Over the River and through the Woods
The River is the Merrimack, and the Woods are the pine plantation and conservation center trails in Concord along the River. This was the sixth time I’d done this race and by far my worst result. I had a rough week with my knee being painful and swollen. I’ve got an injection scheduled for June 24 and hope to avoid any surgery (torn meniscus and patella arthritis). I was hopeful that I could make it through the race without any stabbing pain as I’d been hit with that a few times on each run this week.
Race day featured temps in the mid-50s and light to heavy to pouring rain. I grabbed my number, got a quick fist-bump from Tom Raffio (Delta Dental hosts the race) and headed out with Ernie Brake to preview the course. No changes to the course so no surprises. The nearly 180 degree turn in the first ½ mile was still going to be a challenge as was the very narrow bike path crossing over the river. The XC portion was a bit muddy but nothing terrible and it was well marked. I didn’t feel too bad (knee) during the warm-up but did feel kind of flat.
I switched into racing gear and headed out for another mile. I did some strides and was surprised to feel pretty good. Maybe I should have realized that is always a bad sign. The start/finish had a little flooding and people seemed reluctant to move up to the line. I figured my feet were going to get wet so no big deal. The starter gave the LONGEST hold between “set” and “go”, so long that Andrew Tuttle jumped the gun! I got out okay and found myself in 7th place right away, by the 180 turn I was running with Terrence Ferns and we’d moved up to 5th/6th with Ernie right behind me. A 6:12 opening mile was not terrible although I felt like I was running a lot harder than that. I focused on Terrence’s back and got a few steps on Ernie as we traversed the XC portion. I was a little too focused on Terrence and as he hammered along the river I wasn’t paying attention and we zipped past the right hand turn (a cone blocking the straight trail would have helped). Luckily Ernie was only a few seconds back and he called out and I yelled for Terrence as well. That moved me back into 7th. The second mile which was almost all XC and included going off course for a few seconds was 6:42. Ugly. I tried to keep Ernie from pulling away and also tried to latch onto Terrence when he went past but neither were successful. I wouldn’t say I fell apart but a 6:27 mile for the final mile was not what I’d hoped for. I finished in 7th and 2nd in the 60+ running a 20:09, very nearly my worst time of the year and by far my worst race. I’d run 1:30 faster a month ago. I’m not sure why I’m headed in the wrong direction, maybe concern about the knee? Maybe I’m pushing too hard in training?
Place Time Name Gend Age City St Cat CatPl
1 17:40 Andrew Tuttle M 28 M2029 1
2 18:09 Andrew Strauss M 20 Amherst NH MOPEN 1
3 18:18 Ryan Lafrance M 26 M2029 2
4 19:10 Ryan Gillis M 20 M2029 3
5 19:41 Ernest Brake M 62 Sutton NH M6069 1
6 19:44 Terrence Ferns M 55 Sutton NH M5059 1
7 20:09 Dave Dunham M 60 Bradford MA M6069 2
8 20:18 Allison Davis F 36 Contoocook NH F3039 1
9 20:22 Warren Bartlett M 26 Loudon NH M2029 4
10 20:47 Jason Schoeller M 25 Manchester NH M2029 5
11 21:18 Kara Haas F 53 Chelmsford MA F5059 1
The River is the Merrimack, and the Woods are the pine plantation and conservation center trails in Concord along the River. This was the sixth time I’d done this race and by far my worst result. I had a rough week with my knee being painful and swollen. I’ve got an injection scheduled for June 24 and hope to avoid any surgery (torn meniscus and patella arthritis). I was hopeful that I could make it through the race without any stabbing pain as I’d been hit with that a few times on each run this week.
Race day featured temps in the mid-50s and light to heavy to pouring rain. I grabbed my number, got a quick fist-bump from Tom Raffio (Delta Dental hosts the race) and headed out with Ernie Brake to preview the course. No changes to the course so no surprises. The nearly 180 degree turn in the first ½ mile was still going to be a challenge as was the very narrow bike path crossing over the river. The XC portion was a bit muddy but nothing terrible and it was well marked. I didn’t feel too bad (knee) during the warm-up but did feel kind of flat.
I switched into racing gear and headed out for another mile. I did some strides and was surprised to feel pretty good. Maybe I should have realized that is always a bad sign. The start/finish had a little flooding and people seemed reluctant to move up to the line. I figured my feet were going to get wet so no big deal. The starter gave the LONGEST hold between “set” and “go”, so long that Andrew Tuttle jumped the gun! I got out okay and found myself in 7th place right away, by the 180 turn I was running with Terrence Ferns and we’d moved up to 5th/6th with Ernie right behind me. A 6:12 opening mile was not terrible although I felt like I was running a lot harder than that. I focused on Terrence’s back and got a few steps on Ernie as we traversed the XC portion. I was a little too focused on Terrence and as he hammered along the river I wasn’t paying attention and we zipped past the right hand turn (a cone blocking the straight trail would have helped). Luckily Ernie was only a few seconds back and he called out and I yelled for Terrence as well. That moved me back into 7th. The second mile which was almost all XC and included going off course for a few seconds was 6:42. Ugly. I tried to keep Ernie from pulling away and also tried to latch onto Terrence when he went past but neither were successful. I wouldn’t say I fell apart but a 6:27 mile for the final mile was not what I’d hoped for. I finished in 7th and 2nd in the 60+ running a 20:09, very nearly my worst time of the year and by far my worst race. I’d run 1:30 faster a month ago. I’m not sure why I’m headed in the wrong direction, maybe concern about the knee? Maybe I’m pushing too hard in training?
Place Time Name Gend Age City St Cat CatPl
1 17:40 Andrew Tuttle M 28 M2029 1
2 18:09 Andrew Strauss M 20 Amherst NH MOPEN 1
3 18:18 Ryan Lafrance M 26 M2029 2
4 19:10 Ryan Gillis M 20 M2029 3
5 19:41 Ernest Brake M 62 Sutton NH M6069 1
6 19:44 Terrence Ferns M 55 Sutton NH M5059 1
7 20:09 Dave Dunham M 60 Bradford MA M6069 2
8 20:18 Allison Davis F 36 Contoocook NH F3039 1
9 20:22 Warren Bartlett M 26 Loudon NH M2029 4
10 20:47 Jason Schoeller M 25 Manchester NH M2029 5
11 21:18 Kara Haas F 53 Chelmsford MA F5059 1
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