6:28:50, with a 3:58:36 ascent and 2:30:14 descent.
I gave myself a lose predictor last week of a seven hour round trip. It wasn't sandbagging in as much as I really didn't know what I could do. I knew I was a far way from any sort of 5 hour attempt given recent runs and ... well, lack of training. I hadn't run more than a dozen miles on any single run this year and the most vertical I got on any day was around 3k feet. A 26 mile affair with 7800 feet of climbing was even questionable to finish.
I had friends tell me I ought not to do it, but I felt I had to do it, simply to show I still could and I was not sure when, if ever, if I could do this again. The goal was to finish. And then from there, if I could make some sort of arbitrary goals while enroute, I'd do that. But even race day, I was wondering if I'd be racing the cutoffs to just finish.
I will come back with what my splits were, but they are nothing stellar. Pretty sure I got to Ruxton around 4 and change, and Hydro around 12. I took no shame in going to the walk early and often - I didn't want to be worked over by the time I got to Barr Camp. I got to the top of the Ws in just under 43 minutes and to No Name in about 63.
It is a different dynamic in the race in this space. I was getting passed by a lot of walkers who could just power by. It was pretty amazing to see these tiny women with powerful glutes just kill the climb with a walk that looked like a Sunday afternoon stroll while I was trying to keep up with a sort walk-run-shuffle ... and I'd lose ground to them.
With the wave start too you get passed by later starters (I was wave 1, but I am sure that is from old day times and it won't be the case if I return). The trail is much more crowded at the start ... it is not a problem unto itself, but you can find your mindset tricked into doing things based on what is around you with other racers versus doing what you should. You may want to walk because the others around you are when you should run ... and you may want to pass hard when you ought to chill.
I did get to Barr Camp in about 1:50. I was not overly worked but I knew I was working. And then I almost didn't run another step the rest of the race. I could feel the hamstrings starting to sing on the climb to A-Frame. So, it was just moving forward.
The altitude became noticeable to me too. I felt there were sections I could run from a leg perspective, but I'd be spiking my HR quickly when I did because I was not breathing great. Probably a lack of time up high, hanging out at sea level last week, and some of the scarring from the PE. And age, getting fat, etc. I'd get waves of the "you are up high buddy" headache but was able to shake those with some adjustment.
Somewhere around A-Frame I started doing the math for my predicted 4:20 climb. It seemed very reasonable, but then I started thinking about it being quicker, and if I could pull a sub 4:00. I knew it would be very close. The miles before Barr were well on target but I knew it would be slower going, close to 2mph up high.
It got challenging with the runners coming down too. This has always been the case with the leaders coming down, but obviously the farther you are back in the pack - the more you have to deal with that. And when you are dealing with it with people who are slower, they are more naturally going to come to a complete stop and wait for the downhiller to pass, versus just going to the side and still moving. In some cases I'd stop, but in other cases, I'd just keep moving by the person who stopped. It irritated a couple for sure ...
Of course, on the up I saw JV coming down, JT as well. It was good to see them having good races.
The hammies were starting their cramping through the Golden Stairs, but I managed to walk it out a bit carefully. As we crested that little ridge, I was around 3:55 so I was pretty sure I could get the sub 4, but also knew it would be tight. I managed to gimp across at 3:58 and change. I took some liquids and started the slow gimp down.
I guess that means I did from Barr to the top in about 1:58. Not an equal split, but pretty good for the type of work I had done.
The game then shifted to if I could still get under 7 for a round trip. I was moving VERY slowly through the rocks. I could feel with any sort of curl to my leg the hammies start to yell and so I'd go to a walk to work that out. I think my first mile down was like 18 minutes. Of course, it starts to smooth out a little and you can get to running but it was careful and slow. Really slow. Saw Don S and gave him a high five - just love sharing the hill with that guy over the years.
The run down is a constant monitoring the dashboard for me: do I need fluids? should I take a gel? can I run? watch those rocks! hey there is a guy up there can we catch them? oh shit the legs are cramping again! ... etc, and adjusting. I'd lose focus for a second and almost inevitably I'd almost take a digger. Amazingly I didn't.
And I was calculating: could I still get a sub 2:40 on the down? I know the signs down indicate a slightly greater distance to the finish then they actually are and I was thinking that would help me for four or five minutes.
Once you get to Barr Camp ... the down seems almost like punishment for the sake of punishment. You have done the thing, but you have a half dozen miles to still put it all to bed. It is hot, you are tired, and the downs seem almost even more steep than they were on the way up.
Somewhere in the Ws I knew I was going to break the 2:40 down and so it became a new adjustment to 2:30 it. I got passed by three in the last 300 yards but I managed a 2:30:14 down for a total of 6:28:50. 9th in the age group and 175 overall.
I am aware my down is nearly the same time I used to go up. I am aware that sort of decline is inevitable. But I am also aware of what I may still be capable of if I am willing to dedicate to it. But I am mostly aware that I am happy that I got this done this time. I could have easily not done this, but it was important to prove I still could and make it hurt a bit. My brain is naturally thinking about what is next ... but any longer term aspirations are trumped by a short term understanding that I need to recover from this.
