June25-
This one needs a post of its own. After Arctic Valley, I knew I HAD to do this one again. Arctic Valley went so well felt smooth....Moscow Trail if you do the half has just under a 700m elevation gain. If I can do Arctic Valley and feel fine, MT was on the list. Last year, I did the 30k and died in the final 8k because of the heat. This year, there was a 10k, half, and marathon. I wanted to do the marathon, but I knew it would down me at least a couple weeks and being that my season is so short now, I wanted to make the best of it. Coach told me to do the half. Also, there would only be one aid station at the end of each 10.5k loop so that the race could be used for an UTMB qualifier. This meant either get crew or carry your own. Leonid was on the loop just over midway. It was cool for the race-mid teens , overcast, and pouring rain the hour before to make the course more interesting. I took 3 pairs of shoes and decided which "weapon" to choose 20 min before the race. I went with my inov8 212s for the traction in the mud. This year's course added 2 more steep uphills and downhills in the final 1500 of each loop. This would work in my favor. The race starts straight up the ski/ snowboard slope at Sarochany/Yakhroma. I was fine after that hill and headed down the muddy trail. The bridge we crossed last yr was totally underwater this year.I'd have 4 wet crossings an out and back on each loop. I just don't get why some people were lined up on the sides trying to cross and not get wet. You'd lose a ton of time....just run through the water and move on! It was slick though-slick metal that my mud lugs were not gripping so I crossed the water slower after my first crossing nearly got me a face plant.
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I'm at 3:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJQ7X-iZmEc&sns=fb
The course had fence hops and the cement wall x4. There was plenty of MUD to go around and 5 significant steep climbs and drops in each 10.5km loop. The weather was cool and I felt good, could breathe this year and ran evenly. The half was 2 loops, but I really wasn't sure of my place until the last km of loop 1 when Vladimir M from our running club told me I was in the lead. I couldn't really see any ladies back for a ways. It wasn't until after 16k, I could see one about a minute back and knew I had to work the hills to keep the lead. Just after 18 k coach managed to YELL so that the entire hill could hear.....jeez....that she was only 200 back . I knew there were 2 good climbs before the finish and I had to use them to my advantage especially if she was a better downhiller. I had to get to the gravel road in the final 500 to the finish first and I'd be ok. She was coming on the downhill, but I had enough cushion on the up I just had to kick it in. I was not going to get caught in the final 500! I didn't! I ran even splits and she picked it up nearly 3 min in the 2nd loop. Damn that was close, she finished 25 sec behind. I won the half. After nearly collapsing last year from heat stroke, I came back and got the job done! I just had fun. I liked the course. It was definitely not boring. There were plenty of daisies too along with all that overgrown grass from the rain.
My secret- the 5.3km loop done on the daily grind after school 3-4 times a day up on Old East End Road over the hills near Homer. All that mountain running all year long when I had nothing else to do made my legs strong.
https://www.facebook.com/moscowtrail/videos/1463421487013912/
This one needs a post of its own. After Arctic Valley, I knew I HAD to do this one again. Arctic Valley went so well felt smooth....Moscow Trail if you do the half has just under a 700m elevation gain. If I can do Arctic Valley and feel fine, MT was on the list. Last year, I did the 30k and died in the final 8k because of the heat. This year, there was a 10k, half, and marathon. I wanted to do the marathon, but I knew it would down me at least a couple weeks and being that my season is so short now, I wanted to make the best of it. Coach told me to do the half. Also, there would only be one aid station at the end of each 10.5k loop so that the race could be used for an UTMB qualifier. This meant either get crew or carry your own. Leonid was on the loop just over midway. It was cool for the race-mid teens , overcast, and pouring rain the hour before to make the course more interesting. I took 3 pairs of shoes and decided which "weapon" to choose 20 min before the race. I went with my inov8 212s for the traction in the mud. This year's course added 2 more steep uphills and downhills in the final 1500 of each loop. This would work in my favor. The race starts straight up the ski/ snowboard slope at Sarochany/Yakhroma. I was fine after that hill and headed down the muddy trail. The bridge we crossed last yr was totally underwater this year.I'd have 4 wet crossings an out and back on each loop. I just don't get why some people were lined up on the sides trying to cross and not get wet. You'd lose a ton of time....just run through the water and move on! It was slick though-slick metal that my mud lugs were not gripping so I crossed the water slower after my first crossing nearly got me a face plant.
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmoscowtrail%2Fvideos%2F1453182951371099%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="560" height="322" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowTransparency="true" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>
I'm at 3:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJQ7X-iZmEc&sns=fb
The course had fence hops and the cement wall x4. There was plenty of MUD to go around and 5 significant steep climbs and drops in each 10.5km loop. The weather was cool and I felt good, could breathe this year and ran evenly. The half was 2 loops, but I really wasn't sure of my place until the last km of loop 1 when Vladimir M from our running club told me I was in the lead. I couldn't really see any ladies back for a ways. It wasn't until after 16k, I could see one about a minute back and knew I had to work the hills to keep the lead. Just after 18 k coach managed to YELL so that the entire hill could hear.....jeez....that she was only 200 back . I knew there were 2 good climbs before the finish and I had to use them to my advantage especially if she was a better downhiller. I had to get to the gravel road in the final 500 to the finish first and I'd be ok. She was coming on the downhill, but I had enough cushion on the up I just had to kick it in. I was not going to get caught in the final 500! I didn't! I ran even splits and she picked it up nearly 3 min in the 2nd loop. Damn that was close, she finished 25 sec behind. I won the half. After nearly collapsing last year from heat stroke, I came back and got the job done! I just had fun. I liked the course. It was definitely not boring. There were plenty of daisies too along with all that overgrown grass from the rain.
My secret- the 5.3km loop done on the daily grind after school 3-4 times a day up on Old East End Road over the hills near Homer. All that mountain running all year long when I had nothing else to do made my legs strong.
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