What's Ahead: running and racing in 2017
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Yesterday's race wrapped up he snowshoe season and it was a brutal end. With real feel temps overing around -10 degrees it was cold from start to finish. The cold was a deterrent for all except for the die hard (and the fast-the women's field included an OTQ marathoner and the 2011 World Mountain Running Champ...FAST).
Just have fun
"Just have fun," were my coaches words and I tried. But it's really hard to have fun when it's -10 degrees out. I dislike two loop courses and about half way through the first loop when I lost sight of the next woman I seriously considered bailing on the second loop and taking a DNF. I was incredibly cold, felt a little nauseous and wasn't exactly "having fun." But by the time I looped back around to the finish I caught a glimpse of Leslie O'Dell (winner of the Granite State Snowshoe Series), cheered for her and bombed down the frozen slip n' slide that was the course and opted not to have this race be my first DNF.
Don't DNF
The final lap of the race I was mostly alone, the two men who had been ahead of me pulled away and I was left to battle it out with my mind. When you're out there alone its hard for the race to feel like a "race," and I found my motivation to push wane around the 4.5 mile mark. It seems that's the point at which my energy dipped in the last race as well and since most snowshoe races this season have been shorter than 4.5 miles I think it is indicative of my limited endurance at this point. After a brief slow down I decided that if my bigger goals are going to be a possibility, then I've got to still do the work when it hurts. So I pushed as hard as I could in the last mile and half to hopefully close the gap on the woman in front of me. I'm not sure that I did, since she finished about 3 minutes ahead of me.
It took my an hour standing next to the wood stove before I stopped shivering.
C'mon Spring
Now that the snowshoe racing season is over I am ready for spring! But it looks like Mother Nature has other ideas. We're expecting to get slammed with another Nor'easter this week, which is why I'll be joining a gym today. I'm not even kidding. I've done my time this winter.
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Actually, the real motivation behind joining the gym is to have access to a squat rack. We had a squat rack in our basement gym at home (which is now in storage) and there was a time when I was squatting and deadlifting heavier weight. It's been a while since I've done that, but with the mountain running season ahead it's time to get these legs ready to CLIMB.
[Tweet "What's ahead for @runfargirl? Climbing. #mountainrunning"]
I'll use the next two weeks, which my coach has designated as "transition weeks" where there's no scheduled training, to get in the gym and re-introduce myself to some of the heavier lifts I used to really enjoyed doing.
Kuddos to my hubby who came to all but two of my races. He manages the kids, cheers and takes pics. He's totally awesome.
Spring and Summer Races
I'm excited to be participating in the New England USATF mountain running series this year. The races in the series will dominate my racing calendar and I'll round out my spring and summer races with a few local 5K's and 10K's when it fits with our schedule.
Here's what's ahead for the spring and summer:
5/13 Dirty Girl Trail Race
6/3 Cranmore USA Mountain Running Championships
6/17 Mount Washington Auto Road Race
6/24 Exeter Trail Race NE-USATF Trail Championships (?? Not sure about this one??)
7/30 SIX03 Endurance 10K
Photo: Scott Mason Photography
There are a few more mountain races in the fall and of course I'll be running the CHaD Hero Half Marathon as well. I'm looking forward to tackling this new-to-me aspect of racing and if last year's two mountain races (Loon and Mount Washington) is any indication, I'm going to have a lot of fun doing it.
-Sarah
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