My Vacation Prologue

… or The Ups and Downs of Mountain Running Part 3.

My experience at the Pack Monadnock Road Race 10 Miler, Wilton , NH  on June 5,2011. (USATF-NE Mountain Circuit Race #3).

This race takes place in south central New Hampshire. Its an end to end race starting at the Wilton High School and finishing 10 miles west at the summit of Pack Mt. The top of Pack Mt. is 2290’ in elevation. I am nervous about running this race because I have not run this distance in several months, plus the weather was bright and sunny with temperatures in the 70’s. This coarse was designed to give runners a hill climb challenge and to test strength and endurance. My estimated finish time is 1:55 or better. But I have to get to the start first. I have learned a lot about being prepared lately and this was just another one of those lessons.

I drove to finish to park my car and catch the shuttle to the school where the registration and start is. I have not yet registered for this race yet but plan on meeting the 8:45 deadline. The shuttle unloads us at the school at 8:43 and I scramble to find the registration room. As I enter the room with check in one hand and application in the other I yell registration and hear a reply of no! The R.D. was just kidding and took my paperwork, gave me my bib # and I kindly asked him for a shirt. The shirts were all packed up but he managed to find my size. I rolled up the shirt and put it my pocket. The lesson here is to pre-register for races and allow enough driving time to get to the venue.

The weather is clear blue skies with no humidity. I am as ready as I can be for this race. The coarse runs uphill for the first mile then flattens out for about a half mile. There is a rolling upgrade for the next 3 or 4 miles with beautiful flowering meadows and old homes and farmhouses on a mix of paved and gravel country roads. I am running pretty well and the morning sunshine is warming up. There is another flat section that allows me for some recovery for what is about to come. I was warned that the last mile is super steep. But by mile 8 I was starring at this long hill ahead of me. I slump into a walk / run mode. My energy was soon spent just looking up the hill and this wasn’t the steep section yet!! This part of the coarse is on the main road and in full sun and the cars and trucks going up this part seemed to struggle just as much as me. At the hillcrest the coarse turns into the entrance for Miller State Park ( the first state park in N.H. and location of the Wapack Trail ) which has an auto road to the summit. Run up this section and your at the finish. This is the last mile to the top and I just ran longer than I have since the sweep at the Bluff. Some sections of this mountain road are as steep if not steeper than the auto road on Mt. Washington! I could barely run up this so I walked fast. Words of encouragement came from the runners walking down to the parking lot after they crossed the finish. I tried to run up parts of the mountain road but I could feel the micro fibers in my muscles tearing on each step so I just walked in huge strides instead. The last steep was about a 20% grade. We were feeling it now! Those quads were singing…“I’m a mountain runner and that’s O.K.” … I crossed the finish at 2:03:09 just shy of my goal by about 8 minutes. I was very satisfied with my results. I thanked the R.D. for my last minute registration. The t shirt in my pocket was proudly put on to honor my accomplishment. I stood on the summit and glazed off into the distance to the White Mts. which were some 70 miles away. The views on top were amazing.

The watermelon waiting for me in the car was so refreshing. I hung out for some post race munchies and headed back home. It was yet another great day on the USATF-NE Mountain running circuit. There is a three week gap before the next race. In the meantime I am going on vacation . I will be hiking Mt. Madison in the Northern Presidential Range and biking through old New England villages where my ancestors are from. I will also be running the Niantic Bay 10k to be close to the ocean. I will also be swimming at Crane Beach in Ipswich Mass, so I can stay in shape and get ready for my next mountain run. Suds

Next races on the Suds calandar:

Cranmore Mt. 12k – 26 June, 2011

Loon Mt. 5.7m – 3 July, 2011

Ascutney Mt. 3.7m – 10 July, 2011