4/23/2012
Mostly Cloudy and Cool around 50.
This is a special day in trail running where about 1200 runners will run The Loop around Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in Cross River, New York. This is the largest trail running event around. I have run this coarse two times before in 2009 and 2010. I was very excited this year to be able to participate.
Saturday was a busy day at the store and my 9 hour shift went by fast. Plans after work were to get to New York City by 9 p.m. and hang with an old buddy and go out to a kind gourmet vegan dinner. Bimbler’s were to leave Branford at 6:15 a.m. Sunday, so I had to be home from the city by 3 a.m. to get a half hour power nap to be at work at 4 a.m. and get back home to let the dogs out and feed them and be on my way to Branford by 5:45. By now I am so tired I just want to see the back of my eyelids.
As daylight broke on Sunday morning my energy level picked up in anticipation of the race. I was able to make the rendezvous and grab a ride in the backseat with Diesel. We were there before the rush and got situated in the parking lot. The sun wants to shine but the clouds take over. We went for the pre-race survey of the final water crossing. The water levels are low but there is plenty of water to make a splash!
The old meadow oak is a reminder of years past and the new one planted this year will continue to grow into the future. The huge limbs of the old oak are lying in the meadow as they slowly return to the earth. There are some great photo opts here and I could not help but get inside the bowels of this old tree for a pose. Then I climbed on the limbs like a kid on a jungle gym. I love old trees.
I shared my strategy for the race with Mr. Wonderful. And he shared his view on “Mr. Natural”. He pretty much put a twist on my plan of attack by saying “to run from within” and “follow your heart”. I was blown away by his response and perspective on “running free” that it made me think twice on why I run? Why I race? Why I hang out with Bimbler’s? Why I hug trees? Why I love to run through rivers and mud and go uphill’s? It’s because I truly love all of this! Woohoo!

Micah True Memorial

The pre-race ceremony for Caballo Blanco helps put closure to his death for me. The White Horse leading the runners out of the start was emotionally satisfying. His spirit will forever flow on the trail.
I had a great race this year and beat my last time by over 11 minutes. I held back and just went with the flow. The guy with the raccoon hat managed to stay my pace. “Like the King of the Wild Frontier.” I started singing the Davey Crocket song but he did not get it. The first water crossing was a crazy jump off the edge and cruise through water and scramble up the other side! I must have passed twenty people here according to the photo I saw on the Leatherman’s Loop face book page. Link to page here:
http://smu.gs/I6nldT?ref=nf
The second water crossing came up real quick and again I tried the crazy jump off the edge and into the river. Well I went into the river alright all the way under my head!! I tried standing up but completely fell backwards under the water again. (Double dunk)! I scrambled out of that situation as fast as I could not to embarrass myself anymore. People were really concerned about me but I told them I’d be alright. I am now totally soaked head to toe like being baptized. I come to a stop at the other side and give Thanks that I am O.K. And tied my shoelace and rung out my shirt as I continued to run again. It’s so cold now so I try pickin’ up the pace and plow through those mud flats and drip dry. I saw one shoe in the mud and no runner coming back for it then about 25 yards ahead is the other shoe but no runner!! That’s the way to surrender to the trail. Go barefoot! The Wall proves its steepness every time but the bagpiper sets the pace as you crest and recover back into the woods. From here it’s a constant tempo with some uphill. The pace really picks up as the trail meanders through the Pines and soon you pop out into the field and hear people cheering runners at the last water crossing that’s close to the finish. I have blown some energy at H2O X #1 and #2 and the pickup pace in the field was hard to find. I found it and could not slow down at the river. I did the crazy jump and splashed mud everywhere and ran my hardest through river and growled as I came out the other side and dug into that muddy embankment. Almost at the finish but that no oxygen feeling comes over me and I have to slow down across the field to the finish or I will throw up. I managed to get that under control pretty quick. And then I had that final sprint past that old oak tree to the finish. Woohoo!
I recharged after the finish and waddled back across the field to the water crossing to cheer folk’s on. To see Mr. Wonderful dance to the “Sound of Music” was a spectacular site.  Iggy came in soon after him and had that smile of determination to the finish. One more Woohoo! And some dry clothes were soon a necessity. My teeth chattered across that field chasing Diesel one more time back to the car to change. I am starting to get tired so the warm coffee after the race was helpful. We stayed for a while to meet and greet friends and finishers. The award ceremony was very rewarding for the Bimbler’s.
Many thanks to my crew who drove me to the venue and help me stay awake. Huge kudos to all the finishers in our group. Special Thanks to Rob and the Harriers and all the volunteers that help make this a special event. Sudssie.

Snobody, Forrest, Loopy and I started our journey down to Virginia early Friday morning, making a few stops along the way, we arrived in The Promise Land around 7ish. Just in time for pizza and a race briefing from Dr. Horton. Once the briefing was over, I headed to my tent for a fairly short night sleep. I woke up ready to run at the 4:30 am wake up alarm. I checked the weather report the night before and it looked like great, clear, 60 degree weather for the entire day, so I got my things together and headed to the start!

The race began at 5:30, in the dark. After the National Anthem and a prayer, we were off! I could see a long string of lights ahead and behind me as we made our way up the gravel road to the trail. The race was large with about 400 starters, so it was nice to be able to spread out along the 2.5 miles of gravel trail before Aid Station 1 and into the woods. The beginning had a great stream next to the road, and even if we couldn’t exactly see it, it sounded amazing, I knew this was a good sign for the rest of the race.

As the sun rose, so did we, and once it was day light, we had hit the trail and could ditch the headlamps (which I never actually turned on because everyone else had theirs!). The trail was great, soft, dirt single track in lush, green woods, still going uphill, but great. After a mile or so we hit great open, grassy trails with BEAUTIFUL views!!! Watched the sun rise over the Virginia mountains was spectacular! I knew that there would be LOTS of climbs throughout the race, so I tried to conserve some energy and run at a steady, sort of easy pace once the trails were runnable. Finally made it past Aid Station 2 and then kept going up, up and up. The bottom of the valleys were lush and green and it was strange going to the tops of the mountains where nothing was blooming yet and was still rather bare. But it allowed for better views of everything else! After several miles of ups, we made it to the top of Apple Orchard Mountain. This was the best place for a view, I stopped and took a few pictures, got some food and we were off again, but this time downhill! Again, great single track in the woods, this time a little more technical than the beginning of the race. We soon met a heavy flowing stream and just listening to the flowing water put me in a great mood.

This part of the course was my favorite, great trail and everything was so green and lush. Soon we had 2 creek crossings that I was surprisingly excited for. We crossed the first and suddenly my insoles started bunching! So uncomfortable! (My dog ate my shoe insoles the week before so I had to go buy some cheap replacement insoles a few days before hand, stupid cheap insoles!!!) I figured I would wait until the second creek crossing and then fix them so I ran with bunched up shoes.

After the creek crossing, we soon arrived at Cornelius Creek Aid Station, which I believe is about halfway. I fixed my shoes, refilled my pack with water and we were off again. But soon, my insoles bunched up again!!! So I decided I would just take them out, it was fine, but I could feel every single rock, pebble, stick I stepped on. Not good, especially with 16+ miles left. The mile or so after the aid station was gravel and asphalt roads so very runnable and fairly quick compared to the technical trails we were just on. Then we ducked back into the woods onto more single track. Started going back up, up, and more up until we hit

Aid Station 5 (?) and I decided to put my now-dry insoles back in their correct place and hope that they stayed! And they did! It felt like I was running on pillows for a while, it was great!!  And then we kept going up, up and up.

As I was getting close to the 6th aid station, I started feeling rain, and them BOOM!!! Thunder and lightning!! Where did this come from?! All of a sudden, it was dark, cold, windy and rainy! Brr!! I got to Cornelius Creek aid station (for the second time, but I didn’t realize it at the time because it looked so different!), refilled my water, grabbed a grocery bag to wrap my phone in, ate some snacks and was headed out. I heard someone say there was only 7 miles left, 3 miles of hard uphill climb, then 4.5 miles of downhill until the finish. I didn’t really pay mind to the 3 miles climb, I was just excited about the downhill–  but boy I wish I would have payed attention to the downhill part. We took off from the aid station with a purpose- to finish and get out of the rain and cold. As we slowed down on the up hills, it just got colder and colder. Luckily I had a hat and gloves in my pack I out on, but I didn’t feel like they did much difference once they were soaked. My legs were cold, my hands were numb and I was tired, but I slowly made my way up and up. This was definitely the hardest part for me, all uphill, lots of boulders to go up and around, rain pelting you, and thunder and lightning in the too close distance.

I came up to the GREAT waterfalls and had to stop to take in their beauty, luckily someone else had the same idea as I did, so we took our phones out of our baggies and took some quick pics of each other in the heavy rain. Totally worth it! It was the perfect spot to take a minute break. I wish I would have had more time, almost glad it was raining, or I might have stayed there all day! Then we keep going up! Unfortunately, this is where Carrie and I lost each other, it was great running with her off and on for the entire race, I know she pushed me and gave some great advice throughout the day!

FINALLY I made it to the top of Apple Orchards Mountain again. Then it was ALL DOWNHILL! YAY! I realized there that I would be able to make it under 8 hours if I hurried, so I kicked my butt into gear and booked it downhill for 4.5 miles. I clocked my last mile of the race, and ran a 9 minute mile . And then I was done!!! Finished at 7:51, under 8 hours, and I was happy! And cold, so I grabbed my finisher award shorts, grabbed clean clothes and headed to the bathroom, then I found out there was no hot water for showers! Ugh! Oh well, rinsed off my legs with cold water, put clean, dry clothes on and felt a tiny bit warmer. Drank my 2 muscle milks, ate a warm burger and hot dog, put the tent away, and then we were off! Finally I was warm

Things I learned on my 1st PL:

• Virginia doesn’t have many flat trails, they either go up or down
• Weather can be very predictable, and my father was always right, always be prepared for everything
• Virginia has beautiful trails and views
• Don’t buy cheap insoles
• Never stop doing hill repeats Look around, half the fun of being in the woods running, is BEING IN THE WOODS, nature is so beautiful, sometimes we need to stop and take a look around and see how wonderful it is.

Overall, it was a GREAT, hard, race and I highly recommend it!

Hillary

First, I love short races and second I felt the speed work would be a nice change from the long grinds we had been and will be doing in order to prepare for Vermont. Plus, how could we bypass a race like the Loop with many of the usual Bimblers, along with some virgin loopers. It was going to be a great day of Bimbling! Things started off with a bunch of Bimblers meeting in Branford for the drive to Cross River, New York. Shelly and I hitched a ride with Iggy and Dom. We love those guys, they are so much fun and the drive went quickly, as we chatted away the miles. We got to the race quite early, which I highly recommend due to the parking issues, got our bib numbers and talked about how cold we were. It was supposed to rain but at this point it was just chilly and overcast. We all sort of hung out waiting for the race and laughing about how mcuh attention Guthrie was getting. She is held in awe at the Loop for her numerous victories and course records. In fact they have a model of the loop course with our own Guthrie a part of the exhibit. I was impressed how well Mr. Arsenault, I mean Mr. Bimble, handled his wife’s star status. After a brief warm up, we headed over to the start. If you decide to loop in the future you should know two things about the start. First, they always start very late. Tim and I actually went for a brief jog just to stay loose. The second thing to know is the start is crazy! 1,200 runners scrambling across a field and then jamming themselves into a single track trail. It is chaotic and this year was no different. After a nice tribute to Micah True and the yearly Navajo prayer (Now I walk in beauty) we were off. Tim and I started off together. He is much faster than me but he was nursing an injury so we thought we would run together.

At the start I took off like a bat out of you know where and we both hit the single track with no problems and in a good position. Shortly after, two things happened first Tim dumped me and then a lot of folks passed me. I expected both of these things so I just settled in and found my pace.

As most people know the big allure of the Loop is the water and the mud. This was my third loop and, from what I hear, I cannot say I have ever felt the full force of these aspects of the race. The first year I ran it was hot and sunny so the water was pretty low and the mud no too bad. The second year it was raining and the water was much higher and the mud was downright…  well muddy! I think I lost a shoe that year. This year the course was extremely tame. The Spring has been dry so the water crossings were really low and the mud was almost non existent. This made the course really fast and it would be a day of Pr’s and course records. I did my best to take advantage of the conditions and basically ran as fast as I could the whole time. The first section is rolling single track, I don’t remember the first few miles ever being to muddy and this year the course ran fast. I had settled in to a nice pace, as I hit the first water crossing. The water was maybe calf deep this year so I just took my time crossing and jumped out the other side. I think it was along this section that Super Mudder passed me, but he was so in the zone he did not see or hear me, as I gave him a “lookin good Mudder”. Soon enough I reached the second water crossing and then the lone aid station. The water for the second crossing was low, compared to past years, but still about high thigh in depth. I was going to skip the aid station but I decided to grab a cup of water and then headed out for the mud flats and quarry climb. These are two signature parts of the Loop. In past years the mudflats have actually pulled my shoe off but this year there was only one or two places where there was any mud at all. In fact, without the mud, this was a very fast section, so I cleared the section in good order and came upon the Quarry climb. This is a very interesting section. Personally I really don’t see what the big deal is. It is sandy but it is about a minute hike and then you are done. Plus, you have the bagpipe guy playing at the top! I always find the section after the Quarry to be the most difficult. There are two fairly long climbs of the worse kind. Slight grade and totally runnable. I hate those but this year I was determined to run strong on this section. I hunkered down and while I did not set any speed records it was the first time I had run the entire section so I was pleased and ready for the best part of the Leathermen’s loop. After the hills, you begin a wonderful downhill tumble through a thick forest area and this part is just awesome! For me, I was flying and just had a blast coming off the “mountain”. The downhill section dumps you out on the pen-ultimate section of the loop. It is maybe a half mile flat section that, in the past has always seemed long, so I was pleased when the section flew by and I turned left to enter the field, last water crossing and finish. The third water crossing was was quite disappointing. Usually there are two sections of water and this year I did not even get wet until the second part. At most the water reached my calf. I got across and began the final hill before the finish. While it is only about 400 yards this is another section that has gotten the best of me in the past but experience can be a wonderful teacher so I gathered my remaining strength and sprinted to the end as fast as I was able. The best part of the Leathermen’s Loop is after you are done. After completing the course I turned and walked back up the course to see Nadia finish followed by Shelly Girl and both girls looked good. Shelly must be getting stronger because it is the first time I saw her come up the last rise not looking totally shot! I missed Sudsie and All State coming in but did have my day be made complete by watching Mr. Wonderful, Iggy and Diana come out of the water and take the last hill. They all had that look unique to all runners at the end of a race, a combination of when will this be over and elation. I love it! While the weather had held up for the run.

The weather did begin to deteriorate and we all sort of sat in the rain being cold waiting for our pie winners Guthrie, Shelly Girl and Nadia get their rewards. After that we all headed out with another day of great Bimbling in our memories. For me and Shelly we now turn our focus to Vermont in earnest. While we are very excited to toe the line for this unbelievable opportunity a part of me will long for this month of carefree running.

See ya on the trail.

Lefty

A Changing Tide. With 2012 came a major back off in training because of the above promises, as well as I was seemingly sick all the time. It felt like every time I finally had time to get out for a nice long run I had a stomach bug or a bad cold. The coup was 4 weeks ago, coming down with strep throat, a sinus infection and big bout of laryngitis. This kept me from running and kept me from finishing at Traprock but it did not allow for shirking the duties as mom. “A job that keeps on giving” thank you for that quote Snobody, hahaha. I realized going forward into 2012 was going to be challenging to tailor my training to be passable for running the races I wanted but not taking away from any of the kids events…this is a very very tough challenge. I did not expect the curve balls of recurrent sickness. I made good and bad choices during this time. I am sure I did not rest enough, I am not sure that was possible. I am sure I did not run enough, but that might have been a good decision. And I worried a lot about whether or not to travel to Virginia.

Aligning Stars. As luck might have it Snobody and Soupergirl decided to join Forrest and me on the road to Promise Land. A road trip with lots of great company for me is a good running start. With last minute cold feet I did not make the call to say I wasn’t going but instead packed up at 8:30 on Thursday evening as best I could and made an attempt at a good night’s sleep. Egh. Some sleep is better than none. At 7am everyone showed up on my doorstep, packed up, got hugs all around from the kids and departed Middletown CT for Bedford VA. The car ride down was long but fun, lots of chatter, Cabela’s stop and lunch at Heckeys, in honor of Ultra J. We arrived at 7ish set up camp, checked in and listened to some of Horton’s “prerace” talk. Horton’s prerace talk doesn’t have too much to do with the race. He calls people out, talks about course records and tells us we are not tough enough, but it is all fun. He also raffles off and tosses out some great items. Ultra Aspire waist packs, Dolce and Gabana sunglasses and dry wick socks were this years highlights. I also had some time to catch up with some of the women runners I have met along the way, Dorothy who helped me immensely through last years Beast since she had done it before and Jenny, who witnessed my fall last year. Jenny said “Don’t you worry this is the best place for all your stars to align, you’ll have a great day tomorrow.”

The night before a race sleeping is almost nonexistent, will the alarm go off, I have to pee, that means I have to go out in the cold, btw, it was in the 30’s Friday night in VA.  You know all that nonsense the night before… It is a blessing when the alarm sounds and you can just get underway. I had just the right amount of time to prepare and stepped up to the start, all 4 of us together, and slogged away from the campground as the race began. It did not take long to pass the 1 mile mark and Forrest took off, I would not see him the rest of the day. Snobody I caught glimpses of through the rest of the long early climbing but when the dark side descent came he was gone!  Soupergirl and I maintained a good walking pace up the steep part of the hill and out of the first aid station and onto the single track. The sun came up and it looked as if it would be an ok race day. And so it was, Soupergirl and I descended the dark side, crossed both sections of Cornelius Creek (swore at last years rock),  ran the road, lots of more up, where Soupergirl pulled away on the climb, as the clouds rolled in and the rumbles of thunder started in the distance. By the time we (Souper girl and I, back together) went in and out of the aid station to climb up Apple Orchard Falls the rain was pelting down, and it hurt, it came in waves of rain and wind accompanied by lightening and thunder, most of us totally unprepared dealt with 3 miles of climbing up the falls with numb swollen clawed hands. Luckily in this element, although very unprepared as I was, I am very motivated. I realize to slow down is ill advised and made a point to try to climb hard enough to stay warm, this was not possible. But I climbed on. The falls were as beautiful as last year despite the weather. I reached the top of the falls, knowing it was mostly downhill to the finish, I took off running. There was nothing to loose at this point, I could only get warmer and if my anything was going to hurt it was going to be over soon anyway. Once I reached the nice single track down hill I had two thoughts, one, run like hell, and two, don’t fall because your hands are not going to open and protect you. I came out onto the road just as the thunder clap was loud enough to make you jump out of bed in the middle of the night. The skies let down one more pour to take me almost to the finish line, but I was warm, running fast. I crossed that line happier than I have been in weeks. I had a GREAT day. I accomplished some of my goals. I did not meet my goal time but I did not try. I brought Soupergirl and Snobody to see one of my favorite places and I had fun. Jenny’s prediction had been right on.

There were a couple Bimbler’s out there with me in abstencia. Fearsome, thank you for your pace, I spent most of the day adopting your consistency. Mr. Bimble, thank you for timing, I looked at my watch and every 15 mins I took a drink whether I could stand it or not. I actually got to the point that I could time the 15 mins almost perfectly J. And the Bimbler who saw me through the day, Thanks Soupergirl , for the chatter and at least visual company all day long, whether a little ahead or a little behind it was nice to know you were right around me!!

So, who’s coming along next year?

I see Beauty all around.
In beauty may I walk.
In beauty may I see.
In beauty may we all be.