The Results


The Start of Day 1
The Blood Finished 1 hour 21min
Day one went really smooth. A vertical km is no easy task. Trekking poles were money well spent with the steep parts otherwise you will end up on all fours. It is difficult to decide on a pace for a climb like this because you do not want to thrash your legs for the days to come but also want to complete it fairly fast as to spend less time on your feet. I prioritized saving my legs for the days to come since I have never experienced a run of that distance. Next time I would feel comfortable pushing my pace faster.
Finishing The Blood
Climbing The Blood

 
Day One Complete! Brother pic!

The Sweat Finished 10 hours 46min
I did it! This was definitely the day I was most concerned about with the type of training I did but it went really well. Felt positive and strong the whole way through except for about 30 minutes after aid station 4 when I decided to eat vegetarian pizza...my stomach did not like that. Unfortunately Hannah did not make it to aid station 4 because she definitely would have steered me away from the pizza.
Aid Station One Refill!
Speaking of Hannah and all of the crew members out there you guys are amazing! Whether it's some tough love, kind words or shoving fuel at the runners crews make the ultra running experience so much better.
Giant Canyon we ran past
 A little to know about The Sweat. It is a beautiful run. You find yourself stopping not just because your legs are tired but just to look around. Beginning in town you run through the low land forests up into the thick coniferous through some sections where the canopy is so thick it becomes dark before breaking into the alpine forests and eventually passing the treeline into rock gardens and totally unobscured views of the valley below.
Leaving Aid Station 3: All Downhill from here

So in retrospect I would have pushed quite a bit harder. I held myself back a lot because frankly I have never ran anything like this and was careful to make sure I had enough left in the tank to finish. My goal was to finish before cut offs and enjoy the experience which I definitely did. I was never concerned about cutoffs the whole run. Now that I know I am capable of this type of distance I would be much more confident in pushing my pace faster. As the run went on it became clear to me that my strengths were in climbing and technical down hill portions and my weakness was flat sections and less technical downhill. I am excited to challenge another Ultra so I can mentally have the confidence to push myself.
Day Two Complete! Brother pic!
 The Tears Finished 3 hours 1 minute
The last day was a fairly relaxed run. Not the climbing of the first two days although there was still a significant climb for those of us that do not live near the mountains. Wind storms had knocked trees across the trail in places which added some obstacles. The race started with a long flat road section which left me near the rear of the pack. Once the climbing started I was able to catch back up with the pack. The cutoffs were generous allowing me to take my time from the last aid station and really just take in the experience. Looking across Golden to Kicking Horse mountain and remembering the run the day before really felt great knowing what I had accomplished.
We Did it! Day Three Complete!
Lots was learned with this experience (definitely no more pizza at aid stations) and I am excited to modify the training program and get ready for another challenge. Once we decide on what that challenge is I will be making another post along with how Trevor changes the training program.

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