Sunday May 29, 2011
(Grant and I Pre-Race)
Another great morning for a run at Pineland's. I knew cloud cover would be key since i'd be out here for a long time today. Grant, who'd been training and I decided that today we'd run our own races. I knew my lack of training would only slow him down, my goal in finishing around 6:15 and his goal of 5:30 just wouldn't mesh. After a mile i knew i'd never see him again except maybe miles and miles ahead of me on one of the foolish switchbacks.
In the first field I found myself running next to a runner i'd run with in the past named Kenny. We ran together and talked about the races we'd already run this year and had on our plate going forward. If there is one thing i really like about running Ultra's in New England, it's the fact that the group of people is still so small you know just about everyone after a couple of years. I was quicker out of the aid stations than he was, but he was a much quicker runner so I wished him the best of luck and watched him disappear out of site in one of the next fields.
The course loops back past the start finish and this year I made it quick enough where i got to see off the 25k Runners in our club. I snapped a quick photo, and wished them all luck, and told them not to drink all of the beers before i got back.
Grant had run through almost 15 minutes ahead of me and was looking strong. I knew i'd never catch him so i settled back into a leisurely pace and decided i'd just enjoy the rest of the day. It was at this point where i met up with a fella named Eric Sherman. He was very laid back and we shot the breeze for the majority of the rest of lap one and a decent chunk of lap two. The clouds were starting to break up and the sun was cutting through. This was terrible news, although the sun makes the scenery much nicer, the fields are simply brutal once the sun comes out. I slow down more and decide to stop and take photos along the course whenever i needed a break.
(Small waterfall 3-4 miles into each lap)
(One of the many fields we run in, around, and through)
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