Tough Mountain Challenge

aR @ Tough Mountain Challenge
[L-R] Jason Massa, Dan Dion, Chris J. Dunn,
Rich Lavers, Steve Sprague

"If you can't take the heat, don't tickle the dragon." - Anonymous

Sunday River, MAINE -- Obstacle course racing is a fairly new genre.  I actually find the stunning popularity (reference 20,000 people at an event in Amesbury, MA this month) quite an interesting phenomena.  And I've had long discussions during equally long car rides, without consensus, about the explanation behind it.  Regardless, aR has capitalized on the novelty of the sport to carve out some measure of success winning back-to-back titles at the Hoppin' Mad Mud Run.  I'll admit that 80% of the field at most of these events are groups of co-workers, sorority sisters, or weekend warriors but the task is always the same...be the fastest team to cross the finish line.  And don't get me wrong, I think the whole idea of folks getting out and crawling around in the mud, hurdling walls, and running through the occasional pit of fire is a great way to promote physical activity and teamwork.  It may actually be the spark (pun intended) to light a fire under the asses of some people in need of a little motivation to 're-start' or 'ramp up' their exercise programs.  And without the aforementioned 80%, there would be very few (or no) opportunities for the other 20%.  So with that, when the Tough Mountain Challenge came to our attention a few months back (just off our win at Hoppin') we didn't hesitate.  Three of the five from the podium crew at Hoppin' (Jason Massa, Rich Lavers, and myself) would travel to Newry, ME along with newcomer Dan Dion subbing for the injured Steve Wolfe.  But we weren't the only aR members racing.  Steve Sprague raced as a solo with Nick Langelotti and Craig Poirier both leading duo's.  The group that we had assembled to challenge for the 4-person team podium was presumably as strong any team there but because this looked like a bigger event there was no way of telling what the competition was.  With a 1:20 start time we'd have a long time to sit around and anticipate the task at hand.  When it was finally time to start we had full sun with temps easily in the 90's.  As I said to the group before the start if some other team jumped us early on let them go but keep them in sight.  The intel we had received from those who had already finished the course suggested there was plenty of climbing to do which played right to our strength.  As if scripted, when the go command was given for the 1:20 start a young team of guys hammered off the line and began the first ascent.  Running up a muddy ski slope through the water spraying snow cannons was tricky but felt great after baking in the sun at the starting line.  By the time we finished the first 300 meter climb the group of 4 that blasted the start had become three.  We easily cruised by them and began to open a gap on the rest of the field.  The roughly 3-5 km course was a steady diet of up and down the mountain with obstacles like 8 ft climbing walls, spider webs, tunnels, and steep 25 meter rope-aided ravine ascents.  Amazingly there were no back-ups and we took advantage of racing out front to cleanly negotiate the obstacles...for the most part.  With Jason leading we ran through the first tunnel and after popping out continued to traverse the gnarly rocky ravine to the second, must smaller and sketchier, tunnel.  It was only when we emerged from the second tunnel that we realized we had gone off course.  After a brief discussion we scrambled back up out of the ravine in the direction we had travelled and quickly got back on course.  Fortunately we had a large enough lead on our nearest competitors that our position in the heat was secure, but we all knew that there was still at least one more wave of 4-person teams to follow.  We were racing the clock for sure.  Excelling in the tight twisty singletrack sections we began to catch the slower teams from the 1:00 pm starting wave.  We flew down the final 'slip'n slide' obstacle and ran through the finish together in 34:50.97.  And in the end it turned out that even our 2:00 "extra tunnel" gaff left us enough cushion to take home the win in the 4-person category as our closest competitors finished 5:00 back.  We weren't the only aR podium team however, Nick and his buddy took 2nd place in the duo category.  Overall the event was extremely well designed and run.  Kudos to the folks at Sunday River for putting on a great race!  We'll be back in 2012 to defend our title for sure.  And who says belt buckles are for sub 24 hour 100 miler finishers?!

1st Place Buckle!

NEXT UP: Kingman Farm Trail Race presented by GoLite Footwear

Bradbury Scuffle

The aR crew: (R-L)
Me, Judson, Doc, Dan, Gary, Austin, Craig, & Mike

In some mysterious way woods have never seemed to me to be static things. In physical terms, I move through them; yet in metaphysical ones, they seem to move through me.  - John Fowles

Pownal,  MAINE -- This morning I took the trip up I295 to Bradbury State Park (ME) for the Bradbury Scuffle hosted by our good friends from Trail Monster Running and expertly co-directed by Ian Parlin and Ryan Triffitt.  I've raced at Bradbury on trails and snow but never on the "other side of the road" so this would be a new experience for me.  When I arrived I parked next to aR's Judson Cake and we chatted while the rest of the crowd began to arrive.  I warmed up on the last few hundred meters of the course just to get a sense of my surroundings although as it turns out I didn't 'pre-run' back far enough.  Starting on double-wide I tried to seed myself approximately 3 rows back somewhere in the Top 20.  Being a 6 miler the front group went out predictably hard and I did my best to avoid the scattering of rocks and roots early on while in a constant elbow to elbow mosh pit for position.  Within a few hundred meters I found myself behind RD Ian Parlin who was running at a very good pace.  An extremely strong and talented trail runner, with far more miles on his legs in 2011 than I, it became my intention to stick with him as long as possible letting him show me the way through the 2+ mile section of twisting singletrack.  Ian and I picked off a handful of runners in this section as we rollercoasted through this sweet flowy section of trail.  At one point I actually felt a little dizzy staring at his feet watching for the rocks and roots that would appear in an instant from under his step.  Approaching the first aid station around 3.5 miles he pulled over for a drink allowing me to run ahead.  I fully expected him to surge back and retake the position so I focused on the next group of competitors up ahead trying to get hooks on them.  As we spilled back onto double wide for the last 1.5+ miles I spotted a group led by Trail Monster Running's Jeremy Bonnett.  He had passed Ian and I on along the singletrack section and accelerated away.  I was surprised to see that I had made up some ground on his group.  On a slight incline I accelerated by and took the lead on this hard charging group.  Jeremy uttered some words of encouragement and I could feel someone come along.  Turns out it was him.  Using the Steve Wolfe approach of running 'ascared' and not looking back I picked up the cadence and tried to relax my upper body on the smooth slightly rolling section of double-track but I could feel someone within striking distance.  With less than a mile to go on a very small climb Jeremy passed me again (this time for good) and put the hammer down.  I picked up one more place in the last few hundred meters and finished 12th overall (3rd masters) in an unofficial 44:09.  After last weekend's embarrassment at Loon Mountain Race I felt like I ran very hard and raced for the first time in a while.  It's possible I may have made my move past Jeremy's group a tad too early as I could not hold him off in the end, but all in all I'm very pleased with the effort.  After three consecutive weekend's of racing I'm looking forward (but not as much as Karen) to a weekend off.  From a team perspective we had a great turnout with a number of awesome performances.  It was great to see Austin, Doc, Craig, Mike R., and Dan D..  And we had two podium finishes...Judson who was first overall setting a new course record and Gary who won another age-group podium.

UP NEXT: Tough Mountain Challenge, Sunday River, ME

PS.  Thanks to Ian, Ryan, and the entire Trail Monster Running team for another outstanding event.  These folks are the standard by which we measure our event hosting.  Once again a job very, very well done!

Loon Mountain Race

The beauty and misery of
Upper Walking Boss.
[Scott Mason Photography]

"No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied-it speaks in silence to the very core of your being." -Ansel Adams

Lincoln, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- It's amazing the difference a week makes.  Buoyed and a little cocky after last weekend's "conquering" of the Cranmore Hill Climb (ran the whole damn thing) I came plummeting down to earth at yesterday's Loon Mountain Race directed by Paul Kirsch.  If it's an epic physical collapse you're looking for look no further than my racing resume.  My Top 10 is as ugly as they come.  And while the 15+ minutes I spent on Upper Walking Boss may not make the all-time list...it was nonetheless a gruesome slow motion one-sided beatdown.  Like 50% of the races I do, Loon Mountain wasn't on my schedule at the beginning of the year.  But the events of the week prior (see below) made it mandatory that I be there...and if I was going to be there I was going to race.  I pride myself as a very capable climber relishing the challenge that any hill or mountain has to offer.  Because this would be my first Loon Mountain Race, I gathered as much intel as I could from trail/snowshoe/mountain running friends like Scott Mason, Paul Bazanchuk, and Rich Miller.  And I'm so glad I did because they told me that the infamous Upper Walking Boss section of the course (700' of vertical in 1 km) was not the end of the race and that one more steep descent and ascent to the finish remained.  Along with 218 other (fool)hardy mountain runners we took off along the Pemigewassett River for a short section of downhill racing on double wide gravel road before a "S" turn got us to the mountain.  I ran comfortably hard during the first 10 minutes of the race trying to find a low sustainable climbing gear.  Was fortunate to have the opportunity to run with Jeff Dengate early on but couldn't hold him as he slowly moved away.  Shortly after Jeff moved out of sight Paul Bazanchuk approached on my right shoulder and gave me the thumbs up.  He and I ran "together" for the next 15 minutes.  At some point just below the final climb before Upper Walking Boss I gave up the silly idea of attempting to run opting instead to powerhike behind Paul as he continued his amazing ascent of the mountain with a steady and resolute short-strided running cadence.  As I picked my way down toward UWB I briefly took in the amazing views of the Lincoln area while attempting to hold off a hard charging crowd back behind.  As a first timer to UWB you cannot imagine how steep and how long it looks as you make the sharp right hand turn onto the climb.  The competitors at the top look like ants.  As you begin UWB it's a full on assault with the mountain simultaneously stealing the juice from your quads and ripping out what little courage you had left in your soul.  Not five minutes into my first UWB experience I felt humbled, over matched, and under prepared.  I was passed by at least 10 racers without as much as an iota of fight.  I paused briely to stand upright every 20 steps or so just to stretch my back and hamstrings.  I was so deep in the hurt locker that I just continued to stare at the mountain under my feet as each agonizing minute passed.  I kept telling myself that every climb has a top and eventually so did UWB but not before it ravaged my legs and whatever Top 40 finish I had going.  As I began the final descent I felt my right calf tighten in an ominous warning of a monumental physical breakdown.  Deciding it was better to finish than to run the last downhill I choose to walk the first 50 meters before testing the calf out a second time.  Miraculously it held and I was able to negotiate (albeit slowly) the final 100 meters of ski slope.  With a cheering crowd I was able to run the last climb up to the finish.  My 1:06:48 was good enough for 51st place overall (20th master).  aR as a team had a pretty good showing with Dan Dion (42nd), Richie Blake (87th), and 'Drea McCusker (104th) making the trip.  After the race Paul announced that he was stepping down from RDing the event he started in 2006 and that aR would take over the direction of the race.  It's really an incredible honor and challenge for us but one that we are excited to tackle.  Without question Loon Mountain is one of the most spectacularly beautiful and demanding races I've ever done.  And for my money, Upper Walking Boss is the most brutal 10-20 minutes of any race anywhere.

UP NEXT: Bradbury Scuffle

RESULTS
Photo courtesy of Scott Mason Photography

US Mountain Running Championships

The "down" side of mountain racing
at Cranmore.
[Photo courtesy of Joe Viger]

"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves." - Sir Edmund Hillary

North Conway, NH -- Sunday's Cranmore Hill Climb served as the 2011 US Mountain Running Championships and provided me yet another incredible opportunity to race against the best.  But it wasn't the guys from CO, WA, & CA that I was at all interested in...it was the men whom I've done battle with on the snow, trails, and mountains of New England that I was most interested in testing my mettle.  At 42 years of age I'm very fortunate to be in good enough health (and decent enough physical condition) to be able to compete.  While not a "mountain goat" I am very comfortable racing up mountains and actually consider hill climbing a strength.  So when it appeared as though the Cranmore Hill Climb would finally fit in my schedule I committed.  Teammate Ken Young and I drove up to North Conway and met fellow teammates Dan Dion, Dan Hayden, Andrea McCusker, Ahna McCusker, and Judson Cake.  The layout of the course was pretty straightforward, three 3.87 km laps up and down the mountain with 206 meters of gain on each lap.  Not having scouted the course I decided to attempt to gain as much pre-race knowledge as I could and polled nearly everyone I knew including master's mountain running legend and fellow competitor Paul Bazanchuk.  Paul and I have raced against each other on snow, trails, and mountains.  I have a great deal of respect for him and his incredible fitness and tenacity.  Although I frequently see him before a race I rarely see him during them.  He's typically way out in front.  When I saw him finishing a warm-up lap before the start I took the opportunity to ask him about the course.  Gracious and forthcoming as always he offered up a little inside knowledge.  And when I asked if all of the climbs were "runnable" he said that they definitely were.  So, I quickly formulated a race plan no less than 10 minutes before the start.  I'd go out conservatively on the first lap to see first hand how challenging the climbs were and then from there would attempt to run the whole damn thing picking off the guys who may have gone out a little too hard in the beginning.  Tim VanOrden told me at Mt. Washington last year that it's always better to be passing people rather than getting passed at these mountain races.  As the "Go" command was given by mountain running legend Dave Dunham I hung off the back half of the field as the top mountain runners in the US blasted off of the line and hurdled themselves at the mountain.  After roughly 100 meters the course began to climb.  Almost immediately I encountered slower traffic (some walking) and hugging the far right side of the access road made my way around 15-20 people.  The course was a great mix of ski slopes, access roads, and singletrack with traverses and even a couple of brief descents in the 2+km climb to the high point.  After having run the entire first climb I attempted to relax on the descent and hold whatever places I had gained.  Still needing a great deal of work in that area I gave back a handful of places to runners who seemed to be flying 2 feet off of the ground as they glided downhill.  Passing the START/FINISH I grabbed a splash of water and headed up for lap #2.  I leap frogged 3-4 guys passing them on the ups (which I was still running and they walking) and then giving back the places on the descents (which they were running faster...still).  I passed the START/FINISH again in approximately 40:00 having run two very consistent laps.  Just past the 1km mark of the last climb I caught a glimpse in the distance of Paul Bazanchuk.  Because I am very, very rarely within 5-10 minutes of him I was immediately buoyed seeing him within striking distance.  Picking up the climbing pace (still running) I was able to close the gap and get to his shoulder.  Without speaking he acknowledged my presence and I felt incredibly uplifted.  As we both slogged through those final few climbs (running by the way) I briefly got in front and implored him to follow feeling that I owed him the favor of pulling him up the last pitch after he let me ride along for the last few hundred meters.  Beginning the last downhill I knew that as good of a climber as I am...Paul is three times as good of a descender.  And it wasn't longer before he blasted by me chasing down the 2-3 guys just ahead of us.  Not really sure how to go any faster than I was going and stay on my feet I made my way back down to the bottom of the mountain and crossed the finish line in 1:00:40 and 52 place overall (19th master).  As proud as I am of a Top 20 finish at a US Championship I much more proud of the fact that I ran the whole damn thing.  I realize that there were scores of men who beat me and walked, but I was also in a private 1-on-1 battle with the mountain.  And this time, I won.

Photo credit: Joe Viger Photography

NEXT UP: Bradbury Scuffle

The Pinnacle

Finishing Lap #1 of the Pinnacle
in Newport, NH
[Photo: Gianina Lindsey]

"There are no failures -- just experiences and your reactions to them."  -Tom Krause

Newport, NH -- Is it possible to love something but at the same time not enjoy it?  Sunday I continued my tormented relationship with mountain bike racing at the Pinnacle in Newport, NH.  Before I go any further...let me say that the folks at Team-Pinnacle are fantastic!  aR has been racing their fall double duathlon, the Pinnacle Challenge, for ever and ever.  They couldn't be nicer and have some the best singletrack in the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee Region for sure.  Now back to the story.  For years I've really, really enjoyed mountain biking.  Heck, I just bought myself a new Felt Q720 hardtail to add to my collection.  Nothing fancy, mountain biking is a diversionary activity for me so I can't really justify dropping $3k on a rig that will spend more time next to my furnace than in the woods.  But it's something I love and it's something I can do with my son Brayden (more on him later) and my brother Jay (when he's around...or when we take trips to places like Moab).  And it has always seemed to me that if you really enjoyed something "recreationally" then it's only natural that you'd also really enjoy it "competitively".  It's that way for trail racing, road racing, and snowshoeing for me.  But as hard as I try, I just can't seem to love mountain bike racing as much as I do mountain bike riding.  And I'll try to explain that paradox.  Brayden, Timmy Lindsey, the Lindsey Clan, and I headed to Newport this weekend for a planned Father's Day mountain bike race.  I'm familiar with the course from the Pinnacle Challenge each fall and as I already mentioned the folks at Team-Pinnacle are great so it really was an easy choice.  Timmy, in his first mountain bike race, planned to ride the Novice class (2 laps/10 miles) while Brayden & I the Sport class (3 laps/16 miles).  The first mistake I made was in my own self-evaluation and class selection.  I've raced the 24 Hours of Great Glen for the past 4 years and I've ridden Slick Rock in Utah so surely if anyone is a novice it is not I!  Like I said...mistake #1.  I lined up with the other Sport-Masters II riders who would go off in the 3rd wave exactly 2 minutes behind the first group with no fewer than 5 or 6 waves of Sport & Novice riders to follow.  The course would include a shortened 4 mile loop and then two 6 mile loops climbing all the way to the top of the Pinnacle before the incredibly fast and fun 2+ mile berm filled "pump track" descent.  The bonus would be riding the "pump track" on all three loops.  It almost made the killer granny gear climbs worth it...almost.  Within minutes of starting the race I felt like I was log jamming faster traffic behind me on the narrow technical singletrack.  Acknowledging I was slower I repeatedly pulled off to let the stronger riders pass thus eliminating any possible rhythm or momentum (of mine).  The RDs describe the Pinnacle course as "technical" and these dudes are mountain bikers but in years past I've ridden the entire track without as much as a dab.  But in all cases I've been riding with very little pressure from a large chase pack.  Normally I'm accustomed to yielding to faster guys (and gals) on mountain bikes so it's really not that big of a deal but nearly 3/4 of the Sport & Novice field behind me (some 20+) passed me during that first lap making for a choppy first 40 minutes.  One of those 20+ was my son Brayden who started several minutes back.  With very little effort he made up the time gap and passed me before we hit the high point of the course.  His 18 year old legs, substantially more seat time, and fearlessness on the descents were a trifecta that I couldn't possibly overcome and, with the exception of video games, for the first time in his life he was kicking his old man's ass in something competitive.  Is there any better male "right of passage" than that?  Okay, there are a few but it's probably in the Top 5.  Just before "The Plummet", located at the end of each loop, I took a wrong turn.  Within a 100 meters I realized my mistake and doubled-back but the mind screwing was just beginning.  Racing through the START/FINISH area I headed out for loop 2 of 3.  This time a longer 6 mile version of the same loop we just did including an additional ascent to the very top of the course.  Again, like in the first loop although with slightly less frequency, I dodged out of the way as faster riders approached from behind.  By this time my confidence began to wane and I was dishing on technical spots that I otherwise could pull off.  And for some reason each time I fell it became harder and harder to get my shoe released from my pedal resulting in repeated slow motion hip/forearm shivers to the dirt.  Approaching the big drop back to the START/FINISH I had had enough and decided to call it quits.  I wasn't bonked or injured.  I just wasn't having any fun.  And looking at my watch...the Expert and Elite classes were getting ready to get on course for their 4 laps!  I knew had I started that 3rd lap all of those riders would be racing around me as well.  With respect to not funking up their race I opted to just get out of the way.  My first DNF this year for sure and perhaps...ever?  It's weird, as the standard bearer for this team and organization I feel incredibly guilty and ashamed when I don't measure up to our mantra, RACE acidotic which means giving nothing less than everything you have.  It's what I admire in so many of my teammates and what at times I lack so woefully.  I still love mountain biking, I just don't think I enjoy mountain bike racing.  And I'm really, really bummed and confused about it.

NEXT UP: US Mountain Running Championships at Cranmore Mountain (NH)

POST-SCRIPT:  Nobody asked me and nobody probably cares but after reflecting 24 hours on the race I know what I'd do differently if I ever hosted a mountain bike race.  First, the Expert and Elite classes would race first thereby assuring that these folks would have a clear course to ride.  I'm sure they think it sucks to have to avoid the slower Sport & Novice riders.  Depending on the course (laps or loop) the Sport & Novice riders would race once the Elite & Expert riders had finished or began their final lap.  And the Sport & Novice riders would seed themselves according to ability like any other damn trail or road race.  It makes absolutely no sense to me to line faster riders up behind the slower ones.  Seeding would assure that the fast folks get out and race on clean track and the slower riders would ride off the back also having a clean track to ride.  Clearly the likelihood exists that the slower riders will be lapped but only a small margin and only near the end of their race (or not at all for the fewer lap Novice riders).  For sure I'm no mountain bike racer or RD and as someone as already said to me..."they obviously do it the way they do it for a reason!" but for me I'd probably enjoy it a little more without feeling like I'm holding everyone else up.  But what the hell do I know?

Exeter Trail Races presented by GoLite Footwear

Without question my favorite
course of the trail racing season!
[Photo Gianina Lindsey]

 "Beyond the very extreme of fatigue and distress, we may find amounts of ease and power we never dreamed ourselves to own; sources of strength never taxed at all because we never push through the obstruction." - William James

Exeter, NH -- I eat breakfast with him.  I drive to races with him.  I even warm-up with with him.  There isn't anyone on the face of the planet who I know better than my #1 competition at any event I race.  Yet from time to time he befuddles me.  Does something so unexpected that I wonder how much I really do know him?  I know my greatest competition, and he is I.  As an exercise physiologist I know that if we tested every trail runner finishing in the Top 15 at the Exeter Trail Races presented by GoLite Footwear there would very little physiologic variance in nearly any parameter you'd want to highlight...VO2max, lactate threshold, mitochondrial density. Yet clearly there are differences in performance.  So if physiology can't account for the differences in performance in these particular athletes, then what does?  The quote from above and my own personal experience with the topic (the Exeter Trail Race this weekend as Exhibit A) suggests that the greatest difference in athletes finishing in the Top 15 is fear.  When each of us is faced with the "obstruction", and we all confront it, the athlete(s) who in that moment are not afraid of what lies on the other side...are the ones who are able to continue to push forward and find endless resources of ease and power.  William James' quote is on the footer of my blog.  You'd think of ANYONE, it would be ME who would know first hand the benefit of pushing through the obstruction!  Yet a woeful lack of attention and commitment to the moment, resulted in a mental shortcoming at the instant in which I needed all of my focus on that problem.

The 10 miler at the Exeter Trail Races presented by GoLite Footwear is hosted by acidotic RACING and skillfully directed by teammates Sarah Silverberg and Ri Fahnestock (course designer).  The course that Ri has crafted is quickly becoming one of my favorite trail racing experiences.  A dizzying roller coaster of roots and rocks, the figure 8 layout is as much a test of athleticism as it is aerobic endurance.  In 2010 I had one of my best all-time performances racing the course as hard from start to finish as any race I've ever done.  With a very consistent and successful winter and early spring I had a tremendous amount of confidence heading into the weekend.  Remembering how important getting out quickly was to last year's performance I jumped off the gun and worked to get out front before the singletrack narrowed the 80+ strong field (of 4 & 10 milers).  And apparently it worked...because as we hit the singletrack (20 meters into the race) I was leading the field!  Not exactly what I was looking to do, but I figured that eventually the Top 5 would get tired of my slow pace and find their way around.  For what seemed like way too long they let me lead.  With the abundance of toe grabbing rocks and roots there was no way I was looking back, instead trying to focus on the measured cadence of my pursuers.  Eventually of course they went around but because the 4 & 10 mile races were held on the same course for the first 2+ miles there was really no telling what place I was in when 4-6 of them trucked on by including my teammate and eventual 2nd place finisher Dan Hayden.  Content to let that lead pack do their thing I settled into a comfortably hard pace remembering that 10 miles at "Fort Rock" can be brutal.  I ran alone for a while skillfully picking lines through the boulder fields, root stalks, and hairpin turns.  Shortly after crossing under Rt 101 I caught glimpses in my peripheral vision of another challenge and I recognized the familiar singlet of Coastal Athletic Association.  We raced within 3-5 meters for a mile or so but I could feel him gaining on me.  At some point when he was within shouting distance I spoke back words of encouragement and alerted him to some of the more abrupt directional changes with shouts of "LEFT, LEFT, LEFT!" or "RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT!".  Karma always comes back around and any chance I get to spread a little around during a race I never miss an opportunity.  When we finally were running within a meter of each other I learned his name was Tim.  We agreed we'd work together to hold off the hard charging duo of Dave Merkt (Shenipsit Striders) and my aR teammate Dan Dion who had closed the gap and were eager to make it a four car locomotive.  When I sensed Dave & Dan closing I asked Tim if he wanted to go by but he refused instead encouraging me to keep up the pace.  Mere moments later the other two had their grips on us and now I was dragging four instead of just two.  It's incredibly difficult to hold off one challenge on slippery singletrack, but holding off three was damn near impossible.  Feeling as though I had slowed considerably since our company had arrived I veered off the trail and let Tim and Dave race by but to my surprise Dan asked me to pull a little longer.  When we hit the Rt 101 tunnel with less than 1.5 miles to go Dan easily dispatched of me.  It was at that moment that I stared the obstruction squarely in the eyes.  I had a pretty easy choice...stick with Dan and let him pull me to the finish or fade back in fear of an epic collapse.  Without the proper attention to the challenge I squandered the moment.  There wasn't anything physically wrong with me when Dan raced around.  Fear prevented me from tapping into those sources of ease and power James talks about and that I've felt numerous times before.  I managed to keep Dan in sight but never challenged him finishing 7 seconds back in 10th overall (3rd master) in 1:18:19.  Ri switched the course up on us this year so technically it was our first time racing this design.  Had the race been another few hundred meters my good trail/snowshoe racing brother from the Striders John Agosto and my aR teammate Rich Lavers would have surely caught me.  I believe growth comes from learning and on Sunday I learned that I need to write and keep James' quote with me at every race and read it right before I start. 

RESULTS

Next Up: Pinnacle Mountain Bike Race, Newport, NH