Notes
Hells Hills 25k...38th OA.
Not yet back in shape, so the 50k would have destroyed me. Took the easy route with a 25k as a nice long training run. Just about right for where I am right now.
Started mid-pack with first several miles being single track. Couldn't move up at all. Those first miles were a bit too relaxed, but by mile 3 I was feeling like crap...super low energy. Been having this issue since last weekend...dropping weight and ramping mileage does not work well. Anyway, just tried to keep moving forward in the lowest gear possible during mile 3-4. First aid station was water only, so ran through it (wore pack w 2 bottles...water). I hadn't planned to take any nutrition, but had no choice and hit my emergency rations...just 200 cal of figs/dates.
After 15-20 minutes, I was beginning to feel much better. A couple runners passed and I grabbed the tail end. I felt better and better as the race wore on. Until I caught a bad digger with 3 miles to go. Crushed my big toe just same as at Rocky. Holy crap that hurt. Had to hobble along in a kind of zombie shuffle until the pain gave way to numbness. What use are toenails anyway?
Aside from the single track, there were a couple sections of jeep road that were good passing lanes. About a dozen creek crossings, 2 of which were unavoidable so the feet were getting wet. Not much for vertical (1,100 feet/loop) which surprised me given the race name...but lots of little ups and downs. Pine trees offered good cover and not much of the trail is exposed at all aside from the mile heading into the start/finish.
I finished very strong and was cool to high-five the boys and see D. heading down to the finish. E. got really excited and sprinted the last 50m behind me. I think was maybe 38th OA. Overall, well organized/marked as TT races always are, not truly pretty but a nice and enjoyable run. Good confidence boost.