Saturday, March 21, 2009

Catamount snowshoe race - wmac season finale

Wow, what a long day!

Met the guys at 730 and did 5 miles around Winnekenni. It felt fast to me and I spent most of the time just hangin' off the back.

Off to VITA for two hours of tax preperation, then headed west!

The drive was fast (not much traffic) and I was in New Marlbourough by 1:30. I did 3 miles in NM and Sheffield near three mile pond WMA. It was scenic and I loosened up pretty quickly.


The off to Egremont and a run on Mt Washington road in Mt Washington (the town). It was also quite scenic and very hilly. I did 3m and then headed for the Catamount snowshoe race in Hillsdale/Egremont.


Turning into the ski area was the first time I'd seen run-able snow all day. The ski area was open and the lot was pretty full for the first day of Spring. I met up with Tim V and we did an easy 10 min warm-up. I felt tired.

After a brief course description we were off. After a 1/4 mile it sounded like Tivo and I were on our own. I knew I needed to get some space on Tivo before the downhill or I wouldn't be able to hold him off. At the top (1.2 miles and 950' of climb) I guessed I was 30-40 seconds up and afterwards found out I was 48 seconds in front. I pushed hard on the down, but never felt smooth. I guess I looked like crap, that was how I felt. Tivo closed the gap to 32 seconds, but I held on and got my 2nd win of the season in 22:44 (14:48 t0 the top and 7:56 down).

After a short warm-down I was on the road home. Dang it was a long day, worth every minute!

Totals:
356 miles driven
6 Towns -Haverhill, Hillsdale, Egremont, Sheffield, Mt Washtington, New Marlborough.
16+ miles run
1 race win

Check out the course:
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=280021

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