Loon Mountain Race Report

July 7th (Sunday): 3:30am woke up in a sweat. Back to sleep to wake up to the alarm at 6:30am. Played some Candy Crush Saga while I rolled around in the bunk. A full house in the room so I was extra quiet as I moved all my stuff into the adjacent room. Over to the main cabin to make breakfast, brush my teeth and put my contacts in. Placed the glasses on the shelf behind the sinks (ending up leaving them there). Honey wheat bagel with a thin layer of peanut butter and sliced bananas. Some Gatorade to wash it all down. Packed the car up and over to the race venue by 7:30am.

Into the Octagan Lodge to register and use the bathroom (hadn't pooped in over 12 hours). Back to the car to chill and organize all my gear. 3 mile (21:25) warmup with Ferenc along the first mile of the race and some of the pavement bike path. Back to the car to change up, grab a swig of Gatorade, and apply the Body Glide to prevent chaffing. Jogged it out to the lower dirt parking lot to get some strides in and pop into the woods for a quick bathroom pit stop.

Parking lot start under the bridge.

 

Zoom.

9am start. Off the line well and a quick first mile along the dirt parking lot, pavement, and the beginning of the loose gravel access road. Rocking the Nike Lunarspeed Lites and feeling good about the choice of footwear. Injinji socks to keep the toes separated and prevent blisters. Worked into that low grind gear and locked into a solid pace. I have no idea what my splits were, but I was taking advantage of the downhills to open up the stride and recover. I was surprised with the amount of downhill. A nice long downhill before the Upper Walking Boss and ready to climb in beast mode (in the words of Tilton as I powered by him at the beginning of the UWB). I utilized the power-hike and surge method for the UWB and it worked out well. I noticed Eric Blake and Ferenc were using the same technique. I started to gap Tilton and close up on Newbould. 5 mile mark at the top of the UWB. A gradual downhill section before a steep downhill to a final 50 meters of uphill to the finish line. Newbould was no where in sight after I crested the hill and I cruised it in for a 4th place finish. 48:59. Chilled at the finish. Pounded some cups of water. Chatted it up. Off down the mountain for a cool down with a bunch of guys (Ferenc, Newbould, Todd, and another guy that knew the trails).

 Don't even get to enjoy the views, just the grass in front of me.

 I need to buy this picture.

 Courtesy of Far North. UWB.

 TiVO.

4+ mile cool down. No time on it, but it was roughly 40 minutes of running. Black bear ran across one of the trails we were trotting down. Scooted right across the path. Epic! River soak. Brought the water shoes (DoubleJ always has a pair in his car and it made it way easier to walk into the flowing current without being sweep away). Back to the car to change into dry clothes. Walked over to the awards ceremony inside the lodge. Whirlaway came away with the team win and we received  a box of local pastries. Yum. Apple turnover. Destroyed. Raffled off a bunch of things and I ended up winning a pair of Julbo sunglasses. Boom!

On the road just before 2pm. Drove about 2 hours before stopping for gas/Subway. Same place. Sweetness. Black Forest ham with cheddar cheese, spinach, onions, green peppers, sweet onion sauce, salt/pepper, and oil/vinegar. Sat down and had Powerade/Sprite mix to wash it all down.

Home by 5ish. Stopped at the grocery store for some essentials for the week. Unpacked, chilled and ate some food. Out for a shakeout 5+ miles (37:14). Thunderstorm just missed Ballston Lake. Big bolts of lightning and rumbles of thunder in the sky, but no rain. Back to stretch, foam roll and ice. Showered and a protein shake. Bed at a decent hour.

18 miles on the day and 77 miles for the week with a couple hiccups on the one workout (split into 2 days to stay mentally tough) and a big weekend of miles. Solid race at Loon Mountain that was a ton of fun. Upper Walking Boss was wicked tough, but I think I might suffer through it next year.