"There's only one hill," the race director says. Its true, but its not funny. I'd hiked Mt. Washington a couple times in the summer of 2005, but I'd never really seen the auto road other than crossing it on the way to the summit. A co-worker and I decided to throw our names into the lottery for the race, and then promptly forgot about the race.
One day I checked my email and had a note from my coach. He had forwarded me an email from someone looking to carpool up to New Hampshire for the race. At first, I was confused. Then I remembered I'd put my name in the lottery. When I checked the website, both my co-worker and I had won spots in the race, but were never notified by the race that we'd been accepted.
On race day my plan was simple: run as far as possible before walking, and then minimize walking. There was a very short flat section before the road headed skyward. As the incline grew, I shortened my stride and leaned into the mountain. After mile or so, we headed into a fog. The road changed from pavement to dirt several times as the miles continued into the clouds. False flats felt like a heavenly break from the relentless uphill fight against gravity.
Sometime late in the race, I experienced one of the single coolest moments of my running life. I'd been running through thick fog (clouds) for several miles when all of a sudden, I came through the upper boundary of the clouds into the sunlight. As I looked out, I could clouds for at least a hundred miles in every direction. Only one other mountain protruded through the sea of cotton. It was a gorgeous sunny day above the clouds, but only us racers got to enjoy it.
The race finished with a ridiculous 23% incline. I "ran" up the final incline and through the finish, finally allowing my screaming leg muscles to rest after 7.6 miles of uphill running. When I got back to NYC that evening, I grabbed my bike and rode to Prospect Park to join up with City Coach for the last 65 miles of the No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn Century Ride.
1 comment:
I cannot imagine myself doing that race without a heavy amount of walking. Is that the finisher medal they awarded you?
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