Sunday, April 28, 2013

Mt.Beacon Short Report - In a word, FANTASTIC!

I'm keeping it short here.

What a weekend. First, volunteering for the High Rock Challenge on Saturday morning. Being the rabbit, I totalled about 12 rugged trail miles altogether.

But here was the best part of the weekend!

A nice group of about 7-9 hardcore ultra runners met at Mr. Beacon in the Hudson Valley Saturday night and proceeded to climb and descend a 1 mile long, 1000ft climb trail from the trail head to the top of Mr.Beacon overnight, simulating the exact conditions that would be encountered in a hilly 100 mile race. In the end, we climbed the hill 7 times, then descended the rugged trail that definitely taxed the quadriceps muscles. On the last climb, we fast-hiked an extra mile to the fire tower and climbed to the top to see a magnificent sunrise, a great finish to one of the most strenuous workouts I've ever done.

The totals for the overnight torture? 16 miles of running, about 7500 feet of climbing. Excellent!

What a great group of people to be with! Talk about pushing me to my limits, there is so much talent in this group that I know I can learn a lot from. They definitely know how to handle extremes in every aspect of the word. Although I had my moments of weeknesses, I handled the training very well! Although I still feel that I need to get even better for the last 9 weeks of training, the fact of the matter is that never in my wildest dreams have I thought to become super-fit like this! I just hope it carries over to the Grand Slam races this summer.

More info and pics to follow soon. As of now, I'm definitely due a nap. :-)

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