Well the Solstice fun came in two varieties this year! Running and Mtbing.
Obviously the Solstice needs celbrating, marking the shortest day of the year and the birth of the new year! Good enough reason to build bloody Stonehenge, good enough reason to get out there into the open and do our thing!
Fun started on Saturday 20 Dec with the Celtic Solstice 5 Miler in Druids Hill Park Baltimore. Talked into this by friends and MLW! Not really a 5 mile kind of guy - especially so soon after the JFK 50. Was a bit worried that all the snap would be gone from the legs and I'd be even slower than usual! Managed to put pressure on myelf even more by foolishly mentioning (at my work Holiday Dinner, after a couple of "sherbets") that 6 min/mile pace was what I thought was reasonable. Hell! What was I thinking! So the morning came, cold and windy, adn MLW, some friends and I find ourselves huddlng for warmth at the start, generally mumbling about who's bloody stupid idea this was in the first place - not guilty!
Turns out it's a bloody big race too! Nearly 2000 runners this year.
At 8am (or there abouts) the "gun" goes and we start the run with a rather nasty little hill. Over an overpass and up to the swimming pool. By the time I reach the top I'm feeling winded and am hoping that the first mile will be out of the way - no such luck! A glance at my watch tells me we have been running for 3 min 40 sec! Shite it's going to be a long day - hands are sodding freezing to. When the 1 mile marker finally hoves into view the pack has thinned out and the watch says 6:20, repectable but not 6 min/mile pace. THe second mile is mainly flat but with a couple of inclines, find myself running with a young guy in a black shirt and shorts - decide he looks a good target and get towed by him for the next mile or so - second mile goes (thankfully) easier than the first and the watch says 12:15 so I had clawed some of my time back. Up the hill to the turn round point and I pass my friend in black. Heading back doen the hill I see MLW heading up, looking strong and well ahead of her friends, way to go! By the time I hit the lake loop I am just trying to hang in and maintain some semblence of form. I know I am running a reasonable pace and just need to keep it all together, at some point round the lake my friend in black reappears and passes me. I try to stay with him but my legs just don't have the spring. Once we have circumnavigated the lake we head right and before I know it I am at the top of the initial climb, heading down this tinme toward the finish. All the time I have been aiming for a 31 min finish to save my blushes, but the watch is not even at 30 yet so the ears are pinned back and I do what I can to stretch the stride. Mr Black is too strng and I find myself loosing ground, but hold on just well enough to cross the line at 30 min 8 sec on my watch! Good Enough. MLW has a blistering run - finishing in 37 min and change (clock time), to be in under 7:30 min/mile pace - from a girl running over 8:30 min/miles only a year ago! fantastic run and good enough (once "chip" issues have been resolved) to earn her a podium place (3rd in her age group). She is getting pretty consistent at podiuming this year! Must be the third or fourth time. My time (though good for me) was only sufficient for a 5th place in my age group - still no complaints, fun all round and one of the Bollux-clan on the podium is reason for celebration enough.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Colonic Irritation!
Took advantage of a very short respite provided by Mother Nature (in that it didn't bloody rain for a whole 48 hrs straight) to get out for a night ride. Short notice so participation was restricted to just Todd and myself. Turned out to be a very disappointing ride on all levels!
Headed off from the usual launch site and headed as is customary for the fun that is Small Intestine! Got to the trail head to find....... SHOCK HORROR the trail has been completely dismantled! Not only that but New Trail has suffered the same awful fate! (So too it transpired later had the loggy section at the top of Small Intestine!) Big time downer! My two favorite trails on the HC side are no more. Trying hard to recover from the shock we headed up to Belmont and thence down to the Purple Trail. The Purple Trail was a mess! Being the good souls we are we didn't attempt to ride this (cos we'd just chew it up) but walked our bike to the top in somber mood - sloppy trails and destruction of favorite sections, the night would never recover! Hard to take that trails like Small Intestine that drained pretty damn well and were as fun as hell to ride should be trashed while sections like the Purple Trail that drains horribly and is no fun at all even when dry should be promoted! Ho Hum.
Once on Ridge things were a little better but we decided that in deference to the trail conditions we'd cut it short - past the derelict houses and back to Morning Choice. Nice to get out and blow some air through the lungs, it feels like it's been too long. Rode for a while on the Rockburn park side, just to put in some miles then back to the cars. Stopped at the New Trail entrance and surveyed damage - total trail annihilation, took a photo to commemorate the fall of a once good friend and back to the vehicles for a couple of solemn beers - a wake to fallen trails we have known and loved.
Headed off from the usual launch site and headed as is customary for the fun that is Small Intestine! Got to the trail head to find....... SHOCK HORROR the trail has been completely dismantled! Not only that but New Trail has suffered the same awful fate! (So too it transpired later had the loggy section at the top of Small Intestine!) Big time downer! My two favorite trails on the HC side are no more. Trying hard to recover from the shock we headed up to Belmont and thence down to the Purple Trail. The Purple Trail was a mess! Being the good souls we are we didn't attempt to ride this (cos we'd just chew it up) but walked our bike to the top in somber mood - sloppy trails and destruction of favorite sections, the night would never recover! Hard to take that trails like Small Intestine that drained pretty damn well and were as fun as hell to ride should be trashed while sections like the Purple Trail that drains horribly and is no fun at all even when dry should be promoted! Ho Hum.
Once on Ridge things were a little better but we decided that in deference to the trail conditions we'd cut it short - past the derelict houses and back to Morning Choice. Nice to get out and blow some air through the lungs, it feels like it's been too long. Rode for a while on the Rockburn park side, just to put in some miles then back to the cars. Stopped at the New Trail entrance and surveyed damage - total trail annihilation, took a photo to commemorate the fall of a once good friend and back to the vehicles for a couple of solemn beers - a wake to fallen trails we have known and loved.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
It's been so long!
Wow.....so long since I have gotten of my arse to try and write something here that (i) I hadn't realized my last post was the JFK 50 race Report and (ii) I'd forgotten my Google password.
Since the JFK it's been time to heal the broken body and actually spend some time relaxing. Legs took a surprisingly long time to heal! They never felt really bad but nagging aches and pains that let me know I am getting too old for this foolishness (yeah right). I've done a couple of short (5 mile) runs at comfortable pace but been sore the next day - this running at faster than 10 min/mile lark sucks.
Mother nature has taken care of the biking thing to a large extent. No night rides for past three weeks cos of rain and this week looks like another wash out. Got in a couple of Sunday morning rides at Patapsco - one of which was in the wet. Too wet really to be riding, but the rain started just as we got to the trails and as we were there..... It was cold (in the 30s) and damp/wet but as four of the group were from Europe (two Brits, an Irishman and a Dutch guy) the cold and wet didn't seem such a good excuse. Trails were not muddy but as slick as hell. Plenty of slick roots and logs, many obstacles were just plain unridable - as such a short miserable ride. This was the first time this group has ridden together (an amalgamation of Biker Sean's friends and the usual Sunday group) so nobody wanted to be the wimp would complained first. Due to riding conditions the pace was painfully slow and so only a short ride. Last Sunday fortunately the temp was ow enough to keep the trails frozen for much of the ride. Last 15 min were a bit dicey and a friend who rode later in the day confirmed that once thawed the trials were a mess. But at 8am conditions were pretty damn good and it felt great to be back on the bike. Mojo was in full flow and we took everything the tail could throw at us. Small Intestine, Belmont (including riding the log), Ridge and Cascade - beaut!
On the was down Belmont hill came across an arrow embedded about 8 inches into the side of the trail. Nice carbon (oddly Easton, I thought they only made bike bits) shaft and a razor head. Bit of a worry that from the angle of impact the arrow must have crossed the trail before burying itself in the dirt! That would have ruined a ride if it had hit a biker.
Other than the two rides and two runs the majority of my training has been in the pool - half a mind to aim for an Ironman in 2009 (MLW is not too convinced). We'll see, swim twice a week during the winter and see how it's going by Easter.
Well, I'm back in writing mode and hopefully there will be more to talk about once the weather gets cold and the trails are good a solid!
Cheers
DogzBollux.
Since the JFK it's been time to heal the broken body and actually spend some time relaxing. Legs took a surprisingly long time to heal! They never felt really bad but nagging aches and pains that let me know I am getting too old for this foolishness (yeah right). I've done a couple of short (5 mile) runs at comfortable pace but been sore the next day - this running at faster than 10 min/mile lark sucks.
Mother nature has taken care of the biking thing to a large extent. No night rides for past three weeks cos of rain and this week looks like another wash out. Got in a couple of Sunday morning rides at Patapsco - one of which was in the wet. Too wet really to be riding, but the rain started just as we got to the trails and as we were there..... It was cold (in the 30s) and damp/wet but as four of the group were from Europe (two Brits, an Irishman and a Dutch guy) the cold and wet didn't seem such a good excuse. Trails were not muddy but as slick as hell. Plenty of slick roots and logs, many obstacles were just plain unridable - as such a short miserable ride. This was the first time this group has ridden together (an amalgamation of Biker Sean's friends and the usual Sunday group) so nobody wanted to be the wimp would complained first. Due to riding conditions the pace was painfully slow and so only a short ride. Last Sunday fortunately the temp was ow enough to keep the trails frozen for much of the ride. Last 15 min were a bit dicey and a friend who rode later in the day confirmed that once thawed the trials were a mess. But at 8am conditions were pretty damn good and it felt great to be back on the bike. Mojo was in full flow and we took everything the tail could throw at us. Small Intestine, Belmont (including riding the log), Ridge and Cascade - beaut!
On the was down Belmont hill came across an arrow embedded about 8 inches into the side of the trail. Nice carbon (oddly Easton, I thought they only made bike bits) shaft and a razor head. Bit of a worry that from the angle of impact the arrow must have crossed the trail before burying itself in the dirt! That would have ruined a ride if it had hit a biker.
Other than the two rides and two runs the majority of my training has been in the pool - half a mind to aim for an Ironman in 2009 (MLW is not too convinced). We'll see, swim twice a week during the winter and see how it's going by Easter.
Well, I'm back in writing mode and hopefully there will be more to talk about once the weather gets cold and the trails are good a solid!
Cheers
DogzBollux.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
