Races and Adventures

Is the answer. What was the question?

“Running with Reckless Abandon?”  That was the question, as I recall. And “Briefly” is, in brief, my personal answer.

Promise Land is part of a journey for me this year. It is not the destination. It is the third step in The Beast, having followed Holiday Lake and Terrapin Mountain. Still, it is not part of a “build up” because I now have 6 months before The Beast continues, and wraps up, with the back to back to back Grindstone 100, Mouintain Masochist 50ish Mile, and the Hellgate 100ish K. [Read more…] about Briefly, NOT!

Promise Land 50k++ car ride started off with talks and quotes of “Thelma and Louise”. The theme hung on for some time. [Read more…] about Running With Reckless Abandon?

“I’m never doing that again” how many times have I said that after a marathon? Fourteen including this last Boston.

The weekend was a great time, from the train ride to hotel room to the great restaurant for dinner; we really did enjoy ourselves in Boston this year. [Read more…] about Never say never

Rarely has my enjoyment of a race surpassed its legend in Bimbler lore and mythology.   But that is exactly what happened when I ran Northern Nipmuck for the first (and possibly last) time last weekend.

Several descriptions had made me think I would love the race.  I had heard Forrest describe NN as ‘very much like a long Bash.’  Of course this alone was more than enough for me to sign up for last year’s race; unfortunately I was unable to go due to problems with child care.  But I had also read Nadia’s account of the beauty and intense challenges of the course in her race report from last year.  Then at this year’s Bash I worked the aid station with John Agosto.  He told me the race was almost like a ‘trick race’  He said one tends to feel strong going up and down the big, often technical rolling hills during the outbound portion of the race (the race is 16 miles – 8 miles out and back).  But then, eventually, on the way back runners begin to discover the enormous toll those big rollers were taking, and realize, with great dread, that they must face them all again before the finish.  So he cautioned me to save something for the second half of the race.   Naturally, this mix of fun, beauty, and challenge had me really looking forward to the race. [Read more…] about Northern Nipmuck Nirvana

This adventure has highlights surrounding  the trip and the race. Before the highlights however let me just say that the Terrapin Mtn 50K was a very well organized event from start to finish, great aid and volunteers. A very TOUGH course with brutal ascents and just as brutal descents. Every climbing muscle still hurts!!! [Read more…] about Terrapin Tales