Baby wipes and rebellious legs

[singlepic=5626,288,200,,left]

When I signed up for the Northern Nipmuck 16 mile trail race, I imagined that it would be a gentle, beautiful cruiser. Iggy’s bulletin board comments (“much easier, not that rocky or mountainous”) resounded in my brain. Somehow, I failed to register Forrest’s description of it as a “much longer Bash.” The beautiful part was certainly accurate!

I met up with Iggy and Allstate to carpool. They graciously denied having doubts about whether I would make it out of bed for the meet-up (though I had doubts given my proclivity for insomnia.) We passed our excitement and vague nervousness back and forth and–learning from Iggy’s past experience with the lack of toilets at the race start–made a strategic stop at a Golden Arches on the way. (Should have grabbed another round of coffee!) Iggy put her iphone to good use, finding directions and looking up her past race time. She remembered areas of ice in 2007, while we debated T-shirts vs. sleeveless tops for the anticipated 70 degree April temperatures.

After arriving at Bigelow Hollow State Park, we found Suresh and his friends, took some pictures, and milled about enjoying the wonderful sunny weather. As we lined up for the start under tall evergreens, I wondered if Catamount (a “maybe” pending late-breaking childcare arrangements) would show up to join us at the last minute (like Suds’ memorable last-second start at Monroe Brook last October). He didn’t.

[singlepic=5617,280,200,,right]The course, a hilly, 8 mile out-and-back, did not disappoint. It was lovely single track the entire way–mostly moderately technical–with periodic shallow water crossings and short rocky climbs that were indeed reminiscent of West Woods. Several sections paralleled beautiful rushing mountain streams, high from all the recent rain. I quickly decided to run through the water and the occasional boggy, muddy areas. As the temperatures climbed during the race, the cool water felt good on my feet. I ended up running the majority of the race solo, except for brief interactions with a racer named Wayne, with whom I leapfrogged from mile 3 to 13 (he passed me on the all the ups; I passed him on all the downs).

As we neared the turn-around point, we had to start playing chicken with heavy-charging, returning front-runners along the narrow ridgeline single track. In my efforts to make room for the leaders, I kept tripping and rolling my ankles as I moved off the trail. After turning around and refueling, I soon saw Suresh and then was amused to hear Iggy and Allstate chatting and laughing long before I saw them emerge into view.

Throughout the race, I felt less energetic than usual, possibly because of poor sleep (at each aid station, I coveted the volunteers’ Box o’ Joe and almost asked for a hit). But despite my tiredness, I seemed to be holding a pretty strong and consistent pace (42 minutes at mile four; 1:28 at mile eight; 2:15 at mile twelve). At the mile 12 aid station, I realized I was potentially on track for a sub-3 hour finish (given that the last mile was largely downhill), so I set that as an arbitrary goal.

[singlepic=5616,280,200,,left]At that point, a strange thing happened. My legs rebelled, abruptly deciding they were no longer willing to go uphill. Running any uphill sections, even short or gradual ones, was suddenly out of the question. And hiking them was not going much better. I was reduced to pushing on my quads with my hands to try make any uphill progress. This was a new and unpleasant racing experience; I still don’t know quite how to explain it(not enough hill training? too much hill training?). Fortunately, I could still manage to run flats and downhills, and, fortunately, the last mile was downhill! After an exhausting last few miles, the finish was anticlimactic, just me and the time keeper and two runners waiting for friends in the whisper-quiet woods. (The race headquarters and food tent were located across the street about a half mile away from the finish.) My time ended up being 3:00:44 (not bad considering the rebellious legs) and one of the waiting runners told me I was the fourth female to finish.

After a walk to the car to ditch my nasty, mud-soaked shoes, I went back to the finish to cheer on the others (where I then became one of the two token spectators, serving a useful purpose by directing people to the finish line). Based on the some of the runners’ colorful comments and hobbling gaits, it appeared I wasn’t the only one to have underestimated the challenges of Northern Nipmuck. Suresh came in looking strong, then quickly disappeared to find fluids. Soon after, I again heard Allstate and Iggy chattering away long before I saw them (although I’m not sure they were laughing this time). All the way to the bitter end, they negotiated… Allstate proposing a joint finish…Iggy refusing in frustration (“You’re going first, you hauled me through this whole ^&%! race!”)…but countering with a relieved finishline hug. (Apparently, it was a tough day for her).

[singlepic=5625,280,200,,right]We walked back to change clothes, then went to the food tent for some tasty post-race pizza. When one of the race organizers overheard me wishing for a wet wipe to clean up my bloody shins (forgot to mention my two falls), he brought over three large packages of baby wipes, which he urged us to take with us (apparently, he is a baby wipe tester eager to unload excess product). We dubbed the baby wipes our “finisher awards” and made sure to pose for a photo with our hard-won trophies (which rapidly become very useful, given the primitive restroom facilities). All in all, it was great day at a wonderful and challenging race. By next year, I’m sure I will be in need of more wipes…

Nadia

To see more pictures, click here