So when I say that ProBar’s Arts Original Blend Whole Food Meal Bars are an incredible product that may revolutionize your on-the-run nutrition I want you to know that I’m careful with my adjectives. And I’m prepared to lay down some strong words for Probar.

Like many runners dialing into my nutritional needs when going long has been an ongoing process of trial and error.  As I turn my racing focus towards ultra-marathons and plan a series of long distance solo adventures over the course of the next year I’ve been asking myself the following question: Where can I get the most bang for my bar?

What I’m referring to is nutrient density-the energy that your body uses to digest your food compared to the energy return from the food that you’re digesting.  There is only so much that you can eat on a run before it effects your stomach, so caloric density, digestibility, and a balance between both rapid release and slow release energy are  important factors to consider when choosing your fuel.

ProBar is comprised of a number of high quality, raw, and natural ingredients. (A high number of them! The ingredients that comprise the Arts Original Collection contain no less than 15 whole, plant-based foods per bar) At 370 calories per 4 inch by 4 inch bar these bricks of raw and natural nutrition pack a punch like no other product that I’ve pulled out of my pack before. And, unlike the myriad of mystery ingredients commonly found in  nutritional supplements such as Gu’s or chews you’re getting the benefit of eating real food. So you’re much less likely to find yourself half- starved an hour after a long run or race.

I started using this product while training for a recent 50k and found I could unwrap a bar and chow it down without breaking my stride for a literal lunch on the run.  Because the ingredients in the Arts Original Collection are blended with low glycemic index grain sweeteners the combination of simple and complex carbohydrates immediately boosts blood sugar while the whole grains and fruits help to maintain these levels for hours.

This review is specific to the Arts Orignal Blend flavor which, if you like peanut butter and chocolate, you’re sure to enjoy.  My experiments with additional flavors and some of their other products such as Fruitrition snack bars and the Halo dessert bars have yielded mixed results; but this is simply a matter of personal taste-all of the meal replacements bars have a similar nutritional build and the rest of the products in the Pro-Bar line are comprised of similarly high quality ingredients.

While I don’t advocate eating a meal that comes in a small plastic wrapper on a regular basis  unless you are a) in outer space or b) training for or running an ultra-marathon, an advantage to Pro-Bar meal bars is that you can try these one out on your lunch break before breaking one out on the trails.

So if you’re interested in exploring alternate fueling options for your 2012 running season give the ProBar Art’s Original Whole Food Meal Bars a shot. I hope that you benefit from them almost as much as I have (but not so much that you beat me at the next race…) and I hope to see you on the trails!

Find more information on Probar at www.theprobar.com

by NJ Dave

My preparation for the second race of the Bradbury Mountain Snowshoe Series began about a week and a half before the race, when Emma and I went to run the course. We made it all the way around the course without snowshoes, and even tacked on a few hill repeats on the Terrace Trail at the end, and it was clear that we would not be snowshoeing on these trails unless we got at least 6″ of new snow before the race. I talked to Ryan about holding the race on the usual course as a trail race (without snowshoes) but given the amount of ice on the trails this wasn’t looking like a very good option. All we could do was wait until we got a bit closer to race day and hope we would get a lot of new snow.

A week later, without any snow, Danielle went out to survey the race course and confirmed that there was no way we wanted to set foot on the mountain, so Ryan and I met on Friday morning to see if we could come up with a decent course on the east side trails of Bradbury. New England snowshoe racing has really suffered this season due to lack of snow, and we desperately hoped that the White Out would not be the next race casualty. I ran about 7 miles, Ryan hobbled for a couple and we found that the east side had pretty good snow coverage, enough that we could piece together a 4+ mile loop. With the weather forecast for Saturday calling for a few inches of fresh snow to fall we figured we’d be in great shape for race day.

I returned to Bradbury on Saturday morning and with help from Jim, NJ Dave and Jordan we ran the race course and set out the arrow markers at each of the trail intersections along the way. The course was a bit convoluted, but we tried to piece together the trails that had the best snow coverage and avoid the worst of the ice and exposed rocks. While it wasn’t possible to avoid ice and rocks altogether I figured we’d be OK with a fresh layer of snow. Once we finished on the race course Jim and I decided to run a lap of the mountain to see how bad conditions really were. It was bad. Extreme ice treacherosity. The warm weather we’d had all week had melted a lot of snow, which ran downhill and turned to ice overnight. This served to confirm that Ryan and I definitely made the right call to move the race course.

Despite what appeared to be snow falling from the sky for several hours on Saturday nothing stuck, and at the end of the day there was no new accumulation at my house. I was hopeful that at the high elevations of Bradbury Mountain it might be a different story, but when I arrived at The Brad on Sunday morning to finish the course marking it looked just the same as the previous morning. When I met up with Ryan there was a moment of “What are we going to do, we can’t snowshoe this!” but as we made our way around the course trying to jab pin flags into the thin layer of crusty snow we realized that there was just enough snow to make it work. There was ice, and there were a few exposed rocks and roots, but all-in-all it wasn’t a bad course, and at least the conditions would allow for some fast running.

So with all the uncertainly about the race – what would the course be and would we even be running on snowshoes – I had a hard time mentally preparing to run my own race, although admittedly I had it easier than anyone else since I was the only person participating in the race who had actually run the course. For some reason my head just didn’t feel like it was in the right place to get me through a hard race effort today. I had been taking it easy all week trying to look after a sore ankle that I rolled two weeks ago, so at least I was relatively well rested going into the race. I usually bounce back from a rolled ankle pretty quickly, like somewhere between 2 minutes and a few hours, so the fact that this has been lingering for two weeks has me a little concerned. Two years ago I had to withdraw from a 100 miler because of relatively minor but chronic achilles pain that hampered my training. I certainly don’t want to go down that road again.

Enough sandbagging… with the course marked Ryan and I went about setting up registration, the start/finish, brewing coffee and starting a fire and before we knew it runners were showing up. I almost forgot about my own running until just after 10:30 when Emma suggested it might be a good idea to get a warm-up in before the race. By the time we got our snowshoes on and a few layers stripped off we only had about 10 minutes but that seemed like just enough, it doesn’t take much running around in snowshoes to get warmed up. This was also a good chance for us to talk a little bit about strategy and get focused before the race.

When Ryan shouted GO! I was amongst a pretty thick crowd of strong runners near the front of the pack and I immediately got one of my snowshoes stepped on and almost when down when that foot didn’t respond to my attempt to move it forward. My reaction was to get away from the pack as quickly as possible to avoid further contact and within a few more paces I was in third place behind Judson and Jeremy, but of course it didn’t take long for them to disappear out of sight. The trail remained wide for the first half mile so I expected someone to challenge my position, and although I could hear the clatter of many snowshoes on hard snow and ice behind me no one made a move. The next half mile was on tight single-track and I knew no one would want to pass on this but I could tell that there were several people right on my heels. As soon as we came out onto the wider Snowmobile Trail Eric cruised around me and powered up the gradual hill ahead. I was surprised he had stuck behind me for so long, I guess stuck is the appropriate word. I didn’t even think about trying to hang with him, I knew it would be a futile attempt and a sure way to burn out.

Less than a half mile later we were back on single-track. I was grateful that no one else had passed me but knew that there was at least one person right behind. I didn’t know who it was and I didn’t dare look to find out, this was not the kind of terrain where you could afford to take your eyes of the trail. That pressure of knowing that there was someone right there was enough to keep me focused on racing. If this person wanted to get past then they were going to have to work for it, I certainly wasn’t going to let them by without a fight. And fight I did. I had to work hard to stay in front of this person.

Luckily I was able to use my knowledge of the course to my advantage, or so I thought. When I knew there was a particularly technical section coming up or a few tight turns I’d slow down just a bit to catch my breath, and then step it back up with a little surge on the easier terrain. This wasn’t really working so I tried the opposite approach of relaxing on the easy parts and surging on the technical. This didn’t work as well as I had hoped either, it looked like I was just going to have to run my ass off for the rest of the race.

At the three mile mark I tried to plan out my strategy for the last mile of the race. There was a wide downhill straightaway coming up on the Old Tuttle Road, I figured this was my chaser’s best chance to catch me since I couldn’t rely on trees or any other natural obstacles for blocking. I had to put in a surge of speed here to fend him off, if he got ahead of me here then I would have a very hard time getting him back on the single-track that followed. When we made the sharp turn onto Lanzo I slowed down to try and catch my breath. I knew that even if he caught up to me he’d have a hard time getting past. When we reached the entrance to the Island Trail I knew there was about a half mile left. With the last 1/10th on the flat, straight double-track of the Link Trail I had to get some more distance between us on the remaining single-track. I put on another surge and finally, for the first time in the race opened a gap of more than a couple of seconds. When I turned on to the Link Trail I was redlining, the only thing that kept me moving was the fear of losing my place in these last few seconds of the race.

photo by Maine Running Photos

I collapsed after crossing the line, gasping, drooling, legs burning. 10 seconds later Scott came in, I congratulated him and thanked him for the push. He made me race much harder than I thought I could on a day when I didn’t think I had it in me.

From everything I heard most people seemed to like the course, we were definitely lucky to be able to come up with a course that had enough snow coverage to be snowshoe-able. I hope we get some more snow before the next race though.

time: 32:32
distance: 4.0 miles
pace: 8:08
splits: 8:14, 7:56, 9:03, 7:38
place: 4/45

RESULTS

weather: low 20′s, breezy, sunny

conditions: mostly hard packed snow and ice, some loose snow

gear: Atlas Run snowshoes, Inov-8 Roclite 315, OR gaiters, sock liners, wool socks, tights, 2x long sleeve shirt, gloves, mittens, buff

I came, I saw, I followed

The Bradbury Whiteout, race #2 in the Bradbury Snow series, welcomed racers with cold temps, bright blue skies, and a gnarly mix of ice, hardpack, and powdah. The course was moved from the mountain side to the bike side of the park in order to find some snow stashes. While the conditions weren’t quite what they were for the first race, at least we were racing on snowshoes, unlike many racers in New England.

After 2 days off this week due to the perfect storm of ski-coaching, job, and family, I needed to get some miles in and I new I wouldn’t have the will to get those in following the run, so I arrived to the race early enough for a 50 minute (5.6 mile) warmup on the snowmo trail. Other than the access trail, which was really icy, the footing was excellent and no screws or icespikes were needed and none were worn. I finished my warm-up with just enough time (10 minutes) to change into my race top and strap on my new Atlas Run snowshoes, which I had yet to try.

At the gun, I took one step and caught Ian’s snowshoe. I grabbed a racer’s shoulder on either side of me to keep from falling, was carried a step, landed, and started racing. I heeded Ryan’s advice to Jamie from the last race and tried to keep up with Ian and Scott H. but I just cannot start that fast and by about 3/4 mile I was 10-15s back and pretty much stayed there for the rest of the race. George A-C was on my tail for about 2 miles but fell off, I think after I tried to pick up the pace on a downhill (in a failed attempt to catch Ian and Scott). At 2.5 miles I was toast but a rope tied from Scott to me kept pulling me forward and I simply moved my legs to keep from being dragged like Hector behind the victorious Achilles. In the last mile, on the old roadbed and in the Lanzo singletrack, I made my last efforts to surge and catch Scott and Ian but no can do.

The race was followed up by more good soup and goodies and awards and fires and friendly banter and all that.  Kudos to Ryan, race director par excellence, for finding enough snow to remind us that this is winter and trail races are meant to be run with floatation.

Ryan and Ian managed to pull together a really great course for the White Out today, especially given the less than ideal snow conditions here, and many places in the east. Nice work! And thanks too, to all the volunteers for standing out in the cold for all of us racers today!

My parents are in town, so they nicely agreed to watch Sam this morning so I could race. Thanks Mom and Dad! As I was heading out the door, Sam was waving to me, saying “have a good race, Mama!” So cute I got to the park right around 10:00, said a few quick hellos to everyone and hopped back in the car to get warm. I decided to don my screwshoes and run backwards on the course for a bit, just to get an idea of what the final 1/2 mile would be like. Lanzo was in pretty good shape, with a few ice spots here and there, and it was good to visualize what the finish would be.

There was a good crowd at the start, but somehow as we jostled into position down the Knights Woods trail, I managed to get myself right behind Jamie as we made the first turn. Hmmm. That might be a bit aggressive! But slowly, he sprinted away, and I found myself at the front of a little caravan of people crunching and crashing down the trail (man, was the snow and ice noisy today!). The alternate course put us on a lot of single track, and we twisted and turned and wound through the park on some trails we don’t normally traverse. The snow was really pretty good out there in the woods, with even a bit of powder hidden in spots too (well, once it was churned up by the top guys, anyway.). I got passed by two guys on the Snowmobile Trail pretty early on, and although the first guy quickly pulled out of sight, I did manage to overtake the other guy somewhere on Ginn. At that point, I knew Emma was in close pursuit, so I kept on pushing. Luckily, the last mile was basically all downhill, so I picked up the pace as much as I could and crossed the finish line just ahead of Emma. I don’t quite know how I managed to win the woman’s race today. Had the race been any longer I would have had a hard time holding her off, so she surely provided some good motivation to keep moving as quickly as possible. Nice racing with you, Emma! (And nice job on your super fast 5k yesterday too! Impressive.)

 
As is always the case, there were a lot of great TMR results today, and lots of smiles at the end of the race. Emma, Julia and I headed almost immediately back out to pick up the flags and arrows on the middle section of the course. I hadn’t anticipated a 3 mile cool-down, but was happy to help out, and it was a nice chance to chat a bit with Emma and Julia in between the crunching of their snowhoes (I just wore my 315s and they were perfect on the now-packed course). We got back just in time for the awards and a bit of yummy soup from Frontier, after which I sprinted off to Kristen’s house for Morgan’s 6th birthday party. Thanks to Neenie and Pippi for transporting Sammy to the party! Sam had a blast racing around after Morgan and her friends, made a bit of a mess with the craft of the day and ate all the icing and sprinkles off her cupcake. I’d call it a successful birthday party, and a fun, if tiring, afternoon!

Bradbury White Out Snowshoe Race Report

One of the things I like about racing is hopefully giving it my all while pacing myself properly and executing a sound race strategy. It’s oh so satisfying when everything works out. I love the feeling of exhaustion when I cross the finish line and if I have to puke afterwards, that’s a nice bonus because I know I gave it my all. It’s a healthy and fun way to push and challenge myself. If I succeed…great, I relish it and look forward to hopefully doing it again. If I fail…it leaves me hungry for the next challenge, and I attempt to figure out what went wrong and try to correct it. And while I prefer to succeed, either way it ultimately results in a positive direction.

But what really makes the racing scene special here in Maine is the people. The runners, race directors and volunteers are almost always incredibly positive and friendly folks who also tend to be intelligent, have great senses of humor and enlightened outlooks on life. As a result, the camaraderie is fantastic. The spirit of competition is well harnessed, but equally mixed with an incredible amount of good sportsmanship and genuine joy for every runner of every ability who reaches his or her goals. It’s very supportive. There’s nothing like it.

I had no plans of truly racing today. Just participating. My body felt a bit spent from the past week and I was afraid of overdoing it. The plan was to use today’s snowshoe race as a tempo run instead. So with that in mind, the above first paragraph was out the window and the second paragraph came into sharp focus.

I warmed up for a few miles on the road shoulder of Route 9 with Jeremy and Zak, and we chit chatted about life, races and whatever else. Then we got our snowshoes ready and lined up at the race start. After the pre-race instructions, we were off.

I hung behind Zak the entire race, from beginning to end. For one, I like Zak. He’s a really good guy. So, that was cool. Secondly, he was also setting the exact pace I was looking for. Zak also wasn’t going full tilt, so the both of us had a lot of fun out there while still moving at a relatively fast pace. We just ran together, because running is what we do.

Thankfully, there was just enough snow. It was packed down and fast. A bit icy at times and there was the occasional rock or root to dodge, but Ryan and Ian did a great job coming up with this alternate route (the original one was not snowshoeable).

We zipped through the course and came up on the finish line. Zak came in 9th and I came in 10th. I only mention that because I was kind of surprised we placed so high since we weren’t really pushing it. It’s not like we were totally taking it easy, I’d call it a tempo run after all, but still. However, I also know of at least two really fast guys who didn’t make it today because they were sick. I’m sure there were more.

I also crossed the finish line with a smile on my face. No puking necessary. It was nice to just be able to run the race for the fun of it and not worry about full-on cranking it. I wouldn’t want to do that every time. I like pushing myself hard too much to do that. And while competition is great and fun in itself, there’s a lot more to races that make them enjoyable. Today underscored that. The only regret I have for today is not putting sunscreen on my face.Big thanks to Ryan, Ian and the volunteers for a very fun day.

Courtesy: Maine Running Photos. Zak and I at the finish.

Good race on real fast trails. After a nice warmup with Zak and Jamie I took off a layer and milled around a bit before the start. The field size looked solid and a bunch of excited faces filled the paddock. I decided to hold on as long as possible to Judson Cake and whoever else was going to be quick today. After Ryan and gIANt’s opening commentary we started, and started fast. It was clear that I was not going to be anywhere near Judson today on the icy, flat, and quick course.

After about a mile Judson was no longer in sight and I held on to my pace as best I could. I felt kind of heavy and not as full of energy as I would have liked but just pushed as hard as possible. I kept envisioning someone coming up behind me and it kept me going throughout.

After about 2.5 miles I was beginning to tire and with a few softer sections here and there it was challenging to keep pace. The course was real fun with slight undulations, some double track, some toboggan style single track, icy spots and softer areas. The cold temps made sucking air pretty interesting with coughing fits the whole way but otherwise great conditions.

At around 3.5 miles I saw Blaine and his wife cheering people on and he stated that he (Judson) was right ahead of me and I almost “had him.” This gave me about 10 seconds of adrenaline, thanks Blaine, and I quickly laughed and realized I was nowhere close to Judson today.

I finished as strong as I could and really had a blast on the course. I did miss running with people a bit though and actually thought I went off course a few times. Yet another great race put on by Ryan Ian and all the TM’s who helped, support, and cheered!

Alison and I arrived a bit early to bring wood, check in and do a proper warm up in the cold conditions.  I was crazy nervous for this race and it felt real good to run a few miles on the road to calm down.  Last year over the winter all I was really thinking about was running my first snowshoe races and beginning to train for the Pineland 50.  This year I’m real focused on Peaks 100, and with the snow’s late arrival I hadn’t given much thought, or training for snowshoeing (like most everyone else I’m sure).

A bit before the race Ryan had some encouraging words to basically get out right in front from the beginning, and Alison echoed the thought.  With Ian stating course conditions earlier that day I had a good sense that it was not going to be easy to pass people during the race.

So I started in the front of the pack, which is still a bit weird for me.  After a few hundred yards we settled in to a pace and I was third behind Judson Cake and Matt Lundt.  For the first mile or so the race heads up hill, either by a bit of double track on the Northern Loop and Ski Trail or some tight single track on Krista’s Loop.  For pretty much the whole way I was saying to myself, ‘what the hell am I doing here running with these two up front?’  I actually felt rather good and was surprised to stay close to them.  My goal now was to keep them in sight and push hard.

By the time we’d reached Tote Road Trail Judson had garnered a lead and Matt started to pull away on the more ‘level’ trail.  It was clear to me on the Boundary Trail that Matt was taking more chances on the downhills and quicker on the flats and could pull away.  However I gained a bit of ground on the inclines and would real him in just a bit.  It was apparent at this point though that I would not catch him though, and it was my race to lose if I’d gone out too fast too early.

The last climb on the Boundary Trail was brutal and definitely took it out of me.  I was gasping and coughing horribly at this point due to the cold air and fatigue but was feeling OK.  By the time we got back to the Northern Loop and there was a half mile to go I absolutely gave it all I could for a strong finish.

This run was monumental for me and really surprised me.  I remember how awful I felt last year during the race and just how much of a slog it was.  It really made me appreciate just how much goes in to racing.  I was overjoyed at the finish to see the other TM’s coming in strong and knowing just how much effort it was for them and how much training they’ve all done to get to this point.  Man I love this sport!

I want to thank once again Ryan, Ian, all the volunteers who made this possible and continue to create an enjoyable atmosphere, and Mr. Penta of Maine Running Photos.

I arrived at Bradbury just before 8 AM to help mark the race course, it was about -5 degrees. At one point I had visions of running the course as I marked it, and even though I felt pretty good following yesterday’s 3 hour run I opted to walk the course as I set out the arrows at all the trail intersections. This was a good final preparation for my own race since it gave me the opportunity to see exactly what kind of conditions we’d be racing in later.

Considering the amount of snow we’ve received so far this winter the conditions looked great. There had been enough traffic on the course to define the route without it becoming too hard packed or any wider than single-track. Snowshoe racing is the most fun when it’s on narrow trails, otherwise it’s just hard work. When the trails are narrow and you’ve got deep powder on either side you really have to race strategically, think carefully about when to pass, when to surge and when to relax. Of course, there really isn’t any relaxing in snowshoe racing, it’s all hard work. In Jeff’s race report he talks about trying to find the sweet spot between redlining and falling off the pack.

Ryan and I finished the course marking around 9 and had plenty of time to get everything else set up. It wasn’t long before our dedicated crew of volunteers showed up, undeterred by the frigid temperatures, and all of a sudden we were ready for a race. It has been great to see how Trail Monster Running has grown over the last few years, I’m lucky to be part of such a dedicated group of runners and to know that I can count on my fellow team mates to come out and help make our events successful.

One of the great things about having so many competent volunteers, not to mention the fact that Ryan is the race director for the snowshoe races, is that I actually had time to relax before the race, and get out for an easy warm-up run with Emma. The warm-up was much needed since I had been outside for nearly three hours, and even though it had warmed up into the 20′s I was feeling a bit chilled. When I got back from my warm-up I had a few last minute things to attend to and I actually forgot to pin my number on. At least the volunteers at the finish line know who I am.

Due to the lack of snow recently there hasn’t been much time for snowmobiles to get out and pack the trails, and even though we prefer to run on narrower trails it’s nice to have a wider area to start. We lined up on a section of snowmobile trail about 5 feet wide, and with a few more runners than last year I knew that it was going to be a crazy start so I positioned myself in the second row behind Judson Cake and Matt Lunt. All around me were my bad ass training buddies, Andy, Jeremy, Chuck, Jeff, Jamie… this was going to be a fun race, but these guys were going to make sure I worked hard.

photo by Kate Hanscom

The first 1/3 mile of the race course is on a flat and fairly wide trail packed by a little snowmobile and a lot of foot traffic. Perfect for a race start to allow for a little jockeying for position. I was in third place for the first 100 yards but soon got passed by Jeremy and then Andy. That seemed about right, I didn’t really expect to be ahead of either of them, I just hope that the rest of the pack didn’t come up on me so quickly. The next 1/10 mile starts to climb and remained well packed, but before the half mile we were on single track and continuing to climb. Krista’s trail had only seen about three passes through the fresh snow before the race so this was without doubt the most sluggish part of the race. This is also where there is the potential to totally blow your wad if you go out too hard, it’s so easy to redline when you’re running uphill through deep powder, and so hard to recover from that over the rest of the race.

Judson, Matt and Jeremy were out of sight, but I was starting to close the gap on Andy. I could also hear someone right on my heels and I soon learned that it was Chuck, we exchanged a few words and I announced when we had reached the highest point on the course, about halfway through the Krista’s loop (just past 1 mile into the race). I was right on Andy’s heels and I had been thinking about passing him but this was one of the most difficult places on the course to overtake another runner. Passing meant stepping off the beaten path into 7″ of unpacked powder, not at all easy to accelerate through. I have seen failed attempts at passing in snowshoe races, it can be pretty ugly if you get it wrong. I needed to make a move soon because Chuck was close behind and I knew he wouldn’t be afraid to make a bold maneuver now that we were on a downhill stretch. The trail twisted back and forth between trees and buried rocks, there was a lot more than just powdery snow to contend with when you tried to plan a pass. When I saw a slight clearing up ahead I knew that was my best chance to go for it. I called out “On your left Andy” and took a few giant strides to surge past. The downslope helped carry me forward and I managed to get around Andy and back onto the trail just before a large pine tree that could have ended my race had my timing been off.

I knew it was going to be hard work trying to stay ahead of Andy, but I figured that running single track is one of my strengths so I really pushed the pace throughout the rest of Krista’s to try and get some distance between us. Once on the Tote Road I eased up a little, the next half mile or so was flat and pretty straight which makes it a lot easier to catch and pass people so I kept an ear out for the sounds of anyone coming up behind.

By the time we hit the Boundary Trail, just after 2 miles, I could tell that someone was closing in on me but I didn’t dare look back to see who it was. We were now on a long downhill stretch and the last thing I wanted to do was take my eyes off the trail. I thought this downhill stretch might be another opportunity to put some distance between myself and whoever was right behind, but that didn’t happen. On the big steep, icy drop on the back side of the mountain I opted to stay left and cross the rock wall that paralleled the trail in the interest of avoiding the ice at the bottom. I heard Chuck say something about my choice of route and I could tell there was someone else right there with him. This turned out to be a waste of time and energy and my chasers almost caught me.

Knowing that there was about 1 mile left in the race I worked hard to make up for my mistake. There was one last climb ahead and this was where I got passed by Stephen Wells at last year’s race. I was determined not to let that happen again. I scrambled up the hill as fast as I could manage, and as soon as the ground leveled
out I really put the hammer down. There was heavy breathing behind me but it started to fade, or perhaps was being drowned out by my own gasps for air.

After a few little ups and downs the course comes back to the Northern Loop trail where the race started and we returned to packed snow for the last 1/3 mile. The trail remained flat to the finish so I put on an early sprint and hoped I could maintain it to the end. There was no way I could hear anyone coming up on me over the sounds of my own footfalls and breathing, and if anyone had come up I don’t think I could have managed to give anything more. Luckily it was enough and I managed to hold off the chasing pack by about 30 seconds.  I didn’t even have a chance to catch my breath before a steady stream of Trail Monsters came in. A good day for the team.

splits: 10:05, 9:15, 8:57, 7:35 (pace for 0.62 miles)

time: 33:00
distance: 3.62 miles
pace: 9:08
place: 4/40

FULL RESULTS

conditions: packed powder, mostly single track, still a bit soft

weather: mid 20′s, sunny

gear: Inov-8 F-lite 300, Atlas Run snowshoes, sock liners, wool socks, tights, long sleeve top, short sleeve top, gloves, mittens, hat

First off, huge thanks to Ryan and Ian for putting on a killer event. The Bradbury Mountain Snowshoe Series rocks. This was the first of three and the series is off to a great start!

I’ve only done one other snowshoe race, which was last year. Like then, I finished feeling humbled at how tough the sport is, but boy, is it also a lot of fun. For me anyway, there seems to be a bit of a gap there with my running and snowshoe race performances, but I’m up for the challenge of getting better.

Kate and I got there early, as she was helping with registration. It was 4F/-15C when we got there, but fortunately we were both dressed warmly. After a lot of socializing, it was time to shed the layers down to the race apparel and do a quick warm-up.

Ryan suggested I go out fast to jump ahead and hold it, saying it was easier to do so in snowshoe racing. Made sense, so I more or less kind of did that. Not full-on, but maybe a little faster than I would have otherwise. Still, I felt out of sync for the first mile, not really able to get in a rhythm. Zak and some other guy passed me during that time.

I kept Zak in my sights and was starting to find my stride now. Hard but steady breathing, and moving forward with relatively good efficiency. I started to reel Zak in and passed him back with maybe about a mile and a half to go.

Nobody in front of me, so I just kept pushing and eventually reached the finish line in 36:08. I then caught my breath, vurped, blew some snot rockets, had a coughing fit, and then saw I actually came in 9th out of 40 finishers. That’s a little better than I expected placing wise, but not as well as I had hoped time wise. Tough sport, but a lot of fun. Can’t wait for the next one!

Approaching the finish

And…done.

w/u: Ran .4 miles @ 9:57/mile pace.
Ran 3.7 miles @ 9:44/mile pace.
Time: 36:08
Placing: 9th out of 40.
Trails, snowshoed-single track and some well packed double-track.
Very hilly.
Mid to upper teens, sunny.
Dion 121 snowshoes, long tights, sleeveless shirt, long sleeved shirt, short sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves.