Sunday, December 31, 2006
This was an ambitious year for me, albeit one that didn't end the way I was hoping.
The year started out with the (no) snowshoe season - out of all of the races I signed up for/planned to do, only Savoy had enough snow to actually snowshoe. Numerous races were cancelled or postponed to dates when I couldn't make them, and the ones I did get to ended up being trail races. I did get to do my first winter duathlon, though... riding for an hour in the cold, cold rain seemed a bit crazy at the time and still does.
My first trail race of the season was the Northern Nipmuck, which started a pattern of my entering distance trail races that turned out to be torturous. Northern Nipmuck, the Nipmuck marathon (where I dropped out after 19.75 miles) and the Greylock Half Marathon were all well worth doing but took forever and hurt like heck. On the plus side, the shorter races were a lot of fun - I really enjoyed doing the Spring Classic Duathlon in Rochester (despite the distinctly un-spring-like weather), the Yellowjacket Powerbar trail race (also at Mendon) and the Summer Solstice Run down at Minnewaska State Park. Planned for the 25k at the Finger Lakes Fifties (and missed it!) and went out too fast at Indian Ladder, as always (maybe next year...!) Forge the Gorgeous was one of the most scenic races of the summer, and Race the Train was probably the most unusual race of the year, and also a lot of fun, in a summer spent preparing for 2 marathons and a 50k in the fall...
Of course, then came The Crash, and I went from trying to run long distances to trying to run ANY distance. Missed Savoy, missed the Greylock Road Race, missed the Adirondack Marathon. But six weeks after The Crash I hobbled my way through the Rochester Autumn Classic Duathlon with a smile on my face. Missed a few more races in October (including the Black Diamond Off Road Duathlon) but entered the Hairy Gorilla Trail Half Marathon at the last minute and finished, earning not one but two gorilla finishing awards! A couple of weeks later I ran one loop of the Mendon Trail 50k I'd been contemplating running earlier in the year and had a great run - but doing five loops of that will definitely be tough! Wrapped up with a good run at the RT Turkey Run 5 Miler (more Mendon!) and a very tough Gail's Trail Run on a gorgeous day on the Leatherman's Loop course down in Westchester.
So not the year I was hoping for, and some of my times were definitely much longer than I'd planned on - but I also ran some races in what I would consider very fast times (for me.) I'm looking forward to doing some of these races again next year, and perhaps improving. And I definitely want to finish some marathons! (And maybe, just maybe, become an ultramarathoner!) Putting in some greater distances on my bike would also be a big plus.
So the tally for 2006 is - 17 races for a total of 3 miles/1 hour of snowshoe races, 136.6 miles/33 hrs 8 minutes of running races, and 52.4 miles/4 hrs 8 minutes of bike racing, in 3 states (New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.) Not bad, all things considered... not bad at all.
JMH
2006 races -
- North/South Pond Shuffle 3mi Snowshoe Race - January
- Lake Effect Snowshoe Duathlon - January
- Saratoga Winterfest 5k Trail Race - February
- Northern Nipmuck 16mi Trail Race - April
- Rochester Spring Classic Duathlon - May
- Nipmuck Trail Marathon - May
- Yellowjacket Powerbar 4.5mi Trail Race - June
- Greylock 13.5mi Trail Race - June
- Summer Solstice Run 14k Trail Race - June
- Indian Ladder 15k Trail Race - July
- Forge the Gorgeous 8mi Trail Race - July
- Race the Train 8.5mi Road Race - August
- Rochester Autumn Classic Duathlon - October
- Hairy Gorilla Trail Half Marathon - October
- Mendon Trail Races 10k - November
- RT Turkey Run 5 Miler - November
- Gail's Trail Run 10k - December
