On May 17th, 2015 the Gate City Strider Running Club hosted a
marathon in the City of Nashua. This feat had never been done before. In fact,
during the 36-year history of the club, it had been extremely difficult to get hometown approval for any race longer than 6k. Never mind trying
to do 5 of them, back-to-back! All while closing down Main Street and running
through almost every corner of the City. So, how did the race organizers do it?
And more importantly, how did they (in the words of one participant) create “An
instant classic on the New England road racing scene”?
Well, here’s an inside look at how it all went down…
Recently, while taking my dog for an early evening stroll, I saw this...
Which inspired me to write this...
Late in December of last year, Eric at Level Renner put out the call for winter running action shots as
part of an on-line contest. Tag a few of your favorite Facebook selfies with the #levelrenner hashtag and get a chance to
win a brand new pair of Dion #121
Racing Snowshoes. Always being up for a good, healthy competition (and a free
pair of anything) I jumped at it. Tagging every running picture of myself that
I could find.
A few days later, while picking up my daughter at the airport
after her semester abroad, I found out that I’d won. And before I could even finish
responding to Eric’s text message I thought, “Crap! What am I going to do with
ANOTHER pair of Dions?” So, rather than have them collecting dust in my basement
as a back-up pair for the indestructible #121’s I already owned, or selling
them to a friend, I decided to do something fun with them. I decided to raffle
them off.
In
his groundbreaking book, “Born to Run”, Christopher McDougall discusses a
fascinating, non-weaponized, hunting technique used by pre-historic man. Rather
than trying to outrun their much faster prey, hunters would instead attempt to
outlast them. Because an animal’s natural instinct is to sprint away if
approached, the men would run towards them in an effort to keep them constantly
moving.
Winter running sucks!
There, I said it. And I’m glad I did. Someone had to,
really. It’s been far too long in coming.
See, there’s this false sense of bravado that tends to manifest
itself around these parts (especially amongst people like myself who don’t run
on treadmills) which maintains that running through harsh New England winters makes
you stronger, tougher, and better prepared for the racing season to come. And,
I’m here today to tell you that line of thinking is total B.S.
Have
you ever been in a relationship where all you do is give, give, give and get nothing
in return? You pour your heart out on a regular basis, and receive little more
than a cold shoulder for your troubles? Well,
that’s the way it is between me and Boston. I love the Boston Marathon. But it
does not love me.
I’ve participated in more than a few 5k’s, 10k’s
and half marathons over the years, but the primary focus of my running career
has always been marathoning. More specifically, Boston Marathon-ing. Like many other
runners who grew up in New England, Boston has always represented the Holy
Grail of running goals. Not just an average everyday goal, but an all-out,
full-blown obsession!
 |
| January Hike |
I started 2014, with a January 1st sunrise summit of Mount Monadnock. It was dark - about 6:00am. It was cold – about zero
degrees. It was windy – about 40 mph at the summit. And, it was snowy – about 1
to 2 feet of fluffy base to trudge through. It took me about 4 hours to summit
and return via the 4.5 mile long Pumpelly Trail off Lake Road in Dublin.
So, when I signed up for a Presentation at Keene State College for the last weekend of 2014
(and my travel plans took me right past the ‘Nock) I figured why not end the
year the way I began it? With another Pumpelly trip to the summit. A "bookend"
hike, if you will. Well, as it turns out, the conditions couldn’t have been
more different!
W
ith all my goals pretty much met
for 2014, the TARC Winter Classic 32m was
all about having fun. The 8 mile Skyline Trail in the Middlesex Fells is no joke,
even for just one lap. So, 4 laps would be a pretty sizable challenge. But one
which, given my results from this year, looked
like something I could handle with ease.
Then the rain came …
Hi
there! Sorry, it’s been a little while since I posted anything. I’ve been kind
of busy.
Part of what’s been distracting me is the 50k trail race I ran at the Middlesex
Fells last weekend. My TARC Winter Ultra race report will be coming
soon, but the reader’s digest version is: It was cold, it was rainy, it was slippery,
but I survived!
Another
thing that’s been on my plate as of late is that I’m in charge of putting together
(and keeping together) the Gate City Strider teams for the Mill Cities Relay race. And with 39 teams (and 181 runners) it was a lot more
like herding wild cats, than anything else. I’ve been doing it for 10 years now
and it’s without a doubt the most fun/stressful job I have with the club. My synopsis
of this year’s race is also coming soon (I promise) but long story short: It
was cold, it was windy, it was slippery, but we survived! …Actually, we did a
little more than survive. We won our 7th straight team title. Setting new point
and margin of victory totals in the process!
Finally,
what’s been taking the majority of my time lately is my book. Yup, I’m writing
my first book! I know. Crazy, right? Well, it’s going to be a collection of
stories that I’m stringing together in (hopefully) a cohesive manner. It’s
about friends, family and ultra-running. In short, all the things that
currently make my life worth living!
It’s hard to believe that it’s been four weeks since my 100 Miler and even harder to believe that
it’s been one full year since I decided to make it my Goal Race for 2014.
Looking back, it’s been a truly incredible year! And, I can’t
really think of anything that I would have changed. My first attempt at a 100 mile training plan exceeded even my
wildest expectations. I went the whole year without losing any time to injury.
My races, turned out great - with only a couple minor exceptions! I spent a bunch of time having fun in the mountains. And, I was able to add
meaning to my miles by helping raise money for a very worthy cause! In fact, the season went so well, I very much doubt that
I could ever replicate it. So, I’m not going to.
Instead, for 2015, I’m going to do things just a little bit
differently.
The incredible journey that I was fortunate enough to take, in both training for and running a 100 mile race, taught me many valuable lessons.
Here are 20 of them, in no particular order:
Shit! ….this
can’t be happening!
…I said while rolling down the windows of my car, desperately hoping the fresh
air would keep me from falling asleep at the wheel while driving to my first
100 mile race. I took another swig of Pepsi while wiping back the tears that
had already started to come. All that hard work wasted because of my stupid
pre-race anxiety. Anxiety that saw fit to keep me tossing and turning for three
straight nights before my 24 hour adventure in the New Hampshire woods. Damn. This is not going
to end well.
A mile, and a few more swigs, later. I began to formulate a plan, because
that’s what I do! I would start the race, as scheduled. Then, when I got too
tired to run any further, I would just nap in the car for a little while before
finishing up. I had expected to finish in around 22 hours, and the race had a
30 hour cut-off, so I could literally take a 6 hour nap right in the middle of
it and still finish this thing with time to spare! And now, with my new plan in
place, I resumed feeling good about my chances at the Ghost Train 100 Miler.
Turns out, this “plan” was just the first of many tricks I’d have to play on
myself that day (and night) to keep moving forward.
