4 on the 4th in Bridgton, ME

Back to racing! Not much to say about this one--felt good to be on the line again. I had some pain in my left achilles that I was letting improve with light mileage--but what really ended up helping it was a 15 mile hike in the White Mountains the day after the race (not to a mention a very therapeutic soak in a very cold stream afterwards). I hiked up Baldface as far as the top of the ledges, but the wind was so powerful I had to turn back (a westerly from the direction of Mt. Washington--can only imagine what it was like up on the presidentials' ridgeline). On the way back down I stopped by Chandler Gorge--heavy rain from Hurricane Arthur had it going like a mill-race! Quite a sight. 

As a consolation, I hiked deeper into Evan's Notch and went up the blueberry/speckled mountain ridgeline, which was in the wind-shadow of the westerly ridge defining the notch, and thus hikable above tree-line. Tons and tons of green blueberries--I was just a bit too early for them, alas. 

Anyway, my officially measured time for the race was 23:42, for 13th overall (I clocked 23:40 for myself, not sure of the discrepancy).