So on Saturday I ran the first 40 miles of the Wasatch 100 course. With the race being 3 weeks out it was perfect to get that last long run in. I had only ran that section once when I ran Wasatch in '07. I remember it being extremely tough and nearly put me out of the race. Luckily I held it together and finished but this year I wanted a refresher.
We started at 5 am. Pace was conservative but we were loaded up with water. A friend had some water at Bountiful B for us but with temps in the city reaching near 100, we weren't taking any chances. I had the Osprey Raptor 10 which carries 100 oz and a 20 oz handheld. The run went perfectly. The 3 mile section before Bountiful B aid was horrible. Very overgrown and rough. Aside from that section the course was great. We stopped and talked to some forest service folks, several other runners, and took 5-10 minutes at most of the aid stations. We ran the last 10 miles in due to our slow start. I felt great the whole way. It took us just over 10 hours. My race day split needs to be an hour faster but minus all the stops, talking with people, and a 12 lb pack on my back slowing me down, the pace was pretty close to what I need to run on race day. At the end I was tired but had zero issues. No stomach problems, no blisters, no real leg fatigue. It gave me a lot of confidence heading into Wasatch. Can't wait until Sept 10th!
After a 2 day rest, I went out for another run. I ended up doing a tough loop from Aspen Grove on the back side of Timp. Up Primrose Cirque, a quick and cold jump into Emerald Lake, down to Timpanokee, then back via the Alpine Loop singletrack trail. An absolutely amazing 18 mile run. I was happy with how my body felt only 3 days after the 40 miles on Saturday. I saw 43 mtn goats and a bull moose on the run. Sweeeet!!
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