Runner #361

We, (Sophie Peter and I), are on the road to Leadville.  Our Eurovan is full.  The weather forecast doesn’t look kind, rain-snow level somewhere between 10,000 to 11,000 ft. and we go as high as 12,600 ft.  On the brighter side, 60% chance of precipitation also means that there is a 40% chance of cloudy dry skies!  Should be a full moon this weekend, if I can see it, I promise to howl!

My first tomato of the season was ready for harvest on the day we left for Leadville.  We enjoyed it sliced with basil (also from our patio garden), goat cheese, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar on a ciabatta roll....yum

Packing for Leadville was much different than Vermont, I surely would not have met the airlines baggage weight restrictions.  I have at least 3 of everything..... a wet and cold runner is not a happy runner.  I am anticipating expending more calories.  I have been training up at Snowbird and Alta service roads.  This is the best simulation of high altitude close to home.....top of Snowbird is 11,000 ft.  Fortunately I do OK at altitude, but then again I never felt as if I had the cutting edge in Vermont  @ ~2,000 ft.

My speed goal is to beat my Vermont time 26:45.  I say this in gest “to prove that I am a Rocky Mountain girl”, however for some reason I have the inkling that I

 may have a better race.  Alas, the ultimate goal is the Grand Slam and I just want to safely arrive at the finish line before the 30 hour cutoff.

So, take a break from the Olympics this weekend and check out LT100.com, runner #361......oh, and send good vibes and mountain spirits my way too.

Peter taking photos on Tourquoise Lake, the race starts and finishes on a nice trail that parallels the shore.

I am really psyched for Michael Phelps.... surely I will never know the feeling of winning Olympic gold but maybe he would want to convert one of his medals to wear in the form of a belt buckle.  I really like the timed events, swimming and track are my favorites.  I am not too much into the style events.  What the gymnasts does is super hard, however does wearing sparkles really improve a gymnast  score?  My favorite gym event is the men’s rings.  The iron cross always amazes me....and what is best is the look on the guys face when he is holding that position, a total game face that says “it....really.....doesn’t ......huuurrrrttt”.

Speed Goat 50K

No race report, this runner DNS (did not start).  The Speed Goat 50K was on July 26, yes that would be one week after Vermont for me.  I was entered, I booked a room at the Cliff Lodge for the weekend, my drop bags were packed.........then I couldn't sleep and I worried that my left leg was not ready for 10,000 ft of vertical climb and another 10,000 ft of vertical descent in 32 miles.  I woke up to my alarm, confirmed my decision with Sophie, and went down to the race start to wish my fellow runners "good luck"......oh, and I picked up my race shirt and tram tickets.  Colleen, Lee, and Debbie (who ran the Grand Slam years ago) all agreed that I was making the right decision...... primarily to save it for the Slam.

I met Lee and Debbie circa 1989.  We were all nurses in the University of Utah Burn Unit.  They married ~1990 or so.  Debbie would talk about this running group she was quite involved in with trail running.  I had done some 5K road runs, 10K maybe, but marathon (26.2 miles) was not even a remote possibility.  She is quite humble and maybe I don't even remember if we talked about Ultramarathons.  Anyway, Debbie has quite the career in running ultras, she still runs strong and I see her also crewing Lee now. 

The Speed Goat demons haunted me, but I had a blast hanging with Peter and Sophie.  We took the Tram up to the top of Hidden Peak, hiked over to Baldy and looked down the Baldy chute towards Alta.  Sophie skied the Baldy chute for the first time this spring.  Access is from Sugarloaf pass and requires ~30 minute hike up, carrying your skies.  The Alta ski patrol monitors Baldy closely and the chute isn't open but less than 10 days a season, if that.  The top is intimidating and there are big boulders on each side.  When it is open, it gets skied fast and therefore gets bumped out.  Anyway,  one of the last days of the season Peter and I took Sophie and Makenzie (her AFD ski team friend) up to the top.  The girls took off and did great.  Peter took photos.  I, on the other hand, was a complete reject and everyone stood at the bottom waiting forever for me.  One I got down Peter told me that he was going to enroll me in Sophie and Makenzie's AFD ski team next year so I can learn to ski the Baldy chute.........I don't ski well in moguls. 

Sophie practicing her launch into the Baldy chute, cool view of the base of Alta by the road.

Peter just got a new tripod and he has a remote control for his camera, so he set it up on Baldy and we took a family photo.  Mt. Superior is behind us.  

After our hike we had fun in the pool playing "guess what I am" and then tried the Sushi bar.... nothing to hype about.

Sunday morning I woke up with the biggest urge to run.  I had a nice cruiser on the lower half of Snowbird resort.  I think my body was telling me "No Speedgoat.... but you can still run".  We then went to Sunday brunch at the Alta Lodge.  At the end of year party for Sophie's AFD team, I won brunch for 4 at the Alta Lodge.......and this was the perfect weekend to redeem it.  After brunch we went

 for a short walk..... and got excited for ski season!

Carolyn and Sophie anticipating going thru the ticket scanner at Alta

Fun stuff in Vermont

This space is reserved for a cute photo......check back later

We didn’t fly to the east coast just for the race, nooooo, we planned to fill our time before and after the race with sightseeing and adventure.  If I am planning a trip, don’t expect a rigid itinerary.  Most of the time, the best parts of my vacations are the spontaneous activities.  For example, after Grad school I went to Italy.  All I had was a plane ticket, the rest was off the cuff, and I had a blast.

When looking for flights, Tina and I decided to fly into Hartford, CT and fly out of Burlington, VT.  We knew that we wanted to spend time in Burlington and this way we could check out more of Vermont.....and Mass.....and CT.  I admit, I blew it on the car rental, by the time I went to confirm the reservation the price had more than doubled.  But we would have never found great and cheap Sushi if I would have made the reservation more than 1 day in advance!  What I learned is that it is easy to make a car rental reservation without consequence, not like hotels....no credit card needed and no last minute cancellation penalty.  I don’t rent cars much so probably most of you are saying “DUH”, but now I know.  Thanks to the internet and my MacBook, we got a good deal on a car for following morning.  Tina worked the hotel in Hartford and learned that if you claim “distressed traveller” you can also get a last minute discount on a hotel.  

Our hotel near the Hartford Airport wasn’t bad.  We were warned not to get a hotel in downtown Hartford because of high crime.  We set out to find a place for dinner, the front desk gal recommended a few places, but just a half block from the hotel we spotted a Japanese Sushi Bar.  What a goldmine.  This place gave you maguro nigiri (that’s the raw tuna on rice) so big I could hardly negotiate the piece into my mouth .  Great specialty rolls too.

Thursday we picked up our rental car and headed north thru western Massachusetts via I 91.  Somewhere along the way I spotted a AAA store, being a member we were able to get free maps and books on the area.  Tina’s mom  had told her about Deerfield, MA.  This is a historic town that was settled by European colonists in 1673.  We enjoyed the well cared for homes and huge trees, and were amused by a tour group of teenagers who did not seem impressed by their fieldtrip.

We then headed west on highway 2 which is the Mohawk Trail.  In all, the Mohawk trail extends ~ 100 miles across MA to New York.  It is one of the first designated scenic routes in the country, and the section we drove along was quite beautiful.  We stopped in Shelburne Falls, MA because the guide book

 talked about these glacial potholes.... and we were ready for a swim.  We parked downtown and found the Bridge of Flowers.  This is a converted trolley bridge full of a wide variety of flowers that is maintained by the community.  Now that is a volunteer job I would sign up for.

Photos of Tina and Sophie on the bridge and one of Sophie's flower photos

We strolled past a glass blowing factory and stopped for a moment to watch the guys.

Just a block from downtown are the glacial potholes.  Above the potholes is a dam holding back a large amount of water.  Near the dam is a big sign that says something like “When you hear the alarm clear the area immediately for a sudden release of water”....kinda freaky.  We had fun swimming in the pools and it was fun climbing on the slippery rocks too.  

Photo of Tina the brave

Here is Sophie below the wicked waterfall.  Some local teens knew the line to take and body surfed down the waterfall.   

We continued on Highway 2 to Williamstown and then turned north on Route 7 into 

Vermont.  

Our first stop in Vermont was Bennington.  We initially stopped because there was this policeman statue and I just had to take a photo with the cop.  Our guidebook reported that Robert Frost was buried here.  Given the fact that I have always loved his Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening poem..... and the verse of "miles to go before I sleep"  seemed appropriate for my Grand Slam quest, we set out to see his grave (FYI I have a fascination with old graveyards and they are super cool on the east coast).    We drove past the Battle Monument, which was dedicated to a famous battle in Bennington during the Revolutionary was in 1777.  Frost’s grave is in the cemetery surrounding the Old First Church.  Frost's buriel site was simple, one large horizontal headstone for his whole family including several children who died young and one daughter who lived into her 80's.  The church was super cool.  It is the oldest church in Vermont, built

 1805.   The pulpit reminds me of the Salem Witch trials.  Families sat in the boxes (was this how arena box seating originated?).   The older single boys sat in the left balcony and fair maidens were on the right balcony.  The bored guys made carvings in the pews.

Photos of carving on the pew and the pulpit with the family boxes.

We then tood a scenic route up to Rutland, past Killington and Woodstock, and then southeast to Claremont, NH.  

Somewhere along the way we saw this horse jumping competition and stopped to check it out.  

We stayed at the Goddard Mansion B&B.  The Sugar River flows thru Claremont and empties into the Connecticut river, so this was an industrial town.  A shoe baron built the mansion but we didn’t get a super interesting story about the history.  My favorite part was the front balcony were we enjoyed coffee Friday morning.

Friday we practiced driving to the course.  Here is where Tina’s challenge started.  From a runners perspective the course had lots of roads and access points.  From a crews perspective, the access points were challenging to find, beginning with the start.  Silver Hill Meadow is a big open field.  The horse endurance ride started here as well, so lots was going on.  Many people choose to camp at the start.  With the weather, frequent thunderstorms, potential bugs, I was personally happy that we had the B&B.  I checked in, got my baseline medical check, and we headed to Woodstock for a snack.  We came back for the pre-race meeting, long but informative.  On the way back to the B&B, Tina and Sophie spotted a pond for swimming.  

Saturday, race day, you read the blog.

Sunday we got a couple hours rest at the mansion and headed out for the awards ceremony.  As soon as I got my plaque we skipped the post race meal and l and opted for this cute bistro in Woodstock.  Saint Tina drove us to Burlington while Sophie and I passed out.  We stayed at a very nice Marriott that overlooked Lake Champlain, we had great views of a marina, a lighthouse, and sailboats on the lake.....aaahhhh..  We were exhausted and I need to ice and elevate my leg so we ordered out Thai (yummy) and watched Design Star.... what a treat!

Monday morning Tina went for a walk along the shore of Lake Champlain.   We packed up and headed for a boat cruise.  What a fun thing to do, a scenic ride along a fresh water lake - I definately prefer fresh water to the oceans.  We saw these kids taking sailing lessons, and an indian chief's face in the rock (left rock), and evidence of some geologic event (???plates moving like the Tetons????).

Certified Ice Cream Testers

We then headed southeast near Stowe to the Ben and Jerry’s factory.  Sophie tie-dyed a shirt, we did spin art, and ate ice cream.  Sophie found the cutest lunch box for next school year. 

Just down the road from Ben and Jerry’s we found yet another pond for swimming, ooh the cool water felt great on my legs. Funny thing was that I had a hard time swimming, I think my legs were weighing me down.  

The Burlington airport is nice and small, free internet.  Oddly enough the only 2 major airports they feed into are JFK and Atlanta.  Our flight was delayed and this is when our happy trip took a major dive.  When we finally arrived at JFK our connecting plane was still there.....visible....connected to the walkway....... but they would not let us and several other travellers on the plane.  Delta’s reason:  no delay for that plane.  For the next 4 hours we stood in some sort of line, rebook for the n

ext day, get our luggage, hotel and shuttle bus.  We made it to the hotel where Delta puts up their travellers. Apparently our problem wasn’t Deltas problem, it was air traffic control, so we were expected to pay.......... to stay in the ghetto Ramada.  Although we had a bit of Karma come back....when we were standing in line a woman with 2 young children was frazzled.  We played with her children so she could talk to her husband on the phone.  Delta gave her free accomodations, but her husband refused to let her stay in a hotel with barbed wire around it.  We amazingly ran into the woman later on in the airport and she gave us her free voucher......so we ended up with a free room in the ghetto, however we were starving, there was no place else to eat but in the hotel.....which was bad and expensive.

Tuesday we woke up, brushed our teeth and got out of there.  The place looked worse in daylight.  We checked our bags in this locker room at JFK and took the subway into the city.  We barely survived ordering coffee and a croissant among the busy New Yorkers.  It was like how a New Yorker would feel on the high traverse at Alta.  We found the MoMA museum, fun.  The weather was hot and humid and the streets were hot, so we strolled around 5th avenue

 and Park avenue and browsed in the stores for the comfort of air conditioning.  Here is a photo of Tina and Sophie on Park Avenue.  The return subway trip was quick and the rest of our return went smoothly.  Ironically our departure was delayed to wait for other passengers.  Tina and I scored the bulk head seats and we could really stretch out.

It was so nice to get back to dry Utah.  Each laundry load required 2 cycles to get the wet stink out.  We will send Delta an opinionated letter.