With a mile to go in today’s Nipmuck South Trail Race, I was drenched from the steady rain, my legs were mud splattered, and I was hurting. Then I got passed by three guys including Todd Bennett who beat me in my age group. That sucked. I passed one back when he cramped (sorry for him, but good for me), but I couldn’t close the gap to Todd and Ben Young. Then to make matters worse, in the last 1/4 mile, two more guys passed me and I couldn’t respond. C’est la vie!
I was still happy with the race considering a blew up badly in the hot 2023 edition. Today, it was very different conditions with steady cool rain and a high temperature in the high 50’s Fahrenheit. The Nipmuck Trail was indeed mucky. I reached the turnaround in 1:06 and my return leg was about 1:08, so I lost a few minutes. Miles 13 and 14 were slower and cost me. IU had been running just in front of Ben for more than six miles. His bluetooth speaker with Pandora streaming kept me entertained. Normally I would be annoyed by music on the trail, but I sort of zoned out and and used the music to stay in front of him…until he passed me on that steep climb up to Rt. 89. Thank you Ben!
The Shenipsit Striders volunteers were awesome, and wet, just like the runners. Thankfully, most were sheltered by either tents or umbrellas. The course marshals were helpful. The trail was marked well with colorful ribbons and arrows. I never made a serious wrong turn but I had to “course adjust” a few times.
At the finish, I ate eight slices of watermelon, which was magical, but in that time, I also got really cold and stiffened up. It was a painful walk to the car, though my pesky Achilles heel/calf pain was manageable. It’s getting better. I’m sure it would get better even faster if I gave up running! Truthfully, even cycling aggravates it, so I just have to keep up with the stretching and massage.
I changed up at the car and didn’t stick around. I wanted to get home so I could dry out and warm up. Kudos to all the runners. I enjoyed seeing everyone on the out and back course. This was the fourth race in the Blue-Blazed Trail Running Series. So far, I’m happy to have done them all. Unfortunately, there are one or two later in the summer that I will miss. My plan is to make as many as possible. It is nice to see some guys doing the series. We need more people to compete.
Last week, the third series race was the Goodwin Forest Trail Run. The 10K version was in the series, so that’s what I did. It was a fast and technical course. I’ve done it before. It was a nice day and I avoided getting poison ivy. I’m not sure if I avoided it today on the Nipmuck. We will see. Maybe the rain washed the oil off my skin. I can only hope. Last week, our hosts, the Friends of Goodwin Forest put on a nice event. They had some tasty watermelon too.
Last weekend and this weekend, I had to do the races solo. Debbie had conflicts both days, which is a bummer. She will be racing with me next week at Gay City State Park for the HMF Summer Solstice Trail Run. The eight mile race is in the series. Let’s go!
Life Adventures 