on and off. We couldn't figure out how to get it to stop, and it was annoying. When my alarm went off at 5:23 (I like to set my alarm for a random, uneven time) I was sleeping. I'm usually awake naturally at that point, but I had fallen back asleep after multiple wake ups from the air conditioner blizzard blowing in my face.

I was super excited about my race outfit because I would be wearing UVA colors: blue and orange. Plus, I had that fun hair bow I had bought the day before. I decided to wear the New Balance SC Pacer 2 shoes. I love these shoes and I have raced many 5Ks in them. They have a low stack height with more ground feel than other carbon fiber shoes but they also have a bit of a pop. I would love to wear them in a marathon but everything I read about them says that they are meant for shorter distances. I regularly wear them for up to 12 miles in training and they are fine, but I know that once you reach 20 miles things start to feel different. I think I could probably get away with wearing them in a marathon, but I don't want to take any more chances with marathon shoes. 

The weather was sunny, 38 degrees, with 10 mph winds and heavier gusts. I give it an 8/10 on my personal weather scale. Everything was ideal except the wind, which became quite challenging later in the race when it was a headwind.

We drove to the start, parked, and I had a UCAN gel in the car. I like to have UCAN before races because it's easy on my stomach and keeps my blood sugar steady. Then I warmed up for about a mile and a half. The race start was directly across the street from my first year dorm, so I ran back in forth in front of that.

Then I made a quick trip to the porta potty before lining up at the start. I didn't line up as close to the front as I would have liked, but I was ok with it because I planned to start conservatively.  A few runners had advised me to take it easy in the beginning and save energy for the hills later in the race. I took a Maurten gel a few minutes before race start and I was ready.

I didn't have a time goal, but I was thinking somewhere around 1:11 would be appropriate. I recently ran ten miles nonstop in 1:11:47 as part of a training run, and that did not feel like race effort. It was inside of a 15 miler. Of course, that was on a flat course, which is why I thought that if I was running at race effort,  I could do that same time on a hilly course. But I honestly had no idea what to expect so it wasn't an actual goal - more of a prediction. 

Charlottesville Ten Miler Elevation

Miles 1-4

The race started and it was crowded. The course was relatively narrow for the amount of participants (around 2000) but I knew to expect a competitive field. I didn't want to waste energy passing people so I didn't. I tend to run very fast down hill and pass a lot of people, but slower up hill, and I get passed. I wasn't able to take advantage of the downhills in the first two miles because of crowding, and if I had it to do over again, I would have started closer to the front or made a stronger effort to pass people if needed. 

My first-year dorm in mile 1

I ran past my dorm during the first mile. Greg was taking photos there because I wanted a photo of me running by my dorm. Mission accomplished! Then we ran through some very narrow residential streets that had short hills. Up and down and up and down. This made it impossible to establish a rhythm early on, which is what I ideally like to do in the first mile or so. 

Then we ran through central grounds, and I ran right by Greg and noticed he didn't cheer for me. So I yelled his name just after passing him. I was right - he didn't see me! I imagine it's hard to spot someone in a sea of runners, and next time I will know to yell out for him sooner and not assume that he sees me.

The course opened up here so I finally felt like I could run at my desired pace. My first two miles had been 7:30s, which was not what I was going for, so hopefully I could make up some time now that it wasn't crowded. Next up was Rugby road near the fraternity and sorority houses. I spent loads of time there in college! We didn't pass my sorority house, but we were just one block away from it. 

Mile 4 was the fastest mile of the race. It wasn't necessarily scenic, but it was massively downhill and I was able to make up a lot of time there. I didn't care about beating up my quads because it was just one mile and I knew that I had taken it very easy in the beginning. 

Mile 1: 7:30 
Mile 2: 7:30
Mile 3: 7:08
Mile 4: 6:44

Miles 5-7
This was the hardest part of the course mentally because there were so many turns. Uphill, downhill, left, right, left. I really wanted to establish a rhythm and get into a "groove" or a zone, but it wasn't happening. I had to watch my footing, make lots of turns, and it kept changing from uphill to downhill. It was mentally exhausting and all I wanted to do was run on something that was straight and flat. This area covered the downtown mall and surrounding neighborhoods, which is an area I wasn't familiar with. 

I got passed by a few runners during these miles and it was humbling. I felt strong and energized, but the constant changes in elevation and direction were slowing me down - and probably more than other runners who maybe were more familiar with the course. Or who just seemed unfazed. I realized that I have some work to do here in terms of being able to run strong when I can't be on autopilot. That's what trail running is all about, and I think trail runners would do amazingly well on this course. I'm definitely an autopilot runner: set it and forget it!

Mile 5: 7:37
Mile 6: 7:07
Mile 7: 7:31

Miles 8-10
I knew that miles 8-9 would be the hardest of the race based on the course description and our driving preview. Unfortunately, these miles were also directly into the headwind. On the plus side, there weren't
many turns. During the 9th mile, we ran up "the Corner" which is a small stretch of shops and restaurants. I hung out there all the time in college and often walked down it on my way to and from class. One thing that amazed me was how quickly I could get from the start of the Corner, up the corner and all the way through grounds when running a 7:30 pace. This is something that would typically take 20 minutes while waking but here I was, 26 years later, flying through! 

Dowhill finish

Once we got to mile 9.5 things flattened out and then there was a downhill finish into the stadium. I felt like I had so much energy left at this point because I didn't run the hills as hard as I was physically able to. I accelerated a ton during that last half mile and ended up running my second-fastest mile of the race.

I glanced down at my watch as I entered the stadium and was hopeful that if I sprinted, I would be able to break 1:13!

Mile 8: 7:35
Mile 9: 7:45
Mile 10: 7:02

My official time was 1:13:02. 

After the Race
The post race food was the best I had experienced in recent memory. I remember when races used to always have amazing food afterwards, but I feel like that has stopped in the past ten years. They had bagels from Bodo's (best bagels EVER), fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts, Great Harvest Bread company bread. Yum. 

I met up with Greg and we were both freezing so we didn't stick around. I didn't place in my age group so there was no point in waiting for the awards ceremony. It was time to go celebrate at Bodo's with a warm bagel sandwich. Charlottesville has the best food - have I mentioned that yet?!

Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
There's a lot to take away here. I would categorize this race as a learning experience, not a showcase of my athletic performance. It was a fun learning experience and I'm not upset that I ran slower than expected. But admittedly, I did not give this race 100% or even 95% of my effort. It wasn't for lack of trying, but I think the lack of autopilot made it hard to run hard. 

I also admit that I am not as strong of a hill runner as I would like to be. Even though I included hill
repeats and hilly routes in my training, I'm relatively new to hills being the norm of my everyday running. I also had zero experience with this course and I wasn't sure what to expect. If I had it to do over again next weekend in the same conditions, I know I would start closer the the front, go a little harder in the beginning, know to expect the constant ups and downs (as opposed to long steady inclines and declines) and have a better strategy. I didn't have a good strategy, I didn't know that the ups and downs would kill my rhythm, and I'm "average" when it comes to running uphill from a strength perspective.

It might sound like I am beating myself up here, but I'm not. I'm realizing that after 20+ years of racing, I can still improve and I can still learn. 

In front of my old apartment.

I placed 7th in my age group, which means there were six 45-49 year old women ahead of me. This was a bit of a wakeup call that I am not the youngest in my age group anymore. I am in the middle of my age group, so it makes sense that the age group feels more competitive than it did two years ago. 

And for perspective, I couldn't even run one mile in college. I would have never dreamed that the 47-year old version of myself would be fitter and stronger! College felt so big when I was there, but running through grounds at top speed made everything feel smaller.

I ran six miles today and my legs were not at all sore. This was shocking to me because I raced a hilly ten miler. They should be sore! But it again affirms that I didn't race it to the fullest extend of my physical ability. Or maybe it affirms that I am more trained for a marathon than a 10-miler right now.

In any event, I ran 10 miles faster than marathon goal pace on a hillier course than Boston, so it was great preparation for what I will face in three weeks. My time goal for Boston is a course PR, so I need to run 7:45 or faster, which seems totally doable unless a heat waves comes.