Haven't been around for a while even though I have been checking in. Here's the result of how I spent my winter, along with some swimming and biking of course.

HAT 50K, Susquehanna State Park MD
What can I say, it was one of those picture perfect race mornings where runners spread out across an open field waiting for the start. Winter had been long and tough, this was compensation due. The temp was 31 degrees as I pulled into The Steppingstone Museum parking lot with a promise to climb into the mid to upper 40s during the day. It did, but not by much, perfect running weather for a few hours in the woods.

I stayed at the Days Inn in Aberdeen, directly across from the Goodwill Super Store. I was confident I could find anything there I may need if I had forgotten something. Dinner was at Bob Evans, the meat loaf special with mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans, $9.99. Gotta love Bob. I would find myself there again in the morning at 6:00a.m. wrestling with the dilemma of having the farmers gut buster breakfast with biscuits and gravy or oatmeal and a yogurt and fruit parfait, the oatmeal won out. Probably a good decision.

I had gotten a good nights sleep in spite of the all night truck driver's symphony going on outside the hotel room door, the door with the half inch gap from the jamb allowing a steady stream of fresh air to circulate during the night; checked my race gear, checked out, drove the fifteen or so minutes to Susquehanna State Park, parked and checked in at packet pickup. Ready to race.

This would be my first time at HAT and the area was beautiful. The course begins with a 3.6 mile loop across an open field turning onto a short paved road and then leading back to the start area, up another open field to the single track trail head, think 4 lane highway merging into one lane. The going was slow, thinning out after a while. The trails were in great shape with only a few muddy spots here and there, winter debris had been cleared. The first stream crossing came up fairly quickly, water just covering the rocks and cold. I managed a not too graceful herkey-jerkey crossing slipping on the moss covered rocks, getting more wet than I should have. One of the guys suggested just walking across without jumping from rock to rock, "you're going to get wet anyway". I followed his advice on the other crossings.

The 2nd and 3rd laps were the same, a 13.7 mile loop thru the heart of the course with many climbs that seemed to get progressively steeper, the steepest, steadiest climbs came after the 12.5 mile aid station, repeating again at 25.5 miles. Somewhere into the 1st loop I was able to find a steady pace and stick to it, slow running some climbs, walking others. The field had thinned out and the single track became easier to navigate without too much passing. There were two road sections in the loop, one a steady downhill quad buster that I actually enjoyed, getting back some speed that was lost on the climbs and descents. I struggled a bit with the trail downhills, not confident in my footing or maybe just age riding on my back. Something I need to work on.

Coming into the last aid station at 25.5 miles I was at 5:48 with 5.5 miles of the most difficult part of the course looming ahead. I had started the race hoping for an under 7 hour day, but with a quick calculation and the memory of the first painful go at this section it was beginning to seem like a long shot. I readjusted the goal to 7:10. The continuous climbs in the section hit hard the second time and I found myself walking out of the climbs a little longer than the first go around. The single track finally opens up onto a steady, long and rolling open field, a section for the legs to recover, slightly, before hitting the paved downhill section again and back to the final trail head, into more single track and even more climbs, then finally to the finish. There's a 1/2 mile final road section with a slap-in-the-face climb heading to the finish line. This was one hill I was not going to walk. I pulled up a final sprint from somewhere making for the finish line, crossing at 7:07:42, a little under my second evaluation.

Someone else had said this was a very satisfying race and, there were right. I couldn't think of a better way to spend an early spring day than to be out there with a great group of people and a well organized, challenging race. It was a good day.