My run training has been good, so I felt ready for the run, but I held back because I wanted to save some for the bike. I think I held back too much, though.

There is a lot of single track, and early in the race a man fell a few yards in front of me. A woman who was probably his wife checked on him and he seemed to be OK. She kept running, so I did also. Maybe half a mile later she tripped and fell right in front of me. I stopped to check on her, and she had scraped her hand, but otherwise seemed OK, so we both continued. As far as I know, they both finished.

About 2:30 slower than last year.

Not hold back.

I felt strong on the first very steep climb, and even passed a couple of people. I switched from a 12-27 to an 11-28 cassette recently and I think that was helpful. Unfortunately I am a big chicken going downhill, and on the first descent, which is steep and curvy, I was passed by 4 people, including the people I had passed on the way up. The long climb up to Lake Minnewaska went well, but I could feel myself fading a little near the top. I had told myself before the race that I would stay in aero for the long fast descent from the high point of the course, but shortly after starting down I hit some rough pavement that made me nervous, so I spent that part of the ride getting in and out of aero too much. Still, I think I did better than in previous years.

The rest of the ride went smoothly, and I even felt good on the last long climb.

The views on this course are just beautiful. There were times that I wished I had a camera with me.

My time was just about the same as the last 2 years.

Be more aggressive descending.

Took my time to catch my breath and gather myself.

Within the first few hundred yards I knew this was going to be tough. I really went too hard on the bike for my current fitness level. I had planned to walk only on the steepest parts of the course, but I ended up walking more than I wanted. There are some sections where it feels almost as steep as stairs with roots and rocks for the steps, and I was really walking slowly on those.

About half a mile from the finish I was struggling, and I heard some people who seemed to be catching me. They had been behind me for most of the run, but now I turned to look, and they were getting too close. No way was I going to let myself get passed after 4 hours of hard work, so I had to dig deep to pick up the pace a little and finish comfortably ahead.

About 6 minutes slower than last year, so about 9 minutes slower overall.

I felt very woozy after I finished, and it took about 5 minutes for my head to feel back to normal.

Ride my bike more, so I wouldn't be out of gas for the second run.

I had to get home so that we could go to a graduation party, so I packed up pretty quickly. This race has the best post race food, so I didn't want to miss out. Unfortunately, I only had time for one little bowl of chili and maybe half a beer.

Didn't stay for the awards. Found out later that I was 2nd in AG. OK, there were only 4 of us, but still, it's a tough race!


Not enough riding.


One of my favorite races. Looking forward to next year and getting back under 4 hours.