RAN INTO A BUZZSAW

5/9/2015

Moraine State Park, PA - The Glacier Ridge Trail 30km provided some much needed respite for Gabriel and his family after a long week at the office with the SP16 Sales Meeting. Preparation, presentations, and more presentations had immersed Gabriel in a world of work, and thus an escape was necessary.

Driving out Friday afternoon with the family to the outskirts of Pittsburgh proved quick and after a nice stop with old friends, they arrived at the hotel ready to rest.

While the morning proved to be of good weather, if not a bit warm, Gabriel noted the legendary Matt Lipsey waiting in line at the restroom. Although not on the official entry sheets, Gabriel anticipated his participation since Lipsey is the CR holder and previous year's champion. Matt is fit. He hadn't lost a regional race all year until taking US Mountain harrier David Roche to the line at Hyner. Let's just say this, Gabriel was in no mood nor shape to race Lipsey at this point in time. He was not ready.

And so, Gabriel resigned himself to racing for second, ensuring he got in a proper long run (his longest run to date had been 20km), and enjoyed the scenic and tough course. When the gun blasted, Lipsey sprinted off the line like a mad man, disappearing into the trail, as Gabriel crossed the first mile comfortably in sub-6:05. Lipsey must have run that first mile in close to 5:00.

And so it began, a nice long run on the trails of Moraine State Park. However, within a couple of miles, Gabriel felt horrible. He had just started on Claritin-D as he had visited the doctor on Friday suffering from sinusitis and laryngitis after ignoring his seasonal allergies. Perhaps the medication was wreaking havoc on his body. Perhaps it was all his energy was gone from the long week at work, the sleepless nights, and the long drive. He entertained the thought of turning around and saving the effort for another day. This was miserable.

However, by an hour, his body woke up, he started running well, and started enjoying the trail. There were some good climbs and some good sections of trail. This was a great trail. He saw 7:26/mi pace early on and figured he was running well enough. By the turnaround, Gabriel was over 6-min back of Lipsey. With encouragement from the on-coming runners, Gabriel was alerted that Lipsey was right ahead, the lead down to 4-min. This excited Gabriel only temporarily, as he was aware he was in no shape to "hammer" the final 10km... his fitness was not there and by 12 miles his energy had dwindled and he was faced with quite a tough course ahead of him. His power fleeted on the uphills, he was brought to life on the downhills, and then he found his rhythm with the head back, arms swinging with his empty water bottle, center chest, and just attempting to fly. He was very proud of his road finish, powering home the whole way and finishing a solid 12-minutes behind the impressive Lipsey.

Lipsey is the future, as there always needs to be one. It would be interesting to see what Gabriel could do while in form, but the course is quite legitimate. The course nor the competition was conquered on this day, but the job was accomplished and 30km of running was in the bag.