2018 National Mountain Running Championships- Loon Mountain Race

Loon Mountain Race. Photo by Michael Scott

You're going to be pretty sick of the Loon Mt Race photos...if you aren't already. I know I am. But, since this post is the Loon post, I'm going to post them. I won't post them all. You can thank me for that. Most look like I did nothing but walk the whole way, and while I did walk a lot more than usual, I did run every step of the first 3 miles and quite a bit of the in between. Also most of the photos are pretty unflattering. Bending over to power hike does not make me look good. Haha. I look like I have huge fat rolls and like I weigh 200lbs. Age is catching up to my middle for sure. I'm more fit in my upper body than I've ever been, but I just look big and fat. My skin isn't tight like it used to be. SO sad. Haha. I'm kind of over it, though. I would rather let my imperfections show than roast to death in a singlet. I know I'm fit. I'll never have a perfect body. So I do my best to let it go. Today at Loon, I let it go and ended up having a really good race. Way better than expected and still even way better than I thought. This was the first time the women have run this exact course. The start was moved back to the river where we last started in 2014. In 2014, the women did not do the nordic section. That changed in 2015, but the start was moved to behind the lodge; we did the nordic section but also finished at the top of the gondola. 2016 was another championship year that ended at the top of UWB, but started behind the lodge. 2017 started behind the lodge, but ended at the top of the gondola. Haha. Also, I can't remember if it was 2015 or 2016, but UWB changed from half switchbacks to just straight up. So basically, the course has changed A LOT since I first ran it in 2011. (2015 was definitely my best year, but I'm really not sure if it was actually that much faster since I had run the Whiteface Skymarathon a week before and had never been so sore in my life the whole week leading up to Loon.) I'm writing this because it was really hard to compare how I did compared to the last three years. Since 2016 and 2017 were both timed by Millennium, I was able to go back and see my pace per mile for the best comparison. It's still hard to compare anything to last year because it was SO wet and muddy, but it still gives an idea on how I did.

2016- 11:22/mi avg pace

UWB-11:54

2017- 11:46/mi avg pace

UWB- 12:12

2018- 11:01/mi avg pace

UWB- 11:29

So how the hell did I do SO much better this year?! I'll be honest; my legs were trashed going into the race since I decided to race a 1500m on the track the day before. Plus a trail run and mountain run the two days before that. Both quads and hamstrings were really sore and heavy on Sunday morning. And let's not forget the fact that I've hardly run the last 1.5 months. 

Well, here's my theory anyway. First off, I had this injury last year at Loon. I could barely run the first part of the warm up. Today, no pain AT ALL during the race in the tendons (I had slight pain on the left side during the warm up). Zero pain the day before in the 1500. Second, the spinning. I honestly think all of the spinning I did was a huge factor in why I was strong out there today. I think the intense biking really increased my leg power. Just as I had planned (hoped?), my fitness did increase during my running break/slow-down.

The crazy part, though. During the race, I thought I was going really slow. Much slower than the last 3 years. I walked FAR more than I ever have. But wait, I didn't walk. I power hiked. Just like at Mt Washington, my power hike was faster at times than my run. I can run up a mountain all day without stopping, but it would as slow as Christmas. Run/power hike, and I'm much better at it. Uphill is still not ever going to be my strength, but I can still compete without running the whole way. 

Recap

I have an advantage of living only 45 minutes away from Loon since I live 1.5 miles from the other end of the Kancamagus Hwy. The drive is usually pleasant. In 2011, a HUGE bull moose stepped out in the road ahead of me so I stopped and let it cross. It was like a dinosaur towering over my car. In 2012, I thought I was seeing things when I spotted this extremely strange animal off the side of the road that looked almost like a large dog but with mountain goat hind legs. No lie. I assumed my eyes were playing tricks on me until Kevin Tilton randomly brought up the same animal as we rode down the gondola after the race. He had seen it, too, and also had no explanation for it. This year, I would have the misfortune of only seeing wildlife of the tourist kind driving way too slow. Argh! Annoying! Why don't people pull the fuck over and let others go by?! 

By the time I arrived at Loon, I was annoyed. I was already annoyed because I felt like this once quiet race of mountain runners had turned into a mob of casual runners. I know that sounds super snobby, and I'm not meaning to put people down, but I love laid-back mountain running community, and this was now filled with the vibe of over-excitement that just rubbed me the wrong way. In the end, Loon was very well executed. Honestly, it went off without a hitch (awards were slow, but that's not a huge deal). It was almost perfection in how the day went. But I just wasn't into it. The late women's start meant that the already annoyed me had to park across the river. Not a big deal for most people, but for me it meant wasting extra time trying to get my bib and then getting John over to the gondola. I was stressed out from the get-go. I was so happy to see all of the familiar faces among the 100s of strangers, at least, but I was having a bit of anxiety with this whole thing that I struggled to socialize beforehand. I'm not Type A or a planner...EXCEPT on race morning. I have to be! I had a plan set to a timeline, but it got completely thrown off. People were trying to talk to me, but I was in the middle of reworking my timeline around the minutes I'd lost from my plan. My mind was churning and recalculating every time someone stopped me to talk. I have to calculate this stuff when I have John with me because it always means extra time, and now I was all fucked up. I literally wanted to get back in my car and drive home. 

I didn't do that, though. I just accepted the fact that my warm up would be cut in half. That was ok. I don't need much of a warm up for Loon anyway. I got John to the gondola, bought his ticket and then left him in line on his own. Finally. The first time I could do this. I gave him my drop bag and had him message me when he got to the top. Once I knew he was set and I could focus on myself, I had about 35 minutes before the start. I calmed down a bit and walked back to my car where I changed into my race stuff and then ran a very short warm up before heading down to the river for our start. I was able to stop and talk to local friends, Kim Proulx and Dylan Alden, for about 5 minutes, then walked down towards the front of the starting line with Christin Doneski, Kara Haas and Regina Loiacano. I was in the middle of three of the NICEST women I've ever known. (And also three of the most competitive haha). Standing and chatting with them brought my anxiety and stress down to zero. They were just what I needed. I was finally among friends where I needed to be. The 400-ish runners standing behind us were put out of my mind. I was ready to get this ball rolling. 

Chris Dunn started us off. I had kind of forgotten what the climb out was like from the river, since like I said, the last time we started here was in 2014. It was a lot quicker and less steep than my memory had me believe, but the very short climb was just enough to spread us out very quickly. It flattened out as it went out on the road and then turned back to run behind the lodge (where the last 3 years had started). This stretch added on about .2 miles to the lodge start. The climb out from here also spread the field in the front out very quickly. I was hoping this would be the case since I automatically felt like I was back in the regular Loon without 300 extra women in the race. Kara, Christin and I had taken note of the masters women lined up in front of us at the start. There were quite a few fast looking women. I assumed I'd be finishing no better than 6th master today. Imagine my surprise when I found myself as 4th master only a half mile into the race. I could see Christin and Regina already moving far away from me, but within reach was the 3rd master, the one who had us all worried at the start as we watched her do strides. She's also from the Athena Track Club which puts out some strong women runners. I was surprised to see her close. She became my rabbit...the entire race. Although I was never 100% sure that some other master hadn't snuck in there, I was pretty sure that if I passed her, I'd make the masters podium in 3rd. She gave me a goal.

Fortunately, I had an advantage here since this is my 8th time running Loon (the 4th time with the nordic trail addition), so I know the course like the back of my hand. I even know which side of the service road has the most solid footing. I remember all the points where I normally hike and then start running again. I could probably run that crazy down before UWB with my eyes closed and not miss a beat (ok, that's definitely an exaggeration). But the point is, I knew the course. My rabbit did not. And even better, and as predicted, she wasn't good on the downhill. She got some distance on me on the first mile+ until we turned onto the nordic trail. I ran the whole way from the start, but I kept the pace comfortable. I know better now than to bust out that first mile. For me, the nordic section is where I bust it out on the downhills so I just waited until I climbed onto it, and then I took off. Although, we still had some mud here, it was VERY dry compared to previous years. This made it much easier for me to catch the three women ahead of me and then finally the 3rd master. My goal was only to catch her here since I would take the long uphill of this section slightly on the slower side. So she immediately passed me back. I noticed her breathing was pretty out of control so I hoped this would mean an advantage for me later. I let her go, as well as two of the women I'd passed on the downhill. One of them told me to stay with her so we could work together. Yeah, not my thing so I just stayed quiet and kept running my own race. 3rd master got pretty good distance on me on the this climb. The other two women had a gap, but not much. By the time we hit the final downhill, my competitor was out of sight. By the time the downhill ended back on the service road, I was only about 5ft behind her and the other 2 not too far back from me. I expected this situation to change, and it did quickly. 3rd master quickly gaped me up the hill. By the water stop at the top of this short climb, the other two women had caught me and passed by as I took my time getting water. This was the first Loon ever that I actually slowed down to drink my entire cup of water. We were just 3 miles in, and I was already parched. We hit the sun here, and it was all of sudden HOT. There wasn't another bit of shade from here on out. The temperature wasn't bad, but that sun. Damn. I think the last time it felt like this was 2014. After this section was another short climb followed by a decent downhill. It actually took me the entire way to catch the two women in front of me. I never caught the 3rd master, and we were about to start the first of the two long climbs up to the gondola. I was certain I'd never catch her at this point, and when I finally saw how far ahead she was, I was bummed. There was no way I was catching her. I didn't realize it until now, but I was never passed again after this the entire rest of the race. 

I spent this next climb just trying to stay with the two women I had been with since mile 1 and focusing on the girl in pink ahead of me I was pretty sure was Sumner Button. I needed someone to reel in. I noticed that the one woman who had tried to get me to work with her in the nordic section was fading fast. At this point I was mostly power hiking and ended up catching her and passing her. We had the brief, steep downhill next. I was thankful for that because I was able to catch up to the other woman I'd been running with and much to my surprise, I had lessened the gap between my master competition. I still didn't think it was enough to catch her, but knowing that she wasn't very good on the downhill, I thought there was a slight chance I could make a huge gain on the downhill before UWB. 

Right after passing one of the women I had been with since mile 1.

This doesn't look steep, but it was. Photo by Gianina Lindsey

This next long, steep climb to the gondola was tough for me. My legs were so cooked, and I felt like I couldn't move any faster than a crawling pace. I usually run a lot more in this section than I did today. I felt I had certainly lost any chance at 3rd master by this point. I walked most of the way up to the gondola. I was dying for water so I actually stopped and walked while I drank it. 

Richie Blake actually caught a moment of me running. Haha

Josh Fields captured this one.

The woman in front of me (the one I would end up doing almost the entire race with) had a decent lead on me here, but as I started the long, steep downhill, I not only saw her, but also the 3rd master!! As always, I flew down this section catching my race buddy just as we hit the base of UWB. We crossed the timing mat only a second apart. I let her stay in front of me since I already knew she was a strong climber. I couldn't believe how close the 3rd master was, but I remembered to tell myself that distance is deceiving on Upper Walking Boss. I started power hiking here with the intention of hiking the whole way to the finish. The woman in front of me got a slight lead, and I felt we were both strong up the climb. I turned around to see if anyone was close, and holy shit, Kara Haas was at the base of the climb not too far behind me. This had me "running" scared! Fortunately, my race buddy and I quickly  began to close the gap on the 3rd master, but I didn't know if I would have enough time. I had to catch her, though. I had to! I wanted 3rd SO badly!! All of sudden, she must have just lost it and just below Scott Mason and Michael Scott close to the top of the steep grade, I passed her. I couldn't believe it! 3rd was going to be mine if I could hold her and Kara off. I immediately started to give a little more effort here. I was worried that with her track running, she'd have some sort of kick once it "flattened" out to the finish. I was NOT getting beat across the line!! I went past the loudly cheering group of Six03 people. I was in a major pain cave trying to hold 3rd. My legs wanted to quit. I tried to run as the grade eased, but my legs couldn't do it. They were so trashed. I peeked back when I was about 10 yards from the finish. She was out of view. I'd done it! I came through the finish in 1:13:12. 3rd master female overall, 1st in the 40-44 and 26th overall! I couldn't celebrate yet because I was definitely about to barf. I took water and poured half of it on my head hoping that would stop me from puking as I made a bee line to the edge of the woods. Then just as quickly as the nausea came on, it was gone. Wow. It has been a REALLY long time since I've given a nearly puking effort, and it felt good. Haha.

Photo by Scott Mason

Photo by Scott Mason

Photo by Jillian Grenier

Photo by Michael Scott

Once I had my wits about me, I walked to the shade where Kasie Enman was sitting on the ground. I said something to her about her not looking good, and she told me her story about collapsing just before the finish line. She still managed 4th American at least, but she was definitely hurting. Christin and Regina found me, and the three of us walked together to the top of the gondola. I loved this since it gave us some time to catch up with Regina and hear about her new beau. I was happy to see her happy again. We got to the gondola where we ran into him and chatted for a bit before I needed find John. Of course, this wasn't an easy task since there were so many people to talk to, including Andy Schachat who had been announcing, and then all of the other people in between there and the water. 

Once I finally was free to find John, I walked in the cafe only to find he wasn't there. I started looking all around. He wasn't there! I asked Jennifer Brightman if I could use her phone to call him. It rang then went to voicemail. I called two more times. Voicemail. I was in a panic. Omg! I knew he made up here on the gondola, but omg! I thought for a second. Wait. I bet he's asleep somewhere, but where?! Andy saw that I was distressed and offered to page John. And just as he did, a small gap opened up in the line for the gondola, and I could see all the way across to the other side, the fluorescent green sweatshirt lying in the shade in the grass. He was asleep! Andy's page actually woke him up so by the time I got over there, he was sitting up. I had PURPSOSELY picked out that sweatshirt so that he would stand out in the crowd, and wow, it actually served that purpose. He got up and we joined Christin in the gondola line. Christin had an awesome race, finishing 10th and 1st master so we were both on a bit of a race high and very chatty. I felt sorry for the poor guy who joined us in the gondola. Haha.

Once down, we went to the lodge. John wanted to charge his phone so he stayed inside. The awards were only a few minutes away so I changed quickly then hurried out back. I really wanted to get to my car, but I didn't think I'd have time. It turned out I'd have plenty of time since the awards kept getting delayed. I didn't get to my car for almost an hour and a half! It was hot standing out there in the sun, and I just wanted to get to the river, but not before getting to share a podium with my teammate and friends as the top masters women.

Regina sent me this one.

Regina, Barbara McManus and I took top masters team for CMS. Regina, Xi Chen and I took 2nd open team for CMS.

I got John and encouraged the cake cutting to commence so John and I could have cake. Haha. We walked down to the river to sit in the shade and drink beer with the Brightman's, Rachel and Derek and Jodi Hall. The place filled up. Rich Miller and his wife came down. Jim Boule, Scott Mason and a lot of other runners filled the river.

John, who wanted to go home, ended up swimming in the river the whole time. I only took photos pre-bathing suit. He had a blast.

We finally left around 2:30pm. We needed spring water so I decided to go slightly out of the way to the Boise Rock exit off I-93 where a spring sits in the parking lot. Well, that was a complete waste of time. It was bone dry!! Ahhh! Annoying. So we backtracked and got home just before 4pm. Phoenix was so excited to see us. I had to buy some water to get us by until Tuesday so I took Phoenix on a walk in the Albany Town Forest and then stopped for water on the way home. 

What a good way to end the week. I felt rejuvenated like I was back from a long hiatus. I feel like this was my jumpstart to my way back. I have a LONG way to go. I have to start from scratch with the build up to long runs. I still need to work on my speed. But overall, I'm feeling optimistic about the fall racing. Everything I have between now and then will just be training. I will have to be super careful not to overdue it and end up back at square one with the tendons. So far, so good. Onto the next one.