Mt Washington Road Race

Walkers to the front, please!

Here's my goal for this report: maintain a positive attitude AND write about my experience. Wow, this is going to be tough...I mean I'm looking forward to the challenge! Ok, here we go!!

My day started early. Technically the previous day ended late. I was so looking forward to this race that I stayed awake as long as possible, giddy with excitement. Seriously, does anyone really need more than 2hrs sleep? There's so much to enjoy out there! My alarm went off at 4am and I was out the door by 4:05. I wanted to make sure I saw the sunrise over the Ossipee Mountains. Thankfully most Dunkin Donuts don't open until 5am so I was able to drive the first hour North without coffee, which as you know only distracts you first thing in the morning. Who wants to struggle with the cup holder so early in the morning, especially when it's dark out?

One Hill Too Many

The 50th Mt Washington Road Race is in the books, and so is my running on this hill. I'm officially done with Mt Washington. Any success I may have had at sea level never materialized on the mountain. I tried. I just never figured out how to run this race well (my definition). I am not disappointed, probably more relieved than anything else. If you're a runner and you live in New England, this is a MUST DO race (once). You'll be glad you did it. It's very satisfying to say you ran up Mt Washington. After that it's up to you if you want to come back year after year. I hope the rest of you have better luck with the lottery than I did over the years. As far as I can remember, I was never actually selected in the lottery. I guess it just proves the point the lottery isn't the only way to get into this race!

Bow Lake Dam 15k

Strafford, NH
Ok, so it wasn't on my racing calender but I do like to compare races from year to year. Until my body says otherwise, I still expect to run faster than the previous year. I ran the Bow Lake Dam 15k last year with Chris Dunn (beating him of course...), and enjoyed the race (especially the beating Chris part).
I had two goals this year: run faster than last year AND run under 1hr.
It's a scenic but challenging course around Bow Lake. The early miles (1-5) are mostly gentle rollers with a couple of short hills mixed in to slow you down a bit. Miles 5-7 are VERY challenging, with a Mt Washington-like climb for 1+ miles. Finally, the last 3 miles are mostly downhill with a long, flat finish to the Bow Lake Dam.

Pack Monadnock 10m Race Photos

On Sunday the Wolfe family was out in force at Pack Monadnock. Five of us were in Miller State Park, Alec was working with the timing company at the summit while the rest of us were manning the water stop at the base. Technically Deb, Jess and Ben were manning the stop, I was supervising, also known as taking pictures. All are veteran water-stoppers so they managed fine without me. We also had the help of 2/3 of the Delahunty triplets (Delahunti's?)

Water Stoppers in Action

At around 10:30am I left my photo duties and moved on to my bonus task for the day: riding my mountain bike to the summit and shuttling the results back down in a timely fashion (pun slightly intended). For some reason many runners thought this was easy and I was lucky. It certainly wasn't fast (I think it took me 10-12 minutes to reach the top). For the record, I did not ride the last 100m. The ride down took 47 seconds (or something like that).

Pack Monadnock Photos

Hmm, I see a trend here...

Pineland Farms 25k Trail Race

Pineland "Farms". Oh, I get it, it's an actual f-a-r-m...

NOTE: Long Post - This was such a great event with so much to talk about.
On Sunday I headed up to New Gloucester, Maine for the Pineland Farms 25k trail race. I have no idea where New Gloucester is, I just followed the GPS. This would be another acidotic RACING team event. Initially we were focused on knocking off the host team of Trail Monster Running. However, my thin skinned and apparently sensitive 'teammates' on my other running club (Gate City Striders) decided to put a team together as well, most likely to challenge aR. Oh what a tangled web we weave...

USATF-NE 12k Championship (Bedford 12k for the rest of us)

1st mile (I think everyone in this photo finished ahead of me)

I really wasn't looking forward to this race. I've been telling anyone who would listen (not many) that I currently have no speed. I could feel it. It doesn't mean I'm slow, it just means I'm not in road racing shape. I really haven't done any significant speed work since indoor track ended in February.
I've still been racing (trails) but nothing real fast. In fact I've only had one weekend off since Boston, and that was because I was sick. I really wanted a weekend off from racing. Oh well.
With all the traveling I do for races it would be hard to miss the one that's 9 miles from my house so on Saturday I headed over to Bedford, NH for the 36th Bedford Rotary 12k (results). It turns out it was a great decision. The weather was near perfect, I felt rested. I had no excuses.Today would be a good indication of my current speed. Just what I needed.

Soapstone Mountain 24k Trail Race

In 2008 I voted the Soapstone Mt 24k Trail Race my favorite trail race. I loved the course and the great weather didn't hurt. Not much changed for the 2010 version (results). The weather was perfect....again. The course was probably a bit better this year too. Not nearly as much water as I remember from 2008. Surprisingly not a lot of folks from NH come down for this one. At first glance the location sounds far way...Connecticut. However, it's actually closer than some of the Western Mass races, a short 1hr 45min from Merrimack.
Trail races have been hit and miss for me this year. Some times I feel good, other times I feel terrible. Most times I don't know which until after the race starts. It's been frustrating to say the least. 5 minutes into this one I knew what kind of day it would be. I would struggle early and often. Bummer. Oh well, such is racing. Good thing it was a beautiful day and I like the course! Don't get me wrong, an off day running is still better than not running at all so I'm not complaining. I expect more from myself, that's all.