Looking back - Dec 2013

10 years ago: December 2013

I got a fair amount of miles in this month but tweaked my glute/hamstring with a slip on the ice about mid-month. That set me back some and I had to slow the pace for a while.  I started out the month with a trip to Texas with Eric Morse to bag a few peaks. We hit the highest point in the Franklin Mountains (North Franklin Mountain) as a warm-up for the big peak the next day.  On day two of our trip we headed to Guadalupe Mountain on a quest for the state high point. On the way we ran into some dense fog and as we got closer to the park, freezing fog and icy roads. Everything was coated in rime ice.  This caused us to go up the wrong trail at first, but eventually we got going the right way and once we got above the freezing fog were treated to a spectacular summit.

 We hit the 8700' summit (5 miles) in 1:40 and spent 6 minutes getting a few pictures before heading back down. The run down took 1:29 and the slightly warmer temperatures made it a bit easier. In all it took us 3:15:02 for the 10 mile round trip.

 I got back late Saturday night from the Texas high point trip and the Mill Cities Relay was on Sunday.   My goal was to run the 2nd leg (4.75 miles) in 6:30-6:45 pace. Race morning was cold and cloudy when I arrived in Nashua to pick up the relay number and meet my teammates. I headed down to the Nashua/Tyngsboro town line and then drove my route just to be sure I’d have an idea of where I was going.  Early on I tried to find a good rhythm, I was hoping I wouldn’t get caught by anyone but you never know who is tracking you down.  I was very happy with my time (28:58) which worked out to 6:06 pace. Well under what I’d hope for.

 I decided that since we got a couple of substantial snow storms (over 18” total) that the timing was right for a return to Winnekenni for a snowshoe race. The last time I tried that was five years prior (on Christmas day).

I headed out at 7am with Greg Putnam in tow and we put out about 300 flags to mark the 4 mile loop. The conditions were wet and slow and there were a couple of bare spots. I shot out to the lead with Greg and Jim Pawlicki close behind. Around ½ mile (after stopping to adjust a shoe) Greg moved into the lead and just after the mile (9:41) Jim went by me and started closing the gap on Greg. They had 40 seconds on me by two miles (10:12 – 19:53) and about 1 minute at 3 miles (11:01 – 30:54). The deep snow and tough climb to Winnekenni Castle made mile three especially difficult. I couldn’t see the guys for most of the last mile, but Jim and Greg ran together until nearly the finish when Jim put on a sprint and won by 5 seconds. I rolled in 1:35 later.