'Shoe Musings

Strafford, NEW HAMPSHIRE--Has anyone seen this snowshoer? This is probably one of my favorite pics of ole "Crash Graham" himself. He was a great 'shoer back in the day. Snot'sicles and spit'acles frozen to his grey muzzle he personifies what it means to RACE acidotic. The weekly Northeast Snowshoe Rankings are finally updated. I was waiting for the Smugg's results to be posted, but really didn't want to wait too much longer. With the Wolfe and Dunham snowshoe rankings now a weekly thing I didn't want to be the last guy at the party. I decided to stick with the average of the best three performances because of the postponement of our Exeter Snowshoe Hullabaloo. With Geoff's win in VT on Sunday (and 3rd race this winter) he immediately shot toward the top of the rankings. On the women's side the Top 5 look pretty much the same. Carolyn Stocker (WMAC) secured her spot in the Top 3 with a late kick at Northfield Mountain to best previously unbeaten Amber Cullen (acidotic RACING). New to the women's Top 10 this week is Ashley Krause (WMAC). As of tonight, Sunday's Frosty's Dash For a Cure is a trail race. Because the event is a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, if the race is held as a trail race the GSSS RD's have decided to award 50% of the available individual points. Team points will also be available at the same 50% adjustment. The series will also lower it's "best of" from five races to four. Frosty's may count toward one of those four races. We realize that there's a difference between trail and snowshoe racing but in the end...raising money for a good cause is pretty important. That said, the latest forecast for Atkinson is snow all day Wednesday into Thursday morning. Stay tuned to this blog for the latest on the status of the race. My brother lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I think I'll see if he's interested in hosting a snowshoe race...or five!

Frosty's Dash for a...Podium?

Atkinson, NEW HAMPSHIRE-- Frosty's Dash for a Cure is one of the longest running snowshoe races in New Hampshire and routinely raises thousands of dollars for cystic fibrosis. As the 4th race in the Granite State Snowshoe Series the usual cast of characters were present and accounted for including Jim Johnson, Bill Morse and the Dungeon Rock Racing group, and of course my teammates at acidotic RACING including Ri, Jay M, Steve S, Chris E, Gary, Liz & Ted, Michael, Steve W, and Scotty G (who by the way has the whitest legs I've ever seen...and displayed them proudly today). This morning I headed toward Atkinson early anticipating a 90 minute drive (or at least that's what Google maps had me believe). Pleasant surprise #1 of the morning was the fact that my Garmin said it would only take an hour. Pulling out of the driveway I quickly glanced at the car thermometer and was greeted by pleasant surprise #2, it was 45 degrees. My mother always told me that good things happen in 3's. Actually she always said that bad things always happen in 3's but I'm taking a little creative liberty 'cause it's my story. I arrived about 2 hours before the race, met the RD Deb Fudge, and began to make the circuit talking to many of my new snowshoe racing friends. I think the small "community" vibe is something I really like about snowshoe racing. Everyone seems to either know or recognize everyone else and is very willing to stop what they're up to and share a moment or two of their time with you. Yesterday I wrote that today was my first ever racing double. But as I sat to write this today I realized that like many things as I get older, my memory is beginning to dull around the edges. In fact, I do have experience with racing multiple times in short periods of time. My teammates and I have raced the Reach The Beach Relay for the past three years. Those of you who've raced the 200+ mile relay know that the 3rd leg of the relay is as hard as anything you'll do in endurance sports (with respect to Ri and his incredible feats of aerobic strength). Sizing up the field before the start I felt like I had a legitimate chance of a Top 10 finish. When the "GO" command was given I quickly established my place in the top 5 and attempted to make note of the condition of my legs. Pleasant surprise #3 was that my legs felt good despite the mashed potato consistency of the snow. It didn't take long to get into a rhythm and settle in behind my much stronger (and older) teammate Steve Wolfe. Today was a little different story from yesterday when the gap between us was much too wide to get any hooks into him and feel a pull. It's likely that he's still not back to 100% because I raced on his heels for most of the race. He actually let me slide by for about a 1k and pull him a little, which I happily obliged. It wasn't long however before he tired of my plodding and regained the podium spot that we were both racing to attain. I stayed with him as we worked together to put a little more distance on the 5th place guy. We both kicked a little with 50 meters to go and crossed the tape in 3rd & 4th. I was glad to see him get the podium finish as he's battling for one of the top 3 spots in the GSSS standings. For me, two very solid performances in a row have helped me regain a little confidence in my fitness that I had lost at the gruesome end of '08. Next up on the schedule is GSSS race #5 Horse Hill 7k Snowshoe Race coming up this Saturday in Merrimack, NH. That race will probably end my snowshoe racing for '09 so I'd like to log one last strong showing.

Sidehiller 4-Mile Snowshoe Race

Center Sandwich, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- Although I've been racing for the better part of the past twenty years, this weekend will mark something I've never done...pull a double. I know full well that racing twice in the same weekend is by no means rare, unusual, or exceptionally heroic but for me it's uncharted territory. Part of the motivation comes from my desire to support the other races in the GSSS series, some of it is just pure curiosity. As it turns out, 24 hours ago the prospects of me doing a single were in serious doubt. I took Thursday & Friday as zero days because of a new and quite uncomfortable case of anterior tibial tendonitis (self diagnosis) in my right lower leg. This morning when I got up I was feeling considerably better and felt confident that the rest had at least put me in a position to race the Sidehiller 4-Mile Snowshoe Race today in Center Sandwich, NH. I decided to arrive at the race site early to help fellow RD Paul Kirsch set up. When I pulled into the Sandwich Library Parking lot the big dogs (Double J, Double D, and Jim Pawlicki) had already marked their territory. Actually, they too had arrived early to also help Paul. As both a WMAC & GSSS points race this event promised to draw some of the best regional snowshoers and it didn't disappoint (more on that in a moment). As usual, Scotty G. was third car in the lot and he and I chatted a bit while I shared my knowledge of the course. It wasn't long before the rest of the acidotic RACING snowshoeing team began to arrive. I'm happy to say that we had a very strong showing once again represented by Ri, Leslie, Jay M, Scott, Michael, Steve W., Ted & Liz, Danny, Joe, Gary, and Steve S.. I'm sure I must have missed someone but the point is we had a great turnout. I suspect that we stayed ahead of Dungeon Rock Racing at the very least. They too had a very good turnout and it was nice to be able to catch up with all of them. If there's a greater bunch of competitors, I haven't met them yet. I love those guys. With the "GO" command the race was off and immediately a group of about 10 snowshoers made a very fast break. I wasn't in that group. But I did keep the tail end of that hurtin' train well in sight. Just before we crossed the road, Scotty G. came up hard to my inside and pulled ahead of me. For me this would have been perfect. I was hoping to have someone to pace with to help pull me through the rough sections (and I knew they would come). Sadly, before we crossed the road either he let me move ahead or I picked up the pace and moved up ahead of him. As we began to make our way toward the only elevation on the course a guy ahead of me had fallen and was lying by the side of the trail. As I got to him and offered a hand to help him up I noticed he had stepped on his other shoe and had wedged it hopelessly behind his other cleat. We struggled for a moment and finally freed his 'shoe. After helping him up I pushed him ahead of me. I believe in trail karma and that what comes around goes around. I never hesitate to help someone in need because you never know when you might need the favor returned. When I finally arrived at the climb I was pleased to feel some of the folks ahead of me come back toward me and I actually passed two 'shoers before the end of the climb. Training at Mt. Blue Job had definitely paid dividends in the hill climbing category. As most others have reported the snow was fairly slow going and I, like everyone else, plodded along trying to catch the folks ahead and stay in front of the folks behind. I was firmly in the 10th overall spot behind Steve W. the last 2/3 of the race. While I've witnessed him perform at snowshoe races this would be my first time feeling him race a snowshoe race. The guy is a machine. I know how strong he is (I've seen his race pace at various distances), but you can't truly appreciate a person's metabolic engine until you give everything you've got and he still pulls away. Thus was my experience racing behind Steve today. I managed to maintain the 25-50 meter gap for most of the other side of the road, but after the last open field and before the descent he pulled away. Although I once again fell on my face climbing over a stone wall, he honestly was widening the gap before that. When we arrived back on the fairgrounds I checked back over my shoulder to gauge the chase group that I knew was coming. Happily I saw only one individual but he seemed to be closing the margin I had developed as quickly as Steve had moved away. With 100 meters to go I could hear him. In a flash he was beside and beyond as I meagerly tried a half-hearted attempt at a kick. The combination of soft snow, low snowshoe-specific fitness, and a general lack of will contributed to my 11th place overall finish in a time just over 40:00. For the past two years I had logged third place finishes here at Sidehiller. Now, I am a year older and undoubtedly slower, but I promise that if I raced this event 10 more times with this field I'd have a hard time placing any higher. This field was deep and fast. All in all, I'm very pleased with the effort. I felt very strong on the climb, maintained an even pace, and had no measurable heath issues. As a bonus, I had the opportunity to get to know Danny & Amber a little better on our cool-down. Recoverite, two of my latest handcrafted Sovereign Trail Ale's, and 600 mg of IBU and I'll do it all again tomorrow at Frosty's. This double thing's not that bad.