Season of the SnōShū, Weekend #2
North/South Pond Shuffle 3 mi Snowshoe Race
XC Skiing in Savoy Mountain State Forest
Saturday, January 7, 2006
North/South Pond Shuffle 3 mi Snowshoe Race
XC Skiing in Savoy Mountain State Forest
Saturday, January 7, 2006
What a great way to start of the 2006 racing year. The weather was GORGEOUS – bright and sunny. All the way over there was little to no snow – but up in the forest, there was over a foot! Not too cold, not very windy… a great day to visit Savoy Mountain State Forest over in NW Massachusetts.
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Got there without mishap, registered (since these races are VERY conditions-dependent, some of them don’t allow pre-registration) – and hopped back in the car and turned it on to have heat while I changed into my racing gear. Of course, I had to finally get back out when it came time to put on the snowshoes… and after that I plodded around trying to get used to the deeper snow and stay warm until we started. I did notice right away that, even “packed”, over a foot of snow is a LOT different to run in than the 6 inches or so we’ve had in Albany. Anyway, the race director had a few things to say, among them “There’s only 500 feet of climbing, mostly in the first half” and “GO!” And off we went.
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Got there without mishap, registered (since these races are VERY conditions-dependent, some of them don’t allow pre-registration) – and hopped back in the car and turned it on to have heat while I changed into my racing gear. Of course, I had to finally get back out when it came time to put on the snowshoes… and after that I plodded around trying to get used to the deeper snow and stay warm until we started. I did notice right away that, even “packed”, over a foot of snow is a LOT different to run in than the 6 inches or so we’ve had in Albany. Anyway, the race director had a few things to say, among them “There’s only 500 feet of climbing, mostly in the first half” and “GO!” And off we went.
photo courtesy of www.berkshiresports.org
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Ran along, huffing and puffing, for all of about ¼ mile… and then the uphill began, and really didn’t let up much until 1 ½ to 2 miles into the 3 mile course. While I was able to run hills here in 6 inches of snow, it just wasn’t happening over there. So I spent the bulk of the first half to 2/3 walking, walking, walking, and stashing bits of clothing as I generated heat (and I generated a LOT of heat.) I did actually pass a couple of people during this bit, so maybe I’m improving a little bit. Also discovered that squirt top bottles are a bad plan for winter racing, because they freeze up and you just end up unscrewing the caps anyway. (My Gatorade ended with a quite a bit of ice in it by the end. That does reinforce that it really is kind of cold, no matter how warm I’m getting from the walking/running.)
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Ran along, huffing and puffing, for all of about ¼ mile… and then the uphill began, and really didn’t let up much until 1 ½ to 2 miles into the 3 mile course. While I was able to run hills here in 6 inches of snow, it just wasn’t happening over there. So I spent the bulk of the first half to 2/3 walking, walking, walking, and stashing bits of clothing as I generated heat (and I generated a LOT of heat.) I did actually pass a couple of people during this bit, so maybe I’m improving a little bit. Also discovered that squirt top bottles are a bad plan for winter racing, because they freeze up and you just end up unscrewing the caps anyway. (My Gatorade ended with a quite a bit of ice in it by the end. That does reinforce that it really is kind of cold, no matter how warm I’m getting from the walking/running.)
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photo courtesy of www.berkshiresports.org
Then we hit lots of level stretches and downhills, and I started running pretty steadily. Some folks tore by me on the downhills – one of the drawbacks to bad knees (just can’t tear down the hills like I’d like to.) Chatted briefly with Rich Busa, a very impressive 76 yr old gentleman who does a lot of the same races I do (he was having a rough time, and joked about it being due to what he keeps hearing about getting old. Keep in mind this guy has been photographed making snow angels with no shirt on after snowshoe races.) Got my picture taken right as I was trying not to fall on my butt. At some point in there my heel cleats got wet and built up two huge ice balls – didn’t realize that until I walked to the car and felt like I was walking on two ice balls. (Must have been at one of the stream crossings – good thing they left out the other two miles that were originally planned, due to the trails being too wet!) The last 1/8 of a mile was the hardest – the snow wasn’t really packed, just badly churned up from the whole pack running over it at the start of the race. As a result I couldn’t think about anything except trying to breath when I finally hit the finish – didn’t even remember to stop my watch, so I didn’t know my time was 59:32 until they posted the results Saturday night.
So, I changed into some dry clothes and did what any intelligent individual would do – drove to another part of the park, strapped on my XC skis, and skied for three hours. Sadly, I think that was a little over three miles… of course, for much of that I was breaking trail through knee deep snow (the skis kept it ankle deep, but I had to step off them a couple of times and sank up to my knees) and a lot of it was either uphill or challenging (ie. bumpy, twisty) downhill. Did have two stretches along some of the roads which are only used by snowmobiles in the winter… while the snowmobilers I saw were courteous and friendly, sucking down their exhaust for a while after they passed was no fun. But most of the time I was totally alone.
So, I changed into some dry clothes and did what any intelligent individual would do – drove to another part of the park, strapped on my XC skis, and skied for three hours. Sadly, I think that was a little over three miles… of course, for much of that I was breaking trail through knee deep snow (the skis kept it ankle deep, but I had to step off them a couple of times and sank up to my knees) and a lot of it was either uphill or challenging (ie. bumpy, twisty) downhill. Did have two stretches along some of the roads which are only used by snowmobiles in the winter… while the snowmobilers I saw were courteous and friendly, sucking down their exhaust for a while after they passed was no fun. But most of the time I was totally alone.
Which did lead to one somewhat aggravating episode – the 2nd trail I took has become a streambed, and one section was too wet to ski (and the sides were too densely wooded to go off trail.) So I took off my skis and hiked for a bit… and then discovered that my bindings were too iced up for me to secure my boots. Played with them a bit, muttered a few choice words about whoever designed the bindings and my ghost haunting him if I died out in the woods, and stomped along the stream for a ways further (and got my boots good and wet in the process…. Aargh.) Finally stopped again and worked at de-icing the bindings (which involved my breathing on them until the ice melted, and chiseling the ice off my boots with the ends of my poles.) And eventually got the boots secured and decided that I was NOT removing my skis again until I got to a place where I could easily hike out if I needed to.
Once I finally got back to the car (3 hours later) I made another discovery – double-knotted boot lacings that have been soaked and frozen are a bear to get untied. But I did get them off finally. I also discovered that the boot socks I wore for the race and then the 2nd pair I wore skiing are GREAT - even through my feet got wet doing both activities, they stayed warm. So now I'm on a quest to purchase more of those socks... so far with no luck. Still have a few more stores in the area to check, though. Anyway, late in the afternoon I drove out of the forest and back to so-called civilization, and wrapped up my strenuous Saturday by topping off the gas tank in MA, where gas is 20 cents cheaper than in NY. (Actually, I guess I TRULY wrapped up the day watching Jeremiah Johnson. It just seemed appropriate somehow.)
I did get pictures, both from the race and skiing. The race pictures were taken with my $20 waterproof fixed-focus camera. They’re OK, about what you’d get from the disposables I’ve been using for most of my races. The waterproof casing does seem to introduce a blur around the edges, but it’s not too bad. Only shot half a roll of film with my good camera while skiing, so don’t have those pictures yet.
Next is either the Greylock Glen 3 mile race (if there’s snow at Greylock next weekend… that might be iffy!) or the Mendon Ponds 6 mile race (which I believe will be a trail race of there’s insufficient snow) the following weekend.
Not a bad start to 2006!
JMH
2006 racing totals
snowshoe – 3 miles, 59.5 min
running – 0 miles, 0 minutes
riding - 0 miles, 0 minutes
Once I finally got back to the car (3 hours later) I made another discovery – double-knotted boot lacings that have been soaked and frozen are a bear to get untied. But I did get them off finally. I also discovered that the boot socks I wore for the race and then the 2nd pair I wore skiing are GREAT - even through my feet got wet doing both activities, they stayed warm. So now I'm on a quest to purchase more of those socks... so far with no luck. Still have a few more stores in the area to check, though. Anyway, late in the afternoon I drove out of the forest and back to so-called civilization, and wrapped up my strenuous Saturday by topping off the gas tank in MA, where gas is 20 cents cheaper than in NY. (Actually, I guess I TRULY wrapped up the day watching Jeremiah Johnson. It just seemed appropriate somehow.)
I did get pictures, both from the race and skiing. The race pictures were taken with my $20 waterproof fixed-focus camera. They’re OK, about what you’d get from the disposables I’ve been using for most of my races. The waterproof casing does seem to introduce a blur around the edges, but it’s not too bad. Only shot half a roll of film with my good camera while skiing, so don’t have those pictures yet.
Next is either the Greylock Glen 3 mile race (if there’s snow at Greylock next weekend… that might be iffy!) or the Mendon Ponds 6 mile race (which I believe will be a trail race of there’s insufficient snow) the following weekend.
Not a bad start to 2006!
JMH
2006 racing totals
snowshoe – 3 miles, 59.5 min
running – 0 miles, 0 minutes
riding - 0 miles, 0 minutes
