Western States looks to be falling into place nicely.
My body is starting to adjust to the lack of oxygen up at high altitude. My resting heart rate has been over 50 pretty consistently as my body has been trying to adjust to the 7,500+ feet elevation that I've been at for the past 5 days. Yesterday though my heart rate began to come down and now today it's been as low as 42 most of the day. Should be very nicely adjusted by Saturday.
The weather has been really pleasant since I've been here. If the current forecast holds race day will be warm but not obnoxiously hot like it can be here this time of year.
The race will use a "snow route" between mile 9 and mile 24. We'll stay lower in that stretch and use 2 different aid stations than what we were supposed to. It sounds like we'll be running on a fair amount of snow the first 30 miles but being up here in the mountains around 8,000 feet for the past 5 days leads me to believe that by Saturday we won't be running on as much snow as many are projecting. There's pretty much no snow below 7,000 ft. and at 8,000 ft. right now there is only patchy snow in shaded areas. With another 4 days of sun I can't imagine there's going to be much more than the occasional patch of snow. Then again, the more snow the better as far as I'm concerned. I would imagine I've done more of my training on consolidated snow than anyone else who hopes to be running toward the front of the pack.
I'm staying in a hotel on the shores of Lake Tahoe tonight and then I'll be heading over to the Squaw Valley area tomorrow and looking for somewhere to camp for the next few nights. It's been weird having so much free time as I've had down here. I know that it's really important for me to be here right now, getting used to the climate and the altitude, but I've had so much idle time that it's been hard not to feel like I should be doing something more "productive" or more "busy." Probably by the end of this week I'll be adjusted to the free time and wish that I could stay here for another few weeks.
37 comments:
You deserve to have some free time to get ready for this huge undertaking on Sat. Dad & Shawn have been looking at maps and reading all about the race so hopefully everything goes as planned. They will be on a very tight schedule getting to the start line. I will be following the race at home and will be anxiously awaiting the finish.
Best of luck to you and all the other runners. Love you very much. Go out and kick butt.
I enjoy the plain-speak, honesty of your posts. I would feel the same way regarding needing to feel "busy", etc. OCD is a friend of mind. You are my pick to win Sat. There, I said it. Good luck!
Go BIG.
Good luck!
good luck!
Geoff - I have enjoyed reading your updates as you prepare for the race, and wish you success out there. Enjoy the journey.
As for camping, there are a number of forest-service type (free or very cheap) campsites along the Truckee River btwn Truckee and the Squaw turnoff, I have stayed there before. I'm not sure if there are more on the Tahoe side of the highway south of SV, you may find something there too. I liked them, you get be close but stay away from the hoo-haw in SV itself.
Race well!
run well.....
jts
Snow! A blessing in disguise for you.
Best of luck this Saturday. Enjoy some time on the beach, and head down to Sunnyside to watch some World Cup.
Cheers, SD
Good luck! I've got money on a sub-course record time from both you and Tony this weekend. It's just a matter of who gets the farthest under the record. :) I'll see you in Squaw in a few days and I'm looking forward to running behind you guys and hearing all the details as I go through the aid stations.
You're going to crush it. I'll be on the course starting at Michigan Bluffs and I know you'll be top 2-3 at that point.
Enjoy the calm before the storm, Geoff. Must be hard to stay quiet in these last few days, but such is the nature of tapering. If you didn't have a little nervous energy right before the race, then I'd be worried. As it is, sounds like you're doing fine. Good luck!
Geoff,
Just wanted to wish you luck this weekend. I an envious of your father and brother. Wish I could be out there to help out, just for the experience. I know everyone can throw out their advice. All I will say is run your own race, become one with the trail and let it come to you. Stack and I will be in touch all day paying very close attention to the webcast. Saturday is your day, just like the Newark Invite when you took down Tim E. on the State Meet Course!!!
-Boo
Been following your racing progress the last couple of years, and have enjoyed your blog reports.
Looking forward to hearing great reports on race day. Good Luck!
Good luck Geoff-
I will be watching your progress from here...but I really wish I could be there with Dad and Shawn!
Can't wait to see the results.
Best of luck and have fun!
Good luck with WS!
Hey Geoff-
Glad to hear you're getting in the groove. Wish I could come down and hang out and check out that area. sounds sweet. Have fun on Saturday, Dan
good luck geoff
Good Luck man! As a fellow Alaskan I am rooting for you!
OH YEAH!!!!! Liking the way things are going big time! Nice race Geoff, you earned it. CR AGAIN.
bRYAN
GREAT job at WS!!! I have been following your blog since I saw it in an article in the Sac Bee. Awesome win today and SMASHED the course record!!
Incredible Geoff! You really put the hammer down toward the end to catch and overtake Anton. What an epic race to follow. Rest up & enjoy it!
Congratulations, Geoff! We are so happy for you. "Watched" a great deal of the race online and saw your finish by live video streaming. Awesome job!
Geoff, A win and a CR..again..really inspiring! BobM
geoff, you are the pinnacle of endurance athlete - humble, quiet, down to earth, no huge ego bearing and this win is so deserved!
perfectly executed race, nicely cruising in 3rd place, letting Tony and Killian battle it out and then taking the lead and crushing the CR!
Amazing, a huge inspiration!
Cant wait for your race report! :)
Congratulations, Geoff! I monitored the race all day long and have to admit that, through a computer screen, it started to feel like a two horse race. Looks like that worked nicely to your advantage. Kudos on channeling training, strategy and execution into one helluva performance. If my hat hadn't been blown off hours ago, I'd tip it in your direction!
Dude...the first line of this post..."WS looks to be falling into place nicely"...it sure did. Congrats on running a great race!
congrats on the WS100... but seriously, cut your hair. you look like a freakin' psycho serial killer.
Congrats Geoff on yet another AOY performance!!! (And congrats to Tony for also a performance worth AOY - in any other year)
One incrdible thing that no one has pointed out yet: at Robinson Flats you were 29 min slower than Scott's 2004 CR. At the end, 29 minutes faster. So for the last 76 miles you ran an average of 45 seconds per mile faster than Scott did in 2004.
This will create a HUGE buzz in Europe for UTMB. I expect to see a another epic battle.
Hopefully by December you will be a little worn out. :)
Congrats on breaking the course record. Uli puts things into perspective. Fantastic achievement. You are a hero.
Congratulations on an awesome race, Geoff. Unbelievably epic watching it all unfold on the east coast. You are an inspirational cat, both in deeds and words. Keep it up and enjoy :)
--Mike V.
I have to tell you that your performance yesterday was the best I've ever followed, in any sport. Well deserved congratulations.
Tim
EPIC Geoff!!!!!! Inspirational!!!!!! Incredible!!!!!! Really makes me wanna go to Europe in August :)
Your humbleness and relaxed attitude are refreshing...you may 'walk softly' but you run damn fast as you rocked it at WS 2010!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Both you and Tony are amazing... wow, just wow.
Geoff, I am a 31 year old tax attorney from DC and was checking my computer and blackberry all night for the updates. Your win motivated so many people you cant imagine it. 3 lessons I took away: your quality versus quantity training, tips on nutrition, and ability to stay grounded during the process. Holy smokes man, if this is only 4 years into it, guess you have to set your sites on the Spartathalon...
Great job man. You earned every mile. Congratulations.
simply awesome..
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