tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83953235684700408952024-03-14T02:01:17.908-04:00gIANt RunningTrail Monster Running is a group of trail runners based in Southern Maine who enjoy sharing our passion for the outdoors with others. We host regular group runs, Fat Ass events and races throughout the year to bring together members of the trail running community. From 5k cross country races to 100 milers, Trail Monsters run them all.R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.comBlogger310125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-6508339989814394362013-07-06T21:19:00.000-04:002013-07-10T09:40:54.786-04:00Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 DNF ReportI could write a book on how I prepared for the MMT 100, but I’ll try to be brief and just do a little summary. Back in September of last year I had a catastrophic race failure at the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburydirt" target="_blank">Bruiser</a> which left me with an achilles tendon problem that still bothers me 10 months later. Following the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburydirt" target="_blank">Bruiser</a> I faked my way through training for the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2012/11/2012-stone-cat-marathon.html" target="_blank">Stone Cat marathon</a>, had an OK race and then decided I needed to take some time off to recover. I took two weeks off, a few weeks of very light running and then came the lotteries. I was hoping to get into Western States, this was my third consecutive attempt in the lottery, and being in June I’d have a full 6 months to prepare for it. I also threw my name in for Massanutten, and as luck would have it that’s the one I got into. I was immediately nervous about attempting this race. It was a full month sooner than Western States, so I only had 5 months to train and I felt like I was starting from zero. I was also afraid of the potential for hot/humid weather on race day. Back in 2008 I traveled to Virginia to run the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2008/04/bull-run-run-50-miler.html" target="_blank">Bull Run Run 50 miler</a>. After training all winter in Maine I found I was ill-prepared for the warm, humid weather of Virginia in the spring. This was going to be a similar situation of doing all my training in cold weather, then traveling south to race.<br />
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Starting in December I made a very gradual, cautious increase in my weekly mileage and laid out a training plan that included a lot of snowshoe running and hill work. I put very little emphasis on speed and focused mainly on strength and endurance. The one thing missing from my training was preparation for heat and humidity. In a last minute attempt to get myself ready I started doing hot yoga classes at a local studio about 3 weeks before the race. While I certainly worked hard and sweat a lot during those classes I don’t think they did much to prepare me for the conditions I encountered on race day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weekly mileage and time spent running from Stone Cat to the peak of training for Massanutten.</td></tr>
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Not surprisingly the weather forecast for race weekend changed on a daily basis leading up to the event, and finally settled on overcast, relatively cool (for Virginia) but very high humidity. It all seemed quite manageable and I felt good going into the race. I was confident in my training and felt that I had a good chance at finishing around 26 hours. I totally geeked-out on previous race stats to come up with a pacing spreadsheet that would help my crew figure out an expected finish time based on my arrival at each aid station. I used this to determine a reasonable time/pace for each section of the race based on previous runners averaged splits. Part of my approach to mentally prepare for a race like this is to go all Rain-Man with data so that the time and distance between aid stations in worked into my brain and I have an easier time breaking the race down into manageable segments rather than focusing on the overwhelming enormity of the event as a whole.<br />
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Emma, Mindy and I left on Thursday morning, and crashed at Mindy’s parent’s house in PA that night. On Friday we slept in a bit, went for a short run on the AT then headed down to VA to check in at the race. We met up with fellow Trail Monsters and settled into our sukkah for the night. I was feeling really good about the race, confident in my training and support crew. I knew that there was going to be some hard times ahead, that’s part of any long race, but I wasn’t worried, just anxious to get on with it. I didn’t sleep well, in part due to snoring sukkah-mates, but I never really expect to sleep well before a big event like this. Way too much going on inside my head to get a decent nights sleep.<br />
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Up at 2:45 and the team jumped into action. Dressed, coffee, breakfast, bathroom and then a short walk downhill to the start. It was cool and overcast, there was some humidity in the air but not all that noticeable with the cool morning temperature. Focussed, comfortable and confident. There were hugs and handshakes all around and then we set off. 198 runners into the early morning darkness.<br />
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The first 4 miles of the race were on paved or dirt road, at a steady but runnable incline gaining about 700 feet. I estimated that I was somewhere in the top 25-30. Was this a good place to be, the right place to be? I felt good. I became aware of the humidity as soon as I started running. I was sweating but I was drinking enough so I wasn’t concerned. I made a quick stop at the first aid station at 4.1 miles to top up my water bottle. It was another 8 miles to the next aid station and first crew access and I wanted to be sure that I had plenty of fluid. After the aid station we turned onto trail and continued to climb another 800 feet or so on some mostly runnable terrain. Every now and then we’d hit a pocket of nasty, technical rockiness, but overall it wasn’t too bad on the way up. At the top of the hill, which was one of the highest points on the course, there was a stretch of relatively flat, but very technical trail that spread the runners out and I found myself running alone for the first time in the race. The course marking seemed a bit sparse and the trail overgrown, and since it was still dark I moved cautiously to negotiate the terrain and continuously look for course markings and the trail itself. By 9 miles the course started to drop, and so did my pace, from 14 to 12 to 10 minute miles!<br />
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The sun was coming up and I was nearing the first crew access point, my spirits were high. The final approach to the aid station was down a dirt road and I came in fast, excited to see Emma and Mindy. Based on my arrival time I was on track for a 25:30 finish, only slightly faster than I expected to be, but this was good. I was pretty soaked with sweat already, so I decided to change my shirt, swapped out my single bottle belt for a double and was off. A quick and energizing stop. (27th place)<br />
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Next up was a 1000 foot climb, but the terrain was relatively mellow and a lot of it was runnable. It wasn’t even 7AM but I was becoming very aware of the high humidity. The air was thick and wet. My fresh shirt was soon soaked again. I was drinking a lot but had only peed once so far, it was dark and not very plentiful. Mentally I still felt strong so I kept pushing on at a pretty good pace.The climb took a lot out of me, but was followed by a nice long descent and then a relatively flat section of trail that allowed me to move pretty well for a few miles. But then I started feeling nauseous. I had been drinking Odwalla and eating trail mix for the first few hours of the race, but now I couldn’t get anything down without feeling ill. The rest of me was feeling fine, but I started to get concerned about maintaining the necessary caloric intake. When I got to the aid station at 20.3 miles I drank a ginger ale, none of the food at the aid station looked appealing so I grabbed an Ensure from my drop bag and walked out. 4:03 for 20.3 miles. On track for a 26 hour finish, so even though I wasn’t feeling great I was still on pace for my goal time. (29th place)<br />
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Soon after drinking the Ensure I started noticing a dull ache in my back which at first I thought was muscular but then realized was probably my kidneys complaining. I was still feeling a bit nauseous and wasn’t able to take advantage of the fact that the next 5 miles was flat or downhill and very runnable. I became very aware of how much sweat was pouring off me, the course was dry but my feet were soaked. I felt like I was drinking as much as my stomach could handle but I was getting worried that I was losing too much through sweat. It wasn’t even 9 AM and I was starting to suffer. The temperature was relatively cool but the air was still and heavy. I started to worry about what was to come, how much hotter was it going to get today? Only 12 more hours until the sun goes down. It was lonely on the trail, the only other runners I saw were ones that passed me and I was unable to keep up with any one of them for more than a few minutes.<br />
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At the next aid station, 25.8 miles I sat down for a minute to remove my shoes and shake out the debris. Definitely should have worn gaiters. There was a dog tied to the chair I was sitting in, we got a bit tangled and I got annoyed. There were kids in the woods searching for their other dog who had run off, every time they called his name the dog tied to my chair got more excited and I got more annoyed. At least it was good motivation to get up and move again. 5:08 for 25.8 miles, still on track for a 26 hour finish. (31st place)<br />
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The next few miles were a very gradual climb on a rugged dirt road. It should have been quick but was feeling very sluggish. I paused at a small stream crossing and splashed cold water on my face. I wanted to lay in it and float away... the course was great but the humidity was taking all the fun out of it. From dirt road to trail the course got progressively steeper and the climb was really beating me down. The pain in my kidneys was getting more noticeable, my legs seemed less responsive as if there wasn’t enough oxygen coming through the wet air and making its way to where is was needed. I also wasn't able to eat anything without feeling sick, 1/2 a Honey Stinger wafer was about all I managed to get in. This is when the first truly negative thoughts started creeping into my mind, that perhaps I might not be able to finish the race. This wasn’t fun and it was too early in the day to be suffering.<br />
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As I made my way along the long, gradual descent to the next aid station, about 1,400 feet down, my state of mind started to improve. Knowing that I was going to see Emma and Mindy helped pick me back up and feel more optimistic about getting through the race, and the downhill running helped physically too. I came into the aid station at 33.3 miles in 6:48, on track for about a 26:30 finish (31st place). Things weren't slipping too far off track, but I knew I needed to take a little extra time here to prep for the section ahead. While there I ate a popsicle, drank an Ensure, received an application of sunscreen and an ice-filled bandanna around my neck.<br />
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While the aid station stop was a great boost mentally, as soon as I left the course started another big climb, about 1000 feet over 2.5 miles. At least I had company for this next section, Ken from Toronto caught up to me and we stuck together until the next aid station. My kidney pain became more severe but at least I had a distraction in conversation.<br />
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The next aid station was less than 5 miles from the previous, and it was another crew access point, but after that it would be 16 miles before seeing my crew again. I came into 38 miles in 8:04, on track for 26:30 (35th place). I could feel hot spots developing on the balls of my feet so I changed socks and re-applied Hydropel. While doing this my hip flexors started to spasm and cramp. I mentioned to Emma the pain I'd been having and she confirmed that it was my kidneys. I'd been dealing with this for about 4 hours and I wasn't convinced it was going to go away. I peed for the third time while at this aid station, and just like the previous times it was very dark and not much of it. No obvious sign of blood like at <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2013/04/traprock-50k-race-report.html" target="_blank">Traprock</a>, but not good considering the amount of fluid I was consistently taking in. Before heading out I switched over to my Nathan Hydration pack and also grabbed a handheld bottle. It was only 3 miles to the next aid station but then 9 to the one after that, and another 4 before I'd see my crew again.<br />
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The three mile stretch of road should have been fast but I had nothing. 9:38 for the first downhill road mile, then much slower as a few ups got in the way. I "ran" for a while with a guy from Delaware who was suspiciously dry. He had a small damp patch on the back of his shorts, but the dude didn't seem to be sweating at all. Meanwhile I'm leaving a streak of sweat down the middle of the road and sloshing in my shoes. This immediately pissed me off, and his attempts to make friendly conversation were not welcome. It wasn't his fault, I was just getting into a bad place mentally and despite his efforts it wasn't helping to pull me up. Shortly before the next aid station he pulled away and I was a bit relieved to be on my own, seeing how good he was looking was making me dwell on how bad I knew I looked. 8:53 when I came into mile 41.1, now on track for a 27 hour finish (the extra time I took at the previous aid station set me back to 43rd place).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nasty climbs, but plenty of runnable sections too</td></tr>
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From the aid station it was a 3 mile climb with about 1,300 feet of gain and I don't think I ran a step. With every foot I climbed up my head went deeper down into dark place. The air was suffocating, sweat was streaming off me at a rate I couldn't keep up with, I was nauseous and couldn't eat anything. How could I ever continue? Guilt began to set in as I thought about all the people I would be letting down if I didn't finish the race, but I wanted nothing more than to stop. I came here to run, but this was an embarrassment.<br />
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Eventually I stopped sweating. This was not good. I've dealt with heat exhaustion a few times before, was this a symptom of heat stroke? The strange thing was that it wasn't even hot, just insanely humid.<br />
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After an eternity I finally reached the top of the climb, but then the terrain became so technical I couldn't get into a running rhythm. I shuffled along the ridge tying to let myself cool down. It wasn't really working, but I did start to sweat again. I thought more about dropping but I didn't want to give in just because things weren't feeling right on the inside. Maybe if I took a dive into the rocks I'd mess myself up bad enough that I'd have a good, visible excuse for not continuing. Of maybe if I just run full out, balls to the wall until I get to the next aid station I'll pass out when I get there and they'll pull me from the race. There must be some way to end this where I'll have something to blame. I need an excuse that's better than "I'm just not feeling it today."<br />
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Things didn't get much better once the course started downhill. Lack of fueling left me feeling weak and I didn't have the strength to bomb down the 1,300 foot descent as I would have liked. My attempts to run lead to shooting pains in my abdomen, bad enough that I had to stop and sit for a few minutes at one point.<br />
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At the next aid station I sat down and drank some warm broth. It was the only thing I found appealing even though it was warm. I was in a daze, staring blankly at the ground. Almost half way through the race. 50 miles done in 11:19. 53+ to go. I was on track for a 27:15 finish if I were to continue on a track of "normal" slow down, but I was falling behind at a faster rate than normal. Besides, what reason did I have to believe that things would improve? The next stretch was 4 miles of pretty mellow dirt road, maybe it could get better.<br />
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Not long after I started running again the shooting abdominal pains returned and were bad enough to cause me to walk on multiple occassions. My road running pace slowed from 11 to 12 to 13 minutes per mile. If I can't even run on a gently downward sloping dirt road how can I expect to tackle the mountains that still lie ahead. I'd completed 5 of the 11 major climbs of the race and felt like it was killing me. I was done. I made up my mind that I was going to drop when I got to the next aid station at 54 miles.<br />
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12:10 for 54 miles, on track for a 27:30 finish if you were to believe my pace chart, which I didn't. Emma and Mindy were there cheering as soon as they saw me coming along the road. I wanted so badly to make them proud but I was suffering in ways I hadn't suffered before. I told them: "I think I have to stop. This is bad." I sat in my chair and cried for a minute. They brought me food and drinks and comforted me. They did all the right things. We talked it through, I got up and walked around. I drank and ate and drank some more. I peed and it was starting to look better. We talked about continuing with the race, the next section was 9.9 miles starting with a 1,500 foot climb. I couldn't do it alone. By now it was 4:30 in the afternoon, pacers could join at 63.9 miles or at 6:00 PM, whichever came first. If I waited until 6 then Mindy could run the next section with me, and then Emma would be there to see me through the rest of the race. But that's such a long time to wait. I ate and drank and walked around some more. I was starting to feel a lot better. Maybe I'm not done afterall.<br />
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We talked to Karen who was crewing for Dima. I told her I couldn't go on alone and she suggested I wait for Dima to come in and and we could run the next section together. I liked this idea. I'm back in the game! I got changed into clean, dry clothes and continued to eat and drink. I felt so good I contemplated leaving before Dima came in, but continued to wait to be sure I was feeling as good as possible. Dima arrived around 5:00 and Karen tended to his needs. He walked over to me and said "I hear you want to suffer with me." That's right.<br />
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The best part about my hour-long break is that it allowed me to get my head back into a better place. I got rid of all the negative thoughts, and by removing myself from the suffering I was able to remind myself of why I was doing this and regain the confidence that I could finish the race. I was intimidated by the fact that I still had almost 50 miles to go and that it would probably take me another 16 hours to finish, but at least I felt good about taking on the next section of the race.<br />
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Dima and I walked up the hill together and it was great to have company on the trail, especially someone as energetic as Dima. He was the first to admit that his legs were struggling with he course, but he knew that his mind was strong enough to get him through the entire race and it was his mental energy that helped keep me going. Our pace was very slow, but this is what I needed, I had been pushing hard all day and it great to finally be moving at a comfortable pace. We talked and joked and laughed and kept plodding along uphill for 1,500 feet. When we reached the top I felt ready to run, but Dima's legs were a little reluctant to pick up the pace. I was grateful for his company, and even though I thought I could probably move a bit quicker I let him set the pace. I reminded myself of how bad I felt before and didn't want to go there again so I was happy to keep it easy going.<br />
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A few more miles and we started the long descent that would lead to the next aid station. As soon as we started down the shooting abdominal pains returned. This time around I was in a much better mental state and I felt better about honestly assessing my situation. With the mental confidence that I could keep going what did I really think about the way I was feeling? Not good. After two hours of running with Dima I felt like I was getting back into the same place that I was before. My body wasn't functioning the way it needed to to keep me going for the rest of the race. It's not surprising that I felt better when I stopped running, but it didn't fix my problems, it just put them on hold until I started up again.<br />
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A few miles from the next aid station Bill Susa (whom I'd met at <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2011/09/virgil-crest-100-race-report.html" target="_blank">Virgil Crest 100 in 2011</a>) caught up to us and we ran together for a while. I explained everything I had been going through all day and it was good to get his perspective. Dima was strongly advocating the "fight through it" approach and Bill the "listen to your body" approach. I appreciated everything they had to say and they both helped me come to the decision that I shouldn't continue. (Bill went on to finish in 29:19 and Dima in 31:04.)<br />
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I'd had a lot of time to come to terms with this decision, and I was glad that I tried to continue after I was almost certain that I had to stop at 54 miles. It was clear that even though I was well prepared for the terrain my body couldn't handle the weather. So frustrating. I felt so bad for Emma and Mindy investing so much time in supporting me and not being able to be part of getting me to the finish. They continued to support me after I stopped running and I am grateful for everything they did.<br />
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After snacking at the aid station where I dropped I got changed and the three of us headed out to find something more substantial to eat. I hadn't been able to eat much all day and I was famished. The new plan was to get a few hours of sleep and then Mindy was going to get up and pace George, but we found out before going to bed that George had dropped at the same place as me. As far as we knew Tom and Bob were still out there. In the morning we were slow to rise, but realizing that our friends were still out running we got ready to head down to the finish line for breakfast and to cheer on the finishers. George was already talking about the TARC 100, but as Emma and I walked to the finish line I told her "Do not, under any circumstances, let me sign up for the TARC 100."<br />
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We found Tom walking up the hill back to the sukkah, we just missed his finish in 27:20. After a round of congratulations we headed down for breakfast and in search of information about where Bob was on the course. While eating we learned that Bob had recently left the aid station at mile 81.6 miles and we all decided that as soon as we finished we'd go find him on the course.<br />
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While eating, and watching runners finish the race Emma leaned over to me and said "You can do TARC if you want." It was still way too soon for me to seriously consider this, but I appreciated her saying it, and it got me thinking...<br />
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After breakfast the whole team packed up and headed off to meet Bob, we realized we didn't have enough time to meet him at 87.9 miles so went to the 96.8 aid station (the race is actually 103.7 miles). Even though Bob was participating in the Stonewall Jackson division (no crew, no pacer) we knew that he was cutting it close to the cutoff and that given the choice of finishing with a pacer or not finishing at all it would be an easy decision to make. Emma got ready to run and the rest of us got prepared to help him through this last stop as quick as possible. Ann and Mindy went up the course to intercept Bob and find out if he wanted to accept our support, and when he came along they relayed the message ahead to George, Emma and I: "He'll take it!" We took his pack, prepped two water bottles and got him on his way in less than 2 minutes with Emma as his pacer. It was great to see the team rally around our last running member, and even better to be there when he crossed the finish line in 35:40. I am in awe of his strength and determination.<br />
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R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-68776320699389474302013-04-29T20:15:00.002-04:002013-04-30T08:58:11.057-04:00Traprock 50k Race ReportI think it's good to use shorter races as training runs for longer races, although I'm not sure when 50k became a shorter race. The <a href="http://traprock50.com/" target="_blank">Traprock 50k</a> certainly didn't feel like a short race on the day. Participating in races is a good way to gauge your level of fitness and it also helps you prepare for running with others - whether you're taking it competitively or not, it's a different experience running with others in a race compared to a training run. You also get the opportunity to test out your fueling strategy and practice with aid stations, something that can be very different from the usual long training run when you may have to carry more and generally don't have volunteers every few miles helping you out. <br />
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The timing of this race, as well as the terrain, would serve as good prep for the <a href="http://vhtrc.com/mmt/index.htm" style="text-decoration: none;">MMT 100</a> coming up in a few weeks and by comparing times of runners who had completed both races in previous years I figured this would allow me to get a better estimation of how much time I can expect to be out on the trails at Massanutten. A few people have planted the seed in my head that it might be possible for me to break 24 hours at MMT, a very ambitious time that only a handful of people (usually 10-15) are able to make every year. I estimated that if I have a shot of breaking 24 at MMT that I would need to run better than 4:45 at Traprock. Definitely not as easy task based on what I knew about the race, 5 hours seemed like a more reasonable goal, but it really depended on how hard I raced. I had a hard time decided if this was going to be an all-out race effort or just a training run, but ultimately my real goal is to do well at Massanutten so I guess I approached Traprock as a hard training run. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTFdSQjrLAjL1EGdPSPQR6gWXzIupfpaa0SFpSpA8fw2hzQIpFcQ0z06t91wFnUZ9zUlsdhyphenhyphenuZFoPkMK6iTcn8T95bLhVyZA2tbFHQOef4OOMtELQDxiA4imXnjKhB6UCSL3RsfrYHG5qy/s1600/Traprock-010.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTFdSQjrLAjL1EGdPSPQR6gWXzIupfpaa0SFpSpA8fw2hzQIpFcQ0z06t91wFnUZ9zUlsdhyphenhyphenuZFoPkMK6iTcn8T95bLhVyZA2tbFHQOef4OOMtELQDxiA4imXnjKhB6UCSL3RsfrYHG5qy/s320/Traprock-010.png" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not sure who these guys are, but this is a good shot of some of the more technical trail.</td></tr>
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I didn't really taper for Traprock, it came after a lower mileage week of training (51 miles) and would become part of a step back up in mileage (70+). I had some minor piriformis and achilles issues in the week leading up to the race causing me to hold back in training a little more than I originally planned, with the result being that I went into the race feeling a bit more rested than I expected, and thankfully (mostly) pain-free. In looking at <a href="http://aratrace.com/traprock-50k-2012/#more-101" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">previous years results</span></a> and split times (the race is three laps of a 10.5 mile loop) it was clear that EVERYONE slows down on each successive lap. The top 10 runners slowed by an average of 22 minutes between their first and third laps. Normally I would aim for more consistency, but if that’s what the best runners are doing on this course why should I be any different? My plan was to start out somewhat conservatively, try not to get caught up in “racing” too early, and hopefully feel consistently strong throughout even though I expected to slow on each lap. <br />
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Nathan and I headed down to Connecticut on Friday afternoon, crashed at a hotel about 15 minutes from the race start and met the rest of the TMR team on the morning of the race. We got there in plenty of time to check-in, place our drop bags, hang the TMR flag and get in a bit of a warm-up. There had been a little rain on Friday but I was pleased to find the course was mostly dry with only a few slick spots. I went out in two different pairs of shoes to see which had better grip, ultimately deciding on my new <a href="http://www.inov-8.com/New/Global/Product-View-Mudclaw-300.html?L=27" target="_blank">Mudclaw 300</a>’s over the <a href="http://www.inov-8.com/new/global/Product-View-Mudroc-290.html?L=26" target="_blank">Mudroc 290</a>’s. <br />
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The morning was cool but I knew the temperature would rise soon enough, and of course, with a 300 foot climb in the first mile I knew that I’d be working hard right from the start. I decided to wear shorts and a singlet, baseball cap and a thin pair of gloves. After a pre-race meeting that included words from a local senator and town official we set off on about 50 yards of asphalt before making a sharp turn onto the trail and heading steeply uphill. I found myself probably just outside the top 20, this seemed like a good place to be but as the climb went on many of those in front started to drop back. By the time we finally crested the first hill I had moved up at least half a dozen places. I transitioned well into faster downhill running and and managed to pick off a few more people on some of the more technical sections of the course. It wasn’t necessarily my intention to move up in position this early in the race but I work hard at technical downhill running in training and it seemed to be paying off in the race. <br />
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At about 2 miles into the race we hit the Stairway to Heaven, a notorious climb that looks pretty evil, and is in no way runnable (for most people) but actually wasn’t that long. More aggressive than the Summit Trail at Bradbury, but it was over in a few minutes and I was back to running again. At 5k the course begins a 1k out-and-back lollipop that gives you a chance to see how the people are looking ahead of and behind you. I counted the runners on this stretch and found that I was in 13th place. Still very early in the race but I was feeling good and started to have ambitions of finishing in the top 10. On my way back on this out-and-back I saw Joe close behind, then Nathan, David and Ben. <br />
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I was skipping all the aid stations on this first lap since I was carrying a 22oz bottle in a waist pack, along with some trail mix, a gel and a small flask filled with a mix of Odwalla and chia seeds. Most of the second half of the loop is less technical and steep than the first half so the pace picked up along some nice rolling single track with views out to the west. From the final aid station of the loop there was a little more than a mile of old, broken paved road before we turned back along the mile and a half of more technical, hilly trail that doubled as the way out on the loop. I soon saw the lead runners coming up the hill towards me which made navigating the rocks a little more tricky. After a fast 300 foot descent I ran towards the finish line to complete the first lap. I hadn’t been looking at my watch so it came as a complete surprise when I saw the time on the clock at the line. 1:32. Damn, that was a little too fast. I was expecting to be around 1:40. I felt good, but realized that I was probably pushing it a little too hard on that lap, there were still a lot of miles to go. <br />
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I made a quick stop at my drop bag to grab a new bottle then headed back up the hill. I had no idea if I managed to hold onto my place while I was stopped. Lots of people were coming in and going to their drop bags but I was too focused on my own stuff to pay attention, and I decided that I didn’t want to get too caught up in hanging onto my place. Not knowing took the pressure off. <br />
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The second time up the hill included more walking than the first, and by now there was a steady stream of runners coming down the trail at me. I got to see the rest of the TMR team before the trail split and everyone was looking good. I made a conscious decision to hold back a bit on this lap, I knew that if I tried to maintain the pace I’d been doing for the first lap that I’d probably end up crashing pretty bad. I walked more of the ups but found that I was generally able to make up ground on other runners on the downhills. <br />
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By my second time on the lollipop the top one or two runners had already exited before I entered, but I did see Adam Wilcox who had been in third place the last two times I saw him. I didn’t bother to count runners this time, instead just focusing on running consistently and keeping the fluid and fuel going in. It was starting to warm up and I worried about draining my bottle so I did stop at one aid station on this lap for a cup of water that turned out to be HEED. To my surprise it was on the road section of the course that I seemed to feel the most sluggish on this lap. The Mudclaws don’t make a good road shoe. Once back on the trail there was a gradual climb before making the steep drop back down to the start/finish area. As I started the quick descent I saw Adam coming uphill towards me, I cheered him on but his response was something like "blergh”. He definitely wasn’t looking right. <br />
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This time I was puzzled by the clock at the finish line: 3:14. Puzzled mostly because I couldn’t do math, but I eventually figured out that I had slowed by 10 minutes on that lap, a bit more than I thought. I also realized that if I was going to break 5 hours I could only afford to slow down by another 2 minutes on this lap. This wasn’t going to be easy, but I decided not to stress about it, just continue to run by feel, the way I had for the first two laps and let myself be surprised by what the clock showed when I was done. <br />
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Part way up the initial climb of the third lap another runner sidled up to me and started to chat. He definitely wanted to break 5 hours and hoped we could pull it off together. As friendly as he was I wasn’t in the mood for conversation, I just wanted to focus on getting this done. We ran together, back and forth for the next few miles. I’d tend to get ahead on the more technical parts and steep downhills and he’d get ahead of me on the uphills and less technical terrain. With about 10k left to go in the race we pulled into an aid station together and both made a quick stop to grab a drink. I was out first but he quickly caught up and announced his intention to put the hammer down in an effort to break 5 hours. It sounded like a good idea since we were entering the less technical part of the course, but I’d had a growing pain in my lower abdomen and felt the need to stop for a pee. I had to get that out of the way before trying to pick up the pace. I stepped off the trail and began to do my thing, but it didn’t look right. In fact, it looked like I’d just cut open a vein. After producing about a cups worth of what looked like straight blood the stream thankfully stopped. <br />
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I was a little freaked out and wasn’t quite sure what to do. Not finishing wasn’t an option I considered, there were only about 5 miles left in the race, I just wasn’t sure how hard I should push it to the finish. I walked a few paces and then settled into a slow jog. I felt OK, but there was definitely something going wrong on the inside. A few minutes passed and Tom Page came flying by me. How much more damage could I do in the next few miles? I decided I’d be better off getting this over as soon as possible so I picked the pace up. I had hopes of keeping Tom in my sights but he was moving too well. <br />
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I soon came to the last aid station of the race where I found Adam seated in a chair under the tent, not looking well. I went to see if he was OK, not that I could do anything for him that the volunteers couldn’t. I asked if he was going to keep running and he responded: “I have no choice.” I’m sure he could have made his way off the course with a volunteer, this aid station was less than a quarter mile from the finish line the way the volunteers came in, but I knew what he meant. <br />
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5k left to go, mostly flat or downhill, except for that part that isn’t, that long gradual uphill. I ran hard and was definitely feeling tired, but I was determined not to lose any more places or any more blood. In the final descent, while pounding the downhill, I could feel my left calf threatening to cramp. A fall on that trail, at that speed would have been disastrous. Hospitalization type of disaster. Luckily I was able to keep the screaming muscle at bay and maintain my upright position. Off the hill and it was a 50 yard sprint to the finish, and another surprise when I saw the clock: 5:04:28. The way things had gone in the last 5 miles I was fairly certain that breaking 5 wasn’t going to happen, but I was still happy with the result. Somehow, with all the back and forth I managed to hang on to 13th place, right where I was at 5k. So despite slowing down with each lap I guess I didn’t screw it up worse than anyone else. I ran really hard on some challenging terrain, and apart bleeding out of my penis it went really well. OK, so I have to figure out why that happened and if there is anything I can do to make sure it doesn’t happen again. <br />
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time: 5:04:28<br />
distance: 31 miles<br />
pace: 9:49<br />
place: 13/105 finishers <br />
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<a href="http://aratrace.com/traprock-50k-2013/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">RESULTS</span></a> <br />
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After catching my breath I went back to my drop bag, grabbed a drink and my camera and waited for the rest of the team to come in. Joe wasn’t far behind, then Ben, Nathan, David and Jordan. Another good day for the team. <br />
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So what does this mean for Massanutten? I’m pretty sure it means I shouldn’t go after a sub 24-hour finish. 25 seems like an ambitious, but attainable goal if everything comes together perfectly - although when does that ever happen? 26 seems like something I should be able to do, but who knows. My biggest concern is the weather, there is only so much I can do to prepare for the potential heat and humidity of late spring in Virginia. I feel good about the hills and the technical terrain, I feel great about my support crew and pacer.R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-87635308127331430802013-03-03T23:07:00.001-05:002013-03-03T23:07:45.831-05:00Bradbury Blizzard Snowshoe RaceMy <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburysnow" target="_blank">Blizzard</a> began on Saturday morning when I met Ryan at the park to scope out the trails for Sunday's race. Due to variable snow conditions over the past few years we've had to change up the race courses on short notice before each race in order to take advantage of the best conditions. We've finally got enough snow to work with on all of the trails so Ryan decided it was a good time to return to the West Side of the Brad and came up with an ass-kicking course that is similar to the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburydirt" target="_blank">Breaker</a>. We donned our snowshoes and set off at an easy pace around the mountain. Conditions were variable, from snowmobile trail to packed single-track to unbroken trail. We paused along the way to pick up downed branches, plan the best route and doubled-back here and there to better define the course. After nearly an hour and a half we had covered a little more than 5 miles and had a good course defined.<br />
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Even though this is a step-down week in my 100 mile training I had to get in longer than a 5 mile snowshoe run so I planned to make two more passes of the course. This would serve as a pretty solid training run, especially given all the hills on the course, and also help to get the race course better tracked before the race. After last week's 36 mile run at Val's Fat Ass 50k I wasn't sure how much energy I'd have for a 3+ hour snowshoe run so I made sure to fuel up well before and during the run. On the second lap of the course I didn't have to stop like we did on the first time around and I managed to complete that loop in 1 hour and 1 minute. After another brief stop at the car to refuel I headed out for a third time. By now it was about 11:00 and the temperature was on the rise, well above freezing. The snow that I'd been packing down was actually starting to soften up, at least in the sunnier spots on the course. I tried to maintain a consistent effort throughout, walking the steeper uphills and letting gravity do its thing on the downs, and I managed to knock out the third lap in 1 hour even.<br />
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Generally I was feeling pretty good physically, but more importantly I was feeling really well prepared for the race mentally. I always feel like I have some kind of advantage going into the snowshoe races since I'm pretty much the only one racing who knows the course, but anyone is welcome to come out for the course recon the day before. <br />
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On race day Ryan and I got to the park at 7:30 to mark the course, the temperature was right at 32 and it was nice to find that the trails had firmed up overnight with the colder temps. Of course this was going to change in the hours before the start of the race, but it made things easier for getting around the course. We split the course and each covered about 2.5 miles at an easy pace while placing flags and arrows as we went. After a quick wardrobe change we set up registration and the start & finish lines and then relaxed for a bit while the racers arrived and got themselves checked in and ready to go. At about 10:30 my stomach was rumbling. I hate racing hungry, but it was a bit too close to the start to eat anything solid so I decided to drink an Ensure that I had in my bag, a leftover from last week's long run. I usually find that it's pretty easy to run right after drinking one of these since I use them in ultras, but this was the first time I've ever had one right before a short race where I was going to running at a much higher level of intensity than in an ultra. Perhaps I shouldn't have downed the whole thing, 350 calories is a lot to handle, but at least I wasn't hungry any more.<br />
<br />
I had time for a short warm-up run, it doesn't take long to get your heart rate up when running in snowshoes, and a little time to regret that Ensure. A crowd of 59 runners lined up at the start and after a few announcements and warnings about fun and potentially dangerous course features from Ryan - who was taking part in the race today - we were off and running. I decided to go out at a somewhat conservative pace at the beginning, knowing that this was a comparatively long snowshoe race, that the hilly terrain would naturally spread out the field, and that the trail conditions would allow for passing. When we left the field and entered the wooded trail I was in 6th place. Not surprisingly Jim Johnson was out in front, with (perhaps not in the right order) Doug, Jeremy, Scott and Andy in between. I was right on Andy's heels but didn't want to make a move too soon, I needed to suss out how he was running today.<br />
<br />
By about 1/2 mile in I figured I was capable of going a little harder on the downhills that he was, so I waited until we came to a short, steep downhill on the Boundary Trail. I stepped just off the beaten path and launched myself off the drop-off, hitting the ground and weaving back onto the trail barely missing a tree. The momentum from this move allowed me to close the gap on Scott by a bit. As we neared the bottom of the hill on the Boundary Trail it sounded like Scott said something to Doug who was right in front. Doug moved right around a tree and Scott went left, I put in a surge and followed Scott to move past Doug. The snow was pretty soft on this descent and it took everything I had to maintain balance as I negotiated the hill, the bumps, the turns and the speed.<br />
<br />
On the steep climb that followed along the back side of the mountain Scott started to pull away. We were only 1.5 miles into the race, still plenty of trail left and I figured as long as I kept him in my sights I'd have a chance of catching back up on the next big downhill. I could also see Jeremy ahead and figured that Scott was working hard to try and catch him. At about 1.75 miles we turned on the South Ridge Trail which begins a gradual descent that gets progressively steeper, ultimately dropping about 200 feet in 1/3 of a mile. I closed the gap, got on Scott's heels and waited for the right time to pounce. At rocky outcropping Scott went left so I moved to the right and put in a surge. He wasn't going to make it easy for me but I barely made it past before our paths converged. I kept hammering the downhill, on the verge of losing control, but this is how I had to run to keep ahead of Scott.<br />
<br />
As the trail bottomed out I could see Jeremy up ahead. The next 3/4 mile featured a 250 foot climb up to the summit of Bradbury, this certainly wasn't going to be an easy place to put in another surge but I knew I couldn't get complacent about my position in the race. Scott would take his place back if I gave him a chance. As we passed the picnic shelter there was a crowd of TMR volunteers cheering and this gave me just the motivation I needed. The gloves were off, literally (thanks for picking them up Linda). As we started the climb on the Switchback Trail I had closed in on Jeremy and was only a few paces back. I encouraged him to stay strong, and he was clearly working hard so it wasn't easy keeping up.<br />
<br />
By about 1/2 way up the Switchback Trail I could tell that Jeremy was losing a little steam. I stayed on his heels for a few more turns before ultimately taking the tight inside line of a corner and sneaking past. I managed to step it up a notch and open a slight gap before we reached the summit. I figured if I could get far enough ahead to be out of his view I could afford to relax a bit and catch my breath on the flat stretch that followed. We were only 3 miles into the race, still a lot of time for Jerermy, Scott or anyone else to catch me so I had to stay focused.<br />
<br />
After summiting there was a short section of trail with 2-way traffic, I got to see Paul, Jerry, Chandra, Kate, Ann and George coming the opposite way and I did my best to offer some encouragement without slobbering all over the place. Speaking and snowshoe racing don't go well together.<br />
<br />
When I turned onto the Tote Rd I realized there was only one runner ahead of me on the course, although I never thought for a second that I had any chance of seeing him until the race was over. I pushed on as hard as I could out of fear that someone was going to come up on me. This stretch was pretty flat, not my strength. I channeled the music I had been listening to on the way to the park early this morning:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YJVmu6yttiw" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
Eventually the Tote Rd joined up with the Northern Loop and began a gradual climb nearly all the way back up to the summit. At least the Northern Loop had received snowmobile traffic so the footing was pretty solid and I was able to maintain a strong pace going uphill.<br />
<br />
The course turned onto the single-track of the Terrace Trail dropping about 200 feet in 4/10 of a mile. I pretty much knew I was safe once I started to descend, this is my favorite trail to run in the park, especially when covered in snow and you can really let loose. The snow was slick and loose, most footfalls ended with a squish and glide but every now and then one foot would sink deeper and throw off my balance. I figured the worst that could happen would be a face plant in the soft snow so I wasn't too worried about losing control. Luckily I did manage to stay upright and from the bottom of the hill it was a mostly flat sprint for another 4/10 of a mile to the finish line. It may have just been my tired legs but it seemed that the footing in this final stretch was some of the worst of the whole course. Just as I wanted to try and kick it up another notch for the finish the snow seemed sloppier and less efficient.<br />
<br />
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<br />
As I entered the field I heard a cheer from the crowd of volunteers and supporters, who had been waiting for quite some time since Jim had come through the finish. My attempt at a final sprint was somewhat thwarted by more soft snow but I managed to stay strong until crossing the line. Definitely a good race for me. It's great to be inspired, pulled and pushed by so many of my TMR teammates. A great day for the team.<br />
<br />
time: 44:17<br />
distance: 4.8 miles<br />
pace: 9:13<br />
place: 2/58<br />
<br />
<a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburysnow/2013-bradbury-blizzard-results" target="_blank">RESULTS </a>R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-26835140842815880072013-02-11T23:16:00.000-05:002013-02-12T06:06:44.146-05:00Bradbury White Out Snowshoe Race ReportIt's amazing how much variability there is in snowshoe racing. On Monday it looked like the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburysnow"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Bradbury White Out </span></a>would
be run on a combination of dirt and icy trails, by Wednesday we were
pretty sure there was going to be some snow, but no clear idea if it
would be enough to snowshoe on. By Friday the concern shifted to "how
the hell are we going to pack out a race course in all this snow?"<br />
<br />
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<br />
With
plans for a 25 mile trail run on Saturday it soon became clear that
wasn't going to be an option in 24+ inches of new powdery snow, so I
changed my plans to doing laps of the snowshoe race course to both pack
the trail and get in my long run for the week. I hoped to be able to
cover at least 3 laps of the 4 mile course in 4 hours which would be
about the same amount of time I had expected to run for if I'd been on
the type of trails I was dealing with early in the week. That plan
changed as soon as I set foot on the trail Saturday at noon. With snow
ranging in depth from mid-calf to above my knees my Garmin told me I was
moving at about a 32 minute per mile pace. With all this snow it wasn't
too surprising that I lost the real trail in a few places and ended up
having to do a little backtracking. I had originally hoped that I'd be
able to run on my second lap, but these short sections of backtracking
made me realize that the second pass of the course would be like
breaking trail through 18" of snow instead of 24". Not much easier and
certainly not runnable.<br />
<br />
After 2 hours and 13 minutes I finally finished
one lap of the course. I was working hard, at least as much effort as I
would be putting in a long trail run, but I felt pretty good after the
first lap so set off on the second in hopes of getting it done in under
1.5 hours. About 1/4 mile into the second lap I paused to take a photo
and discovered my camera wasn't in my pocket. Shit! It must have fallen
out when I tripped on a stump and did a face plant more than half a mile
back. I contemplated continuing on and looking for the camera when I
came back around on the second lap, but since it was still snowing and
the wind was blowing strong I realized I didn't have much time before it
would be completely reburied. When I returned to the scene of the
crash, much to my surprise, I discovered a little loop of camera strap
sticking up out of the snow. Yes!<br />
<br />
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<br />
At
this point I decided to keep going around the course in the opposite
direction rather than going back and starting over again, it was clear
that the second time around the course wasn't going to be much faster.
There were places that my tracks from the first pass were completely
obliterated by the drifting snow and I was breaking fresh trail all over
again. After a total of 4 hours and 9 minutes I had covered only 8.3
miles, but did make it around the race course twice so at least there
would be some kind of trail for people to follow in Sunday's race. Its
hard to say exactly how this would compare to my planned 25 mile run, I
certainly felt like I had worked very hard for 4 hours.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are snowshoes down there somewhere</td></tr>
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The
next morning I was up early to shovel snow at home, then got to
Bradbury about 8:30 in the morning for more shoveling. We had to be able
to get runners to an area for registration, to the picnic shelter for
post-race activities, to the trail head across the road and we needed to
clear an area for volunteers to stand at the finish line where they
wouldn’t be knee deep in snow. I also made an attempt at reducing the
snow depth of an area at the start line so there wouldn’t be quite such a
bad bottle-neck as 50+ runners tried to squeeze into a 2’ wide snow
trench at the start of the race. Luckily a few volunteers showed up
early to help clear snow and to get everything else set up for the race.
Ryan had been there since 6:30 making another pass of the race course
and putting out the markings, not that it needed much marking since it
was the only trail on the east side of the park, but it definitely
needed a little more foot traffic before the race.<br />
<br />
By
10:30 we were done with set-up, most runners were checked in and it was
time for me to start thinking about my race. I’d had my running gear on
since leaving the house early that morning, so all I had to do was
strip off a few layers, change shoes and get my snowshoes on. I really
wasn’t sure what to expect for today's race. I knew better than anyone
what the conditions and course were going to be like, but the race
itself is so dependent on who else is there and where you position
yourself in the pack. Knowing that the first few runners would be
dealing with the worst of conditions, and that I wasn’t exactly going
into this race fresh and rested I figured I should be just outside of
the top 10 to start. One thought was to go out “easy” and enjoy the
benefits of a somewhat better packed course with hopes of being able to
have something left for a surge in the last mile where I’d pick off the
weary runners who had been doing all the work for most of the race. I
wasn’t convinced that relying on a late surge in any snowshoe race was a
good idea though. Another idea I had was to work as a team with a few
other Trail Monsters where we’d take turns leading a pack, and regularly
switch up the leader so no one runner was doing all the hard work. In
the end I did neither.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Maine Running Photos</td></tr>
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I
lined up in more or less an appropriate place, a little behind Ryan W.,
Scott, Jamie, Alan, James, David, Chuck and a few others. When the race
started Ryan and Scott took off fast, but everyone else seemed to be a
bit cautious, I don’t think anyone wanted to be out front and do all the
work. Before I knew it I found myself in fourth place behind David, and
it wasn’t long before Ryan and Scott were out of sight, not that I could
see much with all the powder that was being kicked up in front of me. I
could tell that I had a pack of strong runners on my heels and I
figured it was only a matter of time before someone asked to get past. I
think everyone was breathing too hard to say anything. After a gradual
downhill along Knight Woods there was a steep drop and then short climb
as we crossed the snowmobile trail. After the climb I was tight on
David’s heels and felt that I could probably go a little bit faster, but
this certainly wasn’t the right part of the course to make a move on as
the trail twisted and turned in narrow gaps between trees. <br />
<br />
When
I knew we were close to merging with the Snowmobile Trail, a little
before the 1 mile mark, I let David know that I would be willing to take
over the work of leading the pack for a while if he wanted to let me
pass. This wasn’t a confident declaration that I thought I could stay in
front, but I thought it was fair to give him a break. Once we made the turn on onto the Snowmobile trail he took one step to the left and I moved around to the right. I had every
expectation that it wouldn’t be long before David or someone else would
come up on me and ask to pass. As we approached the turn from the
Snowmobile Trail onto Fox East I could hear Emma up ahead cheering me
on. After a 25 mile run from home to Bradbury she arrived 5 minutes
before the start and then hiked up the trail to help direct runners and
provide some encouragement. It worked. Seeing her there gave me a boost
and I pushed hard on the technical terrain. I opened a small gap but it
wasn’t long before there were footsteps right on my heels again. <br />
<br />
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<br />
It
wasn’t going to be easy to shake this chase pack, but I did start to
wonder if maybe I could hold this position for the rest of the race. I
was definitely running scared. If someone wanted to pass I wasn’t going
to stop them, but I feared that as we got closer to the finish I
wouldn’t have the opportunity to make a move and get that place back
again. I put in a surge on the downhill of Fox and opened a slight gap,
but I was on the verge of getting out of control. Rather than being
compressed under each footfall the snow just slipped around and moved
out of the way. The downhill surge actually took a lot of energy just to
keep upright and I needed a slight recovery on the gradual climb that
followed, but recovering on an uphill in fresh powder snow is not really
an option and I could tell that the gap was closed up pretty tight behind
me. I focused on trying to match the stride of the footsteps ahead of
me to find the most solid footing. As much as I wanted to ease off the
pace to lower my heart rate and breathing I knew that doing so would
make it that much easier on everyone chasing me and it would only be a
matter of time before someone felt bold enough to make a move and pass.
So I charged on at near maximum effort. As the gradual climb topped out I
knew we’d be crossing the snowmobile trail soon which would be a great
opportunity for someone to make a move so I put in another surge to try
and pull away. After we crossed the Snowmobile Trail we were back on
narrow and twisting single-track and I relaxed a little bit. <br />
<br />
Knowing
that the next opportunity for someone to make a move would come when we
turned from Ginn onto the wide, downhill of Old Tuttle Road I put in
another surge. I had told a few others that this would be a good place
to really kick it in so I knew I’d have to make my move early. As I
made the turn onto Old Tuttle I almost wiped out but just barely managed
to keep upright. The next 2/10ths of a mile were an all out sprint. I
caught a glimpse of someone up ahead on the trail but didn’t dare take
my eyes off the snow immediately in front of me for too long. As I made
the sharp turn onto Lanzo and back onto tight single-track I knew I had
opened up a gap and just hoped that it was big enough to hang onto. I
was feeling pretty spent and feared that if someone did catch up to me I
wouldn’t have enough in me to put up much of a fight.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Amber Waterman</td></tr>
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The
tight turns that came in the last 3/4th of a mile actually played to my
strengths and I could tell I was moving away from my chase pack. I had
thoughts of reigning in second place but didn’t know how much of a lead
he still had on me, probably less than a tenth of a mile but I was
running out of real estate. Just before making the turn from Lanzo onto
the Link Trail for the final push to the finish I could hear the crowd
at the finish line cheering. Someone had just crossed the line. Despite
knowing that I couldn’t catch anyone in front of me and that the chase
pack was far enough back that I didn’t have to worry I still gave it
everything I had for a sprint to the finish. I was surprised and very
pleased to finish third. It wasn’t how I planned to run, not that I
really had much of a plan, but I was lucky to feel good throughout the
race and stay strong to the end. Ryan W. got the win with Scott only 1
second behind. Just under a minute after me David came in with five
others right on each other heels behind: Jennifer, Kristina, Jamie,
Chuck and James. <br />
<br />
It
was a fun race in very challenging conditions, but no doubt frustrating
for those who were caught in the trench and unable to pass.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">time: 39:45</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">distance: 3.5 miles</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">pace: 11:21</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">place: 3/53 </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburysnow/2013-bradbury-white-out-results" target="_blank">RESULTS</a><br />
<br />
After
catching my breath I went for a short cool-down run on the road with a
few others, then enjoyed some hot soup with the rest of the runners as
the prizes were given out. Once we got everything from the race packed
up, and Andy picked up the course markings, I headed back out on the
race course to get in a few more miles. It was amazing how different the
course was after all 53 racers had gone through, so much easier to run.
I actually ran a faster time in my easy jog around the course than I
did during the race. Snowshoeing is certainly a crazy and unpredictable
sport.<br />
<br />
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R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-51555678710803731232012-12-31T18:41:00.000-05:002012-12-31T18:41:30.243-05:002012 Running & Racing RecapTotal mileage for 2012: 2166.8 miles<br />
Total time spent running: 376 hours, 21 minutes<br />
<br />
240 runs this year, 9.03 miles per run average, 1:34:04 average time, 10:25 pace<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="My graph" src="http://www.runningahead.com/logs/1036524bc36542c7ab71406da40c75b1/tools/graph?e10=10&e12=38&zsm=12&zdg=3&x=12&y=20&t=0" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monthly Mileage</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="My graph" src="http://www.runningahead.com/logs/1036524bc36542c7ab71406da40c75b1/tools/graph?e10=10&e12=40&zsm=12&zdg=2&x=12&y=20&t=0" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weekly Mileage</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This is my highest mileage year ever, but only a little higher than 2011. I started out the year with 6 months of solid, high mileage (for me) running leading up to the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2012/11/2012-vermont-100-mile-endurance-run.html" target="_blank">VT100</a> in July. I was averaging more than 200 miles per month, everything was going well and I was feeling great. Even though I had a great race in Vermont I was pretty stupid about my recovery, too much hard racing too soon after the 100 miler and it all came crashing down at the Bruiser in September. I struggled to try and train for the Stone Cat 50 in November and in the end dropped down the the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2012/11/2012-stone-cat-marathon.html" target="_blank">marathon</a>. Following the marathon I took two weeks off from running and then a very cautious low mileage return with less than 80 miles for the whole month of November (about 1/3 of that mileage was in one run). <br />
<br />
In December, when I found out that I got into the <a href="http://www.vhtrc.org/mmt/" target="_blank">Massanutten Mountain Trails 100</a>, I made a cautious return to training and started to ramp up the mileage again. During this last week of December I logged just over 50 miles, the first time I've done this in a training week since before the VT100. Looking ahead I know that I need to be very careful with how I train for Massanutten and will probably do a lot less racing this winter/spring and just focus on base building and long runs. <br />
<br />
Recap of 2012 races: 2 road, 3 snowshoe, 13 trail, 5 ultra, 3 fat ass 50k's, 7 PR's<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Hangover Classic 10k</span></b><br />
distance: 6.2 miles <br />
time: 39:46 <b>PR</b><br />
pace: 6:27<br />
place: 41/422 - 9.7%<br />
With no speed work leading up to this race, no taper and very little road running in general I wasn't feeling particularly fast, but I did feel good. Surprised to get a PR, the only logical reason for this is that the course was short.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">GAC Fat Ass 50k</span></b><br />
distance: 31 miles <br />
time: 4:25:10 <b>PR</b><br />
pace: 8:33<br />
place: 13/80 - 16%<br />
Good early season test of fitness and endurance. No snow meant fast conditions. Gradual increase of pace over first three laps, then minimal slow down in the last two. Overall pretty consistent.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Bradbury Squall</span></b><br />
distance: 3.5 miles<br />
time: 33:00 <b>PR</b><br />
pace: 9:25<br />
place: 4/40 - 10%<br />
The only race of the series that had decent snow so this was hard work for sure, and fun to race strategically. Really happy with how things went especially following the previous days 3 hour snowy trail run.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Bradbury White Out</b> </span><br />
distance: 4.1 miles<br />
time: 32:32<br />
pace: 7:56<br />
place: 4/45 - 8.8%<br />
New course on the east side, hard packed snow and ice meant fast conditions. Hard work racing other Trail Monsters but very happy with the result.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Mockingbird Lane Fat Ass 50k</span></b><br />
distance: 31 miles<br />
time: 5:32:01<br />
pace: 10:42<br />
place: N/A<br />
Tough conditions, as usual, but managed to keep the pace pretty consistent thoughout.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Bradbury Blizzard</span></b><br />
distance: 5 miles<br />
time: 39:17<br />
pace: 7:51<br />
place: 2/37 - 5.4%<br />
New course on the east side, hard packed snow and ice, snowshoes not even needed. Hard work racing other Trail Monsters but very happy with the result, second place overall thanks to Jeremy being out of town.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">One More Fat Ass for Sunshine</span></b><br />
distance: 30.5 miles<br />
time: 4:45:21<br />
pace: 9:21<br />
place: 3/5 - 60%<br />
Overall a good run despite some major stomach problems.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Merrimack River 10 Miler</span></b><br />
distance: 10 miles <br />
time: 1:12:17 <b>PR</b><br />
pace: 7:13<br />
place: 22/240 - 9.1%<br />
Following a broken little toe the week before the race and a 20 miler mid-week I wasn't sure what to expect but I did feel pretty good. Very happy to get a course PR.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Muddy Moose</span></b><br />
distance: 14 miles<br />
time: 1:50:09 <b>PR</b><br />
pace: 7:52<br />
place: 16/94 - 17%<br />
Felt great for this race since I was tapering for the Peak 50, psyched to get a 10 minute course PR!<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Peak 50</span></b><br />
distance: 53.5 miles (?)<br />
time: 12:20:08<br />
pace: 13:50<br />
place: 7/25 finishers /59 starters - 11.8%<br />
Crazy, brutal race course. Felt good for the first 30, suffered off and on for the last 20+. Uncertain about placing because intelligible results were never published.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Pineland 5k Canicross</span></b><br />
distance: 3.1 miles<br />
time: 21:38<br />
pace: 6:57<br />
place: 7/96 - 7.2%<br />
Two weeks after the Peak 50 and a very hot/humid day so took it easy for my sake and Kip's, except for the first downhill mile in which Kip pulled me along at a 5:37 pace.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Bradbury Scuffle</span></b><br />
distance: 6 miles<br />
time: 47:05<br />
pace: 7:50<br />
place: 17/171 - 9.9%<br />
Supposedly racing at 90% effort since this was the week before the VT100, felt great, very comfortable race. Easily could have PR'd if I'd put in 100% effort.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run</span></b><br />
distance: 100 miles<br />
time: 21:04:36 <b>PR</b><br />
pace: 12:38<br />
place: 48/218/290 - 16.5%<br />
Definitely the highlight of the year for me, extremely happy with how I ran this race and with the result. Grateful for all the support from Emma, my parents and the TMR crew.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Bradbury Mountain Breaker</span></b><br />
distance: 9 miles<br />
time: 1:25:04<br />
pace: 9:27<br />
place: 34/144 - 23.6%<br />
Two weeks after the VT100 it probably wasn't a good idea to even start this race. Another hot day so took it realtively easy the whole way. Pleased with the result considering my recovery from VT.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ragged Mountain Run Around</span></b><br />
distance: 9 miles<br />
time: 1:22:12<br />
pace: 9:08<br />
place: 7/34 - 20.5%<br />
Still too soon to be doing another mountain race, but I couldn't resist. Very fun event and much happier with how the race went compared to the Breaker.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Steve Day 5k </span></b><br />
distance: 3.1 miles<br />
time: 20:26<br />
pace: 6:35<br />
place: 7/201 - 3.4%<br />
Finally starting to feel more recovered so put in a hard effort but my legs weren't used to trying to run fast on the road.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Bradbury Bruiser</span></b><br />
distance: 12 miles<br />
time: 1:49:10<br />
pace: 9:05<br />
place: 33/156 - 21%<br />
I should have been in good shape for a fast race but strained my achilles a few miles in and then had both calves cramp badly on the O-Trail. Definitely the worst race of the year for me and a major injury setback. In hindsight it's clear that I was really stupid about my recovery from the VT100.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Stone Cat Marathon</span></b><br />
distance: 26.2 miles<br />
time: 3:44:03 <b>PR</b><br />
pace: 8:33<br />
place: 16/210 - 7.6%<br />
Had signed up for the 50 miler but due to achilles/calf issues couldn't get the training in. I really wasn't even well trained for the marathon but managed to get my head into the race and push myself to a new course PR. (Official results added a 15 minute penalty because I was registered for the 50 miler.)<br />
<br />
<br />
Apart from the ups and downs of racing, most of the 376 hours I spent running this year were a lot of fun. I covered many enjoyable miles with Emma, our dogs and many good friends old and new. What none of these numbers show is the strength of the bond made through sharing the joys and struggles of running with other like-minded people. Time well spent. I'm looking forward to the miles and friendships of 2013.<br />
<br />
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R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-72724417133751011092012-11-16T17:44:00.001-05:002012-11-16T18:04:57.840-05:002012 Vermont 100 Mile Endurance RunThis year's Vermont 100 was a step into a new realm of running in a 100 mile race for me. For the first time ever I wasn't questioning whether or not I'd make it to the finish line, the question was how fast could I get there. Fast is a relative term or course, I finished more than 6 hours after the winner of the race, but this was my first 100 where within the 15+ hour time range between first and last finishers I finished significantly closer to the first.<br />
<br />
Of course, confidence in my ability to get to the finish line didn't stop me from being afraid of how much pain I might encounter along the way. <br />
<br />
At the beginning of the year I had no specific plans to run a 100. Without a real job and a lot of uncertainty about what lie ahead for me I was reluctant to commit to any event that would require vast amounts of training and potentially a lot of expense and travel. Actually, I had plenty of time for the training, it was the expense part I was worried about. In early December 2011 I put my name in the lotteries for Western States and Massanutten, two events that would require significant travel expenses but I figured it was worth a shot. In the end my money was safe because I didn’t get into either event. After a bit of contemplation I decided I’d sign up for the VT100, at least it was close to home and logistically easy so I knew I could do it on the cheap. By the time I was ready to commit I found that the race had already filled to capacity. 0 for 3, and it began to look like the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2011/08/maine-100-mile-wilderness-run.html" target="_blank">100 Mile Wilderness</a> might be my best option for a 100 this year.<br />
<br />
In the first half of the year my training was focused on the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2012/05/peak-50-race-report.html" target="_blank">Peak 50 miler</a> in May, but beyond that I still hadn’t figured out what the next goal would be. Following the Peak race I talked with Jeremy about what we wanted to do next, and since that event had felt like a glorified Fat Ass 100 for him he was looking to do a well organized 100 miler, one where the race organizers knew what they were doing and knew how to look after the runners. He had proven that he could <a href="http://runefficient.com/?p=931" target="_blank">suffer through the worst of conditions for 30+ hours</a>, now he wanted to see what he could do in a race. The VT 100 was the obvious choice but the race had been filled to capacity for the past 6 months. Ah ha! Thanks to a connection with one of the event sponsors I realized I might have an opportunity to get a place for Jeremy in the race, and since I was asking for one place why not go all out and see if I could get two of those entries that were reserved for sponsors. It was a tense two weeks while we waiting for the magic to happen, but eventually we got confirmation that we could both get into the race. What was going to make this really exciting was that we’d be joining Zak, Joe and George who were also running, and over the following weeks we assembled a large contingent of TMR members, friends and family as our various support crews so we had a great big Maine posse headed to VT.<br />
<br />
After three weeks of recovery from the Peak 50 miler I found myself training again for another trip to Vermont. This time an even bigger one, but I was comforted by the fact that I had completed this race before, and with the intensity of my training leading up to the Peak 50 I knew I had a great base to work with. In the 5 week stretch that would form the bulk of my 100 miler training I managed to get in 4 runs between 28 and 31 miles, averaged a little more than 50 miles per week and had my highest weekly mileage at about 75. This is a little lower than I had planned, but I think it’s important to train by what feels right when I’m in between big ultras and trying to find the balance between recovery and training. I was hitting all my long run targets but I didn’t feel like I was training or getting in quality workouts in between, just a lot of easy recovery runs. I made the mistake last year of jumping into training too quickly after the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2011/09/virgil-crest-100-race-report.html" target="_blank">Virgil Crest 100</a> and the result was that I had a pretty poor race at the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2011/11/stone-cat-50-miler.html" target="_blank">Stone Cat 50</a>. I was hoping to avoid that this year by paying closer attention to what my body was trying to tell me, and not pushing it when I didn’t feel up for it. By the time the taper came around I was so ready to stop training. My weekly mileage really dropped off sharply but that’s what I felt like I had to do to rest and be ready to run hard for 100 miles.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/cOF7ltgRM8Ixa-uPPiE6Iqtb5wYZjfpPWjf2-wSvi3Ee0BwlH-poXuE0NKEvNOEqk9l5UsBAxGBO4QHBSsAOBs6YqhiPo-MdXZM8-Gm58BE9DqUyeCE" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/cOF7ltgRM8Ixa-uPPiE6Iqtb5wYZjfpPWjf2-wSvi3Ee0BwlH-poXuE0NKEvNOEqk9l5UsBAxGBO4QHBSsAOBs6YqhiPo-MdXZM8-Gm58BE9DqUyeCE" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 8 mile week in May was the week of the Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival when I had no time/energy to run.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Like all big races I do I had three goals going in:<br />
Ambitious: Break 22 hours<br />
Safe: Beat time from 4 years ago (22:54)<br />
Cover my ass: Break 24 hours<br />
<br />
I actually felt like my ambitious goal was fairly realistic based on the way my training had been going, not just the few weeks leading up but in the entire 6 months prior. I also felt really good about my support crew. When I first mentioned to my parents that I would be returning to the VT 100 they immediately offered to help before I had the chance to ask. There was some feigned excitement on their part, but eventually it turned to real excitement as race weekend approached. And of course I had Emma there to not only crew for me all day but also to pace me through the last 30 miles. While they had all done an incredible job helping me get through <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2008/07/vermont-100-mile-endurance-run-race.html" target="_blank">my first 100</a> fours years ago we’ve all learned a lot since then and I felt like I had everything in place to allow me to run hard, efficient and reach my goal. I will forever be grateful for everything they have done to help me get there.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Friday afternoon Emma and I arrived at Silver Hill Meadow, checked in and set up our camp in the parking lot. We planned to sleep in our Honda Element and set up a tent next to it for all our gear. Mom and Dad planned to arrive on Saturday morning and meet me at the first handler aid station. We met the rest of the TMR crew for the pre-race meeting, ate dinner and then went for a walk to see the last mile or so of the race course. It was a beautiful night, very relaxing and the perfect way to prepare for the next day's adventure.<br />
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<br />
We were up at 3:00 AM, coffee on the stove, a quick breakfast and we made our way to the race start in the darkness. It was surprisingly cool for a late July day, great running weather. Lots of nervous energy and everyone just wanted to get on with it. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparently Jeremy was stoned and Zak had morning wood</td></tr>
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<br />
<b>Start to Pretty House: 22.5 miles, 3:50</b><br />
2 minute stop<br />
<br />
Prior to the race Jeremy, Zak and I had all talked about how great it is to run with each other, but how important it also was to each do our own thing. Come race day though I really wanted some company for the early miles, and to see how long it made sense to stick with Jeremy and Zak. I think we had a better chance of keeping the pace under control if we looked out for each other. Tyler was also with the three of us early on, mostly because he had packed his only headlamp in his drop bag which went to mile 70 and he needed to poach someone else's light.<br />
<br />
Once the sun came up our group stretched out a bit. I stopped for a bio-break around 10 miles in, Zak and Tyler moved ahead but Jeremy slowed until I eventually caught back up to him. Somewhere in this part of the course there was a re-route due to a washed out bridge, this added a few more road miles into the early part of the course and allowed for an overall quicker pace than we had expected. The cool, overcast weather also made for comfortable running conditions. A great way to start a long day. At around 12-13 miles into the race the detour had us passing through Woodstock village where our crews were there waiting. It was great to see them, especially since the first handler aid station didn't come until 22.5 miles into the race.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skipping through Woodstock</td></tr>
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After leaving Woodstock Jeremy and I ran for a while with Cynthia from Kentucky and Mike (?) who had overslept and missed the start by 15-20 minutes but had done a good job catching up to us and soon moved ahead. Tyler, not being interested in conversation, took off and it was along here that I started to notice Zak being pretty quiet and soon Jeremy and I started to pull away a bit, but never very far. Even after the sun had come up it remained a pleasant temperature. The miles ticked by easily.<br />
<br />
Jeremy and I rolled into Pretty House with Zak right behind. We were ahead of schedule, or at least I was, on track for a 20:30 finish. The weather was better than anticipated and with a few extra road miles in this first stretch it wasn’t surprising that we were on the fast side. My parents had not arrived yet but Emma did a great job getting me in and out in about two minutes. I downed an Ensure, dropped off my headlamp, picked up my sunglasses and switched to a new handheld bottle.<br />
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<b>Pretty House to Stage Rd: 8 miles, 1:29</b> (30.5, 5:19 total)<br />
4 minute stop <br />
<br />
A few days before the race I started to completely rethink my hydration strategy. For pretty much every ultra distance run I've ever done before I've taken a hydration pack, and kept the handheld bottles for shorter runs. But since Vermont has more than 20 aid stations and it wasn't supposed to be too hot I decided I'd be OK with one handheld for the early and later miles, and two during the middle of the day. To supplement the bottles I bought a <a href="http://www.mountainsmith.com/products.asp?productId=321&categoryId=49&subCategoryId=0&subCategory2Id=0" target="_blank">small waist pack</a> from EMS a few days before the race and took it out for a 5 mile run to make sure it felt OK. This would hold my gels, Honey Stinger wafers and trail mix. This was part of the plan to be fast, light and efficient. The hydration pack is heavy, and very fussy for refilling. Pretty risky to go into a 100 miler with an untested fueling plan, but I felt like it should work out. I also made sure that Emma had access to my Nathan pack during the race in case I decided that I needed to revert to that mid-race.<br />
<br />
Jeremy and I left Pretty House together, he with what appeared to be an entire meatloaf wrapped in a tortilla. I don't know what it actually contained but it was huge and it took him at least a mile to get it down. I began to doubt my own plans for eating but I certainly didn’t feel like I needed any more than I was taking in at this point so I wasn’t too worried. With the trail mix, gels and Ensure I probably had about 600 calories in the first 5 hours, on top of my breakfast. In hindsight that doesn't sound like a enough. Zak was a little ways behind us but we were confident that he'd catch up soon enough.<br />
<br />
Near the top of Sound of Music Hill (28 miles?) we met Po’Dog from Arkansas, we enjoyed the view from the top with him and a woman but we pulled away on the downhill that followed. I was impressed with Jeremy’s friendly, chatty demeanor with other runners, not because he shouldn’t have been friendly, but it was clear from listening to him talk that he was relaxed and having fun. Our pace required a little more mental focus on my part and this is when I was reminded that Jeremy is a faster runner than me, and I may not be able to keep up with him for much longer.<br />
<br />
As we cruised down the hill towards the Stage Rd aid station I told Jeremy that I needed to take a few extra minutes at this stop to be sure that I was prepared for the long stretch ahead. It would be 17 miles after this stop until we'd see our crews again, and now that the sun was out I knew it was going to start getting hot. My parents were there when I arrived and they set about taking care of me as quickly as they could. I grabbed a new bottle and picked up a second one, change of shirt, something to eat, a bandana full of ice cubes for my neck, quick hugs and kisses and I was ready to go. I looked for the optional medical check-in but it wasn’t there this year. I really wanted to do a better job of keeping on top of my hydration this time around and I thought that weighing in early would help. Oh well, I just needed to keep on drinking. On the way out I ran into Chip Tilden taking photos, I stopped to say hello and give him a hug, then gave a shout back to the GAC crew who was there cheering. It's amazing what an incredible boost the aid stations can be when they are filled with your family and firends. I took off down the road at an easy jog while Jeremy worked to catch up. Unfortunately Zak hadn't made it in during the four minutes we were stopped there, I hoped he wasn't far behind.<br />
<b><br /></b><b>Stage Rd to Camp 10 Bear: 17.1 miles, 3:20</b> (47.6, 8:39 total)<br />
9 minute stop<br />
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The huge climb out of Stage Rd actually seemed pretty manageable, but it was on the open road stretches that differences between Jeremy and me started to become evident. Out in the sun Jeremy would pick up the pace and pull ahead, then ease off in the shade. While he was running some kind of strategy I was just chugging along, trying to be consistent. We never got too far apart and I'd always catch back up to him, but I could tell he had a little more spring in his step than me. In the last few miles leading into C10B we picked up a couple first time 100 milers and had a good chat with them while picking up the pace on the long downhill to the aid station. It felt good to open things up a little bit and after more than three hours since the last crew stop we were all looking forward to a refreshing break. My feet were starting to feel a bit cooked from the hot dirt road miles but I wasn't too concerned.<br />
<br />
I was definitely starting to feel the day warming up, but overall I felt pretty good, and a lot better than I had at this point when I ran the race 4 years ago. When I arrived my crew was there to take my bottle and waist pack, then I hopped on the scale for my first weigh-in of the day. 159 pounds, down 4 pounds from yesterday. This had me a bit puzzled, I had been drinking a LOT, although not eating much, I hadn’t been peeing and I hadn’t been sweating for that long so I wasn’t sure where that four pounds had gone. I suspected that the 163 from the day before was a bit high so I wasn’t worried. The volunteers gave me a few words of warning and I went off to check in with my crew.<br />
<br />
Emma reminded me that I needed to be eating more. One thing I hadn't anticipated about my fueling strategy is that with a handheld bottle in each hand it's a lot of work to try to get food in your mouth, and as a result I ended up not eating enough (good reason not to try something new in a 100 mile race!) I drank another Ensure here, had something to eat, received an application of muscle rub, a new bandana of ice, and two fresh bottles.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeremy and I walking out of C10B, the hill felt a lot bigger than it looks here</td></tr>
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<b><br /></b><b>Camp 10 Bear to Tracer Brook: 9.8 miles, 2:15</b> (57.4, 10:54 total)<br />
6 minute stop<br />
<br />
I was surprised to find that after all the time I took at the aid station I had to wait a minute for Jeremy to get ready to go. We took off feeling refreshed, this was our longest break of the day so far but it needed to be done. It soon became clear, however, that Jeremy was feeling a bit better than me. I was doing my best to keep up with him but I was really feeling the heat on the climbs. My energy level was pretty low on the steeper climbs, probably a result of not eating enough and I had to let myself slow down. At one point I stepped off the trail to let a few horses pass, which took forever and I was secretly happy for the opportunity to stand in the shade on the side of the hill and relax while they went by. Jeremy was a little ways ahead at this point and he was able to stay ahead of the horses on the hill. This was the last I'd see of Jeremy. We covered the better part of 50 miles together, but I couldn't match his ability to shovel in the food and my energy level was suffering as a result. I hoped I'd see him again but knew it was unlikely.<br />
<br />
It's funny how these things happen, you run with a good friend for 10 hours and then, without a word, part ways. There are certainly no hard feelings about the situation. I didn't want to admit that I couldn't keep up and I'm sure he didn't want to suggest that he was going to drop me for good, so we just drifted apart. I feel lucky to have been able to share that time with him on the course. For the first time during the race I was running alone and my thoughts turned to Zak. I wondered how he was doing and if he'd soon catch up to me. Knowing how well he had trained and how consistently he runs I figured it was just a matter of time until he caught up, and then I'd have someone else to try to keep up with.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom and Dad waiting for my arrival at Tracer Brook</td></tr>
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Coming into Tracer Brook my feet were feeling pretty beat up, especially my little toes which were developing hot spots. I had brought another pair of shoes to change into but didn't want to make the change too soon, I figured I could go another 5 miles to the next handler aid station. Besides, I wanted to make the shoe change as quick as possible and I wanted my crew to be ready for it. I did sit for a minute here to give my feet a rest and to get some food in me. I always struggle getting enough food in when it's really hot, and now that it was about 3 in the afternoon the temperature had climbed into the 80's.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom and Dad sending me off</td></tr>
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<br />
<b>Tracer Brook to Margaritaville: 5.1 miles, 1:09 </b> (62.5, 12:03 total)<br />
10 minute stop<br />
<br />
Even though I had dropped back from Jeremy and my feet were beginning to protest I felt pretty good about where I was at. I was definitely doing better than at this point four years ago and I was optimistic about my finishing time. The next 5 miles I was on my own, although I passed several other runners I never spent any time running with anyone. The hills were pretty fierce but I was able to move well despite the pain in my feet, and the rest of my body was holding up.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaving Tracer Brook</td></tr>
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<br />
Over the next few miles I could tell that blisters were forming on my little toes. Amazing how such a small part of the body can be responsible for producing so much pain. I knew I was going to have to take care of this at the next aid station and hoped that a change of shoes would help. When I arrived at Margaritaville I sat down immediately and Emma went to work getting my shoes and socks off. There were indeed blisters on both of my little toes so she attacked with a needle. Alison watched on with giddy excitement. To distract me from the pain my dad produced a jar of pickles. At that moment the jar of pickles was the greatest thing I had ever seen. I grabbed the jar and took a big swig of the juice, then munched down 3 or 4 pickles. Perfect. Dave and Mindy were also there and once again I felt a huge boost from the support of the team.<br />
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<br />
Ryan was there to lend a hand which made me think that Zak must be close behind. This is when I learned that Zak had dropped from the race back at Lincoln Covered Bridge. I didn't really know what to do with this information at first, it didn't seem real. He should have been right there with me, or off ahead with Jeremy. This was so unfair. <br />
<br />
There wasn't time to get into the details of what had happened. Emma got me into a fresh pair of socks and I switched into my Saucony Kinvaras. Mom and Dad refilled my bottles, got me something to eat, a fresh bandana with ice and sent me on my way. Ryan walked out of the aid station with me as I hobbled along, still trying to make sense of what happened to Zak.<br />
<b><br /></b><b>Margaritaville to Camp 10 Bear: 8.0 miles, 1:40</b> (70.5, 13:43 total)<br />
5 minute stop<br />
<br />
It seemed at first like a mistake to change my shoes, my feet actually felt worse than before. Eventually they calmed down and I was able to run without wincing. It took me a while to refocus on my race, especially since I was alone and there were very few distractions. Knowing that the next time I'd see my crew I would be picking up Emma to pace me to the end helped get me back on track. I ate and drank as much as I could in preparation for the next weigh-in, not to mention the 30+ miles that I still had to go.<br />
<br />
When I came out on the nicer dirt road section and knew I was getting closer to C10B and I picked up the pace. I recognized a runner ahead as <a href="http://www.bikernate.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Nate Sanel</a>, he was walking and it surely wasn't right that I should be catching up to him. He didn’t look tired and he seemed in OK spirits but his foot/ankle was in a lot of pain and he knew that he had to stop when he got to C10B. For a race that has a reputation as being one of the easier 100's it was definitely sobering to see the course and the distance get the best of another strong runner. This reminded me not to take anything for granted. The finish is never guaranteed until it is in sight.<br />
<br />
Just before making the last turn onto the stretch of road that leads to C10B I saw <a href="http://primitivedreaming.blogspot.com/2012/07/vermont-100-race-report-george.html" target="_blank">Ann</a> at the corner, she gave me a quick update on the rest of the team out on the course. Ryan came up the road to meet me before the aid station and to take my bottle and pack so I could go straight to the scale: 160. +1 pound from 20 miles earlier. This had me pretty psyched, I punched the air, shouted and hopped off the scale. I had managed to avoid losing any weight during the hottest part of the day, a good sign that my eating and drinking was finally dialed in. I wanted to get through here as quick as possible and my crew once again had everything ready for a quick transition. <br />
<br />
I was so happy to start running with Emma and I really felt like the race was on at this point, not that I was racing anyone other than myself on the course, but all of a sudden it really started to seem like the end was within reach. I had made it through the hot and lonely miles, I now had cooler conditions and Emma’s company to help get me through the rest of the race. Mike Silverman, RD for the VT50 and leader of the C10B aid station, gave us a nice shout out over the microphone as we headed out down the road together.<br />
<br />
<b>Camp 10 Bear to Spirit of '76: 6.9 miles, 1:44 </b> (77.4, 15:27 total)<br />
10 minute stop<br />
<br />
The long and technical climb out of the aid station, which is probably the most difficult climb of the race, really didn't seem too bad now that I had Emma out in front of me. There was plenty of walking, but my energy level was back on high and I was moving well. After we crested the first major hill we saw Tyler and his pacer walking up ahead. I was able to get back into a run and it didn't take long to catch up and move past. This is one of the spots where the official race photographer always hangs out, and fours years ago we got a very nice shot of the two of us walking together. This year he got us <b>running</b>. And smiling. It was moments like this that fueled the fire inside. I felt strong. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHc45fvoIcjkbGFht9O7UfXy02B-ATxpeuwHUuCwiidDqn9ryRzlJZM08svsXsleJ0ayQAPpYpC7NiwHvmOKIULX0VO6_S7hbwbfW-pv1LrDBYZUZvuVGAjzCAyQP4At7VTXk4-umw_c_/s1600/VT100-mile_72.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHc45fvoIcjkbGFht9O7UfXy02B-ATxpeuwHUuCwiidDqn9ryRzlJZM08svsXsleJ0ayQAPpYpC7NiwHvmOKIULX0VO6_S7hbwbfW-pv1LrDBYZUZvuVGAjzCAyQP4At7VTXk4-umw_c_/s320/VT100-mile_72.png" width="221" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Synchronized Ultra Running (photo by Spectrum Photography)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It was fun getting caught up with Emma on everything she had seen during the day and sharing all that I had experienced. It was good to hear about how Jeremy, Joe and George were doing, but very sad to get the details on Zak's catastrophic knee failure coming down the Sound of Music Hill.<br />
<br />
The pain in my little toes was making a comeback, it felt like the blisters were refilling and we planned for another drainage session when we got to the Spirit of '76. I also planned to make this a longer stop since it would soon be getting dark and cooler. When we got there I sat down and removed my shoes and socks while Emma got out the first aid kit. She redrained my blisters while I ate noodles and Mom and Dad refilled my bottles. I took out my contacts, put my glasses on, changed my shirt, grabbed my headlamp and belly lamp and was ready to take on the darkness. <br />
<br />
<b>Spirit of 76 to Bill’s: 11.6 miles, 2:44</b> (89.0, 18:11 total)<br />
7 minute stop<br />
<br />
Unfortunately my legs started thinking that the 10 minute break was a sign that they were done for the day and they were not too happy about being put to work again. My quads in particular were complaining and it took a little while to build the momentum back up to a reasonable running pace. The downhills were actully the toughest at this point because of the increased impact on my feet and the extra work that my quads were doing to absord the shock.<br />
<br />
Despite the pain Emma and I were having a lot of fun, especially since we were covering ground in daylight that previously we had only seen at night. There was a lot of uphill on dirt roads on the way to Bill's aid station and I found that I was able to run much of what I had walked four years ago. Shortly after leaving the unmanned aid station at Goodman's (81.4 miles) darkness set began to set in and by the time we reached the Cow Shed aid station (84 miles) we were relying on our headlamps. A few minutes out from that aid station, while I was sucking down a cup of noodles and Emma was re-assembling her hydration pack, a car pulled along beside us and told us we had missed a turn. Luckily we were only a few hundred yards past the turn, it could have been much worse.<br />
<br />
The detour caused me to work a little harder to make up for the lost time and we ran most of the rest of the way to Bill's aid station. When we arrived at Bill's I was feeling pretty tired from pushing the pace on the hills and my feet were asking for a break. After weighing in at 161 (up one more pound from C10B!) I sat down to eat another cup of noodles while Mom, Dad and the rest of the TMR crew helped get me ready to go back out. Dave was out with Jeremy, but Alison and Mindy were still there, along with Ryan and everyone lended a hand or encouraging words. Much to my surprise Zak even made an appearance, with his knee wrapped up. I can only image how tough it must have been for him to deal with decision to drop from the race - not that he really had a choice - but then to come out in the middle of the night to show his support for the rest of us still running was huge. <br />
<br />
<b>Bill’s to Polly’s: 6.9 miles, 1:50</b> (95.9, 20:01 total)<br />
4 minute stop<br />
<br />
Leaving Bill's I was really struck by how amazing it is to have the support of so many people. I've often said that I think of 100 milers as a team sport, and I felt lucky to have such a great team of people willing to offer their time and energy. Running through an open field at 11:00 at night, 90+ miles into the race Emma pointed out the beauty of the stars in the sky. It really was a perfect night for running and I was grateful to be sharing these moments with Emma.<br />
<br />
I had lost track of my expected finishing time quite a while ago. Dad had been giving me updates for most of the day based on my ultra-geeky finish time predictor spreadsheet, but in the last few stops he either didn't tell me or I wasn't paying attention. Either way, it didn't really matter any more. I knew I was well ahead of my time from fours ago but I had no idea by how much. <br />
<br />
<b>Polly’s to Finish: 4.1 miles, 1:03</b> (100, 21:04:36 total)<br />
<br />
We arrived at Polly's moments before my parents did, they stopped the car and rushed out to help but I was feeling exhausted. I needed to sit for a minute and wasn't in a hurry to get going again, although I should have been. With just over 4 miles to go there really wasn't any need to sit and rest, and Emma tried to stop it from happening but I wouldn't listen. I soon learned that the worst part about sitting was the getting up and going again. My muscles were ready to be done with this and stopping only let them think that it was over. Worse than the time I spent stopped at the aid station was the amount of time it took me to get going again. I would have been much better off if I'd just kept going.<br />
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<br />
The 10 minutes after leaving Polly's was probably my lowest point of the whole race, but once I got back into a running rhythm the realization that I was almost done sank in and my spirits lifted again. With each of the last miles I ran faster and walked less. Before long I started to recognize the trail from our walk the night before, and then came the sign marking 1 mile to go. I ran hard, up hills that I had no right running at this stage of the race. I was making up for sitting down at the last aid station, if not in time then at least in attitude. I knew when we hit the last uphill, a straight shot on a dirt road that had me winded when we walked it the night before. There was no pain any more and I ran the entire way up. Into the woods on a gradual downhill and the illuminated milk jugs soon came into sight. Euphoria.<br />
<br />
I shouted at the finish line to let it know I was coming. Joy, pain, gratitude, exhaustion, and elation were combined into an overwhelming outpouring of energy that moved me forward and kept me shouting until I crossed the line. Mom and Dad, Jeremy, Dave, Mindy, and Alison were all there. After embracing Emma I hugged each one of them and thanked them for being there. I was grateful for everyone being there throughout the day and staying up until I finished.<br />
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<br />
time: 21:04:36<br />
place: 48/241 finishers/321 startersR. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-29513099168440530212012-11-06T22:31:00.000-05:002012-11-06T22:31:30.718-05:002012 Stone Cat Marathon Back in August when registration for Stone Cat opened up I think it was a
little too soon after the VT100 for me to commit to another ultra.
Everything was feeling fine but I couldn’t make up my mind so I let it
pass. Of course, once I saw how many of my TMR team mates got in I was
wishing that I could be there with them, and thinking maybe this could
be the year that I could break 8 hours in the 50 miler. Coming off a
fast-for-me Vermont 100 I would, in theory, be in good shape for a 50
mile PR as long as I was smart about recovery and training. As (bad)
luck would have it, Christine realized in mid-August that injury would
prevent her from being able to run the Stone Cat marathon this year so
she offered up her number and I was the first to jump on it. The Stone
Cat RDs were nice enough to let me take her place and even let me
upgrade to the 50. It was on.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, I was being anything but smart about recovery and training. Two weeks
after the VT100 I ran the Breaker, and even though I didn’t run
particularly fast it’s still a pretty tough course with some abusive
climbs and descents. The following week I went up to Camden for the 9
mile Ragged Mountain Run Around, another abusively hilly race. After
three weeks of “easy” running (with a few long runs thrown in) it was
time for the Bruiser and I felt good about putting in a hard effort,
however, my body had other plans. Two miles into the race I noticed a
dull ache in my left achilles, which progressively developed into a
sharp pain with every step. Shortly after entering the O-Trail my left
calf, which had been overworked while compensating for the achilles
issue decided it had enough and just stopped working. I stumbled to save
myself from falling and when my right foot slammed into the ground my
right calf seized up and I collapsed. I lay there screaming while both
calves cramped and spasmed and it looked as if there were snakes
writhing under my skin. But I needed to earn that Bad Ass hoodie so I
got up and finished the race. I could barely walk for the next three
days and running was out of the question, until the following Saturday
when Emma and I ran the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bigbradultras">Big Brad Ultra 50k Pounder</a> course in about 6 ½ hours. I honestly didn’t think I’d make it up the first climb, but everything held together and I didn’t feel
significantly worse after the run. I did feel bad enough that I only ran
once during the following week, until the next weekend when I paced
Dave for 42 miles at the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/3081/virgil-crest-100-david-bidler">Virgil Crest 100.</a><br />
<br />
Over the next few weeks I pretty much said “Fuck You” to my achilles as I
attempted to train for the Stone Cat 50. While my weekly mileage wasn’t
where I wanted it to be I was still getting out for a lot of technical,
hilly trail runs. Certainly not the best way to recover from an achilles
injury and the pain continued. By mid-October I started to realize that
the 50 miler was not a good idea, even if I could make it to the start
line of the race I would be woefully under-trained for my time goal and
there would be a high likelihood of either completely destroying my
achilles or unearthing some new injury over the course of the race.
Certainly not worth it for another 8+ hour finishing time. But the
marathon...<br />
<br />
Maybe I did have one good race left in me this year. The obvious goal would
be to try to beat my time from 2008, the only other time I’d run the
marathon at Stone Cat. But wait, if I’m too injured to run 50 miles what
reason do I have to think I can PR at the marathon? Shouldn’t this be
just about finishing and avoiding more serious injury, and maybe having
fun in the process? Sorry body, I can’t let you do that.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TqQwMWei6Mo" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
Friday night Emma and I met Jim to watch “The Man with the Iron Fists.” The
perfect way to prepare for the carnage of a trail marathon. It was my
fear, however, that the race course would be the one wielding the sword
and I would be the one laying in a bloody heap when the day was done.<br />
<br />
Saturday morning I got up at 3AM, met Joe just before 4AM and then picked up
Mindy a few minutes later and we made our way to Ipswich, MA. We arrived
with plenty of time to register, place our drop bags and hang out with
the team. Then wait for the 50 miler start and learn that the marathon
would be starting 15 minutes after, instead of starting together as in
years past. It was a perfect temperature for running, but a little too
cold for standing around outside in shorts for 45 minutes.<br />
<br />
The chill that had set in probably lead to a start that was a little too
quick but I needed to do something to warm up. My achilles immediately
protested at the the sub-8-minute pace of the first mile, but luckily it
eased off once I was warmed up. I had positioned myself right behind
Julia even though I knew this was a pretty risky move. Julia’s goal was a
few minutes faster than my previous time (I had been coaching her to
break the course record time of 3:42), and even though I know her
training was much more consistent (and pain-free) than mine I couldn’t
resist letting her pull me along. Despite everything I should have
learned over the years I never can seem to start out at a relaxed pace
when I think there’s even an outside chance that I might be able to pull
off a decent race. I have just accepted that this is the way I run.
Knowing that Julia probably was starting out at a fairly conservative
pace I didn’t expect to stay with her for too long, but I was also very
curious to see how she was going to do.<br />
<br />
By 3 miles into the race the sun was up enough that I could turn off my
headlamp, and since we had not yet caught up to the 50 milers we
continued to move along at a decent pace. When we reached the swamp
which last year was flooded with nearly-knee-deep water I looked around
and marveled at how dry it was this year, practically a dirt road...
THUMP! I caught my toe on absolutely nothing, continued my leg turnover
and forward momentum in a nearly horizontal position until my right knee
slammed into the ground. With all four limbs flailing I managed to get
back on my feet without significantly slowing my pace. I glanced down
at my knee, no exposed bone or gaping skin flaps so I just kept on
going. But it did hurt.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Julia had started to pull away and Nathan passed me so I refocused on keeping
the two of them in sight and tried to ignore the throbbing pain in my
knee. Al Cat’s aid station was a welcome distraction with many familiar
faces, and even though I didn’t take any aid it was a great early boost
and I soon caught back up to Nathan and then Julia. David was out on the
course as a spectator, finding all the shortcuts to stay ahead of Julia
and we both benefited from his yips and hiyas.<br />
<br />
For the rest of the first lap I was feeling good, the pain in my knee
subsided and my achilles wasn’t a significant issue. The pace felt like I
was working hard, definitely harder than I would have gone had I not
been trying to tag along with Julia, but I became optimistic that I
might be able to keep this up for a while. At around 11 miles we came to
a fork in the trail where the obvious path went left, but the course
marking went right. I was just about to call Julia back from making a
wrong turn when I realized that she had gone the right way. I surely
would have got it wrong. A few minutes later we saw a couple runners we
recognized as having passed earlier coming at us from a trail on our
left. I recognized the trail we were on from previous years so I knew we
had it right, I told these two guys they had gone wrong and they
immediately turned back. A few minutes later we came up on another small
group of runners and we recognized several of them as people we had
passed before, knowing they had inadvertently made the same short-cut,
but at this point it seemed like too much work to try and explain to
them what they had done wrong so we passed them again and cruised in to
finish the first lap.<br />
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<br />
Mindy, Val, Ryan and Alison were there keeping the TMR camp running and they
provided a much appreciated boost, but both Julia and I were focused on
moving through as quickly as possible. We picked up fresh handheld
bottles and headed back out without actually stopping. 1:49 for the
first 13.7 miles. I was psyched for Julia knowing that she was on track
for her goal, I just hoped I could hang on.<br />
<br />
About a mile into the second lap we caught up to Joe who was walking up the
first of the significant hills on the course. We passed Joe but I
started to think that his 50 mile pace was much more appealing than the
one I was trying to run. I was definitely starting to feel the effects
of the distance and the pace as we made our way up and down a series of
hills. By the time the course flattened back out my everything had
started to ache. Achilles, knee, quads, core, arms (WFT?). I came to the
realization that I couldn’t keep up with Julia any longer and by 17
miles she was gone. Along with a mental low that came from running alone
I started to get worried that I was on the cusp of turning these aches
and pains into a full-on injury if I wasn’t careful. I consciously
decided to ease off the pace for a while in hopes that I could pick it
back up again for the last few miles and have a strong finish.<br />
<br />
The one and only aid station I stopped at was at 21 miles, my water was
getting low, but the reality was that I needed an excuse to stop for a
moment and get my shit together. I didn’t stop for long but it was long
enough for me to have a bit of a reset and assess where I was at.
Everything still hurt, and my calves felt like they were on the verge of
cramping, so I kept the pace easy for the next two miles. I lost a few
places along this stretch and was even passed by a few 50 milers whom I
had passed earlier. With each one I wanted to hang on, but I knew it was
too soon to make a move. By 23 miles I actually started to feel like
myself again and I picked the pace up. Nothing heroic, but it started to
feel like I was racing again instead of just trying to finish. With 1
mile to go I began to reel in a runner who had passed me a few miles
prior. By the time we hit the field that leads to the finish line he
knew I was on his tail and we both ran hard to the line. With the Trail
Monster crew cheering I was closing the gap but ran out of course and he
finished about 5 seconds ahead of me. But I really wasn’t concerned
about the place, just grateful that I was able to get back into the race
for a strong finish. 3:44 and a 2-minute PR on the course. 17th out of
216 starters/210 finishers.<br />
<br />
Julia was there right after I crossed the line, having come in 5 minutes
before me, breaking the old course record by 3 minutes! Unfortunately
there were two other women who also broke the course record ahead of her
this year, but she had a great race as I knew she would. I put some
warm layers on and spent the rest of the day with the Trail Monster crew
cheering on the rest of our runners. Danielle was next in, then Nathan,
Kevin, George, Rick and Ann in the marathon and Jeremy and Joe in the
50. It was a great day for the team.<br />
<br />
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R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-44135076409166733302012-05-19T22:27:00.000-04:002012-05-20T10:15:54.453-04:00Peak 50 Race ReportBefore I get into the details of my own running I have to rant about the organization of the <a href="http://peakraces.com/" target="_blank">Peak 50</a> and my perception of the other related events going on this weekend. While I thoroughly enjoyed the entire weekend I spent in Pittsfield, VT it was because I love a challenging race and the company of my Trail Monster team mates, the race management left a lot to be desired. If you don't want to hear me bitching you can skip the blue text.<br />
<br />
<div style="color: #6fa8dc;">
<a href="http://runefficient.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jeremy</a> was the first to pull the trigger on signing up for the event when he chose the 100 miler back in November last year, <a href="http://perpetualmotion-vja.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Valerie</a> and <a href="http://www.5squirrels.blogspot.com/2012/05/peaks-race-report-chapter-1.html" target="_blank">Mindy</a> chose the 50, as I later found out because the timing and location were right, not because they actually knew anything about what they were getting themselves (or the rest of us) into. Talk of the event began to circulate around TMR, and although there was very little information available about the race on the event website I went ahead and signed up in December, just after <a href="http://xcityrunning.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Dave</a>. We were then followed by Chuck and Zak, all going for the 50 miler.<br />
<br />
Over the past few years I had heard a few things about the Peak races, mostly that they were out to create the most challenging events around, from a snowshoe marathon to a 500 mile trail race, all in the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont. What initially put me off was that the course sounded contrived in a way that linked up a series of the most rugged natural obstacles within a
certain area without much consideration for how they were connected.
Elements were created and thrown in for the sake of making the race more
difficult, not because they were there naturally. As for the 50 miler I had heard a number of people talking about it at <a href="http://www.pinelandtrails.com/" target="_blank">Pineland</a> over the past few years because it was held a week or two later and some people ran both. It appeared that the 50 miler, which had previously been held in early June, was moved to coincide with the 100, 150, 200 and 500 mile races being held in May. It seemed that when this move happened any detailed information specifically pertaining to the 50 mile race and it's history was lost forever. No previous race results, no course description, just a sentence added to the page of the website dedicated to the longer distance races. </div>
<div style="color: #6fa8dc;">
</div>
<div style="color: #6fa8dc;">
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The entire race website is an absolute joke. While it has a pretty slick, professional look about it there is very little useful information contained on it. No course description, no mention of aid stations, no information about crew access or drop bags... A map was added to the website about one month before the race. No mention of which course the map was intended to represent, although I was able to determine that it was for the 50 miler. Unfortunately the map represented a course that was run in a previous year, not the course that we would be running, and it didn't include useful things like where the race starts, which direction the course is run or where aid stations might be located. Just a squiggly red line on a blurry topo map. I understand that some races are held on private property where there are limitations on public access and for that reason course maps are not provided, although a description of the course usually is. In these cases the race organizers usually make it clear what the reason is for not providing a map and participants understand and respect that. I also understand that a certain amount of mystique about the challenges of an event can be appealing. No one expects a course map and aid stations every 3 miles at the Barkley, but participants know what they're getting into, and the entry fee is appropriately scaled to the level of organization. As a participant it's hard to plan for an event if you don't know anything about the terrain and what, if any, support is being provided.<br />
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Since I wasn't getting any response to my emails to the RD I posted some of my questions about aid stations and crew access on the event's Facebook page where there was some regular activity (mostly posts containing an individual letter as part of some spelling game). Chuck asked if I had a crew, perhaps suggesting that one doesn't need a crew for 50 miles, and my response was something like this:</div>
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"I'll have a crew if there is crew access, if not I'll rely on drop bags, if drop bags are not allowed I will use aid stations, if there are no aid stations I will carry everything myself. It's two weeks before the race and I'd just like to know which scenario to plan for."</div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">That's not too much to ask for is it? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">This is what it felt like trying to communicate with the Dude RD (in case you couldn't tell, I'm the pissed off guy with the legs that don't work properly any more):</span><br />
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The most useful information I was able to find about the event came from <a href="http://sherpajohn.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Sherpa John</a>'s race reports from previous years (<a href="http://sherpajohn.blogspot.com/2007/09/go-pats.html" target="_blank">2007</a>, <a href="http://sherpajohn.blogspot.com/2008/06/race-report-pittsfield-peaks-ultra.html" target="_blank">2008</a>, <a href="http://sherpajohn.blogspot.com/2009/06/rr-2009-pittsfield-peaks-ultra.html" target="_blank">2009</a>, <a href="http://sherpajohn.blogspot.com/2010/06/rr-pittsfield-peaks-2010.html" target="_blank">2010</a>). I guess I was lucky to have known that he had done this race before, because his reports were not among the one listing under the "Race Reports" section of the race website. Thanks Sherpa. It was from these that I was able to figure out that there would in fact be aid stations on the course and crew access, or at least there was when the race was held in June. From these detailed reports I was able to put together my own version of a course map:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnZZzKOFrbt6flWgnrrzeCGJrNW_tsWzo7GD0oQqHWvgSYT_nXuwr1GiGHvsgEF7qpewkLbSPruS_I5WlBkg70I7k0jArCAnXCW24_qfCfOZl7nuD3y0g4wQZSo9SFbXrkqmcq4pC0Nc4/s1600/Peak+50+Map-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDnZZzKOFrbt6flWgnrrzeCGJrNW_tsWzo7GD0oQqHWvgSYT_nXuwr1GiGHvsgEF7qpewkLbSPruS_I5WlBkg70I7k0jArCAnXCW24_qfCfOZl7nuD3y0g4wQZSo9SFbXrkqmcq4pC0Nc4/s400/Peak+50+Map-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Color coded to differentiate types of terrain</td></tr>
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From what I saw the vast majority of runners in the longer races were
exclusively utilizing their own crew for support between laps on a 10 mile loop which made
me wonder how anyone could justify the entry fee. I've only done two 100 mile races, and they
both cost around $200. At each one I came away with a belt buckle, a
long sleeve technical shirt, and I probably consumed $50 worth of food
and drinks which was brought out to numerous remote forest locations.
The level of organization and coordination that clearly went into making
sure that volunteers were where they were supposed to be when they were
supposed to be there and that they were capable of looking after the
participants needs makes these entry fees seem like a bargain. There was
only one aid station at Peak (which we passed three times) that had
attentive volunteers, the others were either unmanned or self-service
because the volunteers didn't really give a shit. And on the subject of
entry fees what's up with the increase in price as the race date
approaches? As a race director I know that it's easier to plan an event
when you know how many people are coming, so I do what I can to
encourage people to sign up early. In my events I will have a $5 or $10
increase in the entry fee a few weeks before race day, but the Peak
races increase by over 50% more than a month before the race which I
don't understand at all.</div>
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Despite my reservations, aggravations and low expectations, I had heard from a few people that the actual execution of the event on race day was pretty decent - not great, but decent - so I went into it with an open mind, a plan for partial self sufficiency and Emma as a dedicated crew. I brought my own 5-gallon bucket of water and all the food and other supplies I'd need to get me through a mountainous 50 mile run.</div>
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(end rant)<br />
<br />
Emma and I arrived in Pittsfield, VT late Friday afternoon to discover a beautiful little town that had been ground zero for the devastation of Hurricane Irene last fall and was still in a state of rebuilding. While most, but not all, of the towns buildings appeared to be intact it was clear that many of the roads and bridges had been wiped out. In an unfortunate turn of events the hotel we booked, following <a href="http://5squirrels.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mindy</a>'s lead, was NOT destroyed in the hurricane. But on the plus side Mindy, Pete, Val and Rick soon arrived and we all got caught up in the excitement of what was to come. After a little poking around the area we discovered that the <a href="http://www.originalgeneralstore.com/" target="_blank">Original General Store</a> was pretty much our only option for eating. Luckily they had good food, and conveniently this is where we picked up our race numbers, as well as our generic Peak Races shirts applicable to any event these folks put on. Totally lame. We returned to <a href="http://www.clearriverinnvt.com/" target="_blank">Ramshackle Resort</a> to make the final race preparations and attempted to get to bed early, although none of us were enthusiastic about lying awake between "clean enough" sheets.<br />
<br />
Before I knew it my alarm was going off, I jumped out of bed and went outside to brew some coffee on the tailgate of my car. The sun wasn't up yet and I was immediately struck by how cold it was. All week long I had been focused on the ever rising predicted high temperature for the day and hadn't taken much notice of how cold it was going to get overnight. Luckily I had packed a light pair of gloves and my Moeben sleeves, as well as an extra t-shirt I could layer over my singlet. For breakfast I ate a cold bagel and sipped a bottle of Ensure as we made the 5 minute drive from the hotel to the race start at <a href="http://www.ameefarm.com/" target="_blank">Amee Farm</a>.<br />
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The Trail Monster contingent congealed in the frosty field as Dave, Zak, Chuck and Jeremy arrived to join Mindy, Val and I along with all our support crews. We wandered across the road to the race headquarters to hear the pre-race meeting delivered by The Dude... "there's boulders the size of this barn, and it's like Jurassic Park, and there's stuff flying around..." I had been warned that Sherpa John tends to exaggerate the difficulty of an event in his race reports, and I suspected that the Dude was doing the same. Either way, I knew this race was going to have a ton of elevation change due to the mountainous terrain all around us so I planned to go out quite conservatively in hopes of avoiding the kind of massive slow-down I experienced in <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2011/11/stone-cat-50-miler.html" target="_blank">my last 50 miler</a>. The 50 and 30 milers crossed the road from where the 100 milers were going to be doing 10 mile laps, we were about to set out on a 40 mile cloverleaf of sorts. There were hugs all around and when the Dude shouted GO we started the walk up the first hill into the woods.<br />
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I had to fight the urge to start running, but there was certainly no need to waste energy going up this first hill. I also wasn't ready for our group of Trail Monsters to split up just yet, even if we only stayed together for a few more seconds. Zak and I settled in next to each other and when the hill started to level out we started a slow jog. We soon saw Serena Wilcox ahead and increased the pace slightly to catch up with her. Zak had run a good part of the 30 miler with her here last year, and she had blown past me at around mile 46 of the Stone Cat 50 last year. I didn't want to get caught up running someone else race but once we caught up with her we settled back into a comfortable groove and the early miles ticked by as we chatted. We were also having a lot of back and forth with Chuck, he'd fly by us on the steep downhills and we'd catch back up and pass him on the ups. There were a few hills steep enough to warrant walking but overall the terrain seemed pretty easy-going in the first few miles. <br />
<br />
The first aid station was supposed to come at 7 miles, just before the first really steep climb of the race. I wasn't wearing my Garmin, but it seemed to be taking a while to get there. Turns out that the aid station was actually closer to 9 miles in and by the time we got there my handheld bottle was getting low so I stopped to refill. No volunteers, just two gatorade buckets on a picnic table. I had decided to go minimal through the first few aid stations and not pick up my hydration pack until mile 18. Given the cool start to the day this strategy seemed to work just fine. Zak kept moving but slowed enough for me to be able to easily catch up.<br />
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By now we were starting to see the front runners coming back towards us on the short out-and-back stretch that climbed half way up Wilcox Mountain and then came back down again. A few runners warned us about the "fun" that was coming up and soon enough we began a steep climb up a jeep road. This was the first challenge of the course so far but it didn't last as long as I had expected it to, before I knew it the pink ribbons marking the course lead us off trail to a short stretch of bushwhacking that looped us back downhill onto the same trail we had just run up. Zak and I pulled away from Serena and Chuck on this stretch and we probably picked off a couple other runners in the process. All the long winter training runs and Lunch Break Hill repeats set us up well for dealing with this kind of terrain. On the way back down we passed Dave on his way up and exchanged encouraging words and high fives. In about 1 mile we were back at the unmanned aid station where I topped up my bottle once again. It was starting to warm up now and we had about 4 miles until the next aid station. Shortly after this one we saw Mindy and Val coming down the road towards us and we broke out into the Sanford and Son theme song, a cleansing song borrowed from Randy to push out any unwanted tunes that got stuck in our heads as we ran and it became our anthem:<br />
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This stretch actually went by pretty quick since it was mostly on dirt
road and downhill, and we soon arrived at the first real aid station and crew
checkpoint on Upper Michigan Road. Advertised as 12 miles it was
actually much closer to 13, but no big deal. Emma helped me swap handheld bottles, got me an Ensure to drink and got me on my way pretty quick. Zak was without his own crew but got some help from Alison who was in between crew stops for Jeremy, and we were soon back on the road. This aid station, which we would pass a total of three times during the race was the only one that was well staffed with enthusiastic, if somewhat under-prepared, volunteers. Zak had to wait for a PB&J sandwich to be made and I had to wait for someone to find a bag of potato chips in the back of her car, but all-in-all it was a fairly efficient aid station stop.<br />
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The next section was a roughly 6 mile lollipop. There was more dirt road running, progressively getting more rugged until we eventually turned off onto double-track trail and then onto pretty gnarly single-track. Part of it reminded me of the 100 mile wilderness, where even though the elevation wasn't extreme the terrain was technical enough that running was almost out of the question in parts. This was a fun loop when we could run, and once we started to make our way back down hill and headed back on the loop we moved along at a pretty good pace. Shortly before hitting the aid station again we crossed paths with Dave, then Mindy & Val and once again broke into a few bars of Sanford and Son.<br />
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We returned to the Upper Michigan Road aid station where I had planned to take a slightly longer break in preparation for the Blood Root Loop, 19 miles (or 22 depending who you ask) of the toughest terrain on the course with only two aid stations. I changed my wet and muddy socks here, picked up my hydration pack and had a few sips of Coke before heading back out. The Blood Root Loop started with a short descent almost too steep to run and then made a gradual climb over the next few miles through wet and sloppy snowmobile trails. It was still well before noon but the temperature had been quickly rising and we were starting to feel it. There was another runner with Zak and I but none of us were feeling like talking much. The fun was over and it was time to get down to business.<br />
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The 23 mile aid station (24.5 to be exact) seemed a long time coming, and when we got there it was just two gatorade buckets on the ground. I still had plenty of water in my hydration bladder but I made sure to refill it completely, the next stretch ahead featured the biggest climb of the race, over Blood Root Mt at more than 3,000' as well as the "Jurassic Park" section of trail on the other side of the mountain. Not to mention that it was 8 miles to the next "fully stocked" aid station if you believed the RD, which I didn't.<br />
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The real climbing started shortly after the aid station and this was where I noticed that Zak really wasn't feeling too well. We took a few minutes to stop off in one of the streams we crossed to wash our faces in the cold water. It felt great but wasn't enough to bring Zak back to life, when we started moving again I gradually pulled away. The trail got progressively steeper the higher it climbed and apparently the idea of switchbacks never occurred to anyone making these trails. I was feeling pretty good and hiked at a decent pace knowing that when I hit the top I'd be half way through the race and that the second half would feature more elevation loss than gain. When I did reach the top and the race course crossed the Long Trail I paused for a moment and wished I had someone to share this with. I had no idea how far back Zak was, 2 minutes, 20 minutes? I was regretting leaving him behind but knew that he was more than capable of getting through this on his own.<br />
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Going down the other side of the mountain was just as steep as the way up, almost too steep for me to be able to run well. I had to put on the brakes to keep myself under control which took a lot of energy and I could feel my back muscles and quads getting overworked. I stopped about half way down to enjoy the view, take a bio-break and give myself a rest from the pounding. At the bottom of the hill I was delighted to find a few gallon jugs of water on the ground. We had been told that they might be here, or not if the folks marking the course decided to drink all the water. Luckily I was able to top up my bladder and it was here that the guy who had been running with Zak and I earlier caught up to me.<br />
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The next few miles really seemed to drag on. There was a very gradual climb but the ground was completely saturated and nearly every footstep sunk into the mud. In drier conditions this would be a great section for running but today in was a sloppy slog. It wasn't even worth trying to avoid the wettest spots, once my feet were soaked and muddy I actually sought out the deepest water to rinse away some of the mud that accumulated on my shoes and legs. This section is also where I started to notice the bugs for the first time during the race and they got bad pretty quick. They must have decided to sleep in late since it was a cold morning, but now that it was hot out and I was stomping through their breeding ground they made sure to let me know I was on their turf (swamp).<br />
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When the trail finally started to dry out and I could run with a little more consistency I started anticipating the next aid station. I know that there was a lot of difficult terrain on this stretch so I was moving pretty slowly but it was definitely taking a long time to reach the aid station that was supposed to be at 31 miles. The guy that had been following me for the last 7 miles finally caught up and we both agreed that this was taking a while. It was now officially hot, even moreso now that we had reached an open dirt road and there was nothing I wanted more than a cold drink. Eventually we saw cars up ahead and knew that we had reached the aid station. The first person I saw was Jordan, Dave's crew, and I wondered what he was doing here. I would later find out that a few hours in to the race the Dude RD learned that the aid station volunteers hadn't showed up, so he found Jordan, gave him some cash, a shopping list and driving directions and asked him to go set up the aid station. Fucking ridiculous.<br />
<br />
There were a few volunteers there at the aid station but it was clear that they were pretty clueless about what was going on. I heard one of the other runners ask "What mileage is this?" to which the volunteer responded "I think it's 31, but some woman came by and told us it was 33." I was inclined to believe that it was 33 and I later found that to be correct. I had read in previous race reports that the 50 mile course was actually 53 or 54 miles, so I wondered where that 3-4 miles was built into the course and I guess I found out where a few of those miles were added in.<br />
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I refilled my bladder, took two cookies and walked on down the road. I could have run but this race was starting to piss me off so I needed to take a few minutes to get myself together. I was definitely starting to feel all the miles, the hills, the life-sucking mud and the sun beating down. The obvious lack of organization that went into this race was starting to get to me more than it should and the result was that I was getting myself into a pretty low spot mentally. When I started to run again I soon got passed by a man and woman running together, then another guy. This didn't help my mindset. It should have fired me up and inspired me to fight back, but I didn't have it in me. Then we started to climb again. And it just kept getting steeper. And hotter. And the bugs were going nuts on me. My quads were starting to spasm and cramp. They'd quiver for a few seconds and then seize up. I stopped and sat down on the trail, feeling completely exhausted. I really didn't want to move any more, but I still had somewhere between 15 and 20 miles left to go. Who knew how much exactly? Probably no one, including the Dude RD.<br />
<br />
It was at least helpful to know that my other TMR team mates were out here running too, it was the thought of them that made me realize I wasn't truly alone. Once my heart rate dropped back down I got up and continued to climb, and it didn't take long for the trail to level out and then start what would be a long runnable downhill stretch back to the Upper Michigan Road aid station. The downhill running, while somewhat painful at this point, was at least able to help rebuild my confidence in my ability to get through this race. Once I got to the aid station I'd see Emma and she would make everything right again. After that I'd have a 3 mile stretch of dirt road before the final 10 mile loop that I'd be running with her. I realized that facing the uncertain challenges of the race by myself was my weakness. I had done well in the early miles when I was with Zak, but ever since leaving him I had felt like I was in a slow downward spiral mentally and physically. Suffering with others often doesn't feel like suffering at all, but alone it can be too hard to pull yourself out<br />
<br />
Eventually the trail bottomed out along a river and soon I was seeing evidence of the aid station ahead: a balloon tired to a tree, a cardboard cut-out of a flamingo, then parrots. Then as the trail took a sharp turn and started a steep climb I knew for sure I was in the final stretch back to the aid station. As soon as I crested the hill I saw Rick and Pete there cheering me on, I broke back into a run for the last 50 yards coming into the aid station and I already started feeling better. The Blood Root Loop was done.<br />
<br />
A later look at the GPS data from several other runners showed that this aid station was much closer to 41 miles that the 37 advertised. No wonder it took so frigging long to get there.<br />
<br />
I sat down and changed my socks and shoes while Emma prepped my pack for the final stretch. The aid station volunteers were still full of energy and were great about offering up whatever help they could. I really didn't need any more than what Emma was doing for me though. While I was having muscle rub applied to my screaming quads Zak came rolling into the aid station looking pretty good. I got up and went to see how he was doing, I believe his exact words were: "I haven't puked that much since college. Eyes bulging!" Now I really regretted leaving him behind. Had I known he was only a few minutes back it surely would have been worth waiting for him so we could have suffered through Blood Root together. <br />
<br />
I was ready to go so I said goodbye to Zak, then headed off down the road with my handheld bottle. I'd see Emma again in 3 miles where she would be waiting for me with my full hydration pack, ready to run me through the last 10 miles. My pace was pretty good along the road and I picked off a runner who had come in and out of the aid station while I was there changing my shoes. I was feeling good and ready to go hard to the finish. When I rolled into Amee Farm at 40 miles (43.5 really) Emma was there waiting with Alison who was expecting Jeremy to come in from his 4th lap any time now. I had heard that the last 10 miles was entirely single-track and some of the best terrain on the whole course. Despite having a fair amount of elevation change I was expecting it to be more runnable than the previous 40 miles. However, when I realized that I had covered my 40+ miles faster than Jeremy had done his I began to worry. Even though he was doing 100 miles Jeremy is significantly faster than me, so on this "easier" terrain he should have been further along by now. It wasn't because he wasn't running well, he was. The reason is because that 10 mile loop was different from previous years, much harder, but it took me a little while to really appreciate this.<br />
<br />
Things started out innocently enough, Emma and I cruised along a little downhill stretch, then over a temporary 60' bridge set up across the Tweed River and uphill along some mellow switchbacks. It was great to have her company and to get caught up on some of the other events of the day from her perspective. But then the switchbacks ended and the trail went straight up, and just kept going. Even though it was getting late in the afternoon it was still hot and I was feeling waves of something like heat exhaustion coming over me. The muscle spasms in my quads had stopped but I was keenly aware of an elevated core temperature, I had stopped sweating and my breathing while hiking was labored to the point I felt like I was suffocating. On several occasions during this climb I had to stop to catch my breath or even sit down until my heart rate dropped and I could breath normally again. So much for going hard in the last 10 miles.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVqFcB379uIeM1GeT5VaAYNpCohV6ZTaW-rrL-GZdJwoLD-UzUyD0XjhqsDCPOrJVdWf9ilppv1bjOjpe-P5eJrv3_T5Hda4x6D8j737sUW8NznwW_aEXdFQBppgBm0u6OBLV4NkRYUyn/s1600/10+mile+loop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHVqFcB379uIeM1GeT5VaAYNpCohV6ZTaW-rrL-GZdJwoLD-UzUyD0XjhqsDCPOrJVdWf9ilppv1bjOjpe-P5eJrv3_T5Hda4x6D8j737sUW8NznwW_aEXdFQBppgBm0u6OBLV4NkRYUyn/s400/10+mile+loop.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 10 mile loop</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
When we reached the top we stopped briefly at a small cabin that was a self-service aid station, reported to be 3.5 miles into the loop (more like 2.5), but I had plenty of water left in my pack so we moved on gingerly. There were a few little ups and downs, some of them quite steep so it was hard to get into a rhythm. Anything steep enough to require walking seemed to push me over the edge into a wave of exhaustion that forced me to a standstill on more than one occasion. There was nothing I wanted more than to run in to the finish, but we were still up at a high elevation and I just couldn't get myself moving at a consistent pace. Emma kept me going, when I no longer cared about doing this for myself I just kept moving because I didn't want to let her down.<br />
<br />
After making our way through a labyrinth of single-track we started a series of long gradual switchbacks that descended the mountain and I finally found a slow running groove that I felt like I could sustain, as long as there weren't any more climbs. I knew we must be getting close, but my sense of distance wasn't working correctly, not to mention that at this point I had no idea what kind of craziness the course might throw at me. Eventually I could hear the road, then see the Tweed River through the trees and I knew we must be getting close. But the switchbacks went on forever. At one point I heard a way-too-cheery voice from behind and looked back to see Nick Tooker coming up on us, and pretty quick. I moved over to let him pass but tried my best to keep with him as long as I could. No luck, he was moving too well and I could feel myself overheating with the additional effort I was putting in. Not knowing how much more trail there was I was reluctant to keep up this push so I slowed back down and let him go. We were running out of room for switchbacks between the mountain and the river and I wondered how we were going to get back upstream to the crossing when all of a sudden the trail made a sharp turn and the course marking lead us into the river bed, through a field of boulders and then back to the riverbank for a long stretch of bushwhacking. There were places where there was evidence of the route previous runners had taken, but nothing that could be considered a trail. It became very frustrating knowing that we must be close to the finish but unable, in my current state at least, to run because of the stupid terrain. <br />
<br />
Then, off in the distance I could see the makeshift bridge across the river and a huge sense of relief came over me. For the first time in this race I knew what was coming up. I'd been out here for more than 12 hours of never knowing what I was going to find around the next corner or over the next hill, until now. As soon as we crossed that bridge I'd be able to run it in for the last half mile, and then I could stop. Emma cheered me on and I moved as fast as I could, which probably wasn't fast at all, but it felt so good.<br />
<br />
As soon as I crossed the line I hugged Emma and then looked for the nearest object to prop myself up against. A boulder would do, and it was just about the most comforting rock to ever have embraced me. I may be skewed by the freshness in my mind of how much this race hurt, but I think I felt worse than after any other race I've ever done. <br />
<br />
time: 12:20:08<br />
distance: 53.5 miles?<br />
pace: 13:50<br />
elevation: (RunningAHEAD) 12,250' gain, 12,280' loss<br />
place: ?<br />
results: ? <br />
<br />
weather: low 30's to high 70's, sunny<br />
<br />
conditions: everything imaginable (except ice and snow)<br />
<br />
gear: Inov-8 Roclite 295, socks, compression shorts, over-shorts w/ pockets, singlet (t-shirt, sleeves & gloves removed), hat, handheld bottle or Nathan HPL #020<br />
<br />
After resting on the rock and being tended to by Emma, Alison, Rick and Pete I eventually stood up to see Zak coming into the finish, then Jeremy right behind finishing his fifth lap of the 10 mile loop. Hard to believe he was only half way done with his journey. Jeremy's cousin Jeff was there to join him for a lap and he was soon back out there with a smile on his face. I don't know how he does it.<br />
<br />
Over the next 17 hours I got cleaned up, ate, and watched the rest of the Trail Monster team come through the finish line with impressive displays of grit, determination and inspiration. Zak and Valerie both battled stomach issues and made strong comebacks. Mindy and Dave couldn't have picked a tougher race for their debut 50 miler, but that's just how they roll. After crewing for me all day, then running me in for the last 10 miles Emma took a 7 hour break and then joined Jeremy for some of his toughest miles, 70-90 through the late night hours and into the new day. The next morning the team was there to support Jeremy as he continued to knock out one lap after another. And when Emma was done and Jeremy still had one lap left to go Pete jumped in without thinking twice to keep the team strong to the end. I'm truly honored to be part of such an amazing group of runners.R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-8841469390831156872012-04-29T22:54:00.000-04:002012-04-30T09:55:31.893-04:00Muddy Moose Race Report 2012The 2004 Muddy Moose was the first trail race I ran in the US, just a few weeks after Emma and I moved to Maine from Scotland. Today was the 6th time I've run this race, which is more times than any other race I've done. Why? That's a good question. To be honest, the course isn't that great. Apart from a 1/3 mile stretch of single-track it's mostly logging roads or Jeep trails with about 3 miles of dirt road. The whole race course is a bit contrived, I don't think anyone ever says "hey, lets go for a nice run on the Muddy Moose course". Races like 7 Sisters or the Escarpment Trail Run are seriously rugged races on legitimate trails that people hike or run throughout the year, but Muddy Moose puts people on terrain that no one would ever set foot on outside of this race. That doesn't necessarily make it a bad race, if it did then I wouldn't go back almost every year along with so many other runners, including some of New England's best trail runners. The Muddy Moose seems to strike a perfect balance between absurd running conditions, good competition and the youthful joy of a good romp in the mud that people, myself included, find compelling.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBeNS6Z9y8a22b-s4Bb0NJNrsYP_3OScBj-yxAhLz4avSRMMc68t3oXbQy3UOXMY5xXWnwZutpNoZXXacMKZFZkk9WzjE1adHa8gSqCrC1aPfiNSuOD-CXBJQEbA3Urt1UWPycFb95USL/s1600/MM-ian-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBeNS6Z9y8a22b-s4Bb0NJNrsYP_3OScBj-yxAhLz4avSRMMc68t3oXbQy3UOXMY5xXWnwZutpNoZXXacMKZFZkk9WzjE1adHa8gSqCrC1aPfiNSuOD-CXBJQEbA3Urt1UWPycFb95USL/s320/MM-ian-002.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by Josh Spaulding</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On a personal competitive level I've also had a goal of breaking the 2 hour barrier at this race for a number of years:<br />
<br />
2004 - 2:06:58<br />
2005 - 2:02:51 <br />
2006 - injured and didn't race, Jim Dunn broke 2 hours<br />
2007 - 2:00:35 so close!<br />
2008 - ran the Bull Run Run the week before so didn't race<br />
2009 - 2:14:57 the hot year<br />
2010 - 2:07:33 under-trained<br />
2011 - ran the Big A 50k instead<br />
<br />
More than just about any other race course I've run this one seems to be effected by the weather (snowfall during winter and rain during spring) in ways that dramatically impact finishing times. While we all know that the early spring was unusually dry this year we had some heavy rain recently that left me uncertain about what to expect. I knew it wouldn't be as wet as some previous years so I was optimistic that the combination of a solid winter and spring of training with a somewhat dry course would add up to less than 2 hours.<br />
<br />
I was definitely a little nervous before the race today, mostly because of my goals, but I also bumped into <a href="http://www.rocknrunner.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Michael Wade</a> and <a href="http://have2run.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Steve Wolfe</a> before the race. Not that I should get too hung up on what other people are running, but they were two faces that I recognized and I was guessing that they would be shooting for a similar time as me. I haven't actually done much racing with either of them, but knowing that they are both solid 3 hour marathoners (and I am not) had me wondering if it would be wise for me to try and run with them. I took a fairly conservative position at the start, behind Steve and Michael, well behind the really fast guys (Tilton, Johnson, Freeman), and behind the pack of much younger guys who were mostly doing the 4 mile race. I really hoped to take it out easy today, but in typical gIANt style I ended up getting frustrated with the pack and kicked into a high gear pretty early.<br />
<br />
The first 1/10th mile is on paved road, then downhill on a dirt road for a half mile before we enter the woods. Last fall there had been substantial logging in this part of the woods so the trail was nearly impossible to identify with a layer of woody debris scattered across a thick base of mud. Not long into the nastiness I found a runner coming straight at me, apparently going back to retrieve a lost shoe. I bumped shoulders with Steve as people seemed to be going every which way and that's when I decided to just go for it. Screw the pussyfooting and just blaze down the middle of the mudfest. This worked to get me through the crowd, but also had me concerned that maybe I was burning through a little too much energy too soon. I also was starting to regret pulling away from Steve and Michael, figuring it was only a matter of time before they caught back up to me and I didn't know if I'd be able to hang on once they passed.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4-XAEh0_JkSOcLNvO6o9Z-EyyA4CmO2qVjOztkuuc3wt4Zx5_z0wyl8bmoVqUMq5FOvuYQZ4QQ-gfHI5Ydg7f7n62g8UwDK4E4MJbquLK4QKn464JsDjUYexgVUbZnazQWUWCQj0VmRE/s1600/MM-splash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4-XAEh0_JkSOcLNvO6o9Z-EyyA4CmO2qVjOztkuuc3wt4Zx5_z0wyl8bmoVqUMq5FOvuYQZ4QQ-gfHI5Ydg7f7n62g8UwDK4E4MJbquLK4QKn464JsDjUYexgVUbZnazQWUWCQj0VmRE/s320/MM-splash.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a dry course this year?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At mile 2 the 4 and 14 mile races split off from each other and the big kids run along a stretch of dirt road for just over 1 mile. I turned my heavy wet feet over as quickly as I dared, not wanting to lose any of those places I so boldly took, but also trying to be mindful about not continuing the trend of going out too hard. As we neared the end of the dirt road my watch beeped a mile split and I looked at it for the first and only time during the race: 7:03. I wasn't sure what to do with this information, it was a flat mile on hard packed dirt road so of course it should be fast, but was that too fast? Too slow? No time to analyze, it was time to climb. 200 feet up in about 1/4 mile on a "trail" covered with slippery dry leaves. I ran what I could, but it wasn't much.<br />
<br />
Once at the top of the escarpment I managed to get back into a run pretty quickly and the course then dropped back down about 250' in the next mile on nice dry trail. There were three runners ahead I was attempting to chase down, and another two or three right on my heels. The next 1.5 miles were a gradual climb up about 400' on terrain that was more rugged, although not too wet. Just before 5 miles the course branches off to the left where we run one side of a loop before re-joining the mostly out-and-back course. Then at about 6 miles there is a 1 mile loop that can be run in either direction and serves as the turn-around point in the race. It's also the wettest part of the course.<br />
<br />
I've run this loop in both directions and have been part of a lot of debate about which way is faster. I chose the counter-clockwise direction which features a gradual, totally runnable up, steep technical drop, then a short gradual climb. I think this is faster than the other direction which has you running (or attempting to) up the steep part. Kevin Tilton disagrees with me, and he set a course record today so maybe he's right. Anyway, when I was roughly half way around the loop I saw two of the three guys I had been chasing coming towards me, but I had no idea if they were still ahead of me at this point, and when I exited the loop I couldn't see anyone in front of me so who knows.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ5Qc0TsAe4xJGkCTmQ2k2e0Dq_oz2K7SHMbp-zI1FhwM3BCTECAEj1M8ZgpMfHB95Lu3a6499w6scueUNknatu1jEcyZ2MW4wS9xPVMU73ZfsoZ8tpvUQR5BcjI9epLybRSYI1-cPmPSV/s1600/Muddy+Moose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ5Qc0TsAe4xJGkCTmQ2k2e0Dq_oz2K7SHMbp-zI1FhwM3BCTECAEj1M8ZgpMfHB95Lu3a6499w6scueUNknatu1jEcyZ2MW4wS9xPVMU73ZfsoZ8tpvUQR5BcjI9epLybRSYI1-cPmPSV/s400/Muddy+Moose.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I did close in on another runner who had done the loop the same direction as me, but two others came up from behind and we had a fairly tight pack as we cruised back down the long, gradual 1.5 mile hill. This part was the most fun of the entire race, but all this fast downhilling was taking a toll on my legs. When it came time to switch gears and head back uphill I had a hard time making the transition. The lead woman in the race passed me and I couldn't keep up with her running pace. Luckily I was able to hike at a pretty good clip so I didn't slip too far behind, and I managed to keep ahead of the other guy who had been chasing me down. Back up to the escarpment, too tired to think about enjoying the view, I started to stress about what was going to happen when we hit the dirt road, and then the 1.5 mile mudfest after that. Down the slippery dry leaf-covered drop I managed to pull away from my chaser, and back on the dirt road I tried to catch back up to the lead woman and the other guy ahead that she had passed.<br />
<br />
I was putting in a tremendous effort but my legs just weren't responding the way I wanted them to. My shoes, socks and gaiters were soaking wet and caked in mud making my feet feel heavy and sluggish. Looking at my splits after the race I see that I ran the dirt road mile in 7:58 on the way back, 55 seconds slower than the way out. Of course there were 7 gnarly miles in between, but I'm not sure if that's good or not. At the time it definitely didn't feel good. Lucky for me everyone else must have been suffering as much as me because I managed to hold my position.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNpmdoVFe6vWLBy7JntwKl0vWsKcF_WtA2ZVatWUX5-dQk02ixHGZmesq6tXeW2mXcqbhxK0Vm7H4jzxPkoxcTDouDAxoSXyaiyQb9D-z9MRE_kuNxXK1yiozg5xtHjenB5Nlh8HxzWzeQ/s1600/MM-ian-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNpmdoVFe6vWLBy7JntwKl0vWsKcF_WtA2ZVatWUX5-dQk02ixHGZmesq6tXeW2mXcqbhxK0Vm7H4jzxPkoxcTDouDAxoSXyaiyQb9D-z9MRE_kuNxXK1yiozg5xtHjenB5Nlh8HxzWzeQ/s320/MM-ian-001.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by Josh Spaulding</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From the dirt road we turned back onto the mudfest trail for 1.5 miles of soggy slogging. On the way out there were probably less than 50 runners ahead of me, but on the way back I was running through mud that had been churned up by all 225 people on the way out and however many people there were ahead of me on the way back. What kept me going was the fear of an acidotic runner catching me in the final stretch of the race. Serves me right for going out too fast, but I really didn't want to drop a place after running well for most of the race. <br />
<br />
There were several groups of volunteers along the course and I was able to gauge the distance of the runners behind me by the lapse in time between them cheering for me and the next person. It was uncomfortably close, but I didn't dare turn back to see who was there. I wasn't about to take my eyes off the mud and splintered forest debris in front of me.<br />
<br />
When I finally came out of the woods and hit the dirt road it was only 1/2 mile of uphill "sprinting" to go. I actually managed to close in on the guy in front but didn't have enough to catch him. The combination of chasing and being chased served as great motivation throughout the race and right up to the finish. I didn't look at my watch until after I crossed the line, having absolutely no idea of what my time was going to be and I was totally surprised to see that I had broken the 2 hour barrier by a substantial amount. While there was definitely less water on the course than in some previous years the mud seemed to be just as thick and nasty as ever. I'd like to think that my time is mostly due to better training, but I can't totally discount the course conditions, and of course give credit to the other runners who motivated me from in front and behind.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6b5Zsd-rPY59FJnzCr88DXR_DJxcq1kingIa0FQ0kuGEeGtxG44dDT6H7m9BS068enjl_nRaevWKhLLIRgww9RYVMRWX-uXBXCvphecoOl58wuaEQtJ1nj37s7X2Rq-Z8vKQECEtOmNHO/s1600/MM-acidmonster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6b5Zsd-rPY59FJnzCr88DXR_DJxcq1kingIa0FQ0kuGEeGtxG44dDT6H7m9BS068enjl_nRaevWKhLLIRgww9RYVMRWX-uXBXCvphecoOl58wuaEQtJ1nj37s7X2Rq-Z8vKQECEtOmNHO/s400/MM-acidmonster.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by Deb Wolfe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
time: 1:50:09<br />
distance: 13.14 miles<br />
pace: 8:22<br />
place: 16/93<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.coolrunning.com/results/12/nh/Apr29_MuddyM_set1.shtml" target="_blank">RESULTS</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150773557652510.428505.164752797509&type=1" target="_blank">PHOTOS</a><br />
<br />
weather: high 40's, sunny, windy<br />
<br />
conditions: thick mud, not much water, plenty of dry trail<br />
<br />
gear: Inov-8 Roclite 295, Inov-8 gaiters, socks, shorts, singlet, hat<br />
<br />R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-6642791247728870272012-04-22T16:14:00.000-04:002012-04-23T08:34:58.870-04:00Last Long RunI am so ready to taper.<br />
<br />
This high (for me) mileage thing is beginning to take a toll. Luckily I don't have any injuries or significant aches and pains (except for my little broken toe, but that doesn't count since it's not a running injury). It's not that I don't enjoy running a lot, but I'm looking forward to a few easy weeks and then getting on with the <a href="http://peakraces.com/" target="_blank">Peak 50</a>. My last long run on Saturday at Pineland felt like hard work, tougher than any of the other 10 long runs I've had in the past 4 months (5 runs between 20 and 25 miles, 5 runs between 29 and 31 miles). In theory I should be getting stronger and the long runs should be getting easier, but as my overall mileage has increased in the past two weeks I think I'm reaching the limit of how hard/far I can push myself in training. Now I just need to rest up for the big race.<br />
<br />
Fancy graph of my weekly mileage this year courtesy of RunningAHEAD:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.runningahead.com/logs/1036524bc36542c7ab71406da40c75b1/tools/graph?e10=10&e12=40&zsm=12&zdg=2&x=12&y=20&t=0" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="My graph" border="0" src="http://www.runningahead.com/logs/1036524bc36542c7ab71406da40c75b1/tools/graph?e10=10&e12=40&zsm=12&zdg=2&x=12&y=20&t=0" /></a></div>
I'm in a vaguely recognizable pattern of three weeks high, one week lower mileage. A few things (like a broken toe) have come up along the way to mess with my plans a little bit, but overall I'm happy with the way my training has gone over the past four months. One thing I realized is that my first three really long runs each came in a week following one of my lower mileage weeks, so I was somewhat rested going in. The 50k I ran at Blaine's <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2012/03/1-more-fat-ass-for-sunshine.html" target="_blank">1 More Mile For Sunshine</a> came after a 54 mile week. Saturday's long run followed a 77.4 mile week (my highest mileage training week ever), so perhaps its not surprising that I was feeling a little tired.<br />
<br />
Saturday morning I arrived at Pineland at 7 to meet Jim and get in a few miles before joining the 8:00 crowd. We ran a shortened version of the <a href="http://www.pinelandtrails.com/course-maps/10-km-course/" target="_blank">10k course</a> down to the yurt and back. The weather forecast I had seen online called for temps to remain around 50 degrees all morning, overcast sky and a high chance of rain. Perfect long running weather. It was definitely cool and overcast but what I hadn't anticipated was high humidity. By the time Jim and I returned to the YMCA parking lot at 8:00 we were both soaked with sweat.<br />
<br />
I swapped my handheld bottle for a loaded hydration pack and we set off with a large group on the <a href="http://www.pinelandtrails.com/course-maps/25-km-50-km-courses/" target="_blank">25k course</a>. Once our group got back to the Yurt people went in all different directions as some didn't want to run the fields, others ran a modified version of the fields, while Julia, Laura and I stuck precisely to the race course. Laura cut her run a little short before returning to the Campus Loop, and Julia kept going to the Oak Hill side while I stopped off back at the car to top up my fluid and food supply. 15.5 miles down and by now the clouds were breaking, the sun was coming out and it was quickly warming up. I took off my shirt to wring out the sweat, put it back on and continued alone to the Oak Hill side.<br />
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When I got to the Gloucester Hill cut-off I saw Jim and Julia coming up the hill so I took the cut-off and joined them, although it wasn't long before Julia pulled away. Jim and I plodded along. We returned to the cars at 19.5 miles and I filled up my pack with the last of the water I had with me. I think I had gone through about 3 liters already. Jim and Julia were done for the day so I prepared to head out on my own when I bumped into Linda who was just heading out for an hour long run. Perfect timing and her company helped take my mind off the increasing heat. Not that it was particularly hot, just a lot warmer than I had planned for. We ran the complete Oak Hill loop which brought me up to a little more than 24 miles.<br />
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When we returned to the cars I was so ready to be done. My hydration pack was empty and I didn't have any more water in my car. Luckily I was able to fill a water bottle at the YMCA. After giving up 23 miles into my long run last weekend I needed to push through this one so I headed back downhill to the Yurt along the 10k race course and then struggled back uphill for the last 3 miles of my run. I didn't get enough water from the Y so I was forced to drink - and run - very conservatively to get through these last miles without bonking. I managed to keep it together but moved at a very slow pace with a lot of walking on hills I would ordinarily run.<br />
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I had hoped to get in 31 miles today, wanted to quit at 19, and when I got back to my car at 30.5 I said good e-fucking-nough.<br />
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time: 5:03:11 (stopped watch at 4 stops at the car)<br />
distance: 30.5 miles<br />
pace: 9:56 <br />
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weather: low 50's, cloudy and humid to clear sky, near 70<br />
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conditions: dry, firm trails<br />
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gear: Inov-8 X-Talon 212, socks, shorts, t-shirt, cap, Nathan HPL #020R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-956368295887247102012-04-15T23:04:00.000-04:002012-04-15T23:06:59.055-04:00Big MileageI've always considered myself to be a low-mileage runner, even when training for an ultra I rarely seem to log as many miles as many other runners I know. However, for the past four and a half months I have stepped it up a little bit and have consistently averaged just over 50 miles per week, which for me is a lot. Over the past few years I have had a handful of big weeks, but I have never sustained this kind of mileage for this amount of time. It's also worth pointing out that I have quite a bit of variation in my weekly mileage, ranging from about 25 to 75 as I go through cycles of building up and recovering. Lately it seems that I have plateaued and a lot of my runs haven't been quite what I hoped for; for some runs it's speed, others distance, or just the feeling of being a bit worn down that has me feeling that my training for the <a href="http://peakraces.com/" target="_blank">Peak 50</a> isn't going quite as well as I'd like.<br />
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On the other hand, I'm still putting in more miles than I ever have before when training for a 50, and I've had some pretty good races so far this year. So perhaps it's my expectations that are a little out of whack. Part of this might have to do with my being more aware of what so many other people are doing for training since so many of my fellow Trail Monsters are training for spring ultras. It's great to be able to be inspired by others, but I have to be careful to run what works for me and not get caught up with other peoples plans.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0MBwQxcPe-FPa4yfRGuYaddZXxwlvamq83s6wDbzLkBQ1z9pmWquiT6nwPJ8Ath1Ac_6d9OfhqcU-1mbrb5sOY-Zklw27tTJCWx1kxL8KDfvhaQvZZnU4WF3PuTOi-7hSpp0gjicWnUJt/s1600/IMG_8780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0MBwQxcPe-FPa4yfRGuYaddZXxwlvamq83s6wDbzLkBQ1z9pmWquiT6nwPJ8Ath1Ac_6d9OfhqcU-1mbrb5sOY-Zklw27tTJCWx1kxL8KDfvhaQvZZnU4WF3PuTOi-7hSpp0gjicWnUJt/s200/IMG_8780.JPG" width="200" /></a>Here's a summary of what I got up to in my highest mileage training week (although I didn't get in as much as I had planned). Oh yeah, I think I broke my little toe last Saturday night which lead to an unexpected rest day on Sunday 4/8.<br />
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<b>Monday: Twin Brook</b> - with Emma and the dogs<br />
time: 50:37, distance: 5.8 miles, pace: 8:43<br />
Easy paced run to test out the toe and make sure it wasn't badly damaged. There was some pain but not enough to significantly hinder my running.<br />
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<b>Tuesday: Twin Brook</b> - TMR TNR<br />
time: 46:50, distance: 5.5 miles, pace: 8:34<br />
Slightly quicker than the day before, but still a comfortable pace. Toe was still purple and swollen, and a little sore when running.<br />
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<b>Wednesday: Roads from home</b><br />
time: 2:35:00, distance: 20 miles, pace: 7:45<br />
Since I was racing this weekend I couldn't get in back-to-back long runs so I opted for a mid-week long run, and went with roads to go easy on my toe. This was a pretty lousy run, the first 10 miles went by in 1:15 and the second 10 in 1:20. I had really hoped to maintain a consistent pace throughout but I felt crappy in the second half, even walked for a few minutes because my breathing was labored and my heart-rate felt too high. Felt pretty beat-up afterwards which I suppose is not surprising since this was my longest road run in quite a while. <br />
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<b>Thursday: Leighton Hill</b> - with the dogs<br />
time: 46:15, distance: 5.25 miles, pace: 8:49<br />
At the beginning of the week I said I was going to avoid hills and technical trails to make sure my toe had a chance to heal, so I'm not sure why I decided to head to Hardy Road and run a loop through the Skillins Tree Farm, power lines and up the first of the Three Bitches. I guess it's because the dogs like to run here. It was a fun run but my toe was a bit grumpy. My quads were pretty sore from yesterday's road run and the hills didn't help.<br />
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<b>Friday: Roads from home</b><br />
time: 43:36, distance: 5.45 miles, pace: 8:01<br />
This was an easy road run just to try to shake out the lingering soreness from Wednesday's long run. Felt good apart from the tightness in my quads.<br />
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<b>Saturday: <a href="http://rivertrailrace.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Merrimack River Trail Race</a></b><br />
time: 1:12:17, distance: 9.37 miles, pace: 7:42 (plus ~3 miles of warm-up and cool-down)<br />
Ran a good race and got a course PR by nearly 3 minutes (previous best 1:15:05 in 2009). My legs still didn't feel as fresh as I would have liked, but at least my toe wasn't an issue. Definitely lacked strength on the uphills which come in the middle of the out-and-back course. After running right around a 7 minute pace for the first 3 miles I slowed on the hills in miles 4 and 5 and then pretty much hit a wall during mile 6 when I ran a 10:03 mile. I think the hills are steeper on the way back than on the way out, but still... I couldn't climb. It was hard to get my pace back down for the flat finish but did manage to get it close to 7 minutes for the last 1.37 miles. Finished 22/240 which I'm pretty happy with. I can't help but wonder if I could have gone a little faster had I not done the 20 mile road run in the middle of the week, but this wasn't my goal race so it's all good training for the 50 miler.<br />
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<b>Sunday: Falmouth Trails</b> - with <a href="http://runefficient.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jeremy</a> and Tyler<br />
time: 4:16:21 , distance: 23.19 miles, pace: 11:04<br />
My plan was to run 25-30 miles, but decided I'd go with what felt right rather than trying to get the numbers for my training log. I definitely wasn't feeling fresh when I met Jeremy and Tyler at 7AM, although I was pleased not to have any significant soreness after the race, just not super perky. Jeremy had a pretty sadistic plan for 35 miles that would take in all of Falmouth's best hills and gnarliest terrain. The first part of our run was a nearly 12 mile loop that brought us back to our cars for refueling. The second part of the run turned out to be an 11 mile loop, mostly on snomo trails that were new to us. With warm temps and big hills I was sweating a lot and drinking more than I was used to, and as a result ran out of water around mile 21. Jeremy tried to get me to refill my pack and go out for a few more miles but when we returned to the cars at 23 miles I felt ready to stop. My energy level was actually pretty good, my biggest concern was that after running 2 miles without any fluids I was in a state of hydration deficit that would be hard to come back from if I kept going. Maybe I would have been fine to keep running once I drank, but I decided that I'd rather end the week feeling good instead of running myself into the ground and needing to take more time to recover afterwards. The little toe was definitely complaining about the technical terrain, but it really doesn't effect my running. Tyler had turned back around 17 miles, to finish off with about 20, and Jeremy continued on for another 12+ miles after I stopped.<br />
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I came very close to hitting a total of 80 miles this week, but I'm glad that I decided to listen to my body instead of becoming a slave to the numbers. 77+ miles is still a lot for me.R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-40732446587126155072012-03-31T21:55:00.000-04:002012-04-04T22:59:18.310-04:001 More Fat Ass for SunshineToday we celebrated the culmination of Blaine's <a href="http://www.1moremileforsunshine.com/" target="_blank">1 More Mile For Sunshine</a> challenge: part fundraiser for Camp Sunshine, part "let's see if I can run 500 miles in one month." Being the 31st of the month Blaine was looking for company during his 31 mile run (after having run mileage at least matching the calendar date all month long) so he created a Fat Ass 50k event. A lot of people showed up with various distance plans ranging from 10k all the way up to 50k. I hoped to get in the full distance but wasn't feeling 100% and wasn't sure how I'd feel once I put in a few hours of running. The course Blaine came up with was a mix of road, beach, bushwhack, trailer park and hard packed double-track, over generally flat terrain. <br />
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Since the course wasn't marked prior to our start most of the group moved along at Blaine's (thankfully slow for him) pace, although the group of slower runners behind us found the sparse marking hard to follow. My plan was to start out slow and easy and try to pick the pace up a bit in the second half of the run. The first lap definitely felt like a very easy pace, especially with a handful of short stops along the way for everyone to regroup. I was carrying my Nathan pack with plenty of food and drink so there wasn't much need for me to take time at the aid station between laps, just graze the table for what looked good.<br />
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About 2 miles into the second lap I felt the need for a bio-break, then ran hard to catch up with the group. I was reminded of the importance of eating right the day before, not just quality but also quantity. A few years ago I learned that carbo-loading the day before a long run is more likely to result in extra pit stops than extra energy during the run, but for some reason I didn't follow that plan before today's run. One too many burritos.<br />
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On the third lap our group had thinned quite a bit, and we picked up Alan who is notorious for pushing the pace. This resulted in my quickest lap time of the day, but at the time it felt pretty good and I hoped to be able to keep that pace up for the rest of the run. Jeremy and Zak made a very quick transition into lap 4 and Alan and I ran hard to catch up with the two of them. I caught up to Zak and Alan went on to chase down Jeremy, but it wasn't long before I felt the need to make another stop. It was a slow walk to the out-house, and then took me a little while to get back into a rhythm once I started running again. Definitely not feeling right on the inside, but my legs were ready to move. If I subtracted out the pit-stop this probably would have been my fastest lap of the day.<br />
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By the time I started the 5th and final lap I was starting to feel a bit tired, overall my energy wasn't great and my stomach still felt a little off. I had brief thoughts about trying to catch up to Zak but I really wasn't in the mood for pushing the pace. I just cruised along at what felt "comfortable" knowing that I was slowing down a bit. At least I didn't have to make any stops during this lap.<br />
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Lap splits (excluding stops between laps which ranged from 1-4 minutes): <br />
Lap 1 - 58:00<br />
Lap 2 - 57:00<br />
Lap 3 - 52:00<br />
Lap 4 - 54:30<br />
Lap 5 - 55:00 <br />
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All in all it was another good long training run. Fun while I had company to run with and a good mental and physical test when I was running alone for most of the last two laps. Congratulations to Blaine for completing the 1 More Mile Challenge!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying a post-run adult beverage</td></tr>
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time: 4:45:21<br />
distance: 30.39 miles<br />
pace: 9:27<br />
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weather: low 40's, sunny<br />
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gear: Inov-8 Roclite 295, socks, capris, long sleeve shirt, gloves, hat, Nathan HPL #020<br />
<br />R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-54567636301655840162012-03-15T22:02:00.000-04:002012-04-04T11:23:17.910-04:00Triple Jungle RunI was a little disappointed that Zak and I didn't manage to get in a full 31 miles last Saturday so I decided to get out in the middle of the week for another long run in what I hoped would be better conditions. I didn't have the whole day free so I headed out in the afternoon from home and planned to attempt three laps of the "Jungle Run". The Jungle run is a loop that James (next door neighbor) came up with from our houses that starts and finishes with about 1.5 miles of road on each end, and has a solid chunk of gnarly trail terrain in the middle. The exact distance of the loop seems to vary each time we run it because there are so many trail options out there, so it ends up being anywhere from 8.5 to 10.5 miles. I planned to shoot for laps that would be about 10 miles each. <br />
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This loop also has some pretty decent elevation change, and it's where James did a lot of his training for Barkley (and other ultras) so this run seemed like a good punishing workout. To the best of my knowledge no one had ever attempted three laps, James and I (and Zak and Jeremy) have all done 2 laps. Even though I had my house as an aid station 10 miles is still a pretty long way between stops so I had to carry a fair amount of fluid and snacks to sustain me on the loops. Not knowing exactly what to expect for conditions I wasn't sure how long each lap would take. I had been out on some of these trails at the beginning of the week and found a few icy spots so I planned my route to avoid some of the worst ice that I knew was still out there. I had post-holed early in the week and slightly hyperextended my left knee, another reason I wasn't feeling 100% confident in being able to complete all three laps.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the first trail section from Hillside Ave</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the gas line roller coaster</td></tr>
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My first lap turned out to be a little less than 10 miles, and for the sake of consistency I decided to keep each of my laps on the exact same route so I could compare my splits for each lap and see how much I slowed down. I was pleasantly surprised to find the trails in pretty good condition, only a few icy spots, plenty of mud, but enough dry stretches to allow for some fairly consistent running. After the first lap I stopped at home long enough to change into dry shoes, pick up another gel and Honey Stinger wafer.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">snomo trails in Blackstrap Preserve</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4dXPdUiVaGOlX6tl_yydh22U3Dbu9p8bnNFJc-oB4xKpx2OMaVEV4KdVBxc5sx16KUEwJShZfgLzUSoMkuD9m7nFsm2977Tanp-FQNH1PXwJqSI50kKvkkCtuIuKvkITZsB4lH0mvvfO/s1600/IMG_8647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4dXPdUiVaGOlX6tl_yydh22U3Dbu9p8bnNFJc-oB4xKpx2OMaVEV4KdVBxc5sx16KUEwJShZfgLzUSoMkuD9m7nFsm2977Tanp-FQNH1PXwJqSI50kKvkkCtuIuKvkITZsB4lH0mvvfO/s320/IMG_8647.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the power lines at the edge of Blackstrap Preserve</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIl1w3eh3IMwRIpDtranQ2BsJfclIWfhZbzCnDm7gUNtGhBNXzk4Mo9Cs7akoB9tIsw9BviVMVCUDaXcS9dPs6S5uHiIHCH7I4HXfWEltorj9MvU2_wvJfhI7dJWTa1cv5ttgbJlJQ2Bf7/s1600/IMG_8655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIl1w3eh3IMwRIpDtranQ2BsJfclIWfhZbzCnDm7gUNtGhBNXzk4Mo9Cs7akoB9tIsw9BviVMVCUDaXcS9dPs6S5uHiIHCH7I4HXfWEltorj9MvU2_wvJfhI7dJWTa1cv5ttgbJlJQ2Bf7/s320/IMG_8655.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">deep water in some places</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVsKyPNbq3WfOw3W9iEYPnYW3lz_kFpvVwfaPGbW_6nR7AV7_9g__mHjq5AbNb5UuepQ12JFe4RFuw84eIAbxjxQ5N5BG23T9_UD3m-7boXDhmytwaaKFxocifWag_B19T9RDIZjF8LYA/s1600/IMG_8658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVsKyPNbq3WfOw3W9iEYPnYW3lz_kFpvVwfaPGbW_6nR7AV7_9g__mHjq5AbNb5UuepQ12JFe4RFuw84eIAbxjxQ5N5BG23T9_UD3m-7boXDhmytwaaKFxocifWag_B19T9RDIZjF8LYA/s320/IMG_8658.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skillins tree farm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8veSnAKGDRqkYydORDiQGZT-tqIWpmNBS3f_ClNl071yUvoTR8_hRJQjRfEJIw_SLdiD62LwO5VR1h80Zs4jpXqGBJmZuXemhxuy6M9n9466F4I371HWPagUEUcBDjaY2ZuKEdCJER7e4/s1600/IMG_8661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8veSnAKGDRqkYydORDiQGZT-tqIWpmNBS3f_ClNl071yUvoTR8_hRJQjRfEJIw_SLdiD62LwO5VR1h80Zs4jpXqGBJmZuXemhxuy6M9n9466F4I371HWPagUEUcBDjaY2ZuKEdCJER7e4/s320/IMG_8661.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nice dry trails along Blackstrap ridge</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
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As I neared the end of the second lap, coming down Blackstrap Road, I saw Nathan running up the road towards me. I had told him I'd be doing this run today and invited him to come along for part of it but since he didn't know the loop I didn't expect him to find me. But luckily his timing was good and he found me not far from home. It was nice to have his company on the third lap and his presence helped keep me slowing down.<br />
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<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrI7Pa1JX060KXhZcTuoUXBBg3wg8ct76U5gx6gdzOeL4BlZsn_KH10VHZBaXGumgiOOcWnzBBvnJEd-u1WNcN1UxhtXH2tMGS8bJuLv_5KCCV7cGgZ-CSj4Var7iPQFS4SkXkxUH_Dld/s320/IMG_8666.JPG" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Three Bitches, from the top of Bitch #1</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTN0sEYGJ5jTKy_5373HWJjImmlNtL1x-V8BxRCBrfOUuWDU0flu7t2Xucs00NqJvKJ9rKDEM42Lime0_eLb6wjq56iXnIoKBkbT1pmCZsGT1ISay7N0lzDtpSXV-6Oj2kkkR3SpxLgB0y/s1600/IMG_8672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTN0sEYGJ5jTKy_5373HWJjImmlNtL1x-V8BxRCBrfOUuWDU0flu7t2Xucs00NqJvKJ9rKDEM42Lime0_eLb6wjq56iXnIoKBkbT1pmCZsGT1ISay7N0lzDtpSXV-6Oj2kkkR3SpxLgB0y/s320/IMG_8672.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">power line mud</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEIb-XBExoxHU77ool185B_ftodafBev_2V7iEhhuZmMjGmKvJQ5NeMrGyf2DDozgIhg8hQ5Natjqj96ZKujM4fi53BP8CcRqciTbLhe2NmdOJ5Hzl6zfuOlvC8homZRKJay3qRVJstFmg/s1600/IMG_8673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEIb-XBExoxHU77ool185B_ftodafBev_2V7iEhhuZmMjGmKvJQ5NeMrGyf2DDozgIhg8hQ5Natjqj96ZKujM4fi53BP8CcRqciTbLhe2NmdOJ5Hzl6zfuOlvC8homZRKJay3qRVJstFmg/s320/IMG_8673.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">big puddles good for washing off the mud</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI_xTGJRJJHuxMBB0JCyr0-IzH0Rl4zlaLBiu2rVoGCGEexNKFfDrRQ6RMjukB38iFyxKU9ZeuZvif4KG6G_u7olX0veyr9fzdRBBP9B5CM2WjNtf4aPM_FNDJc1_11zrx0DK6dJm3dAlk/s320/IMG_8678.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pretty sloppy</td></tr>
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I was really happy to be able to keep my pace consistent throughout with only about a 1.5 minute variation in my lap times. I have to admit though that this is partly attributed to stopping to take most of the pictures in the first lap, then running the last one without stopping.<br />
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splits: 1:33:28, 1:34:54, 1:34:50<br />
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time: 4:55:51<br />
distance: 29.2 miles<br />
pace: 10:12<br />
elevation: 4028' gain<br />
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weather: upper 30's/low 40's<br />
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conditions: Lots of mud, a few icy spots, plenty of dry spots<br />
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gear: Inov-8 Roclite 295 (lap 1), X-Talon 212 (laps 2-3), socks, shorts, long sleeve shirt, gloves, hat, Nathan HPL #020R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-55399236264906083142012-03-11T23:13:00.000-04:002012-03-25T21:04:43.354-04:006 Peaks of CamdenSince Emma was headed up the coast for the <a href="http://midcoasthalfmarathon.com/" target="_blank">Mid Coast Half Marathon</a> on Sunday I decided to get up there a day early and get a long run in with Zak at Camden Hills State Park. We both hoped to get in a 50k, but not knowing what to expect for conditions we had only a loose plan which was to try to hit each of the 6 peaks within the park. We started around 11:30 AM from the Youngtown Rd trail head in Lincolnville and encountered ice almost immediately. This would continue to be the theme of the day.<br />
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For some reason neither of use brought screw shoes, I guess we were overly optimistic that the warm weather we'd been having would have melted most of the snow. Actually, there had been a lot of snow melt, the problem is that after the snow melted it got cold enough to freeze all of that water that was running off the hills. I at least had my <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/1319/shoe-review-inov-8-oroc-280" target="_blank">Inov-8 Oroc 280</a>s with me which have built-in metal studs, but Zak had his <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/984/shoe-review-inov-8-x-talon-212" target="_blank">X-Talon 212</a>s which have nothing. The Ski Lodge/Multi-Use trail that cuts through the park is at least only a gradual incline so we were able to move across the ice at a reasonable pace.<br />
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We dropped down to the main park entrance off Rt 1 and then started to climb up Mt Battie. These trails were in great shape and it was wonderful to run on dry single-track again. There were a few icy spots but nothing that slowed us down too much. After a quick trip up the stone tower we headed back down a bit before starting to climb up Mt Megunticook.<br />
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The Tableland Trail going up Megunticook on the south face was perfectly dry, but for some reason we decided to take the longer way up the Mt Megunticook trail that wraps around to the northeast. BIG mistake. I don't know why we didn't turn back. The entire trail,in fact the entire north side of the mountain was covered in ice. We went off trail so we could at least find more trees to help pull ourselves up, but it was miserably treacherous and incredibly slow going. Once up at the ridge we hoped to find less ice, but no such luck. We pretty much crawled and slid on our asses for the next 1+ mile. We decided to forgo the out n back to Maiden Cliff, and instead take Zeke's to the Sky Blue trail. These trails were actually in pretty good shape and we could run off and on between the nasty icy spots.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5cNH22KK2T2y9mQ7CG2mYiIW6BjgGdKI67PQVaGd-G2Ml4NPrAxMdaqD53gxkZAXrrus8327FFh5m9igpjx4rP9OnYQJItoqOCM7fJCdGnS89xaymctYoYvGyizJi9rO3KjcVMVVLY5vu/s1600/camden+hills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5cNH22KK2T2y9mQ7CG2mYiIW6BjgGdKI67PQVaGd-G2Ml4NPrAxMdaqD53gxkZAXrrus8327FFh5m9igpjx4rP9OnYQJItoqOCM7fJCdGnS89xaymctYoYvGyizJi9rO3KjcVMVVLY5vu/s640/camden+hills.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
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RunnignAhead reports over 4,300 feet of elevation gain</td></tr>
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We say a few other people out attempting to enjoy the nice weather. Most hand crampons or microspike and trekking poles, and they all looked at us like we were crazy for attempting to tun. Which we probably were. From Sky Blue we headed back along the Ski Lodge Trail until doing an out n back to Cameron Mountain. This was all ice until we got to the base of Cameron Mt. Since Cameron doesn't have any tree cover the short/quick climb on dry trail was a treat.</div>
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Back along the Cameron Mt Trail and then straight up to Bald Rock Mt. This climb wasn't too bad, it was icy but not as bad as Megunticook. We took a minute to catch our breath and take in the view. It took three hours to get in the first three peaks of the park, and we hoped we'd be able to get the last three in much quicker. At least the last three were all closer together, we just hoped the trails would be in better shape. And they were. Don't get me wrong, overall the conditions were pretty lousy, but compared to what we experienced on Megunticook they were a lot better. Neither of us had ever been out to Derry or Frohock Mt so it was fun to be seeing some new terrain. Since this section is an out n back without any decent views it doesn't get much traffic and the trails are a little hard to follow in some places.</div>
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With dense tree cover at Frohock there was no reason to linger so we turned right back and decided to take the shortest way back to our cars. It was clear we weren't going to get any where near 31 miles in today, not in these conditions and with the daylight we had remaining (we didn't hit the trail until 11:30). We figured we'd be lucky to finish in under 5 hours, that would be long enough in these conditions regardless of what distance we covered. We discovered that despite the slow pace we were getting an incredible workout of off all our core and stabilizing muscles as we fought to stay upright on the ice.<br />
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It was such a novelty to see clear trails that's what I took pictures of, but now I'm wishing I had captured more of the ice.<br />
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When we finally finished up we'd been out for 4 hours and 40 minutes on "only" covered a little more than 20 miles, but we felt like we'd done 50k. At least we did manage to get in all 6 peaks in the park, the first time either of us has done that, despite several previous attempts in much easier conditions.<br />
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<br />
time: 4:40:43<br />
distance: 20.18 miles<br />
pace: 13:55<br />
<br />
weather: mid 30's, sunny<br />
<br />
conditions: crazy ice, or bare ground<br />
<br />
gear: Inov-8 Oroc 280, wool socks, tights, short sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt, gloves, hat, Nathan HPL #020R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-82384250968222517782012-03-04T22:58:00.000-05:002012-03-23T21:27:37.234-04:00Bradbury Blizzard Race Report<br />
The days leading up to the final race of the Bradbury Mountain Snowshoe Series were an extravaganza of snowshoeing with 6-8 inches falling on Thursday, but by race day we were just lucky enough to be able to pull off the race with minimal snow coverage in a lot of places. On Thursday I got out near the end of the storm for a 5.5 mile snowshoe run on some local trails. I learned that the worn-down-then-sharpened cleats on my snowshoes no longer gripped the deep snow, but at least the trails would be packed before the race. On Friday I met Ryan at Bradbury to check out the trails for the race. Despite what looked like a lot of snow there was virtually no base on the mountain trails so we knew we had to find a course on the east side trails. With Ryan on his skis and me on my snowshoes we each headed out to break trail and see what it was like out there. We both covered 6 miles (hard work breaking trail for that long) and finished up about the same time. We spent a few minutes coming up with a combination of what both of us had seen that took in the best trails and tried to minimize any duplication of the previous race course, oh, and also looked like it would be close to 5 miles. We agreed that I'd go over the course the next day, and then we'd finish the course marking on the morning of the race.<br />
<br />
On Saturday I returned to the park with Emma and we planned to walk the course and get as much marking done as possible. When we arrived it had just started raining, and as the morning progressed the rain picked up and was visibly turning the nice new snow to slush. Bastard. It took us 2.5 hours to walk the course, which turned out to be 6.25 miles, and we were soaked, and tired. Luckily there appeared to be a loop we could lop off the course to get it down to 5 miles, but it wouldn't be until race morning that I'd go back out to confirm the distance.<br />
<br />
By Sunday morning the rain had really screwed up the snow. Our only hope was that it got cold enough for long enough over night to solidify the course enough that we wouldn't be running through slush and puddles. I got to Bradbury at 7AM and strapped on my snowshoes for the fourth consecutive day, the first time this winter I've been able to do that. I headed out onto the course with a big handful of orange flags to survey the conditions and finish the marking. Things were taking a bit longer than I expected, and in the interest of saving something for the race I decided to skip the Bat Cave, which I know from running it a bazillion times before is just over 0.6 miles long. So when I finished marking the course and my Garmin said I'd run 4.44 miles it looked like the course was going to be pretty much right on 5 miles when we added the Bat Cave in. However, the distance I came up with after running the race was 4.63 miles. I know that the bat Cave is definitely longer than 0.19 miles, in fact when I look at that section of trail on my GPS data from running the race it measured at 0.62 miles. But for some reason I still came up short on the race course. So while I'd like to believe that the race was 5 miles long I have no data to show that it is, and a few other folks also came up with less than 5 miles. Oh well, I doubt that anyone was looking for more after they crossed the finish line.<br />
<br />
By the time I met up with Ryan on the course he was about 3/4 of mile from the end with a shovel in hand trying to cover up some of the bare patches of ground. I thought it seemed silly at first, but it actually work great and meant that our snowshoes never had to touch dirt and rocks.<br />
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While we got everything else set up for the race I had plenty of time to forget about my own racing strategy, so at about 10:45 Emma and I went out for a short warm-up to get the blood flowing and the mind focused. I had run well at the previous two snowshoe races so I put a little pressure on myself to make this another good one. Since <a href="http://runefficient.blogspot.com/2012/03/recovery-and-oregon-trails.html" target="_blank">Jeremy</a> couldn't make it to this race due to much better plans out west I knew I had a pretty good chance at taking second place in the overall series standings, but <a href="http://blackstraphell.blogspot.com/2012/03/snowshoe-racers-like-big-dump.html" target="_blank">Jeff</a> wasn't that far behind me and I thought he had a chance of catching me if he had a good race. Since I was (once again) the only one who knew the race course I was able to formulate a race strategy and was actually able to execute it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCxfZtiRo7WOHGbnHWG-fyvnub4TlmTxBMrtuhlzIrVF9mbFCILDirQ7CWGMcoseQo9ccJgI2CyY3oj-TjC2X0-fKNOU0HtsLaZTMvmF6FJe72bCwa1bJ4AEguTHzJDDn01_niVLsu6uK/s1600/blizzard+start.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCxfZtiRo7WOHGbnHWG-fyvnub4TlmTxBMrtuhlzIrVF9mbFCILDirQ7CWGMcoseQo9ccJgI2CyY3oj-TjC2X0-fKNOU0HtsLaZTMvmF6FJe72bCwa1bJ4AEguTHzJDDn01_niVLsu6uK/s320/blizzard+start.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Race start, photo by Blaine Moore</td></tr>
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I lined up next to Judson Cake, which seemed a little crazy, but my plan was to go out hard for the first 1/4 mile on the wider trail and then ease back a bit when we got to the twisty single-track. I did slow a little on the single-track, mostly due to the terrain rather than from a decreased effort. I was pretty sure Andy was right behind me and Jeff, Scott, Peter and Jamie were part of a tight pack that had me running scared. My knowledge of the turns helped a bit but I couldn't put any distance between myself and the pack that was on my heels.<br />
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At about the 1 mile mark we turned onto the Snowmobile Trail which was wide and well-packed. This was going to be the first real opportunity for anyone to pass so I really pushed hard on this 1/4 mile stretch to ensure that didn't happen. I was a little surprised that no one made a move, but it was still early. Back onto single-track and I slowed enough to catch my breath back, but the pressure was right back on again. I slowed down a bit more when we entered the Bat Cave, knowing that it would virtually impossible to pass on this tight trail. I think Jeff later mentioned my casual pace through here, but that was part of my plan. When we exited the Bat Cave we had a gradual uphill and I did my best to push the pace again on this stretch. Then back onto the Snowmobile Trail where once again I really had to speed up to fend off any passing attempts.<br />
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At 3 miles we turned onto the single-track of Ginn and I slowed a little to catch my breath. The pressure was immediately back on and now I could tell it was Jeff. I had no doubt that he knew exactly what the time differential was between us in the series standings and I was now pretty sure that he was going to try to beat me. I now had to decide if I should push the pace here to try to lose Jeff or relax a bit, hope that he couldn't pass on the narrow trails and save it all for the 1/4 mile straightaway sprint to the finish. Neither option seemed like a good way of ensuring that I would stay ahead of Jeff. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkKRWIoZi52gBB7MVe4ABDxqa9-XyUD_j36IreVwDBRLFXRQXPPWPvTGlIgHiFZWiK0Qv6g94xkBLSiPoJoiF4HlxVQMNhJqUej4eM33RO_xwX34XXJiziKlDF3PWCLFiKRIE4rDyBb0p/s1600/me+n+jeff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkKRWIoZi52gBB7MVe4ABDxqa9-XyUD_j36IreVwDBRLFXRQXPPWPvTGlIgHiFZWiK0Qv6g94xkBLSiPoJoiF4HlxVQMNhJqUej4eM33RO_xwX34XXJiziKlDF3PWCLFiKRIE4rDyBb0p/s320/me+n+jeff.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeff planning his move, photo by Blaine Moore</td></tr>
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At around the 4 mile mark Jeff finally made a bold move and went around me on the left. And he was really moving. I had all I could do to keep up with him and a gap started to open between us. I felt defeated, at the pace he was going it looked like he might have a chance of opening the 1 minute gap he needed to beat me in the series standings. He was breathing like a wounded gnu (his words) and I regained hope for being able to hang on. I closed the gap and got right on his heels. I could have made a move to pass but decided to wait until we got to the Link Trail where I wouldn't have to step off into deeper snow and waste any energy. At one point I heard Jeff mutter "I'm Done" between breaths, and his pace was definitely slowing, but I remained patient. When we finally hit the Link Trail I kicked it in and went past on the double-track trail. I didn't believe that Jeff was really done so I pushed it as hard as I could for final 1/4 mile. Luckily it was enough for a second place finish in both this race and the overall series standing. Sweet. Thanks to Jeremy for not showing up, and to Jeff for making me really work for it.<br />
<br />
time: 39:17<br />
distance: 4.63 miles (5 miles?)<br />
pace:8:29 (7:51?)<br />
place: 2/37<br />
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<a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburysnow/2012-bradbury-blizzard-results" target="_blank">RESULTS</a><br />
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weather: high 30's, overcast<br />
<br />
conditions: wet, sticky snow, this in places, slushy in others, some ice<br />
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gear: Atlas Run snowshoes, Saucony Kinvara, wool socks, leg compression sleeves, shorts, long sleeve shirt, glove, capR. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-34281308912529990932012-02-28T22:15:00.000-05:002012-02-28T22:15:16.384-05:00Two for TuesdayFor a few reasons that I don't need to completely get into right now I've decided to skip a long run next weekend and instead pack a few longer days in at the beginning of the week. I guess it has mostly to do with the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburysnow" target="_blank">snowshoe race</a> next weekend, since I've had two good races so far this winter I don't want to go into the final race of the series feeling too tired. I'm hoping to get in another 50k the following week so I guess that's another reason I don't feel the need to go too long this weekend.<br />
<br />
Anyway, <a href="http://blackstraphell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jeff</a> was looking for some company on his long run this morning so I joined him for two laps around our local Blackstrap Hill on the roads. He had advertised this run at an 8:00-8:10 pace which sounded pretty easy for Jeff, and I shouldn't have been surprised that it turned out to be quicker than that. That's OK, it was a beautiful day, bright sun and bit breezy, but not too cold. My right calf had been feeling a bit tight after the weekend's long runs but thanks to my compression socks it wasn't bothering me at all during run even though there were some long uphill stretches. It was nice to catch up with Jeff and having his company made the miles tick by quickly.<br />
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time: 1:28:06<br />
distance: 11.5 miles<br />
pace: 7:40<br />
<br />
weather: mid 30's, sunny, breezy<br />
gear: Saucony Kinvara 2, socks, compression leg sleeves, shorts, 2x long sleeve shirts, 2x gloves, hat<br />
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And since it's Tuesday I wouldn't miss the regular TMR TNR, and the dogs definitely needed to get out for a run. I knew the trail conditions at Pratt's Brook would be pretty icy so I wasn't expecting this to be a great workout, I was glad to have gotten a decent run in earlier in the day. Despite what turned out to be very icy trails, with a few muddy spots we (Jim, Nathan, Scott and I) were able to move along at a decent pace, quicker than I had expected. In fact, this was one of the quicker Tuesday Night Runs we've had in a while.<br />
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time: 49:01<br />
distance: 5.3 miles<br />
pace: 9:15<br />
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weather: low 30's, clear and calm<br />
gear: Inov-8 Roclite 315 with screws, wool socks, tights, 2x long sleeve shirts, 2x gloves, buffR. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-18200762904072471332012-02-26T17:22:00.000-05:002012-02-26T17:22:16.250-05:00Weekend WarriorImmediately after yesterday's long/hill workout I felt surprisingly good, and I actually thought about joining Emma on her 10 mile road run that she had planned for the afternoon. Luckily she was already out running by the time I got home so I sat down and ate and the reality of my run started to sink into my muscles. An hour later everything was getting tight and fatigue was setting it. If I had been foolish enough to head out with Emma I surely would have crashed and burnt. Later in the day I stretched and rolled, which is rare for me, but it helped keep things from getting worse.<br />
<br />
My plan for today was a 15 mile road run, mostly because my local trails are in a dreadful state of iciness. Since I'd had such an easy week and was feeling pretty good today I decided to make this a fairly hard effort. I did wake up with a tight right calf and achilles, so I waited a few hours for that to loosen up and for the temperature to warm up. I was a little concerned about the calf since it has been on off and on issue for over two years, but I put on compression socks and that seemed to do the trick.<br />
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<br />
After an easy first mile I picked up the pace a little bit and cruised along very comfortably. The wind, as long as it wasn't in my face, wasn't too bad and since the sun was shining bright it actually felt pretty warm. When the wind was in my face it was pretty cold but luckily I didn't have too many miles directly into the wind.<br />
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Everything was going very smooth and consistent until I turned onto Hurricane Road, into the headwind and began a long climb that lasted for 4 miles. This is when I started to feel the hills from yesterday. My first uphill mile was dreadfully slow, granted it was the steepest, so I worked hard to keep the next three uphill miles at a more respectable pace. Luckily it wasn't all into the headwind. When I finally crested the hill I had about 2.5 miles to go and I really put the hammer down as I headed down hill. Mile 14 came in at 6:58 and mile 15 at 6:42. Of course this has a lot to do with running downhill with a tail wind, but I was pleased to be able to get in another good workout this weekend at a pretty quick pace.<br />
<br />
time: 1:56:51<br />
distance: 15.56 miles<br />
pace: 7:31<br />
<br />
weather: low 30's, sunny, very windy<br />
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gear: Saucony Kinvara 2, compression socks, socks, tights, 2x long sleeve shirts, gloves, mittens (off and on), hat, Fuel BeltR. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-21784625157197086232012-02-25T19:37:00.004-05:002012-02-25T19:37:59.789-05:006x Lunchbreak HillA few of us had 18 miles on the agenda for our Saturday morning run and I had a couple ideas for how to get there:<br />
<br />
Option 1 - 1.5 mile warm-up, 10x Lunchbreak Hill, 1.5 mile cooldown<br />
Option 2 - 9 mile loop, 6x Lunchbreak Hill<br />
<br />
Option 1 seemed a little too ambitious and not a lot of fun, so Jeremy, Zak and I agreed on Option 2. We had done 4 repeats on Lunchbreak Hill a few weeks ago so 6 seemed like the obvious next step. The rest of the group, consisting of Jim, Jamie, Blaine, Mindy, Val, NJ Dave and Jordan, were all up for heading out on the Bradbury-Pineland Corridor on the loop I described. I had heard, courtesy of <a href="http://trekforpeace.blogspot.com/2012/02/2112012-b-r-d-b-u-r-y.html" target="_blank">Xar</a>, about a new bridge recently built over Thoits Brook between Bradbury and Tryon and I was anxious to check it out. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_YSK69R1kshJyZlbdBu4OG4FU0xHI2o2YLFmX4FVb2e_3wMkY_56_aVi85rPpRi13OiRxdor0ZsoH83gym59pdPjkSOUGuxa9hLBMsKTUxB93n1MuSHC7MpKRJg6FwU9avzzGT5spSPAQ/s1600/new+bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_YSK69R1kshJyZlbdBu4OG4FU0xHI2o2YLFmX4FVb2e_3wMkY_56_aVi85rPpRi13OiRxdor0ZsoH83gym59pdPjkSOUGuxa9hLBMsKTUxB93n1MuSHC7MpKRJg6FwU9avzzGT5spSPAQ/s400/new+bridge.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo of the new bridge by <a href="http://perpetualmotion-vja.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Val</a></td></tr>
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With all the rain we received overnight I was expecting the trails to be a slushy mess, but it got just cold enough long enough for a few inches of snow to fall and there was a nice, tacky coating that actually left the trails in great shape. I ended up getting caught up with Jamie's pace which was pretty quick, always a risk when someone else is planning to run less than you are, but I felt good and was having fun so I just went with it.<br />
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By the time we reached the bottom of Lunchbreak Hill our group was reduced to Zak, Jeremy, Jamie and Blaine and we paused for a moment before heading up while Zak and I stashed our hydration packs. It felt great to lighten the load and we moved up the 3/4 mile hill pretty quick. Once at the summit of Bradbury Jamie and Blaine headed down to the parking lot to finish their run while Zak and Jeremy joined me for 5 more trips up and down the hill. When we got back down to the bottom of the hill Mindy and Val were waiting there for us to get some video footage of Trail Monsters in action, they planned to do two laps of the 9 mile loop and somehow managed to bring it up to a total of 20 miles.<br />
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For some reason the second time up was pretty slow for me, I guess just running conservative, but on the next time up I really pushed the pace. This coincided with a peak in the quality of the trail conditions, things were getting nicely packed and the footing was great. But then on the way back down it had warmed up just enough, and combined with all the foot traffic the trail conditions were quickly deteriorating into a very wet, slushy mess. The next three reps each got a bit slower, but I can't blame the conditions entirely, this is a big ass hill to be running up and down over and over again and I was feeling it. I felt good overall, but each time I headed back up it got a little bit harder.<br />
<br />
Splits:<br />
<br />
1 - UP: 10:09, DOWN: 8:08<br />
2 - UP: 10:32, DOWN: 7:56<br />
3 - UP: 9:39, DOWN: 7:25 <br />
4 - UP: 10:14, DOWN: 7:32<br />
5 - UP: 10:21, DOWN: 7:23<br />
6 - UP: 10:34<br />
<br />
<br />
I do plan to work up to 10 repeats of Lunchbreak Hill, but all in good time. I'm thinking 8x on March 17, and 10x on April 14. Got to keep these crazy hill workouts well spaced out.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0FgSWkHGygoTwX8fiLtzgFc89CmJ92d59uIFPdCD2MMQQ3w9Uu5XwiXUEicdWKzryHRH6AsljywkQI01bf9PCsOvZSHW01TQAV31BVlWWa_3xd6CC__J369DMOXL7hK_LegvtmqF7Cuk/s1600/IMG_8558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0FgSWkHGygoTwX8fiLtzgFc89CmJ92d59uIFPdCD2MMQQ3w9Uu5XwiXUEicdWKzryHRH6AsljywkQI01bf9PCsOvZSHW01TQAV31BVlWWa_3xd6CC__J369DMOXL7hK_LegvtmqF7Cuk/s400/IMG_8558.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brought home a stick in my shoe, I had it stuck in there for the last 3 miles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
time: 3:09:14<br />
distance: 18.17 miles<br />
pace: 10:25<br />
<br />
conditions: 1-2" of fresh sticky snow turning to slush<br />
weather: mid 30's, sunny, windy<br />
<br />
gear: Inov-8 Oroc 280, sock liners, wool socks, short tights, long sleeve shirt, gloves, buff, Nathan HPL #020R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-69883696707209188992012-02-24T17:48:00.000-05:002012-02-25T17:54:19.542-05:00Easy WeekI'm a big fan of rest and recovery and days off from running. Following last week's nearly 60 miles I wanted this week (at least the middle part) to be easy, and I ended up only getting in two runs for a total of almost 12 miles. I wound up taking an extra day off due to busy worky stuff, but it meant that I'm going into the weekend feeling well rested and ready for a couple good workouts.<br />
<br />
Trails were super-icy this week which was a good way to ensure that the runs were kept to a slow, easy pace. <br />
<br />
Tuesday -Pratt's Brook Park<br />
time: 50:43<br />
distance: 5.3 miles<br />
pace: 9:35<br />
<br />
Wednesday - Twin Brook<br />
time: 1:02:21<br />
distance: 6.58 miles<br />
pace: 9:29R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-55237188876491743642012-02-19T22:48:00.000-05:002012-02-21T20:57:05.584-05:00Recovery RunI really had to fight the temptation to base the mileage for today's run on getting a nice round number for my weekly mileage. Following <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2012/02/mockingbird-lane-fat-ass-50k.html" target="_blank">yesterday's 50k</a> I only needed 8.7 miles to get up to 60 for the week. That's not high mileage for a lot of ultra runners, but it is for me. Although I'm sure I probably could have gotten myself through the miles needed to reach that number it seemed pretty pointless and arbitrary, so I went with a convenient 7 mile road loop from home.<br />
<br />
I was pleasantly surprised not to feel any significant ill effects from yesterday's tough conditions when I got up this morning. A little stiff all over, but nothing major. The most noticeable sore spot was my right glute, but a few minutes on a tennis ball took care of that. I was definitely moving a bit slow in the morning, so Emma and I took the dogs out for a nice long walk on some of our local trails which helped to loosen everything up. By the time the afternoon rolled around I had lost most of the motivation to run, and even though it was another beautiful day I found it hard to get myself out the door.<br />
<br />
Once I was running, of course, I was glad to be out there. Even though I felt good I wanted to be sure to keep this run under control and easy, I really wanted it to be a recovery run and not another workout. I felt lucky that yesterday's run hadn't beat me up too much, but I did feel pretty well worked over.<br />
<br />
The miles actually ticked over pretty quick, but I tried to focus on what felt like a comfortable pace rather than getting too caught up in what my mile splits were. Emma had warned me to take it easy when I left the house, she knows that I have a tendency to push the pace a bit too much on my recovery runs.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpH9wEAAQBEhwzJr82WFifOme9Tqgo_-LtitX5hcV5u4PoloYkj9qp3WkLuppI_ohuMz5vW4DTkhwm3kYj-PBepzb0khIEalC51vszu-LBlJRjXH_uvFO5ujtSo6iUc64BhofefQ9TW4Uw/s1600/7+mile+loop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpH9wEAAQBEhwzJr82WFifOme9Tqgo_-LtitX5hcV5u4PoloYkj9qp3WkLuppI_ohuMz5vW4DTkhwm3kYj-PBepzb0khIEalC51vszu-LBlJRjXH_uvFO5ujtSo6iUc64BhofefQ9TW4Uw/s320/7+mile+loop.jpg" width="293" /></a></div>
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It's worth mentioning that this was my second run in my new Saucony Kinvaras, only my second road run in the past three weeks. Both times I've worn these shoes I have felt a pinch on the little toe of my right foot, which surprised me because the shoe looks really wide in the toe box. I hope this is something that goes away once the shoes are broken in. The toe wasn't an issue at all during yesterday's 50k, and I was wearing a relatively narrow shoe then (<a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/1319/shoe-review-inov-8-oroc-280" target="_blank">Inov-8 Oroc 280</a>). Maybe this was the result of swollen feet.<br />
<br />
time: 55:48<br />
distance: 7.01 miles<br />
pace: 7:58<br />
<br />
weather: mid 30's sunny<br />
<br />
gear: Saucony kinvara 2, wool socks, short tights, 2x long sleeve short, 2x gloves, hat<br />
<br />
<br />R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-21572144883369498932012-02-18T23:17:00.000-05:002012-02-21T16:42:40.105-05:00Mockingbird Lane Fat Ass 50kVal and Linda really get it. They know how to put on an event that truly captures what Trail Monster Running is all about: good people, good food, and a course that kicks your ass.<br />
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Coming into this event I had dropped my mileage back for the two weeks leading up. I guess you'd call that a taper, but really I was just trying to make sure that my ankle, which I had rolled few weeks ago, was sufficiently well rested before tackling a 50k on what was sure to be challenging terrain. No one really knew what to expect for conditions given the minimal snow fall we'd had so far this winter, but we knew it was going to be some mix of ice, snow and bare ground. Luckily everything was feeling good by Fat Ass morning, but I had no intention of racing today, just a nice long run with fiends. I rode up to Lisbon with Jeremy and Zak who were both planning to run the full distance, and Emma followed a little later since she was only planning to run 3 or 4 laps of the 5+ mile course. When we arrived there were quite a few people there already, and a steady stream of cars rolled in over the next few minutes. By 8:30 we had 38 people gathered for the start and a big table filled with all kinds of good food and drinks to serve as our aid station between laps.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeRSb5nVXonXN56Jh9AYY40QPZqkmyklZGUPfC8wrPePXcqxFkBB5AJy5bEQ05_yPbiyDwgibPx8oxstpfUWJOcinEzrHTRqtqBznnAXUXoFPT6-5CJfhnMGCwUrV2wWAcNbpVJ5Fl4XHm/s1600/aerial+view+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeRSb5nVXonXN56Jh9AYY40QPZqkmyklZGUPfC8wrPePXcqxFkBB5AJy5bEQ05_yPbiyDwgibPx8oxstpfUWJOcinEzrHTRqtqBznnAXUXoFPT6-5CJfhnMGCwUrV2wWAcNbpVJ5Fl4XHm/s400/aerial+view+001.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo of the course by Ryan Triffitt</td></tr>
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<br />
We let Val take the lead for the first half of the first lap, even though the course was well marked it just seemed right to have her show us the way. I bounced around the group as I paused to get a few video shots along the way (not sure if I'll get around to editing it...), and eventually settled in with Jeremy, Zak, Jamie, Jim and Dave, while Blaine and Nate were out in front. Since it was still just below freezing the trail conditions were pretty crusty where there was snow cover, icy in some spots, and where there was bare ground it was rock-hard and lumpy. It was clear that despite the flat terrain this course was going to be hard work.<br />
<br />
As we finished the first lap Emma was ready and waiting to join us, she was worried about being able to keep up but I assured her that she wouldn't have any trouble with our pace. Our first pass through the aid station was a pretty quick one since we were just getting warmed up and still feeling very fresh. I just grabbed one of the homemade bars I brought and we moved on. Since I was carrying my Nathan pack with about 2 liters of Nuun I didn't need to grab any drinks at the aid station.<br />
<br />
Trail conditions were dramatically different on lap 2, not surprising after 30+ people had run the course and the temperature was starting to warm up. What had been crusty snow had turned into sugary snow, ice was getting weaker and wet spots were showing up. Despite the variation in conditions we actually maintained a very consistent pace over the next three laps, although our stops in between got progressively longer.<br />
<br />
We ran, we talked, we laughed, we post-holed, slipped, fell, farted, joked, threw snowballs, threw a wiffle ball (I nailed Jamie between the shoulder blades with an amazing throw into a headwind), and high-fived our friends coming the other way. Of course, as the day went on there were fewer and fewer runners out on the course, and even our group started to get smaller due to blisters and smashed-up knees and plans to "only" run 15 or 20 miles.<br />
<br />
By lap 3 there were significant wet areas on the course that couldn't be avoided so our feet were constantly getting re-wetted and chilled. Although some parts of the course were getting well packed, most of it just seemed to be getting churned up with the additional foot traffic. By lap 5 our group was reduced to Emma, Jeremy and myself. Very reminiscent of our <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2011/08/maine-100-mile-wilderness-run.html" target="_blank">100 Mile Wilderness</a> adventure last year. By now we were definitely starting to grow a bit weary, and the additional effort required to try and maintain our pace caused us to get fairly quiet at times, but it was still great to be running in each others company. We also caught up to Nate on this lap and had a little back forth with him for a few miles. Blaine was still somewhere out ahead, but far enough that we never saw him on any of the out and back sections.<br />
<br />
Emma hadn't planned to run more than 20 miles today since the longest she's run n the past few months was 17 miles, and since it was on roads it didn't take her much more than 2 hours. Today was not surprisingly taking a lot longer due to the trail conditions, but she was feeling good and made a last minute decision to join Jeremy and I on our 6th and final lap which would bring her up to 25+ miles. I was glad to have her keeping us company and psyched that she was feeling good enough to keep going longer than expected, especially on a day when the conditions got the better of some people.<br />
<br />
On this last lap Jerry fired up his helicopter and was giving rides those who had already finished which was fun for us to watch as we made our way around. The highlight of the day was getting an aerial escort as we ran the final 1/4 mile to the finish.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jsOFU_iTkcHvlfDxLsGYTuRZ4n3mVp9ztCsjpkZzx3vNBfQT1OoQqlW_nZxUaUluAGiwO8hwuRvnI8hhktROZ4myZQQxD01Xku9irqoOH7z70Q6eDAPHEggaSeenpXEcMsD_ICDACePV/s1600/helicopter+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jsOFU_iTkcHvlfDxLsGYTuRZ4n3mVp9ztCsjpkZzx3vNBfQT1OoQqlW_nZxUaUluAGiwO8hwuRvnI8hhktROZ4myZQQxD01Xku9irqoOH7z70Q6eDAPHEggaSeenpXEcMsD_ICDACePV/s320/helicopter+001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Jamie Anderson</td></tr>
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Although I felt pretty good consistently throughout the run I crashed pretty hard as soon as I stopped moving, but luckily there was plenty of good food and drink to get my energy back up. I realized that even though I was eating between laps I probably needed more since I wasn't eating anything during the laps. My fueling strategy for the day was to avoid gels and manufactured energy products and stick to real food. For the most part I'd say this worked since I was able to run all 6 laps without a significant slow down, I just need to work on getting a little bit more in me, probably smaller amounts on a more frequent basis.<br />
<br />
Lap 1 - 52:00 + 1:00<br />
Lap 2 - 51:00 + 3:00<br />
Lap 3 - 51:00 + 4:00<br />
Lap 4 - 51:00 + 6:00<br />
Lap 5 - 53:00 + 5:00<br />
Lap 6 - 55:00<br />
<br />
Big thanks to our hosts Valerie, Rick, Linda and Jerry for making this another incredible TMR event. <br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="680" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.runningahead.com/scripts/maps/e8c3f8b70b8d43168c1a52d39a957a29?unit=mi" width="510"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
time: 5:32:01<br />
distance: 30.45 miles <br />
pace: 10:55 (including stops)<br />
<br />
conditions: messy, snow, ice, dirt, nastiness<br />
<br />
weather: mid 30's, mostly cloudy, windy (but not too windy for helicopter rides)<br />
<br />
gear: Inov-8 Oroc 280, wool socks, shorts, long sleeve shirt, t-shirt, 2x gloves, hat, Nathan HPL #020R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-2289912322135954132012-02-15T18:51:00.000-05:002012-02-15T18:51:06.264-05:00Lunch Time HillsZak and I made a tentative plan to get together for run at lunch time today, and with about 15 minutes notice I got the word from him that he was ready to go so I quickly got ready. Not having anything specific in mind he picked me up and we headed to Hardy road to get in a few miles on Blackstrap Hill. Totally by chance we timed it perfectly to meet Jeremy who was there getting ready for some hill repeats so Zak and I decided to tag along with his plan, which included running hard on the downhills and easy on the up.<br />
<br />
We decided to start on the Three Bitches, a series of hills along a power line trail that includes 2 small hills and one really big one. I like running hills this way and conditions were pretty good for this type of workout. Most of the trail had a few inches of snow coverage, which was the consistency of sugar due to the relatively warm weather, and any ice spots had softened enough that we got pretty good grip with screw shoes. The soft snow helped absorb the impact of speeding downhill and provided enough of a buffer to remove some of the fear that comes along with it. The ups were run at a very easy pace and I was a bit surprised to find that I was breathing harder (i.e. working harder) on the downs than the ups, although that was the plan.<br />
<br />
After two times across the Three Bitches we decided to run along the ridge and drop down through the tree farm. That was the last of our fast descents since by the time we reached the bottom of the hill we realized that Zak had very little time to get back to work. So we looped through the tree farm, back up to the ridge and back to our cars. It was great to do this kind of workout with others, Zak and I both agreed that neither of us would have run at that level of effort if we had been alone. Not surprisingly Jeremy went back out for a few more hills after Zak and I left.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="680" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.runningahead.com/scripts/maps/29d7c55d9abd4b08a0184a15c7556eb4?unit=mi" width="510"></iframe><br />
<br />
time: 59:55<br />
distance: 6.29 miles<br />
pace: 9:32<br />
<br />
weather: overcast, upper 30's<br />
<br />
conditions: 90% snow coverage<br />
<br />
gear: Inov-8 Roclite 315 with screws, wool socks, shorts, 2x long sleeve shirts, gloves, capR. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-71851583775361424652012-02-13T17:19:00.001-05:002012-02-13T17:20:17.259-05:00Bradbury White Out Race Report<br />
My preparation for the second race of the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburysnow" target="_blank">Bradbury Mountain Snowshoe Series</a> began about a week and a half before the race, when Emma and I went to run the course. We made it all the way around the course without snowshoes, and even tacked on a few hill repeats on the Terrace Trail at the end, and it was clear that we would not be snowshoeing on these trails unless we got at least 6" of new snow before the race. I talked to <a href="http://sn0m8n.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ryan</a> about holding the race on the usual course as a trail race (without snowshoes) but given the amount of ice on the trails this wasn't looking like a very good option. All we could do was wait until we got a bit closer to race day and hope we would get a lot of new snow.<br />
<br />
A week later, without any snow, <a href="http://snowplug.blogspot.com/2012/02/bradbury-10.html" target="_blank">Danielle</a> went out to survey the race course and confirmed that there was no way we wanted to set foot on the mountain, so Ryan and I met on Friday morning to see if we could come up with a decent course on the east side trails of Bradbury. New England snowshoe racing has really suffered this season due to lack of snow, and we desperately hoped that the <a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburysnow" target="_blank">White Out</a> would not be the next race casualty. I ran about 7 miles, Ryan hobbled for a couple and we found that the east side had pretty good snow coverage, enough that we could piece together a 4+ mile loop. With the weather forecast for Saturday calling for a few inches of fresh snow to fall we figured we'd be in great shape for race day.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjsrelh6aRM5Q_6cwGZm_MjXC8hcskleB8OYvSzL_6HGoBi0pRfg9jpZ5j4TNpQ8q7xM2eWOcnlPfTsKRZ3Rsg4Xkqe_jb9F6QAVcEvXqPdRZcnTrC51Hux4PTshp5fUXK6P-weecect0/s1600/IMG_2388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjsrelh6aRM5Q_6cwGZm_MjXC8hcskleB8OYvSzL_6HGoBi0pRfg9jpZ5j4TNpQ8q7xM2eWOcnlPfTsKRZ3Rsg4Xkqe_jb9F6QAVcEvXqPdRZcnTrC51Hux4PTshp5fUXK6P-weecect0/s200/IMG_2388.JPG" width="161" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sharpening my worn-down cleats for the ice</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I returned to Bradbury on Saturday morning and with help from Jim, <a href="http://www.xcityrunning.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">NJ Dave</a> and Jordan we ran the race course and set out the arrow markers at each of the trail intersections along the way. The course was a bit convoluted, but we tried to piece together the trails that had the best snow coverage and avoid the worst of the ice and exposed rocks. While it wasn't possible to avoid ice and rocks altogether I figured we'd be OK with a fresh layer of snow. Once we finished on the race course Jim and I decided to run a lap of the mountain to see how bad conditions really were. It was bad. Extreme ice treacherosity. The warm weather we'd had all week had melted a lot of snow, which ran downhill and turned to ice overnight. This served to confirm that Ryan and I definitely made the right call to move the race course.<br />
<br />
Despite what appeared to be snow falling from the sky for several hours on Saturday nothing stuck, and at the end of the day there was no new accumulation at my house. I was hopeful that at the high elevations of Bradbury Mountain it might be a different story, but when I arrived at The Brad on Sunday morning to finish the course marking it looked just the same as the previous morning. When I met up with Ryan there was a moment of "What are we going to do, we can't snowshoe this!" but as we made our way around the course trying to jab pin flags into the thin layer of crusty snow we realized that there was just enough snow to make it work. There was ice, and there were a few exposed rocks and roots, but all-in-all it wasn't a bad course, and at least the conditions would allow for some fast running.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMADrT8xqxGGhAiyKqlumdCmXc6gbmDGU3ZNUE0rHoKaTMTYSMPqfuOJZE2B4dGRTLiGsVFbifKuVoKYliQZ4GT6Cx0cdQQqp8YZ0A2DxsxFabl9Xw8gMXomZ31agOyCTbyaEXbvzobhOc/s1600/IMG_2381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMADrT8xqxGGhAiyKqlumdCmXc6gbmDGU3ZNUE0rHoKaTMTYSMPqfuOJZE2B4dGRTLiGsVFbifKuVoKYliQZ4GT6Cx0cdQQqp8YZ0A2DxsxFabl9Xw8gMXomZ31agOyCTbyaEXbvzobhOc/s200/IMG_2381.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGq3LB35PpwSVCyilZllWjIGkL8jY1Q3O-Z4EnkIduSDiEF51AXAbY3rqro465noZMBhH6Z4X_rHHi5dhR283BhfwiWW4zO1BOJajZRKtWBTri6Q36Gj9x8N4MFv4jSsYkw6TWJJy9sxnw/s1600/IMG_2365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGq3LB35PpwSVCyilZllWjIGkL8jY1Q3O-Z4EnkIduSDiEF51AXAbY3rqro465noZMBhH6Z4X_rHHi5dhR283BhfwiWW4zO1BOJajZRKtWBTri6Q36Gj9x8N4MFv4jSsYkw6TWJJy9sxnw/s200/IMG_2365.JPG" width="200" /></a>So with all the uncertainly about the race - what would the course be and would we even be running on snowshoes - I had a hard time mentally preparing to run my own race, although admittedly I had it easier than anyone else since I was the only person participating in the race who had actually run the course. For some reason my head just didn't feel like it was in the right place to get me through a hard race effort today. I had been taking it easy all week trying to look after a sore ankle that I rolled two weeks ago, so at least I was relatively well rested going into the race. I usually bounce back from a rolled ankle pretty quickly, like somewhere between 2 minutes and a few hours, so the fact that this has been lingering for two weeks has me a little concerned. Two years ago I had to withdraw from a 100 miler because of relatively minor but chronic achilles pain that hampered my training. I certainly don't want to go down that road again.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6184qTiqCfnuYb6T0N3BVrhNMkjXi7z5N4GhWrC9RZtULSnzJzH_AlwW3IswGrCj6Qgdl4Y-GPIiL3Yu2mZQQwswsAA3OPCy_7vH5YaL0MP2POKLC5-ClgfBKe5hi3rmqRLTmmjScKfog/s1600/IMG_2354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6184qTiqCfnuYb6T0N3BVrhNMkjXi7z5N4GhWrC9RZtULSnzJzH_AlwW3IswGrCj6Qgdl4Y-GPIiL3Yu2mZQQwswsAA3OPCy_7vH5YaL0MP2POKLC5-ClgfBKe5hi3rmqRLTmmjScKfog/s200/IMG_2354.JPG" width="200" /></a>Enough sandbagging... with the course marked Ryan and I went about setting up registration, the start/finish, brewing coffee and starting a fire and before we knew it runners were showing up. I almost forgot about my own running until just after 10:30 when Emma suggested it might be a good idea to get a warm-up in before the race. By the time we got our snowshoes on and a few layers stripped off we only had about 10 minutes but that seemed like just enough, it doesn't take much running around in snowshoes to get warmed up. This was also a good chance for us to talk a little bit about strategy and get focused before the race.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioV9FUxi4N4248DMxZP9Zl2BNtpKTf1V_ctVwzDAU3fw6Zl_rACxT-d_5YcLS-bWFT1-5zJbKpVFCEqYWEdYD3Yqxvg7jIoVaCw3tXXCNFSE_pNVmAsK0VFKIfNcPuSCF6iveLw6vGMOGe/s1600/IMG_2338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioV9FUxi4N4248DMxZP9Zl2BNtpKTf1V_ctVwzDAU3fw6Zl_rACxT-d_5YcLS-bWFT1-5zJbKpVFCEqYWEdYD3Yqxvg7jIoVaCw3tXXCNFSE_pNVmAsK0VFKIfNcPuSCF6iveLw6vGMOGe/s200/IMG_2338.JPG" width="200" /></a>When Ryan shouted GO! I was amongst a pretty thick crowd of strong runners near the front of the pack and I immediately got one of my snowshoes stepped on and almost when down when that foot didn't respond to my attempt to move it forward. My reaction was to get away from the pack as quickly as possible to avoid further contact and within a few more paces I was in third place behind Judson and <a href="http://runefficient.blogspot.com/2012/02/spring-and-white-out.html" target="_blank">Jeremy</a>, but of course it didn't take long for them to disappear out of sight. The trail remained wide for the first half mile so I expected someone to challenge my position, and although I could hear the clatter of many snowshoes on hard snow and ice behind me no one made a move. The next half mile was on tight single-track and I knew no one would want to pass on this but I could tell that there were several people right on my heels. As soon as we came out onto the wider Snowmobile Trail Eric cruised around me and powered up the gradual hill ahead. I was surprised he had stuck behind me for so long, I guess stuck is the appropriate word. I didn't even think about trying to hang with him, I knew it would be a futile attempt and a sure way to burn out.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6t2yxpfjFU3DZIVJ2LEWQqdMzVNTBSfMQ-7e6Nji3rskTbvuKlMplgQxKHyWMIEYuvuzySdMtN5cRqmqFFFb4kAajz9xW6CW6gEwQUOJy0ZYaz6GYonLNVPbfuiF1Vqv-mInKHoLD4AJe/s1600/IMG_2326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6t2yxpfjFU3DZIVJ2LEWQqdMzVNTBSfMQ-7e6Nji3rskTbvuKlMplgQxKHyWMIEYuvuzySdMtN5cRqmqFFFb4kAajz9xW6CW6gEwQUOJy0ZYaz6GYonLNVPbfuiF1Vqv-mInKHoLD4AJe/s200/IMG_2326.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
Less than a half mile later we were back on single-track. I was grateful that no one else had passed me but knew that there was at least one person right behind. I didn't know who it was and I didn't dare look to find out, this was not the kind of terrain where you could afford to take your eyes of the trail. That pressure of knowing that there was someone right there was enough to keep me focused on racing. If this person wanted to get past then they were going to have to work for it, I certainly wasn't going to let them by without a fight. And fight I did. I had to work hard to stay in front of this person.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXrgJYHB4HdTg0pKNTW2rfJ7B2lQq7-UlbZRoVLAgKpYoRM44BHnhFqYNaYx-cGplwf8iIirxC82dLk5UfFJBHOoSe0GyOSSGdUe4VK2l56PDDCHfh98H5QwbHQ_vZ4Kp7rBMIOTcy8Nnq/s1600/IMG_2314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXrgJYHB4HdTg0pKNTW2rfJ7B2lQq7-UlbZRoVLAgKpYoRM44BHnhFqYNaYx-cGplwf8iIirxC82dLk5UfFJBHOoSe0GyOSSGdUe4VK2l56PDDCHfh98H5QwbHQ_vZ4Kp7rBMIOTcy8Nnq/s200/IMG_2314.JPG" width="200" /></a>Luckily I was able to use my knowledge of the course to my advantage, or so I thought. When I knew there was a particularly technical section coming up or a few tight turns I'd slow down just a bit to catch my breath, and then step it back up with a little surge on the easier terrain. This wasn't really working so I tried the opposite approach of relaxing on the easy parts and surging on the technical. This didn't work as well as I had hoped either, it looked like I was just going to have to run my ass off for the rest of the race.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8QBdDT99ZiwucTPi8VGuzoKgKPXMkCDSofGHoAgSifTIe7ITjGtu1tmG-lVLTBh9VYcHIGlLgIhEErdodbAmPbrcBjzfDhWJZKs_-9tRpR8Qu3adt1t6_OPODuyDhW_1iZGdCJKlfY5W/s1600/IMG_2310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8QBdDT99ZiwucTPi8VGuzoKgKPXMkCDSofGHoAgSifTIe7ITjGtu1tmG-lVLTBh9VYcHIGlLgIhEErdodbAmPbrcBjzfDhWJZKs_-9tRpR8Qu3adt1t6_OPODuyDhW_1iZGdCJKlfY5W/s200/IMG_2310.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
At the three mile mark I tried to plan out my strategy for the last mile of the race. There was a wide downhill straightaway coming up on the Old Tuttle Road, I figured this was my chaser's best chance to catch me since I couldn't rely on trees or any other natural obstacles for blocking. I had to put in a surge of speed here to fend him off, if he got ahead of me here then I would have a very hard time getting him back on the single-track that followed. When we made the sharp turn onto Lanzo I slowed down to try and catch my breath. I knew that even if he caught up to me he'd have a hard time getting past. When we reached the entrance to the Island Trail I knew there was about a half mile left. With the last 1/10th on the flat, straight double-track of the Link Trail I had to get some more distance between us on the remaining single-track. I put on another surge and finally, for the first time in the race opened a gap of more than a couple of seconds. When I turned on to the Link Trail I was redlining, the only thing that kept me moving was the fear of losing my place in these last few seconds of the race.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizcjfmmMJJWSn0Z5XSNeIX1s2GUb7FMprkA3JGZX5433duLDQiF2n2JFlOE-A-nlljhyphenhyphenS1blvYZZ34dptwxiTDJIiI66SVkSuK_Gea47g14vxRM9SEokgyyj7E72nbjyXzA2mpUKJzue1k/s1600/whiteout-post+race.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizcjfmmMJJWSn0Z5XSNeIX1s2GUb7FMprkA3JGZX5433duLDQiF2n2JFlOE-A-nlljhyphenhyphenS1blvYZZ34dptwxiTDJIiI66SVkSuK_Gea47g14vxRM9SEokgyyj7E72nbjyXzA2mpUKJzue1k/s200/whiteout-post+race.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Maine Running Photos</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I collapsed after crossing the line, gasping, drooling, legs burning. 10 seconds later Scott came in, I congratulated him and thanked him for the push. He made me race much harder than I thought I could on a day when I didn't think I had it in me.<br />
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From everything I heard most people seemed to like the course, we were definitely lucky to be able to come up with a course that had enough snow coverage to be snowshoe-able. I hope we get some more snow before the next race though.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="680" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.runningahead.com/scripts/maps/bd9ffd8ab34c40af9d27ba67457ab8c2?unit=mi" width="510"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
time: 32:32<br />
distance: 4.0 miles<br />
pace: 8:08<br />
splits: 8:14, 7:56, 9:03, 7:38 <br />
place: 4/45<br />
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<a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.com/bradburysnow/2012-bradbury-white-out-results" target="_blank">RESULTS </a><br />
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weather: low 20's, breezy, sunny<br />
<br />
conditions: mostly hard packed snow and ice, some loose snow<br />
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gear: Atlas Run snowshoes, Inov-8 Roclite 315, OR gaiters, sock liners, wool socks, tights, 2x long sleeve shirt, gloves, mittens, buffR. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-92203725167141119712012-02-06T00:00:00.003-05:002012-02-06T00:03:53.862-05:00Redemption RunI was disappointed in myself for not sticking with my planned mileage yesterday so I decided to get out for a long run today. It's not like I had any really good reason for cutting my run short, just wasn't into it for some reason. As a general rule I don't like to push myself too far past the point of enjoyment when I'm running (50's and 100's not included), and I knew that if I kept going it wouldn't be any fun, so why bother? But it wasn't like I was dealing with any major aches or pains, just my head. Since a lot of my friends were running the <a href="http://www.midwinterclassic10miler.com/" target="_blank">Mid-Winter Classic</a> today and I really wanted to watch the race I decided to combine a long run with a lap of the race course so I could cheer them on.<br />
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The route I came up with started and finished at South Portland High School and headed into Scarborough before turning into Cape Elizabeth and picking up the race course at about 5.5 miles. It worked out to be just over 20 miles which seemed reasonable, although it's been a few years since I've run that distance on roads, probably not since the spring of 2009. I wasn't sure how I would feel today so I didn't have a plan other than to run at a comfortable pace and try to remain fairly consistent.<br />
<br />
My right ankle was a little bit stiff when I started out so the first mile was pretty slow, but once I warmed up everything felt good and I moved along a decent pace. I was wearing a box fresh pair of <a href="http://www.saucony.com/store/SiteController/saucony/productdetails?catId=cat10004&productId=4-106880&skuId=***4********20121-6*M070&stockNumber=20121-6&showDefaultOption=true&subCatId=cat1220399&subCatTabId=&viewall=" target="_blank">Saucony Kinvara</a>'s that arrived yesterday, my first time taking them out so I hoped they would work out for me. I've heard a lot of good things about these shoes from a few other Trail Monsters who wear them, and my last pair of road trainers were from 2009 and showing their age so it was about time for some new shoes. My route offered a few bail-out options if for some reason I felt the need to cut the run short, but luckily I didn't need those options.<br />
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So I hopped onto the race course and started running the opposite direction of the runners, I caught the leaders at about 4.5 miles and soon after started seeing the steady stream of runners that included many Trail Monsters and other friends. The excitement of seeing all the runners coming past kept me moving at a pretty good pace, right around 7:30's and fairly consistent. Once the bulk of the crowd passed I stopped to visit a few TM's working an aid station at 2.5 miles, then continued backwards around the course to see all the runners again before they finished.<br />
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A short-cut through the school parking lot allowed me to see the race winner coming down the final stretch and a little more than 10 minutes later I started to see some of my friends coming in. Seeing them in their final miles gave me another boost and I picked my pace up a little, but as the crowd of runners coming towards me thinned out my pace slipped a bit. Maybe I was pushing it just a little bit too hard for a long run, at around 14 miles I definitely felt a little tired. By 15 miles all the racers had passed and I was looking forward to wrapping this run up. I considered a short-cut that would have got me back to my car in about 3 miles, but I couldn't face a second failed long run attempt so kept to the long way back. I was definitely slowing down on the uphills but was able to maintain an OK pace on the flats and downs. While I was drinking plenty and eating what I thought was enough for this run I could feel things in my lower back, glutes and hamstrings tightening up over the last few miles. Maybe yesterday's miles were catching up with me.<br />
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It really was a beautiful winter day to be out running, relatively warm for a February morning, clear skies and only a slight breeze. The roads were dry and and there wasn't much traffic. I finished up with a little over 20 miles, and although I felt great about finishing this run my body definitely felt pretty tired. I forgot how much road running can beat you up if you're not used to it. Getting something to eat and taking the dogs out for a long walk on my local trails in the afternoon helped me to fend off some of that tightness that had initially started to set in. A good day and great to see so many people running well in the 10 miler.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="680" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.runningahead.com/scripts/maps/694c481b6c8248a59d566f5ab6200e43?unit=mi" width="510"></iframe>
<br />
time: 2:34:36<br />
distance: 20.28 miles<br />
pace: 7:37<br />
<br />
weather: upper 20's, sunny, light breeze<br />
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gear: Saucony Kinvara (brand new), wool socks, tights, 2x long sleeve shirts, gloves, mittens, buff, Nathan HPL#020R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395323568470040895.post-68940273305870588502012-02-04T17:00:00.000-05:002012-02-04T18:13:22.123-05:00Good conditions, bad mojoI'm pretty sure the weather forecast for today called for sun and maybe a few clouds, so I was surprised to find a heavy snow falling for the first hour of today's run. I certainly didn't mind the snow, it was about time this winter started acting like winter. Despite 2-3" of fresh powder over the trails conditions were actually some of the best we've seen all season.<br />
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I was uncertain about trail conditions going in to today's run at Bradbury so I didn't expect to run the Beautiful Loop, but I was hoping to get in about 22 miles by doing some repetition on the snowmobile trails close to the park. With a bunch of Trail Monsters racing tomorrow, and a few others having other trail adventures elsewhere there was a small group today, just <a href="http://xcityrunning.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Dave</a> and Zak. Dave's plan was for only a few miles, and Zak was up for whatever so we set off on the snowmobile trails on the east side of Bradbury amidst quickly accumulating snow.<br />
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Zak and I were pleasantly surprised when we got to the power lines at 5 miles to find that all of<a href="http://trailmonsterrunning.blogspot.com/2012/01/beautiful-loop-lunchbreak-hill-repeats.html" target="_blank"> last week's</a> wet nastiness was frozen solid so we agreed to try to make it around the BL. The new snow was light enough that it didn't hinder our pace and we
moved along at an average of around 9:30's for the first 7 miles. Despite the good conditions we didn't even consider the river crossing at 7.25 miles, instead following the bushwhack we did last week. From a distance the river looked frozen and snow-covered, but probably wasn't solid enough to support our weight. Once back on the power lines the terrain was a little rougher and a lot hillier and our pace slowed quite a bit. Neither of us were feeling very energetic today and the up hills felt like a lot more work than usual.<br />
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I was dreading Lunchbreak Hill at the end of the run, and even suggested an alternative route but Zak kept us on track and we charged up the hill. The view from the summit of Bradbury was really quite nice today, once the snow passed the sun came out and we could see clear out to Casco Bay. But we didn't linger too long, just headed down the Terrace Trail and finished the Beautiful Loop for the fourth consecutive week. I definitely wasn't feeling up for a 22 miler today, but was pleased to log our fastest time for the BL this season, even if it was mostly due to better conditions.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="680" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://www.runningahead.com/scripts/maps/ac3184738c2e4527885c665bc55e718f?unit=mi" width="510"></iframe><br />
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It's worth mentioning that my right ankle has been bugging me all week since rolling it at some point during last week's long run. Not a major problem, it doesn't seem to effect my running other than that I notice some minor pain on uneven terrain. Of course, I haven't actually given it a chance to rest so it's not surprising that it's still sore. <br />
<br />
time: 2:32:04<br />
distance: 15.35 miles<br />
pace: 9:55<br />
<br />
conditions: best so far this year, 2-3" of fresh powder over packed/icy base<br />
<br />
weather: stow storm and sunny, low 30's<br />
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gear: Inov-8 Roclite 295 with screws, sock liners, wool socks, OR gaiters, tights, 2x long sleeve shirts, gloves, mittens, buff, Nathan HPL #020R. Ian Parlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07105935770269826514noreply@blogger.com7