Xterra Muddy Moose Trail Race

What a day to slog through 14 miles of mud! I raced the 10th Annual Xterra Muddy Moose 14 Mile Trail Race this morning in Wolfeboro, NH. As luck would have it, the past two days here in the northeast have been unseasonably warm as we went from wintah right to summah. The objective today was to use this effort as a training session for next month's Pineland Farms Trail Race. The longest I had run in '09 was 10 miles...on the road. Knowing the conditions would not lend themselves to 7:00 miles I projected a goal finish of right around 2 hours. A strong showing of acidotic RACING teammates turned out including Austin, Liz, John Skewes, Erik, and the ever present Sherpa John. The Muddy Moose is an interesting event with two events happening simultaneously, a 4 & 14 miler. Everyone starts together so the trick, as I've been told, is to not get dupped into pushing hard early with the 4 milers. I did my best to hold back and find a comfortable pace early. Liz was right with me and Austin just behind as we made the turn into the first two miles of mud. Sherpa was just ahead and I watched intently as he seemed to select the gnarliest line choosing to run through the mud as oppose to my line...around the mud. I figured I'd find enough muck as the race progressed so I tried to save my legs. By roughly the 4 mile mark I had passed SJ again and seemed to hold him off for the next 6 miles. During those six we negotiated an interesting (but unknown to me) lollipop. At one point on the lollipop (I went right by the way) a number of strong runners flew past me running in the opposite direction. I deduced right away that it must be an out and back. The 5 or 6 places I had picked up at the 5 mile aid station in my mind had moved me up into the Top 10. As runners kept running past me (in the opposite direction) I lost count at 15. Puzzled, I turned and asked a fellow competitor the course layout. It was then that she informed me of the lollipop with runners having the option to right left or right around the loop. At the 10 mile mark (more or less) SJ hammered past me on a sweet ridgeline singletrack section. He implored me to follow but I could feel him slipping away as his ultra training has definitely put him at a sizeable fitness advantage over me (not to mention the 10+ years he's got on me). I maintained the gap as we raced down a dirt road but I had only one gear...and that one was pretty darn worn. He disappeared for the last time as we hit the 2 mile muddy section. I was definitely impressed by his fitness having a chance to experience it close up. I managed to run the final climb to the finish and taped in 2:06:&change. Didn't bother to find out the place as I lost at least 3 spots within the final 2 miles and was a little discouraged at my finish. My bet is just outside of the Top 20. Carrying the 60 oz of HEED and Endurolytes was key. Other than the typical AT tenderness that dogged me the entire way, I didn't seize up and really only lacked fitness at that distance. I've got a month to get fitter at the 15k+ distance. The clock is ticking.

Gunstock Winter Triathlon

Gilford, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- The first event of my self-proclaimed "Slow-Twitch Decathlon" is in the book. This morning with temps hovering between -1 and 1 above I stepped to the line of first event of 2009 and my first ever winter triathlon. To be honest, I bet I wasn't alone. It may have actually been the first ever winter triathlon in NH. If anyone else can lay claim to that one go right ahead. My expectations coming into today were not surprisingly tempered by at least two things...the fact that it's only the end of January and I haven't spent more than an hour on my skis. You know what they say about the best laid plans. Now, before you rush to judge those comments as excuses, know this...I never make excuses for my performances. I own my performance today. Fact is, I learned a great deal about winter triathlon today and I had a fantastic time doing it. The first leg of this winter tri didn't include any swimming which I was actually happy about. It did start with a 5k trail run (two 2.5k loops) on the new Gunstock Nordic stadium course. Having pre-rode the loop prior to the race I knew to expect the first half as a climb and the 2nd half as a descent. I started conservatively and tried to just find a rhythm and warm up. I frankly was a little surprised to pass as many people as I did on the ascents on the first loop. Feeling good after the first 2.5k I decided to pick it up a little on lap #2 and by my support crews unofficial count I picked up 10 spots and arrived at the first TA in 18th place. Anticipating the mountain bike loops (3 of them on the same Stadium course) would become a little choppy and that I might spend quite a good bit of time with either my foot down (Moto-style) or walking the hills I made a last minute decision to stay with my Salomon screw shoes despite having my old-school Ritchey pedals still attached. It actually worked fine and I'm not sure it really made any difference. Most of effort on the 2nd trail run leg was lost on the mountain bike section as I lost a ton of spots to stronger, fitter, and more technical riders. Here's a lesson I learned: Riding the indoor trainer less than 10 times since November is neither winter mtb-specific enough nor close to sufficient to develop any appreciable riding fitness. If I go back in 2010 I'll correct that. I managed to slog through three laps with pretty consistent splits despite feeling like I was hike-a-biking as much as I was riding in laps 2 & 3. After a quick splash of HEED in transition I set out on what I anticipated would be my biggest technical challenge...XC skiing. My well documented 25+ year layoff from the sport became very obvious very early as I once again started losing spots to faster more technically superior skate-style Nordic skiers. While I'm no stranger to the faster more superior skate technique, for some reason (perhaps my own self-doubt) I stuck with what I knew...the old-school classic style. And just in case I needed yet one more self-imposed logistic handicap, I ignored the well known fact that in Nordic skiing it's common to wax your skis. Although I was slow enough for comfort on the descents (thanks to my snowplow) I really struggled with the flats without any glide whatsoever. Lesson #2: Spend more time getting comfortable with the skate-technique by spending time on your skis and pay the $6 to get a wax job (not that kind of wax job). After the first of two 3k loops I felt my right quad start to act a little squirrely and I made a quick pit stop to my crew and drank a little HEED. For me, Hammer Nutrition products are worth their weight in gold and as I expected the crampy feeling resolved and I finished the race without any health issues. I'm proud to say I didn't fall during any discipline today although I took the hills very conservatively...some may say too conservatively. The results aren't posted yet and I really wasn't interested in sticking around to find out. Plus, my faithful support crew had spent the morning standing out in the cold. With a finish time of just over 2 hours I'm sure I finished in the back 1/4 of the field but I'm really pleased with my effort today. I kept repeating my favorite racing mantra all morning, "Give nothing less than everything you have.". The 2009 racing season has begun and there are 9 more endurance sports on my "To Do" list.