MT. WASHNGTON ROAD RACE
I had a wild two days in NH this past weekend and am still recovering today. Friday night I drove over and car camped at the base of Mt. Washington and did the Mt. Washington Road Race Sat. morning. I did it but just didn't have the energy to really push myself and didn't have anyone to chase after as in years past. For the two previous years I started and ran part of it with Kasie Enman until she took off, but still it was nice to have someone to pace with even only for the first mile. This year I was 4 minutes slower than last year. Not my best performance. I also had 80 miles in for the week before Saturday's race and I felt it. Can I say taper, not very easily. But, just a training run. After the race I felt fine and ran for almost 2 1/2 hours on rough mountain trails. Overall results, I came in 60th place and 5th in my age group. Last year I came in 63 overall and 4th in my age group but with a faster time. I broke out the Mizuno Elixur's which I save for shorter distance road races. A little bit lighter than my Alchemy's but with the same great fit.
Here's a link to the results: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/nh/Jun20_49thMo_set1.shtml
THE PRESIDENTIAL TRAVERSE
Then Sunday morning I did the annual Presidential Traverse starting at 2:30 am from Rt. 2, car camped again. It rained most of the day and the wind blew on any of the east facing trails, with temps in the mid 40's. After 5 hours and 5 peaks, I finally reached the summit of Washington and was quite hypothermic. I never had it as bad. I was out of control shivering and spent over an hour in a sleeping bag wrapped with a heated blanket thanks to the hospitality of the folks manning the summit. It took that long for the shivering to stop. Wearing running shorts and a light long sleeve tech shirt was not enough for those conditions. I did wear a hat and gloves which I think is why I made it home at all. Lesson learned, once again. Then, after some food in the belly, refilling my hydration bag with Amino Vital Endurance Formula for the extra calories, putting on warm dry clothes and my rain shell, I continued on for 3 more hours in the rain and wind, although not as bad. I wiped out many times on slippery rocks throughout the adventure. The Mizuno Trail Ascends did what they could but water on rocks and roots is not a good combo while running. Even though I was very sore and tired I still needed more miles for the week so I got in another 5 when I returned home. Is that true dedication to training or am I just nuts?
Mt Washington is one of my favorite places to train as after an adventure up there, the races don't seem quite as hard.
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