Peanut Butter Chip Chase 5k

I headed out to Temple, NH for the 31st annual "freeze your butt off" 5k on New Years Day, or what locals call the Peanut Butter Chip Chase 5k. It's a nice small town race (put on by the local Lions Club) on a somewhat challenging course (on a normal day) but a tad more difficult with snow covered roads and a wind chill waaaaay below zero. At least it wasn't snowing this year...
The race starts on West Rd near the center of town, climbing right from the start and continuing on for about 1.5 miles before turning back onto Hill Rd. Unfortunately for us today, West Rd surprisingly heads due west, right into the nice 20+mph winds coming in from the west. Uphill into the wind is not how I like to start a race! Thankfully we run DOWN Hill Rd for about a mile (with a tail wind), turn left on a dirt road at about 2.75 miles and then left again on RT 45 for a final 400m uphill push to the finish right in the center of town (near where we started).
I scanned the field at the start for familiar faces, spotted a bunch of Gate City Striders including my current arch nemesis Mike Wright. Mike has a habit of passing me in the last few seconds of a race. With a Ready, Set, Go we were off. 5 or 6 young guns immediately got out in front and I settled in close behind, running with local Temple resident Sean Radcliffe (also a masters). We ran side by side for 1.5 miles before I was able to put a little distance between us on the downhill section. I wore my screw shoes which worked great. Unfortuanetly I was not alone so no real advantage was gained.
I generally don't like to look behind me during a race, choosing to run 'scared' instead. I always assume someone is really close. I knew Mike Wright was back there but I didn't know how close. I have to admit I was a little nervous on the last uphill stretch to the finish. I was tired, cold and running out of gas (might have been those black and tans from New Years Eve!). With about 100m to go I finally took a peak and realized today I would win the battle with Mr Wright :-)

I managed a 6th place overall, 1st in the 40-49 division with a time of 19:43.I t was the toughest 19:43 5k I've run in a while, that's for sure...Results can be found here.

In addition to the table full of cookies plus bagels and gallons of soup for post race grub, they also give out unique chocolate chip cookie shaped medals. There seems to be a theme. Heck, the 1st Temple resident (Sean Radcliffe) also takes home a pizza sized chocolate chip cookie. Sweet.

Soapstone Mountain 24k Trail Race

I headed down to Stafford, CT this weekend to run the Soapstone Mountain 14.5m trail race. This would be my longest run all year (actually, it would be my longest run since 2006). It would also be my 3rd weekend in a row doing races over 12m (Seven Sisters, Big Lake and now Soapstone).
I knew little about the course except there was a monster climb early in the race but overall a fairly runnable race (unlike Seven Sisters).
Beautiful weather for a trail race. Sunny with a nice breeze with temps probably in the low 60's. Registration was busy but I wasn't entirely sure how many were doing the long race. There was also a 4 mile 'sampler' trail race that started right after the 14.5m race. Although I didn't see anyone I actually knew (probably not many New Hampshire runners down here in Connecticut), I did see quite a few familiar faces from previous races. I took a spot near the front, trying to size up the various runners and their abilities.
The 1st mile runs along a mostly flat dirt road before turning sharply onto a more 'traditional' hiking trail. From there it starts a slow accent towards Soapstone Mountain (I think). I was in a fairly large pack but we had a good pace going. After crossing our first road the trail makes another sharp right and WHAM, what a view! I near vertical 1/4 to 1/2 mile climb straight up a slope. I wish I had a camera though. What a picture, a stream of runners climbing single file up this monster. I think we could see the entire field in front of us all on the same trail.
Once at the top we ran by the observation tower of Soapstone Mt (again...I think) and then headed down steeply but not as steep as the accent. It was then a roller coaster trail of ups and downs through the woods, but nice enough to run at a fairly decent pace. At the 3.6m mark we came to the first (or was that the second) checkpoint, grabbed some water and continued on. At times the course was hard to follow. We were instructed to follow the White Dot trail unless we saw pink ribbons hanging from the branches. The ribbons were an indication of a change in direction. Although the White Dot trail was generally well marked, there were lots of side trails, openings, etc.. that sometimes got you a little confused as to which way to go. More than once I had to backtrack because I missed a turn (usually marked with the ribbons).
Around the 5 mile point I found myself running with a group of 6-8 runners, including the race director. She was very helpful, letting the rest of us know which way the trail went when it was not so apparent. At one point we came across a pink ribbon, turned and followed the ribbons through the woods. It was a total bushwhack, no trail, just ribbons. Interesting, I thought, nice change of pace. We continued on switchbacking back and forth following the ribbons and eventually hooked back up with the main White Dot trail. I took a Stinger Gold gel (honey, actually), felt an instant energy boost and decided to take the lead in our little chase pack. Then a strange thing happened: I started passing people I either passed previously OR started behind me at the start. I immediately assumed they must of cut the corner and skipped the bushwhack section. It never occurred to me that maybe WE made a mistake, especially since our group had the RD with us. Either we lost or they gained a bunch of time and I was not happy. Runners should NEVER get lost on a course. No excuse. The race course must be clearly marked and never should a mistake gain you an advantage. For the next 8 miles I managed to stay ahead of my group (thankfully) and continued to pick off additional runners...runners for the most part I'd already passed once today.
This course had a little of everything though and was not lacking in the mud department. There was some serious mud in sections and most was hard to avoid. It also followed a mountain stream bed down one section of a mountain. When I say followed, I mean the stream bed WAS the trail, and it wasn't dry. Amazingly I managed to get through it without a slip or fall.
I reached the last checkpoint (mile 11.6) around 1:30 into the race. "2.9 miles to go" yelled the volunteer. I was exhausted by this point and I could feel the blisters forming on my wet feet. The trail turned mostly to a single track by this point. I passed a few more runners and then the trail looped back on itself so you could see the runners coming up the hill as you were going down. I saw the group I ran with earlier...but I couldn't tell if they were catching me.
I think we came up over Soapstone Mountain again, at least it looked familiar. We descended steeply and eventually joined up with a paved road and followed it for a 1/2 mile or so, eventually joining up with a dirt road again. I think we ran on part of this at the beginning of the race. The race then left the dirt road, and followed a single track nearly all the way back to the finish line, crossing a short pasture and then finishing at some out buildings of the riding club (same place we registered at).

FINISH TIME: 2:07:23, 21st overall out of 149 finishers

After finishing and grabbing a bit to eat (nice picnic feast!) I chatted with some fellow runners and the RD (there were two actually). Turns out WE took the wrong trail with the bushwhack side track. The RD figures we probably lost 5-7 minutes with our adventure. Not sure how the RD can get lost on her own course but I don't think it was her fault. Someone clearly marked a trail, using the same color ribbons as the actual course. Thankfully it brought us back to the original trail. I heard some other runners say they went nearly 3 miles off track somewhere out there. I think I also heard the eventual winner was fooled by this bushwhack trail as well. I wasn't really mad about it though. I had a great time. This was an awesome race, a beautiful course and my favorite trail race so far. It was definitely worth the trip down from New Hampshire.

Seven Sisters Race Report

Although I had been warned not to run this race in wet conditions (risk of injury HIGH), as usual I ignored the recommendation and did the race anyways (in wet conditions). Plenty of rain fell the night before and probably the morning of the race but by race time the rains had subsided, leaving only nice wet rocks and muddy trails.
No warm up required for this one. Unfortunately no course review or checkout either. The trail starts right on RT116 and then heads immediately up a very steep hill, climbing something like 500+ feet in about 1/4 mile or so. No need to verify, I can visualize that one in my head. Too bad the RD didn't have a course map with elevation profile posted: that would be really handy, or at least it would be a topic of discussion. In the grand scheme of things, probably doesn't change much but I like information and I had no idea what this course was like. Zero, zip, zilch, nada.

The start was kind of like speed hiking with 200 of your closest friends...on a single track...with rocks...up a steep slope....in wet conditions....all trying to be the first one to the top. It took quite a while to thin out the crowd (hard to do when it's a single track). On the way out it never really thinned, and I always had runners in front and behind me along the trail. I just followed the guy/girl in front of me. This race is either climbing or descending, and most of the time doing both steeply. When we did come to a 'flat' section, it was quite a relief and felt nice to actually run. Most of the climbing required walking or fast hiking. A good portion just wasn't runnable...by anybody. The descents were another story. I am a lousy downhill runner on good conditions, with these conditions I am even worse. I generally 'ran' very conservative on the downhills. I have a number of races coming up and didn't want to risk injury. I was amazed how fast some runners actually run down these hills. I have no idea how they do it.

As mentioned to some friends earlier, I think basalt rock is geologist-speak for 'sharp pointy rocks'. If the trail didn't have rocks everywhere, it had slippery mud or both. Mental concentration was in full operation on this one, at least on the way out. There was a bit of a break around the 4 mile mark when we ran up the stairs,around the wrap-around porch of the Summit House and back down the stairs on the other side, heading back out onto the trail.
The turn around point was after a toe-jamming descent that I read was about 850ft in about 1 1/2 miles. It was kind of non-eventful, come racing down the hill and see a table of Gatorade along with some volunteers and a tent. At first I thought it was an aid station but then someone said 'you're all set', race slang for 'we got your number now turn around and head back'. I grabbed a cup of Gatorade, topped off my water bottle and headed back up the trail. I hit the turn at about 1:14 and was happy with my time so far. Up until this point I hadn't eaten a single thing on the trail. Heck, I barely had time to drink since you're always so focused on where to put your next foot. On the way back up to the Summit House I grabbed a Powerbar from my carrier and managed to have about 1-2 bites. It was just too hard to eat (hard and cold). I probably should have packed a couple of Gu's looking back now. The lack of fuel really hurt on the return trip. I was definitely slowing down and losing energy. Some guy was following me closely for the last 2-3 miles and actually kept me going. I HATE being passed so I kept pushing the pace just to stay in front. He did eventually pass and then mistakenly kept saying 'this is the last hill'...about 3-4 times in a row. I finally gave up listening to him. Heck, by that time I could hear the traffic on Rt116 so I knew I was close. Now I was trying to fend off someone gaining behind me. I picked up the pace as best as I could on the final downhill to the finish. He was gaining but I managed to hold him off and finished strong (easy to do on a downhill finish!).

Official Results: 2 hrs 38 min 52 sec, 71st overall out of 241.

I felt awful though. Actually, I was nauseous. I had a cup of orange juice and a cookie but that was about it. I just wanted to lie down. I walked around for a while to make sure nothing was going to cramp up and then I got in my car for the nearly 2 1/2hr drive home.

I'm glad I did this one, although it was a brutally tough race. I'd prefer a race that I could actually run more though but who knows, I might do this one again.