Notes
First off, super happy with this performance. Dropped a few minutes off my time from 2014. So for this race I gave myself some room on the HR. I still went out at a conservative pace but I didn't even look at the HR on my watch. More just by feel. That first climb up to Camping Gap is long but I felt strong and just plugged away not wanting to get held up or pushed faster I stayed where I wanted to be at the pace I wanted to be running. I did this for the whole race. I made sure to pass people when it felt too easy and backed off when it felt too hard. That said I did push myself. I ran anything that was even close to runnable. And that includes the climb back up to Camping Gap. I power hiked and jogged the crap out of that hill and it was great. I plugged in the headphones just after the aid station before we head back up. People where going slower than I thought we should and I needed a bit of heads down power down for those miles so I started passing people. I didn't even worry about if I would pay a price later. My attitude was just try it and see what happens. Lets test and learn some things. Happy to say I was able to push for the whole race. Never let up.
Nutrition:
Same breakfast as Holiday Lake. Two bananas and one cliff bar. Bought two as I ate two before HL but just couldn't eat that much. Honestly I felt kind of crappy in the morning but I am chalking it up to nerves. Once the race started I was good to go. Single water bottle with Tailwind the whole way.
Gear:
Same Adidas shorts with compression briefs as HL. Temps mid 40s at start. I wore long sleeve 2017 HL finishers shirt with a houdini for the first few hours. Threw houdini in pack before we started the big climbs back to Camping Gap. Worked great. Felt super comfortable. That small pack I have is great for these shorter races. Gives me a place to stow my extra layers and a place for keys and phone. Love it. Need to use it more. First time I had used that pack since Masochist 2013 I believe. Shoes went with the Altra Lone Peaks that I have been wearing for races and long runs. Feet got pretty sore towards end up on the forefoot. The midsole might be about done, that or GInger Runner just planted that thought in my head. Either way it might be time to bust out the new pair.
Recovery:
I can tell I went hard. Really feeling it in the quads. First big hammering of them this year. No issues besides general soreness though. Should bounce back fine.
So in summary it was a great day. Plan to recover well and get another solid block before Promise Land. Looking forward to see if I can set another PR on that course. It is well within reach.