This was one of those days when I didn't win because of fitness, it was because of trailcraft. A really fun race as usual. I started off in second place as a high school kid passed me, but then he decided to hang back because it was his first longer distance race and we wanted to stay back with the people who knew how to pace correctly. Chortle. But he wisely dropped back a little more as I burned through the "first mile is free" on the initial hill. I kept expecting people to pass me but I was able to lay it down pretty good on the flat, even into the wind. When I turned to go up to the meadow I could see four guys really close. All would pass, and all would meet misfortune.
The first two finally passed me on the big hill coming out of the meadow. They didn't get very far in front, but far enough. A third guy just barely passed me going over the saddle. When we got to the upper road there was a group of hikers who asked us which way the course went, when I told them they started yelling down the road at somebody. I quickly recovered from the hill and dropped down to 6:10 or so, blowing past guy number 3 and moving at tempo pace so I could catch up to #1 and #2. I couldn't see them anywhere and after about a mile it hit me - the hikers were yelling at #1 and #2, and I was in front again! Oh boy. (They ended up at the highway and jogged back to the park instead of continuing) I came around the corner and dropped down to the water towers at a relaxed 5:20, ready for the big climb.
All this time I was starting to notice the heat, which was very warm, but I thought it was still in the green zone. I was wrong. When I started to go uphill again I had nothing. I was walking more and more - downhills were easy, but my heart refused to beat fast enough to clear the lactic on the uphills. I was dehydrated and still had to get up Dry Canyon. I figured if I could get to the aid station at the top before anyone else, I could still win it all. With all the walking though I lost 6+ minutes against last year and was caught just before the station, and again at the station, back into third. I grabbed some Coke and some water and hoped for renewal but it was still grim on every uphill. Finally I got to the top, cleared it, and started up the downhill monster. I was really hoping that nobody would pop up in the Mario Karts because I was going so fast that they would get aced. Fortunately nobody showed up. Unfortunately #1 and #2 didn't show up either.
When I got to the main road #2 was there looking confused and asked which way the course went. #1 had turned east on the road but I led #2 west. He said he would follow me. Yes, you will :) I still had 6:20 on the flat and he was dropping back severely, then I made the turn off the road, somehow made it up the gentle hill without collapsing, and barrelled down the trail. He had hopes of catching up at the end but I went to black at 4:30 for the last .5 and fell over on the grass at the end. I drank 4 bottles of water, a bowl ofchili, a bottle of OJ, and a Smoothie. I really need to drink more when it is over 50.
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