YEAH, IT WAS DEFINITELY A HALF-WIT DECISION

Aug 3, 2013 

Reading, PA - Gabriel arrived from Poland somewhat damaged, but full of confidence. He was not crippled. He was sore, but he felt pretty recovered. A week of solid training led him to enter the Half-Wit Half Marathon, hosted by the nutty Pretzel City Sports Company. What the hell... after Poland, a half marathon in Reading, PA, should be a breeze, right???

That's where the half-wit reasoning came to be... on the warm-up, Gabriel noted he had no energy. He had no giddy-up. Just malaise. However, he noted a couple of young harriers on the line and figured, oh well, he may have a battle on his hands.

The gun sounded and Gabriel set off in about 5th place on the opening descent, with no rush to take the lead. However, within a mile, Gabriel had to make his presence felt and took the lead into the single-track, per his personality. He felt like he pulled away from everyone, and once the trail hit the Mt. Penn Mudfest course, he was full of confidence... and then his hip flexors barked. They were not in the slightest healed.. and by 4 miles, he had been caught. Gabriel dared not look back, but internally picked up the pace up a pretty steep climb. Whoever had caught him could not climb with him, but was very good at the technical downhills and flats. Ugh, Gabriel had to work.

Finally, at the first water-stop near the halfway mark, Gabriel stopped to take a gel and some water... and this is where he was caught for the second time. However, Gabriel led up the stairway to hell, not letting the pursuer pass, and then scampered off uphill, not wanting to relinquish he lead, regardless of how much he wanted to drop due to his hip flexors.

Gabriel got some breathing room, got a gap, pressed hard, and disappeared into the single-track, pretty much knowing he would not be caught, but fearing the damage done. He won in 1:33:27, not a course record, that was not possible today due to the pain, but a "w" is a "w"...

WMRA WORLD LONG MOUNTAIN CHALLENGE

 

Sklarska Poreba, Poland - And so, the battle commenced... from the final steps at Mount Washington, Gabriel was forced into rehab mode. His left hip flexor had been strained on the "only one hill" and he had about a month and a half to prepare for the most grueling race of his career, the Maraton Karkonoski, the host of the WMRA World Long Mountain Challenge.

Gabriel's preparations were a fine balance of rest, recovery, and smart running... avoiding ascents and descents in order to full heal the hip. A family vacation to Siesta Key during the 4th of July week allowed for training on flat, if not sandy, surfaces, and the recovery began to take shape. Now it was a matter of if he had enough time to regain the fitness he had lost over 2.5 weeks of minimal running.

In the build-up to Poland, Gabriel had failed a key test - the Catherine's FA 20-Miler in Luray, Virginia, on July 20th. He selected this course for its rugged uphill start and by the summit, his hip had failed. This was not good news. He walked the whole way back home, frustrated at his body, but at least thankful for over 2hrs worth of running. 

Back to rehab... clam-shells with an thera-band. Abduction, adduction, repeat. Ugh... the one sacrifice was cancelling the much-anticipated Grintovec Mountain Run in Slovenia, which would be used as prep. Gabriel did not want to risk his effort for Team America on August 3rd in Poland.

And so, Gabriel jetted off to Slovenia, drove down to Venice to meet his wife, then to Trieste, the onto Lizjnan, Croatia, to spend time with former UALR harrier and former FIU Athletics colleague, John Eckart. However, it was in Croatia that Gabriel was struck down with allergies and a 104-degrees fever. He was not catching a break.

Back up the cost to the wonderful Ljubljana and off to Wroclaw, Poland, for the drive to Sklarska Poreba. All the runs in Europe were positive. Gabriel's hip felt ready, he felt he could climb. And so, came the race...

The course would be challenging, about 6,000ft of climb at close to a mile high of altitude in the mountains of Poland and the Czech Republic. Gabriel started out well, climbing with teammate Josh Ferenc, and in the chase pack of teammate Zac Freudenburg (would go on to place 5th). Jason Bryant was not far behind (25th). So Gabriel's largest concern, the initial 2,500ft climb from Start to Mile 4, was uneventful, he was stoked, his hip held up well.

But immediately into the technical rocky descent, Gabriel's hip started straining and all his confidence left his soul. It was crushing. He truly felt we would not be able to finish. It was a repeat of Connemara all over again. But Gabriel pressed on, repeating a mantra of, "what else do you have to do today. Nothing." Amazingly, his hip remained a dull weakness, never progressing to the painful must-stop of early in the month. After some good running with Jason, they hit the turnaround together and Jason called out, "come and get me!" 

It sounded good in theory, to chase Jason, as we were in scoring position for the team, but all of the toughness and callousness that Gabriel had build up over the early Spring was gone. The fitness he showed in racing the best US Mountain runner in Jordan McDougal at Rothrock, was gone. The combination of lack of training and 90-degrees sunlight was baking his spirit and he did all he could to finish the Challenge... which was such a comforting word for some reason - this was a Challenge in the truest form of the word. Not a race, but a challenge. He pushed on, and managed sub-6:30 miles for the final 3+ miles of the race to finish strongly in 31st position. 

The sad fact was that Team USA missed out on the Bronze Medal by about 2 minutes. If Gabriel had been able to race as he did at Rothrock, before Mount Washington, before getting greedy, they would have a medal, as Ferenc finished 15th and Gabriel had ran with him up the legendary mountain stride for stride. It was not to be, but it was a great improvement in 2 years time from Ireland. 

Perseverance was key, and Gabriel earned the respect of his teammates, especially Jason, which was good to know.

BITTERSWEET MOUNT WASHINGTON

Mount Washington Auto Road, NH - Obviously, it has been a while since we reported on Maryland Trail Founder, Gabriel Rodriguez. An impromptu visit to Mount Washington left him broken in body, but not in spirit.

He was ready to climb. When his old buddy Ferenc asked him at the line what was he looking for, he wanted to say, 1:03, but only allowed "we'll see what the Mountain brings" because it is impossible to train for the 53rd Mount Washington Road Race. 7.6 miles of constant climb, on road, at 12% average grade. Unless one wants to live on a treadmill, there is no training for this race. Just get as fit as possible and be ready to ascend and to hurt.

Gabriel entered at peak fitness, but mentally he was destroyed. After surviving a bomb attack in Boston and then a victim of road rage at knifepoint in which he fought 25 minutes for his life the week leading up to Mount Washington. Traumatized, he felt Mount Washington would be a necessary mental escape.

However, 2 miles in, Gabriel was losing focus. He had passed local rival Matt Byrne and was getting ready to eat up ground on Simon Gutierrez and Sage Canaday. At this point, Joe Gray was gone. So Gabriel kept his effort, and then it happened, his hip flexor seized in fatigue. Unreal. He couldn't believe it, said it would pass, stopped and stretched at the 3 mile aid station, but no, this was real, he was done for the day. But, there is no dropping out at Mt. Washington. You have to get to the top to get your stuff anyway. And so, Gabriel stretched and ran his way, battling nicely with Justin Freeman and Ferenc for spurts between stretches, until he placed 7th in 1:06:37. 2012in his debut, he ran 1:06:18, not stopping once.

Alas, it was not fun. What was fun was the 60+mph winds he encountered near the summit, causing him to be tossed around like a tumbleweed. He stopped one final time for a stretch and then charged up the final 400 meters. A couple of less stretches and he would have easily been in the 1:05's, but today was a day for 1:03-1:04.

He knows now. He must keep his form. He must not lose focus and over-work one of his sides. He will be back, especially after a Top 10 finish at 50% effort.

EPIC ROTHROCK

  

"Our course is designed to reward those who have trained and to punish those who haven't."

BOALSBURG, PA - Where to begin? Perhaps back in 2012, when Gabriel decided he would pursue the La Sportiva Mountain Cup Series. Perhaps back when he suffered a calf strain so severe that it threatened his career. Perhaps back in February when the Mountain Cup commenced without Gabriel running a step at Chilly Cheeks. Perhaps back in April when Gabriel dominated the Mt. Penn Mudfest 15K and gave him hope. Perhaps the past couple of months of consistent training and racing at a very high level on some very technical courses. Perhaps back to Thursday, when Gabriel took his first serious fall on mud, tearing a muscle in his oblique and abdomen two days before Rothrock. Perhaps to the morning of the race at 3:45AM, when Gabriel decided to drive out and roll the dice.

Gabriel knew he was fit. His climbing was at another level. He could knock out 15-25% grades in a waltz; manage 4000+ft of elevation gain without missing a beat; but ultimately, he could hammer 2+ hours on knarly, technical trails without running into issues. He knew he was ready to race against the best, but he also did not know if his torn oblique would stop him dead in his tracks after 2 hours of racing on technical trails.

The drive was better than Greenwood Furnace. There was no Mayweather fight the night prior, so Gabriel got some reasonable rest. The drive was uneventful and he arrived with plenty of time. Upon warming up, Gabriel found his legs unresponsive. His quads were still a bit torn from the 15 x 1 min fast workout on Wednesday. He didn't seem to have much power and his left side was tight. Oh well, he knew he could go through the motions and run well, if need be.

At the start, Gabriel spotted Jason Bryant and Matt Byrne - the La Sportiva guys. He also thought he saw Jordan McDougal from The North Face. What was he doing here? Wasn't he trying to win TNF 50 in DC this same morning? I guess money talks. This would be interesting, as Byrne had taken down McDougal at the Hillbilly Half, one of Jordan's only losses in his stellar trail career. Thankfully, Gabriel had a pretty active warm-up, thinking of Jono, to prepare himself for the immediate climb from the starting line, on the road, and the commenced one of the largest climbs of the day.

Within a mile or so, the trail climbed some 1,200ft at an average grade of 17%. Gabriel pushed on, knowing this was his strength. He wanted to make his rivals get uncomfortable early. But how uncomfortable? Had Gabriel under-estimated this climb? It was not levelling out and it was brutal. He was working hard, perhaps too hard for only being 10-minutes into a 2.5 hour race, but he knew no other way to race. And then, it happened, a nasty descent down Kettle. He summoned his best Kilian Jornet once more and scambled down the mountain, this time his quads absolutely burning up, he had to let go a bit more to lessen the damage, but the risk was high.

The Aid Stations were every 4 miles. Those would be his checkpoints. He would take a GU and water at each checkpoint. The trail reminded him of the Appalachian Trail - amazingly rocky. Rocks, rocks, rocks. He was prepared for this.. he thought of Cascade Falls; he thought of Greenwood Furnace. The path to the second aid station was uneventful other than the "reptile" sighting and he was somewhat surprised that he was once more alone, 8 miles into the race. However, he did hear some cheering from the aid station to warrant that there was a pursuant. He prepared to get caught, he suddenly felt over-heated and hot, and full of fatigue - wow, he had been running hard and not even halfway done.

And then the catch happened, on a nasty technical descent past some boulders, Jordan McDougal made his presence known and Gabriel conceded the trail. Who else would be in close pursuit? Gabriel reasoned that Jordan must have struck out alone, his only chance at victory. And then, he was gone. Gabriel pressed on, not feeling too bad, mentally, losing to McDougal would not be a bad thing, the kid was a champ with a pedigree unlike others in this sport. But at the third aid station, Gabriel was right there with him and after another GU and water, they departed the aid station together to begin a rock scramble that Jordan absolutely owned. This was not Gabriel's strength, and it showed. Once again, Jordan was gone, basically hand-and-foot climbing away from an unresponsive Rodriguez.

And so, Gabriel found the trail and continued to work hard. He was now focused on preserving 2nd place. He wanted to beat Byrne, and Loverich, and Bryant. He could stomach losing to McDougal, but all this effort would be sweeter with a second place. And then, it happened. Gabriel took a sudden left onto a grassy trail that started ascending and there was Jordan - completely blown up and walking! Gabriel continued his pace, right past Jordan, and up the trail. He could win this, he had to push, and push he did.

However, like in all sports, Gabriel expected Jordan to make a run, and make a run he did. By the 16 mile aid station, Jordan had climbed back to within 100 meters. Jason Bryant had dropped out and was at this aid station, mentioning about a 5k remaining, which was not good. Gabriel had a good two miles of hard running left in him, perhaps not three. He did not wait for McDougal to refuel on salts and electrolytes and he scampered onto the trail, thankfully uphill. He pressed, over-heated and tired, one foot in front of the other, pushing. He was winning, if the race finished uphill it could be his, but then what went up had to come down, and then started another nasty technical descent. Gabriel threw himself down the trail, but within a few minutes, Jordan came flying past and just as quickly, was gone. At mile 18. Ugh.

Gabriel was just wishing for the trail to flatten or at least ascend. Finally, after too much time, the trail levelled out and Gabriel attacked. He fought for every inch, every turn. Finally, he hit the road and saw the line green singlet of McDougal about 400 m down the road. Gabriel exploded, eyes closed, onto the road in pursuit. He was gaining and full of run, but would run out of room. Even 4:48/mile pace was not enough and he finished 2nd, a full 30+ seconds behind Jordan.

It was an epic battle and effort, and it ended in the lake, a great bond forged from respect. Mano-a-mano, over 2 hours and 40 minutes of pain, the race was done, but the story would last a lifetime.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

Huntingdon, PA - Ah, the decisions in life. Gabriel was craving ascents and descents not found in Patapsco. His experience at Bel Monte left his legs craving more climbing, more descending, to continue to strengthen his skill set and gain endurance on the most technical of trails. He needed to be tested.

And so, with Mayweather vs. Guerrero on the previous night, Gabriel managed to drift in and out of consciousness to watch the "same old sh!t" Mayweather, as his Dad would say, and fell asleep at 1AM. He then awoke at 4AM to prepare for his 3 hour departure to Greenwood Furnace State Park in PA.

As he fought sleep on the drive up, maniacally screaming MA-MA-MA-MA-MA-MA-MADNESS from his lungs, he arrived with 20 minutes to spare. The morning was crisp, but it would warm up quickly and Gabriel found himself in a singlet and split shorts.

The course would prove to be a challenge immediately (see below), as they started a climb into the trails. Soon enough, Gabriel realized they were beginning the ascent to the Tower, and it took forever, 30 minutes to be exact (about 3.5 miles). Upon arrival, he took a GU, and feeling pretty good, he started the descent and was enjoying it until it became a rock scramble for a couple of miles. It was punishing focus. However, once the scree was over, there were a couple of miles of gorgeous pine forest trail that was covered in leaves  and fluid running. Upon exiting the trail, perhaps at halfway (48 min), Gabriel then hit the road for about 1.5 miles of boredom.

Finally, what he was waiting for, the final ascent to the Tower. It started off innocently, but then became violent, pitching to 45-degrees of Jornet-hiking. Gabriel dug within himself to get running again, and finally became fluid again, working well, constantly thinking about Grintovec, and hit the Tower. It was only downhill from here and it was great downhill. He hit some jeep double-track and was rolling 5:00/mi pace, hit some rocky descending, rolled sub-5:20/mi pace on volcanic ash, and finished up in a big course record, running the last 1km at under 5:00/mi pace on pavement feeling like a million bucks.

The race did as intended: it was a challenge and it gave Gabriel the extra muscle memory he needed for future courses. Challenge accepted.

DELAYED SNEAK ATTACK AT GUNPOWDER FALLS

Kingsville, MD - Well, the first step is to admit to an addiction. After two days of intense training (90 min trail on Fri and 2h05' Trail on Sat), Gabriel felt it would be best to catch up with an old buddy over some serious speed at the BRRC Gunpowder Trail 5 Mile.

Jesse LeBeuff is his name, and Gabriel and Jesse had been meaning to catch up on another long run. With a string of recent race results at the BRRC Trail Series, Gabriel had the premonition that Jesse would be lining up. And so, with heavy legs and minimal warm-up, Gabriel lined up on nice warm morning.

Perhaps Gabriel conceded too much information to Jesse pre-race (like his 2+ hour run the day before), because Jesse tore off the starting line like a bat outta hell. Gabriel could not keep up and was content not to keep up. This single trail was flat and rocky. If the whole course was going to be like this, Gabriel may not have had a shot. He was hoping for some technical climbing to make his move and put the hurt back on Jesse. But 1.5 miles into the race, they were still winding on flat singletrack over rocks, and it looked like this was Jesse's backyard, the way he maneuvered all the turns, picked the good foot placements. Gabriel just shrugged.

And finally, after a nice river crossing, they started the ascent of the mound. Gabriel immediately pounced, made up the 20-30m deficit in a few seconds and pressed on the uphill climb, making Jesse chase. Thankfully the climb was substantial in length and Gabriel got some breathing room. The river crossings were hilarious, especially the 20 ft walk the plank tree trunk (seriously, if this came later in the race, he would be in the river). But Gabriel pressed when he could, working on running on top of his form, working well on the descents and pushing the flats.

The result was a stunning CR, taken from the 28:04 set a year prior by resurgent Peck (2:25 at Chicago and 30:52 at Pike's Peek 10K last week). So, it was a good feeling to get such a CR on tired legs and feeling like he ran at 80% on the trails. Alas, onto bigger and steeper mountains!

BEL MONTE ENDURANCE NEEDED

Love, Virginia - Gabriel was committed. As a storm front moved over the eastern range, Gabriel still wanted to race. The Bel Monte Endurance Races had a pretty solid reputation, especially with RD'ers Gill and Francesca. He wanted to pay homage to those that give so much and to trails that were renowned for their technical nature.

Case in point, on a course with less trail and more road, the winning times from last year's events were 2:57 for the 25K, 5:08 for 50K, and 8:08 for the 50M. Terribly "slow" times, relative, to most trails. So there had to be a caveat: was there too much climbing, too many rocks, horrible conditions? Gabriel had to find out.

And so, he drove out Friday evening, after a stressful Monday in Boston and two late nights in Denver on business, to Staunton, VA, to crash asleep, awake early, and finish off the drive to the Sherando Lake area.

The storms brought rain and tornados, but he hoped it wasn't enough rain to wash out the trails and make it miserable. However, the storm also brought a cold front, and plans of running in his new undercover prototype singlet would be put on hold. Rather, he opted for his Under Armour HeatGear Flyweight Run Shortsleeve in Graphite/Parrot paired with the UA HG Flyweight Run Short, gloves, a beanie, and two GUs. It was cold (43-degrees), but it would warm up quickly.

The race started at dawn and due to a late bathroom break, Gabriel basically took the field in the wrong direction in the first 100 meters. Pretty hillarious he didn't pay attention to the course briefing. Immediately he was in the lead for 2 miles of downhill road running, chatted a bit with the RunBum, who was undecided on which race he should run (strange), and then kept pressing at 6:20/mile pace. He entered the trail in the lead.

Within a mile, the RunBum worked up to Gabriel's shoulder at the river crossing, which was raging and caused Gabriel to stop and consider how to cross. They opted to just go for it, get wet almost waist deep and keep going on a series of uphill switchbacks. All the while, Gabriel was noting that he could out-climb the RunBum, but the RunBum was strong on descents and flat trail. This would be an interesting, and painful, race.

After summiting Bald Mountain, Gabriel was still in amazement of the amount of climbing he had already done (3,741ft total), which was good and bad: good, because he had a lead, bad because the RunBum could catch him on the return home if he didn't build a big enough cushion. Bittersweetly, at the Camp Marty aid station, Gabriel was sent down the "seven switchbacks" although his Garmin already read over 7.5 miles. The Seven Switchbacks ended up being over 1.5 miles of nasty descent that would bottom-out at a waterfall and he would have to turn around and retrace his steps, back up the 15% avg. grade for 1.5 miles all uphill. It was mentally and physically devastating.

Crossing paths with the RunBum, Gabriel noted he had about a 1-min (in reality 2 min) cushion. Not good. That was not enough. Oh well, this was a massive climb, so he dug in his forefoot and got to work, getting into rhythm. His thighs were screaming, as were his calves. Hitting the summit, he got back to the fire road, back down Balt Mtn, battling the on-coming traffic (hating out and back courses) and fighting the fatigue in his quads. His legs were definitely going to a place of fatigue they had never been. He finally found some good running and kept pressing, paranoid of getting away.

And then he started thinking about the final 2 mile climb back to the finish. Imagine having two miles of Mt. Washington to climb after running 14 miles hard! But before that, he had to climb out of the raging river basin to the road, which took him to depletion. Gabriel hit the road and he was unable to run for more than 2-3 min on the 8-12% climb. His left leg was just locking up and he was slamming with every step. This was a muscular bonk. He tried to figure it out and finally just decided to power it and ran 6:45-6:50/mile to finish, absolutely destroyed. It was a well-earned victory, but man, that was not fun.

BURNED EARLY, REVIVED TO LIFE

Michaux State Forest, PA - Another two-hour journey the morning of a race found Gabriel and his family once again in beautiful, technical, and hilly Pennsylvania. This time it was the famous Pine Grove Furnace State Park as the setting for the 2013 Buck Ridge Burn Trail Half Marathon.

With the 2012 CR set at 1:36, Gabriel knew this course would be runnable, and after logging too many hours in Patapsco Valley State Park, he wanted a change in scenery for his weekend long run. Buck Ridge Burn would have to do. Looking at the course map, a 3 mile ascent was the main challenge on the course that gained 1,700 ft of elevation.

With the gun sounding, Gabriel settled into second place on an immediate road climb. Within a mile, Gabriel had taken the lead and led onto the singletrack. This would be an interesting morning, for a couple of reasons - 1) there was a lot of leaf cover and trail was immensely windy and spontaneous in direction and 2) he felt like he was running on one leg, as his left leg decided not to work well. It was tight from the early climb (not enough warm-up).

And so, Gabriel fought on until about the five mile mark where he had to stop, tie his left shoe, wake his left leg up, and continue on. Only after the huge climb did Gabriel then again feel himself. He was warned of the beautiful views at the summit of the lollipop loop, and sure enough, he got multiple glimpses of some of the most beautiful views he has ever seen in his life, especially on the East Coast. Absolutely inspiring... and then came the technical descent.

Summoning his best Kilian Jornet, Gabriel worked down the technical and rocky Ravine Trail as best he could and started battling fatigue. Finally, he won out with a great stretch on jeep road and singletrack, launching to the finish line in full run with another course record and victory. More importantly, he exited unscathed from the effort.

A good day on the trails and another trail conquered, but this event was first class. The RD, Jennifer Henry, was absolutely stoked at his performance, and it was a thrill to be a part of this great event
.

RUNNINGTIMES.COM EXPOSURE

http://www.runnersworld.com/trail-racing/greenwood-seventh-south-africa-steph-howe-course-record-win-oregon

Mt. Penn Mudfest 15K– Redding, Pa.
Gabriel Rodriguez (Baltimore, Md.) scored victory in 1:02:24 at the 19th annual race, known as an East Coast legend for its 18 percent grades and uber-technical trails. Dominic Grillo was exactly three minutes back in 1:05:24 for runner-up honors. Further results were not yet available at press time.
Full results (when available).

SIZZLE THE PIG - MT PENN MUDFEST RIOT

Reading, PA - And so, Gabriel embarked on the journey to Reading with his Grandmother, Abu, his wife, and his three daughters... onto Reading, PA in 2hrs+.

The drive was uneventful, but soon enough it was time to get serious. Gabriel went out on a reconnaissance warm-up, learning that the start would be half a mile on road, and then some pretty technical single-track. A wise owl let Gabriel know that you want to lead heading into the single-track. And so, a plan was formed.

Upon warming-up, Gabriel noted the runners - several locals, as this was the largest trail race in PA and pretty much the Mid-Atlantic... a runner from Dickinson (that would claim he was not "adept" on trails); several other locals that knew the trails like the backs of their hands. Gabriel was primed to go hard from the gun and run hard for one full hour. That was it.

And so the gun, rather, the flying pig shot out of a cannon and when the pig landed the race would start, sounded and Gabriel set off immediately into the lead at about 5:10-5:15/mi pace on the road. Within half a mile, several runners backed off his pace, and Gabriel set upon separating himself from the field in the first mile. Mission accomplished. It was now a race against the course and his body. There were great terrain changes, alternating long inclines with treacherous descents. Finally, he knew he would be hard to catch when there was an 18% grade for about 800m... that was one serious climb.

On the back-half of the course, Gabriel was brought to his knees via fatigue and a tree across the trail. He warned himself not to get lazy. The out-and-back of the course then began, and it was a battle against the on-coming runners, many of which were only looking down at the jagged, ankle-breaking AT-type rocks. Gabriel did his best with yelling, "UP!!!" every third stride.

Finally, the 1hr mark hit upon his watch and Gabriel was ready to finish. He hammered home victor in a great  effort, winning by exactly 3-minutes over the local ace. A decorated piggy-bank, a basket full of Godiva, and some forever-lasting memorable moments with his Grandmother and family in the sun in the fields of Rotary Park ended the day.

Gabriel went to bed knowing he would win. He woke up expecting to win. And he raced like he would win. It is back to great times and fitness. And now, some recovery before lacing up tomorrow for 2-2.5 hours of trail... again.

THE MAZE 30K

ALMOST FIGURED OUT THE MAZE

Austin, TX - And so, Gabriel's journeys took him to the land of weirdness, where he would be submerged in a maze of trails so confounding that only on race days are runners encouraged to enter, lest they be left to be lost.

Awakening to 25-30mph winds and 48-degrees was not in the plans. This race was supposed to be an exposure to 80-degree high Spring heat and after a day at the lovely Hamilton Pool and a night of Tex-Mex, cold weather and wind was not very motivational.

Arriving late, Gabriel had a decision to make: use the porta-potty, or tie his laces. He opted for the porta-potty. Neglecting the use of a headlamp, or warm-up, Gabriel was content to sit in the top five for about a mile before taking the lead. Once in the lead, he wanted to distance himself from the chatty local legend, Paul Terranova. Terranova had just placed 2nd at the USATF 100K championships at Bandera, so Gabriel knew he had to make him hurt early. And it was paying off... minute after minute, the chattiness died down and Gabriel forged a lead. However, he opted to decide to finish one loop without his laces tied, but he would have to tie them after the first 10km loop, which he did and was surprised that in that 80-seconds, he was not passed.

Halfway into the second 10km loop, he spotted two orange Rogue singlets closing the gap on him... ah, 10K runners. And so, two Rogue guys shot past, full of run, hitting 6:15/mile pace and Gabriel let them past. However, it shortly occurred to him that these runners were not in the 10K, they were his competition in the 30K. These guys were flying! Gabriel had been caught. And so, he drafted behind them for a couple of miles before finally surging back into the lead at breakneck pace, working to put himself and his opponents in debt.

The younger stallion broke first, but this elderly looking Aussie was stubbornly strong and full of run. Eventually, after a couple of miles, the Aussie took the lead and used the maze traffic of runners to get away. Gabriel re-focused on himself. Coming through the 2nd lap, Gabriel was in 2nd, with no clue of how far back from 1st, but as he took down a gel, he noted 3rd coming in and the confirmation that the leader was attacking. Gabriel set off to complete the third loop, unsure of the result.

Gabriel hit a rough patch, stopped to fix his laces once more, and was passed by the young stallion. However, once Gabriel got moving again, he realized the stallion was in dire straits, and Gabriel passed him back on the uphills and distanced himself, finally re-engaging to cut time into the leader. And so, with 30-min of run remaining, Gabriel hunkered down and ran hard. He ran and ran, but ran out of time. His last mile in 5:32, he still couldn't catch Scott Rantall, a 66-min/2:20 Marathon performer and only 30-years old. He had been duped.

However, it was a great run. Nothing hurt, there was plenty left in the tank, and his spirits were high. He defeated third by a few minutes, including the local legend. It was a good day, although the maze did defeat him on this day.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG, GOES WRONG

Upper Marlboro, MD - And so, Gabriel, entering with four weeks of building a base from 18 miles to 48 miles/week, suffered a mild setback Monday entering this race, straining his left gastroc. It has been a frustrating voyage of calf strains lately, which are unsolved at the moment, but this left Gabriel with no running during the week, except for a couple of 8-min/mi treadmill runs, full of caution.

The Patuxent River Trail 10K was the first Trophy Series race of the season, and with payment already made, Gabriel was committed to race. He figured he could get through 10km of trails. However, he did not intend for some pretty good competition to line up.

At the start, in 35-degrees, hordes of runners raced for the muddy single-track. Gabriel was in about 7th at the turn and already feeling tapped out. At least his calf was feeling good and he set off to chase down the leaders, which was not as simple as anticipated. The two leaders had gotten away well, and Gabriel was hot on the chase.

At 4km, Gabriel made the catch on an uphill and decided to storm past and attempt a breakaway. However, his fitness could not match his courage, and he was caught by 5km and then passed by 6km, his race over. Gabriel maintained his pace, one leg in front of the other, but was unable to respond, except for one final push in the last 2km that ended as soon as it started.

Oh well, the expectations were not met, but with only four weeks of training since the most devastating injury of his career and still 5-7lbs over race weight, it was a step. He does not enjoy losing, but this is the path committed.