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.