Mt. Greylock Trail Race, a half-marathon more or less.
So, with this the fourth event of the weekend, I was not exactly well-rested, but I didn't feel awful either. No soreness from yesterday. And the weather was better than expected, not raining. Picked up Jeff and Sam and Ross in Greenfield and headed up in the hills.
The Greylock course has varied a lot over the years. I'd run this version once, 4 years ago, time was 2:19. Didn't figure I'd match that because all my times have gotten slower, no reason that this would be an exception. And it wasn't.
One of the things I like to do is take splits at trail races. It's useful when I run the course again, gives me a sense of how I'm doing, plus provides some entertainment value. So my splits from 2005 had been --
1, Junction of Bellows Pipe and Thunderbolt: 15:49
2. Junction of Bellows Pipe and AT: 38:08 (22:19)
3. Top: 46:22 (8:14)
4. Cross road at top of Sperry Road: 1:14:49 (28:27)
5. Jones Nose: 1:35:09 (20:20)
6. Leave Cheshire Harbor Trail: 2:06:45 (31:36)
7. Finish: 2:19:19 (12:34)
The question was how much slower I would be. I was assuming I could still get under 2:30.
We headed off, and up. I didn't feet great, didn't feel terrible, just sweating profusely. Some running, a good bit of walking. Thought I was doing OK, hit the first split, 17:28, yikes, not good at all, over 10% slower. And feeling like I was working too hard.
Up and up, mostly walking, second split at the top of the ridge, 41:23 (23:55), that was a little better than expected, mood picked up. And then a little more up to the tower, 50:05 (8:42), also not so bad.
The next couple of miles are what any orienteer would normally love -- rocks, roots, mud, water everyplace (though never more than knee-deep) -- which I don't do too bad on these days, but my coordination is not what it used to be, plus I really really didn't want to do anything stupid. So in places I was pretty cautious, though still probably taking a few too many risks. Eventually got over to Sperry Road, seemed forever, 1:20:28 (30:23), not too bad. Then over to Jones Nose, trail not so bad, some mud, some rocks but pretty good running, felt like I was plugging along a little better, 1:41:30 (21:02), pretty good!
The next section is always a pain in the ass. After an initial downhill, there is a long gradual slog uphill (upstream), then about a mile of flat mud, before it starts to drop in earnest. All on a jeep trail, no problem with rocks and roots. So it's just a matter of gritting your teeth and doing it. And I gritted my teeth pretty well, 2:14:45 (33:15). And then almost all downhill to the finish, one last uphill after crossing the bridge, managed at least to run all that, finished pretty strong in 2:26:47 (12:02).
So not so bad. Mostly satisfying, a little unsatisfying, the latter just the continual process of dealing with the inevitable slowing down.
Ross did great, Sam did really great, first woman, Jeff was a minute ahead of me, much stronger up the climb. Also there were Will Hawkins, third overall, Joe and Pavlina.
And then, since there was a lot more to do, changed quickly, collected my container of fresh strawberries for the first 60+, and we all headed off for Ratlum Mountain.
Results. The
course map, more or less, especially questionable from miles 1 to 3.