Lefty — Page 2

The Road to the VT: Chapter 1 Seneca Creek 50k

For me and Shelly Girl the road to the Vermont 100 began in earnest in Maryland at the Seneca Creek 50k. After five weeks of training, Seneca Creek was to be the first test of our preparation and fitness. The course is known to be fast and this year it was also known to be long, as they added a new section of trail not run in previous years.

Shelly and I headed down to Damascus Maryland the day before the race. Shelly had been away at Bimble South so we were looking forward to the ride down and just hanging out with each other. We had no problems with traffic, got a nice hotel room, had a good dinner and began the tossing and turning night before a race ritual. I actually slept better than usual so 5:00 a.m. rolled around rather quickly. We got ready and made it to the finish in plenty of time for the shuttle bus to the starting line.
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The last finisher

Bluff Race Reports

Today is Wednesday and I ran the Bluff. I hatched my plan Sunday, when I saw everybody having such a good time. Since I was unable to run on Sunday, and Snobody had gone early I figured what the heck I will go late! Tuesday night was my first big school concert of the year so I figured since the day after a concert is usually a day of rest, plus it was a half day of school, Wednesday would be a perfect day. I was reasonably sure that all the great aid stations had been taken away so I headed out shortly after 8:00 a.m to drop off some provisions at Braemore. Much to my surprise I got to Guilford Lakes school to find that school was in session so there was no parking. After finding a place to park I got ready and went to the starting line to wait for the start. I soon realized nobody was going to sing the national anthem or say go so I said go and then I went!

I had decided to just take a handheld up to route 80 and then grab my pack, which I had stashed in the bushes. The first part of the run was dandy and I made it to route 80 in 25 minutes. I grabbed my pack and headed off toward the Bluff. Almost immediately I realized how much more difficult it is to run with a camel pack. Every step seemed so much more challenging. I decided rather quickly that I would dump some water when I got to the end of the Monastary road. The day was overcast and cool and I thought I would be fine making it to the Bluff with about a third of a bladder.

As we all know the slug from Northern Timberlands to the end of the stick is boring (sorry Jerry) I was feeling good so I just got along, eating and drinking, and feeling pretty good about my run. I have been having lots of stomach issues lately so I actually cut back on eating and drinking and this proved to be a good strategy. I arrived at the kiosk and began one of my favorite parts of the course. I am terrible with names but I believe this is the Broomstick Ledges and it is awesome single track.

I got to the Bluff at 1 hour and 54 minutes and began the long pull up Bluff Head. At the top I gave 4 loud “Gawps”. One for Shelly, one for Iggy, one for Suds and one for me. I loved hearing my voice echo across to the trail that I would be running in a couple of hours. The rest of the run to Braemore was pretty uneventful. I was still feeling really good and just had the usual bit of bother going through the rock garden leading to James Valley Preserve. Going through the Preserve I once again marveled at the great work Lost C and Bimble did clearing the Irene mess and made my way over to Braemore. I got to Braemore right at 3 hours. I was really happy with this time and, after resupplying, headed off toward Renee’s Way.

The section to Renee’s Way was a bit of a grind and my legs were really starting to bother me. It is interesting that pain is the least of my worries when running ultras. I get much more worried when my mind gets fuzzy or my stomach is upset. Pain seems to be just a normal part of the process! In this case the issue was cramping in my quads and it was not a big deal , except that I began losing a lot of my ability to run at any speed. All in all the miles to Renee’s Way kind of flew along and I got to the end of this section in 4 hours and 10 minutes. I grabbed some food and water, cranked some tunes on the ipod and got ready to take on the nightmare that is the next 8 miles back to Northern Timberlands.

I had a strategy of breaking up this section into chunks. The first chunk was getting back to the stick. My running was starting to become severely hampered by my tight muscles but my mind and spirit was still strong and I just kept going. Did I have a choice? Chunk 2 was the stick to orange trail. No real problems in here and I arrived at my absolute least favorite part of the course (sorry Jerry) ready to grind. I actually felt pretty good and was making good time until I got to the right hand turn that leads back to Northern Timberlands and the Monastery. Here I just fell apart. My legs just seized up and I was reduced to a lot of walking. It was kind of frustrating because I really was feeling good and wanted to run. It seemed like about 2 hours on this section but I eventually got back to the entrance to Northern Timberlands at 5 hours and 25 minutes. My 6 hour goal was lost but I was more concerned about my legs, I really did not want to walk the last 4 miles.

The first little bit was pretty pathetic but then I managed to figure out a stride that would allow me to hobble along. The worst part of this section was I took a couple of falls and we all know you do not want to fall when your legs are cramping. It was kind of funny. I really could not get up and laid on the trail trying to figure out a way to stand up! Once I made it back to two feet I hobbled on and got back to Route 80 at 5 hours and 55 minutes. I dropped my pack and headed home.

For some reason I began having an easier time running this last section. The sun also came out and this just made the last section magical. I had the ipod cranking, I was running, the weather was great and I was going to finish the Bluff for the 4th time (two official and now two unofficial) I was quite pleased! I broke out of the trail, crossed the road and imagined Shelly Girl and all of you cheering me to the finish line. I crossed the imaginary line in 6 hours and 23 minutes and collapsed on the field to soak it all in.

In all honesty, I am not sure which version I like more. Running the race with everyone and being a part of that special day or taking on the challenge alone. One thing is certain whether alone or in the company of good friends the Bluff is home to us Bimblers and I am grateful that I have been blessed to be a part of the experience.

See you on the trail

Lefty

The end of the trail for 2011

Races and Adventures

Since I am unable to run, or even be at, the Bluff this year I have been looking to the Nipmuck Marathon as the end of my racing season for quite some time now. I am not sure what it is about Nipmuck but it is a race, and a trail, that calls to me every year. As the day approached it looked like a good crew of Bimblers would be participating and so it was, as El Toro, Hillary, Nadia, Catamount, Miles (he needs a name) Shelly Girl and I toed the line to take on the Nipmuck trail. [Read more…] about The end of the trail for 2011

Another dam race

Races and Adventures

On Saturday morning Shelly Girl and I decided to jump in the car and drive to Massachusetts to run the Oxford Dam Trail Race. After a summer of mountains I was looking for something flat and totally runnable and Shelly was looking to find the groove that has been elusive in her running this summer. For both of us the race turned out to meet our goals.

We did not know much about the race, other than it is put on by the Central Mass Road Runners, it is a part of the Grand Tree Series, just under eleven miles of trail and it is supposed to be fast. I had read several race reports which seemed to indicate there would be no major climbs, a variety of non-technical single track trail and various types of fire roads. Of course defining a hard climb or technical single track is not as simple as one might think. I suppose it really depends on your experiences in previous races, but this looked good and off we went to find out.

We left bright and early and got to Oxford about 45 minutes before the start. The crowd looked small and I think the turnout for this race is effected by a lot of other races going on this weekend (Ocean Beach, Sea Legs Shuffle and People’s Forest to name three) This was fine by us, in fact it was the type of race we wanted.

After the usual preparations, mainly consisting of figuring out what to take on a course we did not know on a day that was hot and humid, we wished each other luck and toed the line.

The race starts with both the long and the short course (5 miles) runners starting together and ascending a hill of about a quarter mile. Considering there was not supposed to be any hills I was a bit surprised, but it really was nothing too serious and I chugged forward until we reached the single track. The trail was a bit more technical than I had anticipated but it was very fair and I just settled into a pace I thought was moderate. Within a mile or two I was keenly aware of two things. First, it was hot and the course was fairly exposed to the sun and second, I was breathing way too hard for this early in the race. The trail was quite easy so I really was in a bit of a panic as to what was going on. First order of business was to slow down. So I adjusted my pace and even walked a couple of bumps. I always find stopping and walking helps me when I am out of the zone. As I tried to regain my composure I took inventory and realized that my legs were feeling pretty heavy. I am not used to that feeling this summer. Everything I have done has been geared towards mountain type courses and the feelings on those races has been pain more than leg fatigue. I suddenly realized that I have not done a race all summer where I had to run the whole time and run pretty fast. These are not my type of races! We got to the 3 mile split, where the short course went right and long course goes left and I almost veered right. It was hot, I was out in the open on flat roads where you are supposed to run fast and I was sucking wind three miles into the race. Yikes! I struggled on as best as I was able and slowly worked my way back from the brink. One thing that helped was I tried to focus on the thought that this was good training for me. I was no longer racing but simply trying to get used to running hard on runnable trails.

By the second aid station, at roughly five miles, I was tired but I had a better frame of mind and settled into a pace I could maintain. The trail continued to alternate between nice shaded single track and out in the sun fire roads, with some ATV trails tossed in for good measure. The trail was terrific and I was already thinking that I simply need to come back next year better trained for this type of race. At the last aid station (roughly seven miles) I ate a bit and walked a hill, to gain as much energy as I could, and then took off for the final three plus miles. All day the trail was nice and rolling and while I would say the course was a bit more hilly and technical then I had anticipated it still was quite a fast course and everything is runnable. Up to this point in the race I had been the guy getting passed but finally I started seeing people up ahead and, as we all know, passing people always helps your frame of mind. While I was tired I was well in charge of my mind by this point and just went as fast as I could go and soon enough I was done. The real highlight came about four minutes later when I saw Shelly Girl pounding down the trail. To be honest, she has not felt that great about her running this summer. This combined with the heat, that she does not like, and the speed of the course made me think it might be a rough day so I did not expect to see her for another five minutes. When she hit the tape at a little over 1:41 I knew she had had the day she was hoping for. Sweating and gassed, but smiling, what more can you want? Plus, she got pumpkin bread for winning her division , which we chomped on all the way back to Killingworth.

So at the end of the day, it was a terrific race. The course is fast (Jim Johnson won the race in 1:04. That’s almost 11 miles of trails in 64 minutes!!)well marked and the RD put on a great event. Shelly found her groove and I learned I need to work on running faster. Plus we got Pumpkin Bread!

Lefty

The Pemi Loop

Races and Adventures

We have been wanting to do the full Pemi Loop for a couple of years. When we saw that the weather was looking great for Sunday we decided to go for it.. Quickly assembling our gear we headed up to the White’s on Saturday and hit the trail bright and early on Sunday morning. The Pemi Loop is a 50k, covering ten peaks and the entire Pemigewasset Wilderness Range.. It seems like our old friend Ben Nephew and Kevin Tilton hold the fastest loop record of just under seven hours and five minutes and the hiking book time is about tweny one hours. With this in mind, we estimated fourteen hours for our trek. [Read more…] about The Pemi Loop

The Twilight Zone

Races and Adventures

A few weeks ago Shelly Girl and I decided to meet after school and head over to Bluff Point in Groton to run the Twilight Trail run. We have done the 7.4 mile race before but it had been several years and we wanted to see if our older bodies could handle this fast course. Due to distance or terrain or both most of the races we do have significant hiking sections. Bluff Point is not that race. If you are looking for a tempo workout on a course roughly Bash distance this is a good race to run. [Read more…] about The Twilight Zone