Pineland Farms 25k

New Gloucester,  MAINE -- The objective for Sunday's Pineland Farms 25k Trail Race was pretty straightforward...PR.  In fact, back in December I had identified it as one of my Top 3 goals for 2010.  Following a very good winter and productive early spring I felt my fitness (and most importantly...my health) were precisely where they needed to be.  Now all I needed to do was perform.  Before leaving for the event I wrote four numbers on the back of my left hand; 22, 44, 1:06, and 1:28.  Those would be my 5k time targets for 7:05 pace through 20k.  From experience I know that the last 5k is more about survival than pace but I figured if I hit the 20k split I would be in excellent position to run sub 1:54 (the PR I set last year).  The record field of 320 trail runners set off under clear skies, with a light breeze, and temps in the high 70's.  Pineland Farms held true to it's name with thick clouds of pine pollen blowing everywhere.  The first 5k is mostly downhill and I fought the temptation to put too much 'time in the bank' instead sticking with the plan to be patient in the first 15k.  I hit the 5k mark in 21:15...about :45 fast, but fine considering the terrain and the excitement of the race start.  Breaking longer races down has always helped my focus.  Because this course has the 5k's marked, it's logical to deconstruct the race into five 5k races.  With so much focus before the race on the last 5k I actually forgot how challenging the 2nd 5k was on this course.  The elevation profile tells the story.  Nearly half of the elevation lost in the first 5k is regained in the 2nd 5k and my 10k split reflected it.  Actually, around the :46 mark I thought they had either forgotten to place the 10k or it had blown down because I was sure I should have seen it by then.  Then as I crested a small hill in the Valley Farm Loop I saw it...:48.  I quickly rationalized that my 7:05 pace target had a little extra "cushion" built into the PR attempt so I stayed patient and turned my attention to the next 5k.  With most of the elevation gained, the 3rd 5k is a cruiser and I managed to find a comfortably hard rhythm.  Just before the 15k mark, at the Valley Farm aid station, I caught TRIAD Racing's Mike Wade.  An incredibly talented runner and winner of aR's Pemi Wild Ultra in '09 I was pleased to have caught him but unsure as to how long I could stay with him.  I enjoyed the few minutes of conversation and then was a little surprised when he let me go ahead.  At the 15k I looked at my watch; 1:07.  I had made up 3 of the 4 minutes lost in the 2nd 5k and now squarely back in the game.  Just shy of 17k we passed by the START/FINISH area where I exchanged my two 10 oz bottles of HEED and took two ENDUROLYTES.  Due to the warmer temps I was purposely aiming for 20 oz/hour of HEED and through the first hour I was right on point.  As I crossed the road I had roughly 8k to go but these were certainly the toughest kms on the course.  Just before the 20k mark, on a gradual descent, Mike passed me.  He looked refreshed, fit, and strong.  Bewildered, I wondered for a moment what he had been doing for the last 5k?  As the endless ups and downs continued, the 20k was finally in sight.  I hit the mark in 1:29:30, ninety seconds behind but still in great shape to pull off the PR.  Then it happened.  After 21,000+ footstrikes I failed to effectively place left foot to hard surface instead kicking a baseball sized rock on a gradual decline sending me hurtling violently forward in a hands toward the ground "I'm going to graham" catastrophe.  In a good news bad news sort of way I saved the faceplant...but the sudden lunging forward sent both hamstrings into spasm.  Although I was able to continue to run, the pace was slowed considerably but the stage had been set for an epic physical collapse.  In the final field with less than a km to go it happened.  My left hamstring seized bringing me to an abrupt halt.  I reflexively bent forward in a attempt to relieve the cramp but it actually made it worse.  Standing back up I quickly ran through my contingency plan for such a calamity...but I hadn't planned for this.  The best I could do was finish the ounce or two of HEED in my bottles and walk as quickly as I could.  Runner after runner ran by encouraging me "hang in there...the end is near".  Oh how right they were.  Within in three minutes of stopping I was able to continue running but with a cadence that looked more like shuffling on egg shells than trail racing.  I ran across the finish in 1:58:11 (37th overall).  I was actually closer to my worst ever finish (2:01 in '08) than my PR (1:54 in '09).  Two disappointing individual efforts in a row, Pineland and 7 Sisters.  Both results affected by cramping.  Time now for a lot of reflection and a renewed effort to strengthen that weakness.  On the team front, the very talented 4 from TRIAD put a whoppin' on us beating us by just under 20 minutes. 

NEXT UP: Exeter 10 Mile Trail Race presented by GoLite Footwear

Hoppin Mad Mud Run

Amesbury,  MASSACHUSETTS--The Hoppin Mad Mud Run wasn't on the schedule at the start of the year...but it's sure to find it's way on the 2011 event calendar.  I received a typical mass e-mail from one of the race organizers about a month ago describing this first year event.  The pitch was pretty straightforward...get together a team of 5 and join us for one of the craziest and muddiest races east of the Mississippi.  Oh, and there will be beer and pizza at the after party.  Team, mud, beer, and pizza...those are the four magic words for aR.  With not a lot of arm twisting we were able to put together two teams...aR-BLACK and aR-RED.  Tim, Brent, Ri, Dwight and myself would race aR-BLACK while Sarah S., Mike S., Mike O., Peter, and Michelle (currently a friend of aR...but we're working on that) would race as aR-RED.  The course was described as 10k with military-style obstacles and a mud pit at the finish.  Teams would have to crawl through the mud together with the captain crossing the line last.  Simple enough.  A quick assessment revealed that Dew was probably our weakest runner but in that group "weakest" is a relative term.  Knowing he had recently run the Boston Marathon and having raced with him before I expected nothing less than everything he had.  He knew that his time on this course would be our finish time and yet he was undaunted.  We decided that I would set the team pace for the first 4 mile road run portion of the event.  Ri & Brent would help Tim pull Dwight along.  With an incredible turnout (over 600 competitors), the event organizers opted to start groups in waves.  Assigned to wave #9 we would have 27 minutes to wait after the first group went out.  When it was our turn, we headed out hard running roughly 6:00/mile pace over the rolling country roads.  Dwight did an incredible job and hung tough until we hit the off-road obstacle filled final two miles of farm land.  The course designer had us negotiate a series of obstacles including a creek crossing, two 5 foot high walls, wooden hurdles (to climb over and under), a couple of low crawls, and of course the final 20 meter mud pit.  I can't tell you the last time I had so much fun racing so hard!  I almost wished the entire 10k was filled with obstacles.  As we were waiting for the awards ceremony to start we were fairly confident that we had a chance at a podium finish even though none of us had started a watch.  When some of the preliminary chip timed results were posted we were shocked to see our finish time as 1:08.  Our guesstimated clock time should have been closer to :45.  With the multiple wave starts I assumed that the finish time hadn't been adjusted and that they would correct it when they did the official results.  After enjoying some Flat Bread pizza and hilarious race recaps it wasn't long before the awards begun.  They started with the overall team result and shockingly we weren't called...at all.  Now we knew something was up.  Waiting until the entire 20 minute award ceremony was complete I approached the RDs to inquire about the results.  They listened to my explanation and then asked what our bib # was.  When I told them they had the explanation right away...our chip had been faulty and they had known it for some time.  To their credit they brought us the equivalent prize schwag and cash without hesitation.  For the record, when the official results were released earlier this week our time was 45:56 and was only :15 faster than the co-ed runner-up Sibling Rivalry.  Despite the handful of logistical foibles, the RDs have an ingenious concept and a surefire winner.  They are promising an expanded schedule of these races in the future and you can bet aR will be back in 2011 to defend our title.

Hoppin Mad Mud Run RESULTS

[PHOTO CRED: Team picture (minus Ri) courtesy of Amy Tkaczyk]

NEXT UP:  Pineland Farms 25k Trail Race

85F+1:12=Carnage

Amherst, MASSACHUSETTS--It's been a while since I had my rear end handed to me like the 7 Sisters Trail Race handed it to me today.  Just a complete arse whoppin.  About the only saving grace was spending the day (uh, sharing the agony) with teammates.  aR had a strong showing with six athletes including Ri, Ryan, Steve W., Rich, Geoff, and myself.  The light rain and overcast skies pre-race should have been an omen.  The clouds definitely burned off with temperatures soaring into the mid 80's.  Not having run this race before I was completely at a loss as to a race plan (probably another omen).  Steve and others had filled me in on the course but no measure of words could have prepared me for the killer climbs that lay ahead.  The start was exactly as described...10 feet of running before the entire line of runners began immediately walking uphill.  Rich stayed close and we picked our way up the first climb.  I was feeling very strong for the first 6 miles to the turnaround arriving at the end point around 1:12.  I had lost Rich and passed Wolfe somewhere between 4 and 6.  As I was leaving the turnaround aid station Steve was rolling in and hollered that he was coming after me.  Shortly before the 8 mile mark, while negotiating a steep rocky ascent, my quads began to seize.  I knew right away that it was going to be a long 4 miles to the finish.  I picked up my hydration and Endurolyte rate but with very little success.  While I could shuffle along on some of the flats none of the ups or downs were runnable for me.  It wasn't long before Wolfe caught and passed me.  He encouraged me to tag along but the conductor had already punched my ticket on the pain train.  I refilled at each of the water stops on the way back and even stopped to pee.  Looking at my watch as I summited the final climb, with only a treacherous basalt scree descent to the finish, the watch told the entire story.  I crossed the finish line in 2:49:12.  I was over :30 slower on the way back.  When I finished and sat down both of my quads went into a hyperspasm from hell and I laid on the ground for 20 minutes with my legs straight until the cramps abated.  Although I think my nutrition was adequate, I think my pacing was way too fast.  I should have hit the 1/2 way mark closer to 1:15ish.  As I write the results are not posted, but Geoff was around the Top 10, Ryan the Top 25, and Ri just outside of that.  Wolfe finished 4 minutes ahead of me (1:00 if you subtract the time I took to pee).  In the only real trail mishap of the day, Rich took a 'Graham' on a descent within the final 3 miles and suffered a deep laceration on his forearm.  After he fell he was so spooked that he walked the rest of the way.  Roughly 4 weeks until Pineland Farms and I need to find my mojo again.

NEXT UP: Hoppin Mad Mud Run

Merrimack River Trail Race

Andover, MASSACHUSETTS--Yesterday was my first time at the Merrimack River Trail Race in Andover, MA but it probably won't be my last.  With the passing of winter my focus is now squarely fixed on spring/summer trail racing culminating with one of my favorite races of the year, the Pineland Farm Trail Race on Memorial Day weekend.  With a lot of work to do before then, this year I decided to change my preparation slightly.  Instead of a 1/2 marathon on the roads this spring, I've committed to a number of longer (and tougher) Grand Tree Races.  The Merrimack River Trail Race was the first one on the list.  I picked up Geoff and we made the 45 minute trip to just south of the NH border where we met teammates Rich Lavers, Danny Ferreira, Jay Curry, and Richie Blake.  A rather cool morning had me a little confused with what to wear.  In hindsight, I'm happy I ditched the aR winter hat.  Although I probably hadn't been 10 miles since MNT EPIC last fall, my 15k Bow Lake loop last weekend left me with a great deal of confidence.  In speaking with a number of "Rivah" veterans I understood that the out-and-back course design was flat and fast for the first and last 3 miles and 'hilly' in the middle 4.  I lined up 2 or 3 rows deep and was immediately caught behind a wall of bodies not 10 meters into the race as the course bottlenecked into a double-wide very muddy section with a handful of tight turns.  When I was finally able to start running I found myself in a long line of runners on some pretty flat singletrack.  The pace was, as expected, brisk.  Passing was tough on this first section but thankfully it was only a few hundred meters long.  As things started to shake out I realized that once again I was behind Trail Monster extraordinaire Ryan Triffitt.  Not having raced Ryan much on anything but snow I figured that the dirt was probably his element.  Although it took a tremendous effort, over the next mile or so I finally caught and passed him.  Always the great competitor he had a few encouraging words for me (and I'm sure a few that weren't so encouraging under his breath).  At the 3 mile split I quickly looked down at my watch and was pleased to see that I was under 21 minutes.  With the toughest section of the course still ahead I felt very comfortable with the pace and my early performance.  Starting around the 4 mile mark things did get a little more difficult with a couple of steep climbs in and around the powerlines that had everyone around me (including me) walking.  Luckily these ascents weren't very long and the misery was kept to a minimum.  Within 500 meters from the turn around the leaders started racing back at me.  Kevin Tilton and Ben Nephew were within a few meters of each other with the 3rd place runner some distance back.  Geoff was in 4th place alone with Danny around the Top 10.  I hit the 5 mile turn around in :35, grabbed a quick splash, and headed back the same way I had just come.  I was very pleased to see Rich only 5-10 seconds back and I called for him to catch and run with me.  By the time we hit the final flat 3 miles I had caught up to a runner I had been battling all day long.  He was running a comfortably fast pace and I knew if I could hang onto him we'd have a chance to pick off a couple of  runners ahead of us...and that's just what we did.  In the final mile we passed two other runners but in the process my partner accelerated and gapped me.  I held off those two in the last 25 meters to finish in 33rd place overall (9th overall master) in a time of 1:13:13.  Rich was right behind me in 36th place.  All in all a very good performance for early April.  I ran consistently hard from start to finish, picked up a few places late, and had no health issues.  Thank goodness for snowshoe racing.

NEXT UP: Seven Sisters Trail Race

[Photo credits: Scott Mason Photography]

Granite State Snowshoe Championship

Gorham, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- This past Sunday marked the official end of the snowshoe racing season for me and aR. Thanks to the incredible support of my volunteers and teammates I was able to RD and race the 1st Annual Granite State Snowshoe Championship at the Great Glen Trails Outdoor Center. And boy what a race it was if I do say so myself. The rain throughout the region may have kept many snowshoers away as we had our smallest turnout ever (I think) at 34 finishers but those 34 were definitely hardcore snowshoe racers. The travelling conditions Sunday morning were atrocious from the Pinkham Notch Vistors Center north with numerous reported accidents...some significant. Because I stayed in North Conway Saturday night I was able to mark the course the day before and therefore alleviate most of the race day stress. A special thanks goes out to Steve Wolfe for helping me mark the Aqueduct Loop. I'm sure he was very eager to help...but I'm also sure he was very eager to scout out the "tougher" of the two sides of the course. Despite the small'ish turnout I was sure to have a couple of people to race with as my season long nemesis' Wolfe and Danny Ferreira were there as well as my training partner and teammate Rich Lavers. I had beaten Steve and Danny only once this season and really hadn't been close to them in any other race but I knew this course had plenty of climbing and climbing is my strength. Rich had become stronger as the winter progressed, he had run the course earlier in the winter, and I knew he was ready for a Top 10 finish. We discussed a plan to race together and push each other as hard as we could. At the cannon (how cool is that?) the race started in a flurry...literally, it was snowing for a change! Before I knew it the US Women's National Champion, and aR teammate, Amber Ferreira was motoring by me like I was a spectator. Sooner than I had planned, it was on. For the next kilometer Rich and I ran off of Amber's hip as she gamely pulled us along. When we began to climb she started to come back to us and we pulled ahead attempting to pay back the favor. I figured I'd try to pull the both of them along with me up the hill. The "groomed nordic" 5km may have been the 'easier' side but it wasn't easy. Although many have described it as rolling we were gaining elevation for the first 3+ km. It was at roughly the 2 km mark that Dave Dunham came racing by me. Let's hit the pause button for a moment...yes, that Dave Dunham. He's had a challenging winter from a health standpoint and had planned to 'work into the race'. Because I've never been in front of him I forget he was behind me. I'll admit, it was a twisted confidence boost to be passed by Dave. I entered the XC Stadium in roughly 24:00 and felt really confident in the first 5 km. Danny and Steve were ahead of me but I could still see them and the toughest climbs were coming. As we raced up the Aqueduct Loop I could feel myself gaining on both of them. Nearly 1/2 way up the AQ climb I passed Steve who by this time was alternating between walking and running. I gave him a few words of encouragement (bad move in hindsight) and set off after Danny. Within 100 meters I had pulled Danny in and was content to race in his pocket. As we crested the climb and started the 2 km descent I knew this was the section that would make or break my race against the two of them. I am a weak downhill racer...be it trail or snow. It's something I'm aware of, I just can't seem to figure it out. As anticipated Danny started to move away from me as soon as we turned downhill. Not more than 200 meters down the hill I could hear Steve closing fast. I stepped aside and let him race by. I knew I couldn't hold him off and he had a much better chance of racing Danny from this point than I did. The two of them disappeared before I knew it. I peaked over my shoulder and did not see an imminent challenge so I attempted to push as hard as I could but always mindful of the last major challenge of the course...the powerline climb. When Ri, Austin, Jay M., Rich, Geoff, and I scouted the course a month or so earlier we actually skipped that section. I knew it was a crazy hard climb if for no other reason than it came at roughly the 9 km mark of a tough 10 km race. Keeping my head down, and determined not to walk, I ran that section with the occasional glance backward just to make sure my overall place was secure. I crossed the finish line of my own race in 53:56 (9th overall) with my wife and daughter cheering for me. How cool is that? After I finished I had the good fortune to watch Rich, Amber, and Ann finish as well before heading inside to change into some warm dry clothes and get set up for the awards ceremony. At the awards ceremony aR was once again very well represented. Geoff finished on the podium (3rd) alongside co-winners Jim Johnson and Kevin Tilton. Amber won the womens race (again) with Ann finishing alongside her (again). And thanks to the entire aR team (Steve S., Steve W., Jay M, Joe, Richie, Ann, Amber, Danny, Rich, and Geoff) we once again stood atop the team podium. Despite the numerous challenges we had this season with postponements and cancellations the Granite State Snowshoe Championship was an awesome (and fitting) way to end the season...sitting around with a bunch of friends drinking Redhook and eating cake. I think snowshoe racers are some of the best people around and I'm really, really grateful that they're there to help the winter pass by a little easier. What a great race aR put on...THANK YOU again to all of the volunteers, teammates, and sponsors that made it all possible. I'm not sure I'll race every race I direct, but I'm sure I'll always race this one.

RESULTS courtesy of 3C Race Productions

PHOTOS courtesy of Scott Mason Photography and Becky Peabody

NEXT UP: 7 Sisters Trail Race

US National Snowshoe Championships

Fabius, NY--Saturday's US National Snowshoe Championships were a "highlighted" event on my 2010 racing calendar. I had set an age-group podium finish as a goal for this event back in December. It's been tough to stay motivated to snowshoe with the warm temperatures and melting snow over the past few weeks here in NH but these championships are the northeast on a rare occasion. Despite spending very little time (READ: no time) in snowshoes, my last two weeks of training on the roads had been pretty solid with a renewed emphasis on hill climbing. That strategy would serve me well as the 10k course at Highland Forest Park was a brutal combination of wicked climbing and snow so chewed up it looked as if they'd had a monster truck rally on the course that morning. The men's race would feature 129 snowshoe racers from across the snow covered US. I seeded myself on the far right in the 2nd row at the start. Looking around I saw only a few familiar faces and those were the guys whom I had no chance of racing. In a preview of things to come, the course started uphill. The powdery snow caused near whiteout conditions as racers stammered and staggered all around me desperately searching for two solid footstrikes in a row. The soft snow pack was incredibly choppy with zero definable rail. I must have started poorly off the line because for the next 4-6 minutes I steadily began working my way through the field around slower competitors. Within the first 2 km I recognized my teammate Danny Ferreira. I was actually a little surprised to see him. At Sidehiller, some four weeks ago, he beat me by over 2 minutes and just last week had run a sub 3 hour marathon. Racing with him reaffirmed that my effort was good. When we reached the singletrack section at approximately the 3 km mark we got caught behind a group of slower snowshoers. Within a few minutes the guy in the front of the line stepped off the trail and allowed us to race by. I felt the pace quicken immediately. The narrow width of the singletrack and the hairpin turns made the footing very challenging. On at least two occasions I stumbled forward planting my bare hands wrist deep in snow. Once out of the singletrack and back on the double-wide, Danny accelerated. The descent was marked with 8 inch deep 'shoe holes so I decided to let him go. As he raced out of sight I picked up another couple of places as I raced around our singletrack buddies. I ran alone for the next few minutes but as we began to climb again I noticed Danny and the two guys he was racing coming back to me. I felt very strong on the ascents and eventually closed the gap with Danny. A familiar pattern would evolve over the final 2 kms...Danny would pull away on the descents and I'd reel him back in on the climbs. Knowing the final 350 meters was uphill I liked my chances if I could stay close on the final descent. The only problem with the strategy was that Danny probably knew this as well. As we approached the final descent he put the hammer down. I just couldn't match his incredible youthful strength. Although I did close the gap on the last climb (the race finished uphill, just like it started) I wasn't a threat to him. Astonishingly he actually passed someone on that final climb to finish in 36th place overall. I crossed the line in 38th place (6th overall Master) in an unofficial time of 58:58. Although I didn't achieve my goal of a podium finish I was beaten by three of the best northeast masters snowshoers...Sean Snow, Tim Van Orden, and David Principe. The top aR mens performance of the day was Geoff Cunningham's 17th overall finish. In the womens race, aR's Ann Rasmussen and Amber Ferreira had incredibly successful races. In her first full season of snowshoe racing, Ann posted a stellar 7th overall finish (3rd in her age-group). And finally, in the aR highlight of the year (heck, perhaps the last 5 years)...Amber Ferreira outraced 70 of the best womens snowshoe racers in the country to win the 10th Annual PowerSox US National Snowshoe Championships! See the podium ceremony clip below;


Next Up: Granite State Snowshoe Championships

[PHOTO CREDS: Chris at finish (Scott Mason Photography), Chris & Danny, climbing to the finish (Scott Mason Photography), aR team photo...Geoff, Danny, Ann, Amber, Chris (Scott Mason Photography)]