Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Driving and Cooling

I'm somewhere in Oregon, heading south for Way Too Cool this weekend. My life has pretty much revolved around the interior of a small car since Sunday morning. All I've done in that time is drive, sleep, eat and get out for a couple short runs along the way. I'm still not sure if it was a good idea to drive all the way down here from Alaska to run Way Too Cool and American River. Right now it doesn't feel like it, but after a month long vacation between the two races it'll probably feel a lot nicer than it would have been to fly down separately for each race.

I haven't really spent much time thinking about my race this weekend. I think I'm in pretty good shape right now, but I haven't run a 50k in over 4 years. There will certainly be some guys toeing the line on Saturday who have a lot more speed than I do but I think there are a few hills on this course that I might be able to use to my advantage. However it plays out it should be a nice day out running in the sun on some new (to me) trails. I think I have less attachment to a desire to win this race than any race I've run in a long time. That said, I'll be running as hard as I can on Saturday morning, and I expect that will put me somewhere in the vicinity of the front runners.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good luck! That's a heck of a drive, but at least you have a car with your stuff you might need.

Tucker Goodrich said...

Good luck!

mindful mule said...

Welcome back to Cali. Best of luck in both of your races. I’m sure you’ll find some good trails in between them, too. Run fast/fun/on.

Scott Dunlap said...

I think you will do really well. A bunch of the 50k specialists (Pantilat, Gellin, Olmstead, etc.) will take it out fast, but as you mentioned the hills are mostly in the second half. Just keep them in sight.

Good luck!

SD

Anonymous said...

Good luck Geoff! Should be an exciting race. Max King seems hungry for Ultra experience. And Leor will be looking to defend his CR.

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Nicola Gildersleeve said...

Awesome you are going down for Way Too Cool. I did it last year. It was by the far the fastest 50km I have ever done and my HR was already in the 180's in the first 20 minutes! The lead pack does go out fast but as long as you can hang on, which I think the rolling terrain allows that, you will do awesome.

Crazy you drove from Alaska, but in the end, driving is such a great way to go. We always drive to every race we go to. I would say good luck, but you don't need it!

Anonymous said...

Great race and 3rd place finish!

Chris

Unknown said...

Geoff,

Congrats on running a great race at WTC. Bummer to hear you made a wrong turn. I've done it myself in a couple trail races and it's the most deflating feeling. You would have won for sure. Keep your chin up and go get American River