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“…at the end it isn’t over…”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Alternatively: Me, Madonna, and Hybrid… at the Seneca Creek 50K.

So, WAY back when, IGGY had started the theme of Spring 50Ks, and I expanded her theme by listing an exhaustive compilation of spring races, from Holiday Lake in February, all the way to Pineland Farms at the end of May. Seneca Creek seemed to fit our collective Bimble sensibilities due to the “low key” nature of the race, although several griped at the lack of shirts. I liked the race for a couple other reasons, including the fact that I knew the general area well as it is used to be a frequent mini-vacation spot for the family, and it was also in the general neighborhood of the well liked HAT run and Foxcatcher 50Ks. I planned bringing the family for a long weekend, but my son’s busy professional schedule nixed that plan. Ultimately, other Bimblers realized the timing of the run was not great, being quite early in the spring, and they opted out as well. I was left with the option of going it alone, or bailing out. Having chosen to “bail out” on Promise Land LAST spring, I dug my heels in and committed to doing it.

Leading up to the race, I prepared by doing a SLIGHT taper, which I believe helped. I then packed an absolute minimum of stuff to bring, just to keep things simple. My biggest fear was the boredom of the drive there and back (about 335 miles each way). Fortunately, I had company in the form of Allstate’s dog Madonna, and IGGY’s new dog Hybrid. I didn’t know if they would be allowed on the course, but I KNEW I needed company for the ride.

Just before leaving work Friday, we had a building power outage which I was told would last until at least 10PM. This was my last and best excuse to cancel my trip. But, a coworker who knew how long I had been planning the race insisted I go, and that he would make sure all systems were OK. He wound up staying at the office until the sun came up dealing with the problem.

So, I hit the road at about 3:45. By 9:45 I was checked in to my hotel, with Hybrid and Madonna successfully sneaking into the room. I ate dinner in the room (yes, my Friday night favorite: Red Beans and Rice). Hybrid woke me up Saturday at 5:15 or so, although I had been up on and off dealing with the problems in the office anyway. By 5:45 (8 hours after check-in) I was checked out of the hotel. A short drive, with a stop for coffee had me as near to the finish line as I could park, which was about 1 mile away. In short order, I was picked up by a school bus for the drive “upstream” to the starting line, which took about 1/2 hour. On the ride, I got a sense of how laid-back the whole operation was, as a large manila envelope was passed amongst the runners, with instructions to deposit their forms, along with $10 or $20 as appropriate! Apparently, the honor system has proven to work just fine. I met several very nice road runners on the ride, all of whom I believe are actually trail runners, they just haven’t realized it yet. All spoke highly of the RD Ed Schultze, with whom I had a long string of e-mail correspondence and concur as to what a great guy he seems to be.

We got off the bus just in time for the “early option” start at 7AM. This was due to the “special circumstances”, namely, all the snow on the trail. Unfortunately, I was not doing the “early option”, so I stood around and shivered for an hour. Despite the extremely “frugal” nature of this race, I was pleasantly surprised to see mylar blankets available for us pre-race. Check-in was efficient, the lines for the porta-johns were manageable, and I noticed a LOT of snow all around. I would estimate the temperature at 8AM to be about 30 degrees.

At 8AM sharp, RD Ed said “go”, and that was it. We started along an undulating asphalt bike/walk trail through some sort of very “groomed” municipal park / school grounds. There was black ice where the trail had been shoveled, and about a foot of snow elsewhere. About 10 minutes into the race, we suddenly veared right off the pavement and uphill (what else?) on single track. The snow was hard and VERY irregular, making for firm, grippy, ankle twisting terrain. About 10 minutes later, we wound down to Seneca Creek, which would remain in view, under foot, or above the knee for the remainder of the race. Except for road crossings, bridges, and the final mile, all the rest was single track. At a little past 1/2 hour, the MAJOR water crossing, with rope for assistance presented itself. The water was perhaps knee deep, swift, and cold. It was good to get wet early and not worry the rest of the way.

The snow was never very slippery, but it was often “bumpy”. When crossing fields, power lines, etc… you could run “wide” around the postholes and glide along the top of the snow. The “clydesdales” indicated that strategy did not work for them.

At one hour, I hit the first aid station, advertised at 7 miles. Despite the fact that there were MANY runners ahead of me, I had a bad feeling that my pace was too fast. Over the next section, I consciously paced myself a little better, and resolved to make a lengthy stop at the next aid station. The next aid station was out in the open, with a bright sun and rising temperatures. I took quite a while to eat, drink, and shed my hat, gloves, and jacket. After chatting with the aid station crew, I moved on down the creek.

During this next stretch, I realized how confusing this race was. Following the trail was easy, as it was a single “long distance” hiking trail, blazed blue just like Connecticut. The confusion came from the fact that there were two different race distances starting at two different times, making for 4 combinations. To make matters worse, nobody was sure who was running the marathon or who was running the 50K until aid station 3 at the 15 mile mark. At aid station 3, if you were doing the 50K, you went out around a large lake and back to the aid station (now aid station 4) and then finished the marathon course. I stopped to take a picture, and moved on. After aid station 3/4 there was minimal snow, but worsening mud. There were a few shoe-sucking stretches and there were some good falls witnessed.

With the different distances and starting times, I never spent very long running with anyone. I did run with a marathoner for a while, but I wasn’t sure that was smart. I then, after taking a side trail, caught up with a bunch of 4 other guys who pulled me along pretty good. We had a nice pace line going, then somebody came up from behind and somehow upset everyone’s rhythm, including his own. He sort of reminded me of a bowling ball knocking over bowling pins. I emerged unscathed and alone, and I never saw any of them again. Late in the race, for the last 10 miles or so, the snow all but disappeared, and the trail mostly hugged the banks of the creek. There were 2 long uphills, both of which were reasonable for walking, but I managed to maintain a mild jog on both.

After the last aid station, the Goldfish Aquarium (goldfish were a MAJOR if mysterious theme throughout the race) I eventually caught up to 2 guys moving fast. I had been warned there was a MAJOR hill with 3 miles left, so I hesitated to pass them. The anticipated hill failed to materialize, and I was tempted to speed up. Just then, 2 things happened: an unanticipated aid station, with 2.2 mile to go appeared, and one guy said to the other “here comes the hill”. Oh. This was a Nipmuck stairs kind of climb and nobody was going to run. One of the 2 guys ahead of me let me past because I was walking hard. We crested the hill, and shortly thereafter, the guy ahead of me ran off-course. We called repeatedly, and he turned back, but he was “broken”. Now it was just me and the other guy, pushing hard. The trail has mileage markers every 1/2 mile. My running partner knew the terrain and we both knew the distance. With a mile to go, we came out onto the dirt road where my truck was parked. I was tempted to throw my “extras” in the bed, but didn’t. I pushed him hard, but couldn’t close the last 5 yards or so. The last mile clicked by WELL under 8 minutes on a hard packed level dirt road. Ouch!

After the race, a short walk brought us to the banks of the Potomac, where a barbecue lunch was served. It was a very nice scene, and everyone was enjoying themselves in the relative warmth. After chatting a little more, I had a choice of walking a mile back to the truck, waiting for a bus, or thumbing a ride. I walked.

A quick change in the truck made me feel well enough to drive a while until I could get to the nearest branch of my gym for a hot shower and (truly) clean clothes. I felt MUCH better. Then, I resolved to not get out of the driver’s seat until I got home. The wise counsel of multiple Bimblers who were co-piloting me by cell phone convinced me to stop for food and drink, which I reluctantly agreed to do. One such lengthy conversation caused me to totally lose track of where I was, and resulted in my first ever visit to Philadelphia (oops!). A one hour wait at the George Washington bridge was an annoyance, but I still managed to be home a mere 30 hours after I left.

An excellent race, great people, a beautiful trail. Oh, and what about Madonna and Hybrid? Well, Madonna has accompanied me on long runs before, and proved, once again, to behave perfectly and look good doing it. Hybrid was, sadly, overexcited at the start, jumping all over the place, in and out of various pockets and pouches. He suffered a slight injury in his overly exuberant state and wound up injured, ever so slightly. The medical director generously offered to tend to Hybrid while I raced, so I reluctantly left him in good hands. The word is he will be back on the trail in no time.

Time: 4:36:06 I think. Place: TBD

To view more pictures click here:

Updates: A nice, and totally different, race report here: Run 192 from a nice guy I talked to at the finish. AND, once I found his posting, I found that HE knew where the race results were, which is here: Marathon, then 50K Results

On the drive up to the Colchester Half Marathon this weekend, I realized that I hadn’t run a road race in exactly a year–since last year’s Colchester.   In some respects, it is about as close to being a trail run as a non-trail run can be.  Lots of wildlife (mostly bovine) and several sections on narrow, muddy dirt roads–snow-covered this year–keep you entertained. The Bimbler contingent (minus Bimble, unfortunately) ended up being the same group which had run a Guilford 16 miler the weekend before (which, I should say, was a strikingly similar run:  same lovely rural scenery alternating wooded areas and farmland, same rolling hills with the occasional killer grind).  So we were all well-prepared for the challenges and pleasures of Colchester.

I drove up with Catamount and was glad to be able to find Sport at the registration area (among nearly 400 other intense-looking runners). Guthrie and Scoobie were busy doing appetizer runs, so we didn’t locate them until right before the start (sorry we didn’t find you for the ritual pictures!)  I debated ditching my water belt, since aid stations were available, but out of force of habit decided to keep it at the last minute.

The perfect amount of overnight snow and above-freezing temperatures gave us ideal conditions: mostly clear roads, easy footing, and lush, sparkling snow-covered tree boughs everywhere you looked. I enjoyed chatting with Sport for a few miles and overhearing other runners’ conversations.  One guy teased another for not going barefoot.  Another woman told her friend that, no matter what age you start, you will peak after about 10 years of running (which means I am at least 10 years over the hill!)  At the 6 mile mark, I had a moment of deja vu when I encountered the enthusiastic race director, Rick Konon, on the first killer dirt hill.  He ran around high-fiving all passing runners and again exhorted me to “pump those arms.”  (To my amusement, Catamount later told me he resisted engaging Rick in an on-the-fly debate about running form and efficiency.) The highlight of the race for me came at around the 10.5 mile mark. There was a nice downhill on a narrow, snow-covered dirt lane which for a moment made me feel like I was on a cruiser ski slope whizzing by the slope-side condos. The route crossed a bridge over an icy rushing river, then entered a wooded winter wonderland.  As I started up a small hill, slipping a little on the packed snow surface, the sun burst out from behind the clouds, making the whole snow-drenched landscape sparkle dramatically. At that precise moment (no kidding), my ipod launched into U2’s  “It’s a Beautiful Day.”  I’m sure I had a ridiculous smile on my face as I waved to the volunteers and (yes) a few of the large spectating cows. I let that dazzling moment sustain me as I turned the corner for the last, long uphill stretch. It seemed to go on forever.  I had been experiencing some thigh pain throughout the week (and throughout the race) and it intensified during those last few miles.  I tried to practice accepting the sensations and maintaining my focus. It was an uncomfortable and difficult push, but I was able to maintain my pace and pass a couple of runners before finishing with a time of 1:50:30 (a few minutes faster than last year, so maybe I’m not too far over the hill). Sport, Scoobie, and Catamount arrived in quick succession. (Given how ready I was to be done, I was very impressed that Guthrie and Scoobie headed right back out for dessert runs to complete their designated training mileage.)

After giving one of the massage therapists a crack at my leg, I enjoyed joining the rest of the crew for a tasty vegetarian-friendly spread in the school cafeteria (veggie lasagna and string beans with almonds).  It was truly a beautiful day in Colchester!

Congratulations to everyone on a well-run race.

Nadia

Course Description

A. Start at Cox School, Three Corners Road. Cross Bishop’s field (white line on map) and enter woods onto Red Square trail.
B. Stay right and join Blue Circle, follow to Dunk Rock Road trail head.
C. Join Green Rectangle and follow until it joins with Purple Circle.
D. Follow Purple Circle before staying straight onto Yellow Circle.
E. Follow to intersection with White Circle and Orange Circle. The final yards are a scramble up to the aid station overlooking Lost Lake.
F. Bear left on Orange Circle (going to the right will be downhill) until Red Diamond.
G. Turn right.
H. Continue until trail joins with Green Square but ignore Green Square to the right and stay straight.
I. Follow Blue Circle until it rejoins the Red Square trail that you came in on.
B. Turn right back onto Red Square. At next junction stay straight, do not turn left which is the trail you ran out on from the start. You are still following Red Square.
A. Stay on Red Square until it loops around to trail head that you entered the wood at (still Red Square) turn right and retrace steps to finish across Bishop’s Field back to school.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

From last night’s Fortune Cookie.

Luckily someone had been out recently enough to follow their tracks since the white blazes of the Appalachian Trail were disguised by the everywhere snow. Forrest led the way as Forrest does with confidence and speed while Kaya and I struggled to keep up.

Without a step off trail we reached the summit of Greylock Mtn. which has an amazing lighthouse on top. Who knew? Well Forrest did and related the story of the lighthouse on the top of a mountain to me. It was very very cool up there. In the “cool” sense and the wind blowing kind of cool sense! We took a picture and quickly moved on as much of our bodies were frozen.

THEN we hit the downhill…. what took us four plus hours to reach took us an hour or less to descend! It was fantastic, the feeling in my hands came back, then the feeling in my feet came back and we were really moving down that mountain. It was a rush. I had actually forgotten I could move that fast if propelled by the descent. It was a successful day.
On a side note, Kaya did amazing for a dog out there. There was one point I thought she might give up, but she pressed on!

Loopy

Charles Caleb Colton

The Trust is in the process of opening up a new trail into Westwoods from the sports field of Cox School and the race will use this as an alternative to crossing Bishop’s field as in previous years. The Trails Day project will aim to clear brush from one section of the new trail to open access and provide a view across a neighboring horse paddock. The clearance work is generally light work involving hand sawing and pruning, volunteers will just need to be dressed accordingly and wear gloves.

The meeting place will be at the entrance of Cox School on Three Mile Course, Guilford, near the red barn at 10:00 am. The the weather is really bad, details regarding postponement will be posted on this web site. No prior registration is necessary, but an advance indication of numbers participating would be helpful via: jerry(at)mrbimble(dot)com.
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Hope to see you there!