Some things I want to remember about Where's Waldo for next year:
- 8 wks is about long enough to recover from a prior long race.
- Mountain climbing is probably good training. 30-40 miles a week is enough to get ready if it includes 17+ mile runs on weekends and some half mile repeats.
- The pre-race meeting is at 7pm, but you can drop off bags for aid stations until 9pm.
- Its polite to recognize and remember the names of the race directors as they do a great job (Kurt Ringstad had to remind me his name. Craig Thornley is harder to forget)
- There's places to camp on the lake if your sister gets there early, but parking is limited. (As a back-up there is room to crash at the side of the ski lift parking lot)
- It's cold at the 5am start. I wore a long-sleeved shirt the first few miles but didn't need gloves.
- It's OK to start a little faster, but it may cost--this year I had equal or faster splits between each of the aid stations until the last 3
- A second water bottle isn't needed until 32 or 37 miles. I drank most of a 20 oz bottle of Gu2O between each aid station with additional water (mainly pored on my head) later on.
- It's good to carry an extra gel pack. Plain or vanilla are the easiest on a queasy stomach. I grabbed an espresso again this year at an aid station, but this time realized it before gagging. I ate one gel pack per aid station with a couple extra when I felt hunger pangs. A popsicle in the middle of the wilderness was very cool, but the purple taste was a bit much.
- A baby wipe could come in handy after Twins aid station. Imodium can be your friend.
- Most aid stations had Tums. My leg muscles don't seem to cramp as much if I have a couple of them during the race.
- Having family at aid stations is such a boost, that you can mentally block out the fact is must be super boring for them to wait for that one minute you'll be together. Emily is a great crew chief.
- There's 11,000 feet of up, and the same of down. That's an average of 350' of change per mile. If it's uphill at all, then it is steep enough to walk. But it will cost you. My split up the last mountain was the slowest of the top 12 runners.
- There's no such thing as an insurmountable lead in an ultra- I passed someone on the final section again this year.
It's good to finish strong, if the legs allow. I'm the only one to ever race the last section in less than an hour. My first year that section was pure torture and took over twice as long.
- 1st master and 4th overall is worth $700. Ice cream at the finish-line is priceless. Thank-you Sheryl!
- Erik Skaggs is very fast
- A chunk of metal with a blue ribbon and a "title" makes me feel good about myself for longer than the soreness or prize money lasts
- "Overall" is cooler than "masters", but at least I'm not getting slower--yet.
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