yes, but does she have a sister?

2007 Grand Tree Series Race #4 - The 7 Sisters Trail Race (listed at 12.1 miles ~ but it more like 87.4 miles).
There is a certain calm that passes over you the moment right before you really get nailed in life. Like before a sneeze when you know its gonna happen, but it hasn't happened yet.
For the 7 Sisters Trail run (aptly described as a 'cult classic' because the thing has a way of brainwashing you), this occurs on I-91 when you see the full range in the morning sunshine.
You just know this one is gonna hurt just to finish.
So, I thought why not wear my new forest camo boonie so that the forest spirits might not see me and allow me to pass unharmed!!!
So much for that idea. It was a great place to hold my roll of Nuuns through.
PMHx: I tried to run this course back in grad school with my buddy Scott. His wife Karen had to pick us up at the summit house. Then I tried again on my own the following summer and had to take the road back. 5 years ago, I was determined to do it fully out and back.
Walked funny for weeks, I did.
But was determined to do it again and do it right.
I signed up for the 2004 7 Sisters Trail Race and didn't sleep right for days before or after. It hurt BAD, but I somehow pulled out a 2:47:42 and good for 74th place out of 177 finishers. Yes - you read that right. I ran slightly faster than 14 minutes per mile and was very happy with the results.
Since then, I've done parts of it several times as a birthday treat, for great tortuous training runs and some of it every September with my Junior hockey team. Last year, Scott came back to challenge the beastie with me and he tells me that he is finally able to say the words "trail" and "race" together again in the same sentence without having a nervous breakdown.
It has that kind of impact on your psyche.
This year, I stayed as mellow as possible with my achilles still bothering me somewhat and now on my 4th different pair of trail shoes since March 1. I stayed back in the pack of 257 soon-to-be finishers and headed up the hill to the first mile mark. We got to the top of Bare Mountain in 10 and change which is amazingly fast for the almost 300 people packed onto the side of Route 116 and funneled down on the a narrow, very rocky singletrack.
The race then proceeds down Bare, up a good sized mini-hill which I know as "Boo-boo" as it is a little 'Bare'), then down and *all the way up* to the top of Hitchcock.
There is an awesome lookout there over the full range (see right), but we didn't have time nor energy to stop this time.
Then down the 4 descents to the Low Places - the only place on the whole course where you can run for more than 30 feet without either going up or down. Then the Sisters.
Sister #1 is a hand-over foot climb. First timers must think that the white blaze on the side of a rock face 20 feet up is a joke, because I sure did. See the picture on the right.
There is 6 more of these lumpy things - some slightly steep and some are out-and-out climbs. Each are only a few hundred feet long, some with several slower progressive steps to the top but all keep you from ever getting a rhythm.
And that is what makes this so difficult of an event.
There was no foliage this year and the trail was actually hot, windy and dusty (instead of the usual muddy, shady and soft), so the hydration pack was going fast. almost 4 liters of fluid for the event. Down the last Sister (#7), cross the summit road and right back up to Mount Holyoke and the Summit House.
I ran across the Summit House balcony at 1:01 which is alright considering I took the first part very easy.
As I started down the side of the peak (slowly at first), the leader Paul Low came flying *up* the side of the mountain already heading back up from the turn around! I think that if a UFO-ologist is looking for proof of extraterrestrials among us, they should check anyone that finishes under 2 hours for the 7 Sisters.
I figure the hill down to the Connecticut River and the turn around as a 830 foot drop in about 1 1/2 miles Gotta love them negatives. I hit the turn around at 1:21.
The rest stop was a great place to fill up my hydration sack, drop in a few electrolyte tablets, grab a few cookies, a GU, turn around and head right back up to the Summit House (who designed this course?!?!? )
Back to the Summit House at 1:47 with some familiar faces around me of people I try to stay near. You get to run right across the balcony of the Summit House and look north out over the whole Pioneer Valley and that is a great part of this race.
Then the return along the same trail whence you came. Or should that be wince you came?
The next part of the race gets to be more of a psychological challenge than a physical one. EVERYONE is hurting bad and those that want it more continue at pace. The rest have to take breaks. This year, I passed many more than passed me. I also ran within a few minutes of the trip out. Just a few too many.
Heading into Sister #3, I heard a few younger voices behind me. We seemed to be at a similar pace, so we talked along the final 3 miles or so. Turns out that one of them (Allen) stayed with me for the rest of the race, and as we were both aiming for a sub-3-hour finish, we were both pushing each other up those last few torturous climbs. Once we hit the top of Bare and knew we had a sub-3 finish all but locked up if we didn't break anything, we both started to allow gravity to be our friend.
That down hill was nothing but a blur and thinking back, I'm simply glad that we didn't break anything. The finish line came mercifully at 2:50:38, but only good for 104th. Good enough for me on a day like today. Almost 3 minutes exactly slower than my PR here.
The ladies in the State Park pavillion made some awesome homemade granola, yogurt and baked goods etc.
Sitting there absorbing and inhaling the food while watching and cheering on everyone else through the finish is one of those pure happiness moments that I really like about trail running the Sisters.
Kind of like the moment right after you sneeze.

"Anyone who does the Sisters more than once is nuts. Anyone can be forgiven for trying it once." - Semi-Anonomous friend