da Bear

Before I forget all about it...

Not much to report. In the weeks and days prior to the race, I was just looking to get it over with. It was a rough summer, always having another hundred miler hanging over my head. Especially after Leadville, since pretty much every runner around here ends their season after Pb or Pikes Peak.

I somehow ended up misplacing my Nathan belt during/after Leadville, which I didn't figure out until the last minute. So it was decided for me to run light during the race, carrying two water bottles and using the aid stations for everything else. I also took a chance and didn't bother to get a pacer (Katie would end up pacing me the final eight miles of the race, but I could have finished from there - it's the night I have trouble with). Twice I had attempted a hundred miler without a pacer, and both times I ended up DNFing.

The race itself was fun but uneventful. I stayed well within myself just to secure a finish. I knew this was the only summer I'd have a shot at doing all these races, and I didn't want to blow it. Ran roughly right on schedule for the entire race, which put me through the halfway point in just under 13 hours. Katie had missed an aid station earlier, making me wonder if she had been run off the road and was dying in a ditch somewhere, but other than that I just enjoyed the great course and made some new friends. Got to run with Larry for a bit, good to catch up with him. We even had to navigate a cow stampede.

The night was not pretty, but I survived. My goal was relentless forward motion, and there were times I was really pushing the limits of how slow I could go without falling over, but eventually I got there. As the sun rose, I got my usual second wind and passed quite a few of the night owls who had passed me earlier.

Arrived at the final aid station, finally relieved to have the finish close by. Filled up on bacon and then Katie and I took off. I did very well on the final steep climb of the day before struggling horribly on the final descent to the lake. The quads and knees were beat up pretty good from a summer of mountain running. Did end up smoking the final mile due to a miscalculation in the distance and time I had remaining to go sub 30, which gave me pleanty of time to stop at my truck for a PBR before hitting the finish in 29:15. Not too shabby, as I'm sure once I do the math I spent at least three hours goofing off at aid stations.

Glad to report now that I never got giardia or any other disease during the race. I had been drinking from streams until about mile 80, at which time I wondered if the millions of cow patties all over the place could have a bad effect on the water...

Can't say enough great things about the Bear and the people who put it on. It was such a refreshing change to hit a low key event after the hollywood glamor of Leadville. And nobody yelled at me for drinking at the finish line in Idaho.

Thanks to everyone who crewed, paced, gave me free shit, bought me drinks, and supported me in any other way during all these summer races. I have a lot of good karma to pay back.