As Steve Pero told me a couple of days before the race, “Bob, this is one of the top 5 most difficult 100’s.” A fact which ramped up the anxiety another notch or two. I was already a bit anxious because my last two 100’s were DNF’s. Steve was my top notch pacer for 2009 VT 100, my most recent 100 finish.

My plan at MMT was just to finish. My finish time was secondary.

The weather was low 70’s humid, overcast and occasional sprinkles on Saturday and Sunday. It was pretty good weather for the run.

My run was going quite well, until my water bladder went dry mid way during a nine mile stretch between aid stations at miles 41.1 and 50.1. I forgot to fill the bladder at mile 41.1 aid station when I felt I was not drinking enough. By mile 50.1 I was not feeling good and sat down and rested for 25 minutes drinking coke and broth. I repeated that process at multiple aid stations and lost at least 2 1/2 hours.

About midnight at aid station mile 63.9. Three volunteers picked me up off the ground. Initially I thought I fell over while sleeping sitting up on the picnic bench, but later determined that I had passed out. What was amazing, my stomach felt better immediately. Minutes later I was thanking the volunteers and I was back on the trail.

The run through the night went better than expected. I was pretty alert until about dawn when I got the yawns for an hour or two.

My stomach got fussy again. Although this club offers of very broad variety of foods at the aid stations, little was appealing…until aid station 81.6 which had vegan corn chowder. It was great and my stomach was very happy…my head after 2 helpings said “more” my stomach said “enough”.

Approaching the last aid station 96.8, my legs which had been great most of the race began getting the “dead” feeling. I was no longer confident that my pace will get me to the finish line before the 36 hour time limit. I was beginning to accept the fact that at least I can say I finished the course even though I would be listed as DNF officially. I was also thinking about making this my last 100.

I was 1/4 mile from the last aid station mile 96.8 when I heard a woman yelling “Bob” from a distance. How could she read the name on my bib that far away? I could only see a image of a woman. It was Ann Alexion, one of the Trail Monsters. She said “Emma has offered to pace you the last 7 miles”. I accepted. She ran ahead to tell Emma, Ian and George. Ian and Emma said that since I was a strong road runner and 4 of the last 7 miles were on roads, they were confident I could beat the time limit. They told me to ditch the water bladder backpack. I requested a handheld water bottle. A volunteer at the aid station offered his. Within 2 minutes of arriving at the aid station Emma and I hit the trail. My legs felt better as a consequence of seeing my Trail Monster friends who had confidence in me and wanted to see me finish before the time limit. Both Ian and George who dropped out of the race with issues at mile 63.9 were determined to see me become an official finisher.

Emma was an awesome pacer…firm but kind. With her Garmin she kept me informed with mileage and pace. First we climbed my last mountain (last of at least 12). It was a relatively steep 1 mile climb that we walked swiftly. Then we ran 1.5 miles of trail down. Next we hit the 4 miles road and I picked up the pace to 9 – 9.5 minute miles slowing some for the hills. About 3 miles into the 7 mile leg from the aid station to the finish, I told Emma, I think I will finish with a time of about 35:45. She said “Bob, no it is going to be tight.” Except for a brief steep hill at the end of the 4 miles of road before the last 1/2 mile of trail to the finish line, I ran strong and steady. (I surprised myself.) I picked up the pace to something under 8 minute miles for the last 100 yards to the finish line. Finish time 35:40, beating both Emma’s and my estimates.

I feel great today. I had no injuries, no pain, no falls, no stubbed toes, minimal chafing…just the usual 100 mile stiff legs after sitting. I am thinking of racing at Pinelands Trail Festival this weekend. Distance to be determined later this week

I watched Ryan take off in the 10k, leading the pack (turns out he would stay in the lead too, coming in for the win! Woohoo!), and then trotted off to find a place at the starting line for the 50k. Who should I see but Amy?! Come down to cheer us on! That was a great surprise!! I lined up next to Blaine, and after a few words from the race director we were off into the woods. It was crowded at the start, the trails packed to capacity, and we jostled here and there for pace and comfortable position. I had been worried about my ankle all week, and how it was going to affect my race, but honestly, other than two small missteps in the first lap on rocks when I felt a twinge, it was a total non-issue! I stayed with Blaine throughout the first lap, and it was fun to catch up with him and made the miles fly by quickly. Our pace felt comfortable, and we came back through the starting area in 58:00ish. A little slower than last year’s first lap, but it seemed reasonable and pretty close to what I was shooting for. Blaine stopped for a bathroom break, and I ran on past the crew, saying hello but continuing on without stopping.

At the start of lap 2, a guy caught up to me and commented, “Last year, you ran by me on that last hill on the last lap, light on your feet, happy and cheery. It was very inspirational, and at the same time, very demoralizing.” Ha! We had fun chatting for a short while. Turns out he was only running the 1/2 marathon this year due to other obligations, but as he sped off, I told him I’d try to do the same on the last hill this year. Oh the foreshadowing! For the rest of the lap, I ended up running on and off with a woman named Shera – we had fun chatting, and leapfrogging along the trail. She was from Rhode Island, running her first ultra, and amazingly enough, she even knew about the Trail Monsters! The name has gained fame in the ultra community for sure, which is very cool!

I came back through the starting area in around 1:56 at the end of lap 2 feeling good. The day had warmed up by now and the sun was out in full force, but it was still comfortable in the shade of the woods.  I dropped a bit of trash, found out that Ryan had won the 10k, grabbed a packet of Honeystinger Chews and was off. I’m a bit hazy on the details, but somewhere in the midst of lap 3, I started to feel some heaviness in my legs, and once again felt that familiar feeling in my stomach, like I just wasn’t interested in the fuel I was carrying. My mouth was also very dry. But I continued on, thinking I could just power through. At some point, Nathan ran past, light on his feet, floating along as if he were just out for a jog in the woods, which I suppose, in training for a 100, a marathon might feel like In any event, there was no question he was feeling and looking strong. I wish I could have stayed with him, but I knew right off that that was not to be and let him go. Right near the edge of the woods, I came up on Chandra, finishing her longest race ever, the half marathon! It was fun cheering her on during that last stretch! Way to go, Chandra! I had slowed down on this lap a bit, but was still feeling fairly positive as I headed through the start area. Ryan asked me if I had any trash, to which I waved my hand at my stomach. He understood and told me to keep eating. I grabbed a packed of Gu Chomps and took back off.

Lap 4 was the low point for sure. I started to feel a bit woozy out there, and could barely get any of my fuel down. I was drinking as much as I was able. I felt hot. I felt odd. I started to contemplate stopping. I was not in a very good place. And mostly, I was alone, trudging along through the woods, just putting one foot in front of each other. Around mile 22, my quads started to seize up. What the heck!? What was wrong with me!? At that point, I just let go of my goal time and put my head down. It was now just a question of getting through it. As I got back to the start area, Ryan was waiting at the edge the woods. I told him I wasn’t feeling good. I was dizzy. My stomach hurt. My quads hurt. He suggested some Coke, which tasted wonderful! I dropped my hydration pack and picked up my handheld, filled with water. Ryan stuffed my shorts pockets with a few chips as I walked around the aid station, and then just like that, I was off once again. There was no question I would go out for the last lap. It was just a question of how long I would be out there There was a bit of a boost knowing it was the last lap. The water tasted clean and refreshing. I managed to run the whole loop except for the one short little hill towards the beginning, but it was S-L-O-W going! The loop felt like it would never end. I was out there for much much longer than I would have liked to have been, or would have hoped. But I simply could do nothing more. Finally, when I hit the last stretch of road before the field, I willed my legs to GO! I pushed it as much as I could across the finish line, and then promptly told Ryan and Amy “that sucked!” Ah, yes, and we’re out here for the fun of it, right?!

In any event, I ended up finishing in 5:08 by my Garmin with a distance of 31.3 (which is longer than last year’s race read by 0.75 miles, which is interesting), way off my hoped-for-goal of 4:45 and much slower than last year’s time of 4:52. It was just not my day. I’m not even quite sure why. It seemed as if the heat got to me, as did my fueling yet again. I was covered in salt when I finished, yet managed to polish off the whole 40+ oz. of Nuun in my hydration pack plus 12 oz. of water in my handheld while I was out there. I didn’t eat much, just 1 packet of Honeystinger Chews, 1 Gu and 2 packets of Gatorade Chews, plus 2 or 3 chips. I was very surprised at how much my quads hurt by the time I was done. I don’t think I’ve ever had that happen before in an ultra. Was it dehydration? Salt imbalance? Repetitive use of the muscle based on the relatively flat course? Who knows… In any event, I’m proud I toughed it out and I did end up coming in 4th woman, so I guess I can’t complain too much. I simply wished that my time reflected my training, and what I felt I could accomplish, a bit more accurately. But, as Valerie, says, running long is always an adventure. You just never quite know what you’re going to get

In all of this, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the Trail Animals, as usual, put on a great race. The trail was well-marked, the volunteers were helpful, the atmosphere was fun and lively. Definitely a good race to run. And of course, awesome job to all the Trail Monsters racing on Saturday! There were some great results – very impressive. And thank you especially to Ryan and Amy for being a great cheering and support crew! I really appreciate it Trail Monsters rock!

RESULTS
Official time – 5:06:58
30/108
4th woman

The timing of this race, as well as the terrain, would serve as good prep for the MMT 100 coming up in a few weeks and by comparing times of runners who had completed both races in previous years I figured this would allow me to get a better estimation of how much time I can expect to be out on the trails at Massanutten. A few people have planted the seed in my head that it might be possible for me to break 24 hours at MMT, a very ambitious time that only a handful of people (usually 10-15) are able to make every year. I estimated that if I have a shot of breaking 24 at MMT that I would need to run better than 4:45 at Traprock. Definitely not as easy task based on what I knew about the race, 5 hours seemed like a more reasonable goal, but it really depended on how hard I raced. I had a hard time decided if this was going to be an all-out race effort or just a training run, but ultimately my real goal is to do well at Massanutten so I guess I approached Traprock as a hard training run.

Not sure who these guys are, but this is a good shot of some of the more technical trail.

I didn’t really taper for Traprock, it came after a lower mileage week of training (51 miles) and would become part of a step back up in mileage (70+). I had some minor piriformis and achilles issues in the week leading up to the race causing me to hold back in training a little more than I originally planned, with the result being that I went into the race feeling a bit more rested than I expected, and thankfully (mostly) pain-free. In looking at previous years results and split times (the race is three laps of a 10.5 mile loop) it was clear that EVERYONE slows down on each successive lap. The top 10 runners slowed by an average of 22 minutes between their first and third laps. Normally I would aim for more consistency, but if that’s what the best runners are doing on this course why should I be any different? My plan was to start out somewhat conservatively, try not to get caught up in “racing” too early, and hopefully feel consistently strong throughout even though I expected to slow on each lap.

Nathan and I headed down to Connecticut on Friday afternoon, crashed at a hotel about 15 minutes from the race start and met the rest of the TMR team on the morning of the race. We got there in plenty of time to check-in, place our drop bags, hang the TMR flag and get in a bit of a warm-up. There had been a little rain on Friday but I was pleased to find the course was mostly dry with only a few slick spots. I went out in two different pairs of shoes to see which had better grip, ultimately deciding on my new Mudclaw 300’s over the Mudroc 290’s.

The morning was cool but I knew the temperature would rise soon enough, and of course, with a 300 foot climb in the first mile I knew that I’d be working hard right from the start. I decided to wear shorts and a singlet, baseball cap and a thin pair of gloves. After a pre-race meeting that included words from a local senator and town official we set off on about 50 yards of asphalt before making a sharp turn onto the trail and heading steeply uphill. I found myself probably just outside the top 20, this seemed like a good place to be but as the climb went on many of those in front started to drop back. By the time we finally crested the first hill I had moved up at least half a dozen places. I transitioned well into faster downhill running and and managed to pick off a few more people on some of the more technical sections of the course. It wasn’t necessarily my intention to move up in position this early in the race but I work hard at technical downhill running in training and it seemed to be paying off in the race.

At about 2 miles into the race we hit the Stairway to Heaven, a notorious climb that looks pretty evil, and is in no way runnable (for most people) but actually wasn’t that long. More aggressive than the Summit Trail at Bradbury, but it was over in a few minutes and I was back to running again. At 5k the course begins a 1k out-and-back lollipop that gives you a chance to see how the people are looking ahead of and behind you. I counted the runners on this stretch and found that I was in 13th place. Still very early in the race but I was feeling good and started to have ambitions of finishing in the top 10. On my way back on this out-and-back I saw Joe close behind, then Nathan, David and Ben.

I was skipping all the aid stations on this first lap since I was carrying a 22oz bottle in a waist pack, along with some trail mix, a gel and a small flask filled with a mix of Odwalla and chia seeds. Most of the second half of the loop is less technical and steep than the first half so the pace picked up along some nice rolling single track with views out to the west. From the final aid station of the loop there was a little more than a mile of old, broken paved road before we turned back along the mile and a half of more technical, hilly trail that doubled as the way out on the loop. I soon saw the lead runners coming up the hill towards me which made navigating the rocks a little more tricky. After a fast 300 foot descent I ran towards the finish line to complete the first lap. I hadn’t been looking at my watch so it came as a complete surprise when I saw the time on the clock at the line. 1:32. Damn, that was a little too fast. I was expecting to be around 1:40. I felt good, but realized that I was probably pushing it a little too hard on that lap, there were still a lot of miles to go.

I made a quick stop at my drop bag to grab a new bottle then headed back up the hill. I had no idea if I managed to hold onto my place while I was stopped. Lots of people were coming in and going to their drop bags but I was too focused on my own stuff to pay attention, and I decided that I didn’t want to get too caught up in hanging onto my place. Not knowing took the pressure off.

The second time up the hill included more walking than the first, and by now there was a steady stream of runners coming down the trail at me. I got to see the rest of the TMR team before the trail split and everyone was looking good. I made a conscious decision to hold back a bit on this lap, I knew that if I tried to maintain the pace I’d been doing for the first lap that I’d probably end up crashing pretty bad. I walked more of the ups but found that I was generally able to make up ground on other runners on the downhills.

By my second time on the lollipop the top one or two runners had already exited before I entered, but I did see Adam Wilcox who had been in third place the last two times I saw him. I didn’t bother to count runners this time, instead just focusing on running consistently and keeping the fluid and fuel going in. It was starting to warm up and I worried about draining my bottle so I did stop at one aid station on this lap for a cup of water that turned out to be HEED. To my surprise it was on the road section of the course that I seemed to feel the most sluggish on this lap. The Mudclaws don’t make a good road shoe. Once back on the trail there was a gradual climb before making the steep drop back down to the start/finish area. As I started the quick descent I saw Adam coming uphill towards me, I cheered him on but his response was something like “blergh”. He definitely wasn’t looking right.

This time I was puzzled by the clock at the finish line: 3:14. Puzzled mostly because I couldn’t do math, but I eventually figured out that I had slowed by 10 minutes on that lap, a bit more than I thought. I also realized that if I was going to break 5 hours I could only afford to slow down by another 2 minutes on this lap. This wasn’t going to be easy, but I decided not to stress about it, just continue to run by feel, the way I had for the first two laps and let myself be surprised by what the clock showed when I was done.

Part way up the initial climb of the third lap another runner sidled up to me and started to chat. He definitely wanted to break 5 hours and hoped we could pull it off together. As friendly as he was I wasn’t in the mood for conversation, I just wanted to focus on getting this done. We ran together, back and forth for the next few miles. I’d tend to get ahead on the more technical parts and steep downhills and he’d get ahead of me on the uphills and less technical terrain. With about 10k left to go in the race we pulled into an aid station together and both made a quick stop to grab a drink. I was out first but he quickly caught up and announced his intention to put the hammer down in an effort to break 5 hours. It sounded like a good idea since we were entering the less technical part of the course, but I’d had a growing pain in my lower abdomen and felt the need to stop for a pee. I had to get that out of the way before trying to pick up the pace. I stepped off the trail and began to do my thing, but it didn’t look right. In fact, it looked like I’d just cut open a vein. After producing about a cups worth of what looked like straight blood the stream thankfully stopped.

I was a little freaked out and wasn’t quite sure what to do. Not finishing wasn’t an option I considered, there were only about 5 miles left in the race, I just wasn’t sure how hard I should push it to the finish. I walked a few paces and then settled into a slow jog. I felt OK, but there was definitely something going wrong on the inside. A few minutes passed and Tom Page came flying by me. How much more damage could I do in the next few miles? I decided I’d be better off getting this over as soon as possible so I picked the pace up. I had hopes of keeping Tom in my sights but he was moving too well.

I soon came to the last aid station of the race where I found Adam seated in a chair under the tent, not looking well. I went to see if he was OK, not that I could do anything for him that the volunteers couldn’t. I asked if he was going to keep running and he responded: “I have no choice.” I’m sure he could have made his way off the course with a volunteer, this aid station was less than a quarter mile from the finish line the way the volunteers came in, but I knew what he meant.

5k left to go, mostly flat or downhill, except for that part that isn’t, that long gradual uphill. I ran hard and was definitely feeling tired, but I was determined not to lose any more places or any more blood. In the final descent, while pounding the downhill, I could feel my left calf threatening to cramp. A fall on that trail, at that speed would have been disastrous. Hospitalization type of disaster. Luckily I was able to keep the screaming muscle at bay and maintain my upright position. Off the hill and it was a 50 yard sprint to the finish, and another surprise when I saw the clock: 5:04:28. The way things had gone in the last 5 miles I was fairly certain that breaking 5 wasn’t going to happen, but I was still happy with the result. Somehow, with all the back and forth I managed to hang on to 13th place, right where I was at 5k. So despite slowing down with each lap I guess I didn’t screw it up worse than anyone else. I ran really hard on some challenging terrain, and apart bleeding out of my penis it went really well. OK, so I have to figure out why that happened and if there is anything I can do to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

time: 5:04:28
distance: 31 miles
pace: 9:49
place: 13/105 finishers

RESULTS

After catching my breath I went back to my drop bag, grabbed a drink and my camera and waited for the rest of the team to come in. Joe wasn’t far behind, then Ben, Nathan, David and Jordan. Another good day for the team.

So what does this mean for Massanutten? I’m pretty sure it means I shouldn’t go after a sub 24-hour finish. 25 seems like an ambitious, but attainable goal if everything comes together perfectly – although when does that ever happen? 26 seems like something I should be able to do, but who knows. My biggest concern is the weather, there is only so much I can do to prepare for the potential heat and humidity of late spring in Virginia. I feel good about the hills and the technical terrain, I feel great about my support crew and pacer.

Last year I ran a great race race here and finished quite strong with a 1:36  (1:35:53). This year I am a little bit lighter (about 4 lbs) but have not had many long runs so I felt I would be OK with at least a 1:40, but kinda dreamed about having a fantastic above normal race and somehow beat last years time.

At the start I hung back a bit and felt my best chance to feel OK at the end was to be very conservative. My son ran with me and we had an easy first 3-4 miles with plenty of time and energy to talk up a storm about everything and anything.

I was passed by at least 30 runners and honestly with my low expectations, it didn’t really bother me at all. I thought perhaps after the middle miles with all the hills were behind me, I would try to pick things up and actually race the last three easy miles of the race.

The first 5 miles felt very easy and manageable so it was quite a surprise to see my turn around split was the same as last year…….(48min) WHF?? How did I accomplish that? After the turn around my son mentioned that I was on pace to PR if I could maintain my current pace and pull off a speedy last mile.

HMMNNN…..My first thought was, perhaps I could pull of a PR after all. My second thought was the possibility …no probability of falling apart on the return trip. It was too late to change my mind set now…why did my son have to mention it, now I had no choice.

He helped by monitoring my pace and taking the lead in miles 6 and 7 to keep me going on the down hills. Yes you read that right, I was fine on the uphills but too conservative on the downs. Not enough crazy let it all hang out downhill training yet.

He was a great rabbit and by the mile 7 hill I passed him and felt good enough to pick it up even more. I passed more runners on the way back than passed me on the way out. I was screaming by packs of runners and feeling really strong.

Mile 9  came and I knew for sure I was going to PR. It was pretty exciting because I pretty much discounted this race as a race and was considering it just an organized jog. I picked the pace up even more and crossed the finish line at 1:31:01 (43 min on the return)

Just about a 5 minute PR, who would have thought? I was the fastest Trail Monster of the race, and the only one……well that makes me the slowest Trail Monster in the race also.

Needless to say, it was a happy day.

Even though this is a step-down week in my 100 mile training I had to get in longer than a 5 mile snowshoe run so I planned to make two more passes of the course. This would serve as a pretty solid training run, especially given all the hills on the course, and also help to get the race course better tracked before the race. After last week’s 36 mile run at Val’s Fat Ass 50k I wasn’t sure how much energy I’d have for a 3+ hour snowshoe run so I made sure to fuel up well before and during the run. On the second lap of the course I didn’t have to stop like we did on the first time around and I managed to complete that loop in 1 hour and 1 minute. After another brief stop at the car to refuel I headed out for a third time. By now it was about 11:00 and the temperature was on the rise, well above freezing. The snow that I’d been packing down was actually starting to soften up, at least in the sunnier spots on the course. I tried to maintain a consistent effort throughout, walking the steeper uphills and letting gravity do its thing on the downs, and I managed to knock out the third lap in 1 hour even.

Generally I was feeling pretty good physically, but more importantly I was feeling really well prepared for the race mentally. I always feel like I have some kind of advantage going into the snowshoe races since I’m pretty much the only one racing who knows the course, but anyone is welcome to come out for the course recon the day before.

On race day Ryan and I got to the park at 7:30 to mark the course, the temperature was right at 32 and it was nice to find that the trails had firmed up overnight with the colder temps. Of course this was going to change in the hours before the start of the race, but it made things easier for getting around the course. We split the course and each covered about 2.5 miles at an easy pace while placing flags and arrows as we went. After a quick wardrobe change we set up registration and the start & finish lines and then relaxed for a bit while the racers arrived and got themselves checked in and ready to go. At about 10:30 my stomach was rumbling. I hate racing hungry, but it was a bit too close to the start to eat anything solid so I decided to drink an Ensure that I had in my bag, a leftover from last week’s long run. I usually find that it’s pretty easy to run right after drinking one of these since I use them in ultras, but this was the first time I’ve ever had one right before a short race where I was going to running at a much higher level of intensity than in an ultra. Perhaps I shouldn’t have downed the whole thing, 350 calories is a lot to handle, but at least I wasn’t hungry any more.

I had time for a short warm-up run, it doesn’t take long to get your heart rate up when running in snowshoes, and a little time to regret that Ensure. A crowd of 59 runners lined up at the start and after a few announcements and warnings about fun and potentially dangerous course features from Ryan – who was taking part in the race today – we were off and running. I decided to go out at a somewhat conservative pace at the beginning, knowing that this was a comparatively long snowshoe race, that the hilly terrain would naturally spread out the field, and that the trail conditions would allow for passing. When we left the field and entered the wooded trail I was in 6th place. Not surprisingly Jim Johnson was out in front, with (perhaps not in the right order) Doug, Jeremy, Scott and Andy in between. I was right on Andy’s heels but didn’t want to make a move too soon, I needed to suss out how he was running today.

By about 1/2 mile in I figured I was capable of going a little harder on the downhills that he was, so I waited until we came to a short, steep downhill on the Boundary Trail. I stepped just off the beaten path and launched myself off the drop-off, hitting the ground and weaving back onto the trail barely missing a tree. The momentum from this move allowed me to close the gap on Scott by a bit. As we neared the bottom of the hill on the Boundary Trail it sounded like Scott said something to Doug who was right in front. Doug moved right around a tree and Scott went left, I put in a surge and followed Scott to move past Doug. The snow was pretty soft on this descent and it took everything I had to maintain balance as I negotiated the hill, the bumps, the turns and the speed.

On the steep climb that followed along the back side of the mountain Scott started to pull away. We were only 1.5 miles into the race, still plenty of trail left and I figured as long as I kept him in my sights I’d have a chance of catching back up on the next big downhill. I could also see Jeremy ahead and figured that Scott was working hard to try and catch him. At about 1.75 miles we turned on the South Ridge Trail which begins a gradual descent that gets progressively steeper, ultimately dropping about 200 feet in 1/3 of a mile. I closed the gap, got on Scott’s heels and waited for the right time to pounce. At rocky outcropping Scott went left so I moved to the right and put in a surge. He wasn’t going to make it easy for me but I barely made it past before our paths converged. I kept hammering the downhill, on the verge of losing control, but this is how I had to run to keep ahead of Scott.

As the trail bottomed out I could see Jeremy up ahead. The next 3/4 mile featured a 250 foot climb up to the summit of Bradbury, this certainly wasn’t going to be an easy place to put in another surge but I knew I couldn’t get complacent about my position in the race. Scott would take his place back if I gave him a chance. As we passed the picnic shelter there was a crowd of TMR volunteers cheering and this gave me just the motivation I needed. The gloves were off, literally (thanks for picking them up Linda). As we started the climb on the Switchback Trail I had closed in on Jeremy and was only a few paces back. I encouraged him to stay strong, and he was clearly working hard so it wasn’t easy keeping up.

By about 1/2 way up the Switchback Trail I could tell that Jeremy was losing a little steam. I stayed on his heels for a few more turns before ultimately taking the tight inside line of a corner and sneaking past. I managed to step it up a notch and open a slight gap before we reached the summit. I figured if I could get far enough ahead to be out of his view I could afford to relax a bit and catch my breath on the flat stretch that followed. We were only 3 miles into the race, still a lot of time for Jerermy, Scott or anyone else to catch me so I had to stay focused.

After summiting there was a short section of trail with 2-way traffic, I got to see Paul, Jerry, Chandra, Kate, Ann and George coming the opposite way and I did my best to offer some encouragement without slobbering all over the place. Speaking and snowshoe racing don’t go well together.

When I turned onto the Tote Rd I realized there was only one runner ahead of me on the course, although I never thought for a second that I had any chance of seeing him until the race was over. I pushed on as hard as I could out of fear that someone was going to come up on me. This stretch was pretty flat, not my strength. I channeled the music I had been listening to on the way to the park early this morning:

Eventually the Tote Rd joined up with the Northern Loop and began a gradual climb nearly all the way back up to the summit. At least the Northern Loop had received snowmobile traffic so the footing was pretty solid and I was able to maintain a strong pace going uphill.

The course turned onto the single-track of the Terrace Trail dropping about 200 feet in 4/10 of a mile. I pretty much knew I was safe once I started to descend, this is my favorite trail to run in the park, especially when covered in snow and you can really let loose. The snow was slick and loose, most footfalls ended with a squish and glide but every now and then one foot would sink deeper and throw off my balance. I figured the worst that could happen would be a face plant in the soft snow so I wasn’t too worried about losing control. Luckily I did manage to stay upright and from the bottom of the hill it was a mostly flat sprint for another 4/10 of a mile to the finish line. It may have just been my tired legs but it seemed that the footing in this final stretch was some of the worst of the whole course. Just as I wanted to try and kick it up another notch for the finish the snow seemed sloppier and less efficient.

As I entered the field I heard a cheer from the crowd of volunteers and supporters, who had been waiting for quite some time since Jim had come through the finish. My attempt at a final sprint was somewhat thwarted by more soft snow but I managed to stay strong until crossing the line. Definitely a good race for me. It’s great to be inspired, pulled and pushed by so many of my TMR teammates. A great day for the team.

time: 44:17
distance: 4.8 miles
pace: 9:13
place: 2/58

I knew today was going to be tough on several fronts: Brutal course that was almost five miles on top of me not feeling well. Let me rewind a bit on that latter point. I’ve felt strangely sapped of my energy the past few days. That was evident during Friday’s run, and also the 13 hours of sleep I had gotten in the 24 hours prior to the race. Diet has been fine so I don’t know what’s up. It’s odd.

The start. Photo by Jim Dunn.

Summit. Photo by Jim Dunn.

Flying on the final descent. Photo by Jim Dunn.

Finish. Photo by Katy Hazzard.

Sadly, Irene was sick, so Sam didn’t get time with her grandparents today, but my sister very nicely agreed to watch Sam for the morning, so Sam did get some cousin time with Morgan and had a lot of fun! It certainly was a nice enough day for Sam to be at the race, but with both of us racing, and Ryan directing, it would have been a bit difficult logistically. Much less stress for all of us if she was off having fun playing with Morgan!

After dropping Sam off down in Portland, I drove back to the Brad, and had enough time to chat a bit and get in a mile warm-up before heading over the start line. Ran into Zak, Lenka, little baby Emma and the whole crew too. Emma looked adorable and half asleep, which is just how you want it

Ryan had come up with a good course on the mountain side for this final race of the series, and we took off up the Northern Loop and out to the Boundary, all the way around to the South Ridge Trail. I was breathing heavily from the get-go, but felt much better than during the last race! Jennifer was off like a shot, so there was no use in trying to keep up, and without Leslie there, I was in a bit of no-man’s land. I huffed and puffed and ran along. Conditions were good – soft snow, but mostly packed. I walked most of the steeps along the Boundary, and got passed by Nathan early on. I was walking, and he just ran on by as if I was standing still… well, I almost was, but you know He ended up having a great race! Should have tried to keep up with him, I guess!

The descent down South Ridge was fun in an out-of-control sort of way, and slightly nerve-wracking with people breathing down your neck. I lost the guys behind me as we climbed back up to the playground and then made our way over to the Switchback, the devilish route back up to the summit.  I admit to walking some of the steeper stretches between the Switchback. Aie. What can I say? By the time I got to the top, I was tired, and I let the two guys behind me by – turned out to be Sean and someone else, both of whom sped out of sight. I was a bit down at that point, wishing I could turn on my drive a bit, but I have still to work on that part of racing. I’m competitive but not quite enough In any event, once they were past me, I actually really enjoyed the rest of the course – the little stretch on the Boundary before cutting over to the Tote road was nice, and the Tote was great running! I was having fun! Wait, did that mean I wasn’t working hard enough? OK, turn it up a bit then, Danielle! Worked my way back up towards the summit, and then flew as fast as I could down the Terrace and in. I felt like I had a strong final few miles, and am overall pretty happy with how the race turned out, just wish I didn’t quite “give up” as easily when passed by Nathan and Sean Ah well. With Leslie not there, and me not feeling under the weather, I ended up in 2nd place for both the race, and the series, which was cool, although I think Jennifer beat me by about 5 minutes today, and 15 minutes in the overall standings. Ouch!!

I hung around after the race, chatting with friends and enjoying some yummy soup and goodies, and even had time to stick around for the awards. I chose a Frontier giftcard for my prize, which we put to very good use tonight for dinner – YUM! It was a great (if that is the word for a fun, if slightly torturous and hard) series, and many many thanks go out to Ryan, Ian, Valerie and Mindy, all of whom put in some serious time to make things happen, as well as the rest of the volunteers! Thank you! Thank you!

Now that the race is over, I’m ready for the snow to melt and the mud and dirt to appear

It’s amazing how much variability there is in snowshoe racing. On Monday it looked like the Bradbury White Out would be run on a combination of dirt and icy trails, by Wednesday we were pretty sure there was going to be some snow, but no clear idea if it would be enough to snowshoe on. By Friday the concern shifted to “how the hell are we going to pack out a race course in all this snow?”

With plans for a 25 mile trail run on Saturday it soon became clear that wasn’t going to be an option in 24+ inches of new powdery snow, so I changed my plans to doing laps of the snowshoe race course to both pack the trail and get in my long run for the week. I hoped to be able to cover at least 3 laps of the 4 mile course in 4 hours which would be about the same amount of time I had expected to run for if I’d been on the type of trails I was dealing with early in the week. That plan changed as soon as I set foot on the trail Saturday at noon. With snow ranging in depth from mid-calf to above my knees my Garmin told me I was moving at about a 32 minute per mile pace. With all this snow it wasn’t too surprising that I lost the real trail in a few places and ended up having to do a little backtracking. I had originally hoped that I’d be able to run on my second lap, but these short sections of backtracking made me realize that the second pass of the course would be like breaking trail through 18″ of snow instead of 24″. Not much easier and certainly not runnable.

After 2 hours and 13 minutes I finally finished one lap of the course. I was working hard, at least as much effort as I would be putting in a long trail run, but I felt pretty good after the first lap so set off on the second in hopes of getting it done in under 1.5 hours. About 1/4 mile into the second lap I paused to take a photo and discovered my camera wasn’t in my pocket. Shit! It must have fallen out when I tripped on a stump and did a face plant more than half a mile back. I contemplated continuing on and looking for the camera when I came back around on the second lap, but since it was still snowing and the wind was blowing strong I realized I didn’t have much time before it would be completely reburied. When I returned to the scene of the crash, much to my surprise, I discovered a little loop of camera strap sticking up out of the snow. Yes!

At this point I decided to keep going around the course in the opposite direction rather than going back and starting over again, it was clear that the second time around the course wasn’t going to be much faster. There were places that my tracks from the first pass were completely obliterated by the drifting snow and I was breaking fresh trail all over again. After a total of 4 hours and 9 minutes I had covered only 8.3 miles, but did make it around the race course twice so at least there would be some kind of trail for people to follow in Sunday’s race. Its hard to say exactly how this would compare to my planned 25 mile run, I certainly felt like I had worked very hard for 4 hours.

The next morning I was up early to shovel snow at home, then got to Bradbury about 8:30 in the morning for more shoveling. We had to be able to get runners to an area for registration, to the picnic shelter for post-race activities, to the trail head across the road and we needed to clear an area for volunteers to stand at the finish line where they wouldn’t be knee deep in snow. I also made an attempt at reducing the snow depth of an area at the start line so there wouldn’t be quite such a bad bottle-neck as 50+ runners tried to squeeze into a 2’ wide snow trench at the start of the race. Luckily a few volunteers showed up early to help clear snow and to get everything else set up for the race. Ryan had been there since 6:30 making another pass of the race course and putting out the markings, not that it needed much marking since it was the only trail on the east side of the park, but it definitely needed a little more foot traffic before the race.

By 10:30 we were done with set-up, most runners were checked in and it was time for me to start thinking about my race. I’d had my running gear on since leaving the house early that morning, so all I had to do was strip off a few layers, change shoes and get my snowshoes on. I really wasn’t sure what to expect for today’s race. I knew better than anyone what the conditions and course were going to be like, but the race itself is so dependent on who else is there and where you position yourself in the pack. Knowing that the first few runners would be dealing with the worst of conditions, and that I wasn’t exactly going into this race fresh and rested I figured I should be just outside of the top 10 to start. One thought was to go out “easy” and enjoy the benefits of a somewhat better packed course with hopes of being able to have something left for a surge in the last mile where I’d pick off the weary runners who had been doing all the work for most of the race. I wasn’t convinced that relying on a late surge in any snowshoe race was a good idea though. Another idea I had was to work as a team with a few other Trail Monsters where we’d take turns leading a pack, and regularly switch up the leader so no one runner was doing all the hard work. In the end I did neither.

I lined up in more or less an appropriate place, a little behind Ryan W., Scott, Jamie, Alan, James, David, Chuck and a few others. When the race started Ryan and Scott took off fast, but everyone else seemed to be a bit cautious, I don’t think anyone wanted to be out front and do all the work. Before I knew it I found myself in fourth place behind David, and it wasn’t long before Ryan and Scott were out of sight, not that I could see much with all the powder that was being kicked up in front of me. I could tell that I had a pack of strong runners on my heels and I figured it was only a matter of time before someone asked to get past. I think everyone was breathing too hard to say anything. After a gradual downhill along Knight Woods there was a steep drop and then short climb as we crossed the snowmobile trail. After the climb I was tight on David’s heels and felt that I could probably go a little bit faster, but this certainly wasn’t the right part of the course to make a move on as the trail twisted and turned in narrow gaps between trees.

When I knew we were close to merging with the Snowmobile Trail, a little before the 1 mile mark, I let David know that I would be willing to take over the work of leading the pack for a while if he wanted to let me pass. This wasn’t a confident declaration that I thought I could stay in front, but I thought it was fair to give him a break. Once we made the turn on onto the Snowmobile trail he took one step to the left and I moved around to the right. I had every expectation that it wouldn’t be long before David or someone else would come up on me and ask to pass. As we approached the turn from the Snowmobile Trail onto Fox East I could hear Emma up ahead cheering me on. After a 25 mile run from home to Bradbury she arrived 5 minutes before the start and then hiked up the trail to help direct runners and provide some encouragement. It worked. Seeing her there gave me a boost and I pushed hard on the technical terrain. I opened a small gap but it wasn’t long before there were footsteps right on my heels again.

It wasn’t going to be easy to shake this chase pack, but I did start to wonder if maybe I could hold this position for the rest of the race. I was definitely running scared. If someone wanted to pass I wasn’t going to stop them, but I feared that as we got closer to the finish I wouldn’t have the opportunity to make a move and get that place back again. I put in a surge on the downhill of Fox and opened a slight gap, but I was on the verge of getting out of control. Rather than being compressed under each footfall the snow just slipped around and moved out of the way. The downhill surge actually took a lot of energy just to keep upright and I needed a slight recovery on the gradual climb that followed, but recovering on an uphill in fresh powder snow is not really an option and I could tell that the gap was closed up pretty tight behind me. I focused on trying to match the stride of the footsteps ahead of me to find the most solid footing. As much as I wanted to ease off the pace to lower my heart rate and breathing I knew that doing so would make it that much easier on everyone chasing me and it would only be a matter of time before someone felt bold enough to make a move and pass. So I charged on at near maximum effort. As the gradual climb topped out I knew we’d be crossing the snowmobile trail soon which would be a great opportunity for someone to make a move so I put in another surge to try and pull away. After we crossed the Snowmobile Trail we were back on narrow and twisting single-track and I relaxed a little bit.

Knowing that the next opportunity for someone to make a move would come when we turned from Ginn onto the wide, downhill of Old Tuttle Road I put in another surge. I had told a few others that this would be a good place to really kick it in so I knew I’d have to make my move early.  As I made the turn onto Old Tuttle I almost wiped out but just barely managed to keep upright. The next 2/10ths of a mile were an all out sprint. I caught a glimpse of someone up ahead on the trail but didn’t dare take my eyes off the snow immediately in front of me for too long. As I made the sharp turn onto Lanzo and back onto tight single-track I knew I had opened up a gap and just hoped that it was big enough to hang onto. I was feeling pretty spent and feared that if someone did catch up to me I wouldn’t have enough in me to put up much of a fight.

The tight turns that came in the last 3/4th of a mile actually played to my strengths and I could tell I was moving away from my chase pack. I had thoughts of reigning in second place but didn’t know how much of a lead he still had on me, probably less than a tenth of a mile but I was running out of real estate. Just before making the turn from Lanzo onto the Link Trail for the final push to the finish I could hear the crowd at the finish line cheering. Someone had just crossed the line. Despite knowing that I couldn’t catch anyone in front of me and that the chase pack was far enough back that I didn’t have to worry I still gave it everything I had for a sprint to the finish. I was surprised and very pleased to finish third. It wasn’t how I planned to run, not that I really had much of a plan, but I was lucky to feel good throughout the race and stay strong to the end. Ryan W. got the win with Scott only 1 second behind. Just under a minute after me David came in with five others right on each other heels behind: Jennifer, Kristina, Jamie, Chuck and James.

It was a fun race in very challenging conditions, but no doubt frustrating for those who were caught in the trench and unable to pass.

time: 39:45
distance: 3.5 miles
pace: 11:21
place: 3/53

RESULTS

After catching my breath I went for a short cool-down run on the road with a few others, then enjoyed some hot soup with the rest of the runners as the prizes were given out. Once we got everything from the race packed up, and Andy picked up the course markings, I headed back out on the race course to get in a few more miles. It was amazing how different the course was after all 53 racers had gone through, so much easier to run. I actually ran a faster time in my easy jog around the course than I did during the race. Snowshoeing is certainly a crazy and unpredictable sport.

In any event, after numerous wake-ups last night, we were finally up for the day around 7:00 am. It’s nice to have an 11:00 race start, at least for me! A leisurely morning, time for the grandparents to arrive, and more than enough time to get to the race with time to chat a bit and get in a short warm-up. Sam was very excited to have Grammie and Grampie come play with her for the morning! I arrived at the park around 10:15. It was almost 40 degrees out! Crazy. Actually, it meant it was fairly comfortable standing around before and after the race, and warm enough during the race that I even shed my hat, so really it wasn’t all that bad of a deal.

After a bit of chit chat and getting myself ready, I did a short 0.75 mile warm-up out onto the end of the race course, just to get an idea what the last 1/4 mile or so would be like. Then it was into the snowshoes and ready to race! I knew that the course narrowed quickly down to singletrack so I put myself pretty far up in the starting line. It may have been a mistake as once we turned off the Link, I was suddenly leading a chase pack to the front pack! Aie. Not the way I like to race, but it sure was good motivation to move! We quickly dropped off from the lead group, but I was still working pretty hard. There was great snow coverage along the Island Trail, but the twisty turny singletrack was extra challenging in snowshoes. Tough to get a rhythm. I got passed by two people on the singletrack – Jennifer, the eventual women’s winner, and another guy. The Garmin beeped 2 miles just before we arrived back at the Link, at which point I was swiftly passed by 4 people, including Leslie, who was moving well despite being sick. I really wanted to keep up the pace, but was starting to realize I was pretty tired! I kept my eyes on Leslie and attempted to reel her in. I think I closed the gap a bit, but that was it

The snow coverage was a bit thin once we turned off the Snowmobile Trail onto the next stretch of singletrack, and I struggled a bit on the uphills, but knew there wasn’t too much more to go. I was glad I had run the last bit of the course as warm-up, as it was a relief to pop out of the woods onto the Knight Woods Trail. I willed my legs to go faster, but the energy just seemed to get sucked right out of me with every snowshoe step. I sadly was passed just before the final curve to the finish by a guy who had been on my trail through the singletrack stretch. I just couldn’t push it any more to fend him off. Ah well. I still managed to finish as 3rd woman in 33:53, and 19th overall out of a record 62 finishers! So not bad in the end, although I do wish I’d finished a bit stronger. I think I need to get out on my snowshoes a bit more in the next few weeks before the White Out. All in all, a fun, if painful, race and just as snowshoe racing should be

Full Results

Some great races by my Trail Monster friends today! Yahoo. And of course, a huge huge shout-out to Ryan, who once again put on a great race, and to all the volunteers who helped him out! The Trail Monsters certainly are a great group of people, and it always shows in our races. I’d call this one a success for sure!