Friday, July 30, 2010

I've been looking for Hope these days....

Resurrection Pass Pre-race Report: Dave and I made it down to Yvonne's in Soldotna in one piece (barely). Yv and I watched as Dave packed for the race. Amazing. 40-50 gels. And WAAAY too much body glide. This morning, he packed the car with all of his gear. Willow barely fit after he was finished:
Then, we headed on over to Hope for the start of the 100-miler at 3PM. There was a huge field of 6 runners (apparently a good turn-out). This trail is Dave's nemesis from both his 50-miler and 100-miler previous experiences, so he's hoping to shake off the demons. Laura McDonough is going to be some stiff competition- she's smart and will wait for everybody to make a mistake...She just came off a great Crow Pass run. Dave's ready, as long as he doesn't run into any Evan-esque mishaps.
First we drove to the Res Pass North trailhead to drop off a bag for Dave at the 12/ 88 mile aid station. Please note my smiling, rested face at the bridge, below:
I'll have a comparison shot for you in a couple days when I get to this spot, my 38-mile aid station. It will have been the farthest I've ever run at that point in the race.
On to the pre-race meeting at the school, the official finish. Low-key, easy-going. Best kind of race. Then we drove up to the start of the 100. And I got to see "The Hill". Oh my. After mile 38, the 50-miler heads up a gravel road for an out and back to tack on the remaining 12 miles. There is a 4-mile hill climb that 's going to be.....a bit challenging. We'll see how that goes.
So off they went, the 100-milers, and Yv and I took off for some lunch, exploring Hope and back home to pack up my gear for a 6AM start in the morning. Dave told me I should eat 3 gels an hour. Hmmm. If it takes me 10-11 hours, that's 30-33 gels. Yuck. And who the hell has room for all that? It's bit overwhelming for a first-timer:
I'm off to bed for a few hours' sleep before 4am rolls around. Dreaming of dry trails, blue skies and a Guinness at mile 50...

2 comments:

  1. Mackeral you did awesome!!!!!!!!!!!
    I'm so proud of you!
    Can't wait to see some after photo's.
    I would like to say it was fun, but can't just yet.
    David

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  2. How'd you do? Are you still alive?

    ReplyDelete