Sunday, we were out of the hotel by 8am. We all met up at a Bickford's for breakfast before the drive home. I felt pretty good and knew I would head to Bradbury for a mother's day run. The legs were surprisingly good, just one downhill section let me know I'd run long the day before.
I didn't run Monday, but worked over 12.5 hours. I took Tuesday off, too, but texted the Squirrel that it would be great if we could run before she headed off to crew for Team gIANt in Massenutten. How about we meet at the Brad after work? Yes! We talked over Wapack, digesting it a little more.
Saturday I had to work. I was in there by 5:40 and out by 11:30am. That left me the afternoon for a run. I did the mountain side of Brad and the connector. In 10 miles, I got in 2000 ft elevation gain. Brad was looking quite beautiful. He gave me all sorts of flowers. He seemed to be flirting. About 9 miles in, on Lunch Break, my legs said they were tired. Hang in there, almost done.
Today (well, actually yesterday now), Rick and I went back to Brad for another 7 miles. I was set to enjoy the rest of a much needed day off when Sam called with a distress call. He'd forgotten some documents he'd need for the start of work tomorrow (today). Ugh. I drove down to WPI. At least my friend Judy came along to help keep me company and awake.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
My Favorite DNF - Part III
Amazingly, even with how long it was, I forgot stuff from the previous miles. Somewhere around 15 miles in, I fell on what was the least hazardous piece of trail anywhere. Still, my right knee hit the only rock available. That knee is still a bit misshapen from a winter fall. I had to walk for a bit. Mindy suggested that perhaps it would help bust up scar tissue. I'm not sure if it was before or after, but I also stubbed by big, left toe (yup, the toe that's chronically sore) had on a rock. I don't know if it then kicked up and landed on my toe or if I stumbled in a weird way to let it hit on the top of my toe, but that's where it then hit. Whoa! It did hurt, but it was like a nerve thing. Like it was buzzing or on fire. In less than 1/2 a mile, my toe felt fine. In fact, it still feels fine. I can't remember when it's been pain free this long. OK, maybe the bang to the knee will break up scar tissue.
Also, not long before we hit the turn around, we heard, than saw Dave heading our way. He looked happy and strong, running with a couple other guys. We did fist bumps and wished each other well. I guess he was injured not long after that, but still managed to do the 43 mile finish. Nice.
So, back to where I'd left off. Not long after S&S were heading back, we realized we were probably not going to get to the 34 miles aid station by 3:30pm. That was the cutoff time listed on their website. OK, we'd wrapped our heads around that, but we had wet rocks to and incline to deal with first and foremost.
Look closely; you can see Scout and Squirrel on the rocks. I'm sitting down, butt-scooting down the mountain. Rick and Pete met us on this rocky patch. Rick started to run back to the aid station to prepare for our arrival. To show him how fine I was feeling, I ran to catch him. I almost did, just ran out of distance.
I looked at the table. Oh! You're out of the yummy roll ups :( A volunteer said he thought they still had a few. There were 3 left. He encouraged me to eat them all. I didn't need much convincing. He poured me more Coke. Food. Drink. It went down easy and felt good.
I said to Rick, "We're not going to make the cutoff." He said, "No, you're not." There. It was said. Mindy and Pete had a similar exchange. We said bye to our great crew and to the wonderful aid station volunteers. It's funny; we started talking like we were on our normal Brad runs. We had a couple of pit stops and food breaks, but mostly ran really well on this last 7 mile stretch, all the while realizing we'd be done at the next aid station. We talked about all the things we learned. We talked about puppies, goats, showering and going to dinner with the men.
We were closing in on the 34 mile aid station when we saw Pete running out to meet us. He said we were about a mile away, but they'd learned that the cutoff on the website was wrong. If we made it by 4pm, we could keep going. Huh? We had around 11 minutes to run a mile. Huh? Mindy said, lets just run how we were going to and see. Well, we did. We made it. Well? We had known we were done for over 7 miles now. And now we weren't done? We thought about it, but decided to live with being done. It didn't take long to know that it would be one of our target races next year, not a training run.
Also, not long before we hit the turn around, we heard, than saw Dave heading our way. He looked happy and strong, running with a couple other guys. We did fist bumps and wished each other well. I guess he was injured not long after that, but still managed to do the 43 mile finish. Nice.
So, back to where I'd left off. Not long after S&S were heading back, we realized we were probably not going to get to the 34 miles aid station by 3:30pm. That was the cutoff time listed on their website. OK, we'd wrapped our heads around that, but we had wet rocks to and incline to deal with first and foremost.
Look closely; you can see Scout and Squirrel on the rocks. I'm sitting down, butt-scooting down the mountain. Rick and Pete met us on this rocky patch. Rick started to run back to the aid station to prepare for our arrival. To show him how fine I was feeling, I ran to catch him. I almost did, just ran out of distance.
I looked at the table. Oh! You're out of the yummy roll ups :( A volunteer said he thought they still had a few. There were 3 left. He encouraged me to eat them all. I didn't need much convincing. He poured me more Coke. Food. Drink. It went down easy and felt good.
I said to Rick, "We're not going to make the cutoff." He said, "No, you're not." There. It was said. Mindy and Pete had a similar exchange. We said bye to our great crew and to the wonderful aid station volunteers. It's funny; we started talking like we were on our normal Brad runs. We had a couple of pit stops and food breaks, but mostly ran really well on this last 7 mile stretch, all the while realizing we'd be done at the next aid station. We talked about all the things we learned. We talked about puppies, goats, showering and going to dinner with the men.
We were closing in on the 34 mile aid station when we saw Pete running out to meet us. He said we were about a mile away, but they'd learned that the cutoff on the website was wrong. If we made it by 4pm, we could keep going. Huh? We had around 11 minutes to run a mile. Huh? Mindy said, lets just run how we were going to and see. Well, we did. We made it. Well? We had known we were done for over 7 miles now. And now we weren't done? We thought about it, but decided to live with being done. It didn't take long to know that it would be one of our target races next year, not a training run.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
My Favorite DNF - Part II
Listening to the chatter of the other runners, I could tell we were with experienced people. The two directly ahead of me are running Hardrock. In a race that requires a qualifier and only had 10 finishers last year, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised that there'd be experienced ultra runners. I have learned not to be too intimidated by all that.
With only 35 runners, it didn't take long before it was just S&S, like it is on most all of our training runs. Interestingly, we didn't talk very much at the outset. I don't know if it was the climb, paying attention to the trail (headlamps and only actual trail markings made concentration critical), the earliness, or what.
We saw our crew at the "aid station". Since it was only 3.5 miles in, they only had some jugs of water there. We were promised more on the way back. Still our guys did a good job of cheering and we got a see-you-in-5.5-miles.
A few times I found myself talking to Mindy with no reply. I'd look back and realize I was going too fast. She was sticking to the plan of taking it easy in the early miles. So I'd adjust. No longer in the dark, we started appreciating the beauty of the trail. It was just south enough to be so much greener than home. While I'd wished for the rain to keep it cool, I was a little sad that we couldn't have the new, bright greens against a brilliant blue sky. Not much later, I really would have traded the rain for heat...The rocks, everywhere, were the definition of slippery. Ugh. A couple hours in, I told the Squirrel it was probably time to pick up the pace a bit; going was slow in so many places due to conditions, we had to run quickly where we could. On an up, we took time to eat. I had a Honey Stinger Waffle.
The 2nd aid station, at mile 9, was well staffed and well supplied. Our guys flagged us in and quickly saw to our needs. I chose a PBJ roll up, some chocolate covered pretzels, and a coke. We didn't dilly dally. Probably one of the faster times we'd ever gone through an aid station. The guys told us the next stretch was supposed to be more runnable. It was. It felt good to be really running. We still had to pay attention to the trail. Running trail races, you get used to all the markings being down low. Trails for hikers don't follow the same rules. At more than a few intersections, we would have to try the different spurs to see where the yellow triangle went.
The Squirrel and I would remember to remind each other to hydrate. We were trying to eat early and often as well. The next aid station had Cooper, a sweet poodle, to visit in addition to my favorite food of the day; turkey, cheese, and mustard roll-ups. I think I ate three. I also had two cups of coke and Rick refilled my Nathan pack. The Squirrel was more into the potatoes with salt, but may have tried a roll-up, too. I said to one of the volunteers that I wanted a bit more rain to keep the temps down (it had stopped raining somewhere a bit ago). She said we wouldn't want any rain till we got back through this aid station again; the next rocky section was not something you wanted to have slippery.
Almost immediately we understood. Holy. Shit.
It looks way less dangerous than it seemed. Yup. I would give up the cool rain in a heartbeat for dry rock. Was the next 5.5 till the turn around gonna be all this? Going was less than slow. And as hard as it was, I was already afraid of the return down. It wasn't a mile into this stretch when we met the front runner heading back. Un-fucking-believable. How could anyone move that fast on slippery rock?! Then we started seeing lots of fast people. It took a while to realize that some of them were the 21 mile racers starting out on their race. Hey Jordon!
Here and there we crossed paths with one of the Hardrockers. We seemed to meet up on all the spots where it was hard to tell the path of the trail...and she'd run it before! She was almost as cautious as us on the downs. She said she'd waited long enough to get into Hardrock. There was no way she was going to get hurt before. When I needed a nature call break, she pulled away for the last time.
At the next aid station, the turn around, there were more experienced runners manning it. There was also Jack, a very cute wire-haired fox terrier. There I discovered maple-flavored, maple leaf- shaped, very yummy cookies. I know I had two. They also had turkey and cheese rollups, but they didn't look as appetizing as the other stations. Rick refilled my bladder. Did I have more coke? Again I was pretty happy with our relative speed through the aid station.
I'll stop here for the night. I don't think it will take all that much longer to write about it, but the next stretch took forever to cover. I need a break just thinking about it.
With only 35 runners, it didn't take long before it was just S&S, like it is on most all of our training runs. Interestingly, we didn't talk very much at the outset. I don't know if it was the climb, paying attention to the trail (headlamps and only actual trail markings made concentration critical), the earliness, or what.
We saw our crew at the "aid station". Since it was only 3.5 miles in, they only had some jugs of water there. We were promised more on the way back. Still our guys did a good job of cheering and we got a see-you-in-5.5-miles.
A few times I found myself talking to Mindy with no reply. I'd look back and realize I was going too fast. She was sticking to the plan of taking it easy in the early miles. So I'd adjust. No longer in the dark, we started appreciating the beauty of the trail. It was just south enough to be so much greener than home. While I'd wished for the rain to keep it cool, I was a little sad that we couldn't have the new, bright greens against a brilliant blue sky. Not much later, I really would have traded the rain for heat...The rocks, everywhere, were the definition of slippery. Ugh. A couple hours in, I told the Squirrel it was probably time to pick up the pace a bit; going was slow in so many places due to conditions, we had to run quickly where we could. On an up, we took time to eat. I had a Honey Stinger Waffle.
The 2nd aid station, at mile 9, was well staffed and well supplied. Our guys flagged us in and quickly saw to our needs. I chose a PBJ roll up, some chocolate covered pretzels, and a coke. We didn't dilly dally. Probably one of the faster times we'd ever gone through an aid station. The guys told us the next stretch was supposed to be more runnable. It was. It felt good to be really running. We still had to pay attention to the trail. Running trail races, you get used to all the markings being down low. Trails for hikers don't follow the same rules. At more than a few intersections, we would have to try the different spurs to see where the yellow triangle went.
The Squirrel and I would remember to remind each other to hydrate. We were trying to eat early and often as well. The next aid station had Cooper, a sweet poodle, to visit in addition to my favorite food of the day; turkey, cheese, and mustard roll-ups. I think I ate three. I also had two cups of coke and Rick refilled my Nathan pack. The Squirrel was more into the potatoes with salt, but may have tried a roll-up, too. I said to one of the volunteers that I wanted a bit more rain to keep the temps down (it had stopped raining somewhere a bit ago). She said we wouldn't want any rain till we got back through this aid station again; the next rocky section was not something you wanted to have slippery.
Almost immediately we understood. Holy. Shit.
It looks way less dangerous than it seemed. Yup. I would give up the cool rain in a heartbeat for dry rock. Was the next 5.5 till the turn around gonna be all this? Going was less than slow. And as hard as it was, I was already afraid of the return down. It wasn't a mile into this stretch when we met the front runner heading back. Un-fucking-believable. How could anyone move that fast on slippery rock?! Then we started seeing lots of fast people. It took a while to realize that some of them were the 21 mile racers starting out on their race. Hey Jordon!
Here and there we crossed paths with one of the Hardrockers. We seemed to meet up on all the spots where it was hard to tell the path of the trail...and she'd run it before! She was almost as cautious as us on the downs. She said she'd waited long enough to get into Hardrock. There was no way she was going to get hurt before. When I needed a nature call break, she pulled away for the last time.
At the next aid station, the turn around, there were more experienced runners manning it. There was also Jack, a very cute wire-haired fox terrier. There I discovered maple-flavored, maple leaf- shaped, very yummy cookies. I know I had two. They also had turkey and cheese rollups, but they didn't look as appetizing as the other stations. Rick refilled my bladder. Did I have more coke? Again I was pretty happy with our relative speed through the aid station.
I'll stop here for the night. I don't think it will take all that much longer to write about it, but the next stretch took forever to cover. I need a break just thinking about it.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
My Favorite DNF or My Almost Favorite Training Run or...
Be careful What You Ask For or....There are so many titles for this post running through my head. It really isn't important.
So, I haven't been keeping up on posting, mainly because of working way too much. It's a good thing I like my job, but it is cutting in to running a little too much. I think it was two weekends in a row I kept promising the Squirrel that I just needed another hour, which turned into another hour, and another before we could meet up to run. Finally, I knew we really needed to get our long run in so left work at 10am on Sunday to meet up with Mindy. Rick also met us there. I had given him instructions to head out with Mindy if I wasn't in the parking lot by 10:30. As it was she'd waited for me till late afternoon the day before. I think I got in 7.5 starting just after 4pm. I really appreciate that the Squirrel waited for me. It made it a hotter run for her. We enjoyed Rick's company for 7 miles, then said bye as we continued on a loop of the BBU. I think I started us out a little fast - running off the stress of work. The Squirrel was not feeling it early on, but that's pretty normal; she has trouble getting started, but I know she'll recover later. After a loop of the BBU, I think she really was dragging. I said not to worry, I would make sure we got in our run cause I'd feel too guilty about leaving work otherwise. Well, by the time we were at 23 miles, I started to bonk. I don't know if it was the heat, the lack of sleep, my GI trouble, or work stress, but I felt like shit. Not to worry, the Squirrel talked me through. We'd just take our time. She'd totally recovered and pulled me through.
The next weekend was our taper. Squirrel went to Acadia with a TM group for camping/running fun. I worked Saturday till about 2, then headed to Brad for 13 miles. Sunday I did not work. Mmmmm. I did not work. Rick and I went to the Brad for 7.
Oh, yeah, this was supposed to be about Wapack. Well, Rick did most of the prep for me. He made a spreadsheet with times at the aid stations for different paces. He got directions to each. He packed up most of the stuff and took all of Friday off to pack up. I left work at 3pm. Wow, I was going to have a full weekend off. It seems like the cubes are always with me though. Most nights I dream of work.
When Rick and I got near the hotel I texted the Squirrel, "WTF?! It's 79 degrees. Rain sounds good." Rick and I got to the hotel about 1/2 hr before Pete, Mindy, and Ben. It was enough time to research the local restaurants to find an Italian option. Not long after they got in, we all piled in our car to head to dinner. It was the perfect place for carbo loading. The only thing was it was very laid back so it took a long time to eat and get out. I think it was after 9 by the time we got back to the hotel. That doesn't sound late, but I hadn't slept well (big surprise) in a few nights and we were setting the alarm for 3:30am. We all had agreed to meet in the hall for 4,
Ben wanted to do a quick get-to-know-you interview before the race. We'd never met before, but he'd planned to do a documentary about the S&S Haliburton adventure almost as soon as we'd decided to take it on. He did the interview as I packed my drop bags. By the time Rick and I turned out the lights, I think it was 10:30.
We were all in the hall just before 4am. I imagined that there would be a Dunkin' Donuts on the way because we were in Massachusetts. Nope. So I only had a banana. Well, I wouldn't normally eat at this hour anyway. S&S were going to eat early and often. Well, at least, we were going to work on our hydration and fuel. The start of the race was pretty low key; there were only 35 of us, after all. Wearing our headlamps, we pick up our numbers, tech shirts, and finished getting ready. The pre-race briefing was just that - brief. We were off! Was it just after or just before that we felt the first rain drops?
We were almost immediately climbing. I knew there was an early up, but I didn't know it'd be right away. One of the Squirrel's goals was to start slowly. This hill would certainly help. The drops became a steady, light drizzle.
That's the first installment.
So, I haven't been keeping up on posting, mainly because of working way too much. It's a good thing I like my job, but it is cutting in to running a little too much. I think it was two weekends in a row I kept promising the Squirrel that I just needed another hour, which turned into another hour, and another before we could meet up to run. Finally, I knew we really needed to get our long run in so left work at 10am on Sunday to meet up with Mindy. Rick also met us there. I had given him instructions to head out with Mindy if I wasn't in the parking lot by 10:30. As it was she'd waited for me till late afternoon the day before. I think I got in 7.5 starting just after 4pm. I really appreciate that the Squirrel waited for me. It made it a hotter run for her. We enjoyed Rick's company for 7 miles, then said bye as we continued on a loop of the BBU. I think I started us out a little fast - running off the stress of work. The Squirrel was not feeling it early on, but that's pretty normal; she has trouble getting started, but I know she'll recover later. After a loop of the BBU, I think she really was dragging. I said not to worry, I would make sure we got in our run cause I'd feel too guilty about leaving work otherwise. Well, by the time we were at 23 miles, I started to bonk. I don't know if it was the heat, the lack of sleep, my GI trouble, or work stress, but I felt like shit. Not to worry, the Squirrel talked me through. We'd just take our time. She'd totally recovered and pulled me through.
The next weekend was our taper. Squirrel went to Acadia with a TM group for camping/running fun. I worked Saturday till about 2, then headed to Brad for 13 miles. Sunday I did not work. Mmmmm. I did not work. Rick and I went to the Brad for 7.
Oh, yeah, this was supposed to be about Wapack. Well, Rick did most of the prep for me. He made a spreadsheet with times at the aid stations for different paces. He got directions to each. He packed up most of the stuff and took all of Friday off to pack up. I left work at 3pm. Wow, I was going to have a full weekend off. It seems like the cubes are always with me though. Most nights I dream of work.
When Rick and I got near the hotel I texted the Squirrel, "WTF?! It's 79 degrees. Rain sounds good." Rick and I got to the hotel about 1/2 hr before Pete, Mindy, and Ben. It was enough time to research the local restaurants to find an Italian option. Not long after they got in, we all piled in our car to head to dinner. It was the perfect place for carbo loading. The only thing was it was very laid back so it took a long time to eat and get out. I think it was after 9 by the time we got back to the hotel. That doesn't sound late, but I hadn't slept well (big surprise) in a few nights and we were setting the alarm for 3:30am. We all had agreed to meet in the hall for 4,
Ben wanted to do a quick get-to-know-you interview before the race. We'd never met before, but he'd planned to do a documentary about the S&S Haliburton adventure almost as soon as we'd decided to take it on. He did the interview as I packed my drop bags. By the time Rick and I turned out the lights, I think it was 10:30.
We were all in the hall just before 4am. I imagined that there would be a Dunkin' Donuts on the way because we were in Massachusetts. Nope. So I only had a banana. Well, I wouldn't normally eat at this hour anyway. S&S were going to eat early and often. Well, at least, we were going to work on our hydration and fuel. The start of the race was pretty low key; there were only 35 of us, after all. Wearing our headlamps, we pick up our numbers, tech shirts, and finished getting ready. The pre-race briefing was just that - brief. We were off! Was it just after or just before that we felt the first rain drops?
We were almost immediately climbing. I knew there was an early up, but I didn't know it'd be right away. One of the Squirrel's goals was to start slowly. This hill would certainly help. The drops became a steady, light drizzle.
That's the first installment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)