Big weekend in the White Mountains with Black Fly in My Eye trail race on Saturday and a big mountain run on Sunday in Waterville Valley.
Monday: 4 Miles- Westerly, RI
Easy Champlin trails lollipop.
Tuesday: 8 Miles- Westerly, RI
Watch hill loop, definitely my favorite 8 mile run from the house. Also the best ocean views from the roads in Westerly (Spray rock is also nice). I hadn't run before 6am/done a full 8 miles before work since April due to toning things back.
Wednesday: 13 Miles
AM 6 Miles- Charlestown, RI
Burlingame south trail loop with Dad + Brady.
PM 7 Miles- Westerly, RI
Westerly fun run. Andrew came over so it was good to have someone to warm up and cool down with. Had the smoke from Canadian wildfires this week and the air quality was terrible. I felt fine on the warm-up however. With a race saturday, plan was just to maintain 5:30s and not push the last mile like the last weekend. Felt hard early with the smoke anyway and made breathing really tough.
First two miles with Andrew and Jonny, and then finished with Andrew who sprinted the last turn to get the win. Well slower than last week in 17:26 for 2nd but the smoke was definitely a factor and unlike last week I put no effort in the third mile.
Thursday: 8 Miles- Westerly, RI
Don't remember this one well, but felt pretty flat and tired I guess.
Friday: 8 Miles- Westerly, RI
Looped around Ice Pond and Avondale, felt pretty good. Finished up with strides. Camp at Bear Brook later that night.
Saturday: 12 Miles- Gorham, NH
Technically not in a municipality, Gorham is simply the closest. Black Fly in My Eye 10 Mile trail race at the base of the mount washington auto road. There's a cross country ski trail system here and while it has a lot of trail, it doesn't go out especially far- so three different loops today. 2 loops on the mount washington side of the road to start and finish that were more runnable with plenty of carriage road and a much tougher middle loop on the opposite side of the road. This race is really low key with only 30-50 finishers or so, but looks fun on the Great Glen trails system and one I've wanted to do for a while. It's a much more varied course than Pinelands which is 100% doubletrack/wide XC ski trails but there's quite a bit of narrow singletrack in this one.
As for competition, the same guy, Tristan Williams had won the last 2-3 years and run times in the 1:05-1:07 range. So I wasn't expecting to win this one, but was certainly hoping to be up there and take a shot. Got in almost 2 mile warm-up, a little bit more rushed than I would have liked. Low 50s and steady rain that was going on and off but rained for much of the race. Lined up in the second row on purpose to pretend I wasn't trying to win and putting myself in position to see what the top guys would do. At Pinelands, I assumed I was the top dog and went out hard in first but got passed and beat easily. It's less stressful and more enjoyable to not try to dominate the race from the start.
I saw two potentially fast looking guys- a shirtless guy (Brent) and singlet-clad runner (Tristan, the winner from the last few times). Note I didn't know who the runners were at that time. Sometimes it's hard to tell who the contenders are, but I was right today and the three of us separated from everyone else almost immediately. The two were talking before the start and clearly knew each other. I went out in third as the leaders ran stride by stride and I lurked in the shadows. It felt quite comfortable settling behind rather than setting the pace myself as I almost certainly would have went out faster. The trail was a wide and manicured XC ski trail and quite fast the entire mile was a slight downhill. The two runners started to separate around half a mile in which was surprising until I looked at my watch and realized just how fast I was running. 5:20 pace on the watch. I checked it a few more times over the next minute as it continued to show 5:20 pace, indicating my watch was not broken. Tristan was starting to fall further back so I passed him and made my way towards the leader. At the end of the mile, I caught up to him on an uphill without meaning to and made a mental note that he didn't seem like a strong uphill runner. Mile 1 beeped as I was side by side with Brent- 5:33.
While this was one of the fastest miles of the day, this was really fast considering it's about what I would have targeted in a flat road race. I certainly didn't want to empty the tank too early and backed way off. I figured I'd fall back and run with Tristan but two equally sized gaps formed between 1st and 2nd, and 2nd and 3rd. The second mile was all on carriage roads but quite a bit hillier. The gap between Tristan and I remained the same but the first guy was starting to pull away more. Mile 2 much slower in 6:42. Mile 3 threw in brief singletrack sections but was still 90% carriage road or so. The gap reversed and I started to open up on 3rd but closed a lot of ground on 1st. Coming back towards the end of the loop I was only 20 meters behind the leader but could no longer see Tristan in 3rd, surprisingly given he was the 2-3 time defending champ.
I got really confused on the next section of trail as it split into 2 and it wasn't marked. I started going one way but didn't want to cut the course and pretty much just stopped until Tristan caught up and I fell in behind him. This likely only lost 5 to 10 seconds, but now I was back in third and first place was out of sight. I ran side by side with Tristan finishing up the first loop. I definitely lost some confidence and was frustrated with that, and was completely expecting to dropped on the tougher second loop. However the effort felt too easy on the carriage roads and I pulled 10 meters ahead back into second. 350 feet of climbing over the next mile starting the second loop. This felt really difficult right away after running on the really fast carriage roads. I felt really flat and was expecting to get caught and passed easily. This climb wasn't super long but felt like a grind. I was surprised early on the climb to see the leader just 50 meters ahead or so. Thinking he either really faded on the climb or went off course. Suddenly this was a three person race for the win again. The gaps remained constant in the climb as we all ran roughly the same pace, maybe third place 20 meters behind. The climb was super wet and muddy, making footing a challenge. Suddenly we hit the top and went downhill on a fast doubletrack. The leader instantly vanished, clearly a stronger downhill runner than uphill. I thought this was my time to open up ground for 3rd place, but probably only opened up another 10 meters or so. Slow mile then fast mile in 8:32-5:45. The 6th mile, 3rd of this loop was the most technical trail through a thick pine forest. Plenty of rooty sections, mud, standing water and being pretty narrow. Slower mile at 7:48. I tried to push this section to make up some ground but he probably gained a little bit on me. Coming out the trail, there was some awkward running on grass that I felt really slow on, yet again didn't lose any ground.
Came into the final loop and crossed the street with Tristan pretty much right on me this time, maybe 10 meters back. With 3 miles to go, this was going to be a battle. I kept slightly increasing the effort trying to drop him but he remained steady. Fast downhill mile 7 entirely on carriage roads in 6:15. Still a 10-30 meter gap. Mile 8 we got on some singletrack and some wide but less manicured paths going uphill. My legs were feeling the effort and my climbing power suffered a bit. It took a while, but eventually Tristan went by me. The gap wasn't opening up much so I hoped to still be in the battle for second. Slow Mile 8 uphill in 7:38. Mile 9 was pretty fast again downhill on the carriage roads- I pushed this section trying to regain ground but the gap kept opening as he was flying now. We entered some singletrack and it looked like 2nd was lost. 6:17 Mile 9.
Half mile to go. I came across a section of field next to the auto road and he was probably 60 meters ahead or so. Tried to really put on the jets and prepare for an all out sprint as I thought my raw speed was probably better than this and could potentially nab him at the line. It helped when the gap was cut down to 40 meters as he briefly turned the wrong way and around. I assumed it was all fast carriage road for another quarter mile to the finish and prepared to absolutely hammer this section. I felt I was gaining on him before he suddenly hesitated before the next section which I thought was weird. As I got a little further, I saw there was a river crossing. I knew about this but had completely forgotten it. Tristan moved through the rocky river quickly and efficiently. I was stumbling and sliding on the other hand on the large slick rocks at the bottom of the river. After the river, there was immediately a short but very steep grass uphill. I got to the top of this and there was an out and back section to get around a fence. Tristan was already on the opposite side of the fence a full 100m ahead. He ran this challenging section much better than me and had won the battle for second. I pushed it the final fast 300m to the finish but nowhere near as hard as I would have if the gap was closer.
3rd in 1:04:33. 17 seconds off of 2nd and 59 seconds off of first (which was surprising, assumed he was 2-3 minutes ahead). While I lost both battles, I was pretty happy with this race. Felt like my effort was fairly strong throughout and it was great to battle for second pretty much the entire time rather than just be in no man's land like some other races and mentally zone out. 3 minutes faster than last year's winning time and as far as I can tell, all three of us were under the course record. Full results here.
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| No race photos, this is the only photo I took that day |
One mile cooldown with Dad in the rain, getting a bit cold. Disappointed in the post race "Barbeque"- just salad, potato salad, and sausage without a bun to eat them. Overall, I thought the course was quite fun. Mostly fast/runnable loops 1 and 3 similar to pinelands but a really tough mostly singletrack loop 2 mixed things up well and some short sections of singletrack in loops 1 and 3. Definitely enjoyed the varied terrain versus Pinelands/Catamount all being doubletrack and fairly runnable. Felt a lot stronger here than Pinelands. I didn't love the organization though, race director seemed clueless, I missed a turn due to poor marking and only 34 finishers as it's probably not very well marketed. I'd do it again and was glad to get it done this year, but certainly isn't a priority/run every year kind of race.
Sunday: 16 Miles- Waterville Valley, NH
Toughest pre-QMT run here- 16 miles with 5600' of elevation change. Tough loop called Mad River Notch- up and over Mount Tecumseh (waterville valley ski area) and up and over mount osceola/east osecola with some very challenging trail sections. Last 4 mile slight downhill and quite runnable on Greeley Ponds trail. This would net me 3 NH 4000 footers and bring my total to 30.
First climb 2500' over 3.2 miles to the Mount Tecumseh summit. Nearly 2 miles runnable and was surprised to feel fairly strong and not tie up/have a HR spike like I do on the first climbs of other mountain runs. Steep last mile to the summit, mostly hiking but still felt pretty good. Nice trail through the pines, especially higher up although quite rocky throughout. Got the Tecumseh summit feeling pretty good. Very nice view which was surprising as I was expecting a forested summit. Several runners came through and spent almost no time to admire the view. Now the descent- 2100' drop over 2.5 miles. There was an unexpected 150 ft climb after 400ft of descent and 1850ft straight down after. I remember thinking this was fairly steep and uncomfortable. Only able to manage 11-13 minutes pace. Went by pretty quickly though. Refueled and refilled my water bottles at a stream at the bottom. Then a mile on a dirt road uphill.
Now the real challenge- 2100' climb over just under 3 miles to the summit of Osceola. The first mile was pretty gradual but very technical. After that there were a bunch of switchbacks as it got higher and I alternated powerhiking/running. Usually right after a switchback, there'd be 30 seconds-minute of very runnable terrain before getting steep again. This trail was quite crowded, especially compared to the Tecumseh trail which only had a dozen people or so. Here I'd constantly have to call ahead to people to get past them. Felt like a long but not brutal climb and eventually popped out to a fantastic summit- 180 degree sweeping view, definitely one of the best views in the whites I've had in a while. The 2021/2022 views were pretty disappointing, so this was a nice treat. Stayed at the summit for a bit. Popped over to East Osceola, then a brutal descent off that- 1800' over 1.2 miles. Lots of stopping and figuring out the best route scrambling down stuff. A lot of jumping off rocks and one time I landed weird on my ankle and felt like I sprained it. After moving it around a bit, it just felt a little weak/strained and fortunately I was okay. My ankles are so much stronger than 2021/2022 as that likely would have been a terrible sprain last year.
Got to Greeley Ponds trail- 4 miles to go, but all slight downhill with 700' drop and very runnable, especially the last 3 miles which were essentially a dirt road. This was a nice finish after a lot of steep technical miles before. Started to bonk a bit with 1.5 to go but hung tough and ran 7:44 and 6:50 for the last miles.
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| Post run rinse off in Mad River |
16 miles with 5600' gain- slightly less mileage than the last few long runs, but a much harder route and the most climbing of any of these runs (and only a few runs I've ever done with more elevation). +3 NH 4000 footers which is great, been working on this a long time and was disappointed with 2021/2022 progress. These were a solid bunch, not as nice as the more epic/well known peaks but way better than the ones I did in 2021/2022. Next shot at the NH 4000 footers should be in July as I hope to stay a few extra days after Loon. Would be really happy to get a few more and move towards the mid-40s. Approaching the point where I can start to think about a final round to finish the 48.
Weekly Total: 70 Miles (8500' elevation gain)
Weekly Highlight: Nice trail running in the Whites. Race went pretty well, wasn't expecting to get 3rd but felt like I really gave it my all at this one and ran strong throughout, just lost to better guys. Nice route and happy to get in more NH mountain running on Sunday.
Weekly Lowlight: Fun run in the smoke felt harder than last week and wasn't very enjoyable.
Movies Watched: None
TV Watched: Black Bird S1
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