#TSFM2014: Soldier of Orange

Soapstone Mountain 24K - It seemed like a good idea at the time

Two years ago, I started mixing trail running into my workout regime for cross-training. Since then I've run a handful of short cross-country races including 6 out of 7  in the Bolton Summer XC series last year (2.4 miles). Unbeknownst to me until I took a greater interest in racing, the Nipmuck Trail Marathon starts a few miles from my house and the course passes within a couple miles of my front door.

The iconic Nipmuck race uses the Connecticut blue blazed trail system and is part of the Grand Tree Trail Race Series. Last fall, my wife and I volunteered at the marathon (in a torrential downpour) and later joined the Shenipsit Striders who organize many of the trail races in Connecticut including the Nipmuck. Despite the adverse conditions the runners faced in the 2013 race, the idea of running the Nipmuck the following October started percolating in my head. The timing was about right since running San Francisco would probably preclude running my usual October marathon. What better time to debut at a long-distance trail race?


I'm a pretty good runner. Not great, but I usually finish comfortably between the elite age groupers and the main pack. That kind of success hadn't manifested itself in the few trail races I'd entered, but I'd still done reasonably well. The main goal in entering the Nipmuck mostly would be to finish in a reasonable time, not necessarily to be competitive. As part of preparing for a possible Nipmuck run, I decided to run the Soapstone Mountain 24K, also organized by the Striders, in May. This also coincided nicely with increasing my training miles for TSFM with the added bonus that the Soapstone course included over 2000 feet of elevation gain. TSFM course is hilly, so racing some hills would certainly help build more strength.


I arrived at the race resplendent in my TSFM Ambassador gear with my wife in tow. She was just three weeks off of hip surgery to repair a torn labrum, but she thought this would be a good opportunity to get out of the house for a little while. I announced to her that she could expect me to finish in 2:00, perhaps 2:15 since it was such a challenging course. This is important information since it provides her an ETA for brunch.

A major difference between me and a true trail runner is our differing reaction to a "muddy course" announcement. The trail runners screamed with delight when they heard the course was going to be muddy. I started thinking about running in squishy, waterlogged shoes and planning how to keep the car clean on the ride home. We had had some rain recently, but none for a couple of days. As the race started, there was no particular evidence of a messy course despite the warning. There was however a quarter mile ascent at 26% that started at mile 2 (Soapstone Mountain). This essentially meant climbing on all fours as the steepest sections were at more than a 50% grade. Still things went relatively well until mile 6.5 where a 1.1 mile decent in a creek bed started. The creek was filled to the brim with 6-10" of cold runoff water and mud. Unlike earlier sections of the course, there was no way to avoid the obstacle. Somewhere near the halfway point as I started ascending another long climb, I began to suspect that I may have underestimated my finishing time. By mile 12 crossing Soapstone Mountain again from the other direction, I began to fear that my wife had ignored the doctor's prohibition on driving and had left me to find another way home. I also became increasingly bewildered knowing that trail racers typically run 31, 50, 100 miles (or even longer) over similar terrain. I crossed the finish line spent after 2:51 minutes had passed and a finishing placement near the bottom 1/3.

There is great value in doing things at which you're not particularly adept. Focusing on what you're good at leads to stagnation. Taking on new challenges will make you faster, stronger, better. That said, recovering from the Soapstone took much longer than I expected. I reduced my training load for a couple of weeks following the race. It was as challenging, if not more so, than some marathons I've run on the road. I will continue to run trails, because I enjoy the experience of being in the woods. Whether I will enter any more long distance trail races anytime soon is an open-ended question. I might volunteer at the Nipmuck again this year.

Pre-TSFM2014 Spring Race Report (written after the marathon)

So coming off the LA Marathon and gearing up for the San Francisco Marathon, there was the usual training and several races. I originally intended for the blog to be updated regularly through the spring season, but various distractions kept me away from the keyboard. Still there were some lessons learned worth documenting after the fact.

The TVFRs are famous for their "soup
runs," so the swag was a soup mug.

Four weeks after melting on the streets of LA, I headed north to nearby Upton, MA for the annual Tri-Valley Front Runners Boston Tune-Up 15K. This was my 3rd appearance at this event and it has become one of the few races that I want to do yearly. 15K races are quite rare, but the distance has become my favorite - an equal part speed and endurance. The course is relatively lumpy (40 ft/mile) and the weather has been unpredictable over the years. At its worse, the race has gone off in the remnants of a winter storm, but the 2014 edition was run in close to perfect conditions. Although there was a little wind, the temperatures stayed in the 40s to low 50s and the skies were overcast. The one drawback of running a Boston Marathon tune-up is a faster field than one usually finds in a small town race with 300 or so competitors. I finished the race in 1:03:48 (6:50/mile) almost 1 min faster than last year (1:04:45) and much faster than my debut (1:08:30), but still only managed a 6th place in the M30-39 age group. The winner came in at a scorching 52:11 (5:35/mile). The take-home lesson: my fitness was fine for LA despite the results (and running in the cold is always more pleasant than in the hot).

         

Headed to the finish with a body temperature of 3000 F

Next on the agenda was the WilliWhammer Half Marathon that was sponsored by the Willimantic Athletic Club. I hoped to build on my positive 15K results. On a positive note, it didn't rain as hard or as heavily as had been forecast originally; however, the pre-race chatter was all about surviving a wet, cold half marathon, so I donned long-sleeves, tights and a rain coat. By mid-race, it was clear that I had severely overdressed. Not only had I managed to stay dry, I was also on the verge of overheating. The race benefitted the Windham No Freeze Project, so I supported the "No Freeze" theme by sweating profusely in my poorly chosen race attire.

Crossing the finish line in 2nd at the Willington PTA 5K

The final road races of the spring (excluding the run at the end of the Ellington Sprint Triathlon in July) were two local 5Ks. The Willington PTA 5K on Memorial Day weekend and the Run for the Playground 5K in Mansfield 2 weeks before San Francisco. I won my age group in Mansfield and finished 5th overall in 20:08. More notably, I finished 2nd overall in Willington in 19:50, just behind the winner at 19:32. I was fortunate that a few of the fastest runners apparently stayed home this year as past year's winners have come in under 18 min. This was my fourth time running this race finishing in 21:35 (2011), 20:43 (2012) and 20:45 (2013) before finally breaking the 20 min mark this year. I started running 5Ks regularly in 2010 and finally broke 20 min in 2012. What was most significant is that all the previous sub-20 min 5Ks were accomplished on relatively flat courses in the late fall. In addition to being early in the year, the Willington 5K is very hilly and includes the dreaded Jared Sparks hill that ascends over 100 feet over half a mile at the very end of the race. Under normal circumstances this is a tough climb, but when your lungs are screaming at the end of a 5K, it can feel like running up a wall. This race was one of the only times I have ever led for a significant portion of a race. The eventual winner and I took turns in the lead. He passed me on the first flat and I returned the favor on the first big hill. He returned the favor going down the hill before Jared Sparks. While I was slowly making up ground on the final climb, his lead was too big and the climb too short for me to close the gap before the quick decent to the finish. This is a continuing theme for me: I suck running downhill. Usually, I will pass my "pace peers" going up hills, but my speed is relatively slower going down, especially on steeper declines. One can't complain about coming in 2nd in a race that finishes less than 2 miles from your front door.