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there is a distinct possibility that I am INSANE.
So, I ran another crazy trail race yesterday. This one, the Kennebec Challenge, was touted as being "approximately 14 miles" although my Garmin registered 14.75 and other people reported numbers over 15 miles. Elevation gain was about 3000 feet, topping out at 12,147 feet (and then back down), but there were dips and descents and one long nasty descent just before the final climb (which, to add some excitement, was not actually on a trail but simply a scramble up a steep tundra hillside), and the total ascent, Garmin tells me, was around 3400 feet. Oog.
I finished in 3:19:20, 10th place among the 27 women, not exactly stellar, but not too sucky. (The female winner came in just under 2:45; the male winner set a course record at 1:59.xx, but he is 22, so. The DFL made it in just under 5 hours, although because they allowed people who thought they might need extra time to start 30 minutes early, she wasn't all that far behind.) I didn't carry a camera but one of the people I carpooled with did, and she started early and I caught up with her at a really cool spot and she took my picture, so when I get hold of her I will have some nifty photos to share!
Oh, actually, here is not a photo but my GPS track overlaid on Google Earth with a little tilt, so you can "see" the terrain: medium | large (much better for viewing)
Mile 1: rolling but generally up, decent jeep road. 10:17 pace. Maybe a little fast.
Mile 2: More of the same. Feeling a little gastric distress. 12:51 pace.
Mile 3: Dashed behind the bushes and felt much better afterward. Fortunately I was carrying toilet paper. 13:38 pace.
Mile 4: Whoa, getting steeper and bumpier. Walking the steep bits. 14:53.
Mile 5: Forked off onto a real 4WD road, bumpy and nasty and OMG steep. 15:45.
Mile 6: Even steeper, and now the altitude is starting to get to me as I'm over 11,000 feet. 18:23.
Mile 7: Not quite as steep, but the altitude is killing me. 17:34.
Mile 8: Okay, this is ridiculous. Loose talus downhill at 25%+ grade, too scary to run. Then 50%+ uphill with no trail. Pausing every few steps to breathe. 26:16 pace.
Mile 9: Downhill, yay! Steep trail, not so yay. Rolled my left ankle twice. 12:21 pace.
Mile 10: Still steep downhill, but getting back onto a jeep road. 12:27.
Mile 11: Steep downhill on jeep road, rejoining the original jeep road, motoring past tired people. 9:51.
Mile 12: Back on original jeep road which has a lot more uphill than I remember. Get passed by woman who I finished just behind in the 7 miler 2 weeks ago. 9:34 pace.
Mile 13: More of the same. I could be done anytime, now. Please. 9:10.
Mile 14: Haha, pass some more tired people, but I'm getting tired, too. 9:18.
Mile 14.75ish at 8:52 pace, smelling the barn (well, the food at the finish line) and I am DONE.
The wildflowers were awesome. The weather was lovely. The creek at the end was very cold but I soaked my legs in it anyway, which I think is part of the reason I don't hurt too terribly much today. Then we went to lunch at a very nice restaurant at the mouth of the canyon, and then I went home and took a nap. \o/
I finished in 3:19:20, 10th place among the 27 women, not exactly stellar, but not too sucky. (The female winner came in just under 2:45; the male winner set a course record at 1:59.xx, but he is 22, so. The DFL made it in just under 5 hours, although because they allowed people who thought they might need extra time to start 30 minutes early, she wasn't all that far behind.) I didn't carry a camera but one of the people I carpooled with did, and she started early and I caught up with her at a really cool spot and she took my picture, so when I get hold of her I will have some nifty photos to share!
Oh, actually, here is not a photo but my GPS track overlaid on Google Earth with a little tilt, so you can "see" the terrain: medium | large (much better for viewing)
Mile 1: rolling but generally up, decent jeep road. 10:17 pace. Maybe a little fast.
Mile 2: More of the same. Feeling a little gastric distress. 12:51 pace.
Mile 3: Dashed behind the bushes and felt much better afterward. Fortunately I was carrying toilet paper. 13:38 pace.
Mile 4: Whoa, getting steeper and bumpier. Walking the steep bits. 14:53.
Mile 5: Forked off onto a real 4WD road, bumpy and nasty and OMG steep. 15:45.
Mile 6: Even steeper, and now the altitude is starting to get to me as I'm over 11,000 feet. 18:23.
Mile 7: Not quite as steep, but the altitude is killing me. 17:34.
Mile 8: Okay, this is ridiculous. Loose talus downhill at 25%+ grade, too scary to run. Then 50%+ uphill with no trail. Pausing every few steps to breathe. 26:16 pace.
Mile 9: Downhill, yay! Steep trail, not so yay. Rolled my left ankle twice. 12:21 pace.
Mile 10: Still steep downhill, but getting back onto a jeep road. 12:27.
Mile 11: Steep downhill on jeep road, rejoining the original jeep road, motoring past tired people. 9:51.
Mile 12: Back on original jeep road which has a lot more uphill than I remember. Get passed by woman who I finished just behind in the 7 miler 2 weeks ago. 9:34 pace.
Mile 13: More of the same. I could be done anytime, now. Please. 9:10.
Mile 14: Haha, pass some more tired people, but I'm getting tired, too. 9:18.
Mile 14.75ish at 8:52 pace, smelling the barn (well, the food at the finish line) and I am DONE.
The wildflowers were awesome. The weather was lovely. The creek at the end was very cold but I soaked my legs in it anyway, which I think is part of the reason I don't hurt too terribly much today. Then we went to lunch at a very nice restaurant at the mouth of the canyon, and then I went home and took a nap. \o/
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I think it's gonna be another 10k for me, and my goal will have to be to do at least as well as last year, which was 1:07:28 (you probably can't fathom how anyone could be that slow, *g*).
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