10:00 AM - Woke up to frost on the plants and tent. Brrr! After coffee I headed off to North Adams to Greylock Road Race (8 miles). I ran it for the first time last year & also ran back down the mountain. I haven't run more than 8 miles at once in close to a month, let alone 8 miles uphill followed by another 8 down the mountain. Boy was I in for a ride! WARM UP: (1 mile; 9:03) Got to the start about an hour before "go" time. It's a fairly low key event. I sat in the car a bit listening to NPR and then got out, stretched and walked up and registered. After pinning my bib number on my shorts I went and did a 1 mile warm up down the side road. Stretched and took a 15 minute walk before the race. THE RACE: (8 miles, uphill) It was kind of fun to watch the rabbits for the first mile or so until they rounded the bend to start the trek up to the summit. It absolutely amazes me that people can average 7:00 miles uphill, especially up the tallest mountain in MA! MILES 1 & 2: Relatively flatter and faster than most other miles on the course. Rolling hills. I think I averaged 9s. Settled into a nice pace behind a group on the road. I figured I had some sort of advantage since I am able to train on the mountain and know the course. MILES 3 & 4: Woah momma! Average gradient here is probably near 9% with tons of switchbacks and hairpin turns. At one point I believe it kicks up to 11%. Even the bikers and cars were having trouble going up it! Power walked some of the steepest gradients. Holding steady. MILES 5 & 6: Flattened out for these miles as you start to make your away around to the other side of the mountain. Lost ground to some of the speedsters that were also only going "up" the mountain and not "down". I erred on the side of caution knowing it would be rough enough going down. MILES 7 & 8: One lady passed me at mile 7 and I let her go. Just wasn't in my deck of cards today to take her on. I ended up finishing strong though for the last .5 miles in 1:34:21, good for 42nd place. Last year I ran 12 minutes faster and got 38th place. Blah. That's what I get for not getting in quality runs during August's heat wave. THE DESCENT: (8 miles; 1:28) Felt good on the descent for the first couple miles. Had to stop a few times and walk. Enjoyed the smell of fall. It was crystal clear and I got to see some amazing scenery and take in the crisp, cool smells of the first taste of autumn in the northeast. At one point I got to see Hell's Angels I called them - 28 motorcycles in a motorcade sailing past me. A few cyclists. One was hitting 45-50mph on the descent and keeping pace with a truck with a kid in the back going "Holy S*** this dude's fast!!!" Ran to the car and as I ran out of water at mile 3 of the descent, opted just for light stretching over a cool down. Zipped to a gas station and refueled my car and my engine with Powerade. Total Time: 3:11:34 Total Distance: 17 miles Average Pace: 11:16
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