the Way of the Turtle

Season of the SnōShū 2010 - Race #12
Hallockville Orchard 3.8mi Snowshoe Race
Sunday, February 21, 2010

Today's race was a welcome break in two ways - the course was short and relatively easy, consisting of mostly packed snowmobile trails, and we actually had a building to hang out in before and after the race, an old CCC camp which is now the headquarters for the MA Student Conservation Association - Americorps. After mainly grey skies over Greylock yesterday, today we were greeted by blue skies and sunshine - another welcome break!

Surprisingly, after yesterday's trek I was feeling pretty good - I suspect the beautiful weather and the company of 80+ like-minded crazy people helped that a lot. Or maybe I was just glad today would go a lot quicker than yesterday... in any case, early on I decided to push this one fairly hard (for me, at least) since the course played to my strengths - rolling terrain with no long, steep hills, and well-packed snow.

The run out to the orchard was tough mainly because there's a lot of uphill along the way, but that meant I could look forward to running downhill on the way back. The loop around the orchard was tough because the snow was a bit deeper - not something I've really had much of a chance to get used to this winter! But once I was back on the snowmobile trail I cruised in, running as best I could and walking where I had to. I have to admit, it felt good to finish a snowshoe race in well under an hour (43 min 36 sec.)

It was a gorgeous day to be outside, between the bright blue skies and the sunshine sparkling off the snow. I especially enjoyed the contrast between all the white birch trees and the hemlocks, but I think my favorite section is the hemlock grove just before the lowest point on the course - shady downhill on the way out and shady uphill on the way back, a bit of a break going both ways!

JMH

2010 Event Totals
Run
Bike
Snowshoe 55.1 mi, 13 hr 48 min

states visited: MA, NY, VT