Mt. Washington Road Race jitters

[Buffalo]

Hey all,
Meena and I just registered for the Mt. Washington Road Race: Just One Hill
The lottery isn't until March 16, but I was just wondering if anyone else has registered or has run the race in the past? While you answer, I'm going to go and run up stairs for the next two months!
Dan

 

[IndianChris]

Good luck!
Train hard!

The stairs are a great idea. If you can find a tall building near you (hospital, college, office building) that would be great. Something with a stair well of 5 to 10 flights for continuous effort. Up and down, up and down, up and down...great preparation for Washington. Just tough on the knees.

 

[Billy]

Word of advice. Stretch your achilles tendons a lot. Before, during, and after. A lot. A few years ago I did a midnight hike up the auto road, and it was an achilles killer. It's essentially an 8 mile ramp. Very little opportunity for flat-footing, so it pulls the achilles a lot.
I agree about the stairs. For me that's the best dry training for hiking.
Good luck, have fun.

 

[peakbagger]

I am not a runner but have known many locals who have run it. They did most of their training on paved roads with standard grades. They usually wished they had done more training on Jefferson Notch Road (from both ends) and Hurricane Mtn Rd as the normal road runs just were not steep or gravely enough.

Good luck on the lottery.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Stadium stairs are a popular training aid. Harvard Stadium is a popular place, although not for people in NH.

Tim

 

[MTNRUNR]

Speedwork on the track is also useful...ugh

 

[Live2run]

Tough run with great rewards

I ran the race in 2005. It was one of the most rewarding races I've ever run. My training consisted of 40 miles per week with lots of hill work and speed work. The issue for me was not my leg strength but my heart rate. My heart rate stayed at a steady 165 plus the whole way up. I have also registered for the race. Hopefully we will see each other there. Good luck.

John

 

[Jeff List]

I've done the race three times.

If you have access to a treadmill, put it on an 11.5% grade (the average grade of the race) and go hard for at least an hour--multiple times. There's no subsitute for continuous hard uphill practice and if you don't live near a mountain with at least a 2000' climb, a treadmill is a great substitute. And you don't need the downhill part that comes with real mountains, which is the part that's hardest on the knees.

During the race, unless you are one of the top runners, schedule in walking breaks right from the start whether you need them or not. At my first Mt. Wash race I did that, while in the next two I tried to run the whole thing. My first race was my fastest.

 

[Buffalo]

Thanks everyone! So to sum up: run up stairs! Alot!
Looks like have a walking break or two would be helpful.
John: How did you end up doing? Did you set a goal for yourself during training, did you run a half or full marathon before hand o was Washington your first big race?

 

[Live2run]

Washington

If I remember correctly I ran it in roughly 1:40. No specific goals other than running the entire race. I was running a Lot of hills and trying to run a distance run of at least 13 miles per week. When I race I leave everything on race....meaning I run myself into the ground.

 

[IndianChris]

.... When I race I leave everything on race....meaning I run myself into the ground.

That's awesome! Why else race, right?!?!

How long is the race up Whiteface/when is it?

Speaking of steps...the Stony Brook Chemistry Building here on Long Island has 8 stories. One time I measured the height of each story to be 15 feet (bigger than your normal household ceiling height of course). 15 x 8 = 120 feet of elevation gain. I think I may have maxed out somewhere around 15 sets per workout...trying to keep an average time of less than 3 minutes per set (up and down). 15 x 120 = 1800 feet. Holy crap...that's like doing a Catskill Peak from the parking lot. Was doing that 3 times per week.

S--t! Do that and you'll be ready.

Yes, I did get some strange looks from the students between class changes hahahaha

 

[Buffalo]

Thanks for your advice everyone, just a quick update. After talking my wife into signing up for the lottery with me, we just got our results today. She got in, I didn't! She's gonna kill me
Anybody else here make the cut? Anyway, I wrote a quick blurb on it at out website: Road Race Update

 

[surf88]

At least your wife will have a reliable ride down and dependable support at the top. I made the cut in 2009 and then over trained and strained a muscle pretty bad a week before the race. I still went up and provided the ride down to the other runners I had commited too. After seeing how others did I felt alot more confident that I would have made it just fine. I havent made the cut since but I have run the auto road on my own in the late fall.
Not sure where in NH you are, but I live near manchester and like to train on the road for South Uncanoonuc Mountain. Another good road is Miller State Park (Pack Monadnock)before it opens

 

[Breeze]

I don't have advice about the conditioning or actual performance part of racing, but I can probably answer a lot of your questions about the logistics of the event.

When the race packet comes, pore over every detail. If you elect to be her " ride down", you'll need to know what that packet tells you. You may not understand < why> things are the way they are, please ask ( beforehand) if you don't.

Every front line employee of the MWAR and MW State Park gets every scrap and bit of policy and procedure that goes to every participant.

The Sherman Adams summit building atop Mt Washington has a maximum capacity of 250 people. Summit parking is limited to @ 300 cars under the best of circumstances. After summit lots are filled, parking goes down the road as Space Available, and that can make a long road walk for a stressed competitor if their ride is at Cow Pasture ( six mile rather than 7.8)

When the Sherman Adams building is full ( yes State Park staff man the entrance/exit and use counters to keep track of entrances and exits) no-one is allowed in until someone comes out. There will be a wait line for entrance to the building. There will be wait lines for bathrooms ( once one even gets inside) and there will be wait lines for food/beverage.

Take heed, that is the real deal.

The more efficiently racers carpool the available seats down, and limit the number of spectators on top, the easier it is for the ALL the competitors in the end.

It is a very difficult venue from every aspect.

Breeze

 

[Live2run]

Time for Training

I got a number for the race. Should be fun. let me know if you would like to get together for the race. I think I'll be staying in Jackson for the weekend.