May 26th: 6:45am wakeup. Stayed in bed until 7:05am. Made oatmeal with brown sugar and maple syrup for Goupil and I (yes for the both of us). Banana on the side. Changed up. Bathroom for #2 before leaving at 7:50ish.
At Wachusett Ski Area at 8:20am. Met my mom to pick up my mountain racing shoes (Inov8 Talon 212, used almost exactly one year ago at the Northfield Mountain Race on May 21) and a pair of Streak 4's. Registered for the race. Back to the Subie to get ready for a warmup with Sam Wood and Goupil. Talked for a bit. The rest of the gang (Jim Johnson, Tim Van Orden, Dave Dunham and others). Warmed up with those guys at 8:45am. 3+ miles (23:14). Back to the car to stripe down to just shorts and shoes. Vasoline to avoid chaffage between the thighs and armpits. Jogged down to the line at 9:15ish. Some strides and chat about the course with everyone. Decided I had to empty myself. Stepped into the woods and make a quick pit stop. Wiped with some leaves. Good to go.
Race off at 9:30am. Up the auto road for a mile or so. DoubleJ got the townline in the first 800 meters. Turned on single track for a bit. Let Newbold annd DoubleJ get away from me and put another guy between me. One we were in the single track, I was losing ground. I decided to pass in the trail. Made the honest mistake of not saying anything and just sprint by the guy when the trail got a little bit wider. Bumped into his shoulder and just didn't look back. Out onto a wider ski trail where I could make up a little ground. Once we hit the single track climb of 10-12 minutes, it was game over. The lack of hills and the technical trail left me crawling up to the top. Didn't stop, but the quads were screaming. Onto pavement and the begin of the descent. Sitting in 3rd, I knew I could make up some ground on the downhill. Water cup taken to throw on me and rinse the mouth. After that, I started hauling ass. Cruised down and passed DoubleJ at 25:45 (he yelled it out to me as I passed, what a guy). I knew it was roughly a 30 minute race. So I didn't have much time. I had Newbold in my sights, but I didn't catch him before the final single track before the finish. This single track was the scariest thing I have ever done in my life. No thought process was going on as I was literally leaping from boulder to boulder and flying down the last 1/2 mile. Popped us out to about 20-30 meters from the finish. Not enough time. 2nd overall. 29:04. It's all good.
Humid out. Shorts were drenched. 4 mile (29:54) with Sam Wood and Goupil. Back for awards. Sweatshirt for my 1st in my age division. Grocery shopping at the refreshments table. Sodas and cosmic brownies. Out of there to drive to Kimball's. Tucker rode with Goupil and I in the Subie Outback. Laid on Goupil's lap and was out the whole ride. BBQ chicken sandwich with a couple watermelon slices. No ice cream. Back to my sister's house for a shower and on the road by 2:45pm for Burlington, VT.
The ride was relaxing. Beautiful, scenic roads all the way up. No traffic and made great time. Hotel right off the exit with the ARE team. Goupil and I did a 3+ mile (23:03) cooldown to make it 15 miles on the day. Showered up and out to the downtown Burlington area to met up with the team for dinner. Didn't exactly line up like wanted to, but it ended up going smooth in our own way.
Goupil and I took a walk along the water watching the sunset to find the team at the finish line of the marathon. No good, already left. We had a nice romantic walk though. Just kidding. Tried to find the restaurant they were planning on going to for dinner. We found it, but it was a whole another story to find a parking spot in downtown Burlington. We did witness a very elderly man with a cane yell "You're the scumbag!" to a guy on a tandum bike decked out in hippy clothes with a sign stating "Burlington Police are scumbags." Very comical. The team ended up hitting up another restaurant in South Burlington. So we found parking and hit up a pizza place. On our way, I crossed paths completely rarndomly with Kimber's cousin Peter. I then told Goupil how its so weird when you run into people in the most random places and how its all based on perfect timing. As I finish saying that, I spotted Paige Mills (Keene State student) with her boyfriend and sister. Ended up eating dinner with them. Mushroom, onion, Canandian bacon large pizza split with Goupil. Long Trail Ale. Finished the pizza off. 4 slices each.
Back to the hotel. Hung out in the lobby with the team for a bit. Bed by 11pm.
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