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.
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