The Merrimack RivAH 10miler

Guest Blogger: Joe Carpenter

Being my second race that Paul has motivated me into doing I already had a good feel of the "trail racer mentality" and was by no means let down this weekend. No doubt I still felt a little out of place; especially, watching Paul's pre-race routine which entailed a most detailed verbal walkthrough of split times, goo consumption, and utilizing items from two different tool kits and one large back pack. My thought process entailed one more of comfort. Do I wear long sleeve with underarmour and keep warm in the cold windy weather and just run slowly so I don't sweat too much or ditch the underarmour and force myself to run fast. So underarmour it was, which by the end I was regretting due to about a 15-20 degree temperature change throughout the race and the fact that the goo I ate at the half way point spawned a pace that I never thought I could or ever would want to do. Once the race was complete I was fortunate to eat some great chili and hershey kisses that Paul won in the raffle. After training for this on a treadmill I told myself I would not run more than 5 miles the rest of the summer, but have since changed my mind. I still am feeling the rush from the race and am more than motivated for the next. I guess I am falling in love with jumping over and sometimes running through water and various foliage. The topper was three adults on the ride back quoting lines from the disney movie Madagascar. "Don't give me excuses...give me results!