Week of 9-19 to 9-25: Kismet Cliff Week!

This should be fun...I'm at 95,000 feet of vertical gain in just over 860 miles for the year, which ain't easy when you live in Southeast CT.  Most of that vert has been done on technical trails, which I just really enjoy, and anything that involves actual hand over hand climbing is icing on the cake. Gonna be over 100k by week's end, which obliterates my previous year's best (77,000 in 2014), with lots of running to go!  That said, I really hope the weather is more conducive to an enjoyable race at Kismet Cliff this year, as last year's race was held in some sketchy conditions, and the gorgeous views were completely obscured by fog and sideways rain.  So far, the forecast looks better for the weekend, but this is New England, sooo...Here's my short recap from last year and my DNF, the day before my bloodwork came back positive for Lyme:

  9/13 - Kismet Cliff "Beast of the East" half marathon.

           So here it is:  I picked the perfect place to stay!  The Colonial Motel in North Conway.  Clean, helpful and friendly, and three minutes from the race start.  Room was super clean, the staff helpful, and I was totally set.

I awoke to fog, 55 degrees, rain, and no sight whatsoever of the mountains I'd be running...

Arrived early to find a hardcore crew already set up.  I grabbed my bib, saw Ryan and chatted with him for a bit, then spent time talking with Kristina, Tony, Lise, and some other awesome runners before the race began.

After the race start and a short run around Echo Lake, we all turn onto the Cathedral Ledge ascent, which is 400'-1500' and a flipping tease.  After that?  A short descent, then the nightmare ascent up North Moat.  It was raining, it was foggy, it was slippery as Hell.  I was alone for a long time (I can deal with being alone, but this wasn't fun!), and also wasn't aware that there are about a thousand false summits going up to the top.  It just kept going up!

I was nearing one of those false summits, questioning my sanity and qualifications for even being there, when I heard a runner behind me, approaching fast.  I shouted "Please tell me I'm not getting lapped!"  He replied "If it helps, I was in second place and took a wrong turn..."

He scampered up the hill and out of sight, and I continued on, alone and in the rain.  I was looking for a bright side at this point.  I was pretty sure I was in last place, pre-hypothermic (it felt like it), and looking at a 4-hour half marathon time.  What the Hell...

When I finally crested the actual summit of North Moat and began the descent, things got even more sketchy!  Ryan had mentioned that that side of Moat never gets Sun, and was always "greasy," in his words, and it had rained all night.  Imagine a slick granite slip n' slide that goes down for two miles, and you get the idea.  I slid on my ass, bushwhacked alongside the trail, and moved as well as I could...until I rounded a curve and saw fast runner dude (Ryan K.) helping a girl down the mountain.  Her name was Amber, and she'd rolled her ankle pretty bad.  I did the right thing and stopped, and helped with getting her down the slippery descent.  I'd thrown my cell phone into my CamelBak as an afterthought, and we pulled up the Race Director's number and called him to explain our situation.  We arranged to have transportation meet us at the Diana's Baths area.

The next couple hours were us getting down to level ground, walking Amber to the bailout near the stream, and getting out. Friends Ryan and Kristina and a couple other runners met us and we hitched rides back to the start/finish, where I DNF'd, but for good reason.  I'll be back next year, this race is badass and had far too few runners for what it was, which was, in the words of runner Tony, who I met at the start, "Everything the White Mountains has to offer in a race."  7 Sisters was a breeze compared to this race.  Yes, I said it.

No soapbox moment here, but hey:  people passed this runner, who was obviously in distress, and she was too polite to stop them during the race.  If you see a runner who's slowed to a crawl, just a quick "How's it going?" may be enough for them to say "Not so hot."  Then you stop and see if maybe they need help.  All I'm saying...

Added bonus this year!  Seth's headed up for the race as well.  Gonna be a good time there, and maybe gonna hit up Moat Brewery for pre-race hydration!  Can't wait...

Monday - 0.

Tuesday - 6-ish miles.  Pequot Woods 3 before work, Lantern Hill 3-ish after work.  My Garmin is acting like a rebellious teenage girl (I know, I have one!).  I'm very sure I'm getting shorted on mileage, which means a much slower pace than I know I'm working at.  Or I'm just getting fat and slow.  Either scenario is possible.  So on top of the mileage fuckery, at Lantern it was recording pace/time, but a zero for distance, and I had to hard reset it and use my goddamn phone.  Glad I got the high-end model!  659' elevation gain.

Wednesday - 0 Miles.  Nothing like a work-induced taper!

Thursday - 4 Miles.  Easy Hewitt Farm trails.

Friday - 0 Miles.

Saturday - 0 Miles.  Spent the morning checking out the NoSto Festival in town, then got on the road to New Hampshire.  4 hour drive.

Sunday - 14-ish miles.  Kismet Cliff.  Report to follow.