OK, don’t get mad, this isn’t a 100 mile adventure, but it is a wild and crazy 10 miler and it was an ADVENTURE! The morning the storm hit, I had to get to RT 1 in Guilford, to KC’s Pub (my restaurant), to turn on a generator. My wife wouldn’t let me go during the night when the storm hit, and since we hadn’t lost power yet, I agreed. However, by 7am I wanted go. We had moved all of the food into the beer cooler and I new it would be OK for a while, but now I was getting nervous. At 8am I said screw it and told my wife I was headed out. She reluctantly came with me. Up one road, trees blocked the way, up another the water was too deep, the final way out was also blocked by trees and water. We had to turn around and go back home; we couldn’t get off the Head. I told Deb, ahh the hell with it, I’ll run to the Pub! She said I was crazy, I got dressed, txt Jerry, Cathi and Forrest. Jerry and Cathi both said I was crazy (crazy from Ultra runners? hmmm). I ran into town, having to detour several times, simply because of trees down, poles and wires down (lying in water is not a good thing) and just plain flooding. I finally ended up on Rt 1 which really wasn’t bad; it didn’t even look like a storm was raging. At the Pub, I was able to start the generator and survey any damage (none I am happy to report). The return trip took me through the Green area (what a mess) and an attempt to go down water street. When the water got above my knees, I had to turn around and push up through River Street (which it was). Course now I has the wind at my back, smooth sailing. I tried to go down Mulberry Point and got as far as the causeway; which was washed out. The town had a front end loader trying to make a road through for the ambulance. Somebody had broken a hip on the other side and was cut off. I offered to help with a gurney, but they were bringing in a high wheeled dune buggy to make the crossing. I ran on top of what was left of the sea wall, waded some and made it to the other side. When I finally reached home, the ordeal had taken close to three hours (including time spent at the Pub). Not a long trail race, but certainly an adventure that will be on my “tell the grandkids” list! BTW, no pictures, I was having a hard enough time fighting the wind and sideways rain. Sorry folks!
A reflective loop
Shelly Girl and I have been hearing about the Spring Loop for as long as we have been bimbling so with summer coming to a close, Saturday seemed like the right day to take on the challenge. Like most things events often don’t turn out the way one plans. [Read more…] about A reflective loop
Run Like A Girl
As several Bimblers head out to run a little bit of the AT this weekend, consider this [Read more…] about Run Like A Girl
Another dam race
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
Now that I have recovered!
Suds began to try to tell me about Escarpment on one of our West Woods runs, but I told him I preferred not to know. Mr. Bimble also tried to tell me about the Escarpment Run by telling Snobody, with me inadvertently listening. Bottom line is NO ONE CAN EXPLAIN THIS RACE TO YOU. It’s kind of running up MT. Washington; you have to do it to know it.
In case you haven’t noticed, although I have gotten slower (I’m going with Pulmonary Hypertension instead of “getting older” and “genetics”), I pretty much don’t shy away from anything. Escarpment was there, so why not do it. Mr. Bimble’s suggestion to Snobody of getting a couple of 3-4 hour runs in may have helped me, but I wish Lefty had suggested 12 hour hikes in steep mountains to me long before the starting line.
I drove half way the night before and was the second person into the finish area the next morning, making sure I had plenty (1 ½ hrs early) of time for the bus to the start. Lefty showed up 1/2 hr later. Catamount and Snobody caught a later bus, but the four of us were able to hook up before the gun (yell) start.
Escarpment starts at 1800 feet on single track. Lefty suggested that we don’t hang at the back because there really are very few places to pass and as the runners space out, you will get pushed to the back (my new favorite place). So I pretty much ignored his advice and hung out with Dick (RD) at the back. Now for those of you who do not know what “pulmonary hypertension” is, it is the inability of the lungs to move blood under stress (hills) causing the blood to back up into the right ventricle. I basically have to wait for a flat or downhill for the system to smooth itself out again. Needless to say the first 3.2 mile climb up 1200 ft was a chore. There was a lady in front of me with the Boston Marathon logo on her shorts. She was older than I, competing in her 12th Escarpment, who kept telling me this was the easy climb. Shit!
Folks you basically run (hike) up a cliff, along a cliff and down the other side. In between are hard, harder and hardest climbs (can we say literally hand over fist pulling on roots and rocks) and then can we jump (crawl, scale) headwalls that are up to 20 ft? I ran (hiked) with people (nice) without (oh the solitude) and basically enjoyed the hell out of being in constant exertion (spell check that). There were vistas that Suds had alluded to that were vast. There was my favorite smell of balsam. There was the fact that my feet didn’t hurt because Forrest had convinced me to buy new montrails with a wider toe box (thank you thank you thank you; no lost toes). You could hear the aid stations long before you could see them and you couldn’t see them until you got to them. I busted my hump for 6 and ½ hours. I knew going in I would be slow (did we say there were hills in this race). As I told Lefty at the beginning, “as long as” I make it home.
I finished with Snobody waving and smiling at me, a very welcoming sight. I felt strong, legs felt good, feet didn’t hurt and it was still early enough to get home.
PS. This race was very well managed. The aid stations were great and still had plenty left when the last of us went through them. At the cutoff station (which I made with 20 minutes to spare), all I received was encouragement. There was a ton of supporters left and plenty of food at the end. Kudos to Dick the RD.
The good life – swamped by hills
Here is my take. Strap in as it’s a bit wordy….sorry.
OK. WAKE UP!! As many of you know, I am not a morning person, but even the most enthusiastic rooster would complain that 3am is way too early. While a feeble attempt to get to bed super early the day before was planned (yes, organizing and packing for the run was the culprit that trashed it…if only I could only be more like Guthrie & Shellygirl!), the hour nevertheless proved challenging. AND it was still hot and humid from the sun-baked day hours before. Did I say I was grumpy? [Read more…] about The good life – swamped by hills