Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Grindstone 2015 cancelled AND RESCHEDULED!

I got all of my work done before Fall break by Wednesday evening, so I go home to make the final preparations for the Grindstone 100 before our morning departure the next day (Thursday).  I check my email and I see in a subject line, 'Grindstone Cancellation ...'!  I looked at it in disbelief.  I knew the race had been cancelled two years earlier due to the prolonged government shutdown, which cancelled the race because the National Forest Service Permit could not be enforced.  I had been checking the news daily and knew that the bill had passed ... what's up!
Torrential rain was in the forecast so the Forest Service cancelled all special permits for the weekend, leaving the RD Clark Zealand with no choice but to cancel the event.  I was thinking dang Hurricane Joaquin is looking like it is going off-shore and even if there was landfall it would be Sunday or so.  But a stalled front was pounding the Carolina's to Virginia with tons of rain Friday through Sunday.  This was on top of rain earlier in the week.  I guess it was probably a prudent call with the high winds and about 3-4 inches of rain on the course during the projected race duration.  With up to 20 inches south of the area.
What to do!?  This is one of the last big ultra runs for the season.  It is the only Hardrock 100 qualifier, it would give me enough points to consider UTMB next year, ... should I try another attempt on the NPT?  The overnight lows int he Adirondacks are in the 20's, yikes!  But I'm in shape and ready for a huge effort!
Thankfully, somehow, we get another email from Clark two days later that the race is rescheduled for the following weekend!  My body is ready to go, I feel great, now I don't want to be too lethargic by tapering too long, but I don't want to start putting in bigger efforts and be even slightly fatigued for race day.  I decided to put in a decent 10 mile effort with about 1300 ft of gain on Sat, followed by some backpacking on Sat and Sun.  I will run on Tuesday and Thursday this week (about 4-5 miles each) and hopefully be very well rested for next weekend.  I've never been so itchy waiting for race day ...
I just started ultra running in 2013. I have done a couple Ironman triathlons then I did not train much for about 3 years. On July 27, 2013, after a long bike ride with some friends I got the itch and signed up for the Virgil Crest 50 mile ultra. I was able to place second overall and tie the previous course record. My longest week included a 27 mile run and a weekly total of 50 miles. I am curious what I can do with adequate training ...

I attempt to take advantage of each season and cross train as much as possible to prepare for my upcoming 2014 ultra running races. Below you will find excerpts from my training days and races. You can search the blog for individual race reports or other key words on the bottom right-hand side. I work full-time as a professor at Castleton State College, so I utilize weekends for longer workouts and do what I can during the week.

Let me know if you want to go for a run!