I'm Training for Tuckerman's Inferno 2012! And This Time It's Personal!

The "hike" up the mountain during Tuckerman's Inferno. Luckily, this falls to the hiker (looks like he's running, though, huh?). The runner gets to run on the road. I consider myself lucky. Last year, after I completed my run and my husband complete the bike leg, we hiked up the mountain and met our hiker on her way down. I couldn't imagine doing that hike fast.

This is the first post in my blog dedicated to training and participating in the Tuckerman's Inferno in 2012.

For the uninitiated, Tuckerman's Inferno is an epic pentathalon revolving around Tuckerman's Ravine on Mount Washington in New Hampshire, and run by the Friends of Tuckerman's Ravine. It consists of an 8.3 mile run, 6.2 mile kayak, 18.2 mile bike ride up to Mount Washington, a 3 mile, 2,268 ft hike up to Tuckerman's Ravine, and a ski down Tuckerman's Ravine. Whew, and some people do all five legs by themselves, and have to hike up carrying their own equipment. You can enter as an individual (Tuckerman or Tuckerwoman), duo, co-ed team, or all female team.

My husband did the ski portion of Tuckerman's Inferno a few years ago with some friends and told me all about it. I couldn't imagine doing any of those things. Fast forward to post baby number one and only, and I decided to take up running to get back into shape. I was doing well and feeling cocky so I got my husband, one of his former teammates, another friend of his, and a very game friend of mine to sign up last year. I slacked off a lot during the winter because I got really busy with work, and so I was quite unprepared for the 8.3 mile, which featured a mile of hill, .5 miles of which was incredibly steep. Somehow that shocked me. Duh, it's on a mountain.

Anyway, I came in dead last, by eight minutes, with the pace car right behind me for most of the race. The upside was I had no fear of getting lost with the car right behind me. The downside was, every time I'd slow down my already glacial pace, the car would rev it's engine. Embarrassing but motivating.

This year, I have three months to change this horrible fate. This log will be dedicated to documenting my training and the race itself. Last year It took me 1 hour, 32 minutes, and 40 seconds to complete the run. The next closest runner finished in 1:25. You can see all the results here. This year, my goal is to finish in the middle of the pack, with a time around 1 hour and 10 minutes.

I will be reporting my training techniques every day leading up to the race and will report on the actual race as well. Exciting! For me anyway.

If you're a runner interested in doing a race like this, I hope this blog will be helpful.

- Michelle :)