Wednesday, May 20, 2009

LONG DISTANCE 2009 - Race #9
Catskill Mountain Spring Series #2 -
Olana Star Loop 10k Trail Run
Wednesday, May 20, 2009

This is my third year to run the Olana 10k... after running it once I knew I wanted to keep coming back both because it's a beautiful if challenging course (much of it consists of either running up hills so we can run back down them or running down hills so we can run back up them) and the folks who turn out for it tend to be a fun bunch to run with (one of the things I think I enjoy most about the Catskill Mountain Spring series is how low-key all the events are... it's mostly just a bunch of people getting together to run in some really cool places.)

Today we had the newly-returned heat to contend with... after several downright cold days summer poked its nose around the corner and gave us some warm humid air to run in tonight. A definite reminder of what's to come over the next few months... I also had to work against a major lack of sleep, given that we're rocketing toward the end of the school year and I'm buried under work trying to pull everything together so we can wrap up another one... Still, in spite of all of that I managed to push my tired legs over 6.2 miles of hills circling around Olana.

All in all I had a pretty good run, though I felt like I ended up walking more uphills than last year. The heat made it tough to catch my breath but I pushed along at a pretty consistent pace and managed to stay ahead of all the folks who were behind me. There were a couple of previously muddy, washed out spots where they'd put down a layer of stone (not much fun to run on) and the last trail down to the road looks like it's been cleared by a bulldozer - I liked it better when it was covered with leaves and clearly disused, but I suppose it's better for the site if it's set up so that folks will actually realize that it's one they can walk or run on. The final climb up to the house was darn tough, but oh what a sight... and the final 3/4 of a mile, almost all downhill, is a good chance to hammer the pace home. In the end I was fairly pleased with crossing the finish at 1:06:36, almost 5 minutes faster than the previous two years. (I guess it's a good thing I do some shorter events where I can have good runs and an occasional PR, or my slow, slow, slow performance at events like Muddy Moose and Soapstone might have me hanging up my running shoes...)

Afterwards I changed into a dry shirt, grabbed my camera and a water bottle, and hiked back up the hill to the house (because I hadn't walked up enough hills tonight, I guess.) Along the way I saw a bluebird, and the setting sun hitting the house was really cool. Plus of course the views from the top are wonderful... after all, that's one of the reasons Frederic Church, one of the most well-known painters in the Hudson River School style, chose the site for his home. I thought about heading out on one or two of the trails we ran to get some pictures, but it was getting late so instead I headed back to the car, finished changing clothes, and got back on the road to Albany and the work waiting for me there...

JMH

2009 Event Totals
Run 90.3 mi, 21 hr 17 min
Bike 16.2 mi, 1 hr 25 min
Snowshoe 54.6 mi, 13 hr 05 min
XC Ski 3.3 mi, 1 hr 2 min

states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT
Posted by at