Another Season of the SnōShū, Race #6
Hoxie-Thunderbolt 3.5mi Snowshoe Race
Covered Bridge 8 mi Snowshoe Race
aka Mt Greylock Kicked My Butt Again!
Saturday, February 24, 2007
2007 Greylock Snowshoe races results
Greylock Glen snowshoe races info
2007 Greylock snowshoe races photo slideshow
I've done three events on Greylock - a 5k trail race in June 2005, a 50 mile bike ride in August 2005, and a 14 mile trail race in June 2006. The 5k was tough, but I pushed hard and finished with a pretty good time. The bike ride was incredibly difficult, and took far longer than I expected, as did the 14 miler (which I later dubbed the Greylock Death March.) So the question was - would Greylock kick my butt again today?
It definitely wasn't a good sign that I could hear the wind roaring through the trees, and the weather forecast didn't call for temperatures to go above the mid-teens all day... this would be a long, cold race...
As always, the drive into the Berkshires was a pleasure (yes, this is another "I love the Berkshires" moment...) As I drove up route 8 into Adams, I was amazed at how many ice fishermen there were out on the Cheshire Reservoir... and at how many of them had driven their vehicles out onto the ice. Seems a bit crazy to me but I guess they know how thick the ice is, given that they have to bore a hole through it. As I drove into Adams, I was surprised at how well I remembered the route to Greylock Glen, despite only have been there twice. At least there was less competition for a parking spot this time!
The wind was blasting through the Glen like crazy - fortunately, they'd put a tarp up along one side of the gazebo, so we were able to use it for some shelter. Took a while to gear up - the wind kept trying to blow the car door shut - but finally I was all set, and I went and stood behind the gazebo with the rest of the crazies and waited for my toes to go numb. (Some of the runners were huddled around the fire, but as Bob Dion pointed out later, if you warm your snowshoes up when they hit the snow they'll ice up very nicely, so I was glad I opted to stand outside. Finally, everything was ready, and after a few words from the RD (which none of us in the back could hear) - off we went!
The initial stretch was actually easier than I anticipated - I expected us to take off on the uphill trails that we used in the trail races, but instead we took a snowmobile trail which ran more or less level along the edge of the mountain. That took us past two ruined buildings and what looked like the remnants of an old ski lift - I've heard there was once a ski slope on Greylock, maybe those were the ruins of it? Anyway, it was fairly easy running for about 10 minutes... and then we took a turn onto singletrack up the mountain and the uphill fun began.
Hoxie-Thunderbolt 3.5mi Snowshoe Race
Covered Bridge 8 mi Snowshoe Race
aka Mt Greylock Kicked My Butt Again!
Saturday, February 24, 2007
2007 Greylock Snowshoe races results
Greylock Glen snowshoe races info
2007 Greylock snowshoe races photo slideshow
I've done three events on Greylock - a 5k trail race in June 2005, a 50 mile bike ride in August 2005, and a 14 mile trail race in June 2006. The 5k was tough, but I pushed hard and finished with a pretty good time. The bike ride was incredibly difficult, and took far longer than I expected, as did the 14 miler (which I later dubbed the Greylock Death March.) So the question was - would Greylock kick my butt again today?
It definitely wasn't a good sign that I could hear the wind roaring through the trees, and the weather forecast didn't call for temperatures to go above the mid-teens all day... this would be a long, cold race...
As always, the drive into the Berkshires was a pleasure (yes, this is another "I love the Berkshires" moment...) As I drove up route 8 into Adams, I was amazed at how many ice fishermen there were out on the Cheshire Reservoir... and at how many of them had driven their vehicles out onto the ice. Seems a bit crazy to me but I guess they know how thick the ice is, given that they have to bore a hole through it. As I drove into Adams, I was surprised at how well I remembered the route to Greylock Glen, despite only have been there twice. At least there was less competition for a parking spot this time!
The wind was blasting through the Glen like crazy - fortunately, they'd put a tarp up along one side of the gazebo, so we were able to use it for some shelter. Took a while to gear up - the wind kept trying to blow the car door shut - but finally I was all set, and I went and stood behind the gazebo with the rest of the crazies and waited for my toes to go numb. (Some of the runners were huddled around the fire, but as Bob Dion pointed out later, if you warm your snowshoes up when they hit the snow they'll ice up very nicely, so I was glad I opted to stand outside. Finally, everything was ready, and after a few words from the RD (which none of us in the back could hear) - off we went!
The initial stretch was actually easier than I anticipated - I expected us to take off on the uphill trails that we used in the trail races, but instead we took a snowmobile trail which ran more or less level along the edge of the mountain. That took us past two ruined buildings and what looked like the remnants of an old ski lift - I've heard there was once a ski slope on Greylock, maybe those were the ruins of it? Anyway, it was fairly easy running for about 10 minutes... and then we took a turn onto singletrack up the mountain and the uphill fun began.
First we had a long, slow hike up steep singletrack to a wider snowmobile trail. Then we hiked up the snowmobile trail for a little ways before crossing a wide stream (problematic - the ice had long since been broken up by all the other runners, so I went in up to my left ankle on that one and spent a while worrying about ice buildup on my cleats) and more uphill singletrack. Then finally we had a longish downhill stretch, followed by a run through a frozen swamp and then more up-and-down through the woods. Besides all the uphill climbing, the snow was very loose (poor footing, even with snowshoes) and the singletrack was quite narrow - not a difficultly for the folks with the smaller snowshoes, but I kept clipping my ankles with my slightly larger models (yet another argument for getting a smaller pair just for races next year!) The general trend for the rest of the 3.5 mi race was downward motion - some singletrack through woods, some snowmobile trail, and some singletrack through fields and swamp. I have to admit I was totally lost until I spotted one of the roads, and then I had a vague idea of where we'd be coming back to the starting area, but it wasn't until I was about a quarter mile away that I was sure where I was. Made my way across the bridge by the pond in the Glen, and checked in for the finish of the 3.5 miler, in 1 hr 12 min... a bit slow, but not surprising, given all the climbing, the poor footing, and the fact that I had to save some energy for the 2nd half of the 8 mile race.
Jogged through the race HQ area and headed across the road for the remaining 4.5 miles of the long race. We started out on a snowmobile trail, which seemed much too good to be true... and fairly quickly I found out that it was, as we turned off on to a long stretch of uphill singletrack. Plodded my way up that, and along the way was passed by Konrad, who chatted for a bit about energy gels and drinks before we both got back to saving our breath for the hike. After a level stretch, we broke out onto another snowmobile path - easier footing, but again going uphill. That was the trend for the first 3 miles of so... almost constant climbing, the last mile on a steep snowmobile path that seemed to go on forever. I was reminded of the last few miles of the Greylock Death March back in June, where it seemed like I was trapped on never-ending washed out 4wd dirt roads - as it turned out, that was an appropriate thought, because the spot where we finally stopped climbing was the same spot where we left the roads in June and went back onto the hiking trails. That non-stop trudge up the road left me inclined the label this race the Greylock Winter Death March...
Finally we hit the downhill section - mostly singletrack, with a few stretches of snowmobile trail thrown in. Unfortunately, I had the same challenge as back in June - it was steep downhill, and my legs were trashed from all the preceeding running and hiking, so I had to take it very easy or risk blowing out a knee. (I admit I was a bit envious of the folks who could just barrel down those sections at full speed...!) This was one of the most scenic sections, as we ran along the ridge above a stream and eventually crossed two bridges, one being the covered bridge that gives the race its name. Finally the end was in sight, and I was able to cross back over the road and "run" the last few yards into the finish, with a final time for the 8 miler of 2 hr 42 min... actually slightly faster splits in the 2nd half, despite all the uphill trudging, so I guess I did save a little energy during the first 3.5 miles.
After that I chowed down on some delicious soup (both some home-made minestrone and the good old chicken ramen in a cup), chatted with a few folks who were still hanging around, and staggered back to the car to change into dry clothes. Then it was time for the drive back to Albany and thinking about how much my long run tomorrow was going to hurt...
This was the longest batch of snowshoeing I've ever done (8 miles) and it tells me that I need to train a lot more if I ever plan to do even longer distances (like the snowshoe half marathon and marathons up in Vermont next weekend!) Of course, this winter hasn't been terribly cooperative in that regard... in any case, I got out on a beautiful, sunny, and yes bloody cold and windy day, and ran and hiked in some great woods and fields in the shadow of Mount Greylock, the High Lord of the Berkshires. My times weren't bad at all, considering distance, terrain, and footing... but given my level of exhaustion and soreness at the end, I think we can definitely count this one as another butt-kicking from Greylock. So the score now stands at Greylock 4, Turtle 1.
We'll just have to see how things go in June... I don't expect to have any phenomenal success with the trail half marathon, but I may manage to knock my finishing time down a bit.
Next up: Good question. The last snowshoe race I anticipated attending is the Hawley Kiln Klassic next Saturday. But I would also really like to do the Celebrate Life Half Marathon on Sunday, in part to get a feel for where my road running is at (since the Eastern States 20 miler is now only one month away!) So I will have to see what the weather is going to be like and how I'm feeling both tomorrow and at the end of the week, before I decide if I'm doing one or both races...
JMH
2007 EVENT TOTALS
Running
Cycling 6.2 mi, 33 min
Snowshoe 31.3 mi, 9 hr 11 min
states visited: NY, MA
