Ruth Anderson 2022 with purpose: historical edition in Ruth's memory!

Ruth left us in 2016 so we'll never know her feelings about this year's edition. Reading about her though in this great piece from Davy Crockett, she was so much of a game changer for putting women especially at their due place on the marathon and ultra running map, it's most likely she would have been not just supportive but delighted. In 1976, she ran the Lake Merced event which consisted in a 50-mile and 100K (back then you were getting credit for both distances if you were finishing the 100K). According to another ultra historian, Stan Jensen, whose website you can support here, the Memorial Run only started ten years later. I have to assume the Memorial was added after Ruth passed away in 2016. Before that, I only remembered referring to the race as Ruth Anderson.

Let's start with the purpose I highlighted in the title. The format of this event makes it interesting from this standpoint. I ran all the editions from 2007 to 2019 and, rereading my first of 13 race reports, I can recall the struggle of deciding on the distance on the fly. In 2007, I had not run any 100K yet and was going for that distance, although I wasn't sure, 2 weeks after running Boston, then my first Miwok 100K a couple of weeks later. And this the real deal at this event: if your mind isn't fully set to a particular distance, first you may start too fast, then not manage your mind motivation tank properly to keep going after the shorter distance. It has become slightly less complex as the 100K has been dropped as an option these past years, but still, there is still a notable difference between a 50K and 50-mile. 19 miles or 4 more laps.

To make the matter more interesting, this is also the final event of the MUT (Mountain, Ultra, Trail) Grand Prix of our USATF Pacific Association. This means the last opportunity to get point and, in particular, potentially score 6 teams (1 Men, 1 Women, 1 Mixed x 2 distances). My Quicksilver Club used to score 9 teams in the golden years, a decade ago, Pamakids took over since! It was Excelsior's last chance to reclaim their Men title although that meant they would have to have the top 3 men on both distances, as well as another club than Pamakids taking second. While Excelsior brought their balzing fast runners, I've rarely seen so many Men in Green, quite another impressive show of leadership from their team captain, Pen Perez. On the individual side, 2 points separated Karl Schnaitter from Jonah Backstrom in the M40 age group, that was going to make for an interesting duel. In the M60, my club mate Keith Lubliner only had to finish the 50K in 2nd place in his age group to reclaim his pole position; simple purpose.

And there there are the personal goals, ranging from just finishing to setting a Personal Record, or, way more boldly, an American Age Group record, a National record for other or dual citizens or... a World Record! When I heard from co-Race Director, Steve Jaber, that CJ Albertson wanted to reclaim his 50K World Record this weekend, I couldn't believe he would take that rolling course for it. Personally, I ran good times at Ruth Anderson on the three distances but all my PRs were set elsewhere eventually. With that ultimate purpose from CJ, it appeared that having the event USATF-sanctioned and course USATF-certified might not have been safe enough for ratification. So Steve went out of his way to get the event an IAU (International Association of Ultrarunners) Bronze Label. That included having to fly a IAU-certified course measurer from Arizona to recertify the whole course again. Incidentally, while writing this post, I just notice that this Saturday was also the European 50K Championships, big weekend for that ultra distance! Also, to get in CJ's pre-race mind and mood, worth reading the piece that another elite and Ruth Anderson participant, Jeffrey Stern, wrote for UltraRunning Magazine this week.

As I highlighted in my previous and post-race blog post, CJ wasn't the only one with a record purpose. You see, from these amazing goals to the team plays and the more personal struggles of dealing with age or injury, there was a wide range of motivations but, all running in Ruth's memory, it was meant to be a a long day packed with action! On my end, ironically not a big purpose, still rebuilding from this 3.5-year injury. I didn't even need points to reclaim my age group, the new age group records were improved again last year and are now out of even my previous age group league/potential and I'm still so out of shape that I can't do good speed work. I was hoping to at least use this race as a benchmark of how far behind I am, hopefully breaking 4 hours at least. But, after clocking a few sub 3:20s in my 50s and right before the injury, maybe 3:45 (7:15 min/mile).

Without the 100K, and the move from April to October, it was good the RDs spared us from a 6 or 6:30 am start. 7 am looks so late for a start of an ultra now! That meant finishing breakfast before 4 am for me, so still an early wake up call. I arrived on site at 6 am and there was so much buzz already, albeit an unreal atmosphere with the heavy fog. But it wasn't chilly, it actually looked like perfect conditions for some record setting, a great start.

Given the World Record potential, three USATF Officials volunteered their day to ensure the event ran per the rule book. Certainly, this is the first time we got a gun start at this event and the famous ready, set, go! Ruth must have chuckled, seeing this from above. Needless to say, CJ and the lead bike disappeared in the fog in... record time! I settled on a 7:15 min/mile pace, happy to let Karl Schnaitter and James Scanlan's sub-6-hour 50-mile pace (7:12 min/mile), with found memory of starting below 7 min/mile myself when Jon Olsen and Chikara were working on their 100K Team USA selections. In the first lap we played cat and mouse with Verity: she was faster on the uphills, and I was faster in the downhills. No dramatic hills, the course only gives about 100 feet of cumulative elevation change per lap but my pace variations oscillated around Verity's super stable one. We also have such a different stride, I admired Verity's super efficient one, short but fast, and low kick behind. With that I also tended to pick up the pace on flat sections so much that I ran alone for the rest of the race. (Photo credit: Shira Kochavi.)

I had just completed my second lap when I got lapped, dang! I had decided to run with my camera to catch CJ in action but, the time I realized it was the lead bike, I only got his back. So impressively fast! Ironically, I stopped to take a video, yet ran one of my fastest miles at 7:02, as I was too much inspired by his speed and picked up the pace again.

In the second and third laps, I could already hear my glutes reminding me that they didn't work enough the past 4 years. My average pace was now down to 7:11 which didn't appear so sustainable but I decided to see how long I could hold that once comfortable pace.

I was carrying two bottles (water and GU Energy Brew) as well as 4 gels, 6 S!Caps, plus my phone and the car key, I was fully loaded in screwed (no crew) mode. All this to save excuses to stop at every lap. I had prepared a cooler with two other bottles but, with the moisture of the fog, wasn't drinking much. At least that saved seconds and allowed me to keep the 7:11 min/mile pace past the half point. I would only drop one of the bottles at the end of lap 6 as captured by Shiran (and, not these are precious bottles, I'm not throwing it in the compostable bin! Actually, if you have such grey or red Ultimate Direction bottle, and not using them, I will buy them! Seriously.)

I was finishing my 5th lap when the lead bike passed me again, wow! I was less than half a mile from the aid station, the clock was about 5:35 so he could indeed break 5:40!

At this point, I realized how my weak purpose wasn't helping. Not helping managing the pace. Not helping keeping enough motivation and stamina. I even thought of stopping to join the buzz around CJ's fresh World Record (2:38:43!!!!). I'm so impressed with his perfect execution of his plan, on such a course. Also how some can handle such pressure on big occasions like this. It's his first race result on UltraSignup, a score of 100% captures some of that perfection! With two more laps, I was thinking how disastrous this world-class performance will have on my own UltraSignup score. Like Steve Jensen reminded me later, at my age, I should stop looking at that age-insensitive measure. I decided to at least do one more lap. I'm at 9.5% of ultra race DNFs, not DNF'ing isn't as important as good performance for me, yet, I pride that all these DNFs but one (Quad Dipsea) were still beyond the marathon mark. 6 laps were 26.6 miles. We shall see then.

I should have taken a Vespa at mid way, I finally did my first stop (almost mile 22), to grab a Vespa pouch. Was I too weak? I had to ask Rajeev to unscrew the cap for me. These two stops (the aid station, and CJ's video) got me my first over-7:30 mile, at 7:50. Surprisingly, my glutes and legs were not crashed, it was more my mind. The Vespa helped and I was in better spirit by the end of lap 6, especially after passing the marathon mark around 3:13, another solid Boston Qualifier, albeit nothing we can use because of lack of official time capture. Well, even my 6-lap split would be a good one (3:16 at 26.6 miles).

And then I decided to continue. Never mind the score, at least for the DNF ratio, but mostly in Ruth's honor. Despite more than 40 minutes to spare, and having clocked mostly 32.5-minute laps, I wasn't even sure about breaking 4 hours anymore. Except for CJ, twice, I had only been lapped two other times: by Chikara on his pursuit to a new Masters record for 50 miles, and a long and dark hair running who must have been Firmin Villagran (bib 1503 not on the entrant list). With that I didn't know how many runners were still ahead in the 50K. In spite of a bit of walking and some nagging cramping in the last mile, I managed to finish in 3:54:24, in 4th place overall, and 1st M50 or actually Masters. For what it is worth as the Masters fight was really happening in the 50-mile race. (Photos credit: Shiran Kochavi.)

Am I happy with this result? Those knowing me can guess... Ahem, what about a 67.71% UltraSignup score as a starter? Or finishing 1h15 minutes behind the winner? Or 36 minutes slower than my PR? I know, that's very half-empty glass thinking. For one thing, in addition to be an exceptional athlete, CJ is 30 years younger, that's not a good excuse, but some years do count. Anyway, that way to look at the time is also what keeps me pushing and working hard. At least, it shows that I'm still hoping to re-improve, and that it's worth trying as I improved on my last 3 Road 50Ks (2020-2022). And, yes, I don't feel the injury anymore while racing, phew!

Hydration wise, I ended up drinking half of my usual intake. I took only 3 gels, 3 S!Caps, and, including 2 before the start, only 3 Vespa pouches. Good enough for a 7:33 min/mile pace overall, but I could have managed better.

Speaking of Vespa, what about Chikara's performance as another proof it does work? His wife, Diann, setup a table with burgers (Chikara is a big fan), water pouches, gels, carbonated water, but Chikara ran the whole race mostly on Vespa, taking a CV-25 pouch every other lap, that is less than one hour in between, at the blazing pace he was going.

Before the final out and back (2 x 0.51 miles to go):

And, when I say it worked, not just by mere seconds: Chikara ended up breaking a 41-year old record, covering 50 miles in 5:05:41. Think about it, Chikara wasn't even born when Bernd Heinritch ran 5:10:13 in October of 1981! As for the time, put this in perspective to the Open World Record that Jim Wamsely set in 2019 during an HOKA-organized event. Even more in awe with Chikara's performance as he suffered the same tendon injury than I had, last year. In addition to being 18 years younger, he also got two PRP injections (which my doctor deemed to risky given the depth in the glutes). So great to see Chikara back to Team USA form and potential!

Another picture with CJ at the finish. At a time HOKA has basically bought all the elites, super happy that Brooks found this gem and was able to retain him. Between CJ and Des, these two Mavericks are outstanding representatives to show that US-brand Brooks also works wonders!

As for Verity, she barely missed breaking 4 hours and therefore missed the Amrican and World Age Group record by less than 4 minutes, but she exploded the Australian one by 15 minutes! Oh, and she won the 50K outright too, what another feat!

Despite finishing the 50K before 11 am, I missed another same-day race report for many good reasons. First, I waited to see if Chikara was going to break 5:10. Then I spent time connecting with many, as well as providing encouragements to the runners still on the course. Then, when I was going to leave at 1 pm, Bill Dodson showed up. Bill is 87 and can't run anymore. He ran ultras for more than 20 years and still holds several M80-84 American Records. Recently, he asked his daughter, Estelle, to meet our ultra community at some local races. Being out of town, I had missed him at Firetrails 2 weeks ago, what a great surprise to spend time reconnecting this Saturday! Bill also handed me the keys of the MUT Chair, 5 years ago. It was so heart warming to see his joy sparkled by memories and messages of other runners. The most colorful of which coming from Eroll Rocket Jones, who you can't beat at this game!

So many volunteers to be grateful and thankful for! From the co-RDs, Steve and Anil, the entertaining MC and RD Emeritus, Rajeev, the manual time-keeping master, Dave, and his helpers, Wendell who graciously contributed his time and his chip timing infrastructure/operation, Anil's friends handling registration and the food and drink tables, and the course monitors as well as the crew manning the remote aid station. Plus Pen and Shiran behind their cameras. It takes a big village to keep this ultra tradition going. Again, Ruth would be proud!

One thing that stood out for the Officials who are typically officiating at Road, Cross-Country or Track & Field events, is the sense of community transpiring around the finish line, while clubs tend to stick together at other events.

By the way, what happened at the European 50K Nationals? While 13 ran under 3 hours, the fastest time was 2:49:20 by Houssame Eddine Benabbou Azizi from Spain. Ruth Anderson Memorial was the place to watch! It's odd not to see any Frenchman in the entry list; they are typically very competitive and Spain wasn't too far. Only explanation might be that 50K isn't a distance they keep track of records for, except for race walking (see the Masters records, from all Track & Field records page).

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A few bonus pictures.

Selfies with celebrities, at dawn, on the way to the start.

With CJ, during his ultimate personal briefing.

Great finish times on the 50-mile:

Thia for the women win!

Very strong 6:13 time at 53 for James!

Karl almost breaking 6!

Caumsett 50K Road Nationals 2019: youngster's dreams

I have to confess, I do have a problem, I seem to have found the elixir against aging! No kidding, these 5-year deep age groups within USATF competitions keep me on my toes! Every 5 years, you have the opportunity to be the youngest again, and dream like a youngster. Again!

When I turned 50, I was still giving priority to our local Pacific Association Ultra Grand Prix. But now, after 12 consecutive Age Group season wins, I'm more open to other race opportunities. Also, I felt I missed a few Age Group record attempts when I switched age group last time. Not that it prevented me from improving the M50-54 100-mile Road Record less than 2 weeks before moving up, but, as Bian Teason reminded me on Saturday evening, it certainly doesn't become easier with years passing.

I flew back from Singapore on Friday, a 40-hour birthday, and, after learning that Agnès will be at a professional conference all weekend, decided at 5 pm to take a flight for Newark the next morning at 7 am with a return on Sunday night, reserve long-term parking, book a hotel room, a rental car and went packing... again, for some racing in the cold this time. The weather forecast had freezing temperatures, quite a difference from the last two weeks I had spent in 94-100F in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur!

I was supposed to wake up at 4 but, with the jet lag, was up at 3 instead. After many short nights with the past 8 weeks on the road, so long for storing some sleep before the race. It was pouring rain on the way to SFO and I was thinking of the 800 courageous participants of the Way Too Cool 50K that morning. As I landed in Newark, I had quite a few Facebook messages to read about how Way Too Wet that it turned out, a mud fest in the rain! Very impressed with all the stories, including Rich Hana who placed 10th at 54 just shy of breaking 4 hours again.

Stopped by Trader Joe's on my way to the hotel then drove to Melville to meet two ultra legends and friends, Brian Teason and Roy Pirrung as they were finishing their pre-race dinner at a local pizzeria. I told you about Brian in my Jackpot 100-mile post 2 weeks ago (where I was going after his previous M50-54 American Record). As for Roy, let's say he already made the Ultra running Hall of Fame and he was going this weekend for his 90th National title!

Once more, I woke up 1 hour earlier than what I wanted, just short of 6 hours of sleep but was very encouraged to see the clear skies and, 2 hours later, the sun! The forecast was giving cloudy skies and 20 km/h wind gusts but even the wind didn't seem to be an issue anymore, phew!

After registering at the last minute I was returning to the car when Brian and Roy arrived.

After much hesitation, I decided to run in shorts, not tights, and with three top layers, no jacket. I felt it was a bit bold given my sensitivity to low temperatures, but was betting on the sun and the sustained effort to keep me warm. Needless to say, a few elites were running in singlets...

Before we go into more details, let's talk about my race goals. There were quite a few, starting with not getting into trouble, health wise. 3 years ago, I broke the then M50-54 American Record with my lifetime PR of 3:18:12, but I ended up spending 2 days at the hospital in New Jersey after experiencing a mini stroke (Transient Ischemic Accident) and losing sensitivity in all my left side for 20 minutes, 3 hours after the race (plus vision for 20 seconds during the race, with 1.3 miles to go). That memory brought some emotion has I was returning after this 3-year hiatus. I was of course shooting for my age group title, although I didn't know who was going ot show up in our age group, beyond Brian. And, per the title, I was also dreaming of improving the American Record of course. This one still sets at 3:39:48 (Pete Kaplan in 2011) although Mark Murray ran a 3:32:16 at Jed Smith last year when I ran 3:26. I'm not sure why his record time hasn't been ratified at the yearly USATF Convention last November, it still shows pending in the record log. Bottom line, I had to run faster than 3:32 to be on the safe side, a time which I felt quite reasonable and attainable a few months ago. But, between the minimal training due to my gluteus injury and the 100-mile record and PR 2 weeks ago, nothing was certain. By the way, Mark's time corresponds to a 6:50 min/mile pace.

Now, what do I remember from the race? Mostly that it went quite fast... And, in that particular order of the laps, here we are...

1. Lap 1 [20:02] - A group of 8-10 runners started off at a 5:30 (if not below!) pace. I rushed myself into a 6:20-6:25 min/mile pace to keep contact with the top 3 women. M45-49 Boyd Carrigton, whom I ran a few miles with 3 years ago before my stroke, passed our group, running a few seconds/mile faster, along a buddy from the Open division who was mostly focusing on his Marathon time (Caumsett gives an official Boston qualifying time with a mat specially setup at mile 26.2, very nice perk).
   
   
2. Lap 2 [20:11] - Mid way on lap 2, the lead runner in the M50-54, passed me at mile 4 then run a few laps with the lead gals which I could still keep in sight. He wasn't on pace to break the new 3:16 record, but at least go under 3:20 and, at this point, I realized how good it was to have moved age group! (Photo credit: Lin Gentling, USATF)
   
3. Lap 3 [20:03] - At the end of the lap I was getting two warm with my 3 layers and lost 20 seconds struggling removing one, ending up removing 2 at once, oops! I felt a bit cold after that but that wasn't too bad. I pushed the pace to close on the lead women to no availability, just managing to keep sight.  Overall I was glad to keep a pace below 6:30 through that first hour.
   
4. Lap 4 [20:28] - This lap didn't start very well as, with my gloves, and even after removing one, I was struggling opening my small bag of S!Caps, so much that I had to stop and, Elizabeth, now in 3rd in the women race, flew by. I sprinted and caught up with her at the mile 1 mark, but she pulled away on the next uphill. She was on a great mission! (Photo credit: Lin Gentling, USATF)
   
5. Lap 5 [20:45] - I got lapped for the first time by Austin Bogina, wow! As I learned from Zach Ornelas race report on Facebook after the race, he was after the 2:48 course record and on pace/track. Passing the marathon mat, I recalled thinking to myself "at least 3 more laps now" as it started to feel tougher and I was losing 5 to 10 seconds every mile compared to previous laps. It didn't help to get lapped by 6 or 7 other runners in that lap, but at least they were much younger and not Masters! ;-) Speaking of Masters, I finally lost sight of Boyd in the out and back so he had at least a 5-minute lead. Also, one mile in that 5th lap, it broke my heart to see Janet Cherobon-Bawcom slow down and stopped on the side with respiratory issues. She had such a fast race for a Master, super impressive high and long stride of an elite marathoner.
6. Lap 6 [21:12] - After lapping Brian, I stopped at the aid station to get a S!Caps from my bag. Beyond that I don't remember much details except the reminding of keeping pushing when I wanted to just slow down. I also remembered liking the motivational signs which the organizing club, GLIRC, put on the side. I wish I had the courage to go back on the course after the race to take pictures of them, there were quite a few good quotes. Like, related to my post title, one from Walt Disney: "If you dream it, you can do it!"
   
7. Lap 7 [21:50] - A quarter or so into this 7th lap something strange happen: the lead M50-54 runner whom I had mentioned earlier, Stefan Judex, was now jogging and toward me, apparently dropping from the race. That made me the second Masters, not even on my goal or wish list today!
8. Lap 8 [22:22] - The main goal at this point was to hold the pace until the marathon mark. I dropped my bottles at the main aid station and felt so much free. I recall passing the marathon mat right before 2:57 (2:56:59), we'll see what the official time is. Still quite far from the 2:45 I got 3 years ago, but better than my 3:02 at the Redding Marathon in January. Progress! :-) As I was finishing this lap, I saw a runner that I had noticed before, without a back/age bracket bib, and who could have been 50 or 55, and, although I had a a 4-5 minute lead, I found that quite annoying (visibility of that back bib is a key rule in championships). In the out and back section at the end of that lap, I also witnessed one of the most exciting events of the race, Zach Ornelas closing on Austin in the last mile to take the win by 53 seconds. Austin ran sub 16:30 laps (5K each!) for 6 laps, just losing 4 minutes in his last lap, it was so close. Zach won in 2:50:01, he almost lapped me a second time, dang for my UltraSignup ranking (I would end up with a 75% performance because of him...;-) ).
   
9. Lap 9 [22:36] - That lap was marked with quite some nascent cramping and I decided it was safer to slow down more than risking having to walk the last 2 laps. My pace was now down between 7 to 7:20 min/mile and I also lost a few seconds having a volunteer pulled a couple of S!Caps out of that small bag at the aid station. At the end of this lap, I asked the runner without a back bib how old he was... 55 he replied, dang! I was mad and that probably helped moving forward despite the coming cramps in the ultimate lap. I thought I was only running against the clock, I was now also running to save my age group lead...
   
10. Lap 10 [22:24] - I was still running without bottles, feeling it was too late to catch-up on hydration at this stage. I had drunk only one bottle of GU Brew, and barely half a bottle of water. I took a 3rd GU gel to tough it out. Peter Defty had told me to work more on calorie intake than hydration given the cold, I didn't even follow that advice, I should have taken a couple more gels. Still amazed at how I can do without much calorie intake in racing and training. Not that I have so much fat either, but enough to keep me moving strong. I kept moving as fast as possible but that was closer to 7:10-7:20 min/mile now. Just enough to keep cramps at bay (calves and feet). I entered the out and back at 3:26 if I recall, it was getting really tight for 3:32. Unfortunately, I couldn't accelerate or sprint so I stopped looking at my clock to decrease the pressure. After the ultimate turn, I saw the clock still on 3:31. I crossed the finish line in 3:31:57, that was close, phew! I recall yelling a big YES at the finish, to the dismay of the few spectators who didn't realize what the was the big deal about, more than 40 minutes after Zach won. I know, back to the title, I look pretty old for a youngster with big dreams! ;-)
    
    
    
    

And here is a visual 3D flyover of these 10 laps, credit to Relive.cc (click on image, or this link):

I had given it almost all I didn't have: I mean, the lack of conditioning, the lack of rest, the lack of mental preparation for this, the apprehension or lack of confidence after the stroke 3 years ago, even all the diet infractions with 8 weeks of travels and business functions, 5 pounds over my targeted race weight... Given the circumstances I actually found myself quite lucky with the outcome: an impressive finisher medal, a USATF medal for top 9 male (I got chicked twice), a USATF medal and patch for taking 1st in my age group (3 minutes and 35 seconds, that was close), and even a check for placing 2nd Masters behind Boyd (who clocked an impressive 3:19:51). And a time worth another Age Group American Record assuming it's confirmed and ratified in November. Oh, and yet another comfortable Boston Qualifier if needed (2:57 versus the 3:40 minima).

With the Race Director:

 With Lin Gentling, the USATF Official today:

 A bunch of fun and very fast guys who all broke 3 hours today!

Regarding the record, I still believe I can do better than this but, more importantly, this leaves a lot of improvement to others. I'm sure Rich Hana can run at least 10 minutes faster than this, or Gary Gellin. And other youngsters in a few years. Let's see how long, or short, this will last.

On the women side, there was some surprise at the end, like on the men side: Tara had led for more than 7 laps but Elizabeth passed her to get the win in 3:24:06, Tara finishing less than a minute ahead of me in 3:31:05.

Brian teamed up with a runner less than half his age to break 4 again.

The rest of the day wasn't anything close to 3 years ago (no ER this time!), but quite painful. I had to rush back to the hotel to take a quick shower and drive back to Newark. The traffic was starting to load up as a major snow storm was on the radar for the evening. I made it to the rental car facility where I had the stroke last time, by 4 pm, right on time for my 6 pm flight. Except that the flight got pushed to 7:15 because of low visibility at SFO, then 8:15 as the plane now needed de-icing. We were in 2nd position for de-icing at 10:30 when the captain indicated that we had to get back to the gate. We deplaned at 11:30 pm, I got booked on the 9 am flight the next day, slept 3 hours on a chair in the terminal from 1 to 4 and wrote part of this blog as a zombie... Some good endurance training I suppose... That being said, the best recovery from an ultra comes from resting, sleeping well and eating well, better catch-up on this this week, that Sunday night was certainly suboptimal. And my gluteus is complaining a lot, post-race, but I'm amazed at how cooperating he is on race days!

Midnight, a whole 787 plane trying to get rebooked the next day...

6 am on Monday at EWR, post snow storm

Special thanks to the GLIRC club for hosting the Nationals again, providing us with such a perfect weather between two snow storms! It has been quite a few years now, it's becoming a classic. It's always on the cold side, that early in March, but the course is really conducive to some fast time with the 100% and very smooth asphalt (I thought of Bill Dodson who missed the M80-85 American Record by a few seconds 3 years ago, when the course still included an unpaved section in the out-and-back, with ice and puddles which made him fall twice). We can debated on the impact of the rolling profile, at least it helps working a different set of muscles.

After these epic last 8 weeks on the road, I'm looking forward to not traveling this week(*). And ramping up training and volume hopefully for all the races I've this Spring. See you on the roads or the trails, and stay safe in the bad weather this Winter!

(*) PS: that's what I thought when I wrote this on Monday but... on Tuesday night I was asked to fly to Saudi so, once again, here I am boarding another trans-Atlantic flight this Friday, back 10 days later...