6,724', 6:39
Another day getting lost in the Mission Mountains. I spent a considerable amount of time heading up the wrong ridge line (the south ridge) and getting cliffed out. The route was less bushy and steep, though, than the trail to Lucifer Lake, and it was some really fun scrambling on the final ridge to the summit. I was kind of exhausted, probably due to consecutive big days and not getting much sleep.
Tuesday-Friday (Off)
Saturday, 8/9
AM--Getting Lost
3,531', 2:24
I started out doing the Standhope 60+k, but got lost early on, and by the time I was back on the trail there was no one in sight and no flagging left. Unsure of where to go and on my own, I ran back to the start of the race, only to find no one left there either. I started running the roads to Copper Basin, and hitched a couple rides to get to the Fall Creek TH. Kind of a disappointment to go out of contention, but I felt the responsible thing to do was to alert the RD that I'd gotten lost, rather than continue without any indication of where to go. Unfortunately, I also led 4th and 5th place off route as well, though they turned around long before I did, and this led to a much less competitive race for the two guys who went out fast. I should have been more cognizant of the lack of flagging, but I ran for quite a ways until the trail petered out because I'm used to low key mountains races having few flags, and I saw no alternative trail. It seemed like the race had no sweep, because they were surprised to hear I hadn't made the first aid station cutoff when I finally informed them at Fall Creek.
Afternoon--Fall Creek TH to Starhope CG (Standhope 25++k)
5,104', 3:23
Back on the course, they let me run the shorter race, which comprises the end of the 60+k. No longer eligible for prize money, I decided to just make this another run in the mountains. I did fairly well on the climb up to Standhope Pass, catching the guy who finished 2nd (and had a 30+ minute lead on me before I left Fall Creek) near the top of the pass, but felt slow on the downhill. I got lost three times on this section of the course, but was fortunate enough to get lost with other people each time. The 25k seemed to have less climbing and a lot more distance (about 4 extra miles) than I was anticipating, as well as more downed trees than I would expect in what is supposed to be a competitive event. It was an interesting run, and the RD allowed my time to count towards the shorter race, but it felt much more like a run in the woods than a race, since I was almost two hours late to the start of the shorter race. The climb up to the pass was beautiful country, and more runnable than I'd thought it would be. I'm glad I at least got to see the "meat" of the course, and glad that at least Kristina Pattison was able to represent Missoula well, winning the long course. This is a fledgling race in need of more support if it's to become a staple in the running scene (more flagging, clearer directions to the campgrounds, more ready aid station volunteers), but the course is definitely deserving of a great race. It's also deserving of beer at the end, of which there was none. All I can say is, Thank God for The Runner's Edge.
Sunday, 8/10--North Ridge of South Sentinel Repeats
3,889', 1:48
I started this run in the heat of the day, at 5 o'clock, feeling exhausted, but I was able to meet my goal--start out moderate and run each repeat a little faster. After running up from Evans St., I started at the gate, ran up to the Pengelly Rock and back, with the first round trip being about 29:50, and the second and third being 28:40 and 28:15, respectively. Each uphill was a little bit slower, but I kept feeling better on the downhill, and ran the last descent in about 7 minutes, which is good for me since it's just over 1,000'. I pulled the plug on this after 3 repeats because I was feeling really hungry, and felt that I couldn't run a fourth repeat in under 28:15.
19,248', 14:14
This was a shorter week than expected, but I may have needed the break anyway. I had a very strange sort of a win and sort of a loss at the Standhope 25++k, clocking the fastest split on the second half of the course in time trial fashion by a good 13 minutes, even with getting lost. This week was useful, however, in that I learned a couple things--race vests are too heavy for races under 8 hours, and I need to run at least 15 minutes a day early in the week of a race otherwise I go kind of crazy.
All pictures are from the Gray Wolf Peak outing
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