Spring and the "White Out"

Really gorgeous, and unseasonably warm week, actually running on dirt, and rocks a bit!?  Then turning nice and cold for the Bradbury White Out race.

Monday - Sat on my ass

Tuesday -   Mount Agamenticus, 9.4 miles.  Hit Agamenticus on an absolutely gorgeous day and mixed terrain. Little bit of ice, little bit of snow, and a surprising amount of rocks and mud. After replacing a few IceSpikes in my Mudclaw's I meandered up the mountain and was shocked to see the entire top has been clear-cut. It's very dramatic, but the views are as well. Before you could see relatively far from the observation towers, but now you can see 360 from anywhere on the dome.
Wednesday - Stroudwater 9 miles.  Kind of a pain-in-the-ass run. I opted for my X-Talon's today because over the last two runs I've lost 7 screws in my Mudroc's with the varied rocky/icy conditions. I wanted to take a break from them and glue in the screws I have left for this weekends race.

So the first few miles were real icy and I took a tumble and slid around even though I stayed off to the side in as much snow as possible. I continued on the trail and then decided to explore a bit off the power lines. Well this led to nowhere but post-holing and wet feet. So back to the trail and a little road to fill in the miles. It felt real good to actually 'run' on the road and not play patty-cake with the ice.

Thursday - Blackstrap/Skillins Tree Farm, 9.5.  Really excellent run in absolutely gorgeous weather! Today Zak and I were going to run together but it didn't quite work out. I was a bit bummed as I was looking forward to the company today, but no worries.

I hit the trails, this time with the screw shoes, and had great snow conditions with no slipping. The day warmed up nicely and fantastic views of Washington and the Whites made it really feel like spring. I decided to do a figure eight route at the Skillin's tree farm instead of repeats on the far side of the hill, and had a rewarding and tough, but fun workout in the soft snow.

Friday - Beach and Back, 10.4.  Nice and mellow run on another gorgeous day. I just ended up running on the road/soft shoulder to Scarborough Beach and back. Great to run in to Mindy four miles in and chat with her a bit. I thought it was pretty damn cool that the only other runner I saw out today was a Trail Monster!

Back Cove, 10.  My first real double run in the books. I've heard a lot about running doubles, the benefits, and the crazy people who do them. I never really thought I would bother with it as I figured I'd always be able to get the mileage in throughout the week. Well I wanted to give it a shot and see how it felt. It was not nearly as arduous as I anticipated and actually quite enjoyable.

I hit the Back Cove in moist air and a few stars poking through. Val and I were possibly going to meet up for a bit and it turned out she was finishing her run. So we chatted for a mile or so and I continued on my way.

Saturday - Robinson Woods, 10.5.  Nice and slow in an inch of newly fallen snow. The trees were dusted in beautiful white blankets making the run very enjoyable.  Ran nice and easy.

Sunday - Bradbury White Out Race, 4, 2.5 warm and cool down.  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 Erin 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!

65+ for the week.